Glorification

Glorification may have several meanings in the Christian religion. From the Catholic canonization to the similar sainthood of the Eastern Orthodox Church to the salvation in Protestant beliefs, the glorification of the human condition can be a long and arduous process.

For the process by which the Roman Catholic Church grants official recognition to someone as a saint, see canonization.

The Eastern Orthodox Church uses the term "glorification" to refer to the official recognition of a person as a saint of the Church. Like Catholics, Orthodox believers regard the glorification of saints as an act of God, not as a declaration by the hierarchy. The official recognition of saints grows from the consensus of the church.

When a person - as opposed to an "individual" - who has been sanctified by the grace of the Holy Spirit falls asleep in the Lord, God may or may not choose to glorify the person through the manifestation of miracles. If He does, the devotion to the saint will normally grow from the "grass-roots" level. Eventually, as the Holy Spirit manifests more miracles, the devotion to the person grows. At this point the Church does not conduct any formal prayers to the person. Rather, memorial services (Greek: parastas, Russian: panikhidy; singular: panikhida (Russian: панихида) take place at the grave of the person, with prayers for him or her—though an individual may pray privately to someone who has not yet been formally glorified, and even commission icons, which may be kept in the home but not displayed in the temple (church building).

Eventually, the evidence of a person's saintliness may grow to such a degree that the Church will schedule a formal service of glorification. Any bishop may perform a glorification within his diocese, though such services usually take place under the auspices of a synod of bishops. Often a formal investigation will ensure that the person was Orthodox in their faith, led a life worthy of emulation, and that the reports of miracles attributed to their intercessions are verifiable. The glorification service does not "make" the person a saint; rather, the Church simply makes a formal acknowledgement of what God has already manifested.

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