ST GREGORY OF NAREK, DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH - 27 FEBRUARY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN FEBRUARY

Saints celebrated on the 27th of February

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SAINT GREGORY OF NAREK, DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH 

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Saint Gregory of Narek - born A.D. 950 -  was an Armenian mystical and lyrical poet, monk, and theologian. He is venerated as a saint in the Armenian Apostolic and Catholic Churches and was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Francis in 2015.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, for instance, contains a reference to him, and St John Paul II also referred to him in his encyclical, Redemptoris Mater:

In his panegyric of the Theotokos, St Gregory of Narek, one of the outstanding glories of Armenia, with powerful poetic inspiration ponders the different aspects of the mystery of the Incarnation, and each of them is for him an occasion to sing and extol the extraordinary dignity and magnificent beauty of the Virgin Mary, Mother of the Word made flesh.

THE ARMENIAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

With the formation of the Armenian Catholic Church St Gregory received his first liturgical veneration within the Catholic Church on his feast day, October 13. He has not been officially canonised by the pope. 

Some have speculated that the declaration of Gregory as a Doctor of the Church might have served as an equipollent canonisation. Others have simply stated that the recognition of the Armenian liturgy and liturgical calendar by the Catholic Church served as a confirmation of the cultus of saints in that rite.

"MONK, DOCTOR OF THE ARMENIANS, DISTINGUISHED FOR HIS WRITINGS AND MYSTIC SCIENCE"

However, Pope Francis is now giving St Gregory a universal role in the Church. The Vaticanist Andrea Tornielli clarifies, using the future tense:

The cult of St Gregory of Narek will be marked on February 27 in the Roman Martyrology. He will be defined as “monk, doctor of the Armenians, distinguished for his writings and mystic science.” 

The papal decision comes just weeks before Francis is due to commemorate the centenary of the Armenian massacre on April 12 in St Peter’s Basilica. 

As Gregory of Narek does not appear currently in the Roman Martyrology, or Butler’s Lives of the Saints (though this is certainly unofficial), it seems that a new feast day for the Latin calendar is forthcoming.

EQUIPOLLENT OR EQUIVALENT CANONISATION

When Pope Benedict XVI declared St Hildegard von Bingen as a Doctor of Church he used the process of equipollent or equivalent canonisation, as she also had not been formally canonised. 

Even St Albert the Great was canonised in this fashion when he was declared a doctor of the Church in 1931 by Pope Pius XI. 

Pope Benedict used this process of canonisation a few other times and Pope Francis has done so with even greater regularity, so much so, that Vatican Radio felt the need to explain the process:

When there is strong devotion among the faithful toward holy men and women who have not been canonised, the Pope can choose to authorise their veneration as saints without going through that whole process. This is often done when the saints lived so long ago that fulfilling all the requirements of canonisation would be exceedingly difficult.

Information from https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2015/02/26/st-gregory-of-narek-was-the-new-doctor-of-the-church-a-catholic/