Veneration of Icons

Devotions

The Byzantine icon as a distinct art form and theological tradition — icon-writing, the iconostasis, and how Eastern Catholic Churches venerate icons within the same doctrine the whole Church shares.

Veneration of icons refers specifically to the Eastern Christian, Byzantine-influenced tradition of the icon: a sacred image painted, or traditionally said to be written, according to set theological conventions, used above all in the Eastern Orthodox Church and in the Eastern Catholic Churches of Byzantine and related traditions that are in full communion with Rome. This page narrows in on that specific artistic and theological tradition — icon-writing, the theology of the icon as a window onto heaven, and the iconostasis, the icon-covered screen before an Eastern sanctuary — rather than covering sacred images generally; for the Latin Church’s broader teaching on statues, paintings and images of every kind, including how it relates to icons, see the companion page <a href=’/devotions/veneration-of-sacred-images-and-icons/’>Veneration of Sacred Images and Icons</a>.

Quick Facts

  • Category: Sacramentals & Devotional Practices — Sacred Objects & Domestic Piety
  • Origin: Early Christian sacred art, formally defended as legitimate by the Second Council of Nicaea in 787 against the Byzantine Iconoclast Controversy, and developed since as a distinct theological and artistic tradition especially in the Byzantine Churches
  • Associated saint: St. John of Damascus, principal theological defender of icon veneration; St. Andrei Rublev, among the tradition’s most celebrated iconographers
  • Country: Universal, with particular strength in the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches of Byzantine, Ukrainian, Melkite and related traditions
  • Feast/observance: Not tied to a single date in the Latin Church calendar; Byzantine-tradition Churches keep a commemoration of the restoration of icon veneration on the first Sunday of Great Lent
  • Church status: Reflects defined Catholic doctrine (Second Council of Nicaea, 787) shared by both the Latin and Eastern Catholic Churches, expressed through the particular artistic and liturgical customs of the Byzantine tradition
  • Private revelation: Not applicable

What Is This Devotion?

An icon, in the strict sense this page addresses, is a sacred image produced according to the conventions of the Byzantine artistic and theological tradition: painted on wood, following inherited patterns for depicting Christ, Mary and the saints, and traditionally described as being written rather than merely painted, since the iconographer is understood to be handing on a received theological content rather than exercising free artistic invention. An icon is venerated with specific liturgical gestures — kissing, incensing, prostration and the placing of candles or lamps before it — that mark it out as more than devotional decoration; in Eastern Christian understanding, the icon functions as a kind of window through which the person depicted becomes present to the one praying.

This tradition belongs to the whole Catholic Church, not only to the Christian East: the Eastern Catholic Churches of Byzantine heritage, including the Ukrainian, Melkite, Ruthenian and other sui iuris Churches in full communion with Rome, use icons in exactly this way as part of their own authentic liturgical and devotional life, sharing the same doctrine of image veneration taught by the whole Church while expressing it through their own inherited artistic and liturgical forms. This page addresses that specific tradition; readers wanting the broader Catholic doctrine of sacred images, including how Western statues and paintings relate to it, should see Veneration of Sacred Images and Icons.

Origin and History

Icon painting developed within the broader tradition of early Christian sacred art, but its distinct theological vocabulary and formal conventions crystallized above all in the Byzantine Empire. The eighth and ninth centuries saw the Byzantine Iconoclast Controversy, when a series of emperors, beginning with Leo III, ordered the destruction of icons on the grounds that venerating them was idolatrous. St. John of Damascus, writing from outside direct imperial reach, argued that because the Son of God had taken visible human flesh in the Incarnation, visible images of Christ had become theologically legitimate in a way they had not been before. The Second Council of Nicaea, meeting in 787, formally settled the question in favor of icon veneration, and after a second period of iconoclasm, the practice was permanently restored in 843, an event still commemorated in the Byzantine liturgical calendar as the “Triumph of Orthodoxy.”

Out of this settled theology grew a highly developed artistic tradition, with schools of iconography in Constantinople, later in Russia and the Balkans, and elsewhere, producing standardized types for depicting Christ (such as the Pantocrator) and Mary (such as the Hodegetria and the Eleusa), along with celebrated individual works such as St. Andrei Rublev’s early fifteenth-century icon of the Hospitality of Abraham, widely known simply as the Trinity. The Eastern Catholic Churches that entered or renewed communion with Rome at various points in history, while remaining in full communion with the Pope, retained this same iconographic tradition as part of their own authentic patrimony.

