Questions
About The Sunday of All Saints
QUESTION 1
When
is the Sunday of All Saints? Where is the service found (which service book)?
ANSWER
1
The
Sunday of All Saints is celebrated the Sunday after Pentecost. The service is
the last one in the "Pentecostarion", which has all the services from
Pascha until the Sunday of All Saints, inclusive.
The
ministry of the Holy Spirit enlightens mankind, and makes us able to attain the
destiny God has predestined us to obtain. The Saints are those who have shown
forth the fruits of the Spirit abundantly. Is it not appropriate that we should
meditate upon the marvelous gift of the Holy Spirit by meditating upon His
wondrous works - the Saints?
QUESTION
2
What
is a "Saint"? What does the word literally mean?
ANSWER
2
The
word "Saint" literally means "Holy One". We recognize the
holiness of those who have struggled to live holy lives, above and beyond the
average Christian, by calling them "Saints". All Christians are in
some sense "saints", since the word also implies a setting apart. In
our Liturgy, the priest exclaims "Holy things are for the Holy"
shortly before he breaks the Lamb, and this phrase includes all true (Orthodox)
Christians who struggle to be saved, and are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. But
when we refer to the "Saints" we call to mind those who "fought
the good fight and finished the course and kept the faith", (cf. 1 Tim
4:7) and in so doing, have "laboured more abundantly than they
all" (1 Cor 15:10)
QUESTION
3
Why
do Christians pray to the Saints? Why is this prayer so
misunderstood by non-Orthodox?
ANSWER
3
All
who profess Christ, whether they be Orthodox or not, commonly ask one another
to pray for them. It is a duty of Christians to pray for one another. Since
Orthodox Christians live in the knowledge that those who have passed on are not
dead or insensible, and since "God is the God of the living, and not the
dead", they naturally turn to the Saints for intercession, and place more
confidence in their prayers than those fellow Christians who have not completed
their earthly sojourn.
A
Christian has great reverence in approaching the Saints, since the Saints have
been shown by God to be "more than conquerors". We are in awe of
their exploits, and recognize the grace of God clearly in their witness and
struggle. This is also natural, even in the world. Men honor others who have
performed great deeds, such as a brave general, or wise statesman. Since we are
in awe of the Saints, we render them honor when we ask their intercession, even
more so than we would honor a great man in the flesh. In every communication
with the Saints, we see the light of Christ, and rejoice in it, and do it
honor.
We
know that prayer to the Saints, (or put in a way that is less offensive to
those who do not live fully in the knowledge of the resurrection and the
Saints, "asking their intercession" ) is pleasing to God, because of
the witness of the Scriptures and the abundant experience of the church.
Because we are assured that such prayers are pleasing, and because we recognize
the great grace that God has bestowed upon His Saints, we have great confidence
when we ask their intercessions.
"In
invoking the intercession of the saints, the Church believes that the saints,
who interceded with the Lord for the peace of the world and for the stability
of the holy churches of Christ while living, do not cease doing this in
Christ's heavenly, triumphant Church, and listen to our entreaties in which we
invoke them, and pray to the Lord, and become bearers of the grace and mercy of
the Lord." St.
Nectarios of Pentapolis, Modern Orthodox Saints, Vol. 7 by. Constantine
Cavarnos
"We
ought to have the most lively spiritual union with the heavenly inhabitants,
with all the saints, apostles, prophets, martyrs, prelates, venerable and righteous
men, as they are all members of one single body, the Church of Christ, to which
we sinners also belong, and the living Head of which is the Lord Jesus Christ
Himself. This is why we call upon them in prayer, converse with them, thank and
praise them. It is urgently necessary for all Christians to be in union with
them, if they desire to make Christian progress; for the saints are our
friends, our guides to salvation, who pray and intercede for us." St. John of Kronstadt, My Life in
Christ.
There
are many who profess faith in Christ but have almost no knowledge of the
intercession of the Saints, and even eschew this intimate knowledge and
heavenly intercourse as blasphemy. There are several reasons for this,
including prejudice, a lack of grounding in Christian Tradition,
misunderstanding of Scripture, and the abuses of Rome, but the primary reason
is that they do not fully understand the resurrection, and it's implications!
The
Saints are not asleep or "dead". Our Lord Himself told us clearly
that "God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." (Mat
22:32). The God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob (Cf. Mat 22:32) once appeared
transfigured on a mountain, with two of his favored ones (Moses and Elias)
appearing very much alive next to Him. This clearly shows that the
"dead" are even more filled with knowledge and activity than the
living, as the apostles Peter, James and John could not withstand the uncreated
light which came forth from Christ, but Moses and Elisa basked in it. Therefore
the departed Saints have greater vision and knowledge and their intercessory
boldness is greater for them without their bodies, than when they were in the
flesh. This important understanding is elementary knowledge for the Church, but
has passed from many of those outside of her.
Partially
because they do not understand that the Saints are alive, conscious and active,
those who eschew prayer to the Saints misinterpret the reverence Orthodox show
to the saints. Many get stuck on the word "pray", thinking that this
word only applies to God, and any other use of it should make them rend their
clothes. This is, of course, a misunderstanding, brought about by centuries of
sectarianism and prejudice. "To pray" is merely "to ask".
We ask the Saints to intercede for us, and any examination of our writings and
liturgical texts shows that we understand that worship is for God alone.
The
abuses of Rome also had a deleterious effect on the Protestant understanding of
prayer to the Saints. Rome became very corrupt after the schism, both morally
and theologically. A doctrine of "superogataory works" was invented,
and "indulgences" were sold. This false doctrine, perhaps more than
any other abuse of Rome, has poisoned the understanding of Protestants
regarding the Saints. In very simple terms, this false doctrine is as follows:
A
certain amount of "good works" are supposedly needed to enter the
Kingdom of Heaven. Let us affix this as some arbitrary number, say 1000 points.
The Saints far exceeded this number, and had "points to give". The poor
sinners, such as you and me, who cannot attain to all these good works, may pay
to be granted "indulgences", which increase our "point
total". Although this explanation may seem silly and mocking, it is
essentially the doctrine of Rome till this day. The original
"Protestants" reacted quite rightly against this abuse, but they did
not understand the correct view concerning the intercessions of the Saints, and
over time, their disavowal of this Latin abuse became a caricature of itself,
and most now spout almost mantra-like that a Christian "needs no
mediator" save Jesus Christ, believing that the scripture they refer to ("For
there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ
Jesus" (1 Tim 2:5)) forbids prayer to the Saints.
It
is ironic that those who refuse to ask the Saints to intercede for them on
ideological grounds ask those who are still among the living, among their
family and friends, to pray for them. This latter action is wholly correct, as
fellow believers naturally want to pray for those they love. The prayer of the
living, however, is not as powerful as the prayer of the Saints, as the
Scripture tells us: "... The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous
man availeth much." (James 5:16) Therefore, those who do not want to
settle for "second best", and therefore pray "directly to
God", actually DO settle for second best, when they ask their sinful
companions, who are still struggling with their passions in the flesh, to pray
for them, instead of asking those who have passed on and are more righteous.
