St. John of Kronstadt
Reverence in every way images of
living men, in order that you may duly reverence the image of God. For
the image of the Lord Jesus Christ is the human image. He who does not
respect the human image will not respect the image of God!
Excerpts from the diary of St. John of Kronstadt on
Holy Icons, Images and Symbols.
The
holy Angels and God's saints are our best, kindest, and truest brothers
and friends, so often helping us in various circumstances in which no
human beings can help us. As these brothers, who eternally live and load
us with benefits, are invisible, whilst we, on account of our
corporality, wish to have them before our eyes and as though always
present with us, therefore we have images of them; and, looking upon
these images, we represent to ourselves that they are with us, and we
call upon them in our prayers, knowing that they have great boldness
before God and help us in various circumstances. Thus the veneration of
icons is most beneficial for us, corresponding with our nature and with
common-sense, as well as with the Holy Scriptures themselves, for there
were images of the Cherubim in Moses' tabernacle of the Old Testament.
Icons serve as a constant reminder to us that the Lord is always with us
("I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world"[994]); that the
Most Holy Mother of God is always near us as the "First-Origin of the
spiritual renovation"[995] of the Church, as the Mother by grace of all
true Christians. And therefore all true Christians have in their houses
the image of the Mother of God, their Queen and Mother by grace, and
abundantly, worthily, and rightly adorn it with silver, gold, and
precious stones; for, after God, there is no one dearer and more
reverenced by them than His Most Pure Mother. Both the Lord Himself and
His Most Pure Mother continually prove to us by means of miracles, both
inwardly and outwardly, that our true veneration of His saints, and of
His Mother, and of His holy icons, is pleasing to Him and profitable to
us in the highest degree.
If anyone would ask you why you pray to
soulless icons, what profit you derive from them, say that we derive
incomparably greater profit from our icons than we do from the kindest
and most benevolent living persons; say that blessed power and help to
our souls always comes to us from icons, saving us from sins, sorrows,
and sicknesses; especially from the icons of the Saviour and of the
Mother of God; that one single look with faith upon them, as upon the
living and those who are near to us, saves us from cruel sorrows,
passions, and spiritual darkness; that if touching the Saviour's
garment, and the garments and li and kerchiefs of the Apostles could
restore health to the sick, much more are the images of the Saviour and
of the Mother of God powerful to heal believers of every affliction, in
accordance with their faith in the Lord and in His Mother.
Imagery
or symbols are a necessity of human nature in our present spiritually
sensual condition; they explain by the vision many things belonging to
the spiritual world which we could not know without images and symbols.
It was for this reason that the Divine Teacher, the Personal Wisdom Who
created all things, the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, often taught
men by means of images or parables; it is for this reason also that in
our Orthodox temples it is the custom to represent many things to the
gaze of the Christian by imagery: for instance, to represent the Lord
Himself, the Most Pure Mother of God, the Angels and saints, on icons,
in order that we may conform our lives, all our thoughts, words, and
deeds, to the image of the thoughts, words, and deeds of the Lord and
His saints; hence also the frequent making of the sign of the cross, the
use of incense, the burning of candles and lamps, the processions in
and out of the altar; hence the genuflections, the bowing of the head
and the falling down upon the race (for we have fallen deeply through
sin). All these remind us of various spiritual things and conditions.
Imagery greatly influences the human soul, its creative or active
capacity. Thus it is said that if during the time preceding the birth of
her child a mother often looks upon the face or portrait of her beloved
husband, then the child is born very like his father, or if she often
looks upon the portrait of a beautiful child she gives birth to a
beautiful infant; thus, if a Christian often gazes with love and
reverence upon the image of our Lord Jesus Christ, or of His Most Pure
Mother and His saints, his soul will receive the spiritual features of
the face lovingly looked upon (meekness, humility, mercy, and
abstinence). O, if we oftener contemplated the images, and especially
the life of the Lord and of His saints, how we should change, and rise
from strength to strength! Thus, the fragrance of incense in church or
in our houses reminds us by analogy of the fragrance of virtue, and by
contrast of the evil odour of sins, and teaches those who are attentive
to inward feelings to avoid the stench of the passions, of intemperance,
fornication, malice, envy, pride, despair and other passions, and to
adorn themselves with every Christian virtue; the incense reminds us of
the Apostle's words: "For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ in
them that are saved, and in them that perish: to the one we are the
savour of death unto death, and to the other the savour of life unto
life."[986] In a like manner the candles or lamps burning in church
remind us of the spiritual light and fire; for instance, of the Lord's
words: "I am come a Light into the world, that whosoever believeth on Me
should not abide in darkness;"[987] or "I am come to send tire on the
earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?"[988] or "Let your
loins be girded about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like
unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding;
that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him
immediately;"[989] or "Let your light so shine before men that they may
see your good works, and glorify your Father Which is in heaven."[990]
And the objects themselves by their very nature teach us concerning the
spiritual objects and things corresponding to light and fire; for
instance, that our hearts should always be burning with love for God and
our neighbour, that we should not let the passions or the fire of
Gehenna be kindled within us, and that by the example of a virtuous life
we should light others, as a candle lights us in our worldly doings.
