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Veneration in Noto St Conrad of
Piacenza (San Corrado)
Veneration
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Veneration (Latin veneratio or dulia, Greek , douleia), or
veneration of saints, is the act of honoring a saint, a person who has
been identified as having a high degree of sanctity or holiness.
[1]
Angels
are shown similar veneration in many religions. Philologically, "to
venerate" derives from the Latin verb, venerare, meaning to regard with
reverence and respect. Veneration of saints is practiced, formally or
informally, by adherents of some branches of all major religions, including
Christianity, Judaism,
[2]
Hinduism,
[3]
Islam,
[4]
and Buddhism.
[1][3]
Within Christianity, veneration is practiced by groups such as the Eastern
Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic, and Eastern Catholic Churches,
all of which have varying types of canonization or glorification
procedures. In some Christian denominations, veneration is shown
outwardly by respectfully bowing or making the sign of the cross before a
saint's icon, relics, or statue, or by going on pilgrimage to sites associated
with saints. The practice of veneration is deemed heretical by iconoclastic
denominations.
In Judaism, there is no classical or formal recognition of saints, but there
is a long history of reverence shown toward biblical heroes and martyrs.
In some regions, for example within Judaism in Morocco, there is a long and widespread tradition of saint
veneration.
[1][2][3]
Hinduism has a long tradition of veneration of saints, expressed toward various gurus and teachers of sanctity, both
living and dead. Branches of Buddhism include formal liturgical worship of saints, with Mahayana Buddhism
classifying degrees of sainthood.
[1][3]
In Islam, veneration of saints is practiced by sects such as the Shi'a and Sufi, and in many parts of Southeast Asia,
along with "folk Islam", which often incorporates local beliefs and practices.
[5][6]
Other sects, such as Sunnis and
Wahhabists, abhor the practice.
[7]
Contents
1 Christianity
1.1 Roman Catholic, Orthodox
1.2 Protestant
2 Judaism
3 Hinduism
4 Buddhism
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5 Islam
6 See also
7 Notes
8 External links
Christianity
Veneration towards those who were considered holy began in early Christianity, with the martyrs first being given
special honor. Official church commemoration of saints in Rome beginning as early as the third century. Over time,
the honor also began to be given to those Christians who lived lives of holiness and sanctity. Various denominations
venerate and determine saints in different ways, with some having a formal canonization or glorification process.
[1]
Roman Catholic, Orthodox
In Roman Catholic, and Orthodox theology, veneration is a type of honor distinct from the adoration due to God
alone. According to Deacon Dr. Mark Miravelle, of Franciscan University of Steubenville, the English word
"worship" has been associated with both veneration and adoration:
As St. Thomas Aquinas explains, adoration, which is known as latria in classical theology, is the
worship and homage that is rightly offered to God alone. It is the manifestation of submission, and
acknowledgement of dependence, appropriately shown towards the excellence of an uncreated divine
person and to his absolute Lordship. It is the worship of the Creator that God alone deserves.
Although we see in English a broader usage of the word adoration which may not refer to a form of
worship exclusive to Godfor example, when a husband says that he adores his wifein general it
can be maintained that adoration is the best English denotation for the worship of latria.
Veneration, known as dulia in classical theology, is the honor and reverence appropriately due to the
excellence of a created person. Excellence exhibited by created beings likewise deserves recognition
and honor. We see a general example of veneration in events like the awarding of academic awards
for excellence in school, or the awarding of olympic medals for excellence in sports. There is nothing
contrary to the proper adoration of God when we offer the appropriate honor and recognition that
created persons deserve based on achievement in excellence.
We must make a further clarification regarding the use of the term worship in relation to the
categories of adoration and veneration. Historically, schools of theology have used the term worship
as a general term which included both adoration and veneration. They would distinguish between
worship of adoration and worship of veneration. The word worship (in a similar way to how the
liturgical term cult is traditionally used) was not synonymous with adoration, but could be used to
introduce either adoration or veneration. Hence Catholic sources will sometimes use the term
