I have heard much about the saints of Orthodoxy such as St. Seraphim of Sarov and even of more recent holy men such as Seraphim Rose.
I have not (possibly through my own neglect of reseach) heard much of saints and holy men in the Byzantine Catholic Church and I am wondering who they are. Do any of you have some names I could look up? Or do we just gravitate to the Orthodox saints and consider them part of our overall communion?
Thank you.
Brother Ed
Ed, there are many. Here is a small sample:
Pratulin Martyrs
Leonid Feodorov
Zenon Kovalyk
Vasyl Velychkovsky
Theodore Romzha
Vasyl Hopko
Pavel Gojdich
Mykola Charnetsky
Kamen Vitchev
This is only a partial list but includes Belarussian, Russian, Ukrainian, Rusyn, and Bulgarian martyrs.
FDD
How could I forget
Blesseds Theodore Romzha,Vasyl Hopko,Pavel Gojdich.
We have an icon table set up in the back of our parish with their icons there!!
Shame on me!!!
Brother Ed
Saint Josephat Kuntsevich
Ed,
Here is a list of Byzantine Catholics who have been canonized or beatified:
1)Saint Josaphat Kuntsevych
2)Blessed Vincent Lewoniuk and 12 Companions,
(a.k.a. The Martyrs of Pratulin/Podlasie)
3)Blessed Mary of Jesus Crucified (Melkite
Carmelite nun and mystic)
4)Blessed Theodore Romzha
5)Blessed Emilian Kovch (martyed by the Nazis)
6)Blessed Nicholas Charnetsky and 24 Companions
(includes Blessed Leonid Feodorov)
7)Blessed Josaphata Hordashevska
8)Blessed Kamen Vicev (Bulgarian Assumptionist
martyr)
9)Blessed Pavol Gojdic
10)Blessed Metod Dominik Trcka
11)Blessed Bail Hopko
There are more Byzantine Catholics whose causes for canonization are advancing. The Ukrainian, Ruthenian, Romanian, Russian, and Melkite Churches all have candidates for beatification/cannonization.
Let us pray for the miracles needed to advance their causes!
God bless,
griego
Here are some Byzantine Catholic candidates with causes for canonization:
Fr. Walter Ciszek, S.J.
http://nyssa.cecs.uofs.edu/ciszek.html Fr. Alexander Chira
http://www.carpatho-rusyn.org/spirit/chira.htm The Catholic Bishops Conference of Russia has several Russian Byantine Catholics on their list of candiates for canonization:
http://www.catholicmartyrs.ru/en/persons.html The Romanian Catholic Church also has its own list of candidates who were martyred during the period of communist repression.
Here are the candidates from the Melkite Catholic Church:
The Servant of God
Bechara Abou-Mourad
Basilian Salvatorian Priest
http://www.saintelias.org/beta/SaintsMain.html Fathi Baladi
http://www.melkite.org/baladi.htm
Oops!
How could I forget!
The Servant of God Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky also has a cause for canonization.
A prayer for his beatification as well as an outline of his life can be found at:
http://www.sheps.ca/Introduction/sheps.html Here is another link with info and photos:
http://www.infoukes.com/religion/sheptytsky/
Dear Friends,
In addition to the saints mentioned here, it is a fact that the Byzantine Catholic Church also shares with Orthodoxy all the Eastern Saints prior to the schism of 1054 and later.
The more than 150 Saints of the Kyivan Caves Lavra and the Saints tonsured there (among whom IS St Seraphim of Sarov) are all commemorated in our EC Churches - the Second Sunday of Lent/Great Fast is the feast of all the Fathers/Saints buried in the Kyivan Caves Lavra.
There are Sts. Anthony, John, Eustace of Lithuania. St Nikita of Pereyaslavl, St Cyril of Turiv, and many other Saints whom we venerate with the Orthodox Church.
There are also many Orthodox Saints whose veneration has extended to the EC Churches as well.
