Icons of saints: what they mean, where to consecrate the icon, where to place the Orthodox icon in the house. Is it necessary to consecrate an icon?

All Orthodox Christians venerate holy icons. On the icons, icon painters depict the faces of holy people, the Mother of God and Jesus Christ. Thanks to icons, it is easier for us to pray. We pray not to the canvas, paints and board, but precisely to the person who is depicted. The tradition of honoring icons was approved at the VII Ecumenical Council. The rite of consecration is performed over each icon that will be used in spiritual life.

This rite provides for a sacred rite in which the priest reads several prayers for consecration and sprinkles the image with holy water. The ritual lasts 10-15 minutes. Only after this can you pray and venerate the icon. Now the grace of God works through her.

If you buy an icon in a temple or monastery, then in most cases they have already been consecrated and you do not need to perform this rite again. Before putting a church item up for sale, the heads of church shops invite a priest to consecrate the new product. Be sure to ask the seller if the images you want to buy are blessed.

Of course, in secular stores there is no such invitation from a priest. Therefore, having bought an image in a store, you should come to the temple and ask the priest to perform the necessary rite. In villages and small towns, churches are opened on Saturday and Sunday mornings, as well as on church holidays. In the city, large temples are open every day until lunch. Focus on this time.

Upon entering the temple, first cross yourself and venerate the icon on the central lectern. Next, ask the elder or the seller of the church shop with your request. In any case, there will be a person on duty in the central part of the temple. The priest is mainly located in the altar.

Icons can be consecrated in homes. Pre-arrange with the priest so that he comes to your house. Very often the rite of consecration of icons is performed with other rites and sacraments. For example, you need to consecrate a building. The priest comes to you and can perform several church rituals: and church items.

How to treat unconsecrated icons

The task of the icon is to serve the spiritual growth of a person. It must be used for church purposes only. But the realities of human life show that icons or paintings of saints can be painted by different people for different purposes. For example, some artists exhibit paintings of saints at their exhibitions. We also see a lot in magazines and newspapers. How to deal with such images? Of course, they are not ecclesiastical because they are not sanctified. The very image of holy personalities on any material requires respect on the part of a believer. We do not use such icons for prayer, but we treat them with neatness.

QUESTION: In the church I was told that only icons consecrated in the church are “valid”. Without this lighting, they are almost simple pieces of paper. But it seems to me that icons are sanctified by those who are depicted on them. The same is with pectoral crosses and medallions with the image of the Virgin Mary. Or am I wrong? I just have quite a few icons at home - simple newspaper clippings, photocopies that I like. Do they need to be consecrated?

ANSWER: My dear friend!
Our good Lord, in His mercy, has given us many visible gifts, which we can use at our own discretion, these are: prayerful (church) consecration of a pleasing deed, consecration of a house (dwelling), consecration of a thing that serves us, an image (icon), consecration of food, consecration water, oil (oil), etc. A special place in this is occupied by consecrated water, which itself serves us for consecration: we can sprinkle or wipe ourselves, the thing or room we need with it. Epiphany water, blessed during the feast of the Epiphany, has special beneficial powers.
These are God's gifts to us, which we can use with gratitude to the Lord; neglecting them is not very useful for us: like everything given to us by God for our help, we will have to give an account for their correct use.
Yes, as St. John of Kronstadt writes about this, the image of the Cross of the Lord, the images of the Lord, the Mother of God and the saints, in themselves, in view of human intention during their production and use, are holy.
However, if we refuse to sanctify them also in the Church, then in this way we seem to neglect the gift of God and the Divine structure of the Church itself, for the Church is not somewhere outside of us, but we ourselves constitute the Church. The church hierarchy, with the help of which sanctification is carried out, is the Divine structure of the Church.
Some saints clearly distinguished images that were consecrated (churchly) from those that were not. St. Padre Pio, for example, had such a gift. He always meekly pointed out to a person that he should consecrate the icon or cross that he had, because... he probably bought it in a worldly store, and it was not consecrated.
I, like you, along with the icons I have, also have some favorite paper copies, photos and even drawings, and use them along with the icons. There is no sin in this, it only serves my piety: this is how I feel in my heart, this is, perhaps, the peculiarity of my perception.

QUESTION: When a priest was our guest, he blessed the entire apartment, sprinkled holy water in the rooms, including sprinkling the icons. This, in essence, is church consecration? Or is there a special rank for this?

