Why are there icons in the church? Nominal icon and its meaning

A true icon inspires a person
pray to God in confidence
that He is near, that He hears prayer,
that he is ready to help
and fulfill the request

Sometimes you have to hear people's bewildered questions - why in our time, the time of high technology, you need to spend time and money searching for and ordering a handwritten icon.

The answer to this question lies in the question itself. Like in Lewis Carroll's fairy tale "Through the Looking-Glass", a modern person needs to run as fast as he can, only to stay in the same place, and in order to move forward, he must run even faster. And in this frantic race there is no time left to be alone with yourself, to think about the innermost.

In the ocean of bustle, the icon will help create an island of eternity. You do not get a picture, tastes for which change and which can eventually be thrown away or taken to the country attic by you or your children. You acquire an icon, a sacred image that spiritually connects your family from generation to generation.

It's not a secret for anyone that, according to Russian custom, we turn to God when the thunder is already thundering. But now some people can no longer remember God and the church even in the most critical life situations. Often, it is because of this that we commit irreparable acts, which we later regret for a long time.

How does it happen that we come to the temple where our troubles are resolved? Yes, we just walked along the street - we saw the temple and went in. What if you didn't see it? If there are no temples along the route home-work-home? An icon in your home can become such a reminder, an anchor in our troubled world.

Sometimes it happens that a glance at the icon is enough to restrain oneself, not to flare up, not to do stupid things. No wonder they said in Russia - at least endure the saints. Here, under the saints, it was the icons that were meant. In the presence of sacred images of saints, martyrs from time immemorial, people were ashamed to behave in an inhuman manner.

The most precious thing we have is a family, children, people close to us. If you have peace and prosperity in your family, you are not afraid of any hardships and troubles in life. But how often it happens that the heart hurts for loved ones, we want to help them, but we don’t know how to do it. Children have grown up, they want to be independent in everything, they do not allow me to interfere in their lives. But you can help not only with advice, a call to an influential friend, with money, you can help with a prayer ... A sincere prayer for a loved one, a dear person will not go unheeded by the Lord - He will help, guide, heal.

It is very difficult for modern people to learn how to pray - we are not used to it from childhood, our parents did not know about it, and many of them did not even know about it. And sometimes I want to talk to God, ask Him, explain... But the words get stuck in my throat, they don't go. And here an icon will help you, one of the main purposes of which is to help people rise above worldly fuss, to help them pray. As Archimandrite Zinon said: “An icon is an embodied prayer. It is created in prayer and for the sake of prayer, the driving force of which is love for God, striving for Him as perfect Beauty.

The main thing for which the icon is called is to awaken in the future before it the spiritual need to pray, to bow to God in repentance, to seek solace in sorrows.

You can order from us a measured or nominal icon for your children. Specialists in the field of preschool psychology and pedagogy are aware of the fact that at the age of three or four years, many children begin to play with fictitious friends. As a rule, this is explained by the need for a reliable friend, to whom one can not only tell everything, but also, if necessary, be under his reliable protection. Such protection, real, not fabulous, of course, is given to the child by his heavenly Patron.

It is only necessary to teach the child to speak with his patron saint through the icon. It is necessary to teach him to see not a picturesque image, but a true Patron, ready to help the baby. Then in the future, one fleeting glance at the icon will be enough for everything good in the soul to rise as a memory, as experience, as knowledge. In this sense, a measured icon is a great opportunity for spiritual education and strengthening the bond between parents and children, between the child and the giver of the icon.

Another ancient Orthodox tradition is the creation and transmission from generation to generation of family icons (icons depicting the patron saints of all family members). Most often, such icons depict the Mother of God surrounded by saints. These can be saints, whose names are family members or especially revered intercessors and patrons of the family.

Such icons are passed down from generation to generation, children are blessed with them, they are a family shrine.

Such an icon helps to carry out the conciliar prayer, that is, the common prayer of the family, when everyone asks not only for themselves, but for the whole family: parents for their children, children for their parents. It is this kind of family prayer that gives hope for overcoming all family disputes, troubles, creates a fertile ground for trust, mutual understanding, patience and love. The tradition of family icons has ancient roots connecting families and generations with an invisible thread. How important it is not to turn into "Ivanov who does not remember kinship" ...

Marina Chizhova

Why do Orthodox people pray in front of holy icons?

