The Book of Acts and the Epistles of the Apostle Paul record that in the early Church, Christians used to meet in the homes of the faithful. (Acts 2:46, Acts 20:7–12, 1 Corinthians 16:19, etc.) This tradition of the "House Church" continues to this day in Eastern Christianity. The home is considered to be a microcosm of the Church. The parents (both the husband and the wife) are the "clergy" of the house church, and the children are the "laity". The wedding ceremony ("crowning") is analogous to Ordination, and the house is blessed with a rite that is based upon the Consecration of a Church. Once a year, the priest will come to bless the house with Theophany Water.
Background
An Orthodox Christian is expected to pray constantly. According to Bishop Kallistos Ware, "[I]n Orthodox spirituality, [there is] no separation between liturgy and private devotion."[3] Thus the house, just like the Temple (church building), is considered to be a consecrated place, and the center of worship in the house is the icon corner.
An icon corner is normally oriented to face east. It is often located in a corner to eliminate worldly distractions and allow prayer to be more concentrated. Here is where the icons that the family owns should be located, normally including at least icons of Christ, the Theotokos, and the Patron Saint(s) of the family. An oil lamp normally hangs in front of the icons. The careful trimming of the lamp to keep it burning at all times is interpreted as symbolic of the attentive daily care faithful Christians should take over their souls. Relics of saints (if the family possesses any) and a Gospel Book and a blessing cross would be kept there, as well as incense, holy water, palms and pussywillow from Palm Sunday, candles from Pascha (Easter), and other sacred items, as well as a personal Commemoration Book (containing the names of family and loved ones, both living and departed, to be remembered in prayer).
Ideally, the icon corner is located so that it is visible when one first enters the house from the main entrance. Traditionally, when first entering the house, an Orthodox Christian would venerate the icons before greeting the members of the house.
A traditional Orthodox family will gather together every day for morning and evening prayers. Sometimes, at the end of the prayers, the head of the household will take the hand censer and cense the icons and all the members of the household.
Often, in addition to the icon corner, a family will hang a small "portal icon" (usually of the Virgin and Christ Child) by the door, which is venerated by family and guests whenever going in or out of the house.
^Timothy Ware, The Orthodox Church (Penguin Books, London, 1964, ISBN0-14-020592-6), p. 310.
Sources
Mosio, Grażyna (2012). ""Święty kąt" w chłopskim domu – miejsce, symbolika, funkcja" ["Sacred corner" in peasant house - location, meaning, function] (PDF). Symbol – znak – przesłanie. Wytwory rąk człowieka (in Polish). pp. 149–173.
Shizhenskiy, Roman (2017). "The role of food in contemporary Russian Paganism". Walking the Old Ways in a New World. Contemporary paganism as lived religion. pp. 161–182.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Icon corner.
icon, corner, this, article, about, religious, corner, icon, corner, movie, corner, icon, corner, sacred, corner, corner, greek, εικονοστάσι, meaning, bright, shining, beautiful, corner, small, worship, space, prepared, homes, eastern, orthodox, greek, catholi. This article is about the religious Red Corner Icon Corner For the movie see Red Corner The icon corner sacred corner or red corner Greek eikonostasi meaning red bright shining or beautiful corner is a small worship space prepared in the homes of Eastern Orthodox Greek Catholic and Roman Catholic Christians It also appears in homes of Rodnovers 1 and has pre Christian roots 2 The analogous concept in Western Christianity is the home altar The Sick Man by Vasili Maximov 1881 portrays a woman kneeling in prayer before the icon corner Tretyakov Gallery Moscow An icon corner in Romania Contents 1 History 2 Background 3 Citations 4 Sources 5 External linksHistory EditThe Book of Acts and the Epistles of the Apostle Paul record that in the early Church Christians used to meet in the homes of the faithful Acts 2 46 Acts 20 7 12 1 Corinthians 16 19 etc This tradition of the House Church continues to this day in Eastern Christianity The home is considered to be a microcosm of the Church The parents both the husband and the wife are the clergy of the house church and the children are the laity The wedding ceremony crowning is analogous to Ordination and the house is blessed with a rite that is based upon the Consecration of a Church Once a year the priest will come to bless the house with Theophany Water Background EditAn Orthodox Christian is expected to pray constantly According to Bishop Kallistos Ware I n Orthodox spirituality there is no separation between liturgy and private devotion 3 Thus the house just like the Temple church building is considered to be a consecrated place and the center of worship in the house is the icon corner An icon corner is normally oriented to face east It is often located in a corner to eliminate worldly distractions and allow prayer to be more concentrated Here is where the icons that the family owns should be located normally including at least icons of Christ the Theotokos and the Patron Saint s of the family An oil lamp normally hangs in front of the icons The careful trimming of the lamp to keep it burning at all times is interpreted as symbolic of the attentive daily care faithful Christians should take over their souls Relics of saints if the family possesses any and a Gospel Book and a blessing cross would be kept there as well as incense holy water palms and pussywillow from Palm Sunday candles from Pascha Easter and other sacred items as well as a personal Commemoration Book containing the names of family and loved ones both living and departed to be remembered in prayer Ideally the icon corner is located so that it is visible when one first enters the house from the main entrance Traditionally when first entering the house an Orthodox Christian would venerate the icons before greeting the members of the house A traditional Orthodox family will gather together every day for morning and evening prayers Sometimes at the end of the prayers the head of the household will take the hand censer and cense the icons and all the members of the household Often in addition to the icon corner a family will hang a small portal icon usually of the Virgin and Christ Child by the door which is venerated by family and guests whenever going in or out of the house Citations Edit Shizhenskiy 2017 p 164 Mosio 2012 p 154 Timothy Ware The Orthodox Church Penguin Books London 1964 ISBN 0 14 020592 6 p 310 Sources EditMosio Grazyna 2012 Swiety kat w chlopskim domu miejsce symbolika funkcja Sacred corner in peasant house location meaning function PDF Symbol znak przeslanie Wytwory rak czlowieka in Polish pp 149 173 Shizhenskiy Roman 2017 The role of food in contemporary Russian Paganism Walking the Old Ways in a New World Contemporary paganism as lived religion pp 161 182 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Icon corner Icon corner on OrthodoxWiki Compare Herrgottswinkel Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Icon corner amp oldid 1096554753, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
