Экклесиология Симеона Пгиндзаханкского ; The Ecclesiology Of Symeon Of Peghendzahank

The article discusses the ecclesiological views of the 13th-century Armenian translator and hieromonk Symeon of Peghendzahank (Akhtala) Monastery. Firstly, it is argued that the third, independent part of the translated polemical treatise “Answers to the Armenians” belongs to Symeon. Then, the author’s ecclesiological views contained in it are subjected to a source and theological analysis. Symeon of Peghendzahank appears as a skillful theologian who creatively used and synthesized Armenian sources and Byzantine authors such as Dionysius the Areopagite (Peter Knapheus), Maximus the Confessor and Niketas Stethatos. Simeon’s ecclesiology is based on the doctrine of Pentarchy, but the Armenian author made his adjustments to this principle taking into account the ecclesiastical and political realities of his time. The monk’s critical attitude to the canonical violations found in the Armenian Apostolic Church (private requiem liturgies behind closed doors, lack of vestments) is in line with the position of Catholicos Nerses the Gracious and Archbishop Nerses of Lambron (12th century). Particularly noteworthy is Simeon’s approach to the image of St. Gregory the Illuminator, whom he regards as the personification of the unity of the Armenian Church with the Universal Church. It is interesting to consider Symeon’s ecclesiological views in comparison with the murals of the altar of the catholicon of Peghendzahank Monastery, where the will of its patron Ivane Zakarian-Yerkaynabazuk (in Georgian: Mkhargrdzeli) was decisive. Simeon’s ecclesiology is an important key to understanding the peculiarities of the church architecture of the Orthodox Armenians of the Zakarian period, namely the syntronon, the deaconicon and the outer narthex for catechumens. Despite the sharp polemical tone reflecting the spirit of his time, Simeon’s reflections on the mystical essence of the Church and its material structure form some of the exceptionally valuable pages of medieval Armenian theology.