Today, not a single Orthodox church or house can be imagined without holy icons. At the same time, one can often hear all sorts of attacks and accusations of idolatry from sectarians, adherents of other religions. Unfortunately, sometimes even among fellow believers, not everyone is able to explain in an accessible way the main reasons and grounds for icon veneration in Orthodoxy. In this article, we will try to fill this gap.

Why is icon veneration accepted in Orthodoxy?

The most popular argument that Protestants try to use when denying the veneration of icons is a quote torn from the Bible: no one has ever seen God (John 1:18). "How can you portray God if he is invisible?" they are outraged. But traditionally, for their faith, they act cunningly and unwisely. Because a person who knows the Holy Scriptures well will immediately answer that further after this quote in the Gospel of John the following words are contained: The Only Begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has manifested (John 1:18).

This is the main argument in defense of icon veneration in Orthodoxy. Holy icons appeared after the coming into the world of God the Son in the flesh. God became incarnate, became visible through His Son, and now nothing prevents us from making His images. Saint John of Damascus wrote:

In ancient times, God, incorporeal and formless, was never portrayed. Now, when God appeared in the flesh and lived among people, we represent the visible God.

Today, icon veneration is a dogma (an approved truth) Orthodox Church, however, this was not always the case. At the beginning of the 8th century, Emperor Leo III initiated the persecution of sacred images, forbade their worship, for which the icons were placed so high that people could not reach them.

All this resulted in an iconoclastic heresy, in connection with which in 787 in Nicaea was organized Seventh Ecumenical Council . It was on it that the dogma was adopted, which actually “legalized” the veneration of icons, explaining that the honor given to the image goes back to the prototype, and the worshiper of the icon worships the hypostasis depicted on it.

How is an icon different from a simple image?

How is a holy image different from any other image? The reasons for the veneration of icons cannot be understood without this explanation. Obviously, not only the subject of the image, although they too. A consecrated image cannot be, like a painting, only a source of aesthetic, sensual experience. Therefore, the main purpose of any sacred image is prayer in front of it, and not the decoration of a temple or a house.

The icon-painting image directs the mind and heart of a person to spiritual contemplation, refers to the invisible, supersensible world. At the heart of such an image is always a symbol that connects the outside world with the spiritual, invisible. Holy icons have a grace-filled power emanating from the one depicted on them. Therefore, when people pray, they do not worship the material itself, the board and paints, as they like to say, but those who are depicted on them.

Why pray before the image?

However, the question may arise: do you really need holy icons to pray? Is it impossible without them? Of course not. The Lord sees and hears us in every place, regardless of whether we pray before the icon or without it. But nevertheless, in the second case, there is a danger that we may have our own subjective, distorted idea of ​​the Personality of God or a saint.

The human imagination is arranged in such a way that it requires the existence of some visible forms, representations. And here lies a great danger if we begin to represent something “our own”. It is very easy to fall into spiritual delusion because of this.

Holy icons, painted in accordance with the canons and, as a rule, by people with a heart more cleansed of passions, are able to protect a person from such a mistake. In a word, if you are not going to pray before a holy image, then the main thing is not to try to imagine anything in front of you.

When did the very first icon-paintings appear?

Despite the fact that the birth of iconography became possible, as we said, in connection with the event of the Incarnation, in the Old Testament times there were also images of incorporeal forces. Thus, it is well known that the Ark of the Covenant was decorated with figures of cherubs.

Actually, the very first icon-painting face is considered to be the image that received the name "Savior Not Made by Hands" and was made during the life of Christ, when the holy icons had not yet been painted. This is the history of the face. A certain king Abgar, who ruled Edessa, fell ill with a terrible disease, black leprosy, from which it was impossible to heal.

He had heard about the miracles that the Savior performed, and sent his artist to Him to make a portrait of Jesus Christ, since the king himself could not get to Him. Avgar believed that this would help him heal. No matter how hard the court painter tried, he could not capture the face of the Savior.

Then Jesus, seeing his desire, asked to bring water, washed his face and wiped it with a handkerchief, after which he handed this handkerchief to the artist. And a miracle happened: a face was displayed on the fabric. The second miracle happened already in Edessa, when the king, kissing this handkerchief, was healed. This tradition is another reason for the veneration of icons.

We also know that the first images of the Virgin belong to the brush of the Apostle Luke and were made with Her consent. The Blessed Virgin herself blessed the painted images with the words: May the Grace of the Born of Me and Mine be with these icons!