You
gaze upon the icon of the Saviour and see that He looks at you from it
with brightest eyes; this look is the image of how He actually looks
upon you with His eyes, that are brighter than the sun, and sees all
your thoughts, hears all your heartfelt distress and sighs. The image is
an image, and represents in lines and signs that which cannot be
delineated, cannot be given in signs, and can be comprehended by faith
alone. Believe, then, that the Saviour always protects you and sees each
one of you — with all your thoughts, sorrows and sighing, in all your
circumstances, as upon the palm of the hand. "Behold, I have graven thee
upon the palms of My hands; thy walls are continually before Me,"[23]
says the Lord God. How much consolation and life are contained in these
gracious words of the Almighty and Provident God! Therefore pray before
the icon of the Saviour as before Himself. The Lover of men is present
in it by His grace, and with the eyes depicted in it really looks at
you: "The eyes of the Lord are in every place,"[24] while with His ears
as represented on the icon, He hears you. But remember that His eyes are
the eyes of God, and His ears are the ears of the omnipresent God.
"The
Lord keeps" not only "all the bones,"[196] but also the images of the
saints, not allowing them to perish through corruption, through
carelessness and neglect, but miraculously recovering them, as we know
from descriptions of the appearances of thaumaturgical icons, especially
of that of the most pure Mother of God — our Lady. So dear to God is
the image of man, especially that of a holy man, as a vessel of grace.
Through such images He works miracles and bestows invisible powers of
healing and consolation.
When you see that anyone, through the
efforts of the Devil, is wholly possessed with one single vain, earthly
subject (idee fixe), deeply grieves about it, constantly speaks of it,
and thereby vexes you, do not become irritated about it, but be firmly
assured that it is a spiritual malady coming from the enemy; be gentle
and kind to the sick man, and immediately turn with calm, serene faith
to God in. prayer, and say the following to the holy Icon not made with
human hands: "To Thy most pure Icon we bow down, O Good One, praying for
forgiveness of our sins, Christ our God; for of Thine own will Thou
didst condescend to ascend the Cross in flesh, and thereby to deliver
Thy creatures from the yoke of the enemy. Therefore, we thankfully cry
unto Thee: Thou, Our Saviour, hast filled all things with joy, Thou Who
earnest to save the world."[314]
O, how carefully do the Devil
and the world sow their tares in Christ's cornfield, which is the Church
of God. Instead of the Word of God, the word of the world, the word of
vanity, is sown. Instead of the temple of God, the world has invented
its own temples — the temples of the world's vanities — theatres,
circuses, assemblies. Instead of holy icons, which worldly people do not
accept, in the world there are painted and photographic portraits,
illustrations, and various other pictures. Instead of God and the
Saints, the world honours unto adoration its own celebrities — writers,
actors, singers, painters, who command general confidence and respect up
to reverence. Poor Christians! they have completely fallen away from
Christ! Instead of spiritual raiment, every attention is paid in the
world to perishable clothing, to fashionable dresses, and various
exquisite ornaments, both splendid and costly.
What vanities,
what foolish fancies often occupy most of us, even in sight of the
highest, the most important objects of faith, in sight of the greatest
holiness. For instance, when a man stands before the icons of the Lord,
of the Mother of God, of an Angel, of an Archangel, of one or a whole
assembly of Saints, at home or in the temple, and, sometimes, instead of
prayer, instead of laying aside, at this time, in this place, all
worldly cares, he casts up his accounts and reckonings, goes over his
expenses and receipts, rejoices at the gain, and grieves at the loss of
profits, or the failure of some undertaking (without, of course, a
single thought of spiritual profit or loss), or else he thinks evil of
his neighbour, exaggerating his weakness, his passions, suspecting him,
envying him, judging him, or if it is in church, he looks at the faces
of those, standing near him, also how they are dressed, who is nice
looking, and who not, or making plans what he shall do, in what pleasure
or vanity he will spend the day, and so on. And this often happens at
the time when the greatest, the most heavenly Sacrament of the
Eucharist, that is, of the most-pure Body and Blood of our Lord, is
being celebrated; when we ought to be wholly in God, wholly occupied in
meditations on the mystery accomplished for our sakes, of the redemption
from sin, from the eternal curse and death; and on the mystery of our
being made godly in the Lord Jesus Christ. How low we have fallen, how
earthly-minded we have become, and from what does it all proceed? From
inattention, and the neglect of our salvation, from attachment to
temporal things, from weakness of faith, or unbelief in eternity.
When
you look upon the icon of the Mother of God, with Her Eternal Infant,
marvel how most truly the Godhead was united with human nature, glorify
the goodness and omnipotence of God, and, recognising your own dignity
as man, live worthily of the high calling to which you are called in
Christ — that is, the calling of a child of God and an heir to eternal
bliss.
