As our holy father Pope Francis sits in the hospital it seems an apt time to abide within some of his gifts to the Church. Instead of focusing on his perceived failures, let us focus on the ways he has sought to guide us as a loving father. Let us pray for him with sincerity and fervor, like we would our own parents. Lord knows we all would want the same if we thought we might be at death’s door, moments away from our particular judgement, and meeting with Christ.
With all of his gifts to the faithful our first pope from the Americas blessed us with invitations toward a renewal of the Christian life that shocks the system so it can be recalibrated to the mind of Christ. This one I am choosing to mention, like many others, has its own bit of controversy, though I will not delve into it. Instead, like our holy father’s dearest desires, I will focus on the Spirit-led thread of unity.
Following in the footsteps of his predecessor of happy memory, Pope Benedict XVI, Pope Francis, shortly after being elected pope, declared Gregory of Narek to be a Doctor of the Church. Gregory of Narek was a monk, a poet/mystic, and a philosopher/theologian. All of these things are remarkable in themselves, and anyone who even so chooses to read the first lines of his most renowned work The Book of Lamentations will glimpse his genius and inspiration. Yet none of these are the controversial traits of his selection for one of the greatest honors the Church can bestow upon a saint.
In 2012, Pope Benedict XVI shocked the world by declaring the fourth female Doctor of the Church to be Hildegard of Bingen. This was shocking, not because Hildegard was unknown, on the contrary her genius in matters of science and faith were widely discussed by religious and secular scholars alike. What was shocking was that, just a few months before he declared her a Doctor of the Church, Benedict used the rare process of equivalent canonization to declare her a canonized saint. Before this her process seemed permanently stalled at the beautification stage. This was a great act of love for the world and Hildegard should be admired and studied with greater care. Certainly this was Benedict’s intention, believing she was a teacher needed for our times.
So what was shocking about Gregory of Narek’s elevation to such an honor?
Well, really, it was that most people didn’t even realize he was a Catholic saint.
Living from 951 to 1003, Gregory of Narek belonged to the apostolic churches of Armenia, many of whom, following the Council of Chalcedon in 451 broke communion with Rome by rejecting the Council’s definition of Christ’s nature . As such, Gregory’s relationship with the West is complex, though there is evidence to show he accepted Chalcedon (or at the very least never condemned it). As such, it was believed that the Amenians had a heretical understanding of Jesus Christ until John Paul II signed a joint declaration with Catholicos Karekin I, patriarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church, stating that this was a historical misunderstanding rather than a doctrinal difference.
Gregory of Narek has always been revered in the Armenien Apostolic Church, but for the average Roman Catholic he was largely unknown if not suspect. Before Pope Francis decided to bring his legacy to the forefront of our minds, Gregory of Narek had been seldom mentioned for a thousand years in the West. It was only within the last 30 or so years, that Gregory began to be looked at again with curiosity and respect. In fact, he had been mentioned with praise in an encyclical of John Paul II (Redemptoris Mater, paragraph 31) as well as many of his papal addresses. Gregory of Narek was even mentioned in the Catechism for his teaching on prayer (CCC 2678), and had been recognized as a saint in 2001, at least on the books.
Despite all of this, Gregory was still being, as the kids say (or used to say, I can’t keep up), slept on in the Church. Pope Francis, ever striving to truly reveal the universal quality of our Catholic faith, sought to allow the Church to breathe with Her two lungs of East and West. His elevation was also a show of solidarity of the Church on behalf of the Armenian people who suffered, in recent history, an atrocious genocide still denied by many. Pope Francis, a believer in both corporal and spiritual solidarity, sought then, by drawing attention to the ever-fruitful teachings of this great monk, to bring about a unity many pay lip service to, but do not attempt to bridge. In Pope Francis’ message for the 100 year anniversary of the genocide where he declared Gregory a Doctor he said,
“He gave voice to the cry, which became a prayer, of a sinful and sorrowful humanity, oppressed by the anguish of its powerlessness, but illuminated by the splendour of God’s love and open to the hope of his salvific intervention, which is capable of transforming all things. “Through his strength I wait with certain expectation believing with unwavering hope that… I shall be saved by the Lord’s mighty hand and… that I will see the Lord himself in his mercy and compassion and receive the legacy of heaven” (Saint Gregory of Narek, Book of Lamentations, XII).”
