www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Monastery icons what to do?

I found at that the "Monastery Icons" are actually produced by some heretical group. I have received several as gifts. I don't remember if any of them have been blessed. What should I do with them? I have heard that they are evil. They are certainly tacky.

Joe

Dear Joe,

I would strongly suggest first that you have them blessed. Even though they have been produced by a heretical group, the sanctification with Holy Water and the prayers of blessing should exorcise any demonic influences. Now, if you chose to give them to someone else or whatever, at least you will not have to worry about these influences following them. I strongly suggest that no matter what you simply do not throw away any icon, but rather if you inclined to dispose of them, do so in the proper manner with consultation of a priest.

I hope this helps.

In IC XC,
Father Anthony+

Father,

It helps very much. God bless you and thank you.

Joe

One thinks that there should be a large banner displayed across every Eastern (Orthodox or Catholic) website - displaying in large letters - "Beware Monastery Icons" - it would save so very much bandwidth

My advice to those who are in possession, or come into possession, of any of these "icons" is to burn them - they do not follow the canonos of iconography, although one may need a magnifiying glass to discover some of the problems (just for a sample, note carefully what they've done with the traditional Ho On inscription on the head of the Lord Jesus Christ).

Fr. Serge

And they even go so far as to sign the icons. Now thats tacky. Icons are not to be signed at all but written with extreme humility and not notoriety.

I wish someone in my little Church would read this thread. :rolleyes:

Can I ask, simply out of curiousity, how you know they are produced by a hereticl group?

"note carefully what they've done with the traditional Ho On inscription on the head of the Lord Jesus Christ)."

Fr. Serge,
Can you link a picture of this icon, and explain in more detail?

Thanks.

Yes, they feature one in their catalogue with God pictured in it....take a look. That's not allowed!!

Monastery Icons [monasteryicons.com]

Aside from the fact that they're heritics, they're not very artistic.

Okay, I'm going to openly display my ignorance here, but as the saying goes, there are no stupid questions...

What makes them heritical? The way they write icons? I know just a little bit about icons, mainly how to tell which one's what, some theology of icons, and that they are intentionally left to look unreal.

Maybe I'll be able to learn something here, and so will any lurkers who might be wondering the same thing(s).

I'll second what Fr Anthony said. I've been given one and had it blessed. The subject matter is fine and the giver means something to me so I didn't want to destroy it. Though what Fr Serge said is fine.

An Orthodox priest wrote an expos� of Monastery Icons you probably still can find online. They lived near him once so he was well acquainted with them. They are beyond heretical; they're non-Christian, quasi-pseudo-Hindu New Agers. Last I saw on their website they were trying to pass themselves off as Malankara Orthodox from India. They market their images heavily to Roman Catholics (they make lots of images of Roman Catholic saints for example), many of whom don't know iconography and don't know better.

Fr Anthony Nelson's ctitique of Monastery Icons is online here:

http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/general/monasteryicons.aspx

The eyes of the Theotokos in the icon illustrating the piece are very disturbing.

To tell if an "icon" is heretical, there are several tests, all of which do require some knowledge of the subject. To learn the subject, try Lossky's Maning of Icons for a starter and other sources published by reputable Orthodox houses.

Compare the "icon" which you are testing with images of the real thing. It takes development of the critical faculties, but eventually you get to the point of being able to recognize even seemingly small departures from what you are supposed to find.

Have a look at other "icons" from the same dubious source. There is a gentleman in the southwest who was trained at Jordanville and who abuses his talent to produce "icons" of highly unlikely subjects.

Get out that magnifiying glass and check all the fine print, so to speak. Some of these peculiar types conceal strange messages in ways which make them hard to find and even harder to read.

Remember: iconography is a language. Unfortunately one can use a language both for honest and for dishonest purposes.

That will do for a starter. There's more, but it's after midnight here.

Fr. Serge

I think you mean:
Ouspensky, Leonid. & Vladimir Lossky. "The Meaning of Icons." Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir�s Seminary Press, 1982.

It is still the best textbook around because it includes pictures, liturgical quotes, biblical quotes and patristic quotes.

Dear All,

I wonder if these products are still being produced by "heretical" religious. Nowhere in the current catalog from Monastery Icons is there mention of the "Gnostic Orthodox" monastics that used to make these icons as a means of support.

Instead the catalog (and this is confirmed on Monastery Icons web site - see: http://www.monasteryicons.com/info/index.hzml ) states that the rights to the images were recently acquired by some group called the Sacred Arts Foundation, which is headquartered in Missouri. Also, the catalog outlet is listed as being in West Chester, OH. Is the "monastic" group that started this now defunct? Does anyone know the story?

Peace

Br. Elias