Be the Bee #53 | Venerating Icons

What are icons, and why are they important?

Best viewed in HD 1080p.

Connect with us at the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese's Department of Youth & Young Adult Ministries!
youth.goarch.org

Music:

"Cloud Patterns," by Silent Partner, YouTube Digital Library

"Magic Marker," by Silent Partner, YouTube Digital Library

End Theme:
"Noahs Stark," by krackatoa
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/kra...

Links:

Icons are Not Idols
http://www.ocf.net/icons-are-not-idols/

Seventh Ecumenical Council
http://www.goarch.org/ourfaith/ourfai...

Sunday of Orthodoxy
http://lent.goarch.org/prayers/restor...

Photo credits:

Theotokos Icon
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...

St. Luke Painting First Icon
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...

Bronze Serpent on the Pole
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...

The Holy of Holies
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...

Replica of the Ark of the Covenant
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...

The Holy Bible
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...

People Praying Before an Icon
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...

Coin With Face of Emperor Leo III
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...

Destroying Icons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...

Panaghia Portaitissa (Iveron, Mt Athos)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...

Simonopetra Monastery, Mount Athos
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...

The White Tower, Thessaloniki
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...

Map of Greece
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...

Haghia Sophia, Thessaloniki
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ha...

Church With Bare Walls
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...

St. John of Damascus
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...

Icon of All Saints
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...

Triumph of Orthodoxy Icon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tr...

Christ Icon (cover)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/7895342...

Nativity Icon
https://www.flickr.com/photos/7130253...

Christ Icon
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...

Sunrise
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...

Nativity Icon
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...

Holy Communion
https://www.flickr.com/photos/7884588...

Thanks for watching! God bless you!

---

Closed Caption:

Hey everybody this is Steve, and this is an
icon.
What exactly is an icon?
And what are they for?
Icons are a very important part of the prayer
life of Orthodox Christians.
We can see them in church buildings and homes
around the world.
According to tradition, St. Luke the Evangelist
painted the very first icon.
And as we'll see in a bit, we even see images
being used in the context of worship,
as far back as the Old Testament.
Just like the Bible expresses the faith in
words,
icons express the faith in colors and images.
Icons are visible reminders of the reality
of God and His saints,
and are a great way to focus our minds and
our hearts on the Lord as we pray.
Though icons have been used in the Church
since the very beginning,
Christians have still disagreed about them.
For instance in the 8th century, the Roman
emperor started a period of Iconoclasm,
which means fighting against images.
Countless icons were taken down and destroyed
by Iconoclasts,
those who opposed the use of icons.
A few, like Panagyia Portaitissa, survived
because they were taken to places of safety,
like Mount Athos.
If you ever got to the city of Thessaloniki
in Greece,
you can visit the church of Haghia Sophia,
which was built around the time of Iconoclasm.
To this day, the building is unique, because
there aren't any icons on the walls.
Even to this day, some Christians reject the
use of icons.
Just like the iconoclasts did.
Just like in the past, people usually oppose
the use of icons because they fear
that icons are an example of idolatry.
Which is the worship of things rather than
God.
And idolatry is very clearly prohibited
in the Bible.
Yet as St. John of Damascus points out in
his Excellence Treatise on the Divine Images,
God gave us this instruction not to prohibit
images,
but to prohibit idolatry.
To keep us from worshiping something false,
instead of the one true God.
That's why when God told Moses to build a
Tabernacle,
to contain the Ten Commandments,
He told Moses to adorn the Ark of the Covenant
with carved Cherubim.
Solomon later included carved Cherubim when
he built the first temple.
And that's why God told Moses to build a bronze
serpent
when the Jews were wandering in the wilderness
after the exodus.
So the people could look upon it, and be healed.
Because images aren't the problem, the problem
is worshiping something false.
There's an important difference between worship,
on the one hand, and veneration, on the other.
We worship God, and God alone, because God
is the creator of all,
the Lord of all, Our Father.
Yet we can venerate or honor people and things,
because of their closeness to God.
For instance, we venerate the cross and the
Bible,
we treat them with honor and even kiss them.
We venerate the saints, men and women who
are alive in Christ,
connected to Christ, a part of Christ, as
members of His Body.
And we venerate icons of Christ and of His
saints.
In 787 AD the Church assembled in the city
of Nicaea for the 7th Ecumenical Council,
where the Church declared that icons are a
very important
part of our prayer life and our worship.
And that we should venerate icons,
because the honor we pass to icons passes
back to the saints they depict,
and ultimately, back to Christ.
Because images aren't the problem,
in fact images are a reminder that Christ,
the Son of God,
the Second Person of the Holy Trinity took
on flesh and became human.
Before Christ we couldn't depict God in an
icon because,
like we talked about last week,
God, is invisible.
The Son of God, like we celebrate every Christmas,
was born of the Virgin Mary and became human.
He walked with us, ate with us, cried with
us.
We could see Him, hear Him, touch Him.
The Son of God took on flesh so He could save
us, body and soul.
And that's why we're able to depict Him in
an icon.
As Saint John of Damascus wrote,
The opponents of icons were right to oppose
idolatry,
just as Orthodox Christians continue to oppose
it to this day.
Idolatry is false worship,
but true worship focuses on God.
And icons are an important part of that.
We worship God who created the heavens and
the earth,
both things visible and invisible.
We worship God, who became human for our salvation,
who became physical for so He could save all
creation.
We worship God, and literally receive Him
physically
every time we receive Holy Communion in the Divine Liturgy.
We worship God, not just with our minds and
our souls, but with our bodies as well.
And we're reminded of that every time we venerate
an icon.
So let's be the bee and venerate icons, so
we can worship God.
Be the bee and live Orthodoxy.
Remember to like and subscribe.
I'll see you all, next week.