Orthodoxy (4) – Icons
30 June 2000 12:39
ICONS
The Orthodox Church is famous for having icons – strange, often rather dark pictures of Christ and the saints.
What is an icon? Why do Orthodox people have them in their churches and their homes? Do they have a special meaning?
WHAT AN ICON IS.
The word “icon” means “image”. An icon is an image, or picture of someone (or an event). Icons date back to the beginning of the Church, when pictures were commonly painted on wooden panels, and they are still painted on wood. Because some icons are very old they become blackened by years of smoke and dirt, so they are often very dark.
An icon is not like an ordinary picture. It shows more than what a person looked like. It also shows his holiness – in other words, the complete person, body and soul. For that reason, an icon is not sentimental, like an ordinary religious painting can be. An icon is often called a “window on to eternity” because it shows the eternal dimension of a person.
Before the time of Jesus there were no icons. In the Old Testament it was forbidden to make statues or paintings of God because, being infinite and spirit, He could not be seen or described. Since Orthodox believe that Jesus was God become Man, with a body able to be seen and touched, He can also be painted. So an icon is a SIGN of the INCARNATION – God in the flesh and that the THINGS of this world can be filled with the divine, for with the Incarnation, matter has become capable of being SPIRIT-BEARING.
ICONS AS VISUAL AIDS
Icons are great visual aids. They are full of symbolism. The roundness
of the head and straightness of the nose signify spiritual perfection.
There are no shadows because the light of the eternity banishes darkness. Perspective is reversed, so that the Book of the Gospels in Christ’s hand reaches out towards people.
There are strict rules for painting icons. The artist generally copies existing icons, or, in the case of a new saint the Church decides how he is to be portrayed. For instance, a martyr carries a cross, and a theologian carries his manuscript.
Sometimes icons of saints have scenes from their lives around the edge, like a comic strip. Icons of feasts can show various separate events in one scene – for example the Christmas icon shows the infant Jesus and His Mother in the centre, in the cave; angel and shepherds in the fields in one corner; and the three wise men in another. So icons can tell stories as well as describing a person.
VENERATING ICONS
When an Orthodox enters a church he buys some candles, goes up to an icon of Christ, makes the sign of the Cross, kisses the icon and lights a candle.
He is showing his love and respect, or VENERATION, to Christ by kissing His image. He is NOT worshipping the wood and paint that the icon is made of. It is similar to when people kiss the photo of someone they love – they are sending their kiss to the person in the photo, not to the paper! An Orthodox also kisses the Bible because it is a written icon – the word of God. And at the end of the Liturgy, everyone comes up, one by one, to kiss the cross which the priest holds, because it is an image of Christ’s sacrifice.
When an icon has been painted it is blessed in church, and becomes a channel of grace between God and the world. So icons are treated with special care. When they get old and damaged they are not thrown away, but lovingly resored. If they become blackened by smoke from the candles they are cleaned carefully. However bad they look, they are still holy objects to be venerated.
| But PEOPLE are also seen as icons – made in the IMAGE of God. | So when the |
| priest censes the icons in church, he also censes the people. | Just as |
| icons are treated with love and care, so PEOPLE have to be treated in the | |
| same way. Icons are a reminder that EVERY PERSON is sacred. | When a |
| person is damaged, physically or emotionally, he must be loved | and cared for |
like a damaged icon, because he is still an icon of God, however much the original image may have been hidden or warped.
THE ICON CORNER
A traditional place to keep icons in the home is in the ICON CORNER. In one corner of a room, generally diagonally opposite the door, an icon of Christ or the Virgin and Child will be placed, high up on the wall, so that it catches the attention of people coming into the room. A votive lamp will either stand or hang in from of it, and to either side other icons will be placed.
The icon corner is a focus of prayer for the room, and is where family prayers are said. It is a quiet area of the room, somewhere to go when feeling sad or wanting to get away from other people. The Russians like to have an icon corner in their living room, the Greeks prefer a bedroom. In some houses each room will have at least one icon in a corner.
The icon corner can be hung with embroidered cloths or decorated with flowers and greenery at feasts and name days. The family Bible can be kept on a shelf below the icons, together with a home censer.
THE ICON SCREEN IN CHURCH
The icon screen (iconostas) cuts off the sanctuary from the nave. It is SYMBOLIC because it represents the very real fact that Heaven and earth are separated, and that people cannot see God.
But it is also like a television screen, because on it are pictures of all the people in Heaven but otherwise invisible – Christ, His Mother, the saints and angels.
However, the screen is pierced by the Royal Doors, because Christ came down from Heaven to earth. So through the Royal Doors the Word of God – the Gospel – and the Communion chalice are brought out.
On either side of the doors are large icons of Christ (on the right) and His Mother (on the left). Saints and the archangels Michael and Gabriel are next to them. Above will be rows of smaller icons of the Greek Feasts, the prophets etc. Christ is generally depicted again above the Royal Doors, with the Annunciation and the four evangelists – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John – on the doors themselves.
The Royal Doors are open for most of the service, so that the altar is in full view of the congregation.
(to be continued)
