What saints are depicted on the icons. False Icons and Prayer of the Heart

This icon is very strong. She helps in various, often very difficult cases. It is desirable to have the icon of All Saints, photos and their meaning in every home in order to read various prayers in front of it. But, if it is not possible to purchase a large and high-quality icon,. This is what the saints depicted on the icon help with.

Who and when to pray

The icon has . He is considered the most important over all angels, so he needs to be prayed for if you want your own guardian angel to become stronger and stronger. Also, Archangel Michael is the guardian of paradise, not letting anyone into it who can harm human soul. It is believed that at the Last Judgment he will be one of the main helpers of God, dividing people into good and fallen. Therefore, those who want to go to heaven should pray to him. It is believed that Archangel Michael helps to overcome the passions that prevent the soul from entering heaven, whether it be drunkenness, drug addiction, or the destructive passion of a woman for a man who uses her.

Also on the icon of All Saints is. This saint helps with various female diseases, promotes happy family life. Her days are celebrated on November 22 and May 2. She had a prophetic gift during her lifetime and could predict events without having physical sight. She is addressed in prayers to shed light on some life situation, to successfully marry or get married, and also about the well-being of children. The Holy Matrona helps in illnesses, solving various everyday issues.

Also on the icon is the face of St. John the Baptist. This saint is considered one of the most powerful, since he baptized Jesus Christ himself. He is the patron water element, helps in mental and bodily ailments, heals from drunkenness and passions. His day is celebrated on July 7th. It is also called the day of John Kupala. It is believed that after this holiday the opening of the swimming season begins. They pray to John the Baptist in difficult situations, mental illnesses and for deliverance from drunkenness or drug addiction, various emotional experiences.

The saint is considered the patron saint of peasants and agriculture, as well as the protector from wars and various conflicts. It is customary for him to pray from the invasion of enemies, for a good harvest, and also for good luck in traveling overland. The days of the celebration of the memory of this saint are September 12 and December 6. You can pray to him in various difficult situations related to agriculture and military service.

If you suffer from overeating, drunkenness and cannot get rid of greed and various forms of material dependence, you should pray to the holy martyr Boniface. His day is January 1, just after the New Year. This saint helps many in getting rid of the sin of drunkenness, as well as overeating, gluttony, dependence on wealth and greed, gambling.

If you look at the icon of All Saints, in the photo and their meaning, then you can find a saint there Anastasia the Pattern Maker who pray from danger imprisonment or about those who are there at the present time. The church celebrates her memorial day on January 4th. During her lifetime, she helped Christians who were imprisoned, for which she herself was cruelly executed. However, she is considered the patroness of people who are threatened with court, prison and who are sitting there, even if for just sins.

If you need to win in an exam, in court, in various circumstances, you should turn to the icon George the Victorious. His face is also on the icon of All Saints. George defeated a dangerous asp who terrified various people. The name of this saint is very famous. It is believed that he helps in various adverse circumstances, illnesses, victories not only in the race for survival, but also over his own passions and vices. The church celebrates his memorial day on November 23 and April 6. The saint promotes victories in various fields life. Soldiers prayed to him both before being sent to hot spots, and ordinary people before exams, court proceedings and in many other situations.

If you want family peace, good relations without quarrels and scandals, it is best to pray Guria, Samona And Ava. These martyrs are depicted on the icon, and they help in various difficult situations. Their memorial day falls on November 28th. They are believed to help in various worldly needs and also contribute family well-being in the House.

Considered one of the most revered Russian saints. His holiday is usually celebrated on June 14 and January 2. During his lifetime he helped various problems, possessed the gift of clairvoyance, saw the future and received many letters, to which he gave advice and answers that helped each addressee in life. Therefore, they pray to him for various ailments, illnesses in the family. The saint also helps in solving everyday issues, can tell you which one to take correct solution. You can pray to him on any issue, and he always helps, even if not immediately.

In case of love failures, when adultery and various troubles occur on the personal front, you should turn to the image Xenia of Petersburg, whose days of memory fall on February 6 and June 6. She helps in various matters that relate to family life, the well-being of children and much more. It also helps to get rid of drunkenness, drug and love addiction.

It is considered one of the most beloved saints among the people. The days of his memory are December 19 and May 6. There is Nikolay Veshny and winter. The prototype of the American Santa Claus was precisely this saint, who is equally revered by both the Orthodox and catholic church. It is worth praying to Nicholas for travelers, those who serve in the army, are at sea, on an airplane, as well as with various domestic difficulties, financial failures and debts. It is believed that this saint gives people joy and helps everyone who sincerely asks him in various deeds and undertakings.

Also on the icon of All Saints is depicted, whose memorial day the church celebrates on July 18. This saint helps children in learning, adults in acquiring life knowledge, worldly wisdom as well as on various issues. They also pray to him in court proceedings, also in family conflicts, situations if someone behaves very arrogantly and proudly.

August 9 begins to celebrate the day Panteleimon the Healer- it helps from various diseases, promotes the acquisition of physical and mental health. His face is also on the icon of All Saints.

August 2 - Memorial Day Elijah the Prophet. It helps against floods natural Disasters and various troubles associated with water. However, on this day it is already undesirable to swim, as there is a danger of a cold. Elijah the Prophet also helps in solving difficult life situations, conflicts and quarrels, as well as if it is difficult to find a way out.

Also on the icon there are images Seraphim of Sarov, Martyr Barbara, Spyridon of Trimifuntsky which helps in solving financial matters and in business. The day of celebration of Seraphim of Sarov falls on August 1. It helps in solving many life issues, healing diseases. Barbara's Day is celebrated on December 17, and the feast of Spiridon is celebrated on December 25. These days it is customary to pray to him to attract financial luck and make the right decision.

