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Answer:
Dr. Alexander Roman
alex@unicorne.org
Actually the icon does more than aid our
senses in prayer in the Christian East.
It is a window into eternity and a mystical point of contact with
Heaven. The matter that goes to make up an icon that has been blessed by
the Church is sacred through which Divine Grace is communicated to the
believer in prayer. In the West, the icon would be called a
"sacramental" along with other blessed and holy objects and their pious
use has the same effect.
You have pinpointed a fascinating issue with respect to icons in general
and the special veneration given to Miracle-working icons - and an
entire book can be written on the subject!
All icons, when properly written and blessed according to the rules of
the Church, can be used in prayer as we mentioned above.
God sometimes chooses to shower His Grace by means of special miracles
through particular icons and this has happened and continues to happen
in the life of the Church and of believers.
Certainly, whenever we pray before an icon, we can experience the
miracle of God's Presence and the Gift of His Grace.
Just as any good Christian is a saint, there are certain Christians who
are called by the Holy Spirit and empowered by Him to fulfill certain
roles in the Church, including witnessing to the Name of Christ in
martyrdom (and "martyr" does simply mean "witness").
These Christians are often honoured by the Church as saints. Their
honour is expressed through liturgical praise of the way in which God
has used them for His purposes and crowned them with His Grace, through
veneration of their relics since their bodies, like ours, are Temples of
the Holy Spirit, and through other ways.
In the same way, icons are likewise temples of the Holy Spirit. When God
chooses to respond to our prayer to Christ, His Mother and the Saints
depicted in icons by means of great miracles, then this is taken to mean
that it is God Himself Who is honouring the icons as shrines to His
Glory.
Such miracle-working icons are declared so by the Church authorities, in
the same way that saints are canonized. (In the Roman Catholic Church,
only the Pope may canonize a saint today, but local bishops still have
the privilege of canonizing miraculous icons and images. In fact, popes
have canonized (e.g. by crowning) many miraculous images of the Blessed
Virgin Mary in history, including a number of icons venerated also by
Orthodox Christians.)
Miraculous icons are often enshrined in a larger church as saints'
relics are, an actual feast-day is declared for the icon as well. Very
often, special liturgical services are written to honour the events
surrounding the history of the icon, pilgrimages develop and the like.
Icons are constructed and written (not "painted") with elements that
represent the Cosmos (from the world of animals, plants etc.). They
signify that Christ has indeed redeemed the Cosmos with His Life, Death
and Resurrection AND He has sanctified it by the Holy Spirit. What was
condemned under the Old Testament becomes, under the New, Grace-filled
and capable of communicating the Grace of the Holy Spirit for the
salvation and sanctification (and physical healing) of others.
The veneration of icons and the saints underscore this and relate to the
Incarnation of OLGS Jesus Christ the Son of God Who united His Divine
Person to our Humanity, thereby saving it and transfiguring it, as He
indicated on Mt Tabor.
Salvation is through the "Man Jesus Christ" as St Paul writes which
means that, in Christ, God chose to communicate His salvation and
sanctification through the Sacred Humanity of Christ.
All matter is transformed in Christ and in the case of the special
Temples of the Holy Spirit, the saints and the icons (as well as other
Christian objects that God chooses to manifest His Power through), these
reflect the truth of our faith that God, the Creator of matter, has
become One with it in Christ, thereby raising us up to the very gates of
Heaven!
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