Making Saints?
Does the Orthodox Church “make
Saints”? How does it go about the
process of declaring who is a saint? Is
it the same process followed by the Roman Catholic Church requiring several
steps including the verification of miracles?
From the beginning of Christianity, the group of the disciples
identified themselves as “saints”, the holy people of God. St. Paul begins most of his epistles with a
similar greeting: To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi…(Philippians 1:1) There began a slow change in
this understanding as some of these early Christians renounced the faith under
persecution by the Romans and others suffered martyrdom for their love of
Christ. Who were truly these saints in Jesus Christ? The epistle of
St. James states that the prayer of a
righteous man has great power in its effects.
(James 5:16) Who is such a
righteous person that his or her prayers have great power? For these early believers the martyrs who
were tortured, crucified, burned alive, and beheaded were honored as the truly
holy people of God and as the righteous people whose prayers have power. From the 2nd century there is
written evidence that these earliest Christians honored the memories of these
martyrs on the anniversaries of their martyrdoms at the place of their burial,
collected and honored their remains, and repeated the stories of their
courageous actions. (read the record of the martyrdom of St.
Ignatius of Antioch or St. Polycarp of Smyrna) In
these early centuries, there was no formal process to declare who deserved the
title saint, the very fact of their
martyrdom was proof enough that they were now in the presence of God.
The Early Church
With the legalization of Christianity by
the Emperor St. Constantine in the 4th century the age of the
martyrs came to an end but the Christians continued to recognize as role models
in the Faith men and women who were outstanding in the faith, service and devotion
to Jesus Christ and His Church. The
Church began to honor those who were Confessors
of Christ, that is those who suffered by confessing their faith in Christ
but were not killed. Another group of
Christians honored for their devotion to Christ were the ascetics, men and women who renounced the world to live in the
remote desert to devote themselves to continual prayer, fasting, and spiritual
warfare: a voluntary martyrdom. These Confessors and Ascetics were also
honored as the holy people of God whose prayers had great power. Since the witness of their lives were not as
clear as that of the holy martyrs, they were venerated publicly only with the
approval of the local bishop. As early
as the third century, St. Cyprian of Carthage (died 258), warned that special
care be taken to investigate the lives of these holy people to prevent
recognition and honor given to undeserving persons. He even recommended that the circumstances of
the deaths of the martyrs be closely examined to insure that they did, in fact,
die for their faith in Jesus Christ.
There is an interesting story from the 4th century, related
by St. Optatus, of a woman in the North African city of Carthage named Lucilla
who was reprimanded by the Church for venerating the relics of a martyr whose
claims to martyrdom had not been investigated and proved.
The
Church Today
The
Orthodox Church to this day follows the same simple process of acknowledging
what individuals were truly the holy people of God. The Church does not “make saints” but after an investigation it determines, as far as
it can determine, that a person lived a life pleasing to God, is now standing
in the presence of God in heaven and whose prayers have great power in its effects. (James
5:16) The process is much less
formal and legalistic than that practiced in the Roman Catholic Church. The veneration of a saint begins with the
people: there is a growing sense among
the people of the Church that an individual lived an outstanding Christian
life. A devotion to the person’s memory
springs up among the people on the “grass
roots” level: stories of their lives
are published in books and articles, people pray at their gravesites, miracles
may be attributed to the prayers of the individual but are not required “proof”
of holiness as in the Roman Church.
Due to this popular devotion to a person’s memory the council of bishops
in that country will begin a formal investigation into the person’s life. The investigation will seek to determine if
the individual was Orthodox in their faith and led a holy life worthy of
emulation. Once this has been determined
and approved the date for the glorification of the saint will be appointed. The Council of Bishops will commission the
writing of the service for the Saint’s feastday (usually the day of their
death), the painting of an icon, and
the removal of the Saint’s relics from their grave and placement in a
shrine. On the actual day of the
glorification of the Saint, a final Parastas will be celebrated for the Saint,
the last time that we pray for the
departed person before we officially being asking for their prayers for
us. The Decree of Glorification by the
Council of Bishops is read followed by the celebration of Vespers and Matins
for the Feast of the new Saint. During
the Matins service, the icon of the Saint and their relics are unveiled for the
first time.
A recent example of this process can be
seen in the glorification of a modern American saint: St. John Maximovitch, archbishop of San
Francisco. Even before his death in
1966, Archbishop John was regarded as a holy bishop and even as a living saint. After his death, devotion to his memory
increased as books were published of his writings and of his life. A constant stream of pilgrims visited his
tomb to pray and stories of miraculous healings circulated. After 25 years of this popular devotion to
his memory, the Council of Bishops began a formal investigation into his life. Finally on July 2, 1994, the 28th
anniversary of his falling asleep in the Lord, a final Parastas was celebrated
for him followed by the Vigil service for his feast, and the unveiling of his
icon and relics for veneration by the faithful.
In his writings, St. John of San
Francisco summarizes the Orthodox Church’s veneration of saints:
The choir
of saints pleasing to God grew unceasingly; in every place where there were
Christians there appeared also its own ascetics. However, the general life of Christians began
to decline; spiritual burning began to grow faint; there was no longer that
clear sense of what Divine righteousness is.
And so the general consciousness of the faithful could not always
distinguish who was a righteous man and pleasing to God. In some places there appeared dubious persons
who by false ascetic exploits attracted a part of the flock. For this reason the Church authority began to
keep watch over the veneration of saints, showing concern to guard the flocks
from superstition. The life of ascetic
revered by the faithful began to be investigated, and accounts of miracles to
be verified. Towards the time of the
Baptism of Rus (988 A.D.), it had already been established that the
acknowledgment of a new saint was to be performed by Church authority…After
all, the Church authority only testified of sanctity…righteous
men become saints not by the decree of the earthly Church authority, but by the
mercy and grace of God.
Father Edward Pehanich
