devotion to the saints(part ii-iii draft)

8/22/2019 Devotion to the saints(Part II-III draft)

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Devotion to the saints.

(a)Veneration of the saints.Two arguments often raised by Protestants against the practice of venerating the saints is

that veneration expressed to the saints detracts from the honour due to God, and that

veneration of the saint is idolatrous, i.e. an adoration of men. The first of these arguments ismade in two ways (i) That veneration of the saints takes away from the honour due to God (ii)that veneration of the saints makes one to honour God less.

In looking at the first argument when it is made in the first way, we reply: veneration of thesaints does not take away from the honour due to God. On the contrary, in venerating thesaints we are honouring and glorifying God, for it was by his grace the saints are what theyare (I Cor 15:10: By thegrace ofGod, I am what I am. And his grace in me has not been void:but I have laboured more abundantly than all they. Yet not I, but the grace ofGod with me;cf. Rom 8:28-30; Eph 2:10) and it was only from him that their holiness came (Eph 1:3-4:Blessed be the God and Father ofour Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with spiritualblessings in heavenly places, in Christ: As he chose us in him before the foundation of theworld, that we should be holy and unspotted in his sight in charity; cf. I Thess 3:13; 5:23; Jud24). Leo J. Trese explains it this way: An artist is honored when his works are praised. Thesaints are masterpiece of Gods grace; when we honor them, we are honoring their maker,their sanctifier and their redeemer. Honor given to the saints is not honor taken from God. Onthe contrary, it is honor given to God in a manner he himself has indicated and desires.1

How about when the first argument is made in the second way? To this we reply:

veneration of the saint does not make us to honor God less. On the contrary, it stirs up in us adesire to honor God all the more and to serve Him all the better because when we reflectupon the holy life lived by those who have received the crown of glory, we who are still in therace strive by Gods grace to imitate them so that we too, when we depart from this life, may

receive the crown of glory. Our desire, says the sacred writer of the Epistle to the Hebrew,is that everyone of you should go on showing the same enthusiasm till the ultimate

fulfilment of your hope, never growing careless, but taking as your model those who by theirfaith and preseverance are heirs of the promises(Heb 6:11-12). Again: Remember yourleaders, who preached the word of God to you, and as you reflect on the outcome of theirlives, take their faith as model(Heb 13:7). In those two passages quoted above we find theChurchman who wrote the Epistle to the Hebrews urging a Christian community to imitatethe virtues of those departed members of the Church who lived in fidelity to Gods gracewhile they were on earth. Infact, the call to imitate the vitues of holy men is a theme mostlyfound in the Pauline Epistles. In it there exist several passages in which we find the Apostle of

the Gentiles exhorting the faithful to imitate him or praising them for having done so.Brother, be united in imitating me, keep your eyes fixed on those who act according to theexample you have from me(Phil 3:17; see also, 4:9; II Thess 3:7-9; I Tm 1:16; II Tm 1:13; I Cor4:16; Gal 4:12). It is important for us to understand why the Apostle can call on the faithful toimitate him. It is because he imitates Christ: Be imitators of me, as I am ofChrist(I Cor 11:1;cf. 4:15-17; I Thess 1:16). That is exactly what the saints are: models in the imitation of Christ.

1.Leo J.Trese, The Faith Explained (Sinag-Tala Pubishers)1998.P. 179
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As for the second argument that veneration of the saints is idolatrous. This too is a falsecharge. What those who bring up this charge fail to recognize is the distinction betweendivine honour and inferior honour.

What is divine honour? It is the honour due to God alone. One offers divine honour to acreature when that creature is regarded or honoured as a god. One also offers divine honour

to a creature when that creature is honoured in place of God. Anyone who offers divinehonour to anything other than God is guilty of the sin of idolatry. Repeatedly, we are warnedin Scripture against the sin of idolatry: Keep far away then, my well beloved, from idolatry(I

Cor 10:14; cf. 2 Cor 6:16; Eph 5:5; Gal 5:6-9; I Jn 5:21; Mt 4:10; Lk 4:8; Deut 6:13-14; 4:23-24;5:6-9; Ps 114[115]:4-8; Ish 42:8; 44:6-20; 45:5; Jer 10:1-16; Wis 13-15:19; Bar 6; Dn 14:1-30;Ex 20:2-5 e.t.c).

Inferior honour, on the other hand, is the honour due to any creature who is worthy to behonoured. We are commanded in Scripture to do this: Payhonour to one to whom honouris due(Rom 13:7). An instance where one creature offers inferior honour to another creatureis when children respect, esteem or show certain suitable acts of reverence towards theirparents. This[i.e. inferior honour] is due to parents as those who brought their children intothis world: With all your heart honour your father never forget the birth pangs of your

mother. Remember that you owe your birth to them; how can you repay them for what theyhave done for you?(Ecclus 7:27-28; cf. Ex 20:12; Deut 5:16; Prov 19:26; 23:22; 30:17; 6:20-22; 31:1; 1:8; Tb. 4:3-4; Ecclus 3:2-6.12-13.16; Mt 13:4-6; Mk 7:10-12; Col 3:20; Eph 6:1).

Now, Catholics do not offer divine honour to the saint, for we believe this belongs to Godalone. It is not taught amongst us that the saints should be honoured in place of God or that

they should be regarded or honoured as gods; for we believe that there is only one Godwhose glory should not be given to another (cf. Ish 42:8). This is the same God who revealedHimself to Isreal in the Old Covenant (cf. Ex 16:10-15; 19:16-25; 24:15-18). Him alone, do weacknowledge as the Creator and Savior, the Lord and Master of everything that exists

including the saints. The early Church father St. Justin Martyr well summerized the Catholicposition when he said to Trypho the Jew:

There will never be another God, Trypho, and there has been no other since the world beganthan He

who made and ordered the universe. We do not think that our God is different from yours. He is thesame who brought your fathers out of Egypt by His powerful hand and His outstretched arm. We do

not place our hope in some other God, for there is none, but in the same God as you do: the God of

Abraham, Isaac and Jacob2

The kind of honour which Catholics offer to the saints is inferior honour. This is not idolatry.It (i.e. inferior honour) is due to them as servants and friends of God. Scripture itself abounds

with testimonies that inferior honour is due to servants and friends of God. In the NT, we findSt. Paul on several occasion instructing the faithful to honour the servants of God whominister Gods word to them: presbyters who preside well deserves double honor, especially

those who toil in preaching and teaching(I Tm 5:17); We ask you, brothers, to respect thosewho are laboring among you and who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you, and toshow esteem for them with special love on account of their work.(I Thess 5:12-13; see also I

2.St. Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho the Jew, 11,1.


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Cor 16:17-18; Phil 2:29). This NT teaching expressed by St. Paul that the people of God shouldhonour their religious leaders has its root in the OT. The OT reveals that the ancient Jews heldtheir religious leaders, i.e. Prophet and Priests, in high esteem. In III Kgs[I kgs]18:7: And asAbdias was in the way, Elias met him: and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said: Are youmy lord Elias?Here we see a faithful Hebrew paying homage to a Prophet of God not only by

using venerative language to address him (my lord Elias) but by directing a venerativeposture (fell on his face) towards him. There are also cases where such veneration was paidto a king (I kgs [I Sam] 25:23; II kgs [II Sam] 9:8; III Kgs [I kgs] 1:16; I Par [I Chr] 29:20). It should

be remembered that the ancient Hebrews viewed their kings as Gods vicegerent, as Gods

anointed. Hence, Davids statement regarding Saul:TheLordbe merciful unto me, that I maydo no such thing to my master, the Lord's anointed, as to lay my hand upon him, because heis the Lord's anointed(I Kgs [I Sam] 24:8). In those words of David lies the reason why theancient Hebrews held their prophets and kings in high esteem and paid them suitable acts ofhomage. It was because of such men peculiar relations with God.

