Icons 'Icon' is derived from the Greek word 'eikon' meaning 'image'. 'Image' as it is used here is more than a picture. 'Icon' in the context of the Orthodox Church is a painting of Christ, of the Theotokos (the God Bearer or Mother of God), of the Great Feasts of the Orthodox Church, of Angels and Saints, and of scenes in the life of Jesus and Mary. 'Byzantine icons' refers to Ancient, Medieval and Contemporary icons hand-painted in the Traditional Eastern Orthodox style of the 10th-15th centuries. This 'style' was actually laid down in specific rules that were established in that period following the Orthodox victory over the iconoclasts in the year 843.

One is naturally inclined to ask : "What is the importance of sticking to these rules?" and "Aren't artists people that are not particularly fond of rules?" and "What is involved in the Traditional Style?" Part of the answer to those questions is that an icon painter ought to be an iconographer. "What then is an Iconographer?" The short answer to that question is that an iconographer is both a painter and a theologian. Just as the Evangelist wrote the Gospel with divine inspiration and assistance, with his hands merely being instruments to put down the words on paper, so is it that the Iconographer in his spiritual endeavor to write icons asks for divine intervention, and allows that divine intervention to move his hands to get the paint onto the wood in a manner that is in accordance with God's will.

Writing an icon, presupposes, on the part of the Iconographer, not only a prayerful attitude, but also a lifestyle of prayer, meditation and fasting. Says internationally acclaimed Master Iconographer Xenia Pokrovsky "A real iconographer is a theologian, a person having a deep spiritual life, knowledgeable about Scriptures, Christian dogmatics, liturgy, hagiography, etc.". (Izograph Studio, Frequently Asked Questions, 2nd last paragraph.) "The great meaning given to the technique of the icon, the enormous spiritual significance of the iconography, burdens the iconographer with responsibilities and sets him on the same level of the theologians and the custodians of the Ecclesiastical Tradition." (Diacon Serafim Semkin - The technique of the iconography and its religious meaning)

Christian (Orthodox) iconography expresses in images the same Gospel message that Scripture communicates by words. Image and word illuminate each other. (Source: Catechism of the Catholic Church) While St. Benedict, who initiated Western spirituality, teaches us to listen, the byzantine Fathers invite us to look. In his book "Behold the Beauty of the Lord, praying with Icons", Father Henri Nouwen says : " Just as we are responsible for what we eat, likewise we are responsible for what we are looking at. It is not difficult to become victim of the numerous visual stimulations that surround us. Yet we can make a choice. When it is not possible to pray, we can always briefly look at an icon which is so intimately linked with the experience of love. "

Zhertvoprinoshenie Avraama

Sv. vmch. Varvara

Sobor Prepodobnyh Pecherskih

Uspenie Presvyatoj Bogorodicy

St. Basil’s Cathedral, Moscow

Church of the Resurrection, St. Petersburg

Three cathedrals, Moscow

St. Seraphim Orthodox Cathedral, Dallas, Texas

St. Innocent Church, Bedford, Michigan