worship not to indicate adoration, but only the worship of veneration given to Mary and the saints.
[8]
Church theologians have long adopted the terms latria for the type of worship due to God alone, and dulia and
proskynesis for the veneration given to angels, saints, relics and icons.
[9][10][11][12][13][14]
Catholic and Orthodox
theologies also include the term hyperdulia for the type of veneration specifically paid to Mary, mother of Jesus, in
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Catholic and Orthodox traditions.
[9][13]
This distinction is spelled out in the dogmatic conclusions of the Seventh
Ecumenical Council (787), which also decreed that iconoclasm, i.e. forbidding icons and their veneration, a dogma
central to the Iconoclastic controversy, is a heresy that amounts to a denial of the incarnation of Jesus.
Now, the Roman Catholic tradition has a well established philosophy for the veneration of the Virgin Mary via the
field of Mariology with Pontifical schools such as the Marianum specifically devoted to this task.
[15][16][17]
Protestant
In Protestant churches, veneration is sometimes considered to amount to the heresy of idolatry, and the related
practice of canonization amounts to the heresy of apotheosis. Protestant theology usually denies that any real
distinction between veneration and worship can be made, and claims that the practice of veneration distracts the
Christian soul from its true object, the worship of God. In his Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin
writes that "(t)he distinction of what is called dulia and latria was invented for the very purpose of permitting divine
honours to be paid to angels and dead men with apparent impunity".
[18]
Judaism
While orthodox and organized Judaism does not countenance the veneration of saints, veneration and pilgrimage to
holy sites associated with saints were an ancient part of the tradition.
[19]
That tradition is still strong in the few
Jewish communities that were not uprooted over the years, the declining communities in Iran, Morocco and
Tunisia.
[20]
The tradition is particularly strong among Morocco Jews, who have a comprehensive list of 656 saints,
including 25 women. As with some other religions, the practice of veneration of saints and the making of saints,
mostly expressed in Morocco Judaism but not only there, is by popular sentiment rather than formal
canonization.
[1][2]
Hinduism
Hinduism has a longstanding and living tradition of reverence toward saints, with the line often blurring between
humanity and divinity with some Hindu deities. The bhakti movements helped to popularize the veneration of saints
and gurus as models showing the way to liberation.
[1][3][21]
Buddhism
Both main branches of Buddhism, Theravada and Mahayana, recognize those who have achieved a high degree of
enlightenment as an Arhat. Mahayana Buddhism particularly gives emphasis to the power of saints to aid ordinary
people on the path to enlightenment. Those who have reached enlightenment, and have delayed their own complete
enlightenment in order to help others, are called Bodhisattvas. Mahayana Buddhism has formal liturgical practices
for venerating saints, along with very specific levels of sainthood. Tibetan Buddhist venerate especially holy lamas,
such as the Dalai Lama, as saints.
[1][3]
Islam
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Veneration of saints in Islam is especially common in the Sufi branch, though there are many local customs in
different parts of the world, especially in southeast Asia, where saints are honored and venerated. Islam has no
formal process of canonizationit is typically done through popular acclaim and local custom.
[1][4]
Muslim saints
who are venerated include the women Sufi mystic Rabia Basri, and Sufi saints Habib al-Ajami, and Saint Nuri.
Many Islamic sects condemn veneration of icons associated with saints. Destruction of historical Islamic sites, which
are holy to Shi'ite Muslims, in Saudi Arabia were instigated by Wahhabis and the Saudi royal family, most notably
the shrines and tombs in the Al-Baqi' cemetery in 1925.
[22]
In 2001, the 6th century monumental statues called the
Buddhas of Bamiyan in Afghanistan were destroyed by the Taliban. In 2006, a bombing by al-Qaeda resulted in
the destruction of the Al-Askari Mosque in Iraq.
[23]
In July 2012 Ansar Dine, a strict Islamic sect, demolished
mausoleums of the saints in Timbuktu, the "City of 333 (Sufi) Saints"
[24]
and desecrated the Sidi Yahya
Mosque.
[25]
In August 2012, Salafi zealots bulldozed several Sufi sites in and near Tripoli.
[26]
See also
Adoration
Blessed Virgin Mary
Genuflection
Hagiography
Iconography
Idolatry
Intercession of saints
Muhammad in Islam
Patron saint
Pilgrimage
Tzadik
Veneration of the dead
Notes
1. ^
a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

