Veneration of Icons in Eastern Catholic Tradition

Devotions

How icon veneration is woven into the actual parish and liturgical life of the Eastern Catholic Churches today — the icon corner, the iconostasis, and feast-day customs — as distinct from the Church’s general doctrine of images and from the Byzantine icon tradition considered as art and theology.

Veneration of icons in Eastern Catholic tradition refers specifically to how the Eastern Catholic Churches — the sui iuris Churches in full communion with the Pope — integrate icon veneration into their own actual parish and liturgical life: the icon corner in the home, the iconostasis before the sanctuary, and the specific gestures of reverence given to icons during the Divine Liturgy and on feast days. This page is distinct from two companion pages: Veneration of Sacred Images and Icons explains the Church’s universal doctrine, shared by the whole Catholic Church, distinguishing veneration from the worship owed to God alone; Veneration of Icons covers the Byzantine icon as an artistic and theological tradition in itself. This page narrows further, to lived practice specifically within the Eastern Catholic Churches today.

Quick Facts

  • Category: Eastern Catholic Spirituality — Eastern Devotional Traditions
  • Origin: Ancient Christian veneration of sacred images, defended by the Second Council of Nicaea (787), lived out today in the ordinary parish and liturgical life of the Eastern Catholic Churches
  • Associated with: St. John of Damascus, the theological defender of icon veneration; the iconographic and liturgical traditions of each particular Eastern Catholic Church
  • Country: Eastern Christian world; expressed in the Eastern Catholic Churches — Byzantine, Ukrainian, Melkite, Ruthenian, Romanian and other traditions — in full communion with Rome
  • Feast/observance: Varies by particular Church; Byzantine-tradition Eastern Catholic Churches keep a commemoration on the first Sunday of Great Lent
  • Church status: Reflects defined Catholic doctrine, lived out through the approved liturgical books and customs of each particular Eastern Catholic Church
  • Private revelation: Not applicable

What Is This Devotion?

This page sits alongside two others that cover closely related ground, and it is worth stating plainly how the three divide the subject. Our page Veneration of Sacred Images and Icons explains the Church’s universal doctrine — shared by the whole Catholic Church, Latin and Eastern alike — that distinguishes the veneration properly shown to a sacred image from the worship owed to God alone. Our page Veneration of Icons covers the Byzantine icon as an artistic and theological tradition in itself: icon-writing conventions, standard iconographic types, and the structure of the iconostasis. This page narrows further still, to how the Eastern Catholic Churches specifically — the twenty-three sui iuris Churches in full communion with the Pope — actually integrate icon veneration into their own parish and liturgical life today, rather than into doctrine or art history.

Because the fully developed iconostasis and its accompanying customs are most characteristic of the Byzantine liturgical tradition, this page focuses chiefly on Byzantine-tradition Eastern Catholic Churches, such as the Ukrainian Greek Catholic, Melkite, Ruthenian, Romanian and Italo-Albanian Churches. Other Eastern Catholic liturgical families — Armenian, Coptic, Syriac and Chaldean among them — have their own related but distinct sanctuary arrangements and veil customs; the details differ enough between these families that this page does not attempt to describe each one precisely, and readers from those traditions should look first to their own particular Church’s catechetical materials for accurate local practice.

Origin and History

The doctrine underlying all icon veneration was settled by the Second Council of Nicaea in 787, discussed fully on our doctrinal page. The Eastern Catholic Churches did not adopt icon veneration from elsewhere or borrow it after some later separation; it is their own inherited patrimony, carried forward intact through the various historical unions with Rome that different Eastern Catholic communities entered across the sixteenth through twentieth centuries. The Second Vatican Council’s 1964 decree on the Eastern Catholic Churches, Orientalium Ecclesiarum, explicitly affirmed the value of preserving these traditions, including their sacred art, intact rather than assimilating them toward Latin custom.

Catholic Theology

Second Nicaea’s teaching — that the honor given to an icon passes to the person it depicts, never terminating in the wood and paint themselves — is not an abstract principle in Eastern Catholic parish life; it shapes concrete liturgical action. Reverencing an icon on entering church, venerating the feast icon placed on a stand, or bowing before the iconostasis during the Divine Liturgy are all understood as directed through the image to Christ, Mary or the saint represented, in continuity with the Catechism’s teaching on sacred images (CCC §§1159-1162, 1674-1676; SRC-02).

How to Practice It

  • On entering an Eastern Catholic church, venerate the icons near the entrance or on the iconostasis with a bow or a kiss, a customary act of reverence before taking one’s place for the liturgy.
  • Venerate the icon of the day or season, commonly placed on a stand (an analogion, in Byzantine usage) near the front of the church, especially on major feasts.
  • Keep an icon corner at home, traditionally facing east where the layout of a home allows it, as a focal point for personal and family prayer.
  • Learn the arrangement and meaning of the iconostasis in one’s own parish rather than treating it as simply an elaborate decorative screen; ask a priest or catechist for its specific arrangement, since details vary by tradition.

Associated Prayers

Feast Day / When Observed

Icon veneration is practiced throughout the year rather than tied to one date. Byzantine-tradition Eastern Catholic Churches keep a commemoration on the first Sunday of Great Lent of the final restoration of icon veneration in 843, shared in spirit with the Eastern Orthodox Church’s observance of the same date, though not every Eastern Catholic liturgical family marks this particular commemoration in the same way.

Church Status

Icon veneration in the Eastern Catholic Churches rests on defined Catholic doctrine and is carried out through each particular Church’s own approved liturgical books, protected as authentic patrimony under the Second Vatican Council’s teaching on the Eastern Catholic Churches (SRC-01; SRC-02).

Common Misconceptions

“Eastern Catholics borrowed icon veneration from Eastern Orthodoxy.”

This gets the history backward. Icon veneration is the Eastern Catholic Churches’ own inherited patrimony, carried forward intact from the ancient undivided Church through their historical union with Rome; it was never adopted from outside, and the Second Vatican Council explicitly affirmed the Church’s intention that such traditions be preserved rather than replaced with Latin custom.

“An Eastern Catholic iconostasis is just decoration arranged differently from a Latin church’s sanctuary art.”

It functions liturgically, not merely decoratively — icons on the iconostasis are venerated directly during the Divine Liturgy, and the screen’s arrangement carries theological meaning of its own, discussed further on our Veneration of Icons page.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is this page different from your Veneration of Icons page?

That page covers the Byzantine icon as an artistic and theological tradition — its conventions, standard types and the structure of the iconostasis. This page focuses on lived practice: how icon veneration actually functions in Eastern Catholic parish and home life today.

How is this page different from your Veneration of Sacred Images and Icons page?

That page explains the Church’s universal doctrine of image veneration, shared by the whole Catholic Church. This page applies that doctrine specifically to the devotional and liturgical life of the Eastern Catholic Churches.

Do all Eastern Catholic Churches have an iconostasis?

The fully developed iconostasis is most characteristic of the Byzantine liturgical tradition. Other Eastern Catholic liturgical families have their own related but distinct sanctuary arrangements, and readers should consult their own particular Church for accurate detail.

Are Eastern Catholics in communion with the Pope?

Yes. The Eastern Catholic Churches are in full communion with the Pope, distinct from the Eastern Orthodox Church, which is not, even where the two traditions share a great deal of liturgical and devotional heritage.

Why do Eastern Catholics kiss icons when entering church?

It is a traditional gesture of veneration, directing honor through the image to the person depicted, consistent with the Church’s teaching that such honor never terminates in the material object itself.

Sources

Explore More