Narsai

His stature in Syriac literature is seen as on par with Jacob's, both only second to Ephrem the Syrian. Venerated as a saint in all the modern descendants of the Church of the East; the Chaldean Catholic Church, Assyrian Church of the East, Ancient Church of the East, and Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. Saint Narsai is known as the 'Flute of the Holy Spirit.' Although many of his works seem to have been lost, eighty-one of his mēmrē (ܡܐܡܖ̈ܐ), or verse homilies survive.

• Honorific Prefix — Saint • Name — Narsai • Venerated In — Roman Catholic Church Assyrian Church of the East Ancient Church of the East Syro Malabar Church Chaldean Catholic Church • Feast Day — 30 January (Church of the East) • Born — c. 399 • Birthplace — ‘Ain Dulba (ܥܝܢ ܕܘܠܒܐ) (modern-day Iraq) • Died — c. 502 • Place of death — Nisibis, Sassanid Empire (modern-day Nusaybin, Mardin, Turkey)

The name Narsai is believed to be derived from Middle Persian Narsēh, which in turn is from Avestan Nairyō.saȵhō, meaning 'potent utterance'.

Narsai was born at ‘Ain Dulba (ܥܝܢ ܕܘܠܒܐ "Plane Tree Spring") in the district of Ma‘alləta (ܡܥܠܬܐ) in the Sasanian Empire (now in Duhok Governorate, Iraq). Being orphaned at an early age, he was raised by his uncle, who was head of the monastery of Kfar Mari (ܕܝܪܐ ܕܟܦܪ ܡܪܝ) near Beth Zabdai (ܒܝܬ ܙܒܕܝ). Narsai spent ten years as a student at the School of Edessa and later returned there to teach (c. 437), eventually becoming head of the school. Narsai was a follower of the work of Theodore of Mopsuestia. Perhaps in 471, Narsai left Edessa after disagreeing with the city's bishop Cyrus (471–498). With the help of his friend Barsauma, who was bishop of Nisibis (although Narsai and Barsauma's wife do not seem to have seen eye-to-eye), Narsai re-established the School of Nisibis. When his former school was ordered closed by Byzantine emperor Zeno in 489, it seems that many of his faithful staff and students came to join Narsai in Nisibis. Evidence from the first Statutes of the School of Nisibis, drafted in 496, shows that Narsai was still alive, and he must have been a venerable old teacher in his nineties. Narsai died sometime early in the sixth century and was buried in Nisibis in a church that was later named after him. Joseph Huzaya was one of his pupils. Narsai's extant works belong to the distinctive Syriac literary genre of the mēmrā, or homily in verse. He employs two different metres - one with couplets of seven syllables per line, the other with twelve. The mêmrê were designed to be recited in church or religious school, each an exposition of a particular theme. The later Syriac writer Abdisho bar Berika of Nisibis suggests that Narsai wrote 360 mēmrē in twelve volumes along with prose commentaries on large sections of the Old Testament and a book entitled On the Corruption of Morals. However, only eighty mēmrē remain, and none of his prose works.

Several of Narsai's festal homilies, including those on the Nativity, Epiphany, Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension, contain extended Christological reflection. Philip Michael Forness notes that these homilies suggest that, in the mid- to late fifth century, Narsai was presenting detailed Christological teaching in sermons that may have been delivered before broad liturgical audiences. His Christology is usually read within the Dyophysite tradition of the Church of the East, in contrast to the Miaphysite Christology associated with Jacob of Serugh and later Syriac Orthodox writers. Late antique sources also remembered Narsai's homilies as instruments of doctrinal controversy. According to Barhadbshabba Arbaya, Jacob of Serugh composed attractive metrical homilies that drew ordinary people away from Narsai's teaching, and Narsai responded by composing his own "orthodox" homilies in the same poetic medium. Forness cautions that this account should not be taken as a straightforward historical report, but argues that it preserves the perception that Syriac metrical homilies were understood as media through which theological conflict could and the transmission of doctrine could take place.

The corpus attributed to Narsai consists primarily of metrical homilies, or mēmrē, on biblical, liturgical, doctrinal, and moral subjects. The major Syriac edition by Alphonse Mingana contains the full text of forty-seven homilies and the incipits of thirty-four others. Later tradition credited Narsai with composing a homily for each day of the year and arranging them into twelve volumes. Forness treats this tradition cautiously, but notes that it reflects the importance attached to Narsai's homilies as a collected body of teaching.

Hundreds of works have been attributed to Narsai, but only 81 of his homilies (mēmrē) have survived. The corpus attributed to Narsai consists primarily of metrical homilies, or mēmrē, on biblical, liturgical, doctrinal, and moral subjects. His extraordinary literary production was written about by the next generation of Syriac authors, such as Barhadbshabba Arbaya, who wrote: For each day in the year, he [Narsai] composed one homily. He divided them into twelve volumes, of which each had two prophets [i.e., divisions], which all amounted to twenty-four prophets.” Narsai's surviving homilies cover a wide range of subjects. Some expound major feasts of the liturgical year, while others treat biblical figures and episodes such as Adam and Eve, Noah, the Tower of Babel, Joseph, Moses, Samson, and the Three Youths in the furnace. Others address sacramental and ecclesiastical themes, including baptism, the Eucharist, priesthood, the church, and the sanctification of the altar. The range of the corpus shows Narsai's importance not only as a controversial theologian, but also as an exegete, liturgical interpreter, and moral teacher within the East Syriac tradition. Some surviving sogitha are also attributed to Narsai, but they are considered spurious. The homilies are all poetry, and most use 12-syllable metre, with a minority using 7-syllable meter. Most, if not all, of Narsai's homilies involve biblical exegesis across liturgical, moral, and theological subjects.