When I gaze in meditation and with faith upon the holy
icons in church, and upon all its appurtenances, then I am lost in
wonderful contemplation; the whole temple appears to me to be sacred
history in action, a wonderful scripture of the works of God,
accomplished in the human race. Here I see the history in action of our
fall and of our restoration by God's wonderful ordering, and our
elevation by the Lord's incarnation, our being made godly, and our
exaltation into heaven; here I picture to myself the archangel Gabriel
announcing the Birth of the Son of God of the Virgin; here I see the
Birth itself of the Child God, the Virgin Mother, the manger at
Bethlehem; here is the Circumcision; there is the Baptism; further is
the meeting of the Child God in the temple by Simeon; there is the
Transfiguration of our Lord, and the effusion of light on Mount Thabor;
there the Entrance into Jerusalem of the righteous Saviour, meek King;
the Lord's Supper, and the institution of the all-saving Sacrament of
the Holy Communion; there are the all-saving sufferings of the Lord of
glory; I see as though it were Golgotha itself, and the Lord crucified
for the sins of the world; I see the descent into hell of the Conqueror
of hell, and the deliverance of the captives of hell, His Resurrection,
Ascension into heaven, all for the sake of mankind, and for my sake. In
the church I am lost in Divine contemplation, and thank the Lord for
having so greatly loved me, for having so greatly honoured and blessed
me. But when I look within myself — in my own heart, my God, what do I
see! I see an abyss of voluntary and involuntary sins, an abyss of
infirmities, temptations, afflictions, oppressions, fears, snares of the
enemy, impenetrable darkness, thousands of falls, thousands of
destructions and deaths. Sometimes I see within myself the very hell
itself.
We have icons in our houses, and venerate them, in order
to show, amongst other things, that the eyes of God and of all the
heavenly dwellers are constantly fixed upon us, and see not only all our
acts, but also our words, thoughts and desires.
I gaze upon the
icons in the temple — upon Thy holy icon, my Lord, upon that of Thy Most
Pure Mother, those of the holy Angels and Archangels, and upon the
faces of the saints, adorned, resplendent with gold and silver — and
think to myself how Thou hast honoured and adorned our nature, Creator
and Provider of all! Thy saints shine with Thy light, they are
sanctified by Thy grace, having conquered sin and washed away the sinful
impurities of body and spirit ; they are glorious with Thy glory, they
are incorruptible through Thine incorruptibility. Glory to Thee for
having so honoured, enlightened, and raised our nature! Here are Thine
Apostles and Hierarchs, living images of Thee, the Highest, Who passed
through the heavens, Envoy of the Father, Hierarch and Chief of
Shepherds; Thy goodness, Thy wisdom, Thy might, spiritual beauty, power,
and holiness shine in them. Here are Thy martyrs, who by Thy strength
overcame terrible temptations and endured fearful tortures; they have
washed the garments of their souls white in Thy blood. Here are Thy
venerable ones, who by fasting, vigilance, and prayer obtained Thy
wonderful gifts, the gifts of healing, of discernment; Thy might
strengthened them to stand above sin and all the snares of the Devil;
Thy likeness shines forth in them like the sun.
In the temple, in
its arrangements and parts, in the icons, in the Divine service, with
the reading of the Holy Scriptures, the singing, the rites, the entire
Old Testament, New Testament, and Church history, the whole Divine
ordering of the salvation of mankind is emblematically traced, as upon a
chart, in figures and in general outlines. Grand is the spectacle of
the Divine service of our Orthodox Church for those who understand it,
who penetrate into its essence, its spirit, its signification, its
sense!
