St.
Nerses Lambronatsi is remembered as one of the most significant figures
in Armenian ecclesiastical and literary history for his relatively
short, but prolific life during the time of the Armenian Kingdom of
Cilicia.
He
was born in 1153 in the fortress of Lambron. His baptismal name was
Smpad. He was son of Oshin II, the lord of Lambron, from the Hetumian
family, and nephew of Catholicos Nerses IV Shnorhali (1166–1173). His
mother Shahandukht, from the Pahlavuni family, was a descendant of St.
Gregory the Illuminator. He received his early education at the
monastery of Skevra, which was continued at the superior school of
Hromkla, the seat of the Catholicosate of All Armenians, under the
supervision of his uncle Nerses and his successor Grigor III Tgha
(1173-1193). Ordained in 1169 at the age of 16 by his uncle, who gave
him his own name, he was elevated to episcopacy and consecrated
Archbishop of Tarsus in 1175, at the age of twenty-two.
Nerses
Lambronatsi was well versed in sacred and profane sciences and had an
excellent knowledge of Greek, Latin, Syriac, and probably Coptic. He
preferred to lead a life of meditation and solitude, and since he did
not feel ready to take upon his administrative duties, he visited the
monasteries in the region of Antioch to get acquainted with monastic
life among non-Armenians and to satisfy his scholarly appetite. During
this period, he translated
The Rule of St. Benedict, The Dialogues of Pope Gregory the Great,
and the Book of Revelation (1179).
Nerses
contributed to the promotion of literacy, helped schools and libraries,
monasteries and churches, and made a substantial donation towards the
purchase and copy of manuscripts. He ordered or personally copied many
ancient Armenian manuscripts, including the oldest and best extant copy
of Gregory of Narek’s
Book of Tragedy,
which he ordered in 1173.
Returning
to his pastoral duties, Nerses became a champion of the cause of Church
unity. By unity he did not mean absorption of one Church by the other,
and he remained a staunch defender of the Christological position of the
Armenian Church. He has been regarded as a forerunner of the current
ecumenical movement. In 1179 he attended the Council of Hromkla, where
he may have delivered his address on unity, the
Synodal Discourse,
considered a masterpiece of eloquence and style. He was a first-rate
orator, and his other speeches, homilies, panegyrics, and orations have
literary merit. In 1195 he wrote
Letter to King Levon,
a spirited piece of polemical literature, where he rejected the accusations of having taken a pro-Byzantine position.
Nerses Lambronatsi is one of the most prolific writers in Armenian literature, and famous as a writer and translator. His
Commentary on the Mystery of the Mass
is
still one of the best commentaries on the Eucharist in the Armenian
Church. He also wrote other interpretive works, including commentaries
on Cyril of Jerusalem’s various writings and others on the Psalms, the
books of Solomon, the Book of Daniel, the Gospel of Matthew, et cetera,
and a biography in verse of his uncle St. Nerses Shnorhali.
Lambronatsi
was also interested in ecclesiastic and secular law. The lack of a
written code of civil law led him to translate various legal works from
Greek and Syriac that were used until the adoption of the
Code of Law
of Mekhitar Gosh. A multifaceted author, he also wrote the letter and music of twenty-three liturgical hymns (
sharagan
).
The
union of the Armenian and Greek Churches was decided upon but never
consummated due to the death of Emperor Manuel I Comnenus in 1180.
Manuel's successors abandoned the negotiations and persecuted the
Armenians. However, Levon II, Prince of Cilicia, made a last effort in
1197. He sent an embassy to Constantinople led by Nerses, which engaged
in discussions on religious questions with Emperor Alexius III Angelus
and Patriarch George II, without success.
Prince
Levon wanted to secure the title of king for himself and sought the
support of Pope Celestine III and of Emperor Henry VI of the Holy Roman
Empire. The Pope sent Conrad, Archbishop of Mainz, to Tarsus, where
Levon was crowned king on January 6, 1198.
Six
months later, on July 14, 1198, Nerses Lambronatsi, who had spent his
last years at the court as secretary, palace counsel, and translator,
suddenly passed away in the monastery of Skevra while he was giving a
sermon and was buried there. He was later canonized by the Armenian
Church.
His
students dedicated songs to him and wrote biographical sketches of his
life. One of those students, Grigor Skevratsi, characterized his teacher
in the following terms: “He emanated like a source, advanced like a
river, and expanded like a sea.”