If you visit my site above, I have listed as many of these as I could find on that site!
Cheers,
Alex
What of our Saint of the Rusyns, Maxim Sandovich, during the Soviet days...!? mik
Originally posted by mike ross:
What of our Saint of the Rusyns, Maxim Sandovich, during the Soviet days...!? mik
Saint Maxim Sandovich was executed by the Austro-Hungarian goverment a couple years before there was any Soviet regime.
In IC XC,
Father Anthony+
I have always thought that the Orthodox Calendar as it was when Metropolitan Andrew consulted with Rome, was what was given the OK.
ICXC
NIKA
Dear Pavel,
Yes, but minus some of the Orthodox saints, such as St Athanasius of Brest, who were decidedly against Rome!
I once asked a Greek-Catholic priest (who had been censured by Rome) about an Orthodox saint who was "against Rome . . ."
He replied, "And who isn't?"
Alex
Griego,
Glory to Jesus Christ!
Funny that you mention St. Josephat... one day right after I discovered the Byzantine Rite, I went to daily Mass at a local RC church, something I hardly ever do. It so happened that it was the feast day of St. Josephat, and the pastor's homily was about him and how he worked to bring unity to the Catholics and Orthodox in his jurisdiction-- I believe he was martyred, if I remember right.
Funny that I should go to daily Mass on his feast day and learn about him just as I was getting into the Eastern Church...
God bless,
Karen
What about St. Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower? She was a French Carmelite nun who died in 1897 at 24 years of age, and was canonized in 1925.
Granted, she was born and died in France instead of a country in the Balkans. In deciding if the Little Flower is a Byzantine Catholic Saint, however, one must consider the following facts:
1. She wanted to be transferred to Russia or Vietnam, but her illness prevented a transfer;
2. She has been declared by the Church to be the patron saint of all missions;
3. She has been declared by the Church to be "a Word of God".
4. She has been declared by the Church to be "the greatest saint of modern times".
5. She has promised to "spend her Heaven doing good on Earth".
6. She is the patron Saint of St. Therese of Lisieux Byzantine Catholic Church in St. Petersburg, FL, in the Eparchy of Passaic, ArchEparchy of Pittsburgh.
7. St. Therese of Lisieux Byzantine Catholic Church is arguably the most successful parish in the Byzantine Catholic Church in America. Starting with a few retirees, the Church has grown to include more than 150 families, a new Church building, a pre-school, a grade school, and a high school. The parishioners constantly recognize and give thanks to St. Therese for her intercession.
These facts, and others, qualify St. Therese to be considered a Byzantine Catholic Saint.
Does anyone dare disagree?
JP
Well she was not Byzantine, so she is not a Byzantine saint. However, she is a saint of the whole Church and therefore she inspires us all regardless of where we slot into the Church.
ICXC
NIKA
Originally posted by John Patrick Poland:
What about St. Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower? ...
These facts, and others, qualify St. Therese to be considered a Byzantine Catholic Saint.
Does anyone dare disagree?
JP
She is also the Patron Saint for the Russicum in Rome. The chapel there is dedicated to her honor.
My sense is that she has a special connection to and solicitude for all Eastern Catholics and that she is certainly worthy of our devotion and honor. I seem to recall an excellent article in the Eastern Churches Journal on her spirituality of the Little Way and its relationship to Eastern Christian spirituality. (I cannot quite recall the issue.) It is well worth reading.
To me, this is one of the strengths of being fully Eastern and fully Catholic. There are a whole host of saints - of Eastern and Western heritages - that we can come to for prayer and look to as explars of holiness. According to our Byzantine tradition, each saint is a "revelation of God", so Therese's designation as a "word of God" is not too far removed from our understanding.
My family and I have a real devotion to the Little Flower - my daughter especially. She joined a "Little Flowers" club last year before our move.
