February 27, 2026
Friday of the First Week of Lent / Memorial of St. Gregory of Narek
Gospel: Matthew 5:20-26
A Counsel to Upright Conduct

Today the Church celebrates the optional memorial of St. Gregory of Narek, Abbot and Doctor of the Church. St. Gregory of Narek (c. 945–950) was born in a village on the shores of Lake Van. After his parents’ death, he and his brother were raised by a learned uncle, who arranged for them to be educated at the Narek Monastery where he himself was a monk. The monastery, a renowned centre of learning located in present-day Turkey, became Gregory’s home. He entered monastic life there and received Holy Orders in 977.

As a theological professor, Gregory wrote a mystical commentary on the Song of Songs, and a mystical long poem entitled The Book of Prayer for The Book of Lamentations. He likened this work to “an encyclopaedia of prayer for all nations.” A classic of Armenian literature, it has been translated into 30 languages. A Russian version of The Book of Lamentations was set to music in 1985.

Little is known of St. Gregory of Narek’s life beyond his death in the early 11th century, as he was laid to rest in the Narek Monastery where he had spent his life. In 2015, on the centenary of the Armenian Genocide under the Ottoman Empire, Pope Francis celebrated Mass with Patriarch Nerses Bedros XIX Tarmouni of the Armenian Catholic Church in the Vatican, proclaiming Gregory of Narek—monk, poet, and saint of the Armenian Apostolic Church—a Doctor of the Church. On January 25, 2021, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments issued a decree inserting St. Gregory of Narek, Abbot and Doctor, into the General Roman Calendar.

Today, the merciful Lord Jesus Christ, through the Gospel according to St. Matthew, exhorts us to upright conduct. He tells us: I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven (cf. Mt 5:20). This means: if we choose to receive Christian Baptism and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, our observance of God’s law must not remain superficial but must flow from the heart, guided by the Holy Spirit, living out the true meaning of God’s law.

The true meaning of God’s law is love. It requires us to love Him from the depths of our being and to extend that love to our neighbours. Our neighbours include not only those who share our views but also those who differ from us. As we come before the altar of the Lord, let us reflect: Am I willing to accept them, just as Jesus Christ, crucified, opened His arms to all, even interceding for those who harmed Him?

Grant that your faithful, O Lord, we pray,
may be so conformed to the paschal observances,
that the bodily discipline now solemnly begun
may bear fruit in the souls of all.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever

©Totus Tuus 2026
Cum Approbatione Ecclesiastica