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Veneration (; ), or veneration of saints, is the act of honoring a saint, a person who has been identified as having a high degree of sanctity or holiness. are shown similar veneration in many religions. Veneration of saints is practiced, formally or informally, by adherents of some branches of all major religions, including Christianity, Judaism,"Veneration of saints is a universal phenomenon. All monotheistic and polytheistic creeds contain something of its religious dimension... " Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism and Jainism.
Within Christianity, veneration is practiced by groups such as the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Oriental Orthodox Church, all of which have varying types of canonization or glorification processes. In Catholicism and Orthodoxy, veneration is shown outwardly by respectfully kissing, bowing or making the sign of the cross before a saint's icon, , or statue, or by going on pilgrimage to sites associated with saints. The Lutheranism and Anglicanism commemorate saints on feast days throughout the liturgical year and often name churches after saints. In general, veneration is not practiced by Reformed Christians and Jehovah's Witnesses, as many adherents of both groups believe the practice amounts to idolatry.
Hinduism has a long tradition of veneration of saints, expressed toward various and teachers of sanctity, both living and dead. Branches of Buddhism include formal liturgical worship of saints, with Mahayana Buddhism classifying degrees of sainthood.
In Islam, veneration of saints is practiced by some of the adherents of traditional Sunni Islam (, for example), and in many parts of places like Turkey, Egypt, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Other sects, such as etc., abhor the practice.
In Judaism, there is no classical or formal recognition of saints, but there is a long history of reverence shown toward biblical heroes and martyrs. Jews in some regions, for example in Moroccan Jews, have a long and widespread tradition of saint veneration, as do Hasidic Jews.
Catholic and Eastern Orthodox theologies also include the terms hyperdulia and protodulia for the types of veneration, the former specifically paid to the Virgin Mary, while the latter to Saint Joseph and John the Baptist. The Roman Catholic theologian Thomas Aquinas specifies that hyperdulia is the same type of veneration as dulia, only given in a greater degree; both remain distinct from latria. Hyperdulia, protodulia, and Latria are shared by Traditionalist Catholicism.
As Thomas Aquinas explained, adoration, which is known as latria in classical theology, is the worship and homage that is rightly offered to God alone. It is the manifestation of submission, and acknowledgement of dependence, appropriately shown towards the excellence of an uncreated divine person and to his absolute Lordship. It is the worship of the creator that God alone deserves.Veneration, known as dulia in classical theology, is the honor and reverence appropriately due to the excellence of a created person. Excellence exhibited by created beings likewise deserves recognition and honor.
Historically, schools of theology have used the term "worship" as a general term which included both adoration and veneration. They would distinguish between "worship of adoration" and "worship of veneration". The word "worship" (in a similar way to how the liturgical term "cult" is traditionally used) was not synonymous with adoration, but could be used to introduce either adoration or veneration. Hence Catholic sources will sometimes use the term "worship" not to indicate adoration, but only the worship of veneration given to Mary and the saints.
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
In the Roman Catechism, a more lengthy statement on The Honour and Invocation of the Saints is available. The catechism of the Council of Trent/Part 3: The First Commandment#245|The Honour and Invocation of the Saints
Catholic tradition has a well established philosophy for the veneration of Mary in the Catholic Church via the field of Mariology with Pontifical schools such as the Marianum specifically devoted to this task.[3]
For the doctrine of the Catholic Church, in addition to the dogma of her Divine Motherhood,"Divine Maternity Dogma."
Protodulia is the special veneration given to Saint Joseph, the foster father of Jesus, within Josephology. This veneration of Saint Joseph is distinct from hyperdulia, which is reserved for Mary, and latria, the worship due to the God alone.Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 956-957.
While Saint Joseph is venerated for his role in the Holy Family, the title of protodulia signifies that among the saints, he holds a unique and preeminent place, second only to Mary. The Church regards him as a powerful intercessor and protector of the Church, and his virtues—obedience, humility, and care for Jesus and Mary—are celebrated.
