The royal doors: icon of the Annunciation

[Olympiada]

The Holy Spirit Has Descended!

I have written to our communications director about this but as he no longer replies to me, I figure I had better ask here to.

Can anyone tell me why the Royal Doors have the Icon of the Annuciation on them? Is this a Rubric and if so why?

Thanks
Olympiada

[Herman Blaydoe]

The Annunciation is the point where Christ enters the world for our salvation. The Theotokos becomes the "East Gate" of the Temple that remains shut (Ezekiel 44:1-3). "This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter by it, because the LORD God of Israel has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut." (eternal virginity of the Theotokos). It is therefore fitting that this be depicted on the Royal Gate or Royal Doors.

The icons of the writers of the four Gospels are also often depicted on the Royal Doors.

[M.C. Steenberg]

Herman, thank you for that lovely response to the question. Very fitting indeed.

INXC, Matthew

[Olga]

I might also add that it is also not unusual to see icons of Sts John Chrysostom and Basil the Great (in deesis or supplicatory pose, rather than frontal) on the Royal Doors, as it is their liturgies that are most often sung in church.

[M.C. Steenberg]

... and indeed further, that the framing-in of the Royal Doors also includes the icon generally situated above it: the Mystical Supper, crowning the foretelling of the 'scene' painted by the icons on the door itself, with that mystery that is enacted and made real beyond and through them.

The significance of the opening and closing of the Doors also has iconic value in this whole arrangement. The doors indicate the announcement of the Christ: the angel greeting the Mother of God, the Evangelists who prepare the way (for us) of encounter with Christ; but when the doors are opened, what is beheld is the altar, the meeting place of Christ himself. So the whole configuration of the doors, closed to present the preparation and the way, opened to reveal and grant access to the one indicated, is itself iconic.

INXC, Matthew

[Jennifer]

Wow, this is a helpful thread.

Recently, a protestant friend visited my church with me. After the Liturgy, she told me that she felt like the iconostasis, which separated the people from the altar, was contrary to the tearing of the veil in the temple that happened after Christ was crucified. I had no idea what to tell her then. But, the meaning of the icons on the Royal Doors really helps me.

I was also reading Hebrews 8-10, which helped me to understand that the Jewish Holy of Holies had represented the Heavenly Altar, where Jesus would someday serve as High Preist.

I have heard that the altar area, behind the iconostasis, also reprsents Heaven; do any of you know if this is correct?

Thanks,
Jennifer

[M.C. Steenberg]

I have heard that the altar area, behind the iconostasis, also reprsents Heaven; do any of you know if this is correct?

There is quite a lot of symbolism to the division of the church into altar and nave, with the separation formed by the iconostasis. Indeed, that symbolism varies from service to service, and indeed through parts of services, being called upon to witness to different things at different times. But surely the basic reality you've mentioned - of earth and heaven - is an overriding symbol.

The division of the sacramental space between that representing earth and all creation, and that representing heaven, God and the angelic realms, is not meant to indicate a barrier between these two realms (keeping in mind that we have icons of heavenly things outside the altar, and icons of human things within it; indeed, icons themselves are a meeting place of both). The division of space is meant to realise symbolically their encounter. It is by having the altar separated from the nave by a noted wall (the iconostasis), that this barrier can be used to symbolise not just a divide, but also a breaking of the divide. The Royal Doors can be closed to symbolise anticipation of the coming of salvation (hence the talk of the icons on the doors themselves, as above in this thread), and can be opened to indicate the real presence of that salvation. The symbolism of the barrier is important at, for example, the reading of the Gospel, which is brought out of the altar, into the midst of the nave - the Word of God coming into the cosmos, just as Christ came into the world; a 'breaking of the divide' that sin constructs between man and God. So, too, later in the Divine Liturgy, all the doors and even the curtain are closed when the priest elevates the gifts and proclaims 'The holy things are for the holy': reminding us, through those closed elements, of our utter break from holiness through our sin. But moments later, the doors open and the chalice - the Saviour himself - comes through that divide; a meeting of the heavenly and the earthly.

The point of having the iconostasis as division is that it allows the reality of the breaking of that divide, or better, the healing of that divide, to be made visible in the liturgical symbolism of the Church. Without the iconostasis (or some manifestation of it), this important reality of Christian life is made less immediate to the experience of worship. Perhaps one of the best ways to recognise this, is to think on Bright Week - the week immediately following Pascha. During this period, all the doors on the iconostasis are left open at all times (including the side, or 'deacon's', doors, which are normally never left open), symbolising that in the resurrection the bonds of death that divide man from God have been ultimately and triumphantly defeated. This is always a very noticable, meaningful liturgical act, the leaving open of these doors; but it has that impact, that degree of forceful reminder of the reality of unity enabled through the resurrection, only because normally the doors are kept closed, opened at significant moments in various services. It is because of the liturgical symbolism of that 'divide', that one comes to appreciate so immediately the reality of its breach.

There are also other things that the iconostasis and the doors symbolise, in various moments of the worshipping life of the Church. At vespers, for example, the whole of the iconostasis, and the Royal Doors in particular, are often seen to symbolise the gates of Eden, out of which Adam has been cast on account of his sin. So the priest comes out wearing only his cassock and epitrachilion (the sign of his office, which he must wear to serve any service), head uncovered -- a symbol of Adam standing naked before the doors of Eden, looking back in at that which he has abandoned through his transgression; while through this the reader intones Psalm 104 (103 LXX), which is a psalm on the mystery of creation ('The waters run above the hills... the lions roar about their prey, seeking their food from God... how manifold are Thy works, O Lord, in wisdom Thou hast made them all', etc.). So we have a liturgical image of our exile from paradise on account of our sin: a dark church, a closed gate, a 'naked' priest/Adam, and readings leading from this psalm of creation into the larger reading if the psalter, to the supplication ('Lord, I have cried to Thee: hear me...'). Finally, the priest re-emerges, now in all his vestments, and the gates of Eden are opened as the choir sings 'O Jesus Christ, Thou gentle light...': a visible, liturgical act that demonstrates the healing of the disunion of sin by Christ. Once again, without that 'divide' given physical iconic form in the iconostasis, this liturgical engagement would be much lessened.

INXC, Matthew

[Herman Blaydoe]

In other words, the iconostas is a line of demarkation, not of separation, but where earth and Heaven MEET.

Am I close?

[Jennifer]

Dear Matthew,

Thank you for your reply. This makes the symbolism of the iconostasis much clearer to me. It seems that the iconostasis is invovled in symbols of our relationship with God in various times and places, while perhaps my friend was applying it only to the time when the curtain in the temple was torn in two.

Thank you very much for your explanation. I had not realized that so many parallels could be drawn between the services and scripture, nor the importance of the iconostasis in creating these parallels.

Jennifer