This Is the Will of God: Your Sanctification

In the Wednesday Θεοτοκία (Theotokia), the Coptic Orthodox believers chant: “God who is at rest in his holies took flesh from the Virgin for our salvation.”[1] Translated from the Coptic ⲛⲏ ⲉⲑⲟⲩⲁⲃ ⲛ̀ⲧⲁϥ as “those which are holy and His (i.e. His holies),” this prayer references both God’s holy ones and His holy places, and allows for both definitions. While an emphasis can be placed on either definition, for our purposes, we will reflect on His holy ones in order to elaborate three points: the saints in the eyes of God, referencing a few Scriptural verses on God’s delight and pleasure in the saints and righteous ones; the saints in the eyes of the Church and the importance of their veneration in the Church by their placement within the liturgical services; and the saints in our personal eyes, including the importance of not only viewing the saints as models to imitate, but also recognizing that we are called to be saints and must freely accept this invitation from God. Thus, we will delve into how the saints are viewed in the Orthodox sense throughout the Scriptures and the Liturgy, and how we are to emulate them in our daily lives.

While the resting of God in His saints applies to those whom the Church venerates and formally recognizes as saints, it very much also applies to the living believers: we find, in the New Testament, the term “saints” being used synonymously with “Christians.” We learn the same principle from Paul the Apostle, who emphasizes in his first letter to the Thessalonians: “This is the will of God: your sanctification” (1 Thess. 4.3). As Christians, being the New Israel and God’s chosen people (cf. Rom. 11), we foster the presence of the Lord God in our very being. This is a crucial message reiterated by St. Paul in both of his letters to the Corinthians: “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you” (1 Cor. 3.16 RSV) and “For we are the temple of the living God” (2 Cor. 6.16 RSV). St. John the Theologian also states in the introduction of his Gospel that “the Word became flesh and dwelt in us” (Jn. 1:14)[2], indicating that the dwelling or resting of God in and among His saints applies also to us, the living. This leads us to realize that the natural human condition is sainthood, as we recall the words of St. Irenæus of Lyons, in his treatise Adversus Hæreses, who best summarized this principle of our Christian life: “For the glory of God is a living man; and the life of man consists in beholding God.”[3] Abba Antony likewise teaches this, emphasizing that the soul in its natural state is holy:

“For the Lord has told us before, the Kingdom of God is within you. All virtue needs, then, is our willing, since it is in us, and arises from us. For virtue exists when the soul maintains its intellectual part according to nature. It holds fast according to nature when it remains as it was made—and it was made beautiful and perfectly straight…As far as the soul is concerned, being straight consists in its intellectual part’s being according to nature, as it was created.” (Vita Antonii 20).[4]

“But just as he who called you is holy, you yourselves should also be holy in every aspect of your life, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy’” (1 Pet. 1.15–16). St. Peter the Apostle urges Christians to manifest God’s holiness in every aspect of life by echoing the message of holiness and purity found throughout Leviticus: “Because I am the Lord your God, and you will be sanctified, and you will be holy, for I myself, the Lord your God, am holy” (Lev. 11.44). This was instructed by the Lord God Himself to Moses to convey to the children of Israel: “Speak in the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You will be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy’” (Lev. 19.2), and again, “Indeed, you will be holy because I myself, the Lord your God, am holy. And you will observe my commandments, and you will do them; I myself am the Lord who sanctifies you” (Lev. 20.7–8). It is not that the commandments are the sources of sanctification and holiness, but they are rather the means that lead us to sanctification and holiness.

Lastly, concerning the priests and their purity, the Lord God says, “And he will keep himself holy. This person offers the gifts of the Lord your God; he will be holy because I, the Lord, the one who sanctifies them, am holy” (Lev. 21.8). Though we may not all be priests in the sense of ordained ministry, this verse serves as a reminder that since we are a royal priesthood, as St. Peter later mentions (1 Pet. 2.9, cf. Ex. 19.6), and because we offer the greatest among gifts that we can offer—our hearts, as instructed at the beginning of every Anaphora: “Ἄνω ὑμῶν τὰς καρδίας! Lift up your hearts!”—we are called to sanctify our hearts and to consecrate ourselves entirely to the Lord, for He is holy.

