Veneration vs Worship: is there a difference?

A friend read my Blog "the mother of my Lord" (Luke 1:43): the communion of the Logos with the biology of Mary the Theotókos

and wrote:

"Sure, I agree that Mary and Elizabeth must have been holy, but they are NOT God and therefore should not be worshipped as such."

This is my reply:

Dear Friend,

You may be confusing veneration for worship.
In Greek we have two words to distinguish the two.
We have Proskynesis, (Greek προσκύνησις) and we have Latria ( Greek λατρεια)

Proskynesis is formed from the Ancient Greek words pros and kunyo literally means "kissing towards", and refers to the traditional Persian act of prostrating oneself before a person of higher social rank, and is the act of veneration; giving solemn reverence towards.

(see wikipaedia reference http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proskynesis#cite_note-0 )

Latria (from the Greek λατρεια) used in Orthodox to mean adoration, which is the highest form of worship or reverence and is directed only to the Holy Trinity.

(see wikipedia reference http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latria )

Orthodox Christians offer veneration (proskynesis) towards anything Holy and of great esteem, but offer worship/ adoration (latria) only to God the Trinity. In this Respect, the Orthodox Christians are continuing the Jewish custom of showing reverence to Holy things by holding them in high esteem and demonstrating this by touching, bowing and kissing them.

Just don’t take my word for it, have a look at these references:

“Whenever the scroll is opened to be read it is laid on a piece of cloth called the mappah. When the Sefer Torah is carried through the synagogue, the members of the congregation may touch the edge of their tallit to the Sefer Torah and then kiss it as a sign of respect.”

(ref wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sefer_Torah )

Or another reference:

"A feature of most [Jewish] services is some form of kissing, usually associated with the Torah, kissing it as it is marched by or before one blesses it. This is done through another medium such as touching a prayerbook or a hand to the Torah then kissing it. Some people also kiss prayerbooks after picking them up if they have fallen to the floor. In Israel kissing mezuzot, ritual containers with biblical verses on the doorposts of most rooms, has become a major form of popular spirituality, including many who are not at all religious."

(ref. Dept Jewish Zionist Education http://www.jafi.org.il/education/juice/history1/week7.html )

The Jews would strongly deny that they worship the wood, metal, paper and ink of the Torah or other religious items, but because it contains the word of God and it brings God into the consciousness of the Jew, they touch it and kiss it like they would a precious Holy object or person. This is true for the Orthodox Christians, who are the new Jews (by adoption) in the post Messianic age.

The problem with a lot of Christians, in my opinion, is that they don’t offer adoration/worship to Jesus and God at any rate, and confuse their veneration (or agreement) of Him for worship. Most Christian, I suspect, would feel very uncomfortable to fall on their faces before Jesus if He were to appear before them. I suspect that this is partly a cultural thing (ie middle eastern, Mediterranean people kiss everything and anything out of love; whilst Western Europeans tend to shake hands and show little emotion even in times of severe distress, such as grief and trauma), but I also suspect that pride and feeling undignified has something to do with it.

Many Protestants have forgotten to offer respect to Mary, and some have gone so far as to shun her completely (as if she were a sinful person). Many Protestant churches today make little or no reference to her in their daily living and preaching (and yet they will discuss St Paul, John Knox, Martin Luther, Calvin etc etc), and yet we read:

The major figures of the Reformation honored Mary. Martin Luther said Mary is "the highest woman", that "we can never honour her enough", that "the veneration of Mary is inscribed in the very depths of the human heart", and that Christians should "wish that everyone know and respect her". John Calvin said, "It cannot be denied that God in choosing and destining Mary to be the Mother of his Son, granted her the highest honor." Zwingli said, "I esteem immensely the Mother of God", and, "The more the honor and love of Christ increases among men, so much the esteem and honor given to Mary should grow". Thus the idea of respect and high honour was not rejected by the first Protestants; but they criticized the Catholics for blurring the line, between high admiration of the grace of God wherever it is seen in a human being, and religious service given to another creature.

(ref wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_(mother_of_Jesus) )

In the final analysis, I agree with you that only God deserves worship (latria), BUT that still begs the question:

"how do you demonstrate your reverence and thankfulness
to Jesus' mother for her active part in the Incarnation?"

Without Mary's ‘Yes’ to God, the incarnation could not have happened (just read Luke chapter 1 slowly and carefully). Mary had to say “yes” for it all to occur. She was not coerced. And then, in the final analysis, Mary herself tells us that “For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed” (Luke 1:48)

Cheers, hope to keep in touch
With love in Christ

Spiro