The Icon - Window on the Kingdom

The icon is in vogue today, something not at all surprising in a civilization where imagery reigns supreme. In keen demand within the world of culture, the icon today inspires frequent expositions, and private collections of icons have indeed multiplied over the past few decades. This fancy for the icon often stems from contrary motivations; proof of this is the interest manifested by both the faithful and the faithless. Some among the latter see the icon as a work of art they can appreciate because of its aesthetic value. Others discover in it an exotic appeal, or sense an irresistible attraction whose origin escapes them. As for the faithful, we must certainly mention those whom Orthodoxy fascinates, and who recognize in the icon the unifying element of a spiritual relationship they share with us. But the majority of Western Christians ignore the spiritual wealth of the icon, influenced as they are by an ever renascent form of iconoclasm, or conditioned by some form of pious art that just appears to be sacred art. A fact not to be ignored is that more and more young people want to know the icon better, and it would indeed be naive to see this as only a passing fad. Would it not rather be a prompting of the heart, the vague perception of an appealing truth? Before being beautiful, the icon must first be truthful, and all the more so because an image appeals to the heart before it strikes the intelligence. Today, when the human countenance is so disfigured, when racial discrimination persists, when so many people suffer from a lack of genuine, sincere communication, faces on the icons radiating a light that comes from beyond fascinate and beckon us to contemplate.

The place of the Icon in the Orthodox Church:

The Icon in our Daily Life

The icon is central among the essential needs of the Orthodox faithful. At baptism the newly baptized is often given an icon of the patron saint whose name she or he receives. Then, at marriage, the fathers of the spouses bless them with icons. Finally, it is the baptismal icon and that of the Virgin which are carried in front of the funeral procession at their burial. Wherever atheism has not yet scored a victory, there, entering the home, the icon offers itself to prayer and homage even before the head of the house is greeted. Placed in honor on the wall, it invites us to lift our hearts heavenward. Icons are thus present in some way at every significant moment throughout our lifetime. Even portable icons exist so we can carry them with us on a journey. Whenever we make a visit to church, it is always accompanied by the offering of candles, lighted in honor of Christ and the saints, whose icons are then kissed, just as a member of the family is embraced.

The Icon within the Life of the Church

Without any doubt, Orthodox faithful are keenly aware of participating in the great family of the saints. If you look at the interior of any Orthodox church covered with frescoes and icons of the saints, you assuredly no longer feel alone. Both the individualism and the self-centeredness so natural to humanity simply have no reason for existing here, since every prayer becomes a communion with the saints, those elect whose silent, steady gaze still speaks to us of the interior life.

An aid for meditation, frescoes and icons dispose us to contemplate the Invisibilia. Conversely, what a sensation of both emptiness and coldness for any Orthodox faithful who enters a house of worship that is devoid of sacred images!

We should not forget that the House of God reflects the cosmic order: the ground level represents our world, the earth; the vaulting the celestial world, Heaven; and the sanctuary unites them both: Heaven and earth. Already in the fifth century, Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite stated that the church should be considered an image of the heavenly Church. Therefore, everything within it should orient us toward the Celestial Court, even its frescoes should not picture scenes of everyday life, but rather the spiritual world.

From the ninth century onward, official rules prescribe the choice and disposition of the iconography to be painted on the walls and ceilings of the churches. Accordingly, the icon of the Christ Pantocrator, Master of the visible and invisible universe, adorns the large cupola of the church. It suggests a window on Heaven and constitutes the summit within the hierarchy of the imagery. On the vaulting of the sanctuary is portrayed the Theotokos: the Mother of God, our "Bridge" between Heaven and earth. Surrounding the altar like a protecting wall, the apse pictures the celestial liturgy of the Angels on die upper section of the wall, and on the lower level the eternal communion of the aposdes. Above the church exit you generally see a fresco of the Dormition of the Theotokos or of the Last Judgment—vivid reminders for the faithful as diey return home. The iconography of the saints occupies the remainder of ordinary mural space. The iconostasis, which we shall consider more closely further on, plays a double role: on the one hand it separates the faithful from the altar, which is called the "Throne of Christ"; on the other hand, like a bridge, it unites them to the celestial world.

Those icons exposed on the "proskynetaria," or icon stands, are there for the immediate veneration of the faithful, who neither kneel nor genuflect upon entering the church; instead they make the sign of the Cross—up to three times, in honor of the Most Holy Trinity. Standing, they recite a short prayer with head bowed before the icons, which they venerate with a kiss: first, the icon of Christ, next, that of the Theotokos, and then ordinarily the icon of the feast-day or of the liturgical cycle, placed in evidence in the middle of the church.

Assisting at a Byzantine Liturgy just once helps to understand the prominent place of the icon in the liturgy. Not only is the icon frequently incensed, it is at times carried solemnly in procession. How could we omit the story about Vladimir of Kiev sending off his ambassadors to compare different religions for his "choice of faith"? After having assisted at liturgies amid the magnificence of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, they returned to tell their Prince:

"We knew not whether we were in heaven or on earth, for assuredly on earth such beauty cannot be found anywhere else. So we do not know what we ought to tell you; but one thing we know well: there God dwells among men who celebrate His glory in such a manner that no other religion on this earth could equal. It is impossible for us to forget such splendorous beauty."

Vladimir converted to Christianity with all his tribal subjects of Kievan Rus' in 988. That "splendorous beauty" the spiritual world belongs in particular to Orthodoxy, for which the Word (the Gospels), the Liturgy and the Icon are all intimately associated. Everything that is taught by the Divine Liturgy, the hymns of the Chutch and the words of the reader, truly find a luminous commentary in the silence of the frescoes and icons.

As for beauty, it reaches its accomplishment in each of the five senses. Our eyes are fascinated and marvel at the beautiful sight of the icons; copious, fragrant incense suggests to our sense of smell the sweet odor of the Kingdom; at communion our taste is satisfied by the Holy Bread and Wine; our sense of touch is gratified as the icons, the Gospel Book and the Cross are venerated and kissed. Finally, our sense of hearing, like our sight, comes into play in a privileged manner during the liturgies.

In passing, let us note that organ music and oil painting, developed at about the same time, offer our senses both colors and sounds that are sensual and carnal, and thus express conceptions of a world that is foreign to the icon! Whether Byzantine or Slavonic, the strictly a cappella choral music opens the ear of the heart to the sounds of a different world. Like the icon, this music aims at a reality beyond anything physical and seeks to engender a much higher level of reflection, sensibility and awareness.

From: The Icon - Window on the Kingdom by Michel Quenot, St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1996