I frequently tire of the erroneous and hate driven charge that Orthodox worship icons of the Lord or His saints. This charge was made against me (and still continues to be) my many friends of mine who are Lutheran or otherwise Protestant. Trying to convince them using church history and the writings of the fathers is of absolutely no use since such people cannot be persuaded. They say that it looks like worship though I know the difference between worship and honor. Apparently, according to them, I don't know the difference. But, despite their error, I doubt that anyone of these friends of mine would actually come into my home and destroy my icons or would buy an icon and then take it into their own home or church and make a spectacle of it like this imbecile here:
I encourage any of my friends to justify what this person does.
So very inappropriate. . .
13 hours ago
Kyrie eleison. I couldn't even watch the whole video. As Orthodox Christians we don't even believe in the use of statutes, but the mere thought of someone mocking those who seek the Mother of God's prayers, who pay respect and honour to her likeness, made me feel sick to my stomach. May this man come to his senses. He does Christ and his neighbour no favors by his senseless (and ill-informed) words and actions.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't either. It was so sickening. It wasn't even the Mother of God, but a Catholic saint, Therese of Liseux. But did you notice that he even destroyed an image of Christ crucified which Therese is carrying? That didn't even stop him.
DeleteThis is modern day iconoclasm and it is prevalent especially among the Evangelical, Baptist, Pentecostal, Reformed and even some Lutheran churches (they would say no, but the proof lies in their actions).
Is this his gimmick to hold the attention of the congregation (as if the Word wasn't enough?). I better not show this to my mom; St. Therese of Lisieux, called "the Little Flower of Jesus", is one of her patron saints. We have a statue very similar to the one in the video among some irises and lilies in our back yard. As a Catholic, it is really jarring to me to watch this video.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing I can think to do to counter this kind of destructive act is provide a little information about St. Therese with the idea that maybe a little comemmoration can wash out the bad taste of the video. I know she was a French Carmelite nun, and she only died in 1897, relatively recently in Church history. She only lived to be 24, and then she died of tuberculosis. Pretty unremarkable if not for the fact that she had kept a journal that was published after her death called "Story of a Soul". I've never read it, but apparently, it's such a great narrative of her daily devotion and struggle to live her vows that Pope John Paul II named her a "Doctor of the Church" for it in 1997. She's probably one of the most venerated Catholic saints of the 20th/21st centuries.