From New Advent:
Dulia
(Greek
doulia;
Latin servitus), a
theological term signifying the
honour paid to the
saints, while
latria means worship given to
God alone, and
hyperdulia the veneration offered to the
Blessed Virgin Mary. St. Augustine (
X.2City of God) distinguishes two kinds of
servitus: “one which is due to
men . . . which in Greek is called
dulia; the other,
latria, which is the service pertaining to the worship of
God”.
St. Thomas (
II-II:103:3) bases the distinction on the difference between
God’s supreme dominion and that which one man may exercise over another.
Catholic theologians insist that the difference is one of kind and not merely of degree; dulia and
latria being as far apart as are the creature and the Creator.
Leibniz, though a
Protestant, recognizes the “
discrimen infinitum atque immensum between the
honour which is due to
God and that which is shown to the
saints, the one being called by
theologians, after
Augustine’s example,
latria, the other dulia”; and he further declares that this difference should “not only be inculcated in the
minds of hearers and learners, but should also be manifested as far as possible by outward
signs” (Syst. theol., p. 184). A further distinction is made between dulia in the absolute sense, the
honour paid to
persons, and dulia in the relative sense, the
honour paid to inanimate objects, such as images and
relics. With regard to the
saints, dulia includes veneration and invocation; the former being the
honour paid directly to them, the latter having primarily in view the petitioner’s advantage