It is natural for us to have images of Christ, of His Most
Pure Mother, of the Angels and saints. Firstly, because it is a
requirement of our nature: we always wish to have before us an image of
the Beloved, an image of our Benefactor, in order that in gazing upon it
we may oftener remember Him and His benefactions (worship Him), the
same as we do with living persons, especially with those whom we love
and respect. Secondly, we are created after the image and likeness of
God, therefore it is natural for us to wish to have always before our
eyes our own Prototype, our First Origin, the Lord God, in those images,
in which He was pleased to manifest Himself to men, in order that we
should oftener remember Him, His constant presence with us, His
providence; in order to express our reverence, gratitude, and love to
Him in visible signs or ceremonies; for we are corporal, and on account
of our corporality we need material representations, material
ceremonies. It was certainly because of this that the Lord Himself
appeared to His saints — for instance, to Abraham, in the form of three
strangers, under the tree upon the plains of Mamre; to Isaiah in the
form of a great King, sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; to the
prophet Daniel in the form of the Ancient of Days and in the form of the
Son of Man, brought near before Him. Had not the visible image of the
invisible God been necessary, He certainly would not have appeared in a
visible manner; would not have appeared upon earth in our flesh; would
not have taken the form of a servant. And David says: "Seek His face
evermore."[991] For this reason also we make, keep in our houses, and
venerate, pictures of the Most Pure Mother of God, of the Angels and
saints, because they are living images and likenesses of God, and,
looking upon them, we remember more vividly their great deeds, virtues,
their benefactions to us, their ardent love to God, and we ourselves
thus become inspired to imitate them in their constant vigilance over
themselves, in cleansing ourselves from every impurity of body and
spirit, and we glorify their exploits, thus making them our intercessors
and protectors before God, for God deigns to accept the intercession of
His friends and faithful servants on behalf of those for whom they
intercede before Him. As we are not bodiless spirits, but beings,
covered with flesh, having material contours and a material image, it is
natural that we should seek images of invisible beings; and it was
indeed in condescension to our infirmity that the Lord gave the Angels
power to take our form upon themselves and appear to us (when He
pleases) in our image, as, for instance, when the Archangel appeared to
Joshua, the son of Nun, to David, to Manoah and Hannah, to Zacharias, to
the Most Pure Virgin Mary, and to other saints of the Old and New
Testaments. Do we not ourselves prove in our daily life the requirement
of our nature, its longing to have representations of the persons whom
we love, when we express the desire to have their portraits and have our
own portraits done, hang them up on the walls, or place them in albums,
in order to look at them often, and to enjoy contemplating the
respected and beloved faces? And this natural, right, and pious
veneration of the holy icons many Lutherans and Anglicans regard as
something unnatural, repugnant to God, as idolatry and heresy; they have
not icons either in their houses or even in their temples, and consider
it a sin to have and worship them. Through this they lose much in faith
and piety, for by breaking the visible connection with the saints they
likewise destroy the invisible one, whilst in reality, as the Church is
heavenly and earthly, it forms one body. They have broken in the same
way their connection with the departed, because they do not pray for
them and do not offer sacrifices for their souls, sacrifices which are
well-pleasing to the merciful God; and thus prove their unbelief in the
power of the prayers of the Church for the departed. What kind of a
Church is this that has unwisely and audaciously broken her ties with
the heavenly, triumphant Church? has interrupted communion by means of
prayers with the departed, and broken off communion with the Church that
professes the faith in Christ in its primitive purity? Is it a living
and holy body of the Church? Can a single trunk of the body, without
head, without hands and feet, without eyes and ears, be called a living,
organised body? And yet such a community proclaims its faith as the
purified, true faith, and eschews the rites of our holy, spotless
religion. Is that religion purified that has rejected the Sacrament of
Orders and the other sacraments, excepting Baptism and Holy Communion,
which last, however, is not valid; has rejected the veneration of the
saints, of their relics, icons, fasting, monasticism, and prayers for
the departed? Is this the faith of the Gospel? Is it the Church of
Christ and the Apostolic Church? No; it is a self-made Church,
constituted by the will of men, under the influence of human passions
and pleasing human passions; it is " the truth in unrighteousness "[992]
; it is the perverted Gospel of Christ; it is the perversion or turning
away of Christ's people " unto another Gospel," of which the Apostle
said: "But though we or an angel from heaven preach any other Gospel
unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be
accursed."[993] It is not a Church, but a soul-destroying dissection of
the body of Christ. And thus the veneration of icons is natural,
righteous, pleasing to God, and profitable.
The Church, through
the temple and Divine service, acts upon the entire man, educates him
wholly; acts upon his sight, hearing, smelling, feeling, taste,
imagination, mind, and will, by the splendour of the icons and of the
whole temple, by the ringing of bells, by the singing of the choir, by
the fragrance of the incense, the kissing of the Gospel, of the cross
and the holy icons, by the prosphoras, the singing, and sweet sound of
the readings of the Scriptures.
The cross and the sign of the
cross are the power of God; this is why the Lord is always present in
them. Similarly the icons of the Lord, of the Mother of God, of the holy
angels and saints, may also possess the power of God for believers, and
may accomplish miracles upon them. Why? Because, by the grace of God,
the Lord, the Holy Virgin, the angels or saints, are present in them —
that is, they are always as near us, and even nearer, than these images.
Truly so. Experience very often confirms this.
If you doubt
whether any particular icon of the Mother of God before which you pray
has been sanctified or not, know that Our Lady, the Prototype of this
image, was already sanctified nineteen hundred years ago, even in the
bosom of Her parents, Joakim and Anna, afterwards at Her birth, and in
the temple of Jerusalem, and finally by the indescribable Incarnation of
God the Word of Her; She is ever holy and eternally, immovably,
unchangeably, most holy; She is in every place, and present in every
icon of Hers; by the delineation of Her face and name alone, and of the
face and name of the Saviour, the material object is already sanctified
by the delineation of Her face and name. Gaze, then, upon every icon in
simplicity of heart, for any doubt proceeds from the Devil in order to
divert you from heartfelt prayer. Say to him: the whole earth is holy;
the power of my Lord, and of His most pure Mother — the Queen of the
whole world — is in every place; I gaze upon Her, the most pure One,
with my spiritual eyes, and I do not worship a board: Her representation
is only made to help my infirmity.
