Veneration
Veneration is a religious symbolic act giving honor to someone by honoring an image of that person, particularly applied to saints.
In traditional Christian Churches of
Catholicism and
Eastern Orthodoxy, veneration (
Latin veneratio,
Greek δουλια
dulia), or
veneration of saints, is a special act of honoring a dead person who has been identified as singular in the traditions of the religion, and through them honoring
God who made them and in whose image they are made. Veneration is often shown outwardly by respectfully bowing or making the
sign of the cross before a
saint's
icon,
relics, or statue. These items may also be kissed.
In Catholic and Orthodox theology, veneration is a type of honor distinct from the
worship due to God alone. Church theologians have long adopted the terms
latria for the sacrificial worship due to God alone, and
dulia for the veneration given to saints and icons. Catholic theology also includes the term
hyperdulia for the type of veneration specifically paid to
Mary, mother of Jesus, in Catholic tradition. This distinction is spelled out in the
dogmatic conclusions of the
Seventh Ecumenical Council (
787), which also decreed that
iconoclasm (forbidding icons and their veneration) is a
heresy that amounts to a denial of the
incarnation of
Jesus.
In some other religious traditions such as
Judaism,
Islam and
Protestantism, veneration is 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." However, many
Anglicans do venerate saints. Likewise, Islam also condemns any veneration of icons but in many Islamic traditions, e.g. in North Africa, have and continue to venerate deceased individuals who are recognized as saints. The Hindu honoring of icons and
murtis, often misinterpreted as idolatory, may also be looked upon as a kind of veneration.
In the tradition of Green theology (or Creation-centered theology) animals, plants, and other parts of nature may be said to be
venerated simply by taking good care of them, thereby showing honor and respect for God who made them.
Creation, being regarded as an icon of the Creator, is a valid object of veneration.
Philologically, to venerate derives from the
Latin verb,
venerari, meaning to regard with reverence and respect. This word derives from the same root as the name
Venus, the goddess of love of the ancient Roman pantheon.
*
Genuflection*
Pilgrimage*
Hagiography*
Iconography*
Idolatry in Christianity*
Blessed Virgin Mary