Well, the day of the icon of All Saints is celebrated on July 12. On this day, a person with any name in baptism can ask anything in front of the icon. True, there are limitations to this.

What Not to Pray for

The icon of All Saints, photos and their meaning help in various matters - from a domestic unpleasant situation to a cure serious illness. However, remember that you should not make a request that is contrary to Christian laws and principles. For example, to beat off someone else's husband, remove a person from a position, break up a couple, wish someone evil. All this harms the human soul and can lead you to trouble. Also, the icon may not help if he is destined to go through some kind of. Or in order for him to eventually go on a bright path.

Iconography is the fixation of heavenly images, the sealing on the board of the living cloud of witnesses smoking around the throne. Icons materially outline these faces, permeated with significance, these supersensible ideas, and make visions accessible, almost accessible to all. (Florensky P.A. Iconostasis)

The orienting idea of the transformation of the world on a spiritual and moral basis in the very general view embodied in the temple. The icon reveals the same idea, but supplements it with a story about the ways of realizing this idea.

Icon is a Greek word meaning image. In the Christian Church, this is how they began to call a picturesque image on wooden board or on the wall of the temple of Jesus Christ, the Mother of God, saints, events from the Old and New Testaments.

The icon is a special phenomenon in medieval culture. The icon painter has a task that is determined by the peculiarities of the medieval world outlook: to bring the consciousness of a person into the spiritual world, to change consciousness, to arouse a sense of the reality of an ideal world, to help a person find his own path of transformation.

Evgeny Trubetskoy writes that the Russian icon heralds his transfiguration with a dominant mood of joy, which is conveyed by plots, symbols of things, gestures, colors, the arrangement of figures, and even clothes. As well as colorful visions and elastic flapping of the wings of angels, messengers of Good and Good.

But coming to joy is possible only through asceticism - there is no joy without torment, Resurrection without the Cross. Joy and asceticism are complementary themes, where the first is the goal, the second is the means to achieve the goal; asceticism is subordinated to joy. The way of expressing asceticism is conditional, symbolic figures and faces of saints.

An icon is not a portrait or a genre painting, but a prototype of ideal humanity. Therefore, the icon gives only a symbolic image of it.

The emaciated faces of the saints oppose the bloody kingdom of the flesh not only with “thinness of feelings”, but also with a “new form of life relations” (Evgeny Trubetskoy).

Therefore, the humility of the flesh has two meanings:

1) it is necessary for the spiritualization of the human form;

2) prepares the coming brotherhood, love and peace of man with man and with all God's creatures.

Asceticism, which has a spiritual and moral meaning, is expressed not only in conventionally schematic, symbolic image faces and figures, but also static. Physical movement on the icon is reduced to a minimum or completely absent. But the movement of the spirit is conveyed by special means - the posture of the figure, hands, folds of clothing, color, and most importantly - the eyes. There is concentrated all the strength of moral achievement, all the strength of the spirit and its power over the body.

But physical immobility, combined with the mobility of the Spirit, does not characterize all icons. There are icons and frescoes (“The Transfiguration of the Lord”, “The Last Judgment”), where physical dynamics are transmitted artistic means. This characterizes those who are still at the beginning of the spiritual path, who are not yet strong in faith.

Joy is proclaimed by the golden color and light in the icon. Gold (assist) on the icon symbolizes Divine energy and grace, the Beauty of the other world, God himself. Solar gold, as it were, absorbs the evil of the world and defeats it. If an assist is present, it emphasizes divine essence Christ, if absent, then His human essence is emphasized.

Submitting to the idea of the temple and its architecture, the fresco and the icon are themselves architectural.

The architecture of the icon is expressed in its symmetry and subordination to a certain architectural and at the same time ideological center. The architectural quality of an icon is a continuation and a means of expressing the same idea of the predominance of the absolute over the individual, the individual.

The ideological and architectural center of the icon can be Jesus Christ or the Mother of God. And their images are symbolic. Jesus often personifies harmony, order, Goodness, Beauty, Truth, opposing strife and chaos. The Mother of God is a symbol of Love, Goodness, a merciful heart, the protection of mankind from the wrath of the Lord. Prophets, apostles, virgins personify the virtues: wisdom, humility, chastity, innocence, purity. These are the centers around which the world gathers and organizes itself. These are the points of support for a person where he can withstand the sorrow of the world.

Icon - display of spiritual experience

Let us recall once again that an icon and a fresco are not painting, not a means of transmission. visible world. It brings consciousness into the spiritual world.

The icon appeared with the rise of Christianity. The first icon was an ubrus, a towel on which the face of Christ was imprinted (“The Savior Not Made by Hands”). The next four icons are attributed to the Greek doctor and painter - Luke the Evangelist.

Historically, the icon is closely connected with the Fayum portrait (Fayum, Egypt - one of the Eastern Roman provinces). The Fayum portrait was an element of the funeral rite. In Egypt, they painted the inner sarcophagus. On the surface of such a sarcophagus, an image of the deceased was applied. The features of the face were conditional, thin, in the eyes one could see detachment from earthly world. Such a portrait was painted on a golden background (which early Christian icons inherited), shadows are not applied, since they exist in the corporeal world, and the deceased went to another world, to the kingdom of light. Then the Fayum portrait was painted on a cypress tree with wax paints. Initially, this is the equivalent of a sarcophagus, a kind of funeral mask. The mask is already a symbol of the deceased person. These are historical roots and connections. Christianity brought its own meanings and meanings into the form left by the Fayum portrait.

One of the fathers christian church Dionysius the Areopagite writes that the icon is "a means of elevating the soul to the prototype."

