Talking about what an icon is, it should be noted that this is primarily a book about faith. Her language is the colors and lines through which the morality and dogmas of the liturgical teachings of the Church are revealed. The more honest and more righteous the Orthodox Christian lives, the more understandable is the language of the icon to his soul!
What is an icon
From the ancient Greek language, this word is translated as an image, or an image. The icon represents the sacred image of the Lord, the Mother of God, the saints and angels. They are written by artists on specially prepared wooden boards and in strict accordance with the icon painting canon. We will find out what the iconography differs from painting. Any artist, when he tackles a brush, sets a goal to depict all the charms and beauties of the world around us: the human body, plants, animals, sky and sun ... And most importantly, the artist's eye is always subjective. But not in the case of icons! There are no natural beauties in them - mountains, architecture, trees, there is no sun and rain in them. Every space is a shining gold, against which are represented the faces of saints, reflected from the real world by the brilliance of this gold. After all, what is an icon? This is not just a sanctified picture, it is a sacred object. Do not confuse these concepts! The face depicted on it gets its name through the inscription, than the icon and goes back to that prototype, which is depicted on it, becoming involved in its grace. At the same time, if you treat her carelessly and in an unworthy manner, then first of all, do not insult the painting, but its prototype - The One Whose name she wears! Comparing icon painting with painting, it should be noted that an exhibition of icons and an exhibition of paintings is not the same event, because each of them pursues its own goal.
What is an icon from Luke?
Church tradition says that the very first icon of the Savior Jesus Christ Appeared even during His life on earth among people. This is the very image known to us under the title "The Savior Not Made by Hands". The very first icons of the image of the Mother of God church tradition refers to the holy Evangelist Luke. Today there are about ten of them in the Russian Orthodox Church . We must assume that they belong to Luka not because they were written by him (none of the icons written by Luke, has survived to our days), but as copies from his originals.
Meaning of icons in our life
These are our prayers, expressed in holy images. They also understand only through prayers, since they are designed for a sincere believer who appears before them in his prayers. The faces of the saints, depicted on the icons, entirely correspond to the beliefs of believers about how the Lord looks. This explains what an icon is in terms of its meaning, for each of them depicts the face of a certain saint or saints. Each of the saints means something for one or another person: they help someone to cleanse the soul of sins, to someone - in love and success. But the most important thing is faith. Without it, nowhere! The icon for the believing person is a connecting "thread" with the Lord God himself ...
Today, a lot of people consider themselves atheists. It seems that not believing in God is a new fashion, well, that's not the point. Whom each of us does not worship (his own god at religious meetings of questionable content or a single Lord, visiting temples and churches), one must remember that the icon is the real property of human culture!