The wonder-working icons of
the Mother of God, and of other saints, teach us to look upon every icon
as upon the saint himself or herself to whom we pray as living persons
conversing with us, for they are as near, and still nearer to us than
the icons, if only we pray to them with faith and sincerity. It is the
same with the life-giving cross. Where the cross is, or the sign of the
cross, there is Christ Himself, His power and His salvation only make
the sign of the cross or worship the cross with faith.
Sometimes
people call prayer that which is not prayer at all; for instance: a man
goes to church, stands there for a time, looks at the icons or at other
people, their faces and dress, and says that he has prayed to God; or
else he stands before an icon at home, bows his head, says some words he
has learnt by heart, without understanding and without feeling, and
says that he has prayed, although with his thoughts and heart he has not
prayed at all, but was elsewhere with other people and things, and not
with God.
Icons are a requirement of our nature. Can our nature
do without an image? Can we recall to mind an absent person without
representing or imagining him to ourselves] Has not God Himself given us
the capacity of representation and imagination] Icons are the Church's
answer to a crying necessity of our nature.
Icons in churches and
houses are necessary, amongst other reasons, because they remind us of
the immortality of the saints; "that they live unto Him,"[1047] as the
Lord said that in God they see, hear, and help us.
The Almighty
power of God, existing and acting throughout the world, is concentrated
similarly as the beams of the sun are concentrated in a focus or glass —
in the holy icons. The concentration of the power of God is
particularly present in the reasonable image of the Divinity, man,
especially in his heart, filled with faith, hope, and love, as in a
focus; in the heart is reflected, by Its light, the Sun of
righteousness, the Holy Trinity, our God, with the abundance of His
gifts, warming and enlightening each one's soul according to the measure
of each one's faith.
When we pray, then the ears of the Lord are
inclined to our prayer. He is then, as in general He always is, as near
to us as the icon, before which we stand, and even much nearer: He is
close to our very heart. His presence near us is as manifest as the
visible icon, and therefore the icon is only a visible representation of
how near the Lord is to us, how He looks upon us and hears us. And
God's saints, in the Holy Spirit, are also as near to us as the Holy
Spirit is near to us, Who is everywhere present and filleth all things,
"Whose temple we are,"[1106] and in the Holy Spirit they see and hear us
in the same way as we see and hear people speaking to us. For the Holy
Spirit is the medium, by which we see and hear even ordinary things.
You
have seen that on the icons of the saints, the Lord Jesus Christ is
represented above, with the imperial globe in one hand and with the
other extended in blessing. This is taken from reality. From heaven the
Lord ever watches over those who combat for His sake upon earth, He
helps them actively, as the almighty King, in their struggle with the
enemies of salvation, blesses His wrestlers with "peace and joy in the
Holy Spirit,"[1107] and bestows the crown of life upon them after they
have finished their earthly exploits. Thus, Christians, all of you
strengthen yourselves in faith and hope, looking unto Jesus, "the author
and finisher of our faith,"[1108] Who ever watches over you and sees
all your acts from the heavenly heights, as He looked down upon the
proto-martyr, Stephen, opening unto him heaven and His glory; as He
looked upon Saul, afterwards Paul, and also revealed Himself to him in
the heavens, enlightening him with His light, and calling him with His
voice. [1109]
According to the measure of the "spirit and truth"
with which you begin to pray before the holy icon, for instance, of the
Saviour, in the same measure the Spirit of Him Who is represented upon
the icon is attracted to the icon. So that if your faith, in the
presence of the Person, represented upon the icon, attains such a height
that you see that Person living before you, then by grace He is
actually there. The wonder-working images which speak, from which flow
tears, blood, and so forth, are examples of this, and this is why such
images all look extraordinarily living and expressive. What can be
impossible to God, Who is able to give life to stone and form man out of
it? He can miraculously accomplish the same with a painted image. "All
things are possible to him that believeth";[1113] and the Highest
miraculously comes down from heaven to him that believeth. He is
similarly united with, and works miracles by, the sign of the
life-giving cross.
In looking upon the faces of others, I see my
own face, for we are all as one, created by God, from one single man,
from the same blood, and all equally after the image of God — and
therefore we must look upon all purely, unsuspiciously, not inimically,
not cunningly, not avariciously, but with pure godly love. Also, when
looking upon icons, upon the faces of the Saints, the image of the
Mother of God, and that of the God-Man Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ, I
see myself in them, for they are also men, and through His incarnation
and humanisation, Jesus Christ, our God, has wholly clothed Himself in
me, having thus honoured mankind with an immeasurable honour, driving
away the stench of sin from those who believe and are baptised in Him,
and making them fragrant with the holiness of the Holy Spirit dwelling
in them through faith, baptism, and the Communion of His Divine Body and
Blood. Thus see yourself in others, that others may see themselves in
you, love all as yourself; also see yourself and mankind in Christ, in
His Most Pure Mother, and in the images of the Saints, and assimilate
yourself to God and the saints by imitating their holiness — that they,
too, may see themselves in you, in proportion as you become like unto
God and them by virtue, and that they may recognise in you their member
when you appear at the universal judgment, and may receive you into
their midst as one of themselves.
