The question was asked, “What should we do with the Sunday Bulletin when we are finished reading, since it has an icon on the cover. Can it be thrown away?” This is a wonderful and thoughtful question which reflects a deep faith and love for the Lord and His Church. There is a simple answer,…
The question was asked, “What should we do with the Sunday Bulletin when we are finished reading, since it has an icon on the cover. Can it be thrown away?” This is a wonderful and thoughtful question which reflects a deep faith and love for the Lord and His Church. There is a simple answer, but as with many questions about our Faith, there is always more to the question than meets the eye?
Wonderful. My son and I were just wondering what to do with a worn out Bible that we found. The binding broke and some pages ripped out. I had a feeling that we were supposed to burn it but wasn't sure about the ashes.
This talk raises a few interesting questions. What does it mean to 'bless' the icon? It seems that this question is partially answered within the context of the talk by alluding to the prayer of the faithful in the purposeful use of the object (in this case: icon). This would hold to the criteria that the image is not properly an icon, or to be treated as such, until intentional devotion has been placed towards/through the image. Where does this criteria come from? St. John of Damascus, the great defender of sacred images, says that an icon is an icon precisely in the titling and inscribing of the image. He goes on to say that an icon, as well as other holy objects, do not NEED to be blessed in any other manner for them to be an icon or holy object (unlike Russian Tradition). Further in your talk, you refer to the holy things of the altar, and obviously these are set apart and need to be handled properly, but is not the icon as well? Is not the purpose of this image, even on a bulletin, to be used within the context of Sunday worship? Is not the bulletin a means of printing the hymns of the day, perhaps even the scripture reading (which is another icon)? Could not this issue be avoided by at least not utilizing the pages of the bulletin for an icon?
I have cards, booklets, broken rosary’s none of them blessed to my knowledge. How do I dispose of them?
In the past few centuries, it has become increasingly common to have icons blessed by a priest or bishop, either having them sprinkled with holy water or anointing them with Holy Chrism. Some pious believers will even refuse to display an icon in their homes until it is blessed, and I have even seen Russian icons come in the packaging “pre-blessed”! I’ve been told by a few Greek and Antiochian friends that icons may be taken behind the iconostasis and kept there for 40 days to bless them. For so many people, this is a special event, and a comfort. I hope to show that despite the widespread habit of blessing icons, this practice is not in agreement with Church Tradition, and that it is in fact contrary to it and based on a theology of the icons that is foreign to Orthodoxy. Nicea II explicitly argues that blessing icons is unnecessary: [M]any of the sacred things which we have at our disposal do not need a prayer of sanctification, since their name itself says that they are all-sacred and full of grace…. When we signify an icon with a name, we transfer the honor to the prototype; by embracing it and offering to it the veneration of honor, we share in the sanctification.
We should not put icons on everything! Because Icons are not meant to be put calendars and booklets. They are not supposed to be used as a decoration. But they should be used in prayer and only for prayer.
St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite, who commented, “The holy icons do not need any special prayer or any application of myron (or chrism),” going on to strongly claim that introducing icon blessing into the Orthodox Church was due to Roman Catholic influence. “Do you see that the prayer which is read over holy pictures is a Papal affair, and not Orthodox: and that it is a modern affair, and not an ancient one?”
Icons are blessed already because of the figures depicted, and confirmed by the name of the saints on the images. Once an image is distorted or abolished, it returns to its former state of being simply wood and paint, and we dispose of them by reverently burning them.
Our bulletin has the 1st and 2nd readings and gospel reading (all word of God) on it. So I don't think we can just throw it away even though it isn't blessed.