But it is not only the servants and friends of God living on earth that Scripture instruct us tohonour. We are also taught in the sacred books to honour the servants and friends of God inheaven. Thus, in the book of Josue, it is reported that when Josue met a mysterious man inJericho Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, what saithmy lord unto his servant?(Jos 5:14). That what we have here is not an appearance of GodHimself is suggested by the word which the mysterious man used to describe himself. Themysterious man who appeared to Josue introduced himself as prince of the host of the Lord

(v.14a) and not the Lord of host Himself, which seem to indicate that the mysterious man

meant to distinguish himself from God. The word which is translated as Lord in the Phraseprince of the host of the Lord is the Hebrew name of God Yahweh. The Hebrew word

translated as prince (in some versions captain) is (ar), which according to StrongsDictionary refers to a headperson (of any rank or class). According to the same dictionary,

the Hebrew word translated as host refers to a mass of persons (or figurative things),especially regularly organized for war (an army). The phrase prince of the host whenapplied to humans in the OT refers to one who was not merely part of the military host butheads or captains it. See the case of Phicol in Gn 21:22.32; 26:26; Sisera in Jdg 4:2.7, I Kgs[ISam] 12:9; Abner in I Kgs[I Sam] 14:50, 17:55; Shobach in II Kgs [II Sam] 10:16.18; Joab in IIIKgs[I Kgs] 1:19.25, 2:5; Omri in III Kgs[I Kgs] 16:16; and Naaman in IV Kgs[II Kgs] 5:1. In allthese cases, the one who is described as was the leading military authority, but he wassubordinate to someone else, the king. In almost every case, the name of the one describedas is found only along with the king's name, not by itself. The military host which includethe one described as are classed as belonging to the King (i.e. Phichol the chief captain of

his [King Abimelech] host; the name of the captain of his [King Saul] host was Abner etc.).They are all considered as subjects of the King. Thus, the phrase the prince of the host of theLord used for the mysterious man in Jos 5:14, indicates that we are here dealing with aperson of immense authority, yet one who is subjected and subordinate to Yahweh.

Moreover, there is similarity between the appearance of this man to Josue and the

appearance of the man with whom Jacob wrestled in Gn 32:26. Although the Hebrew textseem to suggest that it was God that Jacob wrestled with (see Gn 28.30), yet Prophet Osee
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(=Hosea) regarded the person that appeared to Jacob as an angel (Os 12:4).3 There is also asimilarity with the three men that appeared to Abraham at Mambre (Gn 18:2; comp. Gn. 13,

the speaker in this narrative is always the Lord). Although the Hebrew text seems to suggest

that one of them was the Supreme Being (Gn 18:15-33), yet St. Paul regarded them all asequally angels (Heb 13:2). Again, the Hebrew text represent the Supreme Being as the one

who appeared to Moses on Mount Sinai and gave him the law (Ex 19-20), but the role of lawgiver was ascribe to angels by St. Paul (Gal 3:19; Heb 2:2; See also Acts 7:38.53; A similartradition was familiar to the Jews of the intertestamental period, see Jubilee, 1.27-2.1;

Josephus Antiquities, 15.136; comp. LXX Deut 32.2; Ps 67:18[R.S.V. 68.17])4. Again, theHebrew text represents the Supreme Being as appearing to Moses in the bush (Ex 3:1-6); butaccording to a speech of St. Stephen preserved by St. Luke in the Acts of Apostles it was anangel that appeared to Moses in the bush (Acts 7:30).5 The point that should be noted in allthis is that there was a gradual development in the concept of angels among the people ofGod in OT times. At first, most especially in the older books of the OT of which our textbelong, the personality of angels appears vague and they are sometimes identified with theAuthor of their message (Gn 16:7-14; comp 21:14-20; 48:15-16; Jgs 13:3-23). As theologicalthought advanced, and as God came to be understood in a more transcendent way, a muchmore mature concept of angel began to emerge whereby angels appear with distinctpersonalities, a division between good and bad angels is made, specific duties are ascribed toangels, angels are arranged into rank or order, and angels are given proper names. This isnoticeable in the later books of the OT (Zachariah, Daniel, Tobit, Judith etc.) and in laterJewish writings (The Enochian writings, Qumran Literature, Testament of the Twelve

Patriarch, Fourth Esdras etc.). By NT times, the concept of angels had developed greatly. Theangel of the Lord which, as we have explained, in some instances in the earlier OT texts seem

3

.In late Judaism, the angel was consider to be one of the angelic beings who stand in Gods presence to offerpraise, see Psuedo-Philos Biblical Antiquities: Jacob also, when he wrestled in the dust with the angel that was

over the praises, did not let him go until he blessed him. And now, behold, thou thinkest to go with these, and

curse them whom I have chosen(18,6)4 .Jubilee 1.27-2.1: And He said to the angel of the presence: Write for Moses from the beginning of creationtill My sanctuary has been built among them for all eternity. And the Lord will appear to the eyes of all, and allwill know that I am the God of Israel and the Father of all the children of Jacob, and King on Mount Zion for all

eternity. And Zion and Jerusalem will be holy. And the angel of the presence who went before the camp of Israel

took the tables of the divisions of the years from the time of the creationof the law and of the testimony of

the weeks, of the jubilees, according to the individual years, according to all the number of the jubilees[according to the individual years], from the day of the [new] creation when the heavens and the earth shall be

renewed and all their creation according to the powers of the heaven, and according to all the creation of the

earth, until the sanctuary of the Lord shall be made in Jerusalem on Mount Zion, and all the luminaries berenewed for healing and for peace and for blessing for all the elect of Israel, and that thus it may be from that

day and unto all the days of the earth. And the angel of the presence spake to Moses according to the word of

the Lord, saying: Write the complete history of the creation, how in six days the Lord God finished all His works

and all that He created, and kept Sabbath on the seventh day and hallowed it for all ages, and appointed it as asign for all His works. Josephus Antiquities 15.5.3: And for ourselves, we have learned from God the most

excellent of our doctrines, and the most holy part of our law, by angels or ambassadors.5

.A similar tradition is found in late Judaism; see Targum Psuedo-Jonathan on Ex. 3:2: And Zagnugael, the angel

of the Lord, appeared to him in a fame of fire in the midst of the bush. And he gazed, and, behold, the bushburned with fire, yet the bush was neither burned nor consumed with fire.


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to be identified with God, now appears clearly as a being distinct from God and subordinateto Him (Lk 1.11-19; 2.9-15; Acts 12.25; Mt 2:13[a distinction between the angel of the Lordand the second Person of the Trinity is evident most particularly in this text]; Jn 5.4 etc. Seealready in Zech 1:12-13). The development of the concept of angels in the Bible is a goodexample of what is referred to as progressive revelation in the Bible, i.e. a process whereby

God gradually reveals a truth to His people until revelation became complete and definite inChrist. And it is in keeping with this view to use those Scriptural texts which contain maturerideas of angels to understand and interpret those earlier OT texts in which the personality of

angels appears vague. Following this method, the mysterious man that appeared to Josueshould be understood as a messenger of God, i.e. an angel, and not God Himself.

In addition, Jos 5:13-15 seem to be inspired by the belief that each nation is ascribed itsown special angel to guard and govern it (See Ps 91:11; Ish 63:9; Bar 6:6; LXX Deut 32:8 where

instead of children we read angels of God; earlier traces of this idea can be found i n Ex14:19; 23:20-22; Nm 20:16).6Several details in the text suggest this. (i) The term prince orcaptain which the mysterious man gives to himself. It should be noted that that term wasused in Jewish angelology to refer to the chief angels who are placed as guardians of nations.See, the book of Daniel where angel Michael to whom is entrusted the spiritual care of thenation of Israel (Dn 12.1) is referred to as one of the chief princes and your prince (Dn10:13.21). Mention is also made of the prince of the Persians and the prince of the Greeksin that same book (Dn 10:20). (ii) The mysterious man is depicted with drawn sword: Behold,there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand (Jos 5:13a). It shouldbe noted that in the scriptures whenever an angel is said to have appeared either to protect

or to punish a nation (Ps 35:5-6), that angel is often depicted with a drawn sword. See theincident of Balaam and the talking ass in Nm 22:31, where the angel which was sent toprevent Balaam from cursing Gods chosen people appeared with drawn sword. See also theincident that occurred during the time of King David in II Kgs [II Sam] 24:1617; I Par [I Chron]

21:15-16.9. All this points to an understanding which sees in the event described in Jos 5:13-15 an appearance of an angelic being.

