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 -