Prayer and blessing of icons

[Mikhail R.]

Must an Icon be blessed by my priest before I venerate it?

Are printable icons suitable for veneration?

What exactly is mandatory to have in a prayer corner?

And, on a totally unrelated note, if a member of the Church of Russia is Russian Orthodox, and a member of the Church of Romania is a Romanian Orthodox, is a member of OCA an American Orthodox? Would it be right if I said "I'm an American Orthodox" instead of "I'm an Orthodox Christian who belongs to the Orthodox Church in America"? IT not the most important issue, but it'd make conversation much faster, and non-Orthodox would probably be less confused by the shorter name.

[Father David Moser]

No,
Yes,
Prayer,
Yes

Fr David Moser



Must an Icon be blessed by my priest before I venerate it?

Are printable icons suitable for veneration?

What exactly is mandatory to have in a prayer corner?

And, on a totally unrelated note, if a member of the Church of Russia is Russian Orthodox, and a member of the Church of Romania is a Romanian Orthodox, is a member of OCA an American Orthodox? Would it be right if I said "I'm an American Orthodox" instead of "I'm an Orthodox Christian who belongs to the Orthodox Church in America"? IT not the most important issue, but it'd make conversation much faster, and non-Orthodox would probably be less confused by the shorter name.

[Mikhail R.]

No,
Yes,
Prayer,
Yes

Fr David Moser


Thank you Father.

Also, I meant to say, " What exactly is mandatory to have in a icon corner?" If you could help me with an answer to that, I'd appreciate it.

-Mikhail R.

[Father David Moser]

Thank you Father.

Also, I meant to say, " What exactly is mandatory to have in a icon corner?" If you could help me with an answer to that, I'd appreciate it.

-Mikhail R.

icons

beyond that there are no "rules" In fact an "icon corner" is not a mandatory thing either (not mandatory, but certainly extremely helpful).

Fr David Moser

[Father David Moser]

icons


On second thought, in order for your icon corner to really be an icon corner, it would be mandatory that it was located in a corner. Otherwise you would have an "icon wall" or an "icon area" or and "icon bookshelf" or an "icon table" or something.

Fr David Moser

[Herman Blaydoe]

Must an Icon be blessed by my priest before I venerate it?

I believe this has already been answered elsewhere but no.


Are printable icons suitable for veneration?

Most definitely. In fact there are miraculous printed icons.


What exactly is mandatory to have in a prayer corner?

As stated elsewhere, the only thing mandatory in a prayer corner is prayer. Things that are conducive to a prayerful state of mind might be recommended.


And, on a totally unrelated note, if a member of the Church of Russia is Russian Orthodox, and a member of the Church of Romania is a Romanian Orthodox, is a member of OCA an American Orthodox? Would it be right if I said "I'm an American Orthodox" instead of "I'm an Orthodox Christian who belongs to the Orthodox Church in America"? IT not the most important issue, but it'd make conversation much faster, and non-Orthodox would probably be less confused by the shorter name.

Let's not make this too hard. All you have to say is "I am an Orthodox Christian". If pressed, you can say which jurisdiction your parish is under. Remember "For there is neither Jew nor Greek...."

Herman the Orthodox Pooh

[Mikhail R.]

I believe this has already been answered elsewhere but no.



Most definitely. In fact there are miraculous printed icons.



As stated elsewhere, the only thing mandatory in a prayer corner is prayer. Things that are conducive to a prayerful state of mind might be recommended.



Let's not make this too hard. All you have to say is "I am an Orthodox Christian". If pressed, you can say which jurisdiction your parish is under. Remember "For there is neither Jew nor Greek...."

Herman the Orthodox Pooh


Thank you.

[Mikhail R.]

icons

beyond that there are no "rules" In fact an "icon corner" is not a mandatory thing either (not mandatory, but certainly extremely helpful).

Fr David Moser


Okay. That's what I thought, but some people seem to insist there are certain mandatory rules. Perhaps they just confused tradition with rules.

Thank you for your help Father.