Now, the Hebrew word which in Jos 5:14 translates as worship (in the Septuagint as theGreek word proskune *+) is shchh. This word is used generically by the

ancients to cover both the honour due to God alone, i.e. divine honour, and the honour dueto any venerable or great person, i.e. inferior honour7. This fact can be demonstrated even

6 .In other Jewish writings see, Jubilees 15:23: There are many nations and many people s, and all are his [i. e.,the Lord's], and over all has he appointed spirits to rule, that they should lead them astray from him, but over

Israel he did not appoint any ruler, neither an angel nor a spirit, but he alone is their ruler, and he preserves

them. Targum Psuedo-Jonathan on Gen. 11.7-8: And the Lord said to the seventy angels which stand beforeHim, Come, we will descend and will there commingle their language, that a man shall not understand the

speech of his neighbour. And the Word of the Lord was revealed against the city, and with Him seventy angels,

having reference to seventy nations, each having its own language, and thence the writing of its own hand: and

He dispersed them from thence upon the face of all the earth into seventy languages.7

.In ancient times the term worship was used generically as veneration and reverence and does not mean only

the adoration that is due to God alone. But there are different kinds of worship. Latria is the worship given to

God only. Dulia is the worship (veneration) given to persons of worth, especially angels and saints of God. The

special worship(veneration) given to Mary the Mother of God is called Hyper-dulia, as being something higherthan dulia but still a species substantially less than latria


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from the books of the Bible. For OT passages where the Hebrew word shchh was used fordivine honour, see Ex. 34:14: For you will worship *shchh+ no other god since Yahwehsname is the jealous one; he is a jealous God; Deut 4:19: When you raise your eyes toheaven, when you see the sun, the moon, the stars-the entire array of heaven-do not betempted to worship *shchh+ them and serve them.Cf. Gn 22:5; Ex 24:1; Deut 8:19; 11:16; I

Kgs [I Sam]1:3; III Kgs[I Kgs]9:6; Ps 80[81]:10[9]; 85[86]:9, etc. For NT passages where theGreek equivalent proskune was use for divine honour, see I Cor 14:25: he will fall on hisface and worship [proskune+ God, publicly confessing that God is indeed among you Cf. Mt

4:9-10; Lk 4:7-8; Jn 12:20; 4:20-24; Acts 7:43; 8:27; Heb 1:6; Apoc 13:8.12.15, etc. For OT passages where the Hebrew word shchh was used for inferior honour, see Ps 44[45]:12[11]:

Thy beauty, now, is all for the kings delight: he is the lord and worship *shchh+ belong tohim; Gen.49:8: Judah your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of yourenemies; your fathers sons shall worship*shchh+ you Cf. Gn 37:7-9; 47:31; 48:12; Ex 11:8,etc. For NT passages where the Greek equivalent proskune was used for inferior honour, seeMk 15:19: And they beat him over the head with a rod, and spat upon him, and bowed theirknees in worship [proskune+ of him.8Cf. Lk 14:10.

The author of the book of Josue pointed out in several places that Josue firmly believe thatdivine honour should be offered only to the one true God Yahweh (see Jos 24:14-24; 22:10-34). So when the same author used the word worship in Jos 5:14 to underline the fact thatJosue paid homage to the angel, it could not have been in the sense that Josue offered theangel the honour due to God (divine honour). Rather, his use of that word in that passageshould be understood in the sense that Josue offered the angel the honour due to any

venerable or great person (inferior honour). Other indications that we have in that passage acase whereby an angel was venerated can be deduced from the venerative language (Whatsaith my lord unto his servant?)

9 which was used to address the angel, and the venerativeposture (Joshua fell on his face to the earth) which was directed towards the angel. It should

be recalled that the word lord when addressed to creatures is used to convey respect andhonour (Gn 44:6-17, Nm 32:25, Mt 18:23-35, Acts 25:26) and that one of the ways in whichthe ancient Hebrews expressed an outward show of respect and honour to someone is byfalling face to the ground (See I Kgs[I Sam]20:41; 25:23; II Kgs[II Sam]1:2; 9:6; 14:4.22; 18:28;Gn 31:3; 44:14; 50:18, etc.).

Another earlier OT book in which the veneration of angels is found is the book of Numbers.In Nm 22:31, we are told that when Balaam saw the angel standing in the way with a drawn

8.In Mk 15:19 the worship which the Roman soldiers paid to Jesus Christ is certainly not the worship of latria but

that which is due to an earthly king (v.18). By admitting this we are not in any way denying that the worship of

latria is due to Jesus Christ. As Catholics we believe that the God-Man Jesus Christ is to be venerated with onesingle mode of worship, the absolute worship of latria which is due to God alone. This teaching is contained in

both Scripture and Tradition. According to Jn.5:23, Jesus claims for Himself the same veneration which is due to

the Father: That all men may honour the son as they honour the Father. The Apostle St. Paul witnessed to the

divine adoration due to Christ in His humanity in Phil.2:10 and Heb.1:16. For the testimony of Tradition, see St.Justin, First Apology, 13; The Martyrdom of Polycarp, 17,3; St. Athanasius, Letter to Adelphius 3; St. Ambrose,

The Holy Spirit 3,11,79; St. Augustine, Explanations of the Psalms 98,9, etc.9

.In the words which the sacred writer puts in the mouth of the Josue, he addressed the mysterious man as

my lord, using the generic term adonirather than myLord, using God's name Yahweh, which suggeststhat


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sword he [Balaam] worshipped him falling flat on the ground.Balaams action towards theangel is similar to that of Josue. Balaam, like Josue, paid suitable acts of reverence towards anangel without him being rebuked for his action. In the later books of the OT, we have thetestimony ofthe book of Daniel (165 B.C). In Dn 8:17, we read: So he *angel Gabriel+ camenear where I stood. And when he came, I was frightened and fell on my face. That the fear

which caught Daniel includes a sense of veneration and wonder is evident from the fact thatthe sacred author after stating that Daniel was seized with fear immediately adds that he fellupon his face. As we have explained already the posture of falling upon the ground on ones

face is not without any significance. It is a show of respect and honour to one of great dignity(See also 10:9; comp. Jdg 13.20; Gn 17:3). The inference which we draw from that passagethat Daniel held the celestial beings in high esteem and so paid homage to the angel whoappear to him is collaborated with his altitude in another passage in the same book where wefind him using venerative language to address the angel: How can my lords servant talk withmy lord?(10:17). For more examples for the veneration of angels in the OT see the book ofTobit (200 B.C), where we are told that after the angel revealed his identity to Tobias and hisson, they were troubled, and being seized with fear they fell upon the ground on theirface(Tb 12:16). Outside the OT, see the following Jewish sources: II Enoch (first century A.D):I bowed to them [two angels] and was terrified, and the appearance of my face changedbecause of fear

10; Testament of Abraham (first century A.D or early second century A.D):And the chief-captain receiving the exhortations of the Lord went down to Abraham, andseeing him the righteous one fell upon his face to the ground as one dead, and the chief-captain told him all that he had heard from the Most High. Then the holy and just Abraham

rising with many tears fell at the feet of the Incorporeal, and besought him, saying, I beseechthee, chief-captain of the hosts above, since thou hast wholly deigned to come thyself to me asinner and in all things thy unworthy servant, I beseech thee even now, O chief-captain, tocarry my word yet again to the Most High, and thou shalt say to him, Thus saith Abraham thy

servant11We are quite aware of the argument which several Protestant commentators make from

certain texts found in the NT (Col 2:18; Apoc 19:10, and 22:8-9) to say that the early Churchfrowned at the veneration of angels. But those texts do not support such a claim. What iscondemned in those texts is either an exaggerated veneration of angels or the offering ofdivine honour to angels.

Starting with the texts from the book of Apocalypse. In Apoc 19:10: Then I fell down at hisfeet to worship [proskune+ him, but he said to me, You must not do that! I am a fellowservant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship [proskune]God, and 22:8-9: I fell down to worship [proskune] at the feet of the angel who showed

them to me, but he said to me, You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you andyour brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship[proskune+ God.As we have pointed out earlier, the venerative posture of prostration(falling face on the ground, falling on the feet) does not always connote divine honour. Butit is also given to creatures as a sign of respect and honour. So the question therefore is in

10.Second Enoch,1,7.

