Icon

An icon is a sacred image, typically of Christ, the Theotokos (Mary), or a saint, painted (or "written," in the traditional Orthodox term) in a specific stylized form following a long tradition of iconographic convention. Icons are venerated rather than worshipped, treated as windows to the divine: the veneration passes through the icon to the person it represents. Icons are central to Orthodox spirituality and Orthodox church architecture; an icon stand near the entrance of an Orthodox church is the first thing many Orthodox faithful greet on arrival. Most US Orthodox Christians maintain a domestic icon corner with one or more icons used in family prayer.