[Olga]

A clarification, if I may, on the blessing of icons: It is customary in the Slavic tradition for a new icon, particularly one which is not hand-painted, to be blessed before veneration. I mention this only as you may come across a priest who may insist a newly-minted icon be blessed first.

Also, it is common, if not standard, practice for icons produced for sale by organisations (commercial, monastic, etc) of Slavic tradition to be blessed before they are offered or distributed for sale.

[Mikhail R.]

Thank you Olga!

So, do the Orthodox in Greek traditions not normally insist on a priest's blessing as much?

[Olga]

In my experience of Greek tradition, it seems that it is assumed that any new icons are already blessed in some way before being sold or otherwise acquired. By contrast, other items, such as wedding rings, wedding candles (lambathes) and stephana (the white wreaths worn by a couple during the marriage ceremony) are always blessed before use, as are baptismal crosses. The same happens in Slavic tradition, with the exception of the wedding crowns (which look quite different to the stephana, but have the same function) which are kept at the church and used at every wedding, rather than the couple providing their own. These would have been blessed at the time the church acquired them. However, in the case of, say, a newly mounted or framed icon, if one is unsure if it has been blessed, it wouldn't do any harm to have it blessed anyway.

I am frequently asked to mount or arrange framing of printed icons, and I ensure these are blessed before the recipient receives them. If I can't arrange the blessing, then I recommend to the recipient to ask their priest to do so, irrespective of which tradition they come from. If their priest feels there's no need to bless such an icon, fine. But this doesn't happen very often, in my experience.

[Fr Raphael Vereshack]

Keep also in mind that in the Slavonic Trebnik or Book of Needs there are multiple prayers for the blessing of icons (eg separate 'prayers' or blessings for icons of the Lord, of the Theotokos, of saints, of different categories together).

Since what priests learn to do in the Russian tradition often comes simply from what he sees is available from the Trebnik thus he learns that icons need to be blessed.

In Christ- Fr Raphael

[Michael Astley]

I once approached an Antiochian priest friend of mine after the Liturgy to ask if he would bless an icon for me, expecting him to do what is done at my parish, where icons are blessed after the Liturgy according to the forms for the blessing of icons on the trebnik/Book of Needs. He responded by saying that I ought to have asked before the Liturgy and said that he would do it at the next Liturgy. I was confused at this until he explained that his practice is to simply lay the icon on the Holy Table during the Liturgy and return it to the "owner" afterwards. He does not use the rite of blessing of icons but considers this to be the blessing.

In one sense this is rather beautiful. On the other hand, so are the prayers of blessing of icons, and I think that it is important for us to see the holy things of our faith used, such as the sprinkling of the icon with holy water, and where we actively participate in the rite by singing the troparia of the Saints depicted in the icons.

Pax,
Michael

[Olga]

The simple placing of an icon on the altar at Liturgy, without a specific "ritual" of blessing is indeed the same practice the Greeks use. You will often find mention of the custom of leaving an icon or other item on the altar for 40 days.

[Paul Cowan]

If you leave them ON the altar, how in the world does the priest use it?

We line ours up on the floor against the wall behind the High Place behind the altar for 40 days.

[Fr Raphael Vereshack]

But remember that whether using the Russian practice of blessing the icons with prayers from the Book of Needs or the Greek of not both actually end up placing the icons on the altar at least for a period of time.

ie. although not required to- the priest usually blesses the icons on the altar. And then returns them to the person after the Liturgy. At least that is what I was always taught to do.

In Christ- Fr Raphael

[Sophronia]

It is interesting how much diversity exists in the blessing of icons. As an unworthy icon painter I feel a certain awe surrounding the whole process of my work and recieve every completed icon as truly a gift from God inspired by the Holy Spirit. So I would agree that they are truly blessed by virtue of their existence and worthy of veneration. In both parishes I have been a member of icons were palced on the altar before Great Vespers on Sunday and remained until after the Divine Liturgy. Then Father brought them out, placed them on a table in front of Royal Doors, and blessed them using prayers from the "Book of Needs". Then they were handed to the one who brought them to be blessed to venerate followed by any of us there during the blessing. I leave it to the person who commissioned the icon to have it blessed where and how they choose since these customs vary.