The icons of the Saviour in
every orthodox house show His omnipresence, His sovereignty in every
place, whilst the images of the Saints — the presence with us or the
nearness to us of the Saints, by the grace of God, as members of the one
body of the Church, united under the one Head — Christ.
There
are many people who pray in such a manner that they seem to worship God
in vain. There are also some persons who pray, and they are so slothful
and evil that when they feel an influx of impure and evil thoughts in
their heart and head, they immediately leave off praying and flee from
the church or from before the icon in their home.
If I pray to
God with hearty, lively, and perfect faith, then I am not only near Him,
as a son living in the same house is to his father, but I am also near
to all the heavenly powers, to all the saints, reigning in heaven; and
they are no farther away from me than the icons before which I pray.
Therefore it is an excellent custom with us to have in our houses icons
of the Lord, of His most pure Mother, of the archangels, guardian
angels, and of the saints, and to pray before them: their nearness to
our bodily sight betokens their still greater nearness to our spiritual
sight, armed with undoubting faith. Nearness: "There is joy in the
presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth,"[1165]
just as in the parental house brothers rejoice when one of them, who had
offended against his father, repents of the offence he has caused his
father by his behaviour.
By reverencing icons — firstly, I
reverence in them God, Who has begotten before all worlds the Son, His
living Image, Who gave material being to the infinite thought of God the
Father, by creating the worlds and all creatures that were in the
thought of God, and man, created after the image and likeness of God;
secondly, I honour in them the image of God incarnate; thirdly, I honour
in them myself, my own image of the immortal god-like man, called to be
a partaker of the Divine nature, to union with the Lord, to be the
temple of the Holy Spirit. Also, I am involuntarily incited to venerate
icons because I see manifested in them the power of God, saving the
faithful and punishing unbelievers, in the same way as I see and feel
this same power in the sign of the Lord's cross, which is called
life-giving by reason of its miraculous power. For all these reasons,
icons replace for me the persons themselves whose names they bear. The
images of the saints upon our icons represent to us the nearness in the
spirit of God's saints, who all live in God and are always near to us in
the Holy Spirit, through our hearty faith and prayer to them. For what
can be far away for the Spirit of God, Who is everywhere present and
filleth all things, "going through all understanding [gifted with
understanding] pure and most subtil spirits?"[1179] "There is joy in the
presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth."[1180]
This means that the disposition of our souls lies open, not only to God,
but also to the angels. " Standing before Thee and before Thy terrible
and holy angels, I bring before Thee my evil and wicked doings, and
confess them and reveal them."[1181]
When praying, do everything
with understanding. When you pour oil into the lamp burning before an
icon, represent to yourself that the Life-giver every day, every hour,
every minute supports your life by His Spirit, and, as daily by means of
sleep in bodily respects, through prayer and the Word of God in
spiritual respects, pours into you the sacred oil of life, by means of
which your soul and body burn. When you place a candle before an icon,
remember that your life is like a burning candle, that it will burn out
and be extinguished, or that some other reasons, such as the passions,
surfeiting, wine and other pleasures, make it burn faster than it
should.
During prayer, before the icons or without them, it is
necessary to always have full hope of receiving that which we ask for —
for instance, deliverance from afflictions, spiritual sickness, and
sins, because we have already a thousand times experienced that we do
clearly obtain mercy from the Lord or Our Lady; and therefore, not to
hope to obtain that which we ask in prayer, or to doubt in the fact of
our prayers being heard, would be the greatest foolishness and
blindness.
It is an excellent custom with Christians, and one
pleasing to God, to have an icon of the Saviour and to pray to Him
before it. This is a crying necessity of our soul. The Lord Himself,
with the love which is proper to Him, desires to be formed in us, as the
Apostle says: "My little children, of whom I travail in birth again
until Christ be formed in you"[1230] ; or "that Christ may dwell in your
hearts by faith."[1231] But how can I form Christ in my heart if I do
not first represent Him sensibly before my eyes? Thus we have images of
the Saviour, of the Mother of God, and others. The love of Christians
for them, desiring to always carry their images in their thoughts and
hearts, as well as our nature, which is both carnal and spiritual, has
called forth the necessity of representing Them on painted icons,
placing them in the most honoured places of the house, as in our hearts
or the chambers of our soul, and of reverencing them by bowing to them,
first spiritually, and then bodily. And how in accordance with God's
intention our veneration of icons is! Heaven itself replies to us from
the icons, as the Lord in olden times replied from the mercy-seat in the
Hebrew tabernacle; many of them shine by miracles.
