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Monica4316
Guest
Maybe I should know this but I’ve never been told… as Catholics, how do we venerate images?? like what do we do to venerate them?
thank you
thank you
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CatholicZ09
Guest
Good question. It reminds me of how Jesus commanded St. Faustina to have the Divine Mercy image venerated the Sunday after Easter. How does one venerate an image? 
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Trishie
Guest
Our focus must always not be images, but God whose goodness and love is in some way represented in the image. The image is merely material, painted or modeled in some way by a human artist. All power and goodness comes from God. The image is, should never be, our focus, but as a little peephole to the goodness and love and truth of God, a reminder of God’s mercy and love and our redemption, (and sometimes these images are of God’s goodness revealed sometimes through holy persons and these also are not the focus. The focus, always, remains, gratitude and worship of God who is the source of all good and love and truth. While we may have candles and flowers, in this spirit, we must always be mindful of the first Commandment of God. These images are only, basically, reminders of God’s greatness and goodness and mercy. Any saint, any angel, can only point to God, the source of all life and goodness.
From the Catechism of the Catholic Church
2129 The divine injunction included the prohibition of every representation of God by the hand of man. *Deuteronomy *explains: "Since you saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, beware lest you act corruptly by making a graven image for yourselves, in the form of any figure. . . . "66 It is the absolutely transcendent God who revealed himself to Israel. “He is the all,” but at the same time "he is greater than all his works."67 He is "the author of beauty."68
2130 Nevertheless, already in the Old Testament, God ordained or permitted the making of images that pointed symbolically toward salvation by the incarnate Word: so it was with the bronze serpent, the ark of the covenant, and the cherubim.69
2131 Basing itself on the mystery of the incarnate Word, the seventh ecumenical council at Nicaea (787) justified against the iconoclasts the veneration of icons - of Christ, but also of the Mother of God, the angels, and all the saints. By becoming incarnate, the Son of God introduced a new “economy” of images.
2132 The Christian veneration of images is not contrary to the first commandment which proscribes idols. Indeed, “the honor rendered to an image passes to its prototype,” and "whoever venerates an image venerates the person portrayed in it."70 The honor paid to sacred images is a “respectful veneration,” not the adoration due to God alone:
Religious worship is not directed to images in themselves, considered as mere things, but under their distinctive aspect as images leading us on to God incarnate…71
From the Catechism of the Catholic Church
2129 The divine injunction included the prohibition of every representation of God by the hand of man. *Deuteronomy *explains: "Since you saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, beware lest you act corruptly by making a graven image for yourselves, in the form of any figure. . . . "66 It is the absolutely transcendent God who revealed himself to Israel. “He is the all,” but at the same time "he is greater than all his works."67 He is "the author of beauty."68
2130 Nevertheless, already in the Old Testament, God ordained or permitted the making of images that pointed symbolically toward salvation by the incarnate Word: so it was with the bronze serpent, the ark of the covenant, and the cherubim.69
2131 Basing itself on the mystery of the incarnate Word, the seventh ecumenical council at Nicaea (787) justified against the iconoclasts the veneration of icons - of Christ, but also of the Mother of God, the angels, and all the saints. By becoming incarnate, the Son of God introduced a new “economy” of images.
2132 The Christian veneration of images is not contrary to the first commandment which proscribes idols. Indeed, “the honor rendered to an image passes to its prototype,” and "whoever venerates an image venerates the person portrayed in it."70 The honor paid to sacred images is a “respectful veneration,” not the adoration due to God alone:
Religious worship is not directed to images in themselves, considered as mere things, but under their distinctive aspect as images leading us on to God incarnate…71
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PattiDay
Guest
Images are not venerated. It is those whom the images represent, such as a patron saint, that we venerate. When we pray, we call upon our patron saint to intercede for us because we recognize them as holy and faithful people who are now with God forever in heaven. We have no problem asking a loved one or friend to pray for us, so we should have no problem asking those who are already in heaven to do so.
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TimothyH
Guest
I’m Catholic and I venerate images. There I said it. 
I place certain images in a place of honor above others. A statue of St. Peter in the Vatican has the toes almost worn off due to centuries of veneration by the faithful. I have a picture of Jesus and St. Joseph in the center of my fireplace mantle while pictures of my family are on either side in a places of lesser honor.
Of course the images are nothing apart from the people they represent, and the poeple they represent are nothing apart from their relationship with God. It is sad that we really have to say that at all.
But this idea that we cannot venerate images is nonsense. People travel from all over the USA to venerate the statue of Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial. Catholics ought not to be ashamed to state outright that we venerate images, images which represent people we love and wish to imitate, and that we love and wish to imitate those people because of their special relationship to Christ. So many Evangelical Churches here in the deep south have billboards featuring professionally designed logos all over town but if you actually go into the Church, there isn’t even a single cross in sight. That is what’s truly shameful.
And while I’m at it, I worship Christ through Mary, sometimes even while venerating an image of Mary.
Harumph!
