His foremost comrade and partner, first in number and
primacy, the solid Rock, the seven-word confession to his credit, the chosen
and glorified in harmony with the mystical cycle of this world’s beginning and
end, is Cephas, who was pronounced blessed by the lips of the Giver of Life, was
inspired by the Father’s benevolence and made wise. And moved by the Spirit of
Wisdom to confess rightly, having discerned the eternal purpose for the
inscrutable birth, he was deservedly blessed by the statement of the uncreated
one: “Blessed are you, Simon, heir to Jonah.” This indescribable gift of
blessedness recorded in the Gospel, the very voice of the Creator, is bestowed
on all those who join in making the same confession of faith. For when we are
in accord with their confession, we become partakers in (their) glory. And by
(their) petitioning the Existence who became man, we become fortified by the
power of their words and shielded by (their) eternal hope. For the incarnate
Savior asked for the redemption of Adam’s progeny, saying: “O my Father on
high, I pray that just as in their case, (you bless also) those who will
believe in me through their word.” (Gregory of Narek, Encomium on the Holy
Apostles 10:45-48, in The Festal Works of St. Gregory of Narek: Annotated
Translation of the Odes, Litanies, and Encomia [trans. Abraham Terian; Collegeville,
Minn.: Pueblo Book, 2016], 332-33)
You were sent with deserved glory by the One who
descended from the concealed bosom. Through your ordination Agabus and Timothy
became prophets. From your ranks the evangelists arose: Mark, the saintly youth
who was named High, a disciple of the Rock; Luke, the bearer of the resplendent
resurrection, teller of the story of the ascension, an Antiochian young man, a
master healer of souls rather than of bodies; others from among you (were)
shepherds and teachers. (Encomium on the Holy Apostles 12:60, in ibid., 334)
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