“In former times, God, Who Is without form or body, could never be depicted. But now when God is seen in the flesh conversing with men, I make an Image of the God Whom I see. I do not Worship matter; I Worship the Creator of matter Who became matter for my sake and accepted to dwell in matter and through matter worked my Salvation, and I will not cease from reverencing matter, through which my Salvation was worked.”
Saint John of Damascus
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“Even if you just lean your head on an Icon, you will find consolation.”
Saint Paisios the Athonite
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“Some Icons are Miraculous because God wants it so. The power here is not in the Icon and not in the people who come running, but in God’s Mercy.”
Saint Theophan the Recluse
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“Icons in Churches and houses are necessary because they remind us of the immortality of the Saints; that they live unto Him, that in God they see, hear and help us.”
Saint John of Kronstadt
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“If a pagan asks you to show him your Faith, take him into Church and place him before the Icons.”
Saint John of Damascus
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“The Grace of God rests on the Icon, because the Saints were filled with the Holy Spirit during their lives. Even after their deaths, the Grace of the Holy Spirit lives on inexhaustibly: in their Souls: in their bodies, which are in their tombs: in their writings: and in their Holy Icons – not because of their nature, but as a result of Grace and Divine action.”
Saint John of Damascus
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“Embrace in your arms the Icon of the Panagia as if she were alive, as you embraced your dear mother when you were little. Tell her all your pain, wet her Icon with your pure tears, then you will derive consistent consolation. She will intercede with her Son, Who is so good, Who loves the good, has mercy on the bad, and forgives repenting sinners. He will open the noetic eyes of your Soul and fill your heart with love and divine eros. And then your eyes will become two fountains of tears.”
Saint Joseph the Hesychast
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Saint Luke was the first person to depict in an Icon Our Most Holy Mother of God holding Our Lord Jesus Christ, thereby establishing the most Sacred art of Iconography. He made three Icons from wax, mastic and paint and he offered them to Our Holy Lady to ask for her Blessing and opinion on them. She received them with joy and said “May the Grace of the One Born from me be with them through me.”
Saint Luke the Evangelist
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“Let your room be like a small Church with Icons, which you like, and you will see: you will always find consolation there.”
Saint Paisios the Athonite
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“We define that the Holy Icons should be exhibited in the Holy Churches of God and in houses. They should be kissed and are an object of veneration and honour… He who venerates the Icon, venerates in it the reality for which it stands.”
The Seventh Ecumenical Council
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“You gaze upon the Icon of the Saviour and see that He looks at you from it with brightest eyes; this look is the image of how He actually looks upon you with His eyes, that are brighter than the sun, and sees all your thoughts, hears all your heartfelt distress and sighs… Therefore Pray before the Icon of the Saviour as before Himself.”
Saint John of Kronstadt
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“An Icon is not simply a work of art. It is a vision of another, transfigured world, granted to man through Grace. The Iconographer must first purify his heart so that the Light of God can pass through him without distortion. Then he paints not according to his imagination, but according to the life of the Church and the experience of the Saints.”
Saint Sophrony of Essex