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This is a carry over from one of the Praying to Saints threads:
Originally Posted by GreekOrthodox
@Narnia,
Yeah we do have patron saints in those regards such as the saints name for a church (St. Gregory the Theologian or event like Annunciation. My own patron is St. John Chrysostom. I'm more interested in how the patron saint of X (firefighting, lost causes, or my own favorite, St. Isadore, patron saint of the Internet, Isidore of Seville - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ) came about. As a former Lutheran, that was one of my own objections to prayers to the saints.
Narnia
Brian
Can you explain why the idea of patrons for certain causes was a specific problem for you (assuming you accepted the idea of prayers to the saints in general)?
I don't think there's any sort of official church method involved in assigning saints to specific causes -- I think it's more a matter of the piety of the faithful who begin those traditions.
But are you sure the Orthodox don't have patron saints for specific causes? Because I just googled and found:
A patron saint is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, or person. Since the time of the early Christians up to the present, a vast number of patron saints have been recorded.
Patron saint - OrthodoxWiki
Perhaps it is common in some parts of Orthodoxy and not in others?
Originally Posted by GreekOrthodox
@Narnia,
Yeah we do have patron saints in those regards such as the saints name for a church (St. Gregory the Theologian or event like Annunciation. My own patron is St. John Chrysostom. I'm more interested in how the patron saint of X (firefighting, lost causes, or my own favorite, St. Isadore, patron saint of the Internet, Isidore of Seville - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ) came about. As a former Lutheran, that was one of my own objections to prayers to the saints.
Narnia
Brian
Can you explain why the idea of patrons for certain causes was a specific problem for you (assuming you accepted the idea of prayers to the saints in general)?
I don't think there's any sort of official church method involved in assigning saints to specific causes -- I think it's more a matter of the piety of the faithful who begin those traditions.
But are you sure the Orthodox don't have patron saints for specific causes? Because I just googled and found:
A patron saint is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, or person. Since the time of the early Christians up to the present, a vast number of patron saints have been recorded.
Patron saint - OrthodoxWiki
Perhaps it is common in some parts of Orthodoxy and not in others?