Nicephorus of Constantinople, Discourses against the Iconoclasts: Then the saint replied: “And who then in his right mind worships what is created when he prostrates himself in front of objects that are in the churches, whether they be of wood, stone, gold, or silver, and that have been changed into holy objects by the name written on them?” The saint answered him : “Oh Emperor, it is not the matter that is in icons that Christians have ever been ordered to worship, but they prostrate themselves in front of the name of the person who is seen on the icon…” That is why it is venerable and holy.Ĭhapter 55: “Recall from Exile. It is from this that the icon has taken also the name of the prototype, which is the only thing that it has in common with the prototype. We confess the Lord’s flesh to be deified, and we know the icons to be nothing else but icons, signifying the imitation of the prototype. Therefore, either they must say idly that the cross and the holy utensils are common and worthless - since it is a carpenter, or a painter, or a weaver who has made them, and because there is no prayer of consecration for them - or they will have to accept also the venerable icons as sacred, holy, and worthy of honor.įor, just as when one paints a man, one does not render him without a soul, but he remains one who has a soul and the icons is called his because of his resemblance, so it is when we make an icon of the Lord. Also we kiss and embrace the different holy utensils which we have, and we express the hope of receiving a blessing from them. In the same way, when we signify an icon with a name, we transfer the honor to the prototype by embracing it and offering to it the veneration of honor, we share in the sanctification. By the veneration which we offer to it, by the making of its sign on our forehead, and also by the making of its sign in the air with the finger, like a seal, we express the hope that it dispels demons. The very form of it is sufficient for us to receive sanctification. Thus, even without a prayer of sanctification, we revere the form of the life-giving cross. Consequently, we honor and embrace them as venerable things. The Orthodox: …many of the sacred things which we have at our disposal do not need a prayer of sanctification, since their name itself says that they are all-sacred and full of grace. Instead, it remains common and worthless, as the painter made it. The Iconoclasts: …nor is there any prayer of consecration for it to transpose it from the state of being common to the state of being sacred. Here is one of the attacks made by the iconoclasts against the iconodoules, read during the council along with the answer given by the Fathers. As far as we know, no one ever wrote on the subject of blessing images, and there is no trace of a prayer for blessing them. ![]() I hope to show that despite the widespread habit of blessing icons, this practice is not in agreement with Church Tradition, and that it is in fact contrary to it and based on a theology of the icons that is foreign to Orthodoxy.įrom Pentecost, 33, to the 7 th Ecumenical Council, 787, which condemned iconoclasm:ĭuring this period, there is a total silence in the historical documents. Very few Orthodox would question this practice which they feel is legitimate, traditional, and totally in agreement with Church Tradition. Being only a “profane” image before, it becomes “holy” after, because it has been blessed. many think that what was a simple picture before the blessing becomes an icon after, because of the blessing. Most people would never imagine putting an unblessed icon in their houses it would be a kind of sacrilege, but once the icon is blessed - whatever its subject, taste, canonicity, etc. There are even special services for blessing different kinds of icons: of Christ, of the Mother of God, of feasts, etc. Bishops often anoint them with Holy Chrism. Orthodox Christians routinely have their icons blessed by a priest or bishop.
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