The basis of the icon should be a true perception underworld, an authentic spiritual experience. This experience is fixed in the first icon, and then it is considered to be the original or archetypal, that is, the primary source and model. The source of this experience, as a rule, are saints.

Thus, the vision of the Holy Trinity was revealed to St. Sergius of Radonezh, and his spiritual experience was transferred to St. Andrei Rublev, who reproduced this experience in images and colors.

The Blessed Virgin Mary was depicted by Luke on a board from the table on which Christ had a meal with His mother.

Spiritual experience is also recorded in the Bible, and its plots can become the basis for painting an icon. Icons are divided into four categories:

1) biblical;

2) portrait (saints captured during their lifetime);

3) written according to legend, based on someone's spiritual experience;

4) revealed - written according to the vision or dream of the icon painter himself.

In addition, icons are also divided into holiday icons, images of Christ and the Virgin, saints and angels.

How the icon was painted

Since ancient times, the point of view has been established in Christianity that the icon cannot change arbitrarily. And the canon strictly regulates the plot, the organization of space, the arrangement of objects, figures, the writing of clothes, the use of color. But even within the framework of the canon, the artist had a sufficient degree of freedom.

Canon (a Greek word meaning rule) is a model for the reproduction of the original, which can be an ideal representation or an embodied image, for example, an image of Christ, the Mother of God, or another character, plot or symbol recognized by the authority of the Church.

The main elements of the iconography of angels: 1. wings; 2. halo; 3. dolmatic mantle; 4. himation-cloak; 5. lor or lorum; 6. rumors or torks; 7. mirror; 8. measure; 9. pozem

There is an iconographic canon as a rule of the image, fixed in icon-painting drawings.

Iconography is a strictly established system of images of characters, plot schemes and symbols of religious and theological-dogmatic content.

In the strict and precise sense of the word, only saints can be icon painters. They guide the hands of artists with their experience. In the Middle Ages, the creation of an icon was a collective under the guidance of a teacher.

The icons are not artisans and occupied an honorable place in church hierarchy. In Russia, icon painters were revered as saints.

The icon was written on the board. A fixed, hard board surface is strict and mandatory. This solid surface reminds the icon painter and viewer of other strongholds.

The non-material world was depicted by conventional signs.

Gold was used not only as a symbol of the Divine, but also as a means to create a sense of a shimmering mystical reality - not a plane, not space.

The clothes on the icon are not a means to cover up bodily nudity. Clothing is a symbol. She is a fabric from the exploits of a saint.

One of important details- folds. The nature of the arrangement of the folds testifies to the time of writing the icon.

In the VIII-XIV centuries, folds were drawn frequent and small. They talk about strong spiritual experiences, about the lack of spiritual peace.

In the XV-XVI centuries, folds are drawn straight, not very long, converging at angles.

By the end of the 15th century, the folds were almost straight, long, rare, and all the elasticity of spiritual energy seemed to break through them. They convey the fullness of ordered spiritual forces.

Around the head of the Savior, Mother of God and holy saints and saints of God, icons and paintings depict a radiance or a light circle, which is called a halo.

In the halo of the Savior, three Greek letters are sometimes placed. This Greek word translated into Russian means Existing, and there is always only one God.

Above the head of the Mother of God they put the first and last letters of the Greek words, which mean: Mother of God, or Mother of God.

Nimbus is an image of the radiance of the Light and Glory of God, which also transforms a person who has united with God. This invisible radiance of the light of God is sometimes visible to other people.

So, for example, the holy prophet Moses had to cover his face with a veil so as not to blind people with the light emanating from his face.

So is the face Reverend Seraphim Sarovsky, during a conversation with Motovilov about the acquisition of the Holy Spirit, shone like the sun. Motovilov himself writes that it was then impossible for him to look at the face of the Monk Seraphim.

Thus the Lord glorifies His holy saints with the radiance of the light of His glory while still on earth.

There are no shadows on the icon. This is also due to the peculiarities of the world outlook and the tasks that the icon painter faced. Another reality is the realm of spirituality, light, it is ethereal, there are no shadows. Painters from the Renaissance to the present use shadow to show the subject as something physically real and opposed to light. By its struggle with light, the object reveals its reality and tangibility, materiality. The icon painter does not need this, since the icon shows things that are created and produced by Light, and not illuminated by light.

Another feature of the icon and fresco is that events are given there as an expression of ideas, truths that live under the sign of Eternity. There is no time like fluidity.

Reading the icon

Icons should be read from the bottom up, as if rising from the earthly world to the heavenly. Saints are often depicted standing on the ground, but reaching for the sky - such was, metaphorically speaking, and their life path. Sometimes at the bottom of the icon there are important attributes, details of the life of the saints, which are not evident if the image is not viewed sequentially. In ancient icons, even the board of the frame plays a role; it is the boundary between our world and the spiritual world represented in the icon. in Syrian and Egyptian deserts it was not so easy to get a tree, and even more so a linden - also a symbolic plant.

If you look closely at the ancient icons, the line between the frame and the image is usually written in color - most often red. This border is called "husk" (like a thin film in seeds that "husk"), it symbolizes the border between the valley and mountain worlds, and it is red because this line, this transition, was given in blood ...

The background on the icon is playing important role, like everything else - they say that not a single millimeter of an icon is written meaninglessly, just like that. In the most ancient times of Christianity, the background of icons was painted in detail to show the reality of the events that took place on them. Later, a reminder of reality will become less important for the icon. Much more often now we meet a solid background: gold or white. These two colors are the "highest" in the Byzantine tradition. White color- the color of paradise, and the icons that have it as a background clearly show the person standing in front of them that the action takes place in paradise. The golden color, we repeat, is the color of holiness and a special, immaterial radiance. In addition, gold does not change color, it is permanent and is associated with eternity. With gold tested in the furnace, Scripture compares the martyrs who suffered for Christ.

