[Salvation]

St. John of Damascus [Saint John Damascene] is the Doctor of Icons/Images so I thought it was appropriate to post this article about icons on his feast day.

[Salvation]

Post your favorite holy icon if you wish.

Icon Ping

[xzins]

My favorite are nativity woodcarvings. This is from Oberammergau, home of some of the world's finest woodcarvers.

Modern day iconoclasts (atheists) want to forbid these from being displayed in the public square.

What are they afraid of?

[redhead]

For instance:

[GOP Poet]

Informative and interesting post Salvation. Thank you so much for posting.

“You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth” (Deut. 4:8)

This has often confused me as an artist. Often artist in one way or the other try to create a likeness of the world or of God whether it be in words or in a recreated image. Also my husband and I have many crosses, amazing icons, pictures of Jesus and Mary . . . we love them and they are often reminders of Jesus and Mary's commitment and in the case of the icons that I have a reminder of the beauty of Mary and Jesus and their light by an artists portrayal and love for their subjects. Thoughts?

[annalex]

Nativity of the Lord

[Kolokotronis]

The Synodikon of the Holy Fathers of the 7th Ecumenical Council which Orthodox Christians recite in unison on the Sunday of Orthodoxy:

“As the prophets beheld, as the Apostles have taught, as the Church has received, as the teachers have dogmatized, as the Universe has agreed, as Grace has shown forth, as Truth has revealed, as falsehood has been dissolved, as Wisdom has presented, as Christ awarded, thus we declare, thus we assert, thus we preach Christ our true God, and honor His Saints in words, in writings, in thoughts, in sacrifices, in churches, in Holy Icons; on the one hand worshiping and reverencing Christ as God and Lord; and on the other hand honoring as true servants of the same Lord of all and accordingly offering them veneration.

This is the Faith of the Apostles,
This is the Faith of the Fathers,
This is the Faith of the Orthodox,
This is the Faith which has established the Universe.”

Every Orthodox child (and adult) knows this synodikon and every Orthodox child knows and loves his/her icons. We live with them; they are a part of our lives and in many ways define who we are.

[annalex]

And here comes the real Santa Claus.

St. Nicholas the Miracleworker (12th-13th c.)

The third icon among our examples, St. Nicholas the Miracleworker, with Scenes from His Life, also comes from Sinai, but it is a later work, from the end of the twelfth or the first half of the thirteenth century. The saint is an amalgamation of two St. Nicholases, a bishop of the fourth century and a pious monk of the sixth. By the twelfth century St. Nicholas has become one of the most beloved and popular saints, not only in the Byzantine Empire but in Russia and the West. He was considered the patron of sailors, seamen, and fishermen, scholars, students and teachers, merchants, traders, marriageable maidens, bankers, and even robbers and thieves. Hagiographical icons of the saint presented in the middle his bust (in Russia, also his standing figure) and a selection of episodes from his life and from his posthumous miracles framing the central image. The icon shown here includes 16 episodes, from the saint's birth to his death. The monumental character of the central panel is softened by an addition of interesting decorative details. The hair and the beard of the saint are fancifully outlined by flowing white curls and the crosses on the saint's omophorion show intricate design. Next to Nicholas' head are two small figures: on the left Christ with a Gospel book, and on the right the Virgin with an omophorion. These two figures allude to the story of the saint's presence at the First Ecumenical Synod in Nicaea in 325. According to the story, Nicholas, angered by the blasphemous words of the heretic Arius against the Holy Trinity, slapped him on the face. For this, he was put in prison and his bishop's attributes, the Gospel Book and the omophorion, were taken from him. However, at night, Christ and the Virgin appeared in his prison cell and returned the Gospel book and the omophorion to him, forcing Emperor Constantine to free the saint and reinstate him as a bishop. In Russia, St. Nicholas became the most popular saint of all, depicted in literally thousands of icons, ranging from simple busts to very elaborate hagiographical icons with more than forty border scenes.

Alexander Boguslawski

I encourage anyone interested in iconography to browse this source.

[TASMANIANRED]

Thanks for posting this.

[truemiester]

I recall touring St. Petersburg, a large Russian Orthodox. There is an Icon that is beleived to have saved the city during WW2. While surrounded by the Germans, the people would pray and the priest would carry th icon around the city.

Even after 80 years of brutal repression by the communists, it is faith in Jesus Christ that stands th test of time.

[kosta50]

Thank you Salvation.

Mary, I think tis is what you were looking for recently.

[longtermmemmory]

bump

[Just another Joe]

OK, I know that this is a religon thread, but I just can't resist.

Icons are those little pictures on your computer desktop.

;^)