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Such an image is often placed in the apse of the sanctuary of an Orthodox church above the Holy Table (altar). [2] As with most Orthodox icons of Mary, the letters ΜΡ ΘΥ (short for ΜΗΤΗΡ ΘΕΟΥ, "Mother of God") are usually placed on the upper left and right of the head of the Virgin Mary.
Icon in Greek simply denotes a picture but it has now come to be closely associated with religious art which is used by the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches. Icons are used to assist in prayer and the worship of God by Orthodox Churches. Icon (image) is the same word used in the Bible in Genesis 1:27, Colossians 1:15.
In the case of an image of a saint, the worship would not be latria but rather dulia, while the Blessed Virgin Mary receives hyperdulia. The worship of whatever type, latria, hyperdulia, or dulia, can be considered to go through the icon, image, or statue: "The honor given to an image reaches to the prototype" (St. John Damascene in Summa ³).
In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, usually only men can enter the altar portion behind the iconostasis. However, one will see women serving behind the iconostasis at female monasteries. The word iconostasis comes from the Greek εἰκονοστάσι(-ον) (eikonostási(-on)), still in common use in Greece and Cyprus), which means ' icon stand '.
All Eastern Orthodox altars have a saint's relics embedded inside them, usually that of a martyr, placed at the time they are consecrated. Atop the altar table at the center toward the back is an ornate container usually called the tabernacle where the reserved Eucharistic elements are stored for communion of the sick. It is often shaped like a ...
By this definition, Adam and Eve, Moses, the various prophets, and archangels are all given the title of "Saint". Sainthood in the Orthodox Church does not necessarily reflect a moral model, but communion with God: there are many examples of people who lived in great sin and became saints by humility and repentance, such as Saints Mary of Egypt ...
Moses Indignant at the Golden Calf, painting by William Blake, 1799–1800. Idolatry is the worship of an idol as though it were a deity. [1] [2] [3] In Abrahamic religions (namely Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity, the Baháʼí Faith, and Islam) idolatry connotes the worship of something or someone other than the Abrahamic God as if it were God.
Byzantine Iconoclasm, Chludov Psalter, 9th century. [10]Christian worship by the sixth century had developed a clear belief in the intercession of saints. This belief was also influenced by a concept of hierarchy of sanctity, with the Trinity at its pinnacle, followed by the Virgin Mary, referred to in Greek as the Theotokos ("birth-giver of God") or Meter Theou ("Mother of God"), the saints ...