11.Testament of Abraham,9.


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what sense was the venerative posture of prostration used in those two texts? Was it used inthe sense that divine honour was offered to the angel or was it used in the sense that inferiorhonour was offered to the angel? That it was divine honour is suggested by the statement Iam a fellow servant with you and your brothers. Those words in no way imply that angelsand men are of the same rank. After all, in the military a private is not of the same rank with a

corporal yet a corporal could rightly refer to a private as a fellow soldier. Angels in theirnature are superior to humans (Ps 8:4-5; II Pt 2:11) and when the angel in the Apocalypserefer to the human seer as a fellow servant, those words should be understood as a

statement of clarification of the nature of angels that they are not divine beings but like men,are creatures that are subordinate to God. But what made the angel to utter those wordswhich as we said is meant to point to the fact that angels are created beings that aresubordinate to God, is the venerative posture which the angel refused the human seer tooffer to him. Therefore, in that context, that venerative posture connotes divine honour. Thehistorical background of those two texts we should note also suggests the same. Inconstructing the scene in those two texts; our sacred author was influenced by a motif whichwas familiar in Judaeo-Christian circles of that period. Due to the highly-developed angelologyduring the intertestamental period there was need to point out to worshipers of Yahweh thatangelic beings who are with Yahweh in heaven ought not to be given the honour whichbelong to Yahweh.12 The motif which lay at the background of the scene portrayed in thosetwo texts appears to be a literary device used mainly by apocalyptic writers in those times tospell this out to their readers with each of these writers shaping it according to their owntheological setting. Thus, in the Ascension of Isaiah which was put together by a Christian

author of Jewish descent at the close of the first century A.D., we read:

And again he [the angel] caused me to ascend to the second heaven, and the height of that heaven isthe same as from heaven to earth (and to the firmament). And (I saw there as) in the first heaven,

angels on the right and on the left and a throne in the midst and the praise of angels in the secondheaven; and he who sat on the throne in the second heaven had a greater glory than all [the rest]. And

there was much [more] glory in the second heaven, and their praise was not like the praise of those inthe heaven. And I fell on my face to worship him, and the angel who conducted me did not allow me

but, said to me, Worship neither angel nor throne which belongs to the six heavens for this reason

was I sent to conduct thee till I tell thee in the seventh heaven. For above all the heavens and theirangels is thy throne set, and thy garments and thy crown which thou shalt see

13

Elsewhere in the same work we read: And again he raised me up into the air of the sixthheaven, and I saw there a glory such as I had not seen in the fifth heaven, as I ascended,namely, angels in greater glory; and there was a holy and wonderful song of praise there. And

I said to the angel who conducted me, What is this I see, my Lord? And he said, I am not thy

Lord, but thy companion.14Again, in the Jewish Apocalypse of Zephaniah which pre-dates

12.If we remember that the Bible for the Jews in the intertestamental period consist of the older books of the OT

then we can see why such injunction was necessary. In the older books of the OT the identity of angels wasvague (Gen. 18-19; Ex 23.2023;24.7; 48.16; Nm 20.16) and they are even cases were an angel was not

described as a created heavenly being distinct from God but was identified as God Himself (.Gn. 16.713; 21.17

20; 22.1118; 31.1113; Ex 3.26; 14.19, 2425; Nm 22.2235; Jgs 2.15; chp.6; chp.13).13

.Ascension of Isaiah, 7, 18-22.14

.Ibid,8,1-5. The use of Lord in this text is in the divine sense.


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both the Apocalypse of John and the Ascension of Isaiah, and which was written between 100BC and 70 AD, we read:

Then I arose and stood, and I saw a great angel standing before me with his face shining like the rays of

the sun in its glory since his face is like that which is perfected in its glory. And he was girded as if a

golden girdle were upon his breast. His feet were like bronze which is melted in a fire. And when I saw

him, I rejoiced, for I thought that the Lord Almighty had come to visit me. I fell upon my face, and I

worshiped him. He said to me, Take heed. Worship me not. I am not the Lord Almighty, but am the

great angel, Eremiel15

The striking similarities between those two texts from the book of the Apocalypse and theapocalyptic texts cited above can hardly be missed. These apocalyptic texts provide us with aliterary context within which to interpret those two texts from the Apocalypse of John. Theypoint to an understanding which sees in the gesture which the angel refuses to accept fromthe seer an indication in the NT that to God alone belong the worship of divine honor andthat this is not acceptable even to the angels in the heavenly court. Therefore what can besaid about those two texts from the Apocalypse of John is that they indicate that the Church

even in the first century taught that divine honour should not be offered to the angels inheaven but to God alone. Whether the early Church deemed it lawful that inferior honourwhich as we have seen is a species of honour wholly different from divine honourshould orshould not be offered to the angels in heaven cannot be answered from those two text asthey are not concerned about the subject of inferior honour. Moving to the text in the Epistleto the Colossians. In Col 2:16-18, we read:

Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a feast day or a new moon or a

sabbath day: which are a shadow of the things to come; but the body is Christ's. Let no man rob you of

your prie by a voluntary humility and worshipping of the angels* (thrskeiatn

angeln)], dwelling in the things which he hath seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind

The Greek word which is here translated as worship is thrskeia(). The word isfound in two other places in the NT, in Acts 26:5 and Jas. 1:26-27, and like in those two otherplaces, the word could here be translated as religion. Thus, the passage does not necessarilyimply that a form of adoration of angels was at work but could simply refer to a sort ofdevotional altitude towards angels. Now, along with the devotional altitude towards angels,St. Paul appears to be condemning asceticism, visionary experiences, and the keeping offeasts/holy days in that passage. But asceticism, visionary experiences, and keeping of

feasts/holy days are not in themselves bad things. In fact, elsewhere in the New Testamentwe find the apostle either giving is approval to them or practicing them himself(Forasceticism, see I Cor 7:31, 9:26-27, II Cor 11:23-27, Phil 3:8-9; visionary experiences, see II Cor

12:1-5, Acts 16:9, 18:9-10, 9:1-9, 22:6-16, 26:12-18; keeping of feast/holy days, see I Cor 16:8,5:6-7, Rom 14:5-6, Acts 18:21, 20:16). Therefore, it must be asceticism, visionary experiences,and keeping of feasts/holy days as practiced and taught by the false teachers at Colossae thatthe Apostle was condemning in that passage. Hence, there could be a proper or appropriateway of doing those things which the false teachers at Colossae were doing wrongly and which

15.Apocalypse of Zephaniah 6,11-15.Also see, Ascension of Isaiah, 7,18-22; 8,1-5.


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the Apostle condemned. If that is true of asceticism, visionary experiences, and keeping offeast/holy days then it is also true of devotional altitude towards angel. Therefore, we mustunderstand St. Paul in that passage as condemning not all kinds of devotional altitudetowards angels but only the excessive type that was employed by the false teachers atColossae.16

The question might then be asked: Did a positive form of veneration of angels exist in theearly Church? Yes it did. There is a passage in the NT in which St. Paul implicitly teachesveneration of angels. In Gal 4:12-14, we read: I implore you, brothers, be as I am, because I

have also become as you are. You did me no wrong; you know that it was because of aphysical illness that I originally preached the gospel to you, and you did not show disdain orcontempt because of the trial caused you by my physical condition, but rather you receivedme as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus. The implication here is that the Christians at Galatiatreated the Apostle with utmost respect and honour just as they would have done had it beenit was an angel that came to them. Thus the Apostle in that statement took the idea forgranted that angels are held in high esteem and deserve to be honoured by men. 17St. JustinMartyr, writing around 150 A.D, declares: We reverence and worship Him [God] and the Sonwho came forth from Him and taught us these things and hosts of other good angels who areabout Him and are made quite like Him, and the prophetic Spirit. We pay homage to them inreason and in truth, and those who wish to learn, we pass on intact what we have beentaught.

