Speaking about what an icon is, it should be noted that this is primarily a book about faith. Her language is the colors and lines through which the morality and dogmas of the liturgical teachings of the Church are revealed. The more honest and righteous an Orthodox Christian lives, the more understandable the language of the icon is to his soul!
What is an icon?
From the ancient Greek language, this word is translated as an image, or image. The icon represents the sacred face of the Lord, Mother of God, saints and angels. They are written by artists on specially prepared wooden boards and in strict accordance with the icon-painting canon.
Let us find out how icon painting differs from painting. Whenever an artist takes up a brush, his goal is to depict all the charms and beauties of the world around us: the human body, plants, animals, sky and the sun … And most importantly, the artist’s look is always subjective. But not in the case of icons! They do not have natural beauties - mountains, architecture, trees, they do not have both sun and rain. Every space is shining gold, against the background of which the faces of saints are represented, reflected from the real world by the brilliance of this gold. After all, what is an icon? This is not just a sanctified picture, it is a sacred object. Do not confuse these concepts! The face depicted on it gets its name through the inscription, which is the icon and goes back to the prototype that is depicted on it, becoming involved in its grace. Moreover, if you treat it in a careless and unworthy way, then first of all you will not offend the painting, but its prototype - the One Whose name it bears! Comparing icon painting with painting, one should pay attention to the fact that the exhibition of icons and the exhibition of paintings are far from the same event, since each of them pursues its own goal.
What is the icon from Luke?
Church tradition says that the very first icon of the Savior Jesus Christ
appeared during His life on earth among people. This is the very image known to us under the name “Miraculous Savior”. Church tradition relates the very first icons of the image of the Mother of God to the holy evangelist Luke. Today, there are about ten of them in the Russian Orthodox Church. It must be assumed that they did not belong to Luke because they were painted by him (not one of the icons painted by Luke has survived to this day), but as copies from his originals.
The meaning of icons in our lives
These are our prayers, expressed in holy images. They are also understood only through prayers, because they are designed for a sincerely believing person who appears before them in his prayers.
The faces of the saints depicted on the icons fully and completely correspond to the ideas of believers about how the Lord looks. This explains what the icon is from the point of view of its meaning, because on each of them the face of a certain saint or saints is depicted. Each of the saints denotes something different for one person or another: they help someone to cleanse their souls from sins, someone - in love and success. But the most important thing is faith. Nowhere without her! An icon for a believer is a connecting “thread” with the Lord God Himself …
Today, a lot of people consider themselves atheists. It seems that not believing in God is some kind of new fashion, but oh well, that's not the point. Whoever each of us worships (his own god in religious meetings of dubious content or the Lord alone, visiting temples and churches), we must remember that the icon is a real heritage of human culture!
