To me it's a painful confession, but truth sometimes hurts. Mary is a saint, a model for all of us, but she is not divine. We cannot bow to her, prostrate to her, ask her to save us (directly).
In that I am in disagreement not only with the RCs but with my own Orthodox brothers and sisters, but not with the Church. The fact is: the Orthodox Church has only one dogma regarding Mary: that she is the Theotokos. Everything else is not binding.
Kosta: The problem is — the priest is facing the altar
Dr. E: That is a problem. The Reformation solved that problem by having the pastor face his congregation
The problem is only insofar as the priest does not see what the congregation is doing. He is the pastor, leading his sheep, with his back turned toward them, engaged in a dialogue of praising God and asking for His mercy. The cross on the wall is not Christ, but an icon of Christ that makes us think of Him. Nothing wrong with that.
This seems to be more of an EO perspective. I think most Christians would be in agreement with most of this, except your open door for intercessory prayer.
If this is reflective of the EO. How do you account for the difference with your RC brothers? Could it be attributed to the long years under muslim domination, or the centuries that transpired with little or no contact with the west.
She is not divine, true. We do not have to bow down or prostrate to her. We can, however, if we want to, and most do. Can we ask her to save us directly as if she were a savior? No, of course not, and we know that. When the Orthodox ask her to save us or the Catholic ask her to pray for us it is well understood that she is relaying our plea to Christ.