Orthodox Theology

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Further, we venerate and honor the Saints, and we ask their intercession with God, but we adore and worship only God the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Of all Saints, we honor exceedingly the Mother of our Lord (Theotokos), because of the supreme grace and the call which she received from God. Though she was not exempt from hereditary (“original”) sin, from which she was cleansed at the time of the Annunciation, we believe that by the grace of God she did not commit any actual sin. We venerate the sacred Images (Icons) as well as the relics of the Martyrs and Saints. Yet this veneration, according to the decisions and Canons of the Seventh Ecumenical Council, relates not to the sacred images as such, but to their prototypes, or to the persons whom they represent.

At death man’s body goes to the earth from which it was taken; and the soul, being immortal, goes to God, who gave it. The souls of all human beings, being conscious and exercising all their faculties immediately after death, are judged by God. This judgment immediately following death, we call the Particular Judgment. The final reward of humankind, however, we believe will take place at the time of the General Judgment. During the time between the Particular and the General Judgment, which is called the Intermediate State, the souls receive a foretaste of their blessing or punishment.

We recognize seven Holy Mysteria: Baptism, Chrismation (or Confirmation), Holy Eucharist, Confession, Ordination, Marriage and Holy Unction. Baptism is the door through which one enters into the Church. Confirmation is the completion of Baptism with the seal of the Holy Spirit. In the Holy Eucharist, in the species of bread and wine we partake of the very Body and the very Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ for remission of sins and eternal life. Both the New Testament and Sacred Tradition bear witness to the real Presence of our Lord in the Holy Eucharist. In Holy Confession & Absolution, our Jesus Christ, through the instrument of the confessor, forgives the sins committed after Baptism by the person who confesses his or her sins and sincerely repents of them. In Holy Ordination, through prayer and the laying-on of hands by a bishop, Divine grace comes down on the ordained enabling him to be a worthy minister of the Church. Apostolic succession is fundamental to the Church. Without it there can be no continuity of the Church. In Holy Matrimony, divine grace sanctifies the union of husband and wife. In Holy Unction, the sick person is anointed with sanctified oil; and divine grace heals his bodily and spiritual ills.