i
Lindsay Jones, ed. (2005). Thomson Gale Encyclopedia of Religion (in Tajik). Sainthood (Second
ed.). Macmillan Reference USA. p. 8033.
2. ^
a

b

c
"Veneration of saints is a universal phenomenon. All monotheistic and polytheistic creeds contain something
of its religious dimension... " Issachar Ben-Ami (1998). Saint Veneration Among the Jews in Morocco
(http://books.google.com/books?id=Hk9wCuiT7bEC&pg=PA13). Wayne State University Press. p. 13. ISBN 978-
0-8143-2198-0. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
3. ^
a

b

c

d

e

f
Werner Stark (1966). Sociology of Religion (http://books.google.com/books?
id=sUgVAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA367). Taylor & Francis. p. 367. GGKEY:ZSKE259PDZ9. Retrieved 7 September
2012.
4. ^
a

b
Florian Pohl (1 September 2010). Modern Muslim Societies (http://books.google.com/books?
6/26/2014 Veneration - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veneration 5/7
id=n4Eye4ilLVkC&pg=PA294). Marshall Cavendish. pp. 294295. ISBN 978-0-7614-7927-7. Retrieved 7
September 2012.
5. ^ "Sufi Islam" (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/intro/islam-sufi.htm). "Although frequently characterized as
the mystical component of Islam, there are also "Folklorist" Sufis, and the "Traditional" Sufis...Sufism is
characterized by the veneration of local saints and by brotherhoods that practice their own rituals."
6. ^ "Of saints and sinners: The Islam of the Taliban is far removed from the popular Sufism practised by most South
Asian Muslims" (http://www.economist.com/node/12792544). The Economist. December 18, 2008. "In its popular
form, Sufism is expressed mainly through the veneration of saints...South Asia is littered with the tombs of those
saints. They include great medieval monuments, like the 13th-century shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti, founder
of South Asias pre-eminent Sufi order, in Ajmer. But for every famous grave, there are thousands of roadside
shrines, jutting into Delhis streets, or sprinkled across the craggy deserts of southern Pakistan."
7. ^ Kim Murphy (2003-05-08). "Saudi Shiites Take Hope From Changes Next Door"
(http://articles.latimes.com/2003/may/08/news/war-saudis8). Los Angeles Times. "while most Sunnis view them as
fellow, though possibly misguided, Muslims, Shiites are regarded as infidels by the Saudi religious establishment,
which adheres to the ultraconservative and austere variation of Sunni faith known as Wahhabism. Saudi religious
leaders see the Shiite veneration of saints and shrines, celebration of the prophet Muhammad's birthday and other
rituals as sinful."
8. ^ Miravalle, Mark (November 24, 2006). "What Is Devotion to Mary?"
(http://www.motherofallpeoples.com/2006/11/what-is-devotion-to-mary/). Mother of all peoples. Retrieved
November 2, 2013.
9. ^
a

b
s.v. dulia, Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1997). The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, Third
Edition. Oxford University Press. p. 513.
10. ^ s.v. proskynesis, Tom Devonshire Jones, Linda Murray, Peter Murray, ed. (2013). The Oxford Dictionary of
Christian Art and Architecture, Second Edition (http://books.google.com/books?
id=Te2dAAAAQBAJ&lpg=PA475&pg=PA475#v=onepage&f=false). Oxford University Press. p. 475.
11. ^ Casiday, Augustine, ed. (2012). The Orthodox Christian World (http://books.google.com/books?
id=bkZITAQ4XbgC&lpg=PA450&pg=PA450#v=onepage&f=false). Routledge. p. 450.
12. ^ "Veneration of Images" (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07664a.htm). New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia.
13. ^
a

