This year, our Sunday School theme is “Walking with the Saints.” It’s wonderful that our children are learning about the saints and growing in their relationship with them—especially since many of the children in our parish are the first “cradle Orthodox” in their family tree, being raised by parents who are converts to the Faith.
When a person journeys into the Orthodox Faith, the presence and importance of saints can be overwhelming. There are so many! And keeping track of names and lives and feast days and roles can be mind-boggling. It’s like trying to memorize an immense family tree.
And it is a family. The Body of Christ is one big family, spanning from the beginning of creation until the end of time. Within that family there are many luminaries: people who have so clearly and completely united themselves to Christ that the Church says, “Here is an example. Follow this.” Feast days are marked, hymns are written, icons are painted, churches are dedicated.
However when you’re new to the Church, these luminaries—the saints—are yet unknown. They are faces on the walls of the Church, but nothing more. It’s like walking into a massive family reunion for a family you’ve never known. And then someone’s walking you along saying, “This one is Demetrios; we celebrate him this week. Here is Katherine; her celebration is next month. And Andrew is here; his is a week after Katherine’s. But his brother, Peter is celebrated in June with Paul.” And the names and dates keep coming and coming!
So how can the saints become less unknown to us? On the one hand, we must recognize that this is a relationship: Each saint is a living person (alive in Christ) and is forming a relationship with us. So it takes time. You can’t rush things. The saints will make themselves known to us in unexpected and surprising ways.
Yet on the other hand, even though it is a living and dynamic relationship, there are ways that we can “jumpstart” the connections. Imagine that you’re at that unknown family reunion and, instead of just being rapidly introduced to one family member after another, you pause at each and spend some time. This is what we must do with the saints: Spend some time with them. Here are just a few ways that you can “spend time” with the saints:
1. Go to the saint’s feast day services. Orthros especially is a meaningful introduction to the saint, because of all the hymns specific to him or her. Then Divine Liturgy is the pinnacle of the festal celebration.
2. Get a saint’s icon. Or look in the bookstore for icons that draw your attention. Then start praying to the saint and venerating the icon. Veneration—sincere and focused—is a powerful way to build a connection with a saint.
3. Pray to the saint. If they are available, read Akathist or Paraklesis services (or just a segment each day). Another way to pray to the saint is to use the prayer rope and say the simple prayer, “O Holy Saint ________ intercede for us,” with each knot.
4. Read the saint’s life and writings:
I have found that some of the recent children’s books are powerful and memorable synopses of the lives of saints. However you can also buy the Prologue of Ochrid or the monthly Synaxarion. An immense online source for the lives, miracles, and writings of saints is Mystagogy Resource Center. As you get to know the saints, look for aspects of their life that you can relate to or struggles that they faced which you also face. Use this information as an occasion for regular prayers, such as, “O Holy Forerunner of the Lord, help me to decrease my ego, so that Christ can increase in me.” Or “St. Kosmas, grant me to accept martyrdom and to bravely stand for the Faith.”
5. Make an “offering” to the saint:
i. Bake loaves of artoklasia in honor of the saint and have them blessed after at the feast day Liturgy.
ii. Make koliva in the saint’s honor. (This is different from the koliva for the departed, though the recipe is the same.) It can be blessed at the feast day Liturgy. Recipes for artoklasia and koliva can be found on our parish website
iii. Host Sunday fellowship on the Sunday before or after the feast day. Place an icon on the kitchen counter and say a prayer to the saint for the blessing of offering hospitality to others on behalf of the saint.
iv. Bring food to share for fellowship on the saint’s feast day.
The saints are our closest friends, our shining examples, our fervent intercessors. If they’re still new to you, don’t worry. Time will change that. And you can change it too, by these ways above. Furthermore you can have this assurance: Even though you don’t know the saints, they already know you and love you. Their hearts have been so greatly expanded by the love of Christ that they spread their love upon all people, those who know them and those who don’t. As you reach out to a yet-unknown saint, know that the saint sees your effort and responds. This is our family in Christ!
