Христос посеред нас! Christ is amongst us!
I want to talk a little about Orthodox saints in this month’s article because I am often approached with questions about who our saints are and why they are so important. Orthodox saints can be found in many different cultures, areas, and times. The one thing that unites them all is that every saint achieves a lifestyle that is a reflection of Christ’s teachings. What makes them so special is that while achieving this they remain unique individuals. Following Christ does not mean that we lose our free will, and the saints of our church understood this and gave themselves up freely.
Veneration of the Saints
Technically, we are all saints because we have entered into participation with the Eucharist being the Body and Blood of Christ, a life which is sanctified by Christ. Although today we no longer refer to everyone that way, we reserve that name for those who have been canonized by the church. Different types of saints are:
- Hermitic saints – those who fought passions and evil spirits in isolation where they meditated.
- Clergy Saints - those saints who were ordained deacon, priest, or bishop.
- Lay Saints - those who lived simple lives among the laity,
- Martyrs - the sufferers and martyrs of the church who were persecuted and killed for professing their love and faith in Christ.
Icons play a very important part in remembering the importance of the saints and to remind us of the lives which the led. They show us that we are all part of the saintly community. The Clergy cense them during most services to honor them, but also to show that the faithful alive today have also been called to a saintly life and to unite us with the saints in that love and faith in Christ.
For the Orthodox Church to function properly it needs to operate in unity within the people of the physical world, as well as unity between the physical world, and the invisible world. This unity and oneness that we are called to is also displayed and portrayed within the Divine Liturgy where prayer rituals, Icons, man, and the angels unite harmoniously to worship God. During the Proskemedia, the priest begins by commemorating Christ, then the saints. He starts with a cube of Prosphora which is the LAMB, then a triangle of Prosphora which is the Theotokos is placed to the right of the LAMB, and nine smaller triangles of Prosphora in memory of the nine ranks of saints, those being: John the Baptist, the Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, Teachers, Healers, and then all the saints known and unknown, respectively. Next he commemorates the living, then the dead. All of which are placed at the foot of the LAMB. We clearly see then that the words within our Liturgy “Your own, of Your own, we offer unto you on behalf of all and for all.” are the offering of the Eucharist is as well an offering of the church. The church recognizes the importance of praying for those not just living but for those saints who have departed from this life which is why it is so important to pray to saints.
Within the Divine Liturgy we see perfect examples of how this unity with the saints is experienced and how we participate together in the Eucharist. Orthodox Liturgies are timeless, in the sense that we believe that the celebrations that take place are not re-enactments, but they are representations. Whether it is the birth, baptism, death, burial, or resurrection of Christ, when we celebrate these events through the liturgy we are in that moment actually participating in whatever event is being commemorated. When we celebrate our liturgies, in the same way that they are timeless, we believe that in that same moment we are joined with the angels that are celebrating Divine Liturgies in heaven and that in that act we are all celebrating the same liturgy. Through the prayers in the Liturgy the whole church is remembered and all are present to celebrate it.
We can learn much from studying the lives of the various saints throughout history. From studying their lives, not only do we learn about the struggles of our church and of the saints, but we can also gain insight into our own struggles and our own Christian life.
Yours in Christ,
Fr. Peter Haugen
