Speaking of what is an icon, it should be noted that it is primarily a book of faith.Her tongue - a paint line by which revealed morality and dogma of the liturgical teaching of the Church.The more honest and righteous lives Orthodox Christian icons of the clear language of his soul!
What icon
from Greek word translated as an image or image.The icon is a holy face of the Lord, the Mother of God, saints and angels.They are written by artists specially prepared wooden boards and in strict accordance with the canon of icon-painting.Let us see what the iconography is different from painting.Any artist, when taken as a brush, aims to portray all the charm and beauty of the surrounding world with you: the human body, plants, animals, sky and sun ... And most importantly, look at the artist always is subjective.But not in the case of icons!They have no natural beauty - mountains, architecture, trees, not in them, and the sun and rain.Every space - a shining gold, against which presented images of the saints, from the real world reflected luster of gold.After all, what is an icon?It's not just the picture sanctified it - a sacred object.Do not confuse these concepts!Lick, pictured on it, it gets its name through the inscription than the icon, and goes back to the prototype which it depicts, becoming complicit in his grace.At the same time if you treat her careless and unworthy way, the first insult is not painting, but its prototype - the one whose name she bears!Comparing the iconography with the painting, you should pay attention to the fact that the exhibition of icons and an exhibition of paintings - this is not one and the same event, since each of them pursues its own purpose.
What icon Luke?
Church tradition says that the very first icon of the Savior Jesus Christ has appeared during his life on earth among men.This is the image that we know under the title "Savior Holy Face."The very first image of the icon of Our Lady of Sorrows Church tradition attributes to Saint Luke the Evangelist.Today the Russian Orthodox Church is of about ten.We must assume that they belong to Luke, not because they were written (none of the icons painted by Luke, has not survived to the present day), as well as copies of its originals.
Value of icons in our lives
This is our prayer, expressed in images of saints.They understand, too, only through prayer, as calculated on the sincere believer, appeared before them in their prayers.Images of saints depicted on icons, fully correspond to the faithful representations of how the Lord looks.It explains that such an icon in terms of its value, because each of them depicts the face of a particular saint or saints.Each of the saints represents for this or that person something different: someone they help to purify the soul from sin, someone - in love and success.But most importantly - it is faith.Without it - anywhere!The icon for the believer - it is binding the "thread" with the Lord God Himself ...
Today, a lot of people consider themselves atheists.It seems that not to believe in God - this is some new fashion, but oh well, it's not that.To each of us either worshiped (his some god in the religious gatherings of questionable content or the one Lord, visiting temples and churches), we must remember that the icon - a real treasure of human culture!
