johnchan wrote:
I still don't really know the difference between worship and veneration. Outwardly, it looks the same - and I haven't cultivated what it's supposed to be like inwardly.
Thank you for sharing your comments. As a cradle Orthodox I have been doing the two all my life, but I don’t know if I can properly explain it in words. I think the more you practice them the more you will see the difference. If you permit me, hoping I am not stepping over my bounds, I may be able to offer a definition, as I understand it and visualize it in my mind and heart and which is limited to my personal experience.
I compare veneration to greeting someone, a guest or holy person, who comes into your house or whom you go to visit. In your best manners, you don\'t yell your greeting across the room- you go up to them, say hello and invite them in or thank them for the invitation. In the same manner, when we see a relic or a saint depicted on an icon, we go up to them and say hello. We bless ourselves because they are holy and greet them with a kiss. Sometimes we ask them for help. Other times we thank them for answered prayers. But mostly- it’s just an expression of good manners. Prayers or supplication is a different thing.
Now, in worship, we are relating directly with God. Sometimes we use the words given to us through traditional prayers, because we don\'t always have the appropriate words to address someone as great and wonderful as God. There are other times we address God with personal thoughts and concerns. I am having a hard time defining worship except that it is reserved for God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The word worship is so intertwined with prayer, thanksgiving, respect, relating, giving over to… maybe because when we come to worship God in liturgy for example, we are doing so many things like prayer, thanksgiving, committing ourselves etc.
The defining “fine line” differentiating veneration from worship is that the Saint’s hope is to direct us to God so that we too can have a relationship with Him. Therefore we only worship God, who is the source of Life and Salvation.