The Saints in the Eyes of God

Of all the mentions of saints and references to righteous ones in the Scriptures, the majority are found in the book of Psalms. Contemplating on a few of these Psalms, one can evidently see that these saints and holy men of God are held in high esteem in the Kingdom of the heavens. The mention of saints in the Psalms provides a guide to understanding how the saints are pleasing in the eyes of the Lord. Aside from the virtuous lives which the saints lived, their mere death alone is “Precious in the sight of the Lord” (Ps. 115.6 RSV).[5],[6] Reflecting on this, it is clear that death is not the end of the human experience, but rather the beginning of the even more abundant eternal life (cf. Jn. 10.10). Not only is the death of the saints precious (cf. Ps. 115.6), but the company of saints in the heavens, surrounding the throne of God, also creates a dwelling place for the Lord Himself. In this dwelling place, the Lord is glorified, and this glory is comprised of the culmination of the saints gathered around His table in His Kingdom (cf. Lk. 22.28–34). We will later see that we also are called to be the dwellings of the Lord, like our fellow members in His Body—the saints who have preceded us.

The saints called upon the Lord and He heard them: “Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel also was among those who called on his name. They cried to the Lord, and he answered them” (Ps. 98.6 RSV). This act of crying to the Lord allows for the Lord God to be glorified in His saints (cf. Ps. 88.8). This is clear in the Life of Antony from the conversation Antony had with the Lord following his struggle and fight with the demons:

“Antony entreated the vision that appeared, saying, ‘Where are you? Why didn’t you appear in the beginning, so that you could stop my distresses?’ And a voice came to him: ‘I was here, Antony, but I waited to watch your struggle. And now, since you persevered and were not defeated, I will be your helper forever, and I will make you famous everywhere’” (Vita Antonii 10).[7]

From this excerpt, we see the Lord’s pleasure in the adversity Antony endured, and how his cries were transformed into the means of his glorification and reward. While the Lord found Antony worthy of universal praise, Antony acknowledged in a practical, unspoken manner, that glory is due to God alone, preventing pride or vain-glory from entering his heart and mind by reflecting praise back to God who is alone worthy of glory. In doing so, Antony practically realized the meaning of “God is glorified in the counsel of holy ones” (Ps. 88.8a). Antony embodied the verse, “He is great and awesome upon all those who are around him” (Ps. 88.8b) in its full context, thereby presenting us with the opportunity to understand how God is surrounded by the saints when He is glorified in them.

The Lord is not just surrounded by the saints, nor does He merely receive glory through them, but He also calls and elevates us to the condition of holiness. We are called to “Praise God among his holy ones (ἁγίοις αὐτοῦ)” (Ps. 150.1). In the Septuagint, ἁγίοις αὐτοῦ can simply be translated as “his holies” referring to both His holy ones and His holy places. This allows us to praise God in His holy places and to praise Him in His saints, emphasizing the dignity and honor that is bestowed to the saints by the Lord Himself (cf. Ps. 149.9).

“The fact that the saints become the reason why we glorify God’s all-holy name is the most welcome offering that can be given to them. When they were alive, they strove to do everything for the glory of Christ, and now they rejoice from heaven when God is glorified because of them.”[8]

The Saints in the Eyes of the Church

In reflecting on this commentary, we can venture into how the Church venerates the saints and applies their remembrance in the Divine Liturgy. Though the Divine Liturgy is Christocentric, we still find that, in both the Coptic (Alexandrian) and Byzantine traditions, the diptych is placed after the invocation of the Holy Spirit in the Epiclesis (ἐπίκλησις). In the Coptic Anaphora, the commemoration of the saints is identified as a command of the Lord:

“As this, O Lord, is the command of Your only-begotten Son, that we share in the commemoration of Your saints (ⲛⲏ ⲉⲑⲟⲩⲁⲃ ⲛ̀ⲧⲁⲕ), graciously accord, O Lord, to remember all the saints who have pleased You since the beginning: our holy fathers the patriarchs, the prophets, the apostles, the preachers, the evangelists, the martyrs, the confessors, and all the spirits of the righteous perfected in the faith.”[9]

