November: Day 28: Venerable Martyr Stephen the New

November: Day 28:
Venerable Martyr Stephen the New
 
(On the Benefits of Venerating Holy Icons)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Venerable Martyr Stephen the New, whose memory is celebrated today, was born in Constantinople in 715 and was a monk of the Auxentius Monastery near Nicomedia. For not signing the decisions of the iconoclastic synod held under Constantine Kopronymos in 754, he was exiled to prison, where he continued to denounce the iconoclastic heresy. Summoned to Constantinople, Saint Stephen was imprisoned and died a martyr in 767, struck in the head by a heavy piece of wood.

II. On the occasion of the martyrdom of the Venerable Stephen for the truth of icon veneration, let us now discuss the benefits of icon veneration, which once had to be defended at the cost of life.

a) Holy icons are one of the best means of teaching the Orthodox people the holy truths of faith. They are the most intelligible writings for those who do not know how to read. Since there are always and everywhere a large number of such, to deprive churches of holy icons means to deprive an entire people of one of the most effective means of instructing them in the faith. What can compare with the edification of a holy church, properly adorned with holy icons? Entering its sacred surroundings, a person involuntarily separates himself in thought and feeling from the entire sinful world; enters, as it were, into a visible community of saints; is carried in spirit into the Church of the Righteous, whose names are written in heaven. Every glance is a pious thought or holy feeling. Is it prudent to close this source of holy inspiration?

And what can we replace it with? Artificial columns, paintings, images of nature? But they will arouse in you admiration for the artist, and not for the Lord; whereas an icon, even an artless one, directly makes you think of the saint. This is how the great theologian of the Orthodox Church, Saint John Damascene, describes the benefit of icon veneration:

“Since God, in His compassion, truly became man for our salvation, He did not appear only in human form, as He appeared to Abraham and the prophets, but essentially and truly became man, lived on earth, interacted with people, performed miracles, suffered, was crucified, resurrected and ascended to heaven; and all this happened in reality, was visible to people and was described for the memory and instruction of us who were not alive then, so that not seeing, but hearing and believing, we would receive the blessedness promised by the Lord, and also since not everyone knows how to read and can engage in reading; then the fathers decided to depict all the works of Christ, as glorious, on icons, which would serve as a brief reminder. It often happens that we do not even think about the sufferings of the Lord, but as soon as we see an icon of the crucifixion of Christ, we remember His saving suffering, we fall down and worship not the substance, but the One who is depicted, just as we worship not the substance of which the Gospel or the cross are made, but what is depicted by them... The same must be said about the Mother of God. The honor given to Her is directed to the One incarnate from Her. In a similar way, the exploits of holy men inspire us to courage, to zeal, to imitation of their virtue and to the glory of God, for, as we have said, the honor given to our most zealous co-servants proves love for the common Master, and the veneration of the image passes to the Prototype." (Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, Book IV, Chapter XVI).

b) Then let us ask ourselves: was it not before icons and by their action that the fate of people, even entire nations, was decided? Remember Venerable Mary of Egypt: who aroused in her soul the holy boldness to promise before God the correction of her life? It was a look at the icon of the Mother of God, standing above the doors of the Jerusalem temple. Likewise, was it not the memory of this icon and the vow made before it that supported her later during her incredible forty-year exploits in the desert.

The fate of our entire fatherland in relation to faith was also decided, one might say, by nothing else, but by the holy icon. For what especially influenced Saint Vladimir in favor of Eastern Orthodoxy, when he was wavering and perplexed in choosing a faith? That the Greek philosopher, who persuaded him to accept Christianity, concluded his convictions by presenting to the Grand Prince a picture of the Last Judgment. The holy icon stopped our wavering; the holy icon made us Christians, and Orthodox at that. After this, if all other Christian nations, through unreasonable pride, stopped venerating icons, then our Orthodox fatherland, out of gratitude alone, would have to never abandon due respect for them.

c) Now let us ask ourselves: what have the Protestants of the earth and our Russian heretics, the Stundists, gained by thoughtlessly rejecting the veneration of holy icons? Have they become elevated in their understanding of the objects of faith? On the contrary, they have apparently come close to the danger of losing faith in the most essential dogmas of Christianity and have cooled in feeling to the point that they listen to and read with indifference the most bitter blasphemers of the name of Christ. Where is the supposed benefit from non-icon veneration? Is it that the interiors of churches have begun to resemble simple meeting places, so that they can always be immediately turned to any use.

The short-sighted, having rashly laid bare their church, thought to hide with this nakedness under the shadow of the commandment of Moses: "You shall not make yourself an idol, or any likeness. You shall not bow down to them, you shall not serve them!" (Ex. 20:4, 5). But the God-wise Jewish legislator obviously forbids those idols and statues that were in use among the pagans, and represented their unclean deities, but does not forbid sacred images of holy objects. The proof of the latter are the golden images of cherubim, which, by the command of God Himself, were placed by Moses in the tabernacle of witness, and moreover in its most holy place - above the Ark of the Covenant, where all those praying turned their faces.

III. So from whatever side one looks at the veneration of holy icons, it appears worthy of all respect, one of the beautiful adornments of the church, one of the most effective means of edification in faith and good morals. After this, it only remains to use correctly with gratitude this means, which cost so dearly the defenders of icon veneration, who laid down, and many laid down, their lives for them. How ought we to use them? By turning one's prayers, petitions and thanksgiving not so much to the icons, as through them to those holy persons who are depicted on them, being excited by the sight of the holy persons and their holy deeds depicted on the icons, to imitation of their faith and virtues; not extending the veneration of holy icons to the adoration of the substance that composes them, and not ascribing to them other extraordinary qualities, except those that depend on the invisible grace of God, acting through them.

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.