The icons of the saints sometimes depict the places of their life and deeds. So, for example, the Cathedral of the Kiev-Pechersk Saints is written against the background Kiev-Pechersk Lavra; Mary of Egypt is depicted against the backdrop of the desert; Blessed Xenia - against the backdrop of St. Petersburg and the temple at the Smolensk cemetery. There is famous icon John of Shanghai, it depicts a pavement and a taxi - that among which this saint lived.

Everyone who is interested in icons has heard about reverse perspective in icons. It is no secret that the reverse perspective emphasizes that it is not the person standing in front of the icon who is the center of the world, but the One who, as it were, looks at him from the icon. But what is rarely talked about in connection with the reverse perspective is the sides. After all, if an icon is painted “from a different point of view,” then its right (for us) side becomes left (for it) and vice versa. And the sides also have their own symbolism. The right side (from the point of view of internal organization, i.e. for us, the left) corresponds to the foreground (and present time), and the left side - to the back (and future time). It helps us to understand many icons, for example iconography Doomsday, which shows the righteous on the viewer's left and the sinners on the right, rather than the other way around.

In the center of the icon, the most important thing is usually depicted - that from the point of view of what (or Whom) it narrates. For example, the compositional center of the famous "Trinity" by Andrei Rublev is a bowl, which is blessed by the hands of angels. The entire movement of the prayer’s inner gaze takes place around this bowl (let us recall here the symbolism of the circle).

Often the picturesque center of the icon is the gospel. The perspective of the icon, as it were, unfolds from him, the side edges of the book are written in bright colors. “We see the cover of the Gospel, but the bright edges growing in depth show how incomparably more important is what lies behind this cover,” writes one of the researchers.

SYMBOLS OF THE ICON

Symbolism of color

Gold has already been mentioned as a color-symbol of joy and bliss. Gold is used to indicate the presence of a force field of Divine energy. But not everything is gold-plated. Usually these are the clothes of the Savior, the image of the Gospel, the throne of the Savior, the seat of the angels. Light emanating from the Savior when He reveals His Divine principle. This is the color that symbolizes eternity.

Sometimes the assist is present in the form of golden threads penetrating the space of the icon.

Blue color (usually a blue segment with stars) - represents the sky.

Blue is also the color of the sky and eternity. Often Jesus, the Mother of God, angels, saints are enclosed in a blue circle (both the circle and the color are symbols not only of Eternity, but also of Harmony). You can always recognize the Mother of God Church by the blue domes.

White symbolizes purity and innocence. It is the color of the Glory of Christ, often depicted in white robes to emphasize that He is like light. White combines all the colors of the rainbow, just as God contains the whole world in Himself.

Pale pink color - the color of spiritual sophistication.

Purple - like gold - is the color of Eternity and the glory of Christ, the color of Morning, Rebirth, a sign of the Royal essence of Christ. Purple represents the Sun.

Red color has several meanings at once. It is the color of blood, the color of Christ's sacrifice. Therefore, the people depicted on the icon in red clothes are martyrs. The wings of the archangels-seraphs close to the throne of God shine with red heavenly fire. Red also symbolizes Divine fire; it is also a symbol of the Resurrection, the victory of life over death. There are even icons with a red background - a sign of celebration eternal life. The red background always fills the icon with an Easter sound.

The robes of Christ and the Mother of God are almost always unchanged - a cherry chiton and a blue cloak-himation for Christ, a dark blue tunic and a cherry veil-maforium for the Mother of God.

Cherry blossom is explained by the church fathers as follows: it connects the beginning and end of the spectrum (red and purple) - this is a sign of Christ, who is the beginning and end of existence.

Green symbolizes youth and flowering.

Yellow color is identical to gold.

Black color is a sign of the innermost Divine secrets.

Attribute interpretation

Even the smallest attributes on icons give us "keys" to their understanding. What are the most common attributes of saints on icons? Crosses in the hands of saints usually mean that this person has accepted martyrdom for your faith.

Often, something for which they became famous is given into the hands of the saints on the icon. For example, on the palm of Sergius of Radonezh they write the monastery founded by him. Saint Panteleimon is holding a medicine box. Saints and evangelists on icons hold the Gospel.

Reverends - a rosary, like Seraphim of Sarov, or scrolls with sayings or prayer, like Silouan of Athos.

Sometimes the attributes of saints are unexpected, amazing, and you can understand them only by knowing the life.

For example, the holy Tsarevich Demetrius can be depicted on icons in a crown (although he was not crowned), often with nuts in his hand, with which he played before his death.

Or an amazing icon of the holy martyr (we read this from the cross in our hand) Christopher, instead of whose head there is depicted, surrounded by a halo, the head of ... a dog. This is an exaggerated episode from his life: the martyr Christopher prayed to God to take away his beauty in order to avoid temptations and make him terrible.

Symbolism of figures and gestures

The figures on the icons are also symbolic. So, for example, a square or rectangle, on which the saint's feet often stand, means human - our land and the fact that the action takes place in the world below. In figures with a large number of angles, this number is symbolic: a hexagon, introducing the theme of the six days of creation, an octagon with Eternity, and so on.

Circle - a figure without corners, which is perfect, symbolizes the fullness of being, and is often depicted on the icons of the creation of the earth. In addition, halos have the shape of a circle. And on the icon “Rejoices in You”, for example, the entire figure of the Mother of God is inscribed in a circle (mandorla) - a symbol of Divine glory. And then the outlines of the circle are repeated again and again - in the walls and domes of the temple, in the branches of the Garden of Eden, in the flight of mysterious, almost invisible heavenly powers at the very top of the icon.

The figure with a hand pressed to the cheek is a symbol of sadness. An open hand stretched forward is a sign of humility.

