Devotion to Old Testament Saints

[dsully]

Hello,

How come I don’t hear more about devotion to Old Testament Saints, such as Abraham, Moses, David, etc.?

Thanks,

Dan

 

[Celtic_Maiden]

Why would there be devotion to them, as the Jewish people don’t have devotion to them but hold them in high esteem, as this is the old Testament, why then since Catholics are the “New Jews” hold them differently, we have moved on to Our Lord the Messiah - Jesus Christ- and have gone forward to the New Testament, the New Sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross.

 

[Zekariya]

Hello,

How come I don’t hear more about devotion to Old Testament Saints, such as Abraham, Moses, David, etc.?

Thanks,

Dan

From what I have seen, the Old Testament Saints tend to be more popularly referred to as Saint [Name] in the Eastern Churches than in the Western Church. The Byzantine Rite has the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers which is celebrated the second Sunday before Christmas. Adam and Eve, the Patriarchs, King David, King Solomon, the Prophets, etc, are all Saints.

St King David and St Elias (Elijah) are quite popular.

My Patron Saint, St Zechariah the prophet (from the Old Testament) has a Byzantine Rite feast day on February 8 and a Coptic Rite feast day on February 22.

 

[ACanthony]

My limited knowledge of the matter is that the Old Testament figures are not called saints out of respect for the Jewish tradition. In addition, a saint should exhibit courage in living out their faith in following Christ. The Old Testament figures, while worthy in their own right, did not follow Christ since they existed before Our Savior’s time. I don’t know if this is all correct.