The sacredness of the icon and its importance in our religious-moral life
The sacredness of the icon and its importance in our religious-moral life

Summary/Abstract: For us, as Orthodox Christians, the icon represents one ofthe essential aspects of our faith. Understanding and assuming the veneration of holy icons brought about the triumph of Orthodoxy over the heresies of all times. Approaching iconology implies, first of all, presenting the reasons and grounds for which the icon is painted, thus showing the key of understanding the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ and the subtlety of the commandments that God gave to the Jewish people. In order to argue for the veneration of icons, the Holy Fathers emphasized the metaphysical connection between the icon and the prototype, these being comprised in sensibility and in thinking without being confounded. The legitimacy of the act of veneration is based on the natural and innate inclination of the human being of understanding the real presence of the prototype through the senses as well. Through holy icons we are given the possibility of a living and continuous connection with the heavenly world of God and of the Saints. For the Orthodox Christian, the icon is a meeting or a communion between the one who prays, on the one side, and God or the Saints, on the other side.

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