Exploring Eastern Christianity series: book 9
Book 9 in the Exploring Eastern Christianity series (Verkenning Oosters Christendom) is by Theo Maarten van Lint on Saint Grigor Narekatsi.
Avid religious studies and Eastern Christianity enthousiasts will be happy to know that this book is currently available for purchase from the IVOC secretariaat.
Here you can read a short summary of book 9:
Theo Maarten van Lint, Calouste Gulbentian Professor of Armenian Studies at the University of Oxford since 2002, has published a book entitled “Sint Grigor Narekatsi’s Boek der weeklaging: Een religieuse en literair meesterwerk van een tiende-eeuwse mysticus en kerkleraar”. This publication is the 9th book in the Exploration of Eastern Christianity (Verkenningen Oosters Christendom) series and delves into the life and work of the Armenian poet and theologian Grigor Narekatsi (c. 950-1003).
Set in the background of his immediate surroundings in the Narek monastery and school on the southern bank of the Vanmeer in the Vaspoerakan Kingdom, author Maarten van Lint introduces the reader to Narekatsi’s world in the Boek der weeklaging (also called the Narek). This is a literary and spiritual masterwork consisting of 95 poem-prayers. The Narek can be considered a prayer, penance and meditation of a believer in the depth of an existential crisis, desperately seeking God, and gives a unique perspective into Narekatsi’s reality, as well as his spiritual and literary legacy.
This publication is a edited version of the lecture and masterclass of the same name from Theo Maarten van Lint, which was held on 21 and 22 November 2019 at the Radboud University in Nijmegen, as an invitation from the Institute for Eastern Christian Studies (IVOC). The book is available via the IVOC secretariaat (secretariaat@ivoc.ru.nl).