The theological grounding for protodulia is rooted in several papal documents and the long-standing tradition of the Church:
In the Catholic Church, there are many different forms of veneration of saints, such as a pilgrimages (e.g. those of Saint Peter's tomb (Vatican), Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua (Italy), Santiago de Compostela Cathedral (Spain), or Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Israel)). It is also usual to make a pilgrimage to places associated with the life of a saint, such as the Cave of Santo Hermano Pedro (Spain), the Cave of the Apocalypse (Greece) or the Aya Tekla Church (Turkey). Veneration of images and relics; Lord of Miracles (Peru), the Virgin of Guadalupe and Saint Jude Thaddaeu (Mexico), Holy Dexter (Hungary), Reliquary of the Three Kings (Germany), etc.
Not (explicitly) mentioning the word "Hyperdulia", Lumen Gentium, an apostolic constitution of the Second Vatican Council, affirms:
Saint Joseph is mentioned in a unique passage:
In Reformed churches, veneration is sometimes considered to amount to the sin of idolatry, and the related practice of canonization amounts to the heresy of apotheosis. Reformed theology usually denies that any real distinction between veneration and worship can be made, and claims that the practice of veneration distracts the Christian soul from its true object, the worship of God. In his Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin writes that "(t)he distinction of what is called dulia and latria was invented for the very purpose of permitting divine honours to be paid to angels and dead men with apparent impunity".
'God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.' (Acts 19:11, 12, NIV).
The deuterocanonical Book of Sirach also briefly discusses venerating the memory of patriarchs and prophets: "Let us now praise men of renown, and our fathers in their generation" (44:1). "And their names continue for ever, the glory of the holy men remaining unto their children" (44:15) Oremus: Ecclesiasticus 44:1-10
Veneration of saints eventually became one of the most widespread Sunni practices for more than a millennium, before it was opposed in the twentieth century by the Salafi movement, whose various streams regard it as "being both un-Islamic and backwards ... rather than the integral part of Islam which they were for over a millennium."Juan Eduardo Campo, Encyclopedia of Islam (New York: Infobase Publishing, 2009), p. 600 In a manner similar to the Protestant Reformation,See Jonathan A.C. Brown, Misquoting Muhammad (London: Oneworld Publications, 2015), p. 254 the specific traditional practices which Salafism has tried to curtail in both Sunni and Shia contexts include those of wali, ziyara, tawassul, and relics. As Christopher Taylor has remarked: "Throughout a vital dimension of Islamic piety was the veneration of Muslim saints.... due, certain strains of thought within the Islamic tradition itself, particularly pronounced in the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries ... some Muslims have either resisted acknowledging the existence of Muslim saints altogether or have viewed their presence and veneration as unacceptable deviations."Christopher Taylor, In the Vicinity of the Righteous (Leiden: Brill, 1999), pp. 5-6
Hasidic and Kabbalah-based Sephardic Jews have a strong tradition of veneration of saints, known in Hebrew as Tzaddikim. Much of Hasidic literature is replete with theology about saints. Veneration of Tzaddikim in Hasidic traditions are similar to in other religions, including lighting candles in their memory, making pilgrimages to their graves, eating meals in their memory, veneration of relics such as clothing or books used by the saint, and observing the yartzeit in a manner similar to saints days, which may include changes in the daily liturgy such as omitting tachanun liturgy on the yartzeit day, noting it as a quasi holiday.
It is common for some Jews to visit the graves of many righteous Jewish leaders."The life of these, mainly Sephardi and Oriental (Mizrahi) communities, is marked by an unself-conscious and unquestioning commitment to deeply rooted values, where legalism often yields to common sense, and mystical piety plays an integral part, visible in such practices as veneration of tombs of patriarchs and saints, often associated with pilgrimage." The tradition is particularly strong among Moroccan Jews, and Jews of Sephardic Jews descent, although also by some Ashkenazi Jews as well. This is particularly true in Israel, where many holy Jewish leaders are buried. The Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai in Mount Meron, the Baba Sali in Netivot, and that of Maimonides in Tiberius are examples of burial sites that attract large pilgrimages in the Near East.
Many Hasidic sites in Ukraine, Poland, and Hungary draw large amounts of pilgrims, particularly in Uman, Ukraine; Lizhensk, Poland; and Kerestir, Hungary.
