Saints vs saints the difference?

[Vermax]

Could someone please explain to me how the Orthodox view the idea of saints? Are they, as described in certain parts of the Scriptures every believer, or those that have set themselves apart because of some special act or position held in the context of their religious life?

And perhaps some additional light could be shed on how the Church participated in the naming of them. (If the Orthodox even do this?) Do you have a cannonization process, etc?

 

[Gregorios]

The answer to your first question is, yes, the answer to your second I will copy and paste for you:
The people of the church do not create saints, they recognize as saints those whom God himself has glorified, seeing in their lives true love for God and their neighbors.
From the beginning, the Church recognized the righteous ancestors of Christ, forefathers, as grace-filled men and women whose lives were pleasing to God. Also the prophets who predicted Christ's coming and the apostles and evangelists who proclaimed the Gospel were assumed to be saints.
Next the martyrs and confessors who risked their lives and shed their blood in witness to Christ were also recognized as saints.
In time, ascetics who followed Christ through self denial, were numbered among the saints.
Bishops and priests who fought against heresy and proclaimed the true faith are recognized by the Church as saints.
Today, holy people, in all walks of life, can be recognized as saints.

So, some saints are "glorified" that is added to the calendar for commemoration and this is determined at the local level then the universal level at Synods and the like. Other Saints, we may never know, but God knows. This may not be very helpful, especially given the fact I am not very Orthodox and unworthy of the name as is constantly pointed out to me..but this is my understanding of the process, so take it with a grain of salt.

 

[Vermax]

The answer to your first question is, yes, the answer to your second I will copy and paste for you:
The people of the church do not create saints, they recognize as saints those whom God himself has glorified, seeing in their lives true love for God and their neighbors.
From the beginning, the Church recognized the righteous ancestors of Christ, forefathers, as grace-filled men and women whose lives were pleasing to God. Also the prophets who predicted Christ's coming and the apostles and evangelists who proclaimed the Gospel were assumed to be saints.
Next the martyrs and confessors who risked their lives and shed their blood in witness to Christ were also recognized as saints.
In time, ascetics who followed Christ through self denial, were numbered among the saints.
and who fought against and proclaimed the true faith are recognized by the Church as saints.
Today, holy people, in all walks of life, can be recognized as saints.

So, some saints are "glorified" that is added to the calendar for commemoration and this is determined at the local level then the universal level at Synods and the like. Other Saints, we may never know, but God knows. This may not be very helpful, especially given the fact I am not very Orthodox and unworthy of the name as is constantly pointed out to me..but this is my understanding of the process, so take it with a grain of salt.

Well, that helps. Especially the "glorified" explanation. I was trying to figure out how to answer our Protestant bretheren when the subject of "saints" comes up and the word glorified answers it. Thanks.

 

[Ortho_Cat]

Saints are exemplary versions of ourselves, the saints. Role models for the Christian life, so to speak. They provide us with hope and vision for who we can become in Christ.

 

[Vermax]

Saints are exemplary versions of ourselves, the saints. Role models for the Christian life, so to speak. They provide us with hope and vision for who we can become in Christ.

Oh yes, I quite agree. They show us it can be done!

 

[E.C.]

We're all baseball players, but not everybody is Babe Ruth or Jackie Robinson.

 

[ArmyMatt]

Could someone please explain to me how the Orthodox view the idea of saints? Are they, as described in certain parts of the Scriptures every believer, or those that have set themselves apart because of some special act or position held in the context of their religious life?

well, I think the answer is yes and yes. think of icons. every icon is blessed for God's use (ie holy), and yet some really holy ones weep myrrh or tears or oil etc. similiarly, every Christian is baptised and sealed with the Holy Spirit (ie a saint), there are some who draw so close to Him that they serve as examples for the rest of us.

And perhaps some additional light could be shed on how the Church participated in the naming of them. (If the Orthodox even do this?) Do you have a cannonization process, etc?

well the canonization process for us usually starts at a local level, and slowly but surely veneration of the saint grows, sometimes by opponents of the saint who repent or whatever, and other times veneration grows out of the saint's country. the lives and witness of the saint are looked at, and if God reveals that this person should be added to the calander, the person is officially glorified a saint.

 

[truthseeker32]

It may simply be that I am still quite new to orthodox saints, but it seems like a lot of them are saints simply because they lived as self denying hermits. While I respect man's control over himself and prayer, I think individuals, especially saints, should be more involved in helping the poor and lowly of society in an attempt to create a more just world. Please correct me if I am wrong.

 

[E.C.]

It may simply be that I am still quite new to orthodox saints, but it seems like a lot of them are saints simply because they lived as self denying hermits. While I respect man's control over himself and prayer, I think individuals, especially saints, should be more involved in helping the poor and lowly of society in an attempt to create a more just world. Please correct me if I am wrong.

There are a great deal of saints like that.

Look up the wonderworkers and the mercifuls.

 

[Vermax]

It may simply be that I am still quite new to orthodox saints, but it seems like a lot of them are saints simply because they lived as self denying hermits. While I respect man's control over himself and prayer, I think individuals, especially saints, should be more involved in helping the poor and lowly of society in an attempt to create a more just world. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Not to say you are wrong, but a person devoting their lives to God and prayer, and the main act of that prayer is praying for other souls is to me helping others as much as doing other acts of charity here on earth. Could not both type of actions be as equal as the other and just as pleasing to God?

 

[Knee V]

It may simply be that I am still quite new to orthodox saints, but it seems like a lot of them are saints simply because they lived as self denying hermits. While I respect man's control over himself and prayer, I think individuals, especially saints, should be more involved in helping the poor and lowly of society in an attempt to create a more just world. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Not to say you are wrong, but a person devoting their lives to God and prayer, and the main act of that prayer is praying for other souls is to me helping others as much as doing other acts of charity here on earth. Could not both type of actions be as equal as the other and just as pleasing to God?

Indeed. Praying for the world is an important task, and there's no knowing the extent to which those people's prayers have helped the world, as well as individual lives. Also, those men and women serve as lights to the rest of us. We can seek their guidance and prayers, and take that back into the world with us so that our light might be that much brighter.

 

[ArmyMatt]

I would say check out the lives of saints like St Maria of Paris, or what saints like St John Chrysostom and St Basil the great say about helping the poor. St John went so far as to say that feeding the hungry is a greater miracle than raising the dead.