18 Eusebius of Caesarea, in his Preparation for the Gospel which he began writingprobably around 312 A.D says: Such are the doctrines received from the Hebrews, which wehave preferred to the erroneous polytheism and demonism of the Greeks, knowing and duly

honouring divine powers[i.e. the good angels]as servants and ministers of God the universalKing, but confessing Him alone as God, and worshipping Him alone, whom heaven itself, and

16

.Although, the Apostle did not go into details on the way and manner in which the false teacher practicedthose things for which they are condemned, we can at least infer from the text and other parallel text in ancient

Christian literature that the false teachers practiced those things in such a way that they tied them to certain

Judaic practices/ideas which are no longer binding on Christians and are now obsolete. For example, the

Christian apologist Aristides, writing less than 90 years after St. Paul addressed his letter to the Colossians, says:

Let us come now, O King, to the history of the Jews also, and see what opinion they have as to God. The Jewsthen say that God is one, the Creator of all, and omnipotent; and that it is not right that any other should be

worshipped except this God alone. And herein they appear to approach the truth more than all the nations,

especially in that they worship God and not His works. And they imitate God by the philanthropy which prevails

among them; for they have compassion on the poor, and they release the captives, and bury the dead, and dosuch things as these, which are acceptable before God and well-pleasing also to menwhich (customs) they

have received from their forefathers. Nevertheless they too erred from true knowledge. And in their imagination

they conceive that it is God they serve; whereas by their mode of observance it is to the angels and not to Godthat their service is rendered: as when they celebrate Sabbaths and the beginning of the months, and feasts of

unleavened bread, and a great fast; and fasting and circumcision and the purification of meats, which things,

however, they do not observe perfectly17

.Indeed if someone were to say to the people in a community: you guys did not treat me with contempt butreceived me as a king. No one would doubt the meaning of those words which is (i) That the speaker was well

received by the people and treated with respect and honour (ii) that the speaker took the idea for granted that

kings are held in high esteem and are honoured by other men. It is something similar to this that we encounter

in connection to angels in Gal.4:12-14.18

.St. Justin Martyr, First Apology, 6.
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all things that are in heaven, and things above heaven were taught to worship and praise andcelebrate as God.19Elsewhere in another work, Eusebius wrote: In His doctrinal teaching, welearn that below the Highest: God there are Powers, by nature unembodied and spiritual,possessing reason and every virtue, a choir around the Almighty, many of whom are sent bythe will of the Father even unto men on missions of salvation. We are taught to recognize and

honour them according to the measure of their worth, but to render the honour of worship toAlmighty God alone.

20St. Augustine, in his treatise On True Religion written between theyears 389-391 A.D, remarks: Let us believe that the highest angels and most excellent

ministers of God want us to join them in the worship of the one God, in contemplation ofwhom they find their happinessWe honour them with love, but not with divine worship. We

do not build temples for them. They do not wish to be honoured by us in that way, becausethey know that when we are good men we are ourselves the temples of the most high God.Accordingly it is written, with complete propriety that an angel once forbade a man toworship him, bidding him worship the one God under whom both angel and man were fellow-servants [Apoc 19:10+.21The passages from Eusebius and St. Augustine which we cited aboveshows that even in those early times the Christian people understood quite well thedifference between divine honour which should be offered to God alone and inferior honourwhich is due to the angels of God.

From our discussion so far, we can see that the practice of venerating the servant andfriends of God in heaven, and in this case the good angels, is not only Scriptural but trulyChristian. Actually the position of our separated brethren who object to our practice ofvenerating the good angels is quite strange22 when you consider the fact that these same

people hold their pastors and religious leaders in high esteem and offer them religiousveneration. But if, as such people would admit, it is lawful to honour and respect theministers of God, i.e. the Priests and Prophets, who serve in the Temple and communicate tothe people of God the messages of God, then it is also lawful to respect and honour the

ministers of God, i.e. the angels (Heb 1:14), who serve in the heavenly court (Jb 1:6; 2:1) andcommunicate to the people of God the messages of God (Gn 31:11; Zech 4; Dn 8:16; LK 2:9).After all in both cases these creatures are honoured due to the fact that they are servants andfriends of God. In fact, the ministers of God in heaven, i.e. the angels, are to be honouredwith greater devotion than the ministers of God on earth, considering the fact that they aresuperior in strength and power to men (II Pt 2:11), are guardians of men (Gn 16:6-32; 24:7; Ex14:19; Deut 32:8 Septuagint; Os 12:4; Ps 33:8; Bar 6:6; Dn 10:13-21; Jdth 13:20; Mt 18:10;Acts 12:7) and are closer to God than men (Ps 102[103]:20-21; Dn 7:10; Tb 12:15; Mt 18:10;Apoc 5:11; 7:11-12; 8:2).

Now, if as we have shown it is lawful to venerate the angels in heaven, then it logically

follows that it is also lawful to venerate their companions in heaven, the saints. As Catholictheologian Ludwig Ott explains: The ground for the veneration of angels is their supernaturaldignity, which is rooted in their immediate union with God (Mt 18:10). Since the saints in

19.Eusebius of Caeserea, Preparation for the Gospel 7,15.

20.Ibid, Proof of the Gospel 3,3.

21.St. Augustine, Treatise on True religion, 55:110.

22.Protestants also object to the veneration of angels


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heaven also are immediately joined to God (I Cor 13:12; I Jn 3:2; [Apoc 22:4]), it follows thatthey too are worthy of veneration.23

The veneration of the saints in heaven dates back to the earliest times of the Christianreligion. In those times those members of the Church who had undergone or wereundergoing hardship or peril for the sake of the faith were treated with great reverence and

veneration by the faithful. The faithful considered it as a great honour and joy to gainadmittance to such persons in cases where they [i.e. such persons] were being imprisoned fortheir faith and to act as an escort to them in cases where they are being led to their

martyrdom. Evidence of this is found in documents belonging to the apostolic and sub-apostolic period. For example, the Apostle St. Paul, writing between 58-63 A.D to theChristian community at Philippi says concerning Epaphroditus who almost died for the sake of

the faith: Welcome him in the Lord, with all joy: hold people like him in honour, because it

was for Christs work that he came so near to dying, risking his life to do the duty to me which

you could not do yourselves (Phil 2:29-30). St. Polycarp, writing almost 80 years to that sameChristian community at Philippi, says: I have greatly rejoiced with you in our Lord JesusChrist, because you have followed the example oftrue love [as displayed by God], and haveaccompanied, as became you, those who were bound in chains, the fitting ornaments ofsaints, and which are indeed the diadems of the true elect ofGod and our Lord24. Tertullianwriting around the year 203 A.D says: *What unbelieving husband+ will permit her to creep

into prison to kiss a martyr's chains?25But it was not only during their life time that such

persons were honoured. The faithful continue to honour such persons even after they musthave sealed the faith with their blood by praising them, celebrating the anniversary of their

death (known as their birthday, dies natalis), and imitating their virtues.Traces of veneration of the saints in the form of imitation of their virtues are found in

apostolic documents and in documents written by the disciples of the Apostles. In them wefind the Apostles, the Martyrs and the Prophets of the OT being held before the faithful as

examples of virtues. Thus, in the canonical Epistle of James written between the years 40-62A.D, we read: As an example of suffering and patience, brethren, take the prophets whospoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we call those happy who were steadfast. You haveheard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord iscompassionate and merciful (Jas 5:10-11). In the Epistle to the Hebrews written in the 60s ofthe first century A.D, we find the sacred author urging the faithful to imitate the virtues ofthose departed members of the Church who lived in fidelity to Gods grace while they were

on earth (Heb 13:7; Heb 6:10-12). Elsewhere in that same book, the OT saints are presentedto the faithful as models whose examples they should emulate (See Heb 11-12:1). In theEpistle which St. Clement of Rome wrote to the Christian Community at Corinth between the

year 80-96 A.D, we find him evoking the memories of the Apostles Sts. Peter and Paul in aneffort to restore peace in the Church at Corinth which had become divided by jealousy andstrife:

23.Ludwig Ott, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, Illinois (Tan books and Publishers, Inc), 1952, P.318

24.St. Polycarp, Letter to the Philippians,1,1.

