Question
appeared on November 19, 2000
Icons: Are the pictures on the front of the bulletin
considered "icons" or is that term reserved for the images on the
iconostasis? Furthermore, it would be of benefit if there were a brief note at
the beginning of the bulletin regarding information on the picture/icon such as
"tide," "artist," "date," etc., or any information
on why the image was painted.
Most
of the time the images that appear on the front of our Sunday bulletins are
copies of true "icons." The word "icon" literally means
"image." And, a true icon is "written" in a prescribed
manner directed by Holy Tradition depicting a specific saint or event which is
celebrated in the life of the Church. True icons are "blessed" by the
Church through prayer and the use of Holy Water, so that prayers may be offered
before them.
Our
bulletin covers are prepared and ordered from Vestal Publishing in Cliffwood,
NJ, as "The Orthodox Weekly Bulletin." Although it would be
interesting to have all of the information that you suggest regarding the icon,
we have no control over what is published. Usually, there is adequate
information on the bulletin cover in the writeup that appears on the back side.
The
bulletin covers are prepared with the Orthodox calendar in mind. They usually
show an icon of saint(s) or events that are commemorated on or within a few days
of that particular Sunday. Today's bulletin shows the icon of St. John the
Almsgiver as inspiration for charitable giving in conjunction with IOCC Sunday.
Appeared on October 29, 2000
How
do we know what Jesus and others mentioned in the Bible look like?
Regarding
Jesus and His Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, we have two stories from the Holy
Tradition of the Orthodox Church to guide us. It is said that the first image of
Jesus was made while He was still with us on earth. The story is summarized as
follows (from the Menaion):
The
king of Edessa, Abgar, was a leper. He heard of the miracles of Jesus Christ and
sent to Him his archivist, Hannan, with a letter in which he asked Christ to
come to Edessa to heal him. Hannan was a painter, so Abgar charged him to make a
portrait of the Savior in case Christ
refused to come. Hannan found Christ surrounded by a big crowd and could not
approach Him. Therefore he climbed up on a rock from which he could see Him
better. He tried to make a portrait of the Savior, but could not "because
of the indescribable glory of His face which was changing through grace."
Seeing that Hannan wanted to make a portrait of Him, Christ asked for some
water, washed Himself, wiped His face with a piece of linen, and His features
remained fixed on this linen. This image is known as the "Mandylion,"
or "the Image not made with hands."
Jesus
sent Hannan
back to King Abgar, who was healed when he received the image of Christ.
St. Thaddeus later visited Edessa after the resurrection and ascension of Christ
and converted King Abgar to Christianity. The Holy Image was venerated for
centuries in the city of Edessa before it was transferred to Constantinople.
The
story from Holy Tradition attributes the first icons of the Virgin Mary to the
Evangelist St. Luke. According to this tradition, St. Luke made, after
Pentecost, three icons of the Virgin: two with the Child and the third without.
These
early images of Christ and the Virgin Mary became the standards by which all
icons of them are painted. Other images and/or descriptions of early Church
personalities were used to produce standard images of their appearances. It is
these standards to which all iconographers refer when they desire to write an
icon.
Question
first appeared on January 30, 2000
You
recently addressed the one icon on the iconostasis by the altar, but I'm not
sure who a few of them
are. Could you explain?
From
left to right, as one would observe in the congregation: 1) St. Demetrios, a
martyr of the late 2nd/early 3' century; 2) the three Great Hierarchs: Basil the
Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom, of the late 3rd century,
whose feast day we celebrate today; 3) St. Spyridon, bishop of the early 3'
century who attended the First Great Ecumenical Council; 4) St. George the
Trophy-bearer and Great Martyr; 5) the Theotokos, the Blessed Virgin Mary;
6) our Lord Jesus Christ, ascended, glorified and at the Right Hand of the
Father; 7) John the Baptist, the Forerunner; 8) the three Archangels, Michael,
Gabriel and Raphael; 9) St. Nicholas, archbishop of Myra in Lycia, the
Wonder-worker; 10) the Prophet Elijah being translated to Heaven in a
fiery chariot, passing his mantel to Elisha, his disciple.
Along
the top tier are several of the disciples/apostles, St. Paul, and all four
Gospel writers.
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