You might consider picking up a copy of this book
The Story of a Family [
tanbooks.com] which chronicles the life of the martin family. It is a beautiful and detailed tribute to the Martin family, who first practiced the 'Little Way" of spiritual childhood, and, as is evidenced by her spiritual autobiography, were extremely influential in her spirituality throughout her earthly life. Any Christian family - Eastern or western, Orthodox or Catholic - could benefit from reading about and following the example of the Martins.
God bless,
Gordo
In her book, "Light Before Dusk: A Russian Catholic in France", the late Helen Isowolsky talks about devotion to Saint Therese among Russian Orthodox Christians in the chapter titled, "My Orthodox Friends".
She writes:
"I was interested to discover that my visitor[a Russian neighbor -g.c.] had a special devotion to St Theresa. She had even witnessed a miraculous cure while nursing a sick child in a French family. After our first talk she came to see me often and borrowed books from me. She was especially attracted by the life of little St. Theresa, by the writings of St. Theresa of Avila, and by Father Bruno's voluminous work on St. John of the Cross. When she returned this book to me, I was distressed to find it in a damaged condition; the cover was torn, the pages crumpled. I later learned she had lent the book to a number of friends, and to a man sick in the hospital. "I was advised to do so by Father T.," she explained to me, naming a well-known Orthodox priest. "He said it would bring comfort to the invalid."
"This is a good example of the interest by the Orthodox in Catholic books. I believe these books are exercising a considerable influence on Russian religious thought, as through them many Russian emigres have become acquainted with the great Catholic mystics and saints."
"Among these saints, St. Theresa of Lisieux is perhaps the most popular. It is not only her writings, but her entire personality which attracts the Orthodox. Her picture is often to be found in their homes, piously placed beside the family icons. St. Theresa is said to have performed many miracles for the Russians, as if fulfilling the wishes of Pope Pius XI who chose her as the patron saint of suffering Russia. She
has been known to help refugees find jobs and to bring them unexpected sums of money when they are hard up. There is even the story of the Russian taxi-driver who ran short of gasoline on a lonely road, and after praying to St. Theresa found his tank miraculously filled."
"I remember a priest who knew the Russians well complaining that they were always pressing St. Theresa for help. These prayers, he said, too often asked for temporal benefits and not for spiritual blessings. "And unfortunately," he added, "she always grants their prayers." I was asked by Father Bruno, editor of "Etudes Carmelitaines", to make an inquiry concerning devotion of Russians to St. Theresa. I visited many of my Orthodox friends and wrote to others about it. They readily answered my questions, and were pleased that an important Catholic review took interest in their religious sentiments."
"Most of them declared that the "Little Way" of St. Theresa and her "Spiritual Childhood" appealed to Russian piety. It reminded them of their beloved Saint Seraphim who also preached the little way of humility."
"While making my inquiry I visited the well-known Russian poetess and author, Zinaida Hippius, the wife of the late writer Merejkovsky.
...the poems which she had dedicated to little St. Theresa are not only beautiful but of admirable simplicity. I spent hours talking to her, and she told me of her pilgrimages to Lisieux."
"I published translations of Zinaida Hippius' poems
in the "Etudes Carmelitaines", as well as many testimonials and letters from my other Orthodox friends. These testimonials were of great interest, but in spite of the explanations they gave of the reasons why Russians have a devotion to St. Theresa, it still remains a mystery to me. St. Theresa's writings are so typical of Western piety, and the entire life of this young French Carmelite is so unlike the lives of the Russian saints, that I can scarcely understand why she has been specially chosen by my compatriots. Even the resemblance to St. Seraphim is not sufficient to explain this attraction."
"There must be another explanation, a supernatural one. St. Theresa's dream was always to pursue her apostolate in some distant country; but her health was too delicate for such an enterprise, and she was moreover a cloistered nun. Strangely enough, since her death she has become a favourite saint of the Russians and the patron of Union."
One only needs to casually study the "Little Way" of St. Therese of Lisieux to discover that her wish to remain a little child before God is the essence of Eastern mysticism. She may have been born in France, but whether she was born in France, Russia, or Missouri, she is an Eastern saint just as much as a Western saint.