Symbolism of things

Oak is the tree of life.

The house is a symbol of house building, creation.

The mountain is a symbol of the sublime, a sign of spiritual and moral ascent.

The red cross is a symbol of martyrdom (and rebirth).

The anemone flower is a sign of the grief of Mary, the mother of Christ (usually on the icons "Crucifixion" and "Descent from the Cross").

The angel's staff is a symbol of heavenly messengers, messengers.

A young man with a pipe is the wind.

The pelican is a symbol of love for children.

The golden crown is a symbol of spiritual victory.

Right and left side on an icon or fresco - also symbols. The medieval spectator knew that to the left of Christ there were unreasonable virgins, to the right - reasonable ones.

Two or three trees symbolize the forest.

A ray from the heavenly spheres is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, Divine energy, which performs the miracle of the incarnation of the Divine in man.

The action in front of the temple, where the front wall is removed, means that it takes place inside the temple.

Monograms

There are also inscriptions on the icons - in Greek and Russian.

The icon of Jesus Christ contains an abbreviation to several letters - IC-XC or ΙΧΘΥΣ (gr. Ιησους Χριστος Θεου Υιος Σωτηρ - Jesus Christ the Son of God, Savior). The halo of Christ is depicted with a cross, in the cross there are three Greek letters ο ων , which are translated as "Who is" or "Which is" (Ex 3:14).

Icons of the Mother of God also necessarily contain inscriptions in Greek or Church Slavonic. There are two pairs of letters in the corners of the icon - on the left MR, on right ΘΥ . These are ancient Greek abbreviations. Μητερ Θεου i.e. "Mother of God".

On the icons of saints, the inscription is located on both sides of the image. The inscription begins with the word “holy” (“holy”), then the rank of the saint is called (reverend, blessed, martyr, noble prince, etc.), often the inscription ends with the name of the saint indicating the place where the feats were performed (“holy reverend Kuksha of Odessa", "St. Rev. Alexy Goloseevsky"). Sometimes you can find instead of the word "holy" ("holy") the Greek version Αγιος Αγια ("Agios", "Agia").

Abbreviations in inscriptions on icons: HOLY, ST, STN, ST, ST, ST- Saint; PACK- saint; OKA, UAC- righteous (Greek); PRO- a prophet; APL- apostle; STL- saint; MCH, MCNK- martyr; ETC- Reverend.

The designations on the Crucifixion of Christ, which are depicted, for example, on the clothes of schemamonks, are as follows:

I.N.C.I.- an abbreviated inscription on the images of the Crucifixions, a sign of words written in three languages (Jewish, Greek and Latin) by Pontius Pilate on a tablet nailed over the head of the Savior: “Jesus of Nazarene, King of the Jews”;

MLRB- an abbreviation for "the place of the frontal paradise was," or "the place of the frontal was crucified"; Greek equivalent - ΤΚΠΓ (short for Τουτο Κρανιον Παραδεισος Γεγονε) ;

GG- Mount Golgotha, an inscription at the foot of the Cross depicting the Crucifixion; GA- The head of Adam, the inscription next to the skull depicted at the foot of the Crucifixion; TO And T- an abbreviation for "spear" and "cane", the signature of the instruments of passion on the images of the Crucifixion.

In the icon-painting artel, the inscriptions on the icon were made by the head of the artel or the best icon painter. The beauty and harmony of the alphabetic line complements the beauty of the image and crowns all the work of the icon painter or icon painters.

LITERATURE

Orthodox icons/ Compiled by Natalia Budur. - M.: "OLMA-PRESS", 2005. - 320 p.
http://russian7.ru/2014/05/7-glavnyx-principov-chteniya-ikon/
http://www.bf-favor.org/blogs/artilce/kak_chitat_nadpisi_na_ikonakh

October 23, 787 Ecumenical Council established the order of veneration of icons, which has survived to this day. Until the 16th century, even illiterate people were able to "read" icons

1. BOTTOM UP
Icons should be read from the bottom up, as if rising from the earthly world to the heavenly. Saints are often depicted standing on the ground, but reaching for the sky - such was, metaphorically speaking, their life path. Sometimes at the bottom of the icon there are important attributes, details of the life of the saints, which are not evident if the image is not viewed sequentially. In ancient icons, even the board of the frame plays a role; it is the boundary between our world and the spiritual world represented in the icon. In the Syrian and Egyptian deserts, it was not so easy to get a tree, and even more so a linden - also a symbolic plant.

If you look closely at the ancient icons, the line between the frame and the image is usually written in color - most often red. This border is called “husk” (like a thin film in seeds that “husk”), it symbolizes the border between the lower and upper worlds, and it is red because this border, this transition, was given by blood ...

2. ATTENTION TO THE BACKGROUND
The background on the icon plays an important role, like everything else - they say that not a single millimeter of the icon is written meaninglessly, just like that. In the most ancient times of Christianity, the background of icons was painted in detail to show the reality of the events that took place on them. Later, a reminder of reality will become less important for the icon. Much more often now we meet a solid background: gold or white. These two colors are the "highest" in the Byzantine tradition. White is the color of paradise, and the icons that have it as a background clearly show the person standing in front of them that the action takes place in paradise. Golden color - the color of holiness and a special, immaterial radiance. In addition, gold does not change color, it is permanent and is associated with eternity. With gold tested in the furnace, Scripture compares the martyrs who suffered for Christ.

The icons of the saints sometimes depict the places of their life and deeds. So, for example, the Cathedral of the Kiev-Pechersk Saints is painted against the backdrop of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra; Mary of Egypt is depicted against the backdrop of the desert; Blessed Xenia - against the backdrop of St. Petersburg and the temple at the Smolensk cemetery. There is a well-known icon of John of Shanghai, it depicts a pavement and a taxi - that among which this saint lived.

