I bought an icon, now what?

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followingtheway

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Hello everyone, I’m posting this is the Eastern Catholicism forum because I feel like this is on your guys’ jurisdiction lol

So basically I was visiting a friend, and there was a Russian Orthodox Church open near in the neighborhood. Out of curiousity I went inside and they had a gift shop. I bought a saints bracelet with Jesus and Mary on it and a small icon of the Virgin Mary.

My question is what do I do with it because it doesn’t have the thing that makes it stand up like framed photos do. So what are icons like this used for? I had a small candle which I used to make it stand up. Is this all I can do?

Thanks,

David
 
followingtheway said:
Hello everyone, I’m posting this is the Eastern Catholicism forum because I feel like this is on your guys’ jurisdiction lol

So basically I was visiting a friend, and there was a Russian Orthodox Church open near in the neighborhood. Out of curiousity I went inside and they had a gift shop. I bought a saints bracelet with Jesus and Mary on it and a small icon of the Virgin Mary.

My question is what do I do with it because it doesn’t have the thing that makes it stand up like framed photos do. So what are icons like this used for? I had a small candle which I used to make it stand up. Is this all I can do?

Thanks,

David
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I like to put mine up on the wall. Sometimes I keep a smaller one in my car.
 
I see. My thing is the icon I bought doesn’t even have the wall hook. It’s just flat on the back
 
Sounds like I’m getting a display easel 🙂

Thank you for the response!
 
It needs to be blessed.
Also, I read somewhere that icons are just sat on a shelf/bookcase and “propped” against the wall so it is vertical; no easel.
 
ByzCathCantor said:
That’s a common solution, particularly for typically sized icons for home use (8x10 or thereabouts).

Perhaps you might want to consider setting up an icon (prayer) corner somewhere in your home?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icon_corner
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Since I’m Latin Rite I have a statue corner, but I’ve been getting into Eastern Rite spirituality which is why I bought an icon. Should I do a separate thing or keep them integrated to avoid my room looking like religious overkill?
anonymous_in_fl said:
It needs to be blessed.
Also, I read somewhere that icons are just sat on a shelf/bookcase and “propped” against the wall so it is vertical; no easel.
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midori said:
I did hear from my teacher that the blessing of an icon involves it remaining on an altar for 40 days?
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Hey guys, just wondering what’s the reason behind blessing them?

You’ll have to excuse my ignorance of Eastern spirituality
 
followingtheway said:
Since I’m Latin Rite I have a statue corner, but I’ve been getting into Eastern Rite spirituality which is why I bought an icon. Should I do a separate thing or keep them integrated to avoid my room looking like religious overkill?
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There’s nothing wrong with “integrating”, per se.
Hey guys, just wondering what’s the reason behind blessing them?
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Same reason you might want to have your statues and rosaries blessed. BTW - the 40 day custom is really more applicable to commissioned icons written specifically for you. So long as you procure a reproduced icon from a reliable source, you can generally count on it being theologically sound. A simple blessing would suffice for reproduced icons.
You’ll have to excuse my ignorance of Eastern spirituality
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No worries! That’s how we learn, especially in the Eastern tradition. No substitute for experience.
 
Blessing icons is not without controversy in Orthodoxy at least. There exists no prayer for blessing icons in older euchologia, and several more contemporary saints, like St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite, opposed the practice. I suspect, however, that the practice is less controversial outside of Orthodoxy.
 
Cavaradossi said:
Blessing icons is not without controversy in Orthodoxy at least. There exists no prayer for blessing icons in older euchologia, and several more contemporary saints, like St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite, opposed the practice. I suspect, however, that the practice is less controversial outside of Orthodoxy.
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I have had some of my icons blessed, but not all of them. I have asked my own spiritual father about this, and his answer was that my own prayers before the icons were sufficient to have rendered them blessed. Hauling them all to church for a separate blessing ceremony wasn’t necessary.
 
I would love to have an icon in my home and have desired one for many years yet I never seem to see any for sale in my environs.
 
tomarin said:
I would love to have an icon in my home and have desired one for many years yet I never seem to see any for sale in my environs.
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Affordable reproductions (mounted prints, etc.) are readily available on the internet.

Orthodox sites generally offer good range of choices and selection.
 
ByzCathCantor said:
Perhaps you might want to consider setting up an icon (prayer) corner somewhere in your home?
Click to expand...
Any tips about the hardware to use to set an icon corner?

I’m thinking of a corner that is currently devoid of images that is on a wall on the east side of the apartment and diagonally opposite to the entrance door.

I’m thinking of two or three corner shelves attached tot he wall and a small corner table where to place a light source. I’m afraid that this light source cannot be a candle, for I live on my own and spend most of the day outside the apartment. Would then an electric lamp do?

Thank you.

Pax Christi
 
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