When asked about her "Little Way", St. Therese said:
"It is to recognize our nothingness, to look for everything from God as a little child looks for everything from his father; it is to be disquieted about nothing, and not to be set on gaining our fortune...I have desired not to grow up, because I realized I should never be able to earn my own living, the eternal life of heaven! I have, then, always remained little, and have had no other occupation than that of gathering flowers, the flowers of love and sacrifice. These I have offered to the good God simply for His own pleasure.
"To be little, moreover, is not to attribute to ourselves the virtues we practice, nor to believe ourselves capable of practicing virtue at all. It is, rather, to recognize the fact that God puts treasures of virtue into the hands of His little children to make use of them in time of need, but they remain always the treasures of the good God. Finally, to be little means that we must never be discouraged over our faults, for children often fall but they are too small to harm themselves very much."
The "Little Way" is more consistent with Eastern mysticism than Western legalism. St. Therese seeks union with God through love and self-surrender. It is only natural for lay people of the Eastern and Western Churches to have a natural affinity towards her, no matter what the theologians and Church leaders may say about her.
Thus, it is proper to recognize St. Therese of Lisieux as a Byzantine Catholic saint as well as an Orthodox saint, and not restrict her to being a Roman Catholic saint, merely because she happened to be born in France.
It is the expression of Byzantine theology, not the accidental inheritance of Slavic genes, which makes one a Byzantine saint.
This is not a 300 day indulgence for venial sins type of spirituality:
I picture my soul as a patch of bare ground and I beg the Blessed Virgin to clear it from all rubbish (my imperfections) and then build there a vast pavilion fit for heaven and adorn it with her own jewels.
St. Therese of Lisieux
I am so happy to know that my favorite saint is loved by both East and West.
She is also the Patron Saint for the Russicum in Rome. The chapel there is dedicated to her honor.
Here is the image of that chapel with the icon of Saint Therese on the right-hand side.
[
Linked Image]
Here is a close-up of the icon:
[
Linked Image]
Warning: Do not read this if you are offended by a discussion of St. Therese of Lisieux.
Wow! The Russian icon of my closest friend is an unbelievable improvement on the painting by her sister, Celine. The Eastern Crucifix and the elongated fingers are especially beautiful. A splendid improvement I would say.
Two questions for Griego Catolico:
(1) What is written at the top of the icon?
(2) How can I get a copy of the icon?
God bless you, and may you receive a rose today,
JP
Warning: Do not read this if you are offended by a discussion of St. Therese of Lisieux.
I also love her smile. None of the photographs or paintings of her come close to expressing the spiritual aspect of looking at the Little Flower through a window into heaven.
Of course, this may be due to the fact that she is busy here on earth helping someone to get gas for his car, being discharged from the hospital, or some other task given to her by Jesus.
JP
There has never been discussion about St Theresa but lot of very boring lectures about someone's private devotion and why everyone should do as that person has instructed. Personally I am sick of RCs telling Eastern Riters what to do with OUR liturgy and OUR services.
ICXC
NIKA
This thread is getting out of control.
First, in the time I have been associated with this forum, I have never seen posts begin with, �Warning: Do not read this if you are offended by a discussion of�� . This is not a private forum and all posts are meant to be posted publicly and non-offensively.
Second, for a thread that has to deal with Byzantine Saints, this has become an argument over one particular saint. While I understand that our posters have strong venerations to one saint or another, not all share in these venerations. That is why God has provided so many examples of saints for us, so that we may find saints that will aid us in our Christian walk. Trying to have an imposition of ones veneration of a saint, can become counter-productive and actually alienate and impair one�s outlook of that saint, thus becoming spiritually harmful.
I am closing this thread off, because it has steered in a direction that I believe has created ill feelings spiritually in many different posters.
In the Risen Christ,
Father Anthony+
Administrator/Moderator