The Orthodox Church does not worship Saints or the Holy Virgin Mary. Nor is the Orthodox Church engaged in any form of idolatry (that is a misrepresentation and strawman of the Orthodox Church). We only worship and give adoration to God the Holy Trinity. While we don’t worship the Saints, we do VENERATE or show honor to them. Venerate means to show love and honor, not worship or adoration, which belongs to God alone. God commands us to, “Honour thy father and thy mother” (Exodus 20:12). If we are commanded to HONOUR our earthly mother and father, how much more should we want to honor the Apostles, Prophets, and Saints (what the Apostle Paul calls the “great a cloud of witnesses” in Hebrews 12:1)? The Archangel Gabriel said to the Holy Virgin Mary, “Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women” (Luke 1:28). Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, proclaimed to Mary, “Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb” (Luke 1:42). Mary herself said, “Behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed” (Luke 1:48). These are all biblical examples of showing VENERATION to the Saints, but not worship belonging to God alone. This has always been the teaching of the Orthodox Church.
Photo: Icon of the Annunciation of the Archangel Gabriel to the Holy Virgin Mary
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