No believer's home is complete without icons. But I don’t know everything about how and where to place the faces of saints. Of course, a house is not a temple, and there are no strict rules for placing images. Most of the advice and recommendations below are optional, with a few exceptions, but should still be known.
It is customary to keep icons in the kitchen or in the room where the family gathers for a common meal to read a prayer before eating. And many people mistakenly believe that keeping icons in the bedroom is prohibited. But there are no clear rules about which room they should be in. Literally a hundred years ago, most Orthodox people lived in ordinary village huts, many of which had one large room; then there was no particular choice in the location of icons. But they tried to keep the icons in one place and higher, in the “red corner”. Therefore, in our time, they can be placed wherever there is free space. Of course, icons cannot be stored in the bathroom or restroom. There are no restrictions for other rooms in the house. It is important that there is enough space in front of the icon to pray alone or gather with the whole family for common prayer.
Icons in the sleeping room: the opinion of the Church
The erroneous idea that holy images have no place in the bedroom has taken root in the thoughts of most modern believers. This statement especially applies to the marital bedroom.
It is customary to keep icons in the kitchen or in the room where the family gathers for a common meal.
Representatives of the Orthodox Church argue that placing an icon in the bedroom is possible and even necessary. This contributes to the development of a person’s spiritual culture and his rapprochement with the Lord.
Important! In addition to the bedroom, images of celestial beings can be placed in all rooms of the home, except those intended for hygiene procedures.
How to choose the right place for icons
In the house, icons can be placed in any room, not excluding the bedroom.
In the nursery it is advisable to arrange:
- A measured icon, the height of which corresponds to the height of the child at birth.
- Personal.
- Image of the Savior.
- Guardian Angel.
An icon must certainly be present in a child's bedroom. The price of the image is low, and the result is the spiritual education of the child.
Image above the baby's cradle
Instructions for placing icons suggest:
- Install them on the east side of the room. This could be a corner or a wall.
Advice: When praying, a person should face east, just like the altar in an Orthodox church. Icons should also be placed on the eastern wall of the room.
- You can place the faces of saints on the right opposite the entrance to the room.
- For a child’s bedroom, icons are placed in front of the child’s eyes when he wakes up or falls asleep, in front of the crib, which will become a reminder and call to pray, turn to the prototype, and give thanks.
- In the corridor, the image is hung to the right of the front door or above it.
Images are appropriate here:
- Intercession.
- Seven-shot.
- Oranta.
Where in the room to hang the icon
Church canons do not clearly define where and how to hang images of the Lord, the Mother of God and holy people in the house.
Icons should be placed in the bedroom on the east wall
However, there are general recommendations that are not canonical rules, but are justified from the point of view of logic and common sense. These include:
- From a sacred point of view, the images must be placed on the eastern wall of the room, like a church iconostasis. This is explained by the fact that in the east the birth of a new day and the rising of the sun occur, which are a symbol of eternal life and resurrection. But the lack of possibility of such placement is not an obstacle to the presence of the icon in the room.
- The main thing is that there is enough free space around the saints to ensure an unhindered approach and the implementation of personal or collective prayer.
- You cannot hang photographs, posters, paintings near the faces, or place souvenirs or interior items. The prayerful appeal, mentally directed to the holy image, also extends to the surrounding worldly images and objects. This makes the object of worship (idols, idols), which is contrary to Christian teaching. In the past, there was a tradition of placing iconostases in the corner at the junction of the eastern and southern walls. This is justified by the inconvenience of placing worldly images in this place.
- To prevent iconographic images from being desecrated by the random actions of young children or animals, they are placed on separate shelves mounted high above the floor.
Proper care of icons - instructions
Today, holy faces painted in oil on a wooden board are quite a rarity. They should be handled with particular care. It is important to maintain a constant humidity in the room where such icons are located, not higher than 55%, and a temperature between +17 °C and +20 °C. With sudden changes in temperature and humidity, paint and primer will crack and may even crumble. Therefore, icons have no place near radiators or windows - for these cases it is better to use faces printed on cardboard or thick paper, which can be laminated completely freely. When lighting a lamp or candle next to the icons, make sure that no oil or wax splashes or soot get on the faces. If a deposit of soot, dust or oil has formed on the icons over time, do not try to remove it yourself - this will only cause harm. You can’t even wipe the images with a cloth, dry or wet. The most you can do with your own hands is not to remove dust too often with a soft squirrel brush. Remember that the cost of timely restoration is much less than the cost of a new icon.
A handwritten icon is passed down from generation to generation.
The sun's rays should not be allowed to fall on the icon for too long - this will cause overheating of the paint layer and soil. Check from time to time to see if there are any wood-boring beetles in the tree. Wooden furniture should also be checked - as soon as the source of this pest is discovered, take action to destroy it. This insect needs only 1 year to turn a beautiful object of church art into dust.
