The What's and Why's of our Church
By Fr. Stanley Samuel Harakas
Iconostasis
One of the most striking
things you see when you enter an Orthodox Church is the large screen
with three doors standing between the altar area and the main part
of the Church where the people are found.
It can take many
forms. It is usually made of wood, sometimes elaborately
carved and more often fairly simple. However, it might be made
of pierced marble, or of latticed metal work. It can be a
little taller than a tall man, but sometimes it rises up to the
ceiling. Each one is different.
All of them, however,
are called by the same name: "Iconostasis." The first part of
the word comes from the Greek word eikon, which means in
religious language, a painted representation of Christ, the Virgin
Mary, a saint or saints, or an event in the history of salvation.
The icon is painted in a way that is non-naturalistic. As an
art form, it uses features such as reverse perspective to achieve
its goal of pointing the viewer to the heavenly dimensions of the
subject. At the same time, the icons are for us a visual
instruction regarding the sacred persons or events they depict.
So they are designed to aid a two-way relationship between the
praying Christian and persons and events that are holy and sacred,
thus, emphasizing divine immanence - God's closeness to us.
The second part of the word "Iconostasis" is the Greek word
statis which is best understood if we set it as the root word
for "station" as in "railroad station." A railroad station is
a place for trains. Similarly, and Iconostasis is a place for
displaying icons.
In the structure of the Orthodox church
building, the Iconostasis plays a special role based on the two
aspects of the icon. On the one hand, it is clearly a wall-lie
separation between the congregation and the altar. The message
in this is that things divine are transcendent and different from
us. This aspect of the Iconostasis emphasizes the holiness of
God and the sacred truths of the Faith.
On the other hand, the Iconostasis has three doors that allow passage from the sacred domain to the earthly domain. The two doors on either side are there for the beginning and end processions from the altar area to the people and back. Also and most importantly, the icons themselves are connecting links between heaven and earth, in both directions. The Iconostasis both separates and unites the Christian with things holy and divine. It retains the sense of transcendent holiness, while encouraging the relationship of the believer with God and things divine.
There are four
icons on every Iconostasis. On either side of the central
Royal gate are the icons of Jesus Christ and the Theotokos.
Next to the icon of the Theotokos is the icon of St. John the
Baptist. Next to the icon of Christ is the icon of the patron
saint of the Church. The Archangels Michael and Gabriel adorn
the two side doors - the messengers of God to humanity.
- Article from The Herald, courtesy of Pete
and Tammy Kretsedemas -