Saints in the Orthodox Church
Another wise and informative post by Mr Suraj Iype! One of these days he'll start his own blog!
P.S. Yes .. I will start blogging again soon. Thanks to those who sent messages noticing my absence :)
--- In IndianOrthodox@yahoogroups.com, Suraj Iype wrote:
>
> Dear Sajy,
>
> The Orthodox traditionally have not had a set process like the one followed by Rome, in the early days the procedure followed by the Church can be characterized by the dictum " Vox pouli, Vox Dei" ( The voice of the people, is the voice of God). The people here being the people of God (both lay and clergy).
>
> Martyrs and holy men and women were venerated and remembered in the areas where they lived, the people of God in that area over a period had a consciousness that such and such person was a saint. Usually at some point, when the veneration of such person had become sufficiently popular it was introduced into the liturgical calendar, hymns proper to the Dukhrono were composed and so on. Many like the Saints of the Fifth Tubden were so popular that their memory was celebrated by Churches all over. Thus we can find saints who remembered by the Local church and some who are universally recognized everywhere.
>
> Thus the Church never declared a person a saint and thus thrust him upon the people, but merely confirmed and recognized what the people already believed.
>
> Rome systematized this process, while there is no harm in having a set system for this, the Roman system contradicts Orthodox ecclessiology because the declaration of Sainthood comes only from Rome, ideally each local church should have the ability to recognize its Saints.
> In the Orthodox view the Church does not "declare" one a saint,the Synod just confirms and proclaims what God has done in the life of a particular person.
>
> Some Orthodox Churches like the Russian and ours have some systems where in the life of a Saint is carefully studied before a proclamation is made. Most Orthodox Churches however have a much more informal system which follows the ancient practice more closely.
>
> Suraj Iype
> Sivasagar.
>
P.S. Yes .. I will start blogging again soon. Thanks to those who sent messages noticing my absence :)
--- In IndianOrthodox@yahoogroups.com, Suraj Iype wrote:
>
> Dear Sajy,
>
> The Orthodox traditionally have not had a set process like the one followed by Rome, in the early days the procedure followed by the Church can be characterized by the dictum " Vox pouli, Vox Dei" ( The voice of the people, is the voice of God). The people here being the people of God (both lay and clergy).
>
> Martyrs and holy men and women were venerated and remembered in the areas where they lived, the people of God in that area over a period had a consciousness that such and such person was a saint. Usually at some point, when the veneration of such person had become sufficiently popular it was introduced into the liturgical calendar, hymns proper to the Dukhrono were composed and so on. Many like the Saints of the Fifth Tubden were so popular that their memory was celebrated by Churches all over. Thus we can find saints who remembered by the Local church and some who are universally recognized everywhere.
>
> Thus the Church never declared a person a saint and thus thrust him upon the people, but merely confirmed and recognized what the people already believed.
>
> Rome systematized this process, while there is no harm in having a set system for this, the Roman system contradicts Orthodox ecclessiology because the declaration of Sainthood comes only from Rome, ideally each local church should have the ability to recognize its Saints.
> In the Orthodox view the Church does not "declare" one a saint,the Synod just confirms and proclaims what God has done in the life of a particular person.
>
> Some Orthodox Churches like the Russian and ours have some systems where in the life of a Saint is carefully studied before a proclamation is made. Most Orthodox Churches however have a much more informal system which follows the ancient practice more closely.
>
> Suraj Iype
> Sivasagar.
>
Comments
Anil George
http://www.stmaryscathedral.net