In early Christian times, known for their cruel persecution of the faithful, a symbolic image of the Savior was common. He was depicted as the Good Shepherd with a lamb in his arms, in the form of a lamb, but most often in the form of a fish. As you know, the last word in Greek sounds like " ichthys ", and are a kind of abbreviation of the words "Jesus Christ Son of God Savior". Similar images are often found on the walls of ancient catacombs.

Such symbolic inscriptions hardly remind us of holy icons. Iconography in the proper sense was born no earlier than the 6th century. The first such images were made in the manner of burning (encaustic), characteristic of ancient, Hellenistic art.

The paint in this case was kneaded on the basis of heated wax. The most famous holy image of the Savior of this period is the face painted in Sinai with asymmetry characteristic of Hellenism. Until now, this image causes a lot of controversy and discussion among researchers.

Miraculous phenomena in defense of holy images

Undoubtedly, the veneration of icons is also associated with many miracles that are performed through prayer in front of the images. There are especially revered, miraculous faces, often myrrh flows out of them, other inexplicable phenomena of a material nature occur. As if the invisible, heavenly world itself testifies in their defense. Two such special cases deserve special mention.

The golden hand of the Virgin

When in the 8th century Byzantium was seized by iconoclasm, which rejected holy icons, the Monk John of Damascus opposed this. He wrote his famous "Words" in their defense. And since John possessed an amazing gift of speech, and besides, he held an honorary position under the ruler of the capital of Syria, his messages had a great power of persuasiveness. For this, the saint soon had to suffer.

Cunningly slandered by the Byzantine king, John of Damascus was severely punished: he was deprived of his brush right hand. However, after praying before the icon of the Blessed Virgin, his hand miraculously grew back and wrote many more creations that defended the veneration of icons. For this miraculous healing, the monk endowed the sacred image with a poured golden hand, by which we today recognize the image of the "Three-Handed".

The wounded face of the Most Pure

Another event took place around the same time in Nicaea. Then the enraged iconoclasts came to the house of a widow and in anger pierced the old image of the Mother of God that she had kept with a spear. However, they were amazed that blood immediately oozed out of the wound, and they believed. Later, the woman, saving, launched this image across the sea, and he came in due time to Athos. According to the name of the monastery, the icon received the name Iverskaya. To this day, she protects the monastery from many troubles, being its "Goalkeeper".

What religions still have holy icons?

Of the Christian denominations, icon-paintings still exist among Catholics. True, Western Christians prefer more sensual, picturesque images, as well as stained glass windows and mosaics. Sculptural statues of saints are especially common in Catholicism. Protestants do not recognize iconographic images at all. Actually, like Islamists and Jews.

There is a certain similarity of holy images in Hinduism and Tibetan Buddhism. In the latter, they bear their name - the tank. However, both in Buddhism and Hinduism, they, of course, have nothing to do with Orthodox icons.

The video will help you to supplement your knowledge on the topic:

Take it, tell your friends!

Read also on our website:

show more

In front of the icon, “we do not worship the written face in prayer, but ascend to the Prototype.”

Saint Basil the Great

Very often, reproaches are heard against the Orthodox that, while venerating the holy icons, we, in fact, engage in idolatry, thereby violating the 2nd commandment: “Do not make for yourself an idol and no image of what is in heaven above, and what is on earth below, and what is in the water below the earth; do not worship them and do not serve them, for I am the Lord your God, a jealous God” (Ex. 20:4-5). But let us remember that, having given this commandment, God Himself soon commanded to break it.

Explaining to Moses what needs to be done to equip the tabernacle, the Lord said: “Make two cherubim of gold: make them of chased work on both ends of the lid; make one cherub on one side, and another cherub on the other side; [protruding] from the cover make cherubs on both edges of it; and there will be cherubim with outstretched wings, covering the lid with their wings, and their faces [will be] to each other: the faces of the cherubim will be towards the lid ”(Exodus 25:18-20). In addition, by the command of God, the images of cherubim were to decorate the fabric that was used to build the tabernacle: “And make the tabernacle of ten covers of twisted linen and of blue, purple and scarlet [wool], and make cherubim on them with skillful work” ( Exodus 26:1).