25.Tertullian, To his wife,2,4.
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But not to dwell upon ancient examples, let us come to the most recent spiritual heroes. Let us take

the noble examples furnished in our own generation. Through envy and jealousy the greatest and mostrighteous pillars [of the church] have been persecuted and put to death. Let us set before our eyes the

illustrious apostles. Peter, through unrighteous envy, endured not one or two, but numerous labours;

and when he had at length suffered martyrdom, departed to the place of glory due to him. Owing to

envy, Paul also obtained the reward of patient endurance, after being seven times thrown into

captivity, compelled to flee, and stoned. After preaching both in the east and west, he gained theillustrious reputation due to his faith, having taught righteousness to the whole world, and come to the

extreme limit of the west, and suffered martyrdom under the prefects. Thus was he removed from the

world, and went into the holy place, having proved himself a striking example of patience26

On several other occasions we find Clement citing the example of the saints of the OT inorder to impress upon his audience the duty of putting into practice the virtues they exhibitedin their lives. Enoch and Noah were cited as examples of faith and obedience; 27Abraham,example of obedience;28 Lot and Rahab, example of hospitality and piety; 29Elijah, Elisha,Ezekiel and David, examples of humility30. After which he adds: And so, brothers, we too,must cling to models such as these. For it is written: Cling to the saints, for they who cleave

to them shall become saints. And again in another place: With the innocent man, Thou shaltbe innocent; and with the elect man, Thou shalt be elect; and with the perverse man, Thou

shalt be perverse. Let us cling, then, to the innocent and the just, for they are Gods elect.31

Writing around the year 110 A.D, St. Ignatius of Antioch exhorts the Christians at Philadelphiato love and admire the Prophets of the OT: let us also love the prophets, because they toohave proclaimed the Gospel, and placed their hope in Him, and waited for Him; in whom alsobelieving, they were saved, through union to Jesus Christ, being holy men, worthy oflove andadmiration, having had witness borne to them by Jesus Christ, and being reckoned along with[us] in the Gospel of the common hope.32St. Polycarp, writing around 135 A.D., holds up theMartyrs along with the Apostles before the Christian community at Philippi as their example:I exhort you all, therefore, to yieldobedience to the word of righteousness, and to exercise

all patience, such as you have seen [set] before your eyes, not only in the case of the blessedIgnatius, and Zosimus, and Rufus, but also in others among yourselves, and in Paul himself,and the rest of the apostles. [This do] in the assurance that all these have not run [Phil 2:16;Gal 2:2] in vain, but in faith and righteousness, and that they are [now] in their due place inthe presence of the Lord, with whom also they suffered. For they loved not this present

world, but Him who died for us, and for our sakes was raised again by God from thedead.33An early witness to the custom of celebrating the anniversary of a martyrs death isthe author of the document known as the Martyrdom of Polycarp which was written around156 A.D. Responding to the charge made by Polycarps persecutors that Christians wereinclined to abandon Christ in order to worship the Martyred Bishop Polycarp, the author of

26.St. Clement of Rome, Letter to the Corinthians,5,1-7.

27.ibid,9.

28.ibid,10.

29.ibid,11-12.

30.ibid,17-18

31.ibid,46,1-3

32.St. Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Philadelphians,5,2.

33.St. Polycarp, Letter to the Philippians,9
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the Martyrdom of Polycarp goes on to make a sharp distinction between the adorationrendered to Christ and the veneration rendered to the martyrs:

For they did not know that we can never abandon the innocent Christ who suffered on behalf of sinner

for the salvation of those in the world who have been saved, and we cannot worship any other. For weworship Him as Son of God, while we love the martyrs as disciples and imitators of the Lord, for their

insuperable affection for their King and Teacher. With them may we also be made companions andfellow disciple

34

After which he then adds: The Lord permit us, when we are able to assemble there [i.e. theplace where the remains of Polycarp are kept] in joy and gladness, and to celebrate thebirthday of his martyrdom, both in memory of those who have already engaged in thecontest, and for the practice and training of those who are yet to fight.35Writing around theyear 211 A.D, Tertullian made mention of the custom of celebrating the Eucharistic sacrifice

on the anniversary of the martyrs death in passing: We offer sacrifices for the dead on theirbirthday.36Elsewhere in another work written about that same period Tertullian makesmention of the custom of singing songs of praise in honour of the martyrs: for the death ofmartyrs also is praised in song.37St. Cyprian of Carthage, in a letter which he wrote aroundthe year 250 A.D to his clergy and his people, made mention of the custom of offering theEucharistic sacrifice on the anniversary of the martyrs death:

Lawrence and Ignatius, though they fought betimes in worldly camps, were true and spiritualsoldiers of God, and while they laid the devil on his back with their confession of Christ they merited

the palms and crowns of the Lord by their Illustrious passion. We offer sacrifices for them, as you will

recall, as often as we celebrate the passion of the martyr by commemorating their anniversary day;

Nor is the title of glories strange and new in our beloved Colerinus. He is following the foot prints of

his kindred. We offer sacrifices for them always, as you remember, as often as we celebrate the

passions and days of the martyr with an annual commemoration38

From St. Dionysius of Alexandria, we learn that the custom whereby Christian parents adoptthe names of the saints for their kids in honour of the saints was already an old age custom bythe middle of the third century A.D. In his treatise on promises written about 257 A.D, weread: Many [in the first century A.D], I imagine, have had the same name as John theApostle, men who because they loved, admired, and esteemed him so greatly and wished tobe loved as he was by the Lord, were more than glad to be called after him just as Paul andPeter are favourite names for the children of believers.39A synod of the Church which met at

Gangra about 343 A.D, wanting to preserve all things which have been delivered by the Holy

Scriptures and the Apostolic Traditions declared that If anyone shall from a presumptuousdisposition, condemn and abhor the assemblies [in honour] of the martyrs, or the services

performed there, and the commemoration of them, let him be anathema.40This canon like

34.Martyrdom of Polycarp,17,3.

35.ibid,18,2-3.

36.Tertullian, The Crown,3,3.

37.Ibid, Antidote Against The Scorpion,7,2.

38.St. Cyprian of Carthage, Letter ,39(34)3

39.St. Dionysius of Alexndria, on Promises, fragment in Euebius Historia Ecclesiastica,7,25.

40.Synod of Gangra, canon 20.


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most of the canons of this council was directed against the Eustathians, a fourth centuryheretical sect, which not only caused many to forsake the public assemblies for divineservice41but entertained a certain disdain towards the martyrs. A Synod which met at

Laodicea in Phrygia sometime in the 360s declared: Members of the Church shall not be

allowed to frequent cemeteries or chapels dedicated to so-called martyrs belonging to any

heretics for prayer or divine service. Those who do this, if of the number of the faithful notmerely catechumens), shall be excommunicated for a time; but if they do penance andacknowledge their fault, they shall be again received.

42Elsewhere, that same synod declared:

No Christians shall forsake the martyrs of Christ, and turn to false martyrs, i.e. those of theheretics, or to the heretics themselves before mentioned, for they are far from God.

Whoever, therefore, goes over to them shall be held excommunicate.43The council of

Laodicea in the two canons quoted above forbids the honouring of persons who belong toheretical sects and who after their death were honoured as martyrs by the heretical sectsthey belong to44. The canons from the council of Gangra and that of Laodicea which wequoted above indicate that the custom of building places of worship in honour of the saintswas already known in the fourth century. Archaeological research shows that this was in factthe case. Excavations begun in the Minster of Bonn (Germany) in 1928 resulted in thediscovery of a fourth century basilica dedicated to the soldier-martyrs Cassius and Florentius.In Rome the basilica of St. Peter and that of St. Paul were built during this period. But theevidence goes back further than the fourth century. A Church was built in honour of theBlessed Virgin Mary by Theonas, who was consecrated Patriarch of Alexandria around 285A.D. St. Epiphanius of Salamis, writing in the 370s, spoke with great admiration of the Virgin

Mary and taught that she should be honoured : Mary, the holy Virgin, is truly great beforeGod and men. For how shall we not proclaim her great, who held within her theuncontainable One, whom neither heaven nor earth can contain?