3. SYMBOLIC COLORS
We have already talked about the white and gold colors on the icon. But other colors also have their own symbolic meaning, and it is probably interesting to know that there is a color that you will not find on canonical icons. This color is grey, a color obtained by mixing white and black. IN spiritual world heaven and hell, holiness and sin, good and evil do not mix, and darkness cannot embrace light. Therefore, for icon painters who treat color as an image endowed with meaning and never choose color arbitrarily, “for beauty”, gray is not needed.

Red color has several meanings at once. It is the color of blood, the color of Christ's sacrifice. Therefore, the people depicted on the icon in red clothes are martyrs. The wings of the archangels-seraphs close to the throne of God shine with red heavenly fire. But red is also a symbol of the Resurrection, the victory of life over death. There are even icons with a red background - a sign of the triumph of eternal life. The red background always fills the icon with an Easter sound.

Blue and blue colors correspond with the sky, other, eternal world and wisdom. This is the color of the Mother of God, who combined both the earthly and the heavenly. So by the blue domes you can always recognize the Mother of God Church.

4. DESCRIPTION OF ATTRIBUTES
Even the smallest attributes on icons give us "keys" to their understanding. "Russian Seven" has already touched on this topic, for example, in the material about the icon " Burning bush". What are the most common attributes of saints on icons? Crosses in the hands of saints usually mean that this person was martyred for his faith.

Sometimes the attributes of saints are unexpected, amazing, and you can understand them only by knowing the life. For example, the holy Tsarevich Demetrius can be depicted on icons in a crown (although he was not crowned), often with nuts in his hand, with which he played before his death.

5. UNDERSTANDING THE FIGURES
The figures on the icons are also symbolic. So, for example, a square or rectangle, on which the saint's feet often stand, means human - our land and the fact that the action takes place in the world below. In figures with a large number of angles, this number is symbolic: a hexagon, introducing the theme of the six days of creation, an octagon with Eternity, and so on.

6. PERSPECTIVE AND SIDES
Everyone who is interested in icons has heard about reverse perspective in icons. It is no secret that the reverse perspective emphasizes that it is not the person standing in front of the icon who is the center of the world, but the One who, as it were, looks at him from the icon. But what is rarely talked about in connection with the reverse perspective is the sides. After all, if an icon is painted “from a different point of view,” then its right (for us) side becomes left (for it) and vice versa. And the sides also have their own symbolism. The right side (from the point of view of internal organization, i.e. for us, the left) corresponds to the foreground (and present time), and the left side - to the back (and future time). This helps us to understand many icons, for example, the iconography of the Last Judgment, in which the righteous are presented to the left of the viewer, and the sinners to the right, and not vice versa.

7. CENTER OF THE ICON
In the center of the icon, the most important thing is usually depicted - that, from the point of view of what (or Whom) it narrates. For example, the compositional center of the famous "Trinity" by Andrei Rublev is a bowl, which is blessed by the hands of angels. The entire movement of the prayer’s inner gaze takes place around this bowl (let us recall here the symbolism of the circle).

People please God in different ways: the Heavenly Father endows everyone with talents in due measure and accepts labors from everyone for His glory, therefore the Church glorifies the saints of God in different faces.

holy prophets

The prophets include holy people who received from God the gift of insight into the future, proclaiming to the world the ways of His Providence; under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they predicted future events, especially the promised Savior.

The most revered prophets: Elijah (Comm. 2 August), John the Baptist (July 7, September 11). Prophecy wives are known, for example righteous Anna(February 16).

In the iconography of the prophets, there is always an image of a halo as a symbol of holiness and the special election of God; on their heads - prophetic caps (for example, the prophet Daniel) or a crown, like the kings David and Solomon; prophets are also depicted with uncovered head; the scrolls in their hands contain excerpts from the texts of their prophecies. The prophets are dressed in a tunic (underwear in the form of a shirt to the heels) and himation (outer clothing in the form of a cloak), on the shoulders of some (the prophet Elijah) a mantle - a cape made of sheepskin.

The last of the prophets, who announced: "... repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand" (Matt. 3:2) and who saw with his own eyes the fulfillment of all the prophecies about the Savior, is John the Baptist, whose iconography is very diverse.

He is depicted wearing camel hair or a chiton and himation; the icon “Angel of the Desert” is widespread, where John the Baptist has wings behind his back - a symbol of the purity of his life as a desert dweller. On this icon, the holy prophet John the Baptist holds his own severed head in his hand, which is a feature of icon painting, when events that are far apart in time from each other are depicted simultaneously, and also like St. martyrs are depicted with the instruments of their suffering for the Lord, and virgins are depicted with a palm or flower branch as a symbol of purity. The figures of the prophets are most often depicted to the waist and in full growth.

holy apostles

apostles(in Greek - messengers) - the disciples of Christ, who accompanied Him during public service, and subsequently sent by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself to all ends of the earth, spreading the faith throughout the world. The Apostles Peter and Paul (July 12) are referred to as the supreme ones.

Traditionally, the holy apostles are depicted with scrolls or a book in the form of a codex, with halos around their heads; clothes of the apostles - chiton and himation.

On icons, the supreme apostle Peter is usually depicted with a bunch of keys, which means the totality of the Church Sacraments, which are symbolic keys to the Kingdom of Heaven: “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell will not overcome it; and I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:18-19).

Four icons of the holy evangelists are always placed on royal doors. Evangelists Matthew, Mark and Luke are depicted while working on the Gospels, sitting indoors behind open books, and the holy evangelist John is among the mountains on the island of Patmos, where, according to Tradition, he dictated the inspired text to his disciple Prochorus.