b
s.v. Communion of Saints, Alan Richardson, John Bowden, ed. (1983). The Westminster Dictionary of
Christian Theology (http://books.google.com/books?
id=PN7UMUTBBPAC&lpg=PA274&pg=PA114#v=onepage&f=false). Westminster John Knox Press. p. 114.
14. ^ s.v. Images, Veneration of, Elwell, Walter A., ed. (2001). Evangelical Dictionary of Theology
(http://books.google.gr/books?id=yu846j61u0wC&pg=PA594#v=onepage&f=false). Baker Academic. p. 594.
15. ^ "Mariological Society of America" (http://mariologicalsocietyofamerica.us). Mariologicalsocietyofamerica.us.
Retrieved 2012-01-26.
16. ^ [1] (http://www.servidimaria.org/en/attualita/promotori2/promotori2.htm)
17. ^ Publishers Notice in the Second Italian Edition (1986), reprinted in English Edition, Gabriel Roschini, O.S.M.
(1989). The Virgin Mary in the Writings of Maria Valtorta (English Edition). Kolbe's Publication Inc. ISBN 2-
920285-08-4
18. ^ http://www.reformed.org/books/institutes/books/book1/bk1ch12.html
19. ^ "....the veneration of, and pilgrimages to, saints were part of an ancient Jewish tradition." Sharot, Stephen
6/26/2014 Veneration - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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(1976). Judaism: A Sociology. New York: Holmes & Meier Publishers. p. 42.
20. ^ "The life of these, mainly Sephardi, communities is marked by an unself-conscious and unquestioning
commitment to deeply rooted values, where legalism often yields to common sense, and mystical piety plays an
integral part, visible in such practices as veneration of tombs of patriarchs and saints, often associated with
pilgrimage." De Lange, Nicholas (2000). An Introduction to Judaism. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University
Press. p. 69.
21. ^ Cybelle Shattuck, Hinduism (London: Routledge, 1999), page 61, http://www.questia.com/read/103395975.
22. ^ Laurence Lour (2008), Transnational Shia politics: religious and political networks in the Gulf
(http://books.google.com/books?
id=1vcfDuatockC&pg=PA22&dq=shia+holy+baqi+destroyed+wahhabi&hl=en&ei=P2UYTo3YA8r2sgbzhbXMDw
&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=shia%20holy%20baqi%20de
stroyed%20wahhabi&f=false), p.22
23. ^ Karen Dabrowska, Geoff Hann, (2008), Iraq Then and Now: A Guide to the Country and Its People
(http://books.google.com/books?
id=DhJ3lRnXyXcC&pg=PA239&dq=askari+mosque+bomb+2006&hl=en&ei=UGgYTvueE8zHsgagrOiZDw&sa=X
&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=askari%20mosque%20bomb%2020
06&f=false), p.239
24. ^ "Timbuktu tomb destroyers pulverise Islam's history" (http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/03/uk-mali-crisis-
timbuktu-idUSLNE86202G20120703). Retrieved 2012-07-05. "Over the last three days, Islamists of the Ansar
Dine rebel group which in April seized Mali's north along with Tuareg separatists destroyed at least eight Timbuktu
mausoleums and several tombs, centuries-old shrines reflecting the local Sufi version of Islam in what is known as
the "City of 333 Saints"."
25. ^ "These 600-Year Old World Heritage Sites Might Be Rubble by August"
(http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/07/these-600-year-old-world-heritage-sites-might-be-
rubble-by-august/259360/). Jul 3, 2012. "Ansar Dine, which has seized Timbuktu, destroyed (Sidi Yahya's) tomb.
They declared that the burial site made Yahya a false idol, threatening to continue their destruction of Timbuktu's
historic sites"
26. ^ Taha Zargoun (Aug 25, 2012). "Fighters bulldoze Sufi mosque in central Tripoli"
(http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/25/us-libya-islamists-idUSBRE87O08Y20120825). Reuters. "Attackers
bulldozed a mosque containing Sufi Muslim graves in the center of Tripoli in broad daylight on Saturday, in what
appeared to be Libya's most blatant sectarian attack since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi. Government
officials condemned the demolition of the large Sha'ab mosque and blamed an armed group who, they said,
considered its graves and shrines to Sufi figures un-Islamic. It was the second razing of a Sufi site in two days.
Ultra-conservative Islamists wrecked Sufi shrines with bombs and another bulldozer and set fire to a mosque
library in the city of Zlitan in the early hours of Friday, an official said....A Reuters reporter saw the bulldozer level
the Sha'ab mosque as police surrounded the site and prevented people from approaching and did not stop the
demolition... Salafis have formed a number of armed brigades in Libya. They reject as idolatrous many Sufi
devotions - which include dancing and the building of shrines to venerated figures. Conservative Muslims across
the region - emboldened by the Arab Spring revolts - have targeted Sufi sites in Egypt, Mali and other parts of
Libya over the past year... A Facebook page titled "Together for the Removal of the Abdel Salam al-Asmar Shrine"
congratulated supporters on the "successful removal of the Asmar shrine, the largest sign of idolatry in Libya.""
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External links
ON THE INVOCATION, VENERATION, AND RELICS, OF SAlNTS, AND ON SACRED
IMAGES. (http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0432/_P2H.HTM) Roman Catholic teaching from the
Council of Trent (154563)
"Dulia" (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05188b.htm) from the Catholic Encyclopedia (1911)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Veneration&oldid=611293630"
Categories: Eastern Orthodoxy Sainthood Catholic spirituality Religious behaviour and experience
Christian terms
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