SAINTHOOD AND VENERATION OF SAINTS IN ORTHODOX CHURCH

HAGIOLOGY Hagiology (greek αγιος “holy“ and λογος “discourse“) – this term is used for researches devoted to theological and church-historical aspects of holiness. The main material of hagiology as well as for hagiography (when we distinguish these two disciplines) is literature of lives of the saints. Hagiography examines lives of saints as monuments of religious and literature history of the age when this living was created. Hagiology concentrates on the figure of the saint, type of his sainthood and perception of this type in different ages. As well as material of saints’ lives another important source here is theological essays which touches upon the problem of holiness.

HAGIOGRAPHY Hagiogrpahy (greek αγιος “holy“ и γραφω “write“) – scientific discipline which studies living of saints, theological and historical- church aspects of sainthood.

APPROACHES TO STUDYING OF HAGIOGRAPHICAL SOURCES From the historical-theological point of view living of saints are studied as a source for reconstruction of theological views of age when a living was created, its authors, editors, their views on holiness, salvation, divinization, etc. In historical plan livings can be used (if you apply historical- philological criticism) as a first-class source on history of Church as well as the state history. In historical-theological aspect livings gives us possibility to reconstruct character of spirituality, social parameters of religious life (in particular, so called folk religiosity), religious-cultural ideas of the society. Livings as monuments of Christian literature with their regularities of development, evolution of structural and content parameters are the subject of literature-philological examination.

SAINTHOOD Sainthood (greek αγιοτης, lat. sanctitas) – one of the fundamental concepts of Christian teaching. Its main significance is in closeness of a human being to God, his divinization, his transformation under the acting of God’s grace.

«Orthodox confession of Catholic and Apostle Church of the East» (1662) «We call Saints as intermediators between us and God, so they would pray Him for us, but we call them not as gods, but as His friends, who serve Him, bless Him, worship Him. We demand their help not because they can do this by the power of their own, but because they pray for us God and He gives us grace». See original in Russian: Догматические послания православных иерархов о православной вере. – М., – С. 129–130.

FINDING OF RELICS

IMPERISHABLE RELICS HAND OF SAINT ALEXANDER SVIRSKIY (1448 – 30 Aug 1533)

WORSHIP TO SAINT RELICS

СANOPY OVER THE SHRINE WITH RELICS OF SAINT MATRONA OF MOSCOW НАД