A logical question arises: if the 2nd commandment does not prohibit depicting angels and even using these images in a cult action, then why is it so fundamentally prohibited in it that people portray God and even more so worship these images? Here we must take into account that this commandment was given for the Old Testament man, the apostles did not consider it necessary to extend it to Christians (see: Acts 15:20;29). What has changed? The Old Testament man never saw God, the Lord explained this to Moses, who wanted to see the Creator: “You cannot see My face, because a person cannot see Me and remain alive” (Exodus 33:20). But an incomprehensible miracle happened in Christ, the Apostle Paul calls it “the great mystery of godliness”: “God appeared in the flesh, showed Himself to the angels, was preached among the nations, accepted by faith in the world” (1 Tim. 3:16). Apostle John echoes the Apostle Paul: “No one has ever seen God; The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has revealed” (John 1:18).

So this is the clue - in the Old Testament, according to the Providence of God, a person was granted the vision of Cherubim and other angels (see: Gen. 3.24; Ezek. 10, etc.), so they could be portrayed, but if a person wanted to depict God, then he would have to fantasize, “invent” God, and therefore engage in self-deception. But God is disgusted by any lie. That is why it is still forbidden in the Church to depict God the Father by the canons (the images that occur in the form of a gray-haired old man are non-canonical) - He did not reveal himself to us in such an image, this is the fruit of our imagination. But now we can depict God the Son, since He appeared to us in the flesh.

One more thing needs to be said here. important point. Depicting the heavenly world, the Orthodox icon, in contrast to Western religious painting, resorts to symbolic, allegorical language. To further enhance the effect of absolute dissimilarity to our world of the world that the icon shows, icon painters use such a technique as reverse perspective. Thanks to this technique, it seems that the objects on the icon are not directed into the distance, towards the horizon (as in a realistic picture), but are turned directly at the viewer. The lines of reverse perspective seem to converge in the heart of the person himself, looking at the icon.

But new questions arise: why do we need images of Christ, the Mother of God and saints? Why do we use icons during prayer? Couldn't we do without them altogether? Of course, we could pray without icons. The Lord says that “the time will come, and has already come, when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for such worshipers the Father seeks for Himself. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24). But here, as is often the case in the words of Christ, we are given a lofty ideal, because we have not yet matured to be called "true worshipers", we have not yet been given spiritual sight, so we need some guidance or, better to say, reminders about that mountain world, which someday we will be able to see “face to face”.

But for us, the icon is not only a reminder of the heavenly world, it is a mysterious space in which our world and the heavenly world meet. Through the icon, a person, “as if through a [dull] glass, guessingly” (1 Corinthians 13:12), can come into contact with the grace-filled Kingdom of God, and this is confirmed by the numerous miracles that are performed through the icons.

The material used the image of the icon "Savior Not Made by Hands"

Easter.ru

An Orthodox person turns to God. How does an icon help a person? Its importance in human life.

An icon is a source of inspiration for the soul.

“And in the beginning was the Word…” - the word gives birth to everything. Starting with the words of prayer, we are able to go and go along the path, closer and closer to God. And no matter how many times we forgot to pray... Constantly, after each fall, we get up again and keep going.

Man is born, lives and dies. These are three basic facts, as an indisputable basic axiom, because this is the essence of the life of any person. Only epochs, times, events, scenery, characters, places, roles change in people's lives.

This cycle continues for thousands of years. In this countless series of appearances and disappearances of a person, a legitimate question arises: “What is all this for?”

Sooner or later, any person comes to the spiritual, trying to understand the meaning of life and answer the most important questions in life. Life "drags" with its action, yes, just like a spectator in a theater carried away by a play. In youth, we think it is too early to think about God, and there is no time, because pleasant moments of falling in love have come. In middle age, a person is busy with so many things that he simply has no time to do spiritual things, as he thinks. And now old age brings - here already the forces are not the same and there are less and less desires - where can one think about God. In general, life is such that there are a thousand reasons not to remember God, and only one reason leads us to Him. Years pass, and often, a person realizes that he was going the wrong way, that he made many mistakes, that he wanted something completely different.

We are all materialists, only because every day we are surrounded by the material world.

Periods, either from intense joy, or from intense grief and despair, flashes of light arise in us. The light that gives us the meaning of existence, in which we see the answers to those important questions that tormented us.

Do you remember those moments?