• Name — Number (Macomber) — Number (Mingana) — Translations — Additional notes • On Revelations to Patriarchs and Prophets (I) — 1 — 1 — English • On Revelations to Patriarchs and Prophets (II) — 2 — 2 • On Revelations to Abraham — 3 — 3 — English • On the Nativity — 4 — - — English • On Mary (On the Incarnation) — 5 — - — English • On Epiphany — 6 — - — English • On John the Baptist — 7 — - — English • On Peter and Paul — 8 — 4 — English German • On the Four Evangelists — 9 — - • On Stephen — 10 — 5 — English • On the Three Doctors — 11 — - — French • On the Iniquity of the World — 12 — 6 — English • On Supplication (On Prayer) — 13 — 7 — English • On Jonah — 14 — 8 — English • On Reproof — 15 — 9 • On Human Nature — 16 — 16 — English • For Any Saints Day — 17 — - • On the Departed and the Resurrection — 18 — - — French • On Works — 19 — - • On Lent I — 20 — 10 — English • On the Temptation of Christ (1) — 21 — - — English • On the Temptation of Christ (2) — 22 — - • On Lent III — 23 — 11 — English • On Lent IV — 24 — 12 — English • On Reproof — 25 — 13 — English • On Lent V — 26 — 14 — English • On the Parable of the Ten Virgins — 27 — 15 — French • On the Raising of Lazarus — 28 — - • On Palm Sunday (1) — 29 — - • On Palm Sunday (2) — 30 — - • Against the Jews — 31 — 18 — Italian • On the Canaanite Women — 32 — - — English • On the Prodigal Son — 33 — - — French • On Holy Week — 34 — 19 • On the Mysteries — 35 — 17 — English French — Probable forgery • On the Passion — 36 — - — McLeod • On the Repentant Thief — 37 — 20 — English' • On Mysteries and Baptism — 38 — 21 — English French • On Baptism — 39 — 22 — English French • On the Resurrection — 40 — - — McLeod • On the Confessors — 41 — 24 • On the Martyrs (1) — 42 — 25 • On the Martyrs (2) — 43 — - — Probable forgery • On New Sunday (On the New Creation) — 44 — 26 — English • On the Ascension — 45 — - — McLeod • On Pentecost — 46 — 27 • On the Workers in the Vineyard — 47 — 28 — French • On the Rich Man and Lazarus — 48 — 28 — French • On Creation IV (On the Forming of Adam and Eve) — 49 — 29 — English French • On Humility — 50 — - • On the Antichrist — 51 — 23 • On the Second Coming — 52 — 23 — French • On the Wheat and the Tares — 53 — - — French • On the Finding of the Cross — 54 — 30 • On the Bronze Serpent — 55 — - — English • On the Dedication of the Church — 56 — - • On the Tabernacle — 57 — - — English • On Isaiah's Vision — 58 — 31 — English • On the Church and the Priesthood — 59 — 32 — English • On the Dedication of the Church — 60 — 33 — English German • On Creation II — 61 — 34 — French • On Creation III — 62 — 35 — English French • On Creation I — 63 — 36 — French • On Creation V — 64 — 37 — French • On Creation VI — 65 — 38 — French German • On the Soul — 66 — 39 — German • On the Blessing of Noah — 67 — - — English • On the Tower of Babel — 68 — - — English • On Job — 69 — 40 • On Joseph — 70 — 41 • On the Flood — 71 — - — English • On the Miracles of Moses — 72 — 42 • On Samson — 73 — 43 • On David and Saul — 74 — - • On Solomon — 75 — - • On Enoch and Elijah — 76 — - — English • On the Three Children — 77 — 44 • On Reproof of the Clergy — 78 — 45 — English • On Reproof — 79 — 46 — English • On Reproof of Women — 80 — 47 — English • On John 1:14 (On Christology) — 81 — - — English • On the Feast of the Victorious Cross — 82 • (Title Unknown) — 83 • (Title Unknown) — 84

* * * • Four mēmrē on baptism and eucharist * * * * • Five mēmrē on dominical feasts - Christmas, Epiphany, Passion of Jesus, Easter, and Ascension of Jesus - these show Narsai's christological opposition to Cyril of Alexandria in a few places * * *

* * * • Six mēmrē on Old Testament topics - on Enoch and Elijah, the Genesis flood narrative, Blessings of Noah, the Tower of Babel, the Tabernacle, and the Nehushtan * • Memra on the Three Doctors (Diodorus of Tarsus, Nestorius, and Theodore of Mopsuestia) * * • Six mēmrē on creation * * * * * * * * * • Five mēmrē on Parables of Jesus - of the Ten Virgins, of the Prodigal Son, of the rich man and Lazarus, of the Workers in the Vineyard, and of the Tares

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In 1905, Alphonse Mingana published a two-volume work with the Syriac text of 47 of these homilies. In 1970, a photographic reproduction of a manuscript with 72 of Narsai's homilies was published by Patriarchal Press. Two numbering systems are used for Narsai's homilies: one by Mingana, and a second by Macomber, in his 1970 inventory of Narsai's manuscripts. Narsai’s work continues to be published and translated in the 2020s.

• Major collection of Narsai's works, containing the full text of 47 memre and the incipits of 34 more -