The Book of Sadness

Download or read book The Book of Sadness written by Saint Grigor (Narekatsʻi) and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 512 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ""The Book of Sadness" is the principal literary masterpiece of the great Armenian writer St. Grigor Narekatsi (951-1003). Throughout the centuries it has been revered as sanctity. The wonder-working strength of "The Book of Sadness" is featured in multiple legends and traditions. Being a masterpiece of Medieval Christian writing, this book has been largely unknown to the Christian world because it is written in Old Armenian which is presently familiar only to a restricted number of scholars. Consisting of eleven thousand poetic lines arranged in 95 chapters, the book is an appeal to God by a mortal asking for forgiveness to his sins. St. Grigor Narekatsi assumes upon himself all the sins committed by mankind. There is hardly another text enumerating the human sins in more detail. ... The text contains allusions and references to the Bible in almost every line, in fact it serves as an illustration of the at-oneness of the Bible and a Christian's life. The reader finds himself in a situation where his soul and the truths and events of the Bible are closely intertwined, he eventually perceives the Holy Book as a room for his own existence rather than as a story to read. ... Throughout the centuries this book enjoyed a reputation of a universal healer. It has been believed that a person will be cured of all ailments by its mere possession. This quality of the book is many times mentioned by the author. The book is an extremely powerful proof of God's existence, the mere acquaintance with its contents will convert thousands of people into genuine faith and repentance. The book has been translated into different languages, however this is the first ever complete English translation."--