Saint Rapael of Brooklyn

[futureKC123]

+JMJ
Is it ok to venerate post-schism Orthodox saints? Particularly Saint Raphael of Brooklyn or Saint John of San Francisco? What about others?
Thanks for your help!
FKC :byzsoc:

 

[5Loaves]

On the feast of the Saints of North America our priest reminded us that we have a North American saint right up the street, St John of Shanghai & San Francisco and encouraged us all to visit St. John’s body there especially on his feast day which was a few days later. Many of us were there for services for his feastday.

 

[Diakonia]

St John Maximovitch is widely venerated among those of the Slavic Churches. Veneration of St Raphael Hawaweeny is less common among Catholics, although you will find some Melkites with a private devotion to him. And, yes, veneration of post-Schism Orthodox Saints is fine and not uncommon; one will also occasionally find Orthodox veneration of post-Schism Catholic Saints.

Back in 2005, the much beloved Metropolitan Nicholas, of blessed memory, Metropolitan of the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of Johnstown proclaimed that the second Sunday after each Pentecost “shall be celebrated as the Synaxis of the Carpatho-Rusyn Saints.” He included Blessed Pavel Gojdic and Blessed Teodor Romzha, recognizing them for their “holiness, witness and supreme sacrifice for the Christian faith and for the Rusyn people.”

 

[Alexander_Roman]

I used to question the Rev. Fr. Archimandrite Sergius Keleher about this very question when he was still in Toronto.

He always said that RC representatives attended Orthodox canonizations/glorifications, venerated their relics and took home with them copies of their icons . . .

And that East and West never questioned each other’s canonizations.

In the West, when Eastern Orthodox churches came into union with Rome, only those few Eastern Saints who were characterized by strong anti-Roman statements in life were “expunged” from the calendar.

The rest stayed right where they were.

And the Redemptorist missionary, Bl. Basil Velichkovsky the New Hieromartyr insisted on Orthodox parishes coming into union with Rome in his territory keeping all their Orthodox saints and traditions (“which are not against the Catholic faith”).

But even those Orthodox saints who expressed any anti-Roman sentiments were expressing the “prejudices of their environment” as I’ve read in one Catholic encyclopedia.

I once visited a Coptic Orthodox Church and purchased a framed icon of Pope St Dioscoros of Alexandria.

The two men manning the cash register asked me what my Church was - when I told them, they looked at each other in bewilderment and then said, “Well, we are living in ecumenical times after all!”

Alex