Nerses the Great

Life events

1. Born

   Nerses was born c. 1100 into the noble Pahlavuni family, the son of Apirat Pahlavuni and great-grandson of the writer and prince Grigor Magistros. His birth name is unknown; he took the name Nerses upon ordination.

2. Educated

   After the death of their father in 1111, Nerses and his brother Gregory were placed under the guardianship of Catholicos Gregory II the Martyrophile, who enrolled them at the Karmir Vank (Red Monastery) of Shughr in Cilicia. There they came under the tutelage of the scholar-monk Stepanos Manouk.

3. Ordained

   Nerses was ordained as a celibate priest by his brother Gregory III at the age of 17, and was later consecrated a bishop at the age of 35.

4. Council — 1138

   In 1138, while accompanying his brother Catholicos Gregory III on pilgrimage toward Jerusalem, Nerses participated in a synod at Antioch convened to examine the conduct of Ralph of Domfront, Latin Patriarch of Antioch. Gregory continued to Jerusalem with papal legate Alberic of Ostia; Nerses was sent back.

5. Wrote — 1165

   In 1165, during a mission to mediate between Thoros II and Oshin of Lampron, Nerses met the Byzantine governor Alexios Axouch at Mamistra and composed a written exposition of the Armenian faith at his request, arguing that the Armenian and Greek churches, both accepting the First Council of Ephesus, had no definitive grounds for division.

6. Consecrated — 1166

   Following the death of his brother Catholicos Gregory III, Nerses was elevated to Catholicos of the Armenian Church in 1166 and moved the see from Sis to Hromkla (Rumkale).

7. Council — 1171

   In 1171, Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenos sent a delegation to Hromkla led by the theologian Theorianus and John Atman, an Armenian member of the Orthodox Church, to negotiate reunion. The talks ultimately collapsed when Constantinople's nine-point demand — including imperial authority to appoint Armenian catholicoi — proved unacceptable to the Armenian clergy.

8. Died — 1173

   Nerses died on 13 August 1173, approximately 70 years old, having arranged for the succession of the catholicosate before his death. He did not live to see the question of reunion resolved.

Relationships

Documented claims

• His epithet Shnorhali (Classical Armenian: Շնորհալի), meaning 'gracious' or 'full of grace', was an honorary title associated with Karmir Vank graduates, though others attribute it to the grace of his person, speech, and irenic writing. (plausible)
• His collection Twenty-four Hour Prayers has been translated into 32 languages; one prayer, Havatov Khostovanim ('I Confess with Faith'), is available in 36 languages and remains in active liturgical use. (likely)
• He has been called 'the Fénelon of Armenia' for his efforts to draw the Armenian church out of isolation and into ecumenical dialogue with the Byzantine and Latin churches. (likely)
• During the 1171 reunion negotiations, Byzantine delegates produced confidential letters Nerses had privately exchanged with Emperor Manuel I Komnenos, embarrassing him before the Armenian clergy and hardening opposition to any reconciliation. (likely)
• Scholar James R. Russell observed that Nerses' poetry emphasizes 'the imagery of fire and light in a manner at once redolent of Hesychasm and consonant with the Zoroastrian substrate of Armenian Christian culture.' (likely)