More Questions On The Greek Church :)

[oiccic]

hi, thanks for answering my last set of questions on the Greek church. i have thought of a few more and any answers will be apriciated.

1) What dose the Greek church think about its icons?

2) What is the Roman church's stance on them?

3) I believe the Greek church has saints, is this true?

4) If so, does the Roman church recognize them? and dose the Greek church recognize ours? i saw a bunch of what looked like Greek icons in one of the local Christian (99.99% Catholic) book stores. there were some of Roman saints (ie Pio)

but they didnt have the Greek lettering ive seen on somany icons. were they true Greek icons?

5) Finaly, what is the Greek church's view on Mary (compared to the Roman church's)

thanks again so much!

tom

[Adeodatus]

It would be better to ask an Eastern-rite or Orthodox Christian about icons, but I'll have a go...

For Eastern Byzantine Christians icons are pretty much to them what sacramentals are to Western Catholics. An icon is an 'image' of a divine mystery, a way into contemplating and praying that mystery. Icons are taken very seriously in the East. There is a particular method to painting them, and a lot of prayer goes in. Icon painters believe that God uses them to create these works, and so they never take credit for them. If they sign their icons, it is only to say "by the hand of so-and-so", so as not to take credit for the work.

Icons have a particular importance in the East because of the Iconoclast (i.e. "icon-smashers") heresy. Supported by emperors and some bishops, many icons were destroyed as idolatrous. More subtly, some iconoclasts appreciated that icons weren't idols being worshipped, but insisted that the Divine could not be captured by human art. When the issue was resolved, it was on the basis that Jesus is the "icon" of the Father (as Scripture says). To see Jesus is to see the Father. And because Jesus is truly human, we can depict the Divine also in human art. For us Westerners, we couldn't see what the fuss over icons was about, mostly because we didn't live in such close proximity to Muslims (who oppose all religious images) as our Eastern brothers and sisters. We did agree with the Iconodules ("icon-honorers") that these images are not idols confused with the Living God, but are images sanctioned by the very fact that the Word became flesh and became visible to humanity. The Word-made-flesh is Himself an "icon".

The Catholic Church loves and honors icons too. They are part of our joint heritage with the Orthodox Church, from the first millenium when we were one Church.

The Catholic and Orthodox Churches venerate the saints of Western and Eastern origin from the first thousand years of Christianity. Their saints are ours, and our saints are theirs. The Orthodox do not generally venerate Western saints from after the Great Schism (1054), although personally some of them may be devoted to our saints like St Francis of Assisi etc. But the Catholic Church does recognise some Orthodox saints (from after the Schism) as saints even for the Catholic Church, e.g. St Seraphim of Sarov, etc.

The icons you've seen of Western saints are most likely created recently in imitation of the Eastern icon style. Some of the may even have been painted by the Orthodox, who (like I said) venerate our Fathers and saints in the West from the first millenium.

The Orthodox view on Mary is very much like the Catholic one. With us they confess that Mary is the Mother of God (theotokos), and ever-Virgin (aeiparthenos). Because they don't articulate a doctrine of original sin in the terms we use, they don't call Mary 'immaculately conceived'. But they do believe what we believe when we confess the Immaculate Conception: 'that Mary is as holy as any creature can possibly be said to be'. They call Mary the All-Holy (panagia), and say that she is thoroughly holy by God's grace. They do not explain the Assumption in terms like we do, but call it her 'Dormition' (falling asleep, i.e. dying). Our Lady 'fell asleep' and Jesus took her completely into heaven. Again, this is pretty much the substance of what we mean by the Assumption. Like us they have a great devotion to Our Lady. She is an image of God's complete redemption. She is the mother Jesus gave us, tender and compassionate. She intercedes for us in heaven, the highest of all God's creation.