Pope Francis wished then what he certainly wishes now during this Jubilee year of 2025, Pilgrims of Hope, namely, that we enter a time of deep prayer so that “through the redemptive power of Christ’s sacrifice, may the blood which has been shed bring about the miracle of the full unity of his disciples. In particular, may it strengthen the bonds of fraternal friendship…”.
In the bull promulgating this Jubilee celebration, Pope Francis wrote,
“Everyone knows what it is to hope. In the heart of each person, hope dwells as the desire and expectation of good things to come, despite our not knowing what the future may bring. Even so, uncertainty about the future may at times give rise to conflicting feelings, ranging from confident trust to apprehensiveness, from serenity to anxiety, from firm conviction to hesitation and doubt. Often we come across people who are discouraged, pessimistic and cynical about the future, as if nothing could possibly bring them happiness. For all of us, may the Jubilee be an opportunity to be renewed in hope.”
This draws to mind the sense Pope Francis had of what Gregory of Narek could bring us today,
“Saint Gregory of Narek, an extraordinary interpreter of the human soul, offers words which are prophetic for us: “I willingly blame myself with myriad accounts of all the incurable sins, from our first forefather through the end of his generations in all eternity, I charge myself with all these voluntarily” (Book of Lamentations, LXXII). How striking is his sense of universal solidarity! How small we feel before the greatness of his invocations: “Remember, [Lord,]… those of the human race who are our enemies as well, and for their benefit accord them pardon and mercy… Do not destroy those who persecute me, but reform them, root out the vile ways of this world, and plant the good in me and them” (ibid., LXXXIII).”
For Pope Francis this sort of hope lies at the heart of reform, both personal and for the Church, because it is the heart of the Lord. This year of Jubilee is meant to remind us to embrace this hope as the form of our lives and the inspiration of all our words and actions.
Pope Francis, lists signs of hope for us to keep on our hearts this year. We ought to pray for world peace, the end of war, and make ourselves peacemakers. We ought to oppose the modern predicament of losing the desire to transmit life by embracing the hope that makes one open to life and responsible parenthood. As such we need to let our churches and communities embrace a social covenant to support and foster hope based on the inclusivity of Christ who loved all and died for all rather than limiting our love to our political and ideological committments. We ought to bring hope to the imprisoned by visiting them and reforming legal systems. We ought to bring hope to the sick by visiting them and reforming broken medical structures. He also signifies the particular ways we ought to bring hope to migrants, the young, grandparents, and the poor. Each section is worth reflecting upon and shows that our prayer always will lead to concrete acts of love for those Christ holds particularly dear. This is the logic of the Church’s preferential option for the poor. In other words, we are called to be Christians.
So then, like those first followers of Christ who were told by the angel to “tell [all] the people…everything about this life” (Acts 5:20), we too ought to tell all the people everything about our lives in Christ. This has been the task of Pope Francis’ papacy where he has constantly reminded us of what it means to evangelize, encounter, accompany, and embrace synodality in our communities. Let us then, especially perhaps this lent, take up Pope Francis’ counsel and read St. Gregory of Narek’s Book of Lamentations as spiritual accompaniment for this Jubilee 2025 and have hearts set on fire by the love of God so that we can, in solidary, be pilgrims of hope to all those we encounter this year.
May the Lord bless Pope Francis and prepare his mind, body, and soul, to meet His maker and greatest love: our Triune Lord.
St. Gregory of Narek, accompany us, and, pray for us!
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