St. Gregory Palamas ca. 1296-1359
‘You shall not make an image of anything in the heavens above, or in the earth below, or in the sea’ (cf. Exod. 20:4),
in such a way that you worship these things and glorify them as gods.
For all are the creations of the one God, created by Him in the Holy
Spirit through His Son and Logos, who as Logos of God in these latter
times took flesh from a virgin’s womb, appeared on earth and associated
with men (cf. Baruch 3:37),
and who for the salvation of men suffered, died and arose again,
ascended with His body into the heavens and ‘sat down on the right hand
of the Majesty on High’ (Heb. 1:3),
and who will come again with His body to judge the living and the dead.
Out of love for Him you should make, therefore, an icon of Him who
became man for our sakes, and through His icon you should bring Him to
mind and worship Him, elevating your intellect through it to the
venerable body of the Savior, that is set on the right hand of the
Father in heaven. In like manner you should also make icons of the
saints and venerate them, not as gods – for this is forbidden – but
because of the attachment, inner affection and sense of surpassing honor
that you feel for the saints when by means of their icons the intellect
is raised up to them.
It was in this spirit that Moses made icons of
the Cherubim within the Holy of Holies (cf. Exod. 25:18). The Holy of Holies itself was an image of things supracelestial (cf. Exod. 25:40; Heb. 8:5),
while the Holy Place was an image of the entire world. Moses called
these things holy, not glorifying what is created, but thrown it
glorifying God the Creator of the world. You must not, then, deify the
icons of Christ and of the saints, but through them you should venerate
Him who originally created us in His own image, and who subsequently
consented in His ineffable compassion to assume the human image and to
be circumscribed by it. You should venerate not only the icon of Christ,
but also the similitude of His cross. For the cross is Christ’s great
sign and trophy of victory over the devil and all his hostile hosts; for
this reason they tremble and flee when they see the figuration of the
cross. This figure, even prior to the crucifixion, was greatly glorified
by the prophets and wrought great wonders; and when He who was hung
upon it, our Lord Jesus Christ, comes again to judge the living and the
dead, this His great and terrible sign will precede Him, full of power
and glory (cf. Matt. 24:30).
So glorify the cross now, so that you may boldly look upon it then and
be glorified with it. And you should venerate icons of the saints, for
the saints have been crucified with the Lord; and you should make the
sign of the cross upon your person before doing so, bringing to mind
their communion in the sufferings of Christ. In the same way you should
venerate their holy shrines and any relic of their bones; for God’s
grace is not sundered from these things, even as the divinity was not
sundered from Christ’s venerable body at the time of His life-quickening
death. By doing this and by glorifying those who glorified God – for
through their actions they showed themselves to be perfect in their love
for God – you too will be glorified together with them by God, and with
David you will chant: ‘I have held Thy friends in high honor, O Lord’ (Ps. 159:17. LXX).
(A New Testament Decalogue, 2nd Commandment)
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