What icons to hang in the bedroom
The choice of icon that can be hung in the bedroom depends on who owns the room.
When placing icons in a room, consider the hierarchy
Marital bedroom
The following icons are traditionally placed in the room of the husband and wife:
- The wedding couple is an icon of the Mother of God of Kazan and the Savior Pantocrator. The priest blesses the spouses with these holy images during the wedding sacrament. The face of the Lord is transmitted to the husband, and the image of the Mother of God to the wife. These holy images, placed in the bedroom, daily remind the couple of their vows to live in love and be faithful to each other.
- Icon of Saints Peter and Fevronia of Murom - Orthodox patrons of marital relationships, love and fidelity.
- The image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, whose prayer helps to overcome conflicts.
- Personalized icons of spouses.
Children's room
It is appropriate to place the following holy images in the child’s room:
- The image of the Guardian Angel, which is given by the Lord at birth to every person. While the child is in infancy, parents turn to the angel in prayer. They also teach their children to independently ask the heavenly intercessor for help.
- A personal icon that is given to a person after the sacrament of baptism. It depicts the holy primate, whose name the baby received at the sacrament of Baptism.
- A measured icon is a type of personal image, made to order, since its height is equal to the height of the child at birth.
In the children's room it is customary to place images of Christ and the Mother of God, as well as the heavenly patrons of children
The placement of holy images in the children's room helps to introduce him to the Christian faith and Orthodox traditions.
Important: an icon is not a talisman or an amulet. Her mere presence in the room is not a guarantee of the Lord’s protection and help. Only sincere Faith and fervent prayer will be heard by the Savior.
Product Features
A cabinet for icons is usually created with two compartments. The upper part consists of open shelves and is intended for the most revered images. These are icons of Jesus Christ and the Mother of God. Various items related to religious themes are stored on the lower shelves. These can be candles, church books, lamps, containers with holy water and more. This part of the furniture is equipped with doors and hidden from view. The facade can be decorated with designs in the form of crosses or other decorations of an Orthodox nature.
The icon cabinet goes by several names - the words icon case, kivot and icon case come from the Greek language. A glass shelf or door cabinet with patterns is called a shrine.
Some people rightly believe that icons can be placed on ordinary shelves, behind a glass sideboard. But in essence, these options are not very suitable for maintaining shrines. In the first case, they will often gather dust, in the second, you will have to open the sideboard door all the time to get the icon. However, a special cabinet has a number of advantages:
- the ability to install in the right place to pray in the right direction;
- the presence of decorations on religious themes that set the believer in a special mood;
- the absence of nearby extraneous things that are not related to religion.
Characteristic features of cabinets in the Provence style, combination with the interior Not everyone knows, but other things should not be placed next to religious objects - cosmetics, photographs, paintings and even images of priests and monks.
Correct example
It is at the age of 3-4 years that children often begin to invent imaginary friends for themselves. This is a completely normal part of growing up. And it will be very good if the place of a reliable friend is taken in the child’s mind by a heavenly patron.
He will be able to share secrets with him. The mother’s task is to teach him to properly communicate with the saint. Explain that through the drawing the believer turns to a living heavenly patron who is always ready to help. This is how spirituality is established and the connection between children and parents is strengthened.
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Education begins from the cradle
The priest explained the reason why, even from a tender age, children begin to swear and show cruelty. Everything is very simple. They absorb the patterns of behavior that surround them everywhere. Television programs and films, videos on the Internet, heroes of computer games... And there are murders everywhere, hatred, morality is not considered at all. No matter how hard parents try to protect their child, this is hardly possible. Even if everything is peaceful and calm at home, the external environment poisons the gentle child’s soul.
He also said that many people make the mistake of postponing education “for later.” It turns out that you shouldn’t wait until your son or daughter grows up. Then it will be too late, because a person’s character is formed in the first years of life. A mother’s task is to surround her child with Christian role models from the first days.
Why you can't sleep with your head towards the window
The Old Slavs believed that when the sun sets, evil spirits appear on the earth and enter the house through windows and doors. Therefore, if a person sleeps with his head towards the window, it can bring him bad thoughts and take away his health.
The clergy approach this in their own way. For example, the abbot of the Moscow local monastery advises thanking God for the daily day and remembering all the good moments that happened during the day, putting thoughts in order.
Regarding the position of the head and everyday life, the church says that a person can sleep in the way that is comfortable for him and place pieces of furniture in a comfortable position.
How to determine the position of the bed
Is it so important where to lie with your head and where with your feet? Many people, without thinking, put a bed where there is space.
How to set up a bed to get a good night's rest? Which part of the world is considered the most fertile for restoring strength and giving energy for the whole day?
In the Orthodox canons there are no clear rules about where to lie with your head and where with your feet. But Orthodox people should pray before going to bed, thanking the Almighty for the day they have lived and go to bed with a good mood the next morning.