Light - this is how we feel that world - the World of Heaven. We feel it. We feel it in the same way, although it is elusive for our senses and mind. And we feel it with the soul, which revels in and rejoices in this Heavenly Light. I want to spread my wings and fly!

The call of the soul, the craving for the spiritual is often both joy and sadness. Joy from the fact that we found where to go, and sadness from the fact that we realized this only now, having lost many years. More precisely, exchanging them for mortal.

Stepping on the spiritual path, on returning to God, will mark a new birth in a person's life. However, this path is not so simple. Every day we get carried away with the ordinary, we forget about the main thing for which we came into this World. Such is the changeable essence of a person - to remember, then to forget, then to fall, then to get up and keep going. And let's say "Thank you" to the Lord for the suffering that gives us, for these sufferings help us to remember the eternal. And let us praise Him in gratitude for those moments of grace that He gave us and thus reminded us of Himself.

The essence of prayer is an appeal to God. And that is fellowship with Him. After all, addressing Him with words, we feel Love from Him. This love heals and fills with grace our hearts “dehydrated” by passions, helps the mind to get out of clouded thoughts, awakens feelings from sleep, allowing us to more sensitively and sharply interact with our relatives and friends, as well as with the whole outside world. We begin to come to life, to feel the Light of Heaven and Grace, in moments of grief and despair we receive consolation. Life is filled with joy and meaning. Joy and well-being come to us and to our relatives and friends.

IN modern world, although there are many people around us, the feeling of loneliness does not go away, but on the contrary, it intensifies every year. And the problem is not that we communicate and talk little, the problem is that this loneliness is the feeling of the soul imprisoned in a cage, cut off from the external Divine world. We are like robots - we seem to interact with each other, but our souls do not touch each other. Connection with God unites our inner world with the outer world, with the souls of other people. We begin to feel that around us is dear, close.

Some people and things are able to carry more divine light, or make it so that when we look at them or interact with them, we are more likely to remember God. One of those things is icons. Is it possible, looking at an icon, not to remember God, the spiritual? Sometimes a fleeting glance at an icon can change a person, pull him out of sad thoughts, passionate feelings, and remind him of the Eternal.

Icons in our life- like "pendulums", they shine for us and show us the right path in everyday navigation through the expanses of raging life.

The search for the Divine is not only around us. "What's inside, so outside." The icon reminds us of our inner world - the world of feelings, emotions, thoughts. The subtlety of the inner world is such that many people cannot even answer the question "What is the inner world", because this "subtlety" can be discerned and observed by the finer parts of a person - the soul and spirit.

The icon encourages us to look inside ourselves, and searched for those high parts in themselves that are capable of spiritual development and go to the Almighty.

Icon changes a person. A person, standing in front of the icon, can feel the presence of the image of the saint. This can be expressed in different ways. Someone feels the outgoing warmth or light, someone feels the look of the saint on himself, and the look can reflect different emotions: from sorrow and rooting, to grace-filled joy and forgiveness.

The icon in the house (at work) is able to keep a person from anger and anger, from bad deeds and deeds, remembering which he can later become ashamed of and which he will later regret.

Man is a complex being. In addition to many different senses, he is able to perceive the world in many ways. In addition to words, there are also images. The perception of the world by images is more subtle, quick and complete. Images and symbols are best perceived by the soul. Christianity is built in such a way that it allows you to use both ways of perceiving a person for his spiritual development. Sacred texts are represented by words, and icons are represented by images. These images carry an important component for the development of the spiritual world of man. The traditions of icon painting developed in such a way that the technologies for creating icons, perfected over the centuries, defined in the form of canons, made it possible to create images of the spiritual world that were best perceived by human nature.

An icon is by no means an idol, and it is not correct to assume that people pray to icons. The icon in Orthodoxy has a different status. This is a kind of "tool" that allows you to be closer to the Divine. An icon is a material carrier of an image. And prayer to the image depicted on the icon is the veneration of the saint.

Just as it is impossible to become a monk without being in a monastery, just as it is impossible to ask God without turning to him with a prayer, it is also impossible to become Orthodox by denying icons and their existence. The icon is a tradition of Orthodox Christianity. Denying icons and misunderstanding their essence, we thereby destroy the tradition, destroy our path to God.

Not people make an icon, as they built the Tower of Babel. The creation of an icon is a creative process, where a person (icon painter) is only a conductor of divine will and grace. In addition, many famous ancient icons were born in a miraculous way, miraculously. The first icon was created by Jesus Christ himself, and not with the help of a brush and paint, but by a miracle, through the manifestation of divine power and grace.

