Catholics venerating Eastern Orthodox saints

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Tis_Bearself

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I’m curious as to the thoughts of other Catholics on venerating Eastern Orthodox saints that are not officially recognized in the Eastern or Western Catholic church, in particular where the Orthodox saint is from way before the schism and does not seem to have been involved in any sort of schismatic activity.

For example, John the Warrior.

Putting this here rather than in Non-Catholic Religions because I mostly want to get Catholic perspectives. Do you venerate any Orthodox saints who aren’t officially recognized in Catholicism? If so, do you have some criteria you apply for doing this?
 
I mean, I know of some more Jesuit types who have made icons of Ghandi and MLK…

I don’t think there would be a problem with this.
 
Yes. I’m Eastern (UGCC) and I venerate Sts. Theordora and Justinian, Empress and Emperor of Rome. I’m pretty certain they aren’t on any calendar in the Latin Church. But their feast day is Nov 14th in Orthodoxy.
 
I venerate the Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feordorovna . She was the sister of the Empress Alexandra and married to the Grand Duke Sergei. Her husband was governor of Moscow and was killed by a bomb. After his death, Elizabeth sold her jewels and founded the convent of Martha and Mary. It was the first active order of Russian Orthodox women ever. They were dedicated to the poor and ill of Moscow and Elizabeth and her nuns worked tirelessly for the poor. However, because Elizabeth was a Romanov and her sister was the hated Empress, Elizabeth was killed by the Bolsheviks. She is a saint of the Russian Orthodox church and I revere her. Her sister Alexandra and her family are also saints, but I don’t feel a connection to them.
 
It would make me uncomfortable.
Even if they were holy people, Catholic saints should probably be Catholic.
 
Any saint who had been venerated before the schism and even some immediately after the schism if they were from areas in which the schism did not truly affect at the time may be venerated by Catholics and their feasts may be celebrated as optional memorials on the Orthodox date of their feast, even if they are not listed in the Roman Martyrology. Holy men and women of Orthodox faiths which fall outside this time period may be personally held as saints (that is, persons residing in heaven to whom one may petition for intercession), but may not publically be known within the Church as Saint, nor may their feast be celebrated liturgically unless formally canonized or Beatified by the Church.
 
St. Gregory Palamas…a post Schism saint ALWAYS venerated in the Christian East on the second Sunday of Great Lent.
 
This is good to know. I have seen in some places that a number of post-schism Orthodox saints have received papal approval and been put on some list.

Some of the pre-schism saints seem to be quite heroic and admirable people, not different at all from the Roman martyrs except they happened to be in the East somewhere and not in Rome.
 
The canonization procedure in the Roman Church doesn’t make saints, but rather establishes which saints the Church may ask for intercession during official liturgies. You can ask your sainted grandmother to pray for you and you can have a picture of her in your home that you hold in affection or even use as your companion when you pray to God. In that sense, you can venerate anyone who is deserving as a saint without committing a sin or anything.

In other words, you can ask for the intercession of an Orthodox saint. Your pastor can ask for the intercession of an Orthodox saint. He just is not supposed to celebrate feast days not on the Roman calendar nor venerate saints not recognized by the Church or refer to their intercession specifically during liturgies.

After all, how could there be miracles which attest to the intercessory power of a saint not yet recognized if no one ever asked for the intercession of someone not yet on the Roman calendar?
 
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Yes that is correct. Catholic vs Orthodox Saints is only a discussion after the Schism. Before it was simple…
 
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