You could print the image out and tape it to the corner of your mirror. Or, save a digital image of your icon and set it as your phone background. If you have a wooden icon, place it in a well-trod spot in your home and try acknowledging it when you pass. And (though this may seem strange) let the icon grow familiar with you, too. Familiarize yourself with the elements of the image in the icon, just as you would a new acquaintance in your life.
Then, before even trying to pray with your icon, simply grow comfortable with it. Consider what is on your heart these days or think about a religious figure to whom you are drawn.
#Iconographer prayers how to
If you’re a little skeptical or just not sure how to begin incorporating icons into your prayer life, here’s how to start.įirst, choose an icon. If you are open to a new form of prayer, and process things visually, they can be a powerful focal point for contemplation and reflection. Remember, icons are meant to invite an encounter with the sacred, not to scare or confound. This reminds us of the Trinity and, again, compels us to lift our eyes, hearts, and minds upwards. These stylized alterations are purposeful because the image is not a depiction of something that is familiar to us here on earth we are gazing into heaven! Another noticeable element is the triangular layout that many icons feature. In addition, someone new to icons will notice immediately that the figures and scenes appear unrealistic and unnatural. For instance, the paint is often translucent to allow light to pass through and reflect the various layers of color, especially when the icon has a gold-leaf background. The iconographer engages in prayer, reflection, and fasting before writing an icon because the image they create is an extension of their spiritual life.Īlthough there is increased variation in iconography today, there are many enduring characteristics of this ancient and sacred tradition that we see in contemporary icons. The process of writing an icon is an intricate and sacred process. Rather than a two-dimensional work of art that we passively take in, icons invite us to cross the threshold between this world and the next as we are swept into an embrace with the divine. We not only see the figure in the icon, but when we prayerfully gaze on the image, we can contemplate being seen by the figure with a heavenly gaze of love. When we engage them prayerfully, they put us in touch with heaven.įurthermore, just as a window can be peered through from the inside and the outside, the tradition of iconography holds that the icon is a two-way window. But they are also more than that - they are a medium for prayer.
#Iconographer prayers windows
A wall adorned with icons can be likened to a wall with little windows giving us direct access to a multitude of different saints as they are in heaven, whom we can encounter in a very real and eternal way.Īre icons like the magical portraits hanging in Hogwarts? Of course not - they are works of art. The icon - often written with egg tempera or acrylic paints on a hard, resilient surface such as wood or ivory - is understood as a means to access the sacred figure, whether it be a saint or Jesus or Jesus’ mother, Mary. Rather than the iconographer visually representing a particular saint by means of paint or pencil, the iconographer is bringing to life an image of the saint as he or she is in heaven.
At its core, an icon is a window to heaven. So, what makes an icon?Īlthough an icon can be classified as religious art, it is more than that, too. I wish I had known then what I know now: icons are nothing to be intimidated by! Rather, they are invitations to encounter the divine in a real way. Recently, there has been a resurgence of the use of icons among Western Christians for personal and communal prayer.Īs contemporary iconographers are breathing new life into this ancient tradition, I think back to my high school-self who was confused, intrigued, and somewhat-intimidated by Mr. Still, iconography has been a central style of Christian sacred art since the earliest Christian communities. Iconography - the practice of writing (yes, “writing,” rather than “painting”) icons - is most strongly associated with Christianity in the East. In college, I finally learned what to call these pieces of art: icons. What was the story behind this entire wall of similarly-sized wooden pieces? And, why were all the figures depicted in the same style with elongated facial features and spindly fingers? And, really, was it a requirement that they look so morose?! As a longtime Catholic school student and parish altar server, I was no stranger to religious art, but these were so different from anything I had experienced beforehand. Medeiros’s lectures, my eyes inevitably would wander to this wall.
In my high school history classroom, one wall was adorned with striking yet peculiar wooden plaques.
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