The Living Tradition An Orthodox Archive of the Church Fathers and Early Church

Orthodox Christianity: start here — lesson 11

The Theotokos, the saints and intercession

Why Orthodox Christians ask the saints to pray, and what the distinction between honour and worship actually is.

  • Dogmatic definitionDefined by an ecumenical council or otherwise confessed by the Church as binding doctrine. Not every sentence a council wrote is a definition: its acts, letters and disciplinary canons are different things.
  • Liturgical witnessAttested in the Church's worship — in a hymn, a prayer, a rite or a commemoration. Liturgical language is theological rather than casual, but a hymn is not a canon.
  • Received Orthodox teachingTaught consistently and received throughout the Orthodox Church, though not necessarily formulated in a conciliar definition. This is not a claim that no Father ever wrote differently.

Awaiting official-source verification Content last reviewed 2026-08-29

What still needs checking (2)
  • Confirm the account of Orthodox teaching on the Theotokos, including what has and has not been defined, against the OCA's The Orthodox Faith.
  • Confirm the description of Roman Catholic teaching from an official Roman Catholic source rather than a secondary summary.

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What this lesson covers

  • Explain why Theotokos is a Christological title.
  • State the distinction between the honour given to saints and the worship due to God.
  • Describe what asking a saint's prayers is and is not.

About 7 minutes to read.

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The Council of Ephesus confessed the Virgin Mary as theotokos. The argument was about her Son: either the one born of her is the eternal Word, or he is something less. The title is a fence around the incarnation.

Orthodox worship is saturated with reference to the Theotokos. That intensity is old, it is liturgical rather than speculative, and it is not the same as worship.

Honour and worship

The distinction the Seventh Council states about icons applies to the saints generally: the honour given to a saint passes to God who is glorified in them, and the worship due to God alone is given to God alone. Greek keeps these in separate words; English does not, which is a large part of why the argument is so persistent in English-speaking contexts.

Asking a saint to pray is asking for intercession, in the same sense as asking a living Christian to pray for you. It is not treating the saint as a source of grace independent of God.

Key Scripture

  • Luke 1:26-56 — The annunciation and the Magnificat.
  • Hebrews 12:1 — Surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses.
  • Revelation 5:8 — The prayers of the saints presented before the throne.

On Scripture references. References are given so you can read the passage in the translation your parish uses. This site does not reproduce a modern copyrighted Bible text.

Council and canon connections

Why this matters in lived Orthodoxy

Orthodox Christians keep a name day, the feast of the saint whose name they bear, often more than a birthday. Icons of the Theotokos and the saints are in homes as well as churches, and prayers to them are part of ordinary daily prayer.

Relics are venerated. This follows from the same logic as icons: the body is not incidental to the person, and God has been pleased to work through the bodies of the saints.

Review

Why is Theotokos a Christological title?
Because it asserts that the one born of Mary is the eternal Son of God.
What is the distinction between honouring a saint and worshipping God?
Honour given to a saint passes to God who is glorified in them; worship belongs to God alone. Greek keeps the two in separate words.
What has the Orthodox Church not defined about the Theotokos?
The immaculate conception, which is a Roman Catholic dogma and is not part of Orthodox confession.

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Going deeper

Sources for this page

  1. Tier C The Seven Ecumenical Councils of the Undivided Church Henry R. Percival (ed.); Philip Schaff and Henry Wace (series eds.) The Decree of the Second Council of Nice annotated edition of conciliar texts Source record
  2. Tier C The Seven Ecumenical Councils of the Undivided Church Henry R. Percival (ed.); Philip Schaff and Henry Wace (series eds.) The Epistle of Cyril to Nestorius with the XII Anathematisms annotated edition of conciliar texts Source record

Tiers are explained in the methodology. No page on this site has been reviewed or approved by any bishop, priest, synod or seminary.