Saints equal to the apostles

Equal-to-the-Apostles- these are the saints who, like the apostles, labored in the conversion of countries and peoples to Christ. Such, for example, are the kings Constantine and Helena (June 3), the baptist of Russia, Prince Vladimir (July 28) and grand duchess Olga (July 24).

Images of saints Equal-to-the-Apostles have basically the same iconographic symbolism; differences may be in the images of clothing, which is characteristic of its time and people. Often in the iconography of the Equal-to-the-Apostles saints, the image of the cross appears - a symbol of baptism and salvation from eternal death.

Saints

Saints - Patriarchs, Metropolitans, Archbishops and Bishops who achieved holiness by the purity of their personal lives and became famous for their tireless care of their flock, the preservation of Orthodoxy from heresies and schisms. Among their great host, the most revered among the Russian people are the saints: Nicholas the Wonderworker (December 19 and May 22), Ecumenical teachers Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom (common memory February 12); Moscow saints Peter, Alexy, Jonah, Philip, Job, Hermogenes and Tikhon (commemorated October 18).

Only bishops can be counted among the saints, since they, leading the community, receive the gift of teaching and continue the continuity apostolic succession through the ordination of new bishops.

On the icons, the saints are depicted in liturgical episcopal vestments. They may have a miter on their heads - a special headdress decorated with small icons And precious stones, symbolizing the crown of thorns of the Savior (but more often the saints are depicted with their heads uncovered); they are dressed in sakkos - outerwear, signifying the scarlet of the Savior; on the shoulders - an omophorion - a long ribbon-like dress decorated with crosses, which is an obligatory part of the bishop's vestments. The omophorion symbolizes the lost sheep, which the gospel good shepherd carries home on his shoulders.

The saints are most often depicted with a book in their left hand; right hand- in a blessing gesture. Sometimes saints hold a cross, a chalice or a rod in their hands. The figures of saints can be full-length and waist-deep.

Holy martyrs

Martyrs- which include most of the saints - those who endured suffering and death for the name of Christ, for the right faith, for refusing to serve idols.

Those who have endured especially cruel torments are called great martyrs. Among them are the healer Panteleimon (August 9), George the Victorious (May 6), Saints Barbara (December 17) and Catherine (December 7).

The hieromartyrs accepted death in holy orders, and the venerable martyrs - in monastic vows.

Separately in Russia they revere martyrs who died at the hands of murderers and villains. The first Russian saints were the martyr princes Boris and Gleb (August 6).

The prototype of martyrdom is Christ Himself, who witnessed with His own blood the salvation of the human race.

Martyrs(from the holy protomartyr Stephen (Acts 7) to the new martyrs of our time) - successors apostolic ministry, and therefore there is a cross on their icons. It is depicted in the hands of a saint and is a symbol of both the apostolic gospel and a symbol of sacrifice. Joyfully giving earthly existence in exchange for heavenly existence, the martyrs become co-workers with Christ Himself.

The iconography of the martyrs uses the red color as a figurative expression of suffering for the faith, and the red robes of the martyrs are a symbol of shed blood.

Confessors Those who suffered a lot for Christ, openly professing their faith, endured persecution, torment and torture for this, but survived, avoiding martyrdom, are called the Church. Starting from the 6th century, saints are called confessors who, by the special righteousness of their lives, testified to the Christian faith.

Reverends

Saints (who have become like the Lord) are saints who have become famous in monastic deeds. By fasting, prayer, labors they created great virtues in their souls - humility, chastity, meekness. Almost every monastery is glorified before God as a saint. In Russia, special love is enjoyed Reverend Sergius Radonezh (July 18 and October 8) and Seraphim of Sarov (January 15 and August 1). Among the venerable wives, Saint Mary of Egypt (April 14) is most famous.

Monastic asceticism - special kind following Christ, which implies a complete rejection of all worldly attachments. The basis of the monastic feat is fasting and prayer as a way of knowing God and striving for life in God. But monasticism is not only a means of personal salvation. “Save yourself, and thousands around you will be saved,” these words of St. Seraphim of Sarov indicate that the laborious monastic feat is marked by special gifts of God, using which the ascetic leads to the salvation of all his spiritual children.

The monks are depicted in full growth and waist-high, in monastic vestments; right hand - in nominal blessing ring formation; in the left - there may be an unrolled or, most often, a twisted scroll; a characteristic detail of the iconography of the saints - the rosary - a symbol of monastic prayer work.

The background for the icons of the saints can be a panoramic image of the monastery in which the saint labored.

Saints are depicted standing on pillars venerable pillars who have chosen for themselves this type of extreme asceticism as a way of withdrawing from the world and concentrating on unceasing prayer.

Often on icons (this applies to all the iconography of the saints) there is an image of the blessing right hand of the Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, the Mother of God, angels and archangels.

The figures can be single, but there are also multi-figured compositions, called "icons with selected saints." Single figures are depicted surrounded by hagiographic hallmarks - separate scenes from the life of a saint.

Unmercenaries

Unmercenaries had the gift of healing and used it free of charge, healing both bodily and mental illnesses. Such doctors were, for example, Saints Cosmas and Damian (July 14), the great martyr and healer Panteleimon (August 9), and others.

Blessed (holy fools)

Holy fools For Christ's sake, assuming the guise of madness, enduring reproach from those around them, they denounced human vices, admonished those in power, and consoled the suffering. Among them (Aug. 2), Xenia of Petersburg(February 6) and other saints.

Outward madness, combined with the gift of foresight, behavior that runs counter to the generally accepted, but allows, regardless of faces, to convict sinners and call for salvation through awareness of one's own imperfection and repentance - these are the main features of the feat of foolishness.

