NERSES KLAJETZI, saint. — Also called Snorhali, that is, Gracious, on account of the gentleness and evangelical charity he showed toward all: b. in 1102 to Prince Apirat Pahlavouni, he was Armenian katholikós from 1166 until his death in 1173; he was enrolled among the saints of the calendar of the Armenian Church.
He was an eminent poet and sacred hymnographer. He also left valuable dogmatic writings and an interesting collection of letters, as well as the fine Encyclical Letter of canonical content.
He was an ardent promoter of the unity of the Church. His negotiations, made possible by the conciliatory policy of the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Comnenus, with the Greek philosopher and theologian Theorianos, in 1170 and 1172, and successfully concluded, remain memorable. N., after convincing his interlocutors of the orthodoxy of the traditional Armenian formula, concerning one nature of the Incarnate Only-begotten Word, provided that it be understood in the sense of s. Cyril of Alexandria, subscribed to the formula of the Fourth Ecumenical Council, recognizing its precision. Through his conciliatory spirit he overcame the narrowness of the Byzantines, especially of the patriarch Michael III Anchialos (1169–77), who pressed too strongly on disciplinary divergences, admitting the mixing of the chalice and the unification of the calendar for the feasts of the Lord, namely Christmas, the Annunciation, the Purification, s. John the Baptist, and the Apostles. While he was preparing to convoke a national Armenian synod in order to have these reforms, which he had accepted, admitted by his episcopate, especially in Eastern Armenia, N. died.