45Again: Whoever honours

the Lord also honors the holy [vessel]; who instead dishonours the holy vessel also dishonours

his Master. Mary herself is the holy Virgin, that is, the holy vessel. 46Again: Mary, who wasso honoured that she carried the universal King in her womb.47In Opposition to a hereticalsect the Collyridians who offered quasi-divine worship to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Epiphaniusdistinguished the veneration expressed to Mary from the worship paid to God: Mary should

be honoured, but the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost should be adored. Nobody

41.Canon 5 of that same council reads: If any one teaches that the house of God is to be despised, and likewise

the services there held, let him be anathema; and canon 6: If any one, avoiding the churches, holds privatemeetings, and in contempt of the Church performs that which belongs only to her, without the presence of a

priest with authority from the bishop, let him be anathema. Helefe comments: Both these canon s forbid the

existence of conventicles, and conventicle services. It already appears from the second article of the SynodalLetter of Gangra, that the Eustathians, through spiritual pride, separated themselves from the rest of the

congregation, as being the pure and holy, avoided the public worship, and held private services of their

own.History of the councils, P.330.42

.Council of Laodicea, canon 9.43

.ibid, canon 34.44

.Eusebius in History of the Church says: 45

.St. Epiphanius, Against All Heresies 30,31.46

.Ibid, 78,21.47

.Ibid, 79,3.


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should adore Mary.48

Again: Yes, Marys body was holy, but it was not God. Yes, the Virgin

was surely a virgin and worthy of honor; however, she was not given for us to adore her. Sheherself adored him who was born of her flesh, having descended from heaven and from the

bosom of the Father.49 St. Ambrose of Milian (d. 397), like St. Epiphanius, explained that

divine honour should be given only to the Trinity and never to the Blessed Virgin Mary:

Without doubt the Holy Spirit too must be adored when we adore Him who is born of theHoly Spirit according to the flesh. But let none apply this to Mary: for Mary was the temple ofGod, not the God of the temple. And therefore he alone is to be adored, who worked in the

temple.50 He urged imitation of Mary on virgins and mothers: Marys life should be for you

a pictorial image of virginity. Her life is like a mirror reflecting the face of chastity and theform of virtue. There in you may find a model for your own lifeshowing what to improve,what to imitate, what to hold fast to.

51St. John Chrysostom, in his homilies on the Epistle tothe Romans written in the year 391, made mention of the custom of celebrating theanniversary of the death of the martyrs: As I keep hearing the Epistles of the blessed Paulread, and that twice every week, and often three or four times, whenever we are celebratingthe memorials of the holy martyr.52Elsewhere in the same work, he says extolling the virtuesof the Apostle St. Paul:

Let us then, laying all this to heart, stand nobly; for Paul was a man, partaking of the same nature

with us, and having everything else in common with us. But because he showed such great lovetoward Christ, he went up above the Heavens, and stood with the Angels. And so if we too would

rouse ourselves up some little, and kindle in ourselves that fire, we shall be able to emulate that holy

man. For were this impossible, he would never have cried aloud, and said, Be imitators of me, as I am

ofChrist.[ 1 Cor. 11:1] Let us not then admire him only, or be struck with him only, but imitate him,that we too may, when we depart hence, be counted worthy to see him, and to share the glory

unutterable, which God grant that we may all attain to by the grace and love toward man ofour Lord

Jesus Christ, through Whom, and with Whom, be glory to the Father, with the Holy Ghost, now andevermore. Amen

53

Again, in another work St. John Chrysostom writes:

he continued doing service to the martyrs, not only by splendid buildings nor even by continualfeasts, but by a better method than these. And what is this? He imitates their life, emulates their

courage, throughout according to his ability he keeps the image of the martyrs alive, in himself. For

see, they gave their bodies to the slaughter, he has mortified the members of his flesh which are

upon the earth. They stopped the flame of fire, he quenched the flame of lust. They fought againstthe teeth of beasts, but this man bore off the most dangerous of our passions, anger. For all these

things let us give thanks to God, because he has thus granted us noble martyrs, and pastors worthy of

martyrs, for the perfecting of the saints, for the edifying of the body of Christ[ Eph. 4:12]with whom

be glory, honor, and might to the Father, with the Holy and lifegiving Spirit, now and always, for ever

and ever. Amen.54

48.Ibid, 78,7.

49.Ibid, 79,4.

50.St. Ambrose, On the Holy Spirit, 2,2,6.

51.Ibid, De Virginibus 2,2,6.

52.St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Epistle to the Romans,1.

53.Ibid, 32.

54.Ibid, Panegyric on St. Babylas, 3.
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Victricius of Rouen, writing about 396, says: A good conscience does free homage to the

saints.55 St. Augustine of Hippo, writing around 400 A.D and refuting the argument of

Faustus the Manichean that Catholic veneration of saints is Idolatrous, says:

The Christian people...celebrate the memorials of the martyrs with religious solemity both in order toencourage the imitation of them and in order to be united with their merits and helped by their

prayers. We do this in such a way, however, that we erect alters to none of the martyrs but to God of

the martyrs, although at the memorial of the martyrs. After all, what bishop, while standing at the altar

in the places where their holy bodies are buried, ever said, We offer this to you, Peter or Paul or

Cyprian? Rather, what is offered is offered to God, who crowned the martyrs, but atthe memorials of

those martyrs he crowned, so that from the suggestive power of those places there may arise a greater

feeling to increase our love both for those whom we can imitate and for him by whose help we are able

to do so.

We reverence the martyrs, therefore, with the cult of love and fellowship by which we reverence in this

life holy men and women of God whose heart we see is ready for great suffering on behalf of the truth

of the gospel. But we reverence the martyrs more devoutly the more securely we praise them after all

their struggles have been overcome, and also to the extent that we proclaim them with more confident

praise when they are already in the life to come than when they are fighting in this life. But we worshipGod alone and teach that he alone is to be worshipped by the veneration which in Greek is called latriabut which in Latin cannot be expressed by a single word, since it is a certain service properly due to

divinity. But since the offering of sacrifice pertains to this worship, for which reason the action of those

who offer this worship also to idols is called idolatry, we by no means offer such a sacrifice, orcommand that such a sacrifice be offered, to any martyr or to any holy soul or to any angel. And anyone

who falls into this error is rebuked by sound teaching, so that he may be either corrected or avoided.56

Augustine here clearly distinguishes between the veneration of the martyrs and the worshipof latria which is due to God alone. Elsewhere in another work, he explains:

Our martyrs are not our gods; for we know that the martyrs and we have both but one God, and thatthe same... to our martyrs we build, not temples as if they were gods, but monuments as to dead men

whose spirits live with God. Neither do we erect altars at these monuments that we may sacrifice tothe martyrs, but to the one God of the martyrs and of ourselves; and in this sacrifice they are named

in their own place and rank as men of God who conquered the world by confessing Him, but they are

not invoked by the sacrificing priest. For it is to God, not to them, he sacrifices, though he sacrifices attheir monument; for he is Gods priest, not theirs. The sacrifice itself, too, is the body of Christ, which

is not offered to them, because they themselves are this body.57

St. Jerome, writing about 406 A.D and refuting the argument of Vigilantius that Catholicveneration of the saint is an adoration of men, pointed out that Catholics offer divine honour

only to God and never to the saints: Who in the world ever adored the martyrs? Who ever

thought man was God? Did not Paul and Barnabas, when the people of Lycaonia thoughtthem to be Jupiter and Mercury, and would have offered sacrifices to them, rend their clothesand declare they were men? Not that they were not better than Jupiter and Mercury, whowere but men long ago dead, but because, under the mistaken ideas of the Gentiles, the

55.Victricius of Rouen, The Praise of Saints, 3.

56.St. Augustine of Hippo, Against Faustus, 20,21.

57.Ibid, The City of God,22,10.