In America, there are many examples, such as the grave of Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum in Kiryas Joel, Rabbi Shlomo Halberstam in Deans, New Jersey, Rabbi Chaim Zanvil Abramowitz in Monsey, NY, and Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, at the Ohel, in the cemetery in Queens where he is buried alongside his father-in-law. During his lifetime, Schneerson himself would frequently visit the gravesite (Ohel) of his father-in-law, where he would light candles and read letters and written prayers, and then place them on the grave, as is the custom of all Hasidic pilgrims venerating their saints. Today, visitors to the grave of Schneerson include Jews of Orthodox, Reform and Conservative background, as well as non-Jews.The New York Observer, Editorial, 07/08/14. "Rebbe to the city and Rebbe to the world".Shmuley Boteach, "Cory Booker the Spiritual Senator", 10/18/13 Pilgrims typically light candles and recite prayers of psalms and bring with them petitions of prayers written on pieces of paper which are then torn and left on the grave.
/ref> the Mother of God "Theotokos" was the subject of three other dogmas:
Oriental Orthodoxy
In the Syriac Orthodox Church liturgical service, the Hail Mary is pronounced as a prefatory prayer after the Our Father, and before the priest's entrance to the chancel. The name of the Blessed Virgin Mary has also been probably used for the sanctification of altars, above the name of all other saints.
Eastern Orthodoxy
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, veneration of the saints is an important element of worship. Most services are closed with the words “Most Holy Theotokos, save us!" and would use and to venerate the saint of the day. This practice of venerating saints both through praise and by means of their is defended in John Damascene's book On Holy Images, and was the subject of the Second Council of Nicaea.
Protestantism
Lutheranism and Anglicanism allow the veneration of saints in a manner similar to Catholicism. Throughout the liturgical year, the Lutheran and Anglican churches commemorate feast days that honour the saints. Churches are named in honour of the saints.
Bible
In terms of venerating relics of saints, two verses are frequently mentioned:
'Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man's body into Elisha's tomb. When the body touched Elisha's bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet.' (2 Kings 13:21, NIV).
Support
St. Augustine, St. Ambrose, and others, give accounts of miracles that occurred at the graves of St. Saint Stephen, St. Felix of Nola, St. Gervasius, and many others, in post-Biblical times. Such miraculous events are seen as divine favor for the veneration of relics.
Hinduism
Hinduism has a longstanding and living tradition of reverence toward sants (saints) and mahatma, with the line often blurring between humanity and divinity in the cases of godmen and godwomen. The popularized devotion to saintly figures such as sadhu, , and gurus as models showing the way to liberation.Cybelle Shattuck, Hinduism (London: Routledge, 1999), p. 61.
Islam
Islam has had a rich history of veneration of saints (often called wali, which literally means "Friend of"),See John Renard, Friends of God: Islamic Images of Piety, Commitment, and Servanthood (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008); Idem., Tales of God Friends: Islamic Hagiography in Translation (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2009) which has declined in some parts of the Islamic world in the twentieth century due to the influence of the various streams of Salafism. In Sunni Islam, the veneration of saints became a very common form of religious celebration early on, and saints came to be defined in the eighth-century as a group of "special people chosen by God and endowed with exceptional gifts, such as the ability to work miracles."Radtke, B., “Saint”, in: Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān, General Editor: Jane Dammen McAuliffe, Georgetown University, Washington DC. The classical Sunni scholars came to recognize and honor these individuals as venerable people who were both "loved by God and developed a close relationship of love to Him." The vast majority of saints venerated in the classical Sunni world were the , who were all Sunni mystics who belonged to maddhab.John Renard, Friends of God: Islamic Images of Piety, Commitment, and Servanthood (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008)
Judaism
While Orthodox Judaism and Rabbinic Judaism do not countenance the veneration of saints per se, veneration and pilgrimage to burial sites of holy Jewish leaders is an ancient part of the tradition."....the veneration of, and pilgrimages to, saints were part of an ancient Jewish tradition." The historian Ephraim Shoham-Steiner has shown that during the Middle Ages, there is evidence suggesting that some Jews (likely from the margins of society) visited the tombs of Christian saints in search of healing and relief from illness. Naturally, Posek opposed this practice, but their objections do not negate the fact that the phenomenon existed.
Jainism
In Jainism, it recognizes the , which are beings who have achieved transcendence and liberation (moksha) and are, therefore, teachers who taught the Jain path. Away from the evolution of the cosmos and the cosmic event, they do not intervene in any way in it; they serve only as examples to follow. The latter is manifested in the offering ceremonies ( devapuja), which constitute more of a renunciation on the part of the believer than a surrender, since the tirthankaras are totally indifferent to the affairs of men and the Jains assume that they are indifferent to them.
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