Blessed Icons

Terry · Post by **Terry** » Sat 5 August 2006 6:57 am

I have not yet been baptized in the orthodox church because i am still learning about it, but i am wanting to convert.

Can someone tell me about the icons? I went to a romanian monastery and bought one of the virgin mary and jesus christ. Are these icons blessed? What shall we do with them? Im not sure. What do people usually do with them?

The Apostate · Post by **The Apostate** » Sat 5 August 2006 9:36 am

Hello, Terry,

May God bless your journey into Orthodoxy.

It isn't customary to commercially sell blessed items. I would be very uncomfortable if this were a practice we Orthodox engage in. However, many devotional items are sold for the edification of the faithful and I am pleased that you are acquring icons for use in your prayer life. These will not be blessed already and it is customary, when peple buy/are given icons, to take them to church for the priest to bless. Some priests simply sprinkle them with holy water with the formula. 'These icons are blessed in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit', three times. Others use a more elaborate blessing of the icon, such as may be seen here.

Who do the icons depict? Are there particular Saints to whom you have a special devotion? I would very mcuh like one of St Bertelin of Staffordshire and I think I may have tracked one down, thankfully.

spiridon · Post by **spiridon** » Sat 5 August 2006 12:58 pm

In my Churc Icons are always Blessed, even as they hang or are on a shelf they have already been blessed,WHY? its simple- there are many old ladies and old men that cant get around alot and will buy and Icon or be given an Icon ffrom a friend and - Alas, its been Blessed for them to be used already...and then there are the ones that forget to have them blessed or assume they have been Blessed...
If for some reason you are unable to get to a Priest to properly bless this icon,get some Holy water, sign yourself and say -Through the Prayers of our holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God have mercy on me,Amen- and sprinkle Holy water on the Icon and say in the Name of The Father,The Son and The Holy Spirit, Amen...and make the sign of Cross on the Icon with your fingers as you sign your self and NOT,I repeat NOT like the Priest holds his hands when he Blesses- (Remember like the way you sign yourself from Head to stomach to right and left shoulder)...
But always remember that just the very image you have purchased whether it be paper or Icon or medal ,is Holy and it is what The Fathers of the church have used and o.k.`d for us in our days...
St.John of shanghai and San Francisco and his good friend ArchMandrite Spyridon Efimov of blessed and eternal memory used to cut out icon/pictures of Our Saviour ,and the Theotokos and Saints from periodicals/newspapers/magazines that might get thrown away after they were read and got old, the Thought of even a simple image of them on newspaper being thrown away, was Blasphemy and freightening in there eyes...so it is said that they had a great collection of simple images piled high in there rooms...
But then again these were Holy men, But let us imitate them as much as possible...

GOCPriestMark · Post by **GOCPriestMark** » Sat 5 August 2006 5:17 pm

Hi Terry,

Please try these excerpts first, from St. John of Damascus, regarding icons. One is from Fordham and the other from Orthodox America. Then if you still wish to read further there is a three part writing by the same saint at CCEL.