Icons are an integral part of
Orthodoxy. However, it is not only restricted within the boundaries of the
Orthodox Tradition. It is a Christian reality and tradition since the first
centuries of the Church, as we can see in the catacombs and in various ancient
church buildings. Nevertheless, how do we act towards an icon? How do we
venerate an icon? Being Orthodox, we learn about this from a very young age.
For other Christians, however, this is not a given. St John of Damascus, when
defending the divine images, he explains the various types of veneration that
we show and practice towards icons, stating:
‘The first kind of veneration is
that of worship, which we offer to God, who is alone venerable by nature, and
this itself has several forms. The first is that of service; for all creatures
venerate him, as servants do their master, for “all things,” it says, “are you
servants,” some voluntarily, some involuntarily. Those who worship him
voluntarily with knowledge are the pious, those who acknowledge him and
involuntarily worship against their will are the demons; others who do not know
the one who is God by nature worship involuntarily him of whom they are
ignorant.
The second kind [of worship] is
that of wonder and desire, in accordance with which we venerate God because of
his natural glory. For he is alone to be glorified who does not receive glory
from any other, but is himself the source of all glory and the incomprehensible
light of all goodness, incomparable sweetness, irresistible beauty, abyss of
goodness, wisdom past finding out, infinite power, alone worthy to be wondered
at, venerated, glorified and desired.
The third kind [of worship] is
that of thanksgiving for the good things that have befallen us; for all beings
need to thank God and to offer him everlasting veneration, because all things
have their being from him, and subsist in him, and without envy he distributes
his own gifts to all without being asked, and he will all to be saved and
participate in his own goodness, and he is long-suffering with us when we sin,
and causes the sun to rise on the just and the unjust, and makes it rain on the
wicked and the good, and because the Son of God for our sake became as we are
and made us sharers of the divine nature, that “we might be like him,” as John
the Theologian says in the catholic epistle.
The fourth kind [of worship]
springs from our neediness and hope in his kindnesses, so that accordingly we
recognise that, as we cannot do or have anything good without him, each of us
venerates him, begging him for that of which we feel the need and which we
desire, to be saved from evils and obtain good things.
The fifth kind [of worship] is
that of repentance and confession; for when we have sinned we venerate God and
fall down before him, begging him to forgive our failings as prudent servants.
And this kind [of worship] is threefold: for someone may grieve out of love, or
because he may not obtain God’s kindnesses, or in fear of punishment. The first
arises from prudence and his desire for God and a filial disposition, the
second is that of a hireling, the third that of a slave.’[1]
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