ANSWER: Dear friend!
In the Orthodox Church there is a certain rite for consecrating an icon; In the Catholic Church, the priest also, when consecrating the icon, reads certain prayers and sprinkles it with sacred water.
Paper images, which are especially dear to me and in front of which I often pray, have value specifically for me and I do not distinguish them from consecrated icons. For another person this may not be the case. He can calmly put this “magazine clipping” (which has served someone prayerfully for many years) somewhere in a book or even burn it. This will not be a sin, because... for him it is not an icon, but only its illustration. He will not do this with the icon: in the worst case, he will take it to church or give it to some believer. This is the psychology of faith.
However, as I explained earlier, it is not just about psychology. This is the reality of faith. There is God, there is the Church, She has rituals and traditions. These are not just nuances or features, this is the reality of the presence of the Divine grace of the Holy Spirit, who, giving life and vital energy to everyone, is present in the Church of Christ in His special grace-filled gifts.

Blessed be God.

With love in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In the modern Orthodox world, there are many folk craftsmen who know how to create icons using various icon painting techniques: artistically executed on canvas or on wood, from precious metals, icons embroidered with beads and others. Many of these works can be classified as works of modern Orthodox iconography. But many Christians who want to buy an Orthodox icon in an online store are concerned about the question of how to consecrate the icon. Of course, if the icon is an Orthodox one, then it has already undergone the rite of consecration and there is nothing to worry about. What to do with unconsecrated icons made to order or purchased at retail outlets? The consecration of icons is a very serious church rite. In modern church practice, a special rite of consecration of icons is used: special prayers are read and the icon is sprinkled with holy water. If an Orthodox Christian believes in the power of the ritual and attaches special importance to this sacrament, then it is advisable to consecrate the icon himself in the temple he is visiting. This condition is mandatory for the consecration of family or personalized, measured icons. Many icon painting workshops and online stores offer the purchase of Orthodox icons that have already been consecrated. Among the proposed options for consecrated icons, there are many icons embroidered with beads. If there is a question about giving an Orthodox icon as a gift, then this is the best solution and an embroidery kit can be bought in the online store.

How to consecrate an icon embroidered with beads

There are several unwritten rules for those who nevertheless take up embroidering holy icons. It is advisable, at the very beginning, with all the materials for embroidery, to visit a priest and receive his blessing before. While embroidering the icon, it is advisable to fast. Every time before work, you need to read a prayer. While working, you should not quarrel, swear, or entertain bad thoughts. You cannot do embroidery on church holidays and on Sundays. The work of embroidering icons does not tolerate fuss, so there is no need to rush to finish it. After the icon embroidered with beads is ready, you need to contact the priest to consecrate the icon. The priest may decide to consecrate an icon embroidered with beads as church utensils. There is no need to argue about this, but rather accept his decision with humility.

Text of the Orthodox prayer to St. Abramius of Galich, Gorodetsky, Chukhloma miracle worker

Oh, most honorable and sacred head, blessed father Abvo Avramie! Do not completely forget your poor, but remember us in your holy and auspicious prayers to God. Remember your flock, which you yourself shepherded, and do not forget to visit us, your children. Pray for us, Holy Father, for your spiritual children, as if you have boldness towards the heavenly King: do not remain silent for us, crying out to the Lord, and do not despise us, who honor you with faith and love, but remember those unworthy at the throne of the Almighty, and do not stop praying for us to Christ God, for the grace has been given to you to pray for us. We do not imagine that you are dead: even though you have passed away from us in body, yet even after death you are alive, remaining unceasingly from us in spirit, preserving us from the arrows of the enemy and all the charms of the demonic and the snares of the devil, our good shepherd. Even though your relics are visible before our eyes, your holy soul with the angelic hosts, with the disembodied faces and with the heavenly powers of the coming ones, worthily rejoices. For we who truly lead you even after death as you live, we bow down to you and we pray to you, praying for us to the omnipotent God for the benefit of our souls and asking for time to repent and without restraint to pass from earth to heaven, bitter ordeals, demons, air princes and be delivered from eternal torment and be an heir to the kingdom of heaven with all the righteous who have pleased our Lord Jesus Christ from all eternity, to whom all glory, honor and worship are due, together with His beginningless Father and with His most holy and life-giving Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Instructions

If you bought a pattern and a set for embroidering an icon in a store, be sure to ask your parish for a blessing before starting work. You should also contact him if you created it yourself. He will check whether it complies with church canons. It is believed that you can work on an icon only if you master the technique of facial embroidery. Although at present there is no consensus on this issue.

