- Feb 5, 2002
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A concerned reader wrote to me recently with a question about some icons she had bought online. She was happy with the images, but then heard that the company that supplied the high-quality reproductions was owned and staffed by Buddhists. Furthermore, she said, before the icons went out of the warehouse, non-Christian prayers and incantations, perhaps even Satanic in origin, were said over them. Are these icons still authentic? She asked me.
I thought about this, and in fact, I don’t see any reason to worry, even assuming that the worst of the rumors are true. Here’s why:
Icons are as good as they look. It is from the visible image that a sacred image derives its power. If you destroy the image, then it has no impact, it is just wood and ink or paint. Assuming the images are authentic, even if reproductions, then they have all the power of a holy image worthy of veneration. We can rely on them.
It seems to me that the error is in assuming too much of an icon. Some wrongly suppose that there is a presence associated with the icon in the way that Christ is present in the Blessed Sacrament. So the misplaced fear here is that the company selling them has somehow destroyed the invisible presence of the Saint and, even worse, have performed a sort of transubstantiation of the devil by which there is an internal evil presence that is distinct from the external appearance.
We should be reassured that these fears are misplaced, for there is no such invisible presence, good or bad. As with sacramentals, icons direct and focus our prayers through the engagement of our imaginations. Even blessed icons do not have the presence of the saint in them in that way. Furthermore, if the devil could be hidden away in an icon in this way, it would potentially invalidate every famous icon or piece of sacred art ever made. After all, we cannot guarantee that there is no one among all of the millions of people who have stood in front of them in church or procession (or museum) who has not uttered a curse or evil incantation before the painting or statue. It is quite possible that people with malign intent have done so on occasion. But there is nothing to worry about, for their words and intentions can have no power at all on the impact of an icon. Short of taking an ax to them so as to destroy the image we see, no one can destroy the power of the good images in front of them.
Continued below.
New Liturgical Movement: Can Non-Christian Rituals or Incantations Invisibly Destroy the Good of Holy Images?
I thought about this, and in fact, I don’t see any reason to worry, even assuming that the worst of the rumors are true. Here’s why:
Icons are as good as they look. It is from the visible image that a sacred image derives its power. If you destroy the image, then it has no impact, it is just wood and ink or paint. Assuming the images are authentic, even if reproductions, then they have all the power of a holy image worthy of veneration. We can rely on them.
It seems to me that the error is in assuming too much of an icon. Some wrongly suppose that there is a presence associated with the icon in the way that Christ is present in the Blessed Sacrament. So the misplaced fear here is that the company selling them has somehow destroyed the invisible presence of the Saint and, even worse, have performed a sort of transubstantiation of the devil by which there is an internal evil presence that is distinct from the external appearance.
We should be reassured that these fears are misplaced, for there is no such invisible presence, good or bad. As with sacramentals, icons direct and focus our prayers through the engagement of our imaginations. Even blessed icons do not have the presence of the saint in them in that way. Furthermore, if the devil could be hidden away in an icon in this way, it would potentially invalidate every famous icon or piece of sacred art ever made. After all, we cannot guarantee that there is no one among all of the millions of people who have stood in front of them in church or procession (or museum) who has not uttered a curse or evil incantation before the painting or statue. It is quite possible that people with malign intent have done so on occasion. But there is nothing to worry about, for their words and intentions can have no power at all on the impact of an icon. Short of taking an ax to them so as to destroy the image we see, no one can destroy the power of the good images in front of them.
Continued below.
New Liturgical Movement: Can Non-Christian Rituals or Incantations Invisibly Destroy the Good of Holy Images?