The blessed on the icons are depicted in the form in which they performed their feat: naked or with a light bandage on their loins, in shabby clothes, with chains on their shoulders.

An obligatory element of the iconography of holy fools - nimbus.

Holy righteous

Being family people and living in the world, the righteous saints were rewarded with holiness for a particularly pious and pleasing to God Lifestyle.

Forefathers- the first righteous people in human history.

These are the Old Testament patriarchs (forefathers Adam, Noah, Abraham etc.), as well as the righteous Joachim and Anna(September 22) - the parents of the Mother of God (to whom the Church still appropriated the high title of Godfather), Righteous Zechariah and Elizabeth(July 8) - the parents of St. John the Baptist, and the betrothed of the Virgin - righteous Joseph. The forefathers figuratively participate in the history of the salvation of mankind, being the ancestors of Jesus Christ in the flesh, and in the spiritual plan they are an example of the combination of the righteousness of life with the foreknowledge of the coming liberation from eternal death. On the icons, the patriarchs are depicted with scrolls containing texts from Holy Scripture; Forefather Noah is sometimes depicted with an ark in his hands.

The great Russian saint, the righteous John, Kronstadt Wonderworker (January 2), who was a priest - a representative of the white (married) clergy.

The figures of saints are depicted both in full growth and waist-high. The background is often a panorama of the city where the saint lived, cloisters or churches.

Holy believers

Holy believers- these are kings and princes who used the greatness and wealth received from God for works of mercy, enlightenment, and the preservation of national shrines. Among them - (September 12 and December 6) and Dimitry Donskoy(June 1st).

The main theological meaning of the entire iconography of the saints is victory over sin, and therefore over eternal death, salvation and entry into the Kingdom of Heaven. According to St. John of Damascus, “the saints were filled with the Holy Spirit during their lifetime, but when they died, the grace of the Holy Spirit is present both with their souls and with their bodies in the tombs, and with their figures, and with their holy icons - not in essence, but by grace and action."

Until the 16th century, even illiterate people were able to “read” icons, and one icon sometimes replaced dozens of sermons.

Remembering the Seven Principles of Reading Icons .

UPWARDS

Icons should be read from the bottom up, as if rising from the earthly world to the heavenly. Saints are often depicted standing on the ground, but reaching for the sky - such was, metaphorically speaking, their life path. Sometimes at the bottom of the icon there are important attributes, details of the life of the saints, which are not evident if the image is not viewed sequentially. In ancient icons, even the board of the frame plays a role; it is the boundary between our world and the spiritual world represented in the icon. In the Syrian and Egyptian deserts, it was not so easy to get a tree, and even more so a linden - also a symbolic plant.

ATTENTION TO THE BACKGROUND

The background on the icon plays an important role, like everything else - they say that not a single millimeter of the icon is written meaninglessly, just like that. In the most ancient times of Christianity, the background of icons was painted in detail to show the reality of the events that took place on them. Later, a reminder of reality will become less important for the icon. Much more often now we meet a solid background: gold or white. These two colors are the "highest" in the Byzantine tradition. White is the color of paradise, and the icons that have it as a background clearly show the person standing in front of them that the action takes place in paradise. Golden color - the color of holiness and a special, immaterial radiance. In addition, gold does not change color, it is permanent and is associated with eternity. With gold tested in the furnace, Scripture compares the martyrs who suffered for Christ.

SYMBOLIC COLORS

We have already talked about the white and gold colors on the icon. But other colors also have their own symbolic meaning, and it is probably interesting to know that there is a color that you will not find on canonical icons. This color is grey, a color obtained by mixing white and black. In the spiritual world, heaven and hell, holiness and sin, good and evil do not mix, and darkness cannot embrace light. Therefore, for icon painters who treat color as an image endowed with meaning and never choose color arbitrarily, “for beauty”, gray is not needed.

Red color has several meanings at once. It is the color of blood, the color of Christ's sacrifice. Therefore, the people depicted on the icon in red clothes are martyrs. The wings of the archangels-seraphs close to the throne of God shine with red heavenly fire. But red is also a symbol of the Resurrection, the victory of life over death. There are even icons with a red background - a sign of the triumph of eternal life. The red background always fills the icon with an Easter sound.

DESCRIPTION OF ATTRIBUTES

Reverends - a rosary, like Seraphim of Sarov, or scrolls with sayings or prayer, like Silouan of Athos.

Sometimes the attributes of saints are unexpected, amazing, and you can understand them only by knowing the life.

For example, the holy Tsarevich Demetrius can be depicted on icons in a crown (although he was not crowned), often with nuts in his hand, with which he played before his death.

UNDERSTANDING THE FIGURES

PERSPECTIVE AND SIDES

Everyone who is interested in icons has heard about reverse perspective in icons. It is no secret that the reverse perspective emphasizes that it is not the person standing in front of the icon who is the center of the world, but the One who, as it were, looks at him from the icon. But what is rarely talked about in connection with the reverse perspective is the sides. After all, if an icon is painted “from a different point of view,” then its right (for us) side becomes left (for it) and vice versa. And the sides also have their own symbolism. The right side (from the point of view of internal organization, i.e. for us, the left) corresponds to the foreground (and present time), and the left side - to the back (and future time). This helps us to understand many icons, for example, the iconography of the Last Judgment, in which the righteous are presented to the left of the viewer, and the sinners to the right, and not vice versa.

CENTER OF THE ICON

In the center of the icon, the most important thing is usually depicted - that, from the point of view of what (or Whom) it narrates. For example, the compositional center of the famous "Trinity" by Andrei Rublev is a bowl, which is blessed by the hands of angels. The entire movement of the prayer’s inner gaze takes place around this bowl (let us recall here the symbolism of the circle).

Catherine Oaro