Why Are Icons So Important In Orthodox Worship and Prayer?

Icons have a significant role in Orthodox Christianity, often raising questions from non-Orthodox observers. Icons are seen as sacred images, not merely as decorations. They serve as profound conduits to the spiritual realm, aiding believers to encounter and participate in the transcendent beauty of God.

Windows into Divine Beauty: Icons help believers experience and grasp the divine beauty of God, acting as windows into the spiritual realm, expressing the transcendence of God. They are also channels of grace, conveying spiritual truths and facilitating encounters with God’s presence. 

Beauty of the Incarnation: Icons express the beauty and mystery of the Incarnation—the belief that Jesus Christ is both fully God and fully human. In icons His divine beauty is reflected in human form. Icons of Christ invite believers to reflect on the profound mystery of God becoming man and encounter the radiant beauty of the Son of God.

Communion of Saints: Icons also depict the beauty of the saints who have dedicated their lives to God and attained union with Him—Theosis.  These icons remind us of their virtuous lives and indescribable faith. Icons help believers connect with the saints to seek their intercession, guidance and spiritual assistance through prayer.  Saints are alive and with us in the heavenly realm and close to God. Venerating icons of saints affirms the unity of the Church, transcending temporal boundaries aiding a personal connection between the living and the departed.  

Aid in Worship: Icons play an important role in Orthodox worship and prayer. Their spiritual artistic style, symbolism, colors, and composition draw the viewer into a contemplative state, guiding their thoughts towards the divine to participate in spiritual contemplation and prayer. This is why you see Orthodox churches covered with Icons, including a large screen that separates the Nave of the temple from the Sanctuary. While you are worshiping in the temple and your mind wanders, it is immediately brought back to the divine as you encounter various icons. Orthodox faithful will also have a personal icon corner or altar table serving as a place of daily prayer in their homes. Being an integral part of Orthodox worship, icons facilitate a sense of continuity between heaven and earth, between the living and the departed, affirming the unity of the Church with the heavenly, transcending the boundaries of time and space.

Communion with Saints: Many icons found in Orthodox churches depicting the beauty of saints. They are there as a means to help us know and experience a saint. The departed saints, are considered to be alive in Christ, and continue to participate in the life of the Church. This is founded on the belief in the resurrection and the victory of Christ over death. Orthodox Christians often seek the intercession of saints, asking them to pray to God on their behalf. The saints are believed to have a special closeness to God and are seen as powerful intercessors. Icons of saints thus serve as focal points for prayer and as reminders to ask for the saints' prayers, seeking their support, guidance, and spiritual assistance.

Transfiguration of Matter: Creating icons is considered a sacred act involving prayer, fasting, following traditional guidelines and materials. Icons are also seen as vessels of divine grace. All this helps to contribute  a spiritual quality to them. They provide a bridge between the visible and the invisible, bringing the presence of the divine into physical matter. Icons are a conduit to God’s divine presence.

Teaching the faith: Icons are also seen as a visual catechism, teaching and conveying theological truths to the faithful. Through the artistic style, symbolism, and composition of an icon, important aspects of the faith can be communicated, allowing for contemplation, meditation, and instruction. They played a vital role in instructing believers, particularly during early church up until the time of the invention of the printing press and when literacy rates were lower and Bibles were not available for personal study. Icons could effectively communicate theological concepts, such as the Trinity or the life of Christ, and help believers grasp and internalize these teachings. They served as visual aids that reinforced and supplemented the oral teachings of the Church.

Misconceptions: When discussing icons with non-Orthodox, it is important to clarify common misconception. Orthodox do not worship icons as physical objects but show honor and reverence for the sacred realities they represent. Orthodox will venerate an icon involving acts such as kissing, bowing, or even prostrating before them as expressions of love and respect toward the Holy images depicted. It is a process similar to the way many honor pictures of loved ones who are separated from them when they pick up a photo and hug or kiss it. This act is not a veneration of the physical photo, but a loving way to honor, venerate, the person represented in the photo. This is the same for venerating Icons. It is not the physical material holding the image that is being venerated, but the person represented in the image on it that we are venerating. The icon provides a bridge between this world and the heavenly realm where the saints are currently active. 

Also there are some who view icons as “graven images,” citing the Commandment in Exodus 20:4-6. These objections came out of the Protestant reformation in the 16th century. Reformers like Martin Luther and John Calvin raised concerns about what they saw in the Roman Catholic Church of their time. The reformers sought to emphasize that worship was due God Alone (sola Leo gloria) and the Christ is the sole mediator between God and humanity (sola Christus). They also sought to emphasize the importance of Scripture over tradition in all matters of faith and worship. They thought images and statues were distractions from what should be the primary focus of worship. 

The reality is that Orthodox Christians do not worship icons as physical objects, but see them as windows to a divine realm, as an aid in connecting with the heavenly realm, directing attention to God and His kingdom alone.

Historical Context and Iconoclasm: The history of the use of icons in the Church includes a period during the 8th and 9th centuries when there were attempts to eliminate icons from the Church. This was not just an argument, there were many priest and monks who were killed protecting them from destruction. Those who wanted to get rid of them were called iconoclasts, thinking the veneration had become excessive and distracted from worship of God alone. They were also influenced by the onslaught of muslim invasions who denied any use of images in their form of worship.

The Seventh Ecumenical Council was called to resolve this conflict. The believers in icons, called Iconophiles, successfully argued for their use based on Tradition and the belief in the Incarnation. They pointed out that denying to display the image of Christ, denied the reality of the Incarnation. Saint John of Damascus  (676-749) was one who offered a clear defense of their use. (His arguments can be found in Book IV of “Exposition of the Orthodox Faith”)

Icons hold a central and revered position in Orthodox worship and prayer, serving as windows to the divine realm and facilitating encounters with the transcendent beauty of God. They embody the mystery of the Incarnation, connect believers with the saints, and provide aids for contemplation and prayer. Icons transfigure ordinary matter into vessels of divine grace, bridging the gap between the visible and the invisible. While addressing misconceptions, it is important to emphasize the distinction between veneration and worship. Icons have a rich historical context, including the challenges faced during iconoclasm. They are part of the Holy Tradition of the Church. For Orthodox Christians, icons play a central role, inviting believers into the transformative encounter with the divine beauty that transcends time and space.

Fr. Maximos Constas puts it beautifully: “In light of creation and Incarnation, icons reveal and convey the vision of the Divine Glory in which our world is immersed, and of which our world is a reflection, as if all things were enfolded within some great Living Being, whose tracks we see everywhere — of which we ourselves are the tracks and traces, because we too are images of the unimaginable. We too are images and icons of that for which no image or icon can be made.”