Icon in Orthodox Church Introduction
It is well known that the veneration of holy icons plays a very important role in the Orthodox Church. The veneration of the icons is a dogma of the Orthodox Faith formulated at the Seventh Ecumenical Council.
"In the Orthodox Church the icons bear witness to the reality of God's presence with us in the mystery of faith. The icons are not just human pictures or visual aids to contemplation and prayer. They are the witnesses of the presence of the Kingdom of God to us, and so of our own presence to the Kingdom of God in the Church. It is the Orthodox faith that icons are not only permissible, but are spiritually necessary because 'the Word became flesh and dwelt among us' (Jn 1:14). Christ is truly man and, as man, truly the 'icon of the invisible God' (Col 1:15; 1 Cor 11:7; 2 Cor 4:4)." ( Fr. Thomas Hopko )
An icon is a holy image which is the distinctive art form of the Orthodox Church.
In Orthodox Church icons occupy a very prominent place in worship and theology.
Why the Church does attribute such a importance to the image ? The icon is not
just a simple image, it is not a decoration or even an illustration of Holy
Scripture. The icon is Holy Scripture as a revelation of the truth.
The teaching of the Church on the veneration of Holy images proceeds from basic
doctrine of the Church: its confession of the second hipostasis of Most Holy
Trinity - Jesus Christ the Son of God who became man. " Light of Light;
true God of true God; begotten not made; of one essence with the Father, by
whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation came down from
heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy spirit and Virgin Mary, and became man."
( Confession of Orthodox Faith )
Man was created in the image of God but allowed that image, and with it the
world, to be corrupted by sin. God assumed a fully human nature without ceasing
to be fully God and thereby restored the image - not just ethically, through
His teachings, but in His whole person, as is proven by His bodily Resurrection.
" Remembering this saving commandment and all those things which have
come to pass for us: the Cross, the Tomb, the Resurrection on the third day,
the Ascension into heaven, the Sitting at the right hand, and the second and
glorious Coming"
( Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. )
An icon of Christ affirms the reality of that reconciliation of the human and the divine and enables us to contemplate the person who is the model for our theosis. " His icon is a witness to the true and non-deceptive incarnation of God." ( Leonid Ouspensky )
The image bears witness to the sanctification of matter by the Incarnation of Christ. It is expression of Orthodoxy as such in its totality.
The liturgical and sacramental life of the Church is inseparable from the icon, it is an object of worship, an integral part of the liturgy; together they form a one whole. The icon completes the liturgy and explains it, adding its influence on the souls of the faithful. " For just as word edify the ear, so also the image stimulates the eye. What the book is to the literate the image is to the illiterate. Just as words speak to the ear, so the image speaks to the sight; it brings us understanding." ( St. John Damascus )
The Orthodox Church stresses the role played by the icon in our salvation
through the presence and prayerful intercession of the individual depicted on
holy image.
It teaches that icon is a two - way door of communication that not only shows
us a person or event of Divine history but rather makes us a part of it. It
introduces us to mystical theology of sacred time and space.
The icon is a window which links heaven and earth. This is expressed every time
one venerates an icon or places a candle before it. Whenever we see icons of
saints, the purpose is to show us, not the holiness they are, but the holiness
they have become through Christ. The icon points us to something beyond itself
and we are expected to respond as much with the mind as with the soul and emotions.