Armenian Liturgical Commentaries in the Twenty-First Century: What the Changes in an Ancient Christian Genre Tell us about the Oriental Orthodox Today

This chapter argues that contemporary examples of the genre of the liturgical commentary, read through the long practice of commentary on the liturgy of the Oriental Orthodox Churches, reveal important practical ecclesiological concerns around the shared experience of living in Diaspora. It focuses specifically on the long tradition of liturgical commentaries in the Armenian Apostolic Church, offering a short overview of the commentary genre and the rich body of Armenian liturgical commentaries. Looking at earlier Armenian texts, the chapter argues that the genre of liturgical commentary offers a platform, in large part through a focus on the central sacrament of the eucharist, for clerical writers to express concerns and anxieties about the ecclesiological and communal situation of their time. Turning to two twentieth and twenty-first century commentaries, by Archbishop Tiran Nersoyan and Bishop Vahan Hovhanessian, the chapter demonstrates that concerns about modern life, especially about understanding the liturgy and the situation of diaspora, are refracted through these commentaries. It concludes by suggesting that the insights gleaned from reading liturgical commentaries will also be relevant for other Oriental Orthodox churches, who in the twenty-first century share many of the same concerns and the situation of dispersion.