The place of icons in the family home

[Peter]

Hello all,

I have a question about icons' place in our home.

In our family home, we often find ourselves praying 'all over the place (not just the prescribed icon corner discussed in other threads).

I would like to display icons in every room of our house, as well as our 'prayer/icon corner' (on the eastern walls, if i am not mistaken?).

I have been hesitant to place icons in my bedroom, given that this is also the place where conjugal relations may occur on the odd occasion (apologies for offending anyone). Am I correct in assuming that placing icons here is not appropriate?

I would be interested in hearing others opinions.

In Christ,

Peter

[Father Anthony]

Hello all,

I have a question about icons' place in our home.

In our family home, we often find ourselves praying 'all over the place (not just the prescribed icon corner discussed in other threads).

I would like to display icons in every room of our house, as well as our 'prayer/icon corner' (on the eastern walls, if i am not mistaken?).

I have been hesitant to place icons in my bedroom, given that this is also the place where conjugal relations may occur on the odd occasion (apologies for offending anyone). Am I correct in assuming that placing icons here is not appropriate?

I would be interested in hearing others opinions.

In Christ,

Peter
Dear Peter,

I personally have not heard of it being inappropriate to have icons in the bedroom. Most homes I have been in, have either an icon corner in each bedroom or above the bed. I personally carry a diptych to place on the nightstand of my room when I must travel.

In IC XC,
Father Anthony+

[Peter]

Dear Peter,

I personally have not heard of it being inappropriate to have icons in the bedroom. Most homes I have been in, have either an icon corner in each bedroom or above the bed. I personally carry a diptych to place on the nightstand of my room when I must travel.

In IC XC,
Father Anthony+

Thank you Father Anthony,

Is it correct to place icons on our eastern walls?

In Christ
Peter

[Father Anthony]

Dear Peter,

Yes, that would be the preferable place to have your icons placed. In certain circumstances that may not be a possibility due to the way the room may be configured, i.e. doors, windows, closets, etc. I always recommend that when this is a problem that the icon(s) should be in a prominent place then.

I hope this helps.

In IC XC,
Father Anthony+

[Sophronia]

Hello all,

I have been hesitant to place icons in my bedroom, given that this is also the place where conjugal relations may occur on the odd occasion (apologies for offending anyone). Am I correct in assuming that placing icons here is not appropriate?

I would be interested in hearing others opinions.

In Christ,

Peter

If "marriage is honorable and the marriage bed undefiled" as the Fathers teach us then it seems most appropriate to place icons in our bedrooms. Although not the east wall, an icon of the holy Theotokos on the wall at the foot of the bed is the first thing I see when I awake. This helps to remind me to thank God for keeping us through the night and blesing us with a new day.
In Christ,
(Iconographer) Alexandra

[Moses Ibrahim]

God is everywhere present! The Icons in the bedroom will possibly help by God's grace to keep the bed undefiled (only in terms of doing un-natural and abominable things) as it will remind you of the presence of God and all His Saints, especially our Holy Guardian Angels who are ever near us and are watching and praying for us all the time! It would be the most ideal place to put them in the bedroom! :)

[Olga]

As Sandra and others have said, having icons in the bedroom is completely appropriate. One could consider the bedroom, as being the most private room in the house (unlike the kitchen, dining room or lounge/sitting room, which are places of social gatherings), therefore, having a prayer corner there makes good sense.

Peter, the Slavs have a beautiful custom when they marry. The couple obtains a matched pair of icons, one of Christ, one of the Mother of God, some time before their wedding day. These icons are blessed in church, then each icon is taken home: the Christ icon by the future groom, the Mother of God icon by the future bride. On the day of the wedding, before they each leave the house to go to the church, the bride and groom are blessed with the respective icon by their parent(s). The icons are brought to the church, and are placed on an icon stand in a prominent position for the duration of the wedding ceremony. At the end of the service, after the customary "words of wisdom" from the priest, he blesses the couple with the icons, which the couple then takes to their home. Almost without exception, the wedding icons are hung in the bedroom, traditionally in a corner at a 90 degree angle to each other.

[Andreas Moran]

We were married in the Russian cathedral in London, and we have such weddings icons which are on a chest of drawers in our bedroom.

[Effie Ganatsios]

Hello all,

I have a question about icons' place in our home.

In our family home, we often find ourselves praying 'all over the place (not just the prescribed icon corner discussed in other threads).

I would like to display icons in every room of our house, as well as our 'prayer/icon corner' (on the eastern walls, if i am not mistaken?).

I have been hesitant to place icons in my bedroom, given that this is also the place where conjugal relations may occur on the odd occasion (apologies for offending anyone). Am I correct in assuming that placing icons here is not appropriate?

I would be interested in hearing others opinions.

In Christ,

Peter

Peter, I was told this years ago by a woman who was not from here. I asked the priest and he said that this belief does exist in certain parts of our country but it is not correct. An icon is appropriate in the bedroom as in other rooms in the house.

[Peter]

Peter, I was told this years ago by a woman who was not from here. I asked the priest and he said that this belief does exist in certain parts of our country but it is not correct. An icon is appropriate in the bedroom as in other rooms in the house.

Thanks to all who replied to my question.

I must admit i was a bit embarrassed asking this question at first, but it is a subject my wife a I have discussed several times, and neither of us felt comfortable with the answers others have given us.

Effies' priest confirms what others I have spoken to believe,
and this is part of the reason we have been hesitant placing icons in our bedroom.

We already display icons in most rooms of our house, and in light of the above posts, I now will be placing them in all of our main rooms.

As a side note, author Frederica Mathewes-Green wrote a a lovely book some time ago called 'The Open Door', 'entering the sanctuary of Icons and Prayer'.
She welcomes us into an imaginary Orthodox church to view 12 of the worlds most significant icons throughout the church year.

quote: 'The joy of this book is to allow us to meet the icons where the Saints want us to meet them - face to face in a prayer corner, in candlelight as we approach the altar, above the beds of our sleeping children... This book is a cal to stand still, take a deep breath and face the cloud of witnesses' end quote.

As she explains, icons are more than stand alone examples of Christian art: they are vital companions in the household of faith, and my life would certainly be incomplete without them.

In Christ,

Peter Stefanis