Oh? The Icon of the Visitation almost never shows Christ. For example:
There are others, for example, virtually all Annunciation icons:
I trust your spiritual father didn't teach you that, s. God Bless you in catechumenate.
>>>>Look to your holy icons and see the reverence with which the Orthodox hold Mary so dear. We differ concerning the Immaculate Conception, but otherwise, no.
Icons of Mary always include Jesus (unlike Roman statuary where Mary is sometimes by herself), but you’re right, Orthodox do “hold Mary so dear.”
A personal reflection, rather than Church teaching:
Mary has appeared to individuals world-wide, down through the ages, sometimes alone, and sometimes with Jesus, and no one who believes in the existence of these apparitions has ever believed that Mary is Divine. But apparitions are another subject.
Religious art sprung up, not as mere images or statues, but rather to point to some truth. To the present day, nothing has been/is created to give a message that Mary has a Divine nature, nor are they ever interpreted as such.
Some things are just common sense. I have pictures of my mother without my father, and in no way are they an insult to my father, nor do they diminsh who he was.
Oh? The Icon of the Visitation almost never shows Christ. For example:
There are others, for example, virtually all Annunciation icons:
I trust your spiritual father didn't teach you that, s. God Bless you in catechumenate.