CB
#0
What is the appropriate attitude that an Orthodox Christian should have towards Roman Catholic saints, particularly from the 1300's to the 1500's? I know the Anglicans honor many such as St. Teresa of Avila, St. Francis of Assissi, and and St. Catherine of Sienna, to name a few. I'm assuming it's because they are \"reformers\" in their own right, not neccessarily a part of the Roman Catholic system that was corrupted by Luther's day. They also like Hildegard Bigden and Meister Eckhart. I''ve read bits and pieces of some of these writers. Eckhart seems alright, but with all of these, there is bound to be some theological pitfalls some of you may help me avoid, aside from the obvious Papal authority they were under.
C.
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Ryan McGee
#2
Interestingly, now Bishop Kallistos includes the Western blessed Julian of Norwich in his work _The Orthodox Way_. However, I am not aware of any Roman Catholic saints after the Schism being venerated in the Orthodox Church. The Orthodox attitude would be to take what is good but reject what is bad in the saint's works and life. St. Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain, for example, made use of Roman Catholic spiritual works; but he did so with discretion.
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Marie Moffitt
#3
God is not bound by our ideas about what is appropriate. As Jean Vianny, a Roman Catholic saint, used to say, \"God writes straight with crooked lines.\"
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Ji
#1
StGeorge wrote:
Interestingly, now Bishop Kallistos includes the Western blessed Julian of Norwich in his work _The Orthodox Way_. However, I am not aware of any Roman Catholic saints after the Schism being venerated in the Orthodox Church. The Orthodox attitude would be to take what is good but reject what is bad in the saint's works and life. St. Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain, for example, made use of Roman Catholic spiritual works; but he did so with discretion.
I would be very interested in seeing Julian of Norwich listed in any Orthodox menaion, synaxarion, or Orthodox calendar (general or local). I somehow doubt that she is there.
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DS
#5
Yeah, I tend to agree with MiriaM, I think God is the final authority on Sainthood.
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EP
#6
The Church does not venerate them as saints.
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HR
#7
The Church does not venerate them as saints, this is true. The Anglicans can venerate those from 1300 to 1500 because they were in communion with the Roman Church at this time. England was still Orthodox until 1066, when William the Bastard invaded England and martyred those pious Orthodox people, including the last Orthodox King of England Blessed Harold (Godwinson) II.
Anything after that is not Orthodox. Anything before that is, including Ss Columba, Patrick, Gregory Dialogos, Cloud, etc. All of those Western Saints reposed in communion with the Church, and were venerated by those in communion with the Church as well. They are Saints.
As for the question of the OP, I hope I have answered it.
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RR
#8
No western saints are recognised after 1054.
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CB
#4
Thanks for the replys. I'll keep all of them in mind. I just like reading Christian writers as opposed to secular philosophers, and wanted to avoid any dangerous paths. I'm a very curious person, but I want my curiosity to have beneficial outcome, not become a passion in itself.
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RR
#9
Gregory Palamas said that even the snake is useful for medicine so long as you remove the poison first. Perhaps that's one way to look at this.:)
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