Every place
is the place of God's presence and sovereignty. Hence it is undoubtedly
true that the Lord looks upon us with the eyes of the holy icons as with
His own, and can speak to us by the mouths of the holy icons as by His
own. Also, owing to the fact that the Lord is in every place, His cross,
His name work miracles. His icons show themselves to be wonder-working,
and are in every case places of His gracious presence.
When I
read the Gospel, then it is not I that speak, but the Lord Himself; He
Himself is in these words. For He is the Spirit, the Wisdom, or the
infinite personal Thought; it is He Himself Who is in these wonderful
thoughts and words of the Gospel. Only the word is ours, human; or,
rather, even the word is also His; whilst the thought, its essence,
truth, is the Lord Himself. I see the same, for instance, in the image
of the Saviour or His cross. Again, He Himself is there — my omnipresent
Lord is in them, in this image or in that cross, as in the word of the
Gospel. His image on the icon or on the cross is only an outward
appearance, whilst the essence is He Himself — manifesting Himself
everywhere, in everything and through everything, and especially through
the images and signs upon which His justly-worshipped Name is inscribed
or His representation is drawn. So also He is in the priest's blessing
by the sign of the cross, in which He Himself appears, and as though
Himself blesses. Hence the importance of a priest's blessing. And even
our customary making of the sign of the cross has also God's power, if
only we make it with faith. Thus everywhere we may find and feel the
Lord.
Is it only for the adornment of your dwelling, as a
beautiful piece of furniture, as an ornament, that you hang up
richly-painted icons in your house, without turning to them with the
hearty faith, love, and reverence due to holy things? Ask your heart if
it is so. Icons in houses or in the temple are not intended for show,
but for prayer before them, for reverence, for instruction. The images
of the saints ought to be our home and Church teachers. Read their
lives, and engrave them upon your heart, and endeavour to bring your
life into conformity with theirs.
It is well to place candles
before the icons. But it is still better if you bring as a sacrifice to
God the lire of your love for Him and your neighbour. It is well that
the one should be accompanied by the other. But if you place candles
before the icons and have no love for God and your neighbour in your
heart, if you are avaricious, if you do not live in peace with others —
then your sacrifice to God is in vain.
Kissing with the lips
corresponds to kissing with the soul; and when we kiss holy things, we
ought to kiss them with the soul and heart as well as the lips.
My
carnal nature requires images. Therefore we rightly and justly make
images and reverence them. What else is man himself but a living image
of the living God? The Son of God Himself is a uniform impress of the
Father, showing us the Father in Himself. If we ourselves are images of
God, formed of a soul and body, then why should we not reverence God's
saints in their images made with hands? The inscription of the name upon
the image means much to the believer. This name is as though it
replaces the soul of the person represented on the image. Call upon the
name of the saint with your whole soul; he will hear you, and will
manifest his miraculous power in the image. The name of the Saviour,
called upon with faith, works wonders. It drives away the demons,
quenches the fire of the passions, heals sicknesses. The names of the
saints, called upon with faith, by the grace of God also work wonders.
And what is there astonishing in this? They are all in the Spirit of
God, and the life-giving Spirit of God is everywhere present and fills
all things. The saints all work wonders by the Holy Spirit, because the
one Spirit of God is the Spirit of wonders.
My soul can imagine
millions of images, for instance, of the One same Mother of God, and my
hand can delineate as many images of Her as I please, and they will all
be worthy of reverence, as She Herself is. Thus the supernatural and
life-giving Unity has devised, created through Its creative Word, and
sanctified through the Holy Spirit, the innumerable multitudes of Its
reasonable images — the heavenly powers. Thus, likewise, the Father has
devised and the Son, Himself the living image of the Father, has
created, and sanctified by the Holy Spirit, His own sentient and
reasonable image — man, and from him alone, to our continual wonder,
until now, creatively forms such images, which are all living,
beautiful, godlike, lasting, and eternal. Likewise, whatever quantity of
icons I may paint, all of them are true and worthy of reverence to me,
and I will undoubtedly reverence them if only they correspond to God's
real, holy images (icons). What prevents our having as many holy images,
for instance, of the Saviour Christ as there are separate Christian
persons? Every image of the Saviour is His image, most worthy of
reverence, shining in the soul of every true Christian.
God rests
in the saints and even in their very names, in their very images; it is
only necessary to use their images with faith, and they will work
miracles.
The wonder-working icons of the Mother of God, and of
other saints, teach us to look upon every icon as upon the saint himself
or herself to whom we pray as living persons conversing with us, for
they are as near, and still nearer to us than the icons, if only we pray
to them with faith and sincerity. It is the same with the life-giving
cross. Where the cross is, or the sign of the cross, there is Christ
Himself, His power and His salvation only make the sign of the cross or
worship the cross with faith.