An icon is a projection of the divine world into our world. People, in their essence, who have lost the grace of God, are unable to see the powers of heaven with their own eyes. The sinfulness of a person does not allow to see them, due to the underdevelopment or absence of the “eyes of the soul”, and the subtle worlds are not receptive to the eyes of the mortal body. Here, apparently, the Lord, and decided to give people the opportunity to see the divine images, at least with physical eyes, thereby created an icon and gave it to people.

True prayer is complex and hard work. It requires a person to mobilize and concentrate his entire being: actions, thoughts, feelings, emotions. The icon occupies an important role in this process, concentrating attention, leads away from charms, averts passionate feelings, reminds of the need for constant “doing” (prayer). This experience was experienced by many church fathers. Let us recall the life of St. Seraphim of Sarov and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, they all performed prayers, standing in front of the icons.

An icon is a window, and at the same time a door to the spiritual world, the World of Heaven. It can be taken more symbolically. Our prayers and petitions are intensified through the "window" when we turn to the image of the saint depicted on the icon. The soul again and again opens the door to the spiritual world, looking there and understanding where its home is. The powers of heaven open this door in order to pour out their will to us, to help, to guide us on the true Path, to send down grace.

The teaching of the Church "on icon veneration" formulated by the Seventh Ecumenical Council reads:

"... The more often with the help of icons they (images) become the subject of our contemplation, the more those who look at these icons are prompted to remember the prototypes themselves and acquire more love for them .... "

And finally, the icon is connected with the main pillar of Orthodoxy - with Faith.

According to the explanation of the apostle Paul: "Faith is ... the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen" (Heb. 11:1). That is: confidence in the invisible, as if in the visible, and confidence in the desired and expected, as in the present.

Those. understanding the essence of icons is connected with how much we ourselves truly believe.

In Russia, it has long been the case that most people are given names in honor of saints. For this reason, they are created on which the face of a saint is placed. For every believer, such images have always been very important and greatly appreciated. Icons were the patrons of people throughout their lives. The heavenly helper will help and guide, protect from troubles and misfortunes, suggest the right path, prevent a possible disaster, and if it is sent to a person for spiritual benefit, it will help to survive it. Parents ordered icons for their children as full-length icons, godparents bought them for their godchildren.

The image of the saint became associated with the Guardian Angel, because such icons were hung over the baby's manger. When the child grew up, they took their proper place in the home iconostasis. Now the name day is called the Day of the Angel.

At baptism, the holy father names the name of the saint by whom the person is named. If the baptism was a very long time ago, and there are no witnesses who can say in honor of which saint the person is named, then the saint whose birth is closest to the date of birth of the person is considered the patron saint. It is believed that according to the way they were called, further life will develop. After all, praying to his patron, a person wants to imitate him in actions and thoughts.

How to choose a name icon

Women's names in the calendar are not so common. That is why, you can acquire the icon of the Great Martyr Barbara, the Holy Martyr Tatyana or another patroness of heaven. If the girl's name is Anna, then sellers usually offer with the image of the mother of the Most Holy Theotokos, Righteous Anna, but besides her, there are 32 more saints who were named by that name.

The same situation occurs with many male names. If you look at the annals, then many saints were called John, Basil, Nicholas. More than forty Johns. But for some reason, people are mainly offered the image of St. John the Baptist or the Apostle John the Theologian.

Now it is widely believed that for rare men, the icon of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste will be the personal icon. Of those that exist today, only the names of Leonty, Ilya, Alexander, Heraclius, Cyril, Athanasius, Valery and Nikolai have their patrons among the saints depicted on this icon. Today, children are no longer named after other saints who died in Lake Sebaste.

It does not matter at all whether the saint is depicted in full growth, or explained. Next to it may be the inscription "Guardian Angel". Also, very often next to the saints they depict Christ the Savior or Holy Mother of God. The icon, which is painted according to the growth of a person in a given period of his life, began to be called a measured one. They are usually made for newborns.

Personalized icons are always a very valuable gift. After all, this is not just a picture, but an image that brings a person closer to the saint, his patron, who calls on the mercy of God through his prayers. To please a loved one, you can give not only icons depicting saints, but also plates with drawings on religious themes.