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honour due to God was being paid to them.58He justifies the Catholic practice of venerating

the saints, saying: For we may not serve the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessedforever. Stillwe honour the servants that their honour may be reflected upon theirLord.59St. Cyril of Alexandria, who died in the year 444 A.D, wrote: We by no meansconsider the holy martyrs to be gods, nor are we wont to bow down before them adoringly,

but only relatively and reverentially.60

Pope St. Leo the Great, who reigned from 440-461, inhis sermon on the feast of St. Laurence the martyr, says:

Whilst the height of all virtues, dearly-beloved, and the fulness of all righteousness is born of that

love, wherewith God and ones neighbour is loved, surely in none is this love found more conspicuous

and brighter than in the blessed martyrs; who are as near to our Lord Jesus, Who died for all men, in

the imitation of His love, as in the likeness of their suffering. For, although that Love, wherewith theLord has redeemed us, cannot be equalled by any mans kindness, because it is one thing that a man

who is doomed to die one day should die for a righteous man, and another that One Who is free from

the debt of sin should lay down His life for the wicked: yet the martyrs also have done great service to

all men, in that the Lord Who gave them boldness, has used it to show that the penalty of death and

the pain of the cross need not be terrible to any of His followers, but might be imitated by many of

them. If therefore no good man is good for himself alone, and no wise mans wisdom befriendshimself only, and the nature of true virtue is such that it leads many away from the dark error on

which its light is shed, no model is more useful in teaching Gods people than that of the martyrs.

Eloquence may make intercession easy, reasoning may effectually persuade; but yet examples are

stronger than words, and there is more teaching in practice than in precept.; Let us rejoice, then,

dearly-beloved, with spiritual joy, and make our boast over the happy end of this illustrious man inthe Lord, Who is wonderful in His saints, in whom He has given us a support and an example, and has

so spread abroad his glory throughout the world, that, from the rising of the sun to its going down,

the brightness of his deacons light doth shine, and Rome is become as famous in Laurentius as

Jerusalem was ennobled by Stephen. By his prayer and intercession we trust at all times to beassisted; that, because all, as the Apostle says, who wish to live holily in Christ, suffer persecution,

we may be strengthened with the spirit of love, and be fortified to overcome all temptations by the

perseverance of steadfast faith. Through our Lord Jesus Christ.61

These citations can be multiplied but let us be content to take one more and this from thework of St. John Damascene (645-749). The saintly doctor in his treatise On the Orthodox faithwrote:

The saints must be honored as friends of Christ and children and heirs of God, as John the Theologianand Evangelist says: 'But as many as received him, he gave them the power to be made the sons of

God.*Jn. 1:12+ Therefore they are no longer servants, but sons: and if sons, heirs also, heirs indeed of

God and joint heirs with Christ. [Gal. 4:7; Rom. 8:17] And again, in the holy Gospels the Lord says to

the Apostles: 'You are my friends. . . I will not now call you servants: for the servant knoweth not what

his lord doth.'[Jn. 15:14.15]Furthermore, if the Creator and Lord of all is called both King of kings and

Lord of lords and God of gods, [Apoc. 19:16; Ps.49:1] then most certainly the saints, too, are bothgods and lords and kings. God both is and is said to be their God and Lord and King. For I am, He said

to Moses, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and God appointed Moses

the God of Pharao.[Ex. 3:6;7:1] However, I say that they are gods, lords, and kings not by nature, but

58.St. Jerome, Against Vigilantius, 5,1-2.

59.Ibid, Letter 109,1.

60.St. Cyril of Alexandria, Against Julian 6.

61.St. Leo the Great, Sermon 85,1.4.


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because they have ruled over and dominated sufferings, and because they have kept undebased the

likeness of the divine image to which they were made for the image of the king is also called a king,and, finally, because they have freely been united to God and receiving Him as a dweller within

themselves have through association with Him become by grace what He is by nature. How, then,

should these not be honoured who have been accounted servants, friends, and sons of God? For the

honor shown the more sensible of one's fellow servants gives proof of one's love for the common

Master.62

There is nothing unnatural or unreasonable in the Catholic practice of venerating the saintsin heaven. No doubt such practice naturally flows from the love and honour which we havefor God. There is an incident in the OT which is quite helpful in illustrating this point. In theFirst book of Kings[First Samuel+, we are told that when the servants of David, the Lordsanointed, approached Abigail she stood up, then prostrated herself on the ground sayingconsider your servant a slave to wash the feet of my lords servants(I kgs[I Sam] 25:41). Shetreated the servants of David with reverence and veneration because of the love and honourwhich she has for their master David. In other words she honoured David in his servants. So itis with Catholics and our practice of venerating the saints. We love and honour God in His

servants, the saints.63 The practice of venerating the saints also flow from our deep sense ofawareness of the union that exist between us and the saints in heaven. If we look at theearthly families of which we have become members either by natural birth or by adoption,the members of our family who have climbed to the top of the social ladder or have achievedcertain worldly success in life are admired, praise, respected and highly esteemed by othermembers of the family. Everyone in the family is proud of them. Now, the Church is the familyof God (cf. Heb 3:6; Eph 2:19) and the saints in heaven, though away from the body, are stillmembers of the Church (cf. II Cor 5:18; Heb 12:22-24). While they were here in this life theylived in fidelity to Gods grace, so that, after their departure they received the crown of glory,

which is the goal of every Christian here below (cf. Phil 1:23; I Cor 9:24-27; Phil 3:12-14; II Tm

2:5). So why should we not be proud of the saints in heaven? Why should we not admirethem? Why should we not praise them? Why should we not show them respect? Why shouldwe not hold them in high esteem? If we can honour our fellow men because of worldlyachievements, why should we not honour those men who have obtained an incorruptiblecrown and were outstanding for their exemplary Christian life (cf. I Cor 9:25; Phil 3:12-17)? AsKarl Keating rightly noted, If merit deserves to be honored wherever it is found, it surely

should be honored among Gods special friends.64

(b)Intercesssion and invocation of the saintsIts is part of our holy catholic faith that those our members who are in glory and are present

to the Lord (II Cor 5:18) intercede for us with God. That it is lawful to invoke them and to have

recourse to their prayers. As the Council of Trent teaches: The saints, reigning together with

Christ, pray to God for men; it is good and useful thing to invoke the saints humbly and to

62.St. John Damascene, The Orthodox Faith, 4,15.

63.This was the idea St. John Damascene was expressing in the passage cited above: How, then, should these

not be honoured who have been accounted servants, friends, and sons of God? For the honor shown the more

sensible of one's fellow servants gives proof of one's love for the common Master.64

.Karl Keating, Catholicism and Fundamentalism, Lagos (Criterion publishers LTD)2000,p.274.


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have recourse to their prayers and to their efficacious help to obtain favors from God throughhis Son Jesus Christ our Lord who alone is our redeemer and sav ior.65This is the faith St.Anselm (1033-1109), the father of Scholasticism, was expressing when he said: The Motherof God is our mother. Mary the good mother ask and beg for us, may she request and obtainwhat is good for us. Let her ask her Son for her sons, the only-begotten for the adopted, the

master for the servants. Let the good Son hear his Mother for his brothers, the only-begottenSon for those whom he adopted, the Master for those whom he freed.

66This is the faith St.Dominic Guzman (1170-1221) was expressing when, as he lay dying, he said to his brothers:

Do not weep for I shall be more useful to you after my death and I shall help you then moreeffectively than during my life.

67 This is the faith St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) was

expressing when she said in prayer: O holy ones who know how to prepare so delightful an

inheritance, help us now that you are so near the fount of all holiness. Draw water for those

who are perishing from thirst.68This the faith millions of Catholics in the world today are

expressing when they make petition to the saints in heaven or they say aspirations such as OMost Holy Virgin Mary, Mother of God, pray for us, St. Michael, the arch angel, pray for us,

Our Holy Guardian angels, pray for us, Sts. Peter and Paul, pray for us, St. Jude Thaddeus,

pray for us, St. Augustine, pray for us, St. Rita, pray for us, etc.; or set prayers such as the

Ave Maria (Hail Mary), the subtuum praesidium confugimus (we fly to thy protection), theSalve Regina (Hail Holy Queen), the confiteor(I confess) etc.

This aspect of our faith is rejected by the majority of Protestants. Their most commonargument against the catholic doctrine of intercession and invocation of the saints is that it isincompatible with the doctrine of the one mediatorship of Christ that is taught in the NT,

especially in the First Epistle of St. Paul to Timothy: For there is one God, and one mediatorbetween God and men, the man Christ Jesus(I Tm 2:5; see also Rom 9:34, Heb 7:27, 9:15, Jn14:6, I Jn 2:1).

This argument often raised by opponents of the Catholi