Though the initial statement—“As this, O Lord, is the command of Your only-begotten Son, that we share in the commemoration of Your saints”—is both textually and ritually linked to the preceding commemoration of the Holies (cf. Lk. 22.19),[10],[11] rather than constituting the commencement of a new segment, the believers are nevertheless enabled, through the following remembrance, to participate in commemorating the saints as a means of veneration within the most central practice of the Christian Faith—the Eucharistic Liturgy. In a manner similar to the Coptic Alexandrian tradition, the Byzantine rite also lists the saints:

“Again, we offer You this spiritual worship for those who have reposed in the faith: forefathers, fathers, patriarchs, prophets, apostles, preachers, evangelists, martyrs, confessors, ascetics, and for every righteous spirit made perfect in faith.”[12]

In this remembrance of the saints and their veneration within the Liturgy, we find a bridge that allows the believers to connect with the perfected saints to form a unity of heaven and earth that transcends death,[13] and leads to life-everlasting through the Eucharist. We are reminded of this by St. Shenoute the Archimandrite, who, in his homily read at the Ninth Hour prayers of Holy Wednesday of Pascha, ventures deeper into this reality: “The saints are weeping with you for the salvation of your soul.”[14] The conclusion of the commemoration in the Cyrillian Liturgy beautifully highlights the harmony between the reposed believers and those who are still sojourning on the earth:

“Not that we are worthy, O Master, to intercede for the blessedness of those who are there, but rather they are standing before the tribunal of Your only-begotten Son, that they may be interceding instead for our poverty and our frailty. May You be a forgiver of our iniquities, for the sake of their holy supplications and for the sake of Your blessed name which is called upon us.”[15]

This illustrates the profound unity between the heavenly and the earthly in regards to our salvation and sanctification, which the Lord Christ established on the Cross, as we pray in the Gregorian Reconciliation Prayer: “You have reconciled the earthly with the heavenly and made the two into one, and fulfilled the economy in the flesh.”[16]

Following along the Divine Liturgy, at the end of the Anaphora, the celebrant exclaims: “Τὰ Ἅγια τοῖς ἁγίοις! The Holy [things] are for the holy [ones]!” Through this movement from the Holy things (the Eucharist and the Epiclesis) to the holy ones (the gathered members of the divine service) and the affirmation that the assembled believers are the ones who are called to be holy, asking for the worthiness to partake of that which is [the] Holy, we clearly see that the Divine Liturgy prepares us for the “liturgy” after the Liturgy—namely, how we conduct ourselves as Christians outside the institution of the Church (i.e. the “liturgy” of ordinary life). The Church uses this proclamation about the Holies as a reminder that the entire movement of the Divine Liturgy is “Holies for the holies.” Furthermore, this exclamation is an invitation to sanctity, which the Church provides through the Eucharist, and likewise by setting our forefathers as examples of Faith.

To this point, it is noteworthy that in the prayer of the Epiclesis, the Holy Spirit is called to descend and transform not only the elements, but also the faithful in attendance so that they might be rendered worthy to receive the Eucharist: “We ask You…that Your Holy Spirit descend upon us and upon these gifts set forth, and purify them, change them, and manifest them as a sanctification of Your saints.”[17] Hearing that the Holies are for the holy should therefore not engender discouragement, but rather hope and conviction that our sanctification is through the Holies that we partake of at the culmination of the Eucharistic Liturgy: the Holies are for the holy, and it is only through the Holies that we are made holy.

Moreover, we find that the Church further encourages her members by way of a synaxis of saints who have lived and embodied a variety of experiences, as was listed in the diptych, and we see the diversity of the paths our forefathers took towards their sanctification—ways within the Way. Some were martyrs and others confessors; some were ascetics and virgins and others married; some were priests, bishops, and patriarchs and many had no clerical or administrative position in the Church; some were professionals in various trades and other were farmers or shepherds; all, however, simply lived exemplary, holy, godly, authentically Christian lives.

