About the Icons

The word icon comes from the Greek word for image eikōʹn. Icons don’t have to be painted pictures on wood; they can also be created with textiles, mosaic, ivory, metal, and stone. 

These images are regarded as not just illustrations of the Bible and other texts but as part of the Word of God. Making an icon is considered a sacred act. 

But the history of icons is not so simple. During the so-called Byzantine Iconoclasm (730–843), there was a debate within the Orthodox Church about whether to even allow images. In 843, the Iconophiles (who loved imagery) won and icons became an unquestioned and necessary feature of life in the Orthodox Church.