August: Day 16: Teaching 1: The Transfer From Edessa of the Icon Not Made By Hands of Our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ, Known as the Holy Mandylion

August: Day 16: Teaching 1:
The Transfer From Edessa of the Icon Not Made by Hands of Our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ, Known as the Holy Mandylion
 
(On the Veneration of Icons)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. At the end of the Gospel of John we read that “there are many other things which Jesus did, which are not written in these books,” namely the Gospels (John 21:25). One of these miraculous acts of Jesus Christ, not written in the Gospel, serves, brethren, as the basis for this feast.

The rumour reached Abgar, the ruler of Edessa, who, as an ancient tradition says, suffered from an incurable disease, that an extraordinary man called Jesus had appeared in Judea, who healed all diseases with a single word. Moved by the desire for health, Abgar immediately sent one of his servants, named Ananias, who was well versed in the art of painting, with a letter to the great Miracle Worker, which contained an invitation to come to Edessa to give healing to its owner. At the same time, Ananias was ordered to bring back, unknown to the Miracle Worker, an image of His face. Ananias successfully fulfilled one part of his assignment: he handed over the letter of his master, and received a letter in response, which said that the Divine Miracle Worker was to remain permanently in Judea until the day of His ascension to heaven, but that after this event one of His apostles would be sent to Abgar with salvation not only of the body, but also of the soul. But the other part of the assignment - to take an image of the face of Jesus - Ananias could not fulfill at all: the Divine image remained above all the efforts of art, and the artist could not find the desired resemblance in his image to the great original. The Knower of Hearts saw all this and did not want the labor of Ananias and the zeal of his master to remain unrewarded. Having deliberately washed His face with water in his presence, He wiped it with a kerchief - and suddenly on this kerchief with all precision His divine image was imprinted, which constituted a most precious gift for the owner of Edessa. After the Savior's ascension into heaven, the promise concerning the message of the apostle to Abgar was fulfilled. Thaddeus, one of the seventy apostles, having reached Edessa, gave him healing from his bodily affliction, and at the same time brought him and his subjects eternal salvation, baptizing them in the name of the Lord Jesus. And the image of the Savior not made by hands, even after the death of Abgar, for a long time formed an impenetrable wall for Edessa from enemies visible and invisible, until it was acquired as a precious treasure by Romanos, the Greek emperor, and transferred to Constantinople on the sixteenth day of the month of August - on which occasion the present feast began.

II. Jesus Christ blessed the icons with such a miraculous image of His most pure face on the cloth. It is also known that the Evangelist Luke was a painter and painted several icons of the Mother of God, which soon became objects of veneration. As soon as Christian churches began to be built, icons became their necessary decoration.

a) To honor icons and to turn to them with reverence is a need of our soul. Who has not happened to hear or notice what significance images of revered and beloved faces from whom they are separated have for people who are separated? A daughter, struck by grief, rushes to the image of her dear and beloved mother and before the soulless substance on which her image is imprinted, she pours out her tears and sorrows, asks for her blessing and prayers. A husband, deprived of his beloved wife, who shared with him both the sorrows and the joys of life, does not take his eyes off her image, tells her how alive the weight of his loneliness is transferred by imagination and desire to an unknown land, to where she is.

b) If the need to see before oneself the faces of one's near and dear ones imprinted by art is so natural and so strong in the heart of man, then this need takes on a higher, sacred significance as soon as it brings the believing soul closer to the world of the celestials. As we learn of their pious life, their teaching and miraculous power, and imagine their blessed lot, we are naturally inclined to curiosity: what was their outward appearance like? The veneration of icons satisfies this good desire. On the other hand, seeing the faces of the saints, we recall their good deeds, as an example to follow; and believing in their communion with us, in their intercession before God, we are moved to honor them and call on them in prayer.

c) If at times there has been iconoclasm, it has arisen from external causes and not from the essence of Christianity. It is believed that the initial persecution of icons was instigated by Muslims who, out of fanaticism, conflated the veneration of icons with idolatry. And even now, what causes the neglect of icons and their expulsion from Christian homes? It is due to a frivolous, idolatrous enslavement to the spirit of the times. In succumbing to this, some abundantly decorate the walls of their homes with paintings and photographic images, leaving the place where icons should be empty, reasoning foolishly that worshiping God must be spiritual. Indeed, Christ said that true worshipers will worship God in spirit (John 4:23); yet He Himself left us His image Not Made By Hands and Himself engaged in kneeling prayer. Thus, it follows that the veneration of icons must be spiritual, not superstitious.

III. Let us not be ashamed to honor icons and venerate them: for, as the Fathers of the Synod explained, affirming the veneration of icons, the honor given to the image passes to the prototype, and he who venerates the icon venerates what is depicted on it.

 

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