The wonder-working image of the
Saviour is the Lord Himself depicted upon it. I weep bitterly, and as
though involuntarily, by the grace abundantly poured upon me from it; I
shed streams of tears, which cleanse my soul from sins, and bring peace
and joy into my heart.
It is impossible to represent and to think
of the cross without love. Where the cross is, there is love; in the
church you see crosses everywhere and upon everything, in order that
everything should remind you that you are in the temple of the God of
love, in the temple of love itself, crucified for us.
When I read
the Gospel, then it is not I that speak, but the Lord Himself; He
Himself is in these words. For He is the Spirit, the Wisdom, or the
infinite personal Thought; it is He Himself Who is in these wonderful
thoughts and words of the Gospel. Only the word is ours, human; or,
rather, even the word is also His; whilst the thought, its essence,
truth, is the Lord Himself. I see the same, for instance, in the image
of the Saviour or His cross. Again, He Himself is there — my omnipresent
Lord is in them, in this image or in that cross, as in the word of the
Gospel. His image on the icon or on the cross is only an outward
appearance, whilst the essence is He Himself — manifesting Himself
everywhere, in everything and through everything, and especially through
the images and signs upon which His justly-worshipped Name is inscribed
or His representation is drawn. So also He is in the priest's blessing
by the sign of the cross, in which He Himself appears, and as though
Himself blesses. Hence the importance of a priest's blessing. And even
our customary making of the sign of the cross has also God's power, if
only we make it with faith. Thus everywhere we may find and feel the
Lord.
Do not grudge burning a wax taper before the icon of the
Lord during prayer; remember that you burn it before the inaccessible
Light and before Him Who enlightens you with His light. Your candle is
as though a burnt offering to the Lord; let it be a gift to God from
your whole heart; let it remind you that you yourself should also be a
burning and shining light. "He was," it is said of John the Forerunner,
"a burning and a shining light."[1418]
I bring to the Lord, to
Our Lady, or to an Angel or Saint, material light, in order that the
Lord may bestow the light of grace, spiritual light, upon me through
their prayers, that He may lead me out from the darkness of sin into the
light of the knowledge of God and virtue; I bring material fire that
the fire of the grace of the Holy Spirit may be kindled in my heart, and
that it may extinguish the fire of the passions in my miserable heart; I
bring a light with the desire that I may become a light myself, burning
and shining to all that are in the temple. These are the reasons why I
place candles before the icons; such are my thoughts when I put candles
in the candlesticks. I acknowledge that I place these candles before the
icons with the hope of receiving spiritual blessings from those holy
and all-holy persons who are represented upon them; I acknowledge this
spiritual love of gain. But it is the law of reciprocity to expect a
gift for a gift. "With what measure ye mete," it is said, " it shall be
measured to you again."[1419] I am an infirm, carnal, sinful man — they
are welcome to all I have; not being always able to bring to my Lord, to
His most pure Mother, to an Angel of God, or to a Saint, a heart
burning with faith and love, I bring, at least, as a carnal, material
man, a material gift as a gift to heaven, a lighted candle. May the Lord
look down from heaven upon this little gift of my zeal, and may He give
me more in return. He alone is rich, and enriches all, whilst I am poor
and needy; He is surrounded with inaccessible light, I am in darkness; I
am of little faith, may He grant me the gift of faith; I am poor in
love, may He enrich my heart with this priceless heavenly treasure; I am
powerless for all good, may He give me the power. On my part there is
the desire for heavenly blessings, and there is a material pledge of
this; may the all-endowing Lord grant to me, by the prayers of His most
pure Mother and those of the Angels and Saints," all things that I ask
that are profitable unto salvation."
Footnotes
[23] Isaiah xlix. 16.
[24] Proverbs xv. 3.
[196] Psalm xxxiv. 20.
[314] The Vera Icon, which, according to Greek tradition, Jesus sent with an autograph letter, to Abgarus of Edessa.
[986] 2 Corinthians ii. 15, 16.
[987] St. John xii. 46.
[988] St. Luke xii. 49.
[989] St. Luke xii. 35, 36.
[990] St. Matthew v. 16.
[991] Psalm cv. 4.
[992] Romans i. 18.
[1047] St. Luke xx. 38.
[1106] Hebrews iii. 6; 1 Corinthians iii. 16; vi. 19.
[1107] Romans xiv. 17.
[1108] Hebrews xii. 2.
[1109] Acts vii. 55, 56; ix. 3, 4.
[1113] St. Mark ix. 23.
[1165] St. Luke xv. 7,10.
[1179] Wisdom vii. 23.
[1180] St. Luke xv. 7, 10.
[1181] Fourth Prayer of St. Simeon the Metaphraste before Holy Communion.
[1230] Galatians iv. 19.
[1418] St. John v. 35.
[1419] St. Matthew vii. 2
Excerpts
compiled from: My Life in Christ or Moments of Spiritual Serenity and
Contemplation, of Reverent Feeling, of Earnest Self-Amendment, and of
Peace in God, St. John of Kronstadt.
