This Sunday we will celebrate a very beautiful tradition in the Orthodox Church, icons.
Something I always enjoy explaining to my son, Moses, is that an icon is like a story in a picture.
But, for children, and for people who have never seen a icon before, it can be quite hard to understand.
In 2009 & 2010 my husband and I went to Northern Kenya to the Tirana people. One of the lessons I was going to teach the children about was icons. I was all prepared with the small icons I would give them. I was so excited to teach them about icons. But I missed the most important step! I didn’t realize that these people not only have never seen themselves in a mirror, but most of them have never even seen a photograph before. The idea of an icon was very foreign to them.
They could not understand how all of these things happened in the icon at one time. But, icons are not telling a story from one second in time. They are telling a history that is not bound by time.
So mid-lesson, I had to reanalyze how I was going to teach them. This experience has also helped me how I teach all children about icons.
An icon is like a story book or a story that you tell orally. Each part of the icon has meaning and tells part of the story. Everything from where the Saints and people are in the icon to the colors that are used are very symbolic.
For example, in almost every icon we see of Jesus Christ, He is wearing an inner robe that is the color red, and an outer robe that is the color blue. These colors are very symbolic. The red signifies that Christ is God and the blue signifies that He became man.
The same is true for the Theotokos. Her inner robe is blue to signify she is human and her outer robe is red to signify that she carried God in her womb.
On Sunday we will be celebrating the Sunday of Orthodoxy. But what exactly is this feast?
On this day we celebrate the return of icons to our Church. At one time there were people called iconoclasts and they did not believe that icons belong in Church. They thought that people should not worship icons. But in fact the Christians were not worshipping the icon.they were not worshipping the wood and paint of the icon. They did not think that icons were some magical thing. While some people might have thought this, this was not true for the Orthodox Christians. We only worship God. We venerate icons. What does venerate mean? It means that we show the Saint in the icon respect and it is passed on to the Saint. When we kiss icons when we arrive in Church we are not kissing the wood and paint. We are kissing Christ and he is receiving our prayers and love.
A long time ago there was a council of hierarchy that decided that icons could be used in Church; but, they could never be worshipped.
This first Sunday of Great Lent, Orthodox people everywhere will bring icons to Church. We will process, or walk, around the Church and declare in prayer: This is the Faith of the Apostles, this is the Faith of the Fathers, this is the Faith of the Orthodox, this is the Faith which has established the universe.
Don’t forget to bring your icons to Church this Sunday! And if you don’t have an icon you can bring, you can print one out, or bring a book or a magazine that has an icon.
Today is a day that we celebrate the Church’s triumph.
How to apply it in our family?
Icons are something that we have always had in our house since before Moses was born. When I was younger, you could say I was a little bit of a hoarder of icons. I used to buy every icon I saw. My room was covered in icons! When we came to Albania, we only brought some of our icons with us. Some essential icons we have are: Christ, Theotokos, Joachim & Anna, wedding at Cana, and Christ blessing the children. We are blessed since coming to Albania to have been given a few more icons. Respect and venerating icons is a lesson I’ve had to teach Moses.
It is a lesson we all should know. Because icons are “holy things” we have to respect them and treat them with care and love. When we kiss an icon, we have to make sure our mouths are clean, for girls that means no lipstick. We have to make sure that we understand that venerating an icon is just like if Christ, the Theotokos, or the Saints were right in front of us. We make the sign of the cross and kiss the icons. It is not appropriate to put an icon on the floor or to place other things on top of them. It is also not appropriate to write or deface the icon.
Questions to ask our children?
As I’ve said before, all icons tell a story. This weekend as we celebrate the Sunday of Orthodoxy, I like to bring out an icon for Moses to see a little more closely. And I like to ask him what he sees in the icon. A lot of times we will discuss icons while we are in Church. For example, we have used the icon of the Resurrection.
Some questions I might ask him is:
Who is in the center of the icon? Christ is in the center. He is wearing white and he is standing on the broken doors of Hades.
Why do you think Christ is wearing white? The white color tells us that Christ is pure and holy.
Whose hands is Christ holding in the icon? Adam and Eve. They were there first people brought out of Hades.
Do you know why there are two mountains on either side of the icon? They are just like the icon of the Baptism of Christ. Just like Christ was baptized in the Jordan river, so too is He baptizing Hades with His light.
Finally, who are all those people next to Adam and Eve? Those people are all the apostles and saints that lived before Christ and died.
Craft: Family Tree
The craft for this week is quite exciting. The idea is that we will make a family tree. In the middle of a paper you will draw a trunk of a tree and some branches. On the trunk of the tree you can draw or paste an icon of Christ. Then on each branch you can put a picture of your family members as well as their patron Saints they are named after.
For example in our family: Christ would be at the center and then on each branch would be an icon of St. Stephanos Sabbaite for Dn. Stephanos, an icon of St. Alexander for myself, and an icon of Prophet Moses for Moses. If you have a small family like us, you can also add icons of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.
After making this family tree you can add it to your icon corner. It is a good reminder for all of us that God tells us He is the “vine” and we are the “branches.”
Recipe: Lagana Bread
The recipe I would like to share with you this week is a tradition for the first week of Great Lent, Lagana bread. It is very similar to focaccia and is made without oil and of course dairy products.
Lagana
Ingredients:
2½ cups bread flour, plus extra for kneading 2 teaspoons yeast 1 cup warm water ¼ teaspoon sugar ¼ teaspoon salt Sesame seeds for the top
Instructions:
In a large bowl add warm water, yeast, and sugar.
Mix contents well and let sit for 5 minutes.
Add flour and salt, mix thoroughly. If the dough mixture is too wet or dry, add more flour or water accordingly.
Form dough and knead on floured surface for 5-7 minutes.
Place dough ball in bowl, cover with towel and let rise for at least 90 minutes, or until double in size.
Add some flour to a work surface, remove dough and knead for a few minutes.
Gently stretch dough out to make an oval.
Place on baking sheet lined
Press fingertips down all over dough to create small pockets. Cover with towel and let rise again for 30 minutes.
Sprinkle sesame seeds over top.
Place in oven at 200C/400F for 20-30 minutes, until golden brown.
Enjoy!
May we all rejoice and remain strong in our Orthodox faith as we celebrate the triumph of the Orthodox Church this weekend.
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