Ask the priest to bless it after it is embroidered. However, be prepared for the fact that not every priest will treat you with understanding. Some of the priests believe that such icons should not be consecrated under any circumstances, since this is just fashionable kitsch. Some people believe that such work can only be done by people who have the blessing of the Patriarch. Some temples require threads and fabric to be blessed.

Start embroidering icon only when you receive a blessing for this, if you still want to consecrate it. While embroidering, observe a relaxed fast. Every time before starting work and after completing it, read a prayer. While embroidering, you should think only about good, clean, bright things. Internal torment, quarrels with loved ones, resentments, bad thoughts - all this should remain aside. Do not watch TV or listen to music under any circumstances. Your mental attitude should be in tune with what you are doing, and not with what is not related to working on the icon.

While working, do not drink alcohol and do not argue with anyone. The best thing to do is start fasting. Fasting is considered the ideal time for embroidering icons. When embroidering, try to think only about the good. A completely different energy emanates from icons made, because while working you put a piece of your soul into them.

Do not embroider on holidays, as on these days it is customary to turn to God and read spiritual literature, and not to work for pleasure. It is better for girls during their menstrual cycle to avoid embroidery if possible. The fact is that on critical days, from a church point of view, it is considered “unclean”, and she should not enter the temple or touch anything holy.

Video on the topic

note

If you don’t know how to cross stitch, then you shouldn’t learn it from icons. First, try to master the technique of cross stitch on light landscapes and other paintings, and only after that move on to icons.

Sources:

• cross stitch icons

An icon embroidered with beads has its own extraordinary beauty. To make the process enjoyable, there are some subtleties of embroidery.

An invariable attribute of any Orthodox person is an icon. It symbolizes faith in the highest, protects from bad things. On the icons the masters depict the faces of saints, the Mother of God, and Jesus. First of all, the prayer is addressed not to the canvas with paints, but to the one who is depicted. The task of the icon is to create a kind of spiritual bridge through which a person can come to the Lord.

Since ancient times, icons have protected the house and owners from evil forces and helped in difficult situations. Spiritual culture, having passed through millennia, has shaped the spiritual world of a believer, and is reflected in the form of these works of art. A rite of consecration must be carried out over any icon. Using special prayers before consecration, the amulet receives the Lord's blessing, and at the end it is sprinkled with water. Generally speaking, the image of the saints becomes a mediator in prayer between the earthly worlds and the Divine.

Consecration of the icon

Consecration is considered a rite of blessing an icon, endowing it with prayer and spiritual strength.

The ordinary Christian often asks whether it is possible to sanctify a face at home. Here opinions differ. Some believe that a woman consecrated in a temple, a place prayed over by time, gains great strength, others are of the opinion that a priest with prayers is able to consecrate her in the house that she will protect. The second option is often followed when the iconography, for certain reasons, cannot be delivered to the church.

It is not necessary to consecrate an icon purchased from a church. But you need to know how to consecrate an icon bought in a store, otherwise it will not gain its power. Only after the ceremony can one venerate the image and pray.

The lighting ritual looks like this:

• the priest reads special prayers over the icon;
• “envelops” her in smoke from incense;
• sprinkles with holy water.

The whole process does not take much time.

Prayer for the consecration of the icon of the house

When illuminating hand-made images of saints, the process becomes more intimate and takes on a spiritual character. By giving his prayer to the image, a person mentally connects with higher powers, so to speak, enters into resonance with them. The prayer for the consecration of the icon of the house sounds like this:

“By the grace of the Most Holy Spirit and the sprinkling of this holy water, this image is sanctified and blessed: in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.”

The phrase must be repeated three times. In this way you can also consecrate a cross on your body.

The consecration of the face of a saint is a very serious sacrament, and it must be approached responsibly. If a Christian believes in the power of ritual and the Lord, then it is better to consecrate the images in the temple by a priest. This is a prerequisite for family icons that are passed down through the family, or, for example, with the image of a person’s guardian angel. This image serves as a talisman for its owner and plays a special role in his life.

Some housewives are famous for their ability to embroider pictures. And, almost every believing family has a hand-embroidered image of saints. Such an icon has special meaning for its owner, since it was created from scratch, and after long work it acquired its beauty and it is also consecrated by the priest, sometimes as church utensils.

Many icon-making workshops or stores offer to buy images that have already been consecrated. But it won’t be superfluous to carry out this procedure again, being present in person.

The task of any image is to enrich the spiritual world of a person, to serve as a guide to the spiritual world. Every believer needs to know what prayer to read when consecrating an icon. It should not be perceived as a simple work of art. Behind the beautiful colors or canvases lies a deep world of philosophy and religion.