Public experience

Gregory of Narek, "The Book of Lamentations"

The Book of Lamentations (Classical Armenian: Մատեան ողբերգութեան, Matean voghbergut’yan) is widely considered Narekatsi's masterpiece. It is often simply called Narek (Նարեկ).Completed towards the end of his life, circa 1002–03, the work has been described as a monologue, a personal lyric and confessional poem, mystical and meditative. It is composed of 95 chapters and over 10,000 lines. Almost all chapters (except two) are titled "Words unto God from the Depths of My Heart". The chapters, which are prayers or elegies, vary in length, but all address God. The central theme is the metaphysical and existential conflict between Narekatsi's desire to be perfect, as taught by Jesus, and his own realization that it is impossible and between the divine grace and his own sense of one's own unworthiness to receive that grace. However, the love and mercy of the all-embracing, all-forgiving, and amazing grace of God compensates the unworthiness of man. The book is considered a masterpiece of Christian spiritual literature and the "most beloved work of Armenian literature." It has been historically kept in Armenian homes. Scholars have described its popularity among Armenians as being second only to the Bible.[d] In 1853 American missionary H. G. O. Dwight wrote that the book "it is esteemed as one of the best specimens of fine writing in the [Armenian] language." For centuries, Armenians have treasured the book as an enchanted treasure and have attributed to it miraculous powers. For instance, one passage has been read to the ill in expectation of a cure. In the 21st century, psychiatrist Armen Nersisyan has claimed to have developed a unique type of therapy based on the book, which can cure many diseases, at least partly. The book's first complete publication was done by Voskan Yerevantsi in Marseille, France in 1673. While the first complete commentary was published in Constantinople in 1745. The work has been translated into English, Russian, French, Arabic and Persian. There are three English translations of the book, with the first one appearing in 1977