The Saints in the Eyes of our Lives

As the Didache instructs: “Every day seek out the company of the saints, that you may find comfort in their words” (4.2).[18] In recognizing this Apostolic teaching, we are to take the saints as our guides, models, and means of consolation and encouragement in the Christian life. For this reason, in every veneration service of the Coptic Church, the Antiphonarion is read, so that the hearers may ponder throughout the day how they are to conduct themselves, not only as being the image of the Lord Christ, but also as striving to have the same mind and likeness of our fathers and mothers the saints. Paul the Apostle thus instructs the Corinthians: “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ” (1 Cor. 11.1 NKJV).

In this light, there is profound beauty and wisdom in the Coptic Orthodox Church’s dedication of a whole component of her Lectionary system to the lives of the saints and their diverse experiences. Rendering the Weekday Lectionary readings dependent upon the Synaxarion commemoration(s) of the day,[19] the Coptic Church relates the saints to the Scriptures which they knew and embodied, and from these together presents to her members one message for edification.

“The Weekday Lectionary’s focus on the saints is not a departure from the Coptic Church’s orientation to God, but rather, recognizing the human need for practical examples for emulation, presents the saints as examples for the sake of perfection and attaining to Christ (cf. Eph. 4.13) at the Last Day.”[20]

St. Paul advises, “Considering the results of their conduct, imitate their faith” (Heb. 13.7), and St. John Chrysostom relays a similar message in his first homily on the Maccabees, “that by imitating the virtue of these saints here, we may be able to share their crowns too,”[21] reiterating the universal invitation to the call of sanctity and emphasizing the calling for all to be saints so as to have a share and inheritance with the rest of the choir of the saints: “As for us all, grant us our Christian perfection that would be pleasing to You, and give them and us a share and inheritance with all Your saints” (Coptic Litany of the Departed).[22] After all, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church concisely captures: “‘What is the Church if not the assembly of the saints?’ The communion of saints is the Church.”[23]

Conclusion

The Scriptures holistically demonstrate the dignity and honor that the saints are given and the value that God grants them, calling them not only holy, but also godly. In complementing this, the Divine Liturgy presents to us the importance of the saints in our lives and shows us how we must mirror their lives, which the Scriptures and Church Fathers further highlight, for the sake of the heavenly reward in this temporary world and also for the eternal reward in the coming age, which is the everlasting Kingdom of the Holy Trinity. Through the guidance and sustenance of the Scriptures and the liturgical life—offered to us in a living way in the Orthodox Church—we are obliged to accept the call to sanctity, as did the saints who preceded us, following the words of the great Apostle Paul:

“Truly, God did not call us for impurity, but to sanctification! Therefore, whoever rejects this does not reject a human [command] but God, who has also given you his Holy Spirit, [for] this is the will of God: your sanctification” (1 Thess. 4.7–8, 3).

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[1] Coptic Orthodox Psalmody, Wednesday Theotokia, 7.2.

[2] While most translations, if not all, say, “among us,” I found it best to use “in us” to reflect the Greek ἐν ἡμῖν and the Coptic ⲛ̀ϧⲣⲏⲓ ⲛ̀ϧⲏⲧⲉⲛ. Furthermore, the Greek ἐσκήνωσεν, from the root σκηνή, literally means “to make a tabernacle amongst,” providing a more beautiful imagery than just “dwelling,” and echoes the experience of the Old Testament Tabernacle which resembled the presence of God.

[3] Irenæus, Against Heresies IV.20.7 (ANF 1:490).

[4] Robert C. Gregg, trans., Athanasius: The Life of Antony and the Letter to Marcellinus (New York, NY: Paulist Press, 1980), 46.

[5] Here, the Old Testament translation is from the Revised Standard Version (RSV), while the numbering is Septuagint (LXX) based on the Lexham English Septuagint, Second Edition (LES2). Unless otherwise indicated, all OT translations and numbering are from LES2. Unless otherwise indicated, all NT translations are from the Eastern Orthodox Bible: New Testament (EOB: NT).

