A Spiritual and Mystical Experience of the Orthodox Christian Religion

The Orthodox Christians grace their Churches with Holy Icons.  Iconography   (i.e. the painting of the Holy pictures) does not have as its aim to reproduce a saint or an incident from the Holy Gospel or the lives of the saints, but rather to express them symbolically, to impart to them a spiritual character.  In Byzantine Iconography the saint is not represented as he is in actual life, that is naturalistically, but as he is now in the heavenly kingdom, as he is in the eternity.  This is called Liturgical art.  Western painters pain with their eyes; the Byzantine painters pain with their heart and soul.

It must be noted that the Icons are venerated, not worshipped.  Only God is worshipped.  The Icons produce within us a sense of repentance of our sins which sanctifies our soul.  The Icons are Spiritual Mirrors through which we see the Heavenly Saints.  They are the symbol of our faith in Jesus Christ in accordance with our Orthodox tradition.

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