Catholic Theology

The theology of the icon rests on the same underlying principle Second Nicaea articulated for sacred images generally: the honor shown to an icon passes through it to the person it depicts, never terminating in the wood and paint themselves, so that venerating an icon is not idolatry but a legitimate consequence of the Incarnation, in which the invisible God became visible in Christ (SRC-01; SRC-02). The Byzantine tradition adds a distinct emphasis: an icon is not meant to be naturalistic or to express an individual artist’s personal style, but to hand on a received, theologically precise representation, governed by conventions such as reversed perspective and stylized features, meant to draw the viewer beyond the merely visual toward the mystery represented.

The iconostasis, the icon-covered screen that in Byzantine church architecture separates the nave from the sanctuary, expresses this same theology architecturally. Arranged in traditional rows — typically including local and patronal icons nearest the faithful, an icon of the Last Supper above the Royal Doors at the center, and a row depicting Christ enthroned among the saints and angels in intercession (the Deesis) — the iconostasis presents the whole communion of saints and the mystery celebrated within the sanctuary as a single, unified sacred image standing between the visible assembly and the altar.

How to Practice It

  • Keep an icon in a home prayer corner, following Eastern Christian custom, as a focal point for personal and family prayer.
  • Show reverence to an icon through a bow, a kiss, or the lighting of a candle or lamp before it, understanding the gesture as directed to the person depicted, never to the wood and paint themselves.
  • In an Eastern Catholic parish, learn the meaning of the iconostasis and its arrangement, rather than treating it as simply an elaborate decorative screen.
  • Approach an icon with the recognition that it hands on a received theological tradition rather than expressing one artist’s personal vision, and let that shape a more contemplative, less merely aesthetic way of looking at it.

Associated Prayers

When It’s Observed

Veneration of icons is practiced throughout the year rather than tied to one date. Churches of the Byzantine liturgical tradition, including the Eastern Catholic Churches, keep a commemoration on the first Sunday of Great Lent of the final restoration of icon veneration in 843, often called the Sunday of Orthodoxy or, in some Eastern Catholic usage, described simply as commemorating the triumph of the true faith over iconoclasm.

Church Status

Icon veneration rests on defined Catholic doctrine, taught by the Second Council of Nicaea in 787, that binds the whole Catholic Church, Latin and Eastern alike. The particular artistic conventions, liturgical gestures and the iconostasis itself belong to the authentic patrimony of the Byzantine liturgical tradition and are fully approved for use in the Eastern Catholic Churches that follow it, in full communion with the Pope (SRC-01; SRC-12).

Common Misconceptions

“Icons are an Orthodox practice that Catholics do not really share.”

Icon veneration is not confined to the Eastern Orthodox Church. The Eastern Catholic Churches of Byzantine and related traditions, in full communion with Rome, share this same iconographic and liturgical patrimony as an authentic part of their own Catholic identity, governed by the same doctrine of image veneration the whole Church holds.

“An icon and a Western statue or painting represent two different, competing theologies of images.”

They rest on the same underlying Catholic doctrine of veneration, not worship, defined at Second Nicaea and reaffirmed at Trent; what differs is the artistic convention and the specific liturgical gestures used, not the theological principle that honor given to an image passes to the person it depicts.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does it mean to say an icon is ‘written’ rather than painted?

The phrase reflects the Byzantine understanding that an iconographer is handing on a received theological content according to inherited patterns, more like transcribing a text faithfully than composing an original work of personal artistic expression, even though the physical process is, of course, painting.

What is an iconostasis?

An iconostasis is the icon-covered screen, arranged in traditional rows, that stands between the nave and the sanctuary in a church of the Byzantine liturgical tradition, presenting the mystery of the liturgy and the whole communion of saints as one unified sacred image.

Do Eastern Catholic parishes use icons the same way Eastern Orthodox parishes do?

Yes, in terms of the art form, the theology and the liturgical gestures involved; Eastern Catholic Churches of Byzantine heritage retained this shared patrimony fully, even as they remain in communion with Rome rather than with the Eastern Orthodox Churches.

How is venerating an icon different from venerating a Western statue?

Both rest on the same underlying doctrine of veneration, but an icon follows fixed theological conventions and is venerated with specific liturgical gestures such as kissing, incensing and prostration that are more formally integrated into the Byzantine liturgy than the typically more informal devotional use of a Western statue or holy card.

Why does the Second Council of Nicaea matter for icons specifically?

It is the ecumenical council that formally settled the Iconoclast Controversy in favor of icon veneration, teaching that the honor shown to an icon passes to the person it represents; its teaching remains the doctrinal foundation for the entire Byzantine iconographic tradition.

Sources

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