Eastern Saints
- Thread starter PioMagnus
- Start date
- Status
R
Rilian
Guest
I think essentially like this:
- Veneration begins at a local level around someone who displayed holiness in their life.
- The local church recognizes this at some point by holding a service of glorification and adding them to the calendar.
- At some point the other churches also recognize the saint and add them to their calendars.
It's actually all pretty informal oddly enough. There's no requirement of miracles, no investigation of their life and so on. Wikipedia says the following in their entry about Saints:
Eastern Orthodoxy
In the Eastern Orthodox Church a Saint is defined as anyone who is currently in Heaven, whether recognized here on earth, or not. By this definition, Adam and Eve, Moses, the various Prophets, the Angels and Archangels are all given the title of "Saint". While there is a formal service of Glorification in which a Saint is recognized by the entire church, there is no process of investigation. Popularity is often a key to the Church recognizing a Saint. There are numerous small local followings of countless saints that have not reached the popularity to be recognized by the entire church. For the Orthodox, such recognition is unnecessary. It is believed that God reveals his Saints to us, often by miracles or visions. Example: In Orthodox countries it is often the custom to re-use graves after 3 to 5 years because of the limited space. Bones are respectfully washed and placed in an ossuary, often with the persons name written on the skull. Occasionally when a body is exhumed something miraculous occurs to reveal the persons Sainthood. There have been numerous occurrences where the exhumed bones suddenly give off a wonderful fragrance, like flowers; or sometimes the body is incorrupted, just as it was on the day the person died, despite having not been embalmed (traditionally the Orthodox do not embalm the dead) and having been buried for 3 years. The reason relics are considered sacred is because, for the Orthodox, the separation of body and soul is unnatural. Body and soul both comprise the person, and in the end, body and soul will be reunited; therefore, the body of a saint shares in the Holiness of the soul of the saint.
Because the Church shows no true distinction between the living and the dead (The Saints are alive in Heaven) the Orthodox treat the saints as if they were still here. They venerate them and ask for their prayers and consider them brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. Saints are venerated and loved and asked to intercede for our salvation, but it should be clearly understood that they are not Worshiped; their holiness is from God who alone is worthy of Adoration. As Christ says in the Gospels, "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." (Matt 4:10). The relics of Saints are highly respected, even more so than the Roman Catholics. As a general rule only clergy will touch relics in order to move them or carry them in procession, however, in veneration the faithful will kiss the relic to show love and respect toward the saint. Every altar in every Orthodox church contains relics, usually of martyrs. The Church building interiors are covered with the Icons of saints.
In the Orthodox Church, baptism is the moment one is born again into Christ. The person entering the baptismal font is not the same person that emerges. It is for this reason that the person is given a new name; always the name of a saint. What is proper is that the person no longer goes by his old name because that person is dead, but uses the new name exclusively. It is also common that instead of birthdays, the person celebrates his Saints Day, the day on the Church calendar ascribed to that particular saint.
- Veneration begins at a local level around someone who displayed holiness in their life.
- The local church recognizes this at some point by holding a service of glorification and adding them to the calendar.
- At some point the other churches also recognize the saint and add them to their calendars.
It's actually all pretty informal oddly enough. There's no requirement of miracles, no investigation of their life and so on. Wikipedia says the following in their entry about Saints:
Eastern Orthodoxy
In the Eastern Orthodox Church a Saint is defined as anyone who is currently in Heaven, whether recognized here on earth, or not. By this definition, Adam and Eve, Moses, the various Prophets, the Angels and Archangels are all given the title of "Saint". While there is a formal service of Glorification in which a Saint is recognized by the entire church, there is no process of investigation. Popularity is often a key to the Church recognizing a Saint. There are numerous small local followings of countless saints that have not reached the popularity to be recognized by the entire church. For the Orthodox, such recognition is unnecessary. It is believed that God reveals his Saints to us, often by miracles or visions. Example: In Orthodox countries it is often the custom to re-use graves after 3 to 5 years because of the limited space. Bones are respectfully washed and placed in an ossuary, often with the persons name written on the skull. Occasionally when a body is exhumed something miraculous occurs to reveal the persons Sainthood. There have been numerous occurrences where the exhumed bones suddenly give off a wonderful fragrance, like flowers; or sometimes the body is incorrupted, just as it was on the day the person died, despite having not been embalmed (traditionally the Orthodox do not embalm the dead) and having been buried for 3 years. The reason relics are considered sacred is because, for the Orthodox, the separation of body and soul is unnatural. Body and soul both comprise the person, and in the end, body and soul will be reunited; therefore, the body of a saint shares in the Holiness of the soul of the saint.
Because the Church shows no true distinction between the living and the dead (The Saints are alive in Heaven) the Orthodox treat the saints as if they were still here. They venerate them and ask for their prayers and consider them brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. Saints are venerated and loved and asked to intercede for our salvation, but it should be clearly understood that they are not Worshiped; their holiness is from God who alone is worthy of Adoration. As Christ says in the Gospels, "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." (Matt 4:10). The relics of Saints are highly respected, even more so than the Roman Catholics. As a general rule only clergy will touch relics in order to move them or carry them in procession, however, in veneration the faithful will kiss the relic to show love and respect toward the saint. Every altar in every Orthodox church contains relics, usually of martyrs. The Church building interiors are covered with the Icons of saints.
In the Orthodox Church, baptism is the moment one is born again into Christ. The person entering the baptismal font is not the same person that emerges. It is for this reason that the person is given a new name; always the name of a saint. What is proper is that the person no longer goes by his old name because that person is dead, but uses the new name exclusively. It is also common that instead of birthdays, the person celebrates his Saints Day, the day on the Church calendar ascribed to that particular saint.
Upvote
0
- Status
Similar threads
