Nofri!
In the Catholic church they have liturgical months dedicated to different holy.... June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart and then July is dedicated to the Precius Blood. Do Copts have months dedicated to different holy...or what is your tradition?
Comments
The devotion to the sacred heart and the precious blood are heresies that the Orthodox do not accept.
Maybe not in the same manner and scope as the Latin Church, but the Coptic Church does have the month of Kiahk which is an Advent month. In the month, the Virgin Mary is a focus.
There are Fasts, which have different foci, eg, The Apostles, Jonah/Nineveh, The Virgin Mary.
The Orthodox focus on a certain event is totally different than the devotion the Catholics have.
Again, the idea of devotion is considered a heresy by the Orthodox.
Thanks.
No we do not.
The devotion to the sacred heart and the precious blood are heresies that the Orthodox do not accept.
Why heresy?
[quote author=henrik.hank link=topic=11658.msg140497#msg140497 date=1309378506]
[quote author=imikhail link=topic=11658.msg140175#msg140175 date=1308926535]
No we do not.
The devotion to the sacred heart and the precious blood are heresies that the Orthodox do not accept.
Why heresy?
Because Orthodox see no reason to 'deconstruct' (for lack of a better word) Christ in such a fashion.
The immense love of our Lord Jesus Christ that did not stop Him from dying for our sins. To repair some of the insults and dishonor aimed at Jesus through unbelievers and impious individuals.The physical heart of our Lord is the object of this devotion or the object of worship.
Second, the origins of this devotion go back to the 13th century within Benedictine monasteries in the Latin Church and spread only in the 17th century. So, it is purely Latin and has no basis in the Church Fathers theology of the first four centuries when there was only one Church with one dogma. Nothing was mentioned of it in the liturgies
Third, nothing we do could repair any or restore our Lord’s honor. No matter how pious or saintly we are, we could never make up for the wrongdoings others commit. It is only the blood of our Lord that can forgive and wash away sins and thus we may appear blameless before Him.
The devotion assumes that by reciting prayers and pondering on Jesus’ wounded heart, Jesus’ honor is restored. This means that humankind through its own acting can repair the damage done. This idea negates the sacrificial act done on the cross.
On a different note, if the devotion really has this power, then why have the Eucharist, repentance and confession. For, it is enough for some to practice this devotion to make up for the others’ misdeeds.
In addition, how can we know and to what extent the devotion restored others’ wrongdoings? Is it 10%, 20,%, … so that we may increase the practice of devotion? This doe not make sense.
Fourth, just contemplating on the physical heart of Jesus is a dangerous practice which goes against all the liturgical prayers the Church received. All the prayers during the Liturgy, with no exception, mentions Jesus the person of the second hypostasis along with the Father and the Son.
In Orthodoxy, we worship Jesus as a God and Man together without separating his humanity from His divinity. When He was suffering either emotionally, mentally, physically, He was still God … His divinity never left His humanity for one single moment or a twinkling for a twinkling of an eye.
The devotion practice is contrary to all these dogmas.
There are much more to say about this topic, but I believe these points are a good start and if you have any further questions please do not hesitate to ask.
It is out of ignorance that we endorse heresies indirectly.