Stone & Incense Search
Start hereCurious, or no faithEvangelical, Pentecostal or ProtestantFrom another faithSomeone I love is CatholicBecoming CatholicI was Catholic once Today in the ChurchLibraryHard questionsVoices of the revivalTake the next stepAboutSources & methodSupport the site
The saints

St. Gregory of Narek

An Armenian monk of the tenth century who gave words to the cry of a whole people.

Feast: 27 February · 10th century · The Middle Ages · Narek, Armenia

Read the story 1 min read
A photograph of the monastery of Narek in 1911: old stone buildings and a domed church on a hillside.

Eruand Lalayean (died 1931), 1911. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.

Home / The saints / St. Gregory of Narek

Narek, Armenia, the 10th century

In a monastery in Armenia, a monk of the tenth century is writing prayers.1

Pope Francis said he knew how to express the sentiments of his people more than anyone.1

A thousand years later, a pope chose the hundredth anniversary of his people’s great suffering to name him a Doctor of the Church.

Patronage No official patronage we can cite yet. The Church remembers him as an Armenian monk and Doctor of the Church.

01St. Gregory of Narek

A cry that became a prayer

Pope Francis said Gregory gave voice to the cry of a sinful and sorrowful humanity, illuminated by the splendor of God’s love.1

He proclaimed him a Doctor of the Church on 12 April 2015.1

In 2021 his optional memorial on 27 February was added to the General Roman Calendar.2

A photograph of the monastery of Narek in 1911: old stone buildings and a domed church on a hillside.
The monastery of Narek, photographed in 1911. Eruand Lalayean (died 1931), 1911. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.

Live it this week

Pray your sorrow honestly

Gregory gave words to the cry of a whole people. This week, write a short, honest prayer about the thing that hurts most right now: no pretty words, just the truth. Then pray it slowly, once a day.

Notes

How we know · 2 sources for this page
  1. Pope Francis, Message to the Armenian people, 12 April 2015. Holy See, official English text. vatican.va
  2. Congregation for Divine Worship, Decree on the inscription of St. Gregory of Narek, St. John of Avila and St. Hildegard of Bingen in the General Roman Calendar, 25 January 2021. Holy See, official English text. vatican.va

The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913) is in the public domain; we quote the New Advent edition. Texts of the Holy See are quoted briefly from vatican.va. Scripture: World English Bible, Catholic edition (public domain); Verse numbers are modern, with Douay-Rheims numbers in brackets where they differ. Photographs: Wikimedia Commons, credited under each image; full list on the photo credits page.

Lines in the narrator’s voice, without a note, are our reflection, not a historical claim. Stone & Incense restates Church teaching in plain words; our wording is not an official Church text. Report an errorCorrections.