[6] The LXX in this verse uses the Greek root ὅσιος, as opposed to ἅγιος, and the MT uses the Hebrew root חָסִיד (chasid). Both roots rather mean godly, not just saintly or holy, “in that the latter (ἅγιος) emphasizes separation, whereas the former (ὅσιος) emphasizes harmony” (The New Testament Greek word: οσιος). “οσιος” Abarim Publications’ Biblical Dictionary. <https://www.abarim-publications.com/DictionaryG/o/o-s-i-o-sfin.html>, May 13, 2022.

[7] Gregg, The Life of Antony, 39.

[8] Hieromonk Gregorios, The Divine Liturgy: A Commentary in the Light of the Fathers (Columbia, MO: Newrome Press, 2020), 239.

[9] Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States, The Divine Liturgies Of Saints Basil, Gregory, and Cyril, 2nd ed. (2004), 208–209.

[10] Daniel Girgis, “Holies for the Holies” Living Tradition. <https://danielgirgis.com/2024/01/17/holies-for-the-holies/>, January 17, 2024.

[11] Similar to Gk ἁγίοις, Cop ⲉⲑⲟⲩⲁⲃ can be translated both as “holy” and “saint.” For this reason, this simple mistranslation of the Coptic Anaphora shifts the attention from the Eucharist (the Holies) to the saints. Due to this inconvenience in translation, we have adapted a poor understanding (or interpretation) of this specific liturgical text. One can say that the difference in translation provides two different messages: one that contextual and relays what the Church wishes to convey while the other is merely contemplative due to liturgical illiteracy.

[12] Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, The Divine Liturgy of our Father among the saints John Chrysostom: Clergy Edition (Brookline, MA: Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 2018), 34.

[13] Rev. Michael Shanbour, Know the Faith: A Handbook for Orthodox Christians and Inquirers (Chesterton: Ancient Faith Publishing, 2016), 298.

[14] Fr. Abraham Azmy, ed., Book of the Holy Pascha, 5th ed. (Hamden, CT: Virgin Mary and Archangel Michael Coptic Orthodox Church of Connecticut, 2010), 259.

[15] Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern U.S., The Divine Liturgies, 354–355.

[16] Ibid., 258.

[17] Ibid., 196–197.

[18] Bart D. Ehrman, ed., The Apostolic Fathers: I Clement, II Clement, Ignatius, Polycarp, Didache (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003), 423.

[19] Fr. Mikhail E. Mikhail, Focus on the Coptic Family: A Scriptural and Liturgical Guide Based on the Coptic Orthodox Lectionary (Cleveland, OH: St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church, 1993), 170–173.

[20] Andrew A. Doss, The Coptic Orthodox Lectionary in Diagram (Doss Press, 2024), 5.

[21] John Chrysostom, The Cult of the Saints (Crestwood, NY: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2006), 145.

[22] Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern U.S., The Divine Liturgies, 22.

[23] Catholic Church, Catechism of the Catholic Church: Revised in Accordance with the Official Latin Text Promulgated by Pope John Paul II (Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference, 2000), 247.

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Kyrillos Nashed is a native Houston Texan and a tonsured Reader in the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. With a deep interest in sacramental and liturgical theology, Coptic Church history, the desert fathers and mothers of the Church, and Eastern Christian spirituality, he is currently pursuing undergraduate studies in Psychology and Human Development, with a double minor in Education and Theology, at Hellenic College in Brookline, MA. He is also concurrently studying Coptic Orthodox hymnology at St. Didymus Institute for Cantors in Cairo, Egypt. While in Boston, MA, Kyrillos serves at St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church in Natick, MA, and as President of the Coptic Orthodox Student Fellowship of Boston.

This article is an adaptation of a paper submitted for "Introduction to Orthodox Christianity," offered by Fr. Christopher Flesoras, PhD, in Spring 2024 at Hellenic College Holy Cross.

Cover Art: The apse of the ancient church at St. Antony Monastery, Red Sea (circa 13th century).

DossPress.com is a place for Christian men and women to collaborate for the sake of our common edification by sharing their written works. As we strive to uphold a standard of doctrinal and spiritual soundness in the articles shared, we note nonetheless that the thoughts expressed in each article remain the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of Doss Press.