From a Den of Thieves to a House of Sparkling Gems: The Armenian Reconsecration of a Polluted Church

The Armenian rite known as the Canon for the Dedication of the Church Polluted by the Lawless offers the opportunity to reflect methodologically on the relationship between liturgy and medieval Armenian architecture, sculpture, painting, epigraphy, and landscape. In its readings and prayers, this rite pursues themes of pollution and purity, including such vivid images as rotting fruit and menstrual rags, highlighting Maccabean concepts of the law ( ). In so doing, it endows the church setting with various identities from moment to moment: a fruiterers’ hut, a den of thieves, the Temple of Solomon, the Temple rededicated by the Maccabees, the Temple defiled by the moneychangers, and a structure founded with sapphire and surrounded by gems. Examining this rite in relation to specific Armenian monuments illustrates the dynamic and reciprocal relationship between Armenian liturgical texts and architecture and the potential of liturgy to illuminate the meaning and perception of churches in medieval Armenia.