Icon Corners can be like a family scrapbook -- and, God willing, vice versa. While moving the family prayer corner, Fr. Joseph remembers prayers answered through the intercessions of the Saints.

You know how strange dreams can be when you're not sleeping in your own bed? Well this one ranks up there with the strangest but, as usual, Fr. Joseph has a very practical application.

In this episode, Fr. Anthony interviews iconographer Lynette Hull of the Prosopon School (prosoponschool.org). She shares her thoughts on what happens when parishes compromise on icon composition and style, how missions should prioritize their collection of icons, and why it is important that priests immerse themselves in the production (and not just the study and veneration) of icons. She also shows considerable restraint as she works around Fr. Anthony's (attempts at) humor. Enjoy the show!

The Sunday of Orthodoxy offers us an opportunity to discuss with our kids the Orthodox understanding of the materiality of this world and its potential for holiness.

In Orthodox Christian marriage, the wife is the queen, crowned and exalted at the head of the household; however, she is also the intercessor, standing submissively behind her husband, receiving his full attention and quietly interceding on behalf of the household. In this image is revealed the mystery of Christ and the Church, the mystery of the miraculous transformation of water into wine, of what is natural into what is above nature, of what is merely human into what is divine.

How can we find joy and healing for our souls as image bearers of God?

The veneration of icons should prod us all to wrestle with the question of who we are and who we want to become. Too often, however, we think that iconography simply has to do with wood and paint, and we ignore the question of whether we are becoming more beautiful icons of Christ. The icons are not merely examples of religious art, but reminders that to become truly human is to become like Jesus Christ, for He has healed the corruption of the human person that began with the first Adam.

There are many ways to view ourselves as human beings. All too often, we accept false definitions that we find appealing in light of our passions, weaknesses, and other forms of personal brokenness. When we do so, we set our sights too low, for the Savior became one of us in order to make us perfectly beautiful icons of His salvation.

Icons certainly beautify the church, but not simply in the conventional sense of being aesthetically pleasing. Instead, they manifest visually that the Son of God has called and enabled us to become His beautiful living icons. They show that the Savior has made us participants by grace in His deified humanity so that we may shine brightly with the divine glory.

As we celebrate the restoration of icons today, let us become more beautiful living icons of our Lord’s salvation and gain the strength to treat every neighbor accordingly as we live and breathe in this world. Remember: They are His living icons also.

The disciplines of this season give us all countless opportunities to do precisely that as we prepare for nothing less than to “see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.”

In the midst of the ongoing tragedy unfolding in the Holy Land, we must attend to the wisdom of our father in Christ, His Beatitude Patriarch John X of Antioch, who stated this week that “Peace does not come from the bodies of children, killed people, innocent people, and women. Peace comes when the decision-makers in this world realize that our people have dignity, as all the peoples of the world. We are not advocates of war, we reject violence and killing, and we are seekers of peace…” He writes that we pray “for peace in the entire world, for stability, and for the repose of the souls of those who have passed away. We pray that the wounds of the sick be soothed and they might recover, for the wounds of every hurting person, every bereaved mother, every brother, and every sister, for everyone’s wounds. We ask the Lord to protect us and grant us peace…”

Fr. John introduces the principle of heavenly orientation and then explores actual forms of art, beginning with iconography.

Fr. John explores specific examples of icons and the way in which they manifested early Christendom's experience of the kingdom of heaven.

In this, the first episode of the Paradise and Utopia video edition, Father John provides a video lecture from his office in Puget Sound, showing, with the use of powerful, full-color icons such as those of Andrei Rublev, how hesychasm inspired some of the greatest art in the history of eastern Christendom.

Dr. Humphrey takes us to the letter to the Hebrews for the Christian Hall of Fame as we approach the Sunday of Orthodoxy.

Today, we consider the Old Testament readings appointed for March 17 (Isaiah 13:2-13; Genesis 8:4-21; Proverbs 10:31-11:12) in the light of the life of Holy Bishop Patrick, and especially the prayer of the “Lorica” (the Breastplate) ascribed to him.

From God to You: The Icon’s Journey to Your Heart, part one, by John Kosmas Skinas (Ancient Faith Publishing, 2014)

From God to You: The Icon’s Journey to Your Heart, part two, by John Kosmas Skinas (Ancient Faith Publishing, 2014)

From God to You: The Icon’s Journey to Your Heart, part three, by John Kosmas Skinas (Ancient Faith Publishing, 2014)

From God to You: The Icon’s Journey to Your Heart, conclusion, by John Kosmas Skinas (Ancient Faith Publishing, 2014)

81. Book 1: "The First Disciples" from The Bible for Young People by Zoe Kanavas (Narthex Press, 2005) (6.49 mins) Book 2: The Hermit, the Icon, and the Emperor: The Holy Virgin Comes to Cyprus by Chrissi Hart (Conciliar Press Ministries, 2008) (18.26 mins)

Fr. Ted explains how parishioners are icons of Christ.

