Glorification - Eastern Orthodox Church

Eastern Orthodox Church

Glorification is the term used in the Eastern Orthodox Church for the official recognition of a person as a saint of the Church. The Orthodox Christian term theosis is roughly equivalent to the theological term "glorification" used by Protestants. The Glorification of saints, as in the Catholic Church, is considered to be an act of God, not a declaration of the hierarchy. The official recognition of saints grows from the consensus of the church.

When an individual who has been sanctified by the grace of the Holy Spirit falls asleep in the Lord, God may or may not choose to glorify the individual through the manifestation of miracles. If He does, the devotion to the saint will normally grow from the "grass roots" level. Eventually, as the Holy Spirit manifests more miracles, the devotion to the individual grows. At this point there are no formal prayers by the Church to the individual. Rather, memorial services (Greek: parastas, Russian: panikhida) are served at the grave of the individual, praying for him or her—though an individual may pray privately to someone who has not yet been formally Glorified, and even commission Icons, which may be kept in the home but not displayed in the Temple (church building).

Eventually, the evidence of their saintliness will have grown to such a degree that a formal Service of Glorification will be scheduled. A Glorification may be performed by any Bishop within his Diocese, though such services are usually performed under the auspices of a Synod of Bishops. Often there will be a formal investigation to be sure that the individual is Orthodox in their faith, has led a life worthy of emulation, and that the reports of miracles attributed to their intercessions are verifiable. The Glorification service does not "make" the individual a saint; rather, the Church is simply making a formal acknowledgement of what God has already manifested.

Sometimes, one of the signs of sanctification is the condition of the Relics of the Saint. Some saints will be incorrupt, meaning that their remains do not decay under conditions when they normally would (natural mummification is not the same as incorruption). Sometimes even when the flesh does decay the bones themselves will manifest signs of sanctity. They may be honey colored or give off a sweet aroma. Some relics will exude myrrh. The absence of such manifestations is not necessarily a sign that the person is not a Saint.

In some traditions, an individual who is being considered for Glorification will be referred to as "Blessed," though there is no formal service of "beatification" in the Orthodox Church. Some fully glorified saints are also referred to as "Blessed," such as a Holy Fool for Christ (for instance, "Blessed St. Xenia") or saints who have been given this particular appellation (such as, "Blessed Augustine", "Blessed Jerome", and others). In such cases the title "Blessed" is in no way intended to imply that they are less than fully saints of the Church.

The particulars of the Service of Glorification may differ from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but normally it involves the formal inscribing of the individual's name into the Calendar of Saints (assigning a special day of the year on which their feast day is to be celebrated annually), the chanting of a service in honor of the Saint (normally using specially commissioned hymns which are chanted for the first time at the Glorification) and the unveiling of an Icon of the new Saint. Before the Glorification itself, there may be a special "Last Panikhida", a solemn Requiem at which, for the last time, the Church prays for the repose of their soul. After the Glorification, the Church will no longer serve a Panikhida for the repose of his soul, but instead a Paraklesis or Moleben will be served to implore their intercessions before the Throne of God.

Martyrs need no formal Glorification. The witness of their self-sacrifice is sufficient (provided their martyrdom was the result of their faith, and there being no evidence of un-Christian behaviour on their part at the time of their death). Not all saints are known, many will remain hidden by God until the Second Coming of Christ. For this reason, on the Sunday after Pentecost the Orthodox celebrate all the righteous souls together on All Saints Sunday. In some jurisdictions, the Sunday following All Saints Sunday will be a day of general commemoration of all saints (known and unknown) of the local church. For instance, All Saints of the Holy Mountain, All Saints of Russia, All Saints of America, etc.

St. Symeon the New Theologian writes: "The saints in each generation, joined to those who have gone before, and filled like them with light, become a golden chain, in which each saint is a separate link, united to the next by faith, works, and love. So in the One God they form a single chain which cannot quickly be broken."