-Tim-
I place certain images in a place of honor above others. A statue of St. Peter in the Vatican has the toes almost worn off due to centuries of veneration by the faithful. I have a picture of Jesus and St. Joseph in the center of my fireplace mantle while pictures of my family are on either side in a places of lesser honor.
Of course the images are nothing apart from the people they represent, and the poeple they represent are nothing apart from their relationship with God. It is sad that we really have to say that at all.
But this idea that we cannot venerate images is nonsense. People travel from all over the USA to venerate the statue of Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial. Catholics ought not to be ashamed to state outright that we venerate images, images which represent people we love and wish to imitate, and that we love and wish to imitate those people because of their special relationship to Christ. So many Evangelical Churches here in the deep south have billboards featuring professionally designed logos all over town but if you actually go into the Church, there isn’t even a single cross in sight. That is what’s truly shameful.
And while I’m at it, I worship Christ through Mary, sometimes even while venerating an image of Mary.
Harumph!
-Tim-
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mariafransisca3
Guest
Images are supposed to remind us of the person in the image. If we see the image of Jesus or the virgin Mary we are reminded of them.
Just like when we keep the pictures of our loved ones. It reminds us of them.
How to venerate them? For me, I just put that on a place, and if it is an image of Jesus I bow down until I kiss the floor. And say, Jesus have mercy on me a sinner. It helps me to be humble and to reminds me that I am nothing but dust and ashes.
I suggest you read St. John of Damascene on Holy Images
ccel.org/ccel/damascus/icons.i.iv.html
You can download them for free if you register.
May the merciful Jesus bless you
Just like when we keep the pictures of our loved ones. It reminds us of them.
How to venerate them? For me, I just put that on a place, and if it is an image of Jesus I bow down until I kiss the floor. And say, Jesus have mercy on me a sinner. It helps me to be humble and to reminds me that I am nothing but dust and ashes.
I suggest you read St. John of Damascene on Holy Images
ccel.org/ccel/damascus/icons.i.iv.html
You can download them for free if you register.
May the merciful Jesus bless you
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Tomcmaj
Guest
“You shall have no other gods to rival me. You shall not make yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything in heaven above or on earth beneath or in the waters under the earth.” Exodus 20:3-4 (NJB)
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A_Servant
Guest
Do you not believe in the veneration of images then Tom? Or were you just posting the verse for the heck of it? 
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ESMDHokie77
Guest
I kiss the “image” of Jesus on my rosary at the start and end of every praying of it. Images simply turn our hearts towards the people they represent.
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thistle
Guest
What does Catholic Buddhist mean? The two are incompatible because Buddhism, to quote Pope John Paul II, is a form of atheism.
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Monica4316
Guest
I think that Catholics do venerate images… we don’t worship images. But we do venerate them. Venerate means - show respect.
Sometimes I kiss my Divine Mercy picture of Jesus… is that wrong?
we don’t worship images. But we do venerate them. Venerate means - show respect.Sometimes I kiss my Divine Mercy picture of Jesus… is that wrong?
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CatholicZ09
Guest
I don’t think that there is anything necessarily wrong with it. You really don’t think that the picture is actually Jesus itself, do you? No. Well, I hope not.
You are showing respect to whom the picture represents - Jesus. Jesus ordered St. Faustina to venerate the Divine Mercy image, so I don’t think that venerating images is a bad thing. I mean, Jesus said it’s okay…what better proof is there than that?
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mariafransisca3
Guest
No, I kiss mine too!
I kiss the feet of Jesus in the divine mercy image. I love this image soo much.
Have it on a real card, and I feel so blessed to have it.
cf.mp-cdn.net/a8/18/f9b6cc642be3498516687de9473c.jpg
I kiss the feet of Jesus in the divine mercy image. I love this image soo much.
Have it on a real card, and I feel so blessed to have it.
cf.mp-cdn.net/a8/18/f9b6cc642be3498516687de9473c.jpg
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Monica4316
Guest
that’s true, thanks for the replyI don’t think that there is anything necessarily wrong with it. You really don’t think that the picture is actually Jesus itself, do you? No. Well, I hope not.
You are showing respect to whom the picture represents - Jesus. Jesus ordered St. Faustina to venerate the Divine Mercy image, so I don’t think that venerating images is a bad thing. I mean, Jesus said it’s okay…what better proof is there than that?
of course, I don’t believe that the image is actually Jesus. I read on another thread that idolatry is when you think that the image contains or is God.No, I kiss mine too!
I kiss the feet of Jesus in the divine mercy image. I love this image soo much.
Have it on a real card, and I feel so blessed to have it.
cf.mp-cdn.net/a8/18/f9b6cc642be3498516687de9473c.jpg
I love it too
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Tomcmaj
Guest
I think that images are tricky things. We make them with good intentions, but as we identify more and more with them, there are more and more opportunities to be led astray.Do you not believe in the veneration of images then Tom? Or were you just posting the verse for the heck of it?
People start fighting over images, and deliberately provoke others my destroying images.
I agree that images help focus our prayers and meditations, but we need to be careful to not imbue them with anything more than what they are - an aid to prayer.
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