Fr. Ted discusses the spiritual importance of icons, citing the Seventh Ecumenical Council.

Fr. Ted discusses the necessity of icons in worship.

The deep symbolism in the Church is there to involve us, but it takes time, effort, and education for this to occur.

Fr. Ted encourages everyone to have icons in their homes as a way to teach our children about the faith.

Fr. Theodore Paraskevopoulos explains the reason we celebrate the Sunday of Orthodoxy.

Pornography has become a social, spiritual, and physical epidemic in the world. Andrew's first podcast is part one of a series of conversations which will identify the real issues we must face in dealing with pornography from an Orthodox Christian perspective. This first episode in that series talks about pornography, iconography, and idolatry. A transcript of this episode is available HERE.

That which calls me to embrace the icon and that which calls me to embrace pornography is at root the same thing. Read the transcript HERE.

In episode 4, Andrew helps us understand the transformation that takes place when we begin to see iconographically instead of pornographically. The transcript can be accessed HERE.

We're baaaack! After an unintended extended hiatus from the program, we were finally able to find an evening to record a special "Christmas edition" of Our Life in Christ. In this program we walk through the icon of the Nativity and look at the wholistic view of the ministry of Christ in His incarnation. The Nativity icon foreshadows the Passion of Christ and we see in the details of the icon commmon elements that show us that our salvation began from eternity. Blessed Nativity to all of our listeners!

This is the first of a six-part series on "ICONS" from our KPXQ live radio program archives from 2004. In this program we introduce icons and what you will see in an Orthodox Church and look at the scriptures, especially in the Old Testament, that seem to prohibit the making of "graven images." Are all images "idols," and are ALL images and representations of the material world prohibited by God?

In part two of "Icons" we continue to discuss the Scriptures and the post-Reformation emphasis on the "intellectual" apprehension of the rational message of the Gospel as written in the Bible. But we will see that icons are a fulfillment of the Gospel and more specifically are a logical ramification of the Incarnation of God.

Rome-based Catholic filmmaker Robert Duncan took part in a special, public screening of his documentary Faces Among Icons on April 29, 2018 at St. Vladimir’s Seminary, followed by a panel discussion about the renewal of Orthodoxy in Russia. Duncan was joined on the panel by Seminary President Archpriest Chad Hatfield and third-year Seminarian Priest Christopher Moore. Hear the panel discussion in its entirety as it addressed issues including ecumenical dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church, the nature of church-state relations in Russia, and how the Orthodox Church there is addressing social concerns in Russian society.

Padre Nicolás predicó que Dios ha usado imagines a salvar su pueblo. Entonces los fieles de Dios adoran a Él por iconos mostrando la grandeza del Señor. (Lucas 21:37-38, 22:1-8) Fr. Nicholas preached about how God uses images to save his people. Therefore the faithful of God worship Him through icons showing the greatness of the Lord. (Luke 21:37-38, 22:1-8)

Recently I have come across an anti-Orthodox polemic which rejects our veneration of icons on the grounds that venerating an image painted on a board of Christ, His Mother, or His saints is contrary to the practice of the apostles and of the earliest Church. The objection is stated with some sophistication, and is not the usual fundamentalist reference to the Mosaic Law’s proscription of carved statues used in worship (e.g. Exodus 20:4f). This more sophisticated objection acknowledges that there were indeed images of Christ, His Mother, and His saints used in the early Church such as can be found in the funerary art of the catacombs and on the walls of churches (such as that of Dura Europos). But, it points out, there is no evidence that these images functioned as anything more than mere decoration. That is, the people did not come up to the wall to kiss the wall art or venerate the images.

On the Sunday of Orthodoxy, Fr. Apostolos reminds us that unless we see the face of Christ in everyone we meet, to venerate our icons can be a form of idolatry.

On the First Sunday of Great Lent, Fr Thomas teaches us that icons are not merely beautiful decorations, but rather absolutely necessary witnesses to the incarnation of Christ and the presence of the Kingdom of God.

Subdeacon Immanuel speaks about the new fresco Icon of the Theotokos of the Sign written by Efrem Carrasco on the wall behind the altar at St Aidan’s Antiochian Orthodox Church in Levenshulme, Manchester.

Every icon is a mediator, a means of reconciling each of us to God.

Bobby Maddex interviews Georgia Briggs, the author of the new AFP young adult book Icon: A Novel.

Today, Dr. Rossi reflects on icons and the very different perspective of the Orthodox Christian when viewing them.

Dr. Rossi takes us to Taylor, PA, and share his experience with the myrrh-gushing icon at St. George Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Church. He interviews a college student and plays a clip of the singing of the faithful gathered there.

Dr. Albert Rossi interviews Fr. John Behr (Director of the Master of Theology Program and the Father Georges Florovsky Distinguished Professorship of Patristics at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in Yonkers, NY) on a homily he gave on the Sunday of St. Gregory Palamas.