Do you have a home shrine?

[BAChristian]

http://www.christianforums.com/t108759

 

[Suzannah]

Yes!!!

I'm looking at it right now and I will describe it fr you...I work out of my house/self employed. So my office is my "cave"

On the wall facing east I have:

a small birds eye maple chest of drawers that I keep all my Bibles and prayer book, incense, etc.

Above that I have : in order, going downward:

Christ the Pantocreator

A triptych of : Mary, Christ, and the Passion. On the outside 'doors' is on left: St. Nicholas, on right St. George Demitrios (this is a very old Greek icon my mother bought on a trip in Greece in 1965)

The Holy Protection of Our Most Holy Theotokos

St. Columba: (I am of the O'Niall clan and he is our "family". )

St. Brigid and St. Patrick side by side.


Every day, (well, okay almost!) I try to read:
The Breastplate of St. Padraig
and a bit from the Life of St. Columba by Admonan
Also a couple chapters of Scripture and morning prayers.

Being self employed, I have a lot of time on my hands!!! LOL

Love,
Suzannah

 

[Umut]

hmm, that sounds wonderful Suzannah!

when I move into my own room in University, I will most likely set up my own little church...

i'm hoping to have the motivation to have:

many icons in a corner; candles, pictures, prayer rope, many books right beside the corner (maybe on a little shelf) and i hope to get up every morning and read from my pocket prayerbook; or my big prayer book (these books are in my soon-to-be pile, if people from this site send me the things they've promised... i hope they do ) and i plan on getting up every morning to say my prayers; lead a healthy university life without the careless partying and sex, etc... and after university if i don't fall in love with a woman, i plan on joining a monastary! YAY I CAN'T WAIT!!!

Umut...

 

[Suzannah]

Umut: I sent your package on Tuesday...you should get it tomorrow or Tuesday...when I sent an envelope to Andreas it only took like four or five days...so you should get it soon!

Love you!
Suzannah

 

[Suzannah]

One thing I want to add: I do not keep candles and I will tell you why: here, in the desert, they simply melt. Even when they are unlit. In winter, they 'gel" to the point where you cannot find the wicks anymore...i think it has something to do with the ingredients in them. I live in the high, arid desert of Nevada, USA....so I am using a simply oil lamp that I bought in a grocery store.

 

[Matrona]

Well, my icon corner has grown from a gleam in my eye at the beginning of the semester, to a wonderful little shrine that I absolutely love. I've actually been looking for a camera of some sort to photograph it with (I don't own a camera). But I will describe it to the best of my ability.

I have a little shelf I use for it. I can barely fit in my corner to kneel but I'm just glad to have it. I have my baptismal candle, votive candles, tea lights, holy water, an incense burner (thank you Photini!), my prayer list, and a little pocket prayer book. These are my icons:

Christ Pantokrator: 2

Virgin and Child: 3

Annunciation

Creation of the Animals

St. Photini

St. Nicholas

Resurrection

St. Catherine

Creation of the Stars

Beheading of St. John the Forerunner

St. Raphael of Brooklyn (thank you nicodemus!)

Mother of God - Simeon's Prophecy

Holy Royal Martyrs - St. Nicholas the Tsar-Martyr and family

St. Philip the Apostle (of the 12)

St. Peter the Apostle

four diptychs of Christ Pantokrator and Virgin and Child

Also, I don't have it yet, but today I won another Christ Pantokrator from eBay. I didn't think the ones I had of Christ were big enough and I felt like I should have a larger one of my Lord than the ones I have.

This might sound like an obscene amount of icons, but most of them were gifts, or I was only able to purchase them due to a freak minor windfall. (I found a bundle of foreign currency that belonged to me, and had somewhat appreciated in value between the time I got it exchanged and the time I found it.) Also, most of them are very small--two by three inches or smaller.

This isn't including the wonderful icon cards that Suzannah and countrymouse have given to me. I have been so wonderfully blessed and already I feel that this simple little dorm room has been imbued with God's grace and love due to the presence of these sacred objects.

 

[Umut]

Yay! Thanks Suzannah!

 

[prodromos]

I recently took photos of our icon walls but you will have to wait till we finish the roll of film for me to post them.

In the meantime have a look at this thread http://www.christianforums.com/t89303&page=1&pp=20

John.

 

[Patristic]

Everything you all have described sounds absolutely wonderful. I currently possess only a handful of icons and I don't have them arranged or anything like that. Hopefully, when I get to law school and get settled in my own place I will set up my own little corner for prayer and reflection. Besides, right now most of my money and spare time goes towards books since I buy books almost every week.

 

[Michael G]

My "icon corner" is the 15 foot long wall which is infront of my painting table which probably has 20-30 of my handpainted icons on it. That is where I do most of my praying in front of icons.
Michael

 

[Eusebios]

Yes we do. We have a small wooden box where our incese, charcoal and other misc. items are kept. A friend and I created a home made vigil lamp (though I'd like to purchase a nicer one) I have a three tiered candelabra that I'd also like to replace with a more traditional "sandbox". These all sit on a small end table, covered with of all things, a fancy white lace curtain!.
Icons are,
Christ Pantocrator and Sweet Kissing virgin side by side
The harrowing of hell (large)
wall crucifix
The myhrbearing women
St. Mary of Egypt
St. Raphael of Brooklyn
St. Tikhon
Ss. Peter and Paul
St. Pantelimon (the unmercenary healer)
St. John the Baptist
St. Athanasius
St. Seraphim of Sarov
Gaurdian Angel
Theophany of Christ
Rublev's Hospitality of Abraham (Trinity)

 

[Photini]

Yes I have an Icon "corner", but its not really a corner per se.

It's the very edge of the east wall in my living room, which happens to be the exact center of my apartment--so that works out pretty nice.

I have a nightstand there that has a drawer and a shelf underneath. That's where I keep my Bibles, holy water and oil, charcoal stock and incense, wicks, etc. I keep some of my favorite Icons there on the nightstand....they're eye-level if I happen to be kneeling. Above the nightstand is a shelf I mounted on the wall. That's where I keep the big Icon of Christ, the Panagia and St. Michael the Archangel. Under the shelf I hung a Cross with the Icon of the crucified Christ on it.

 

[Rick of Wessex]

Hello everyone,

In my icon corner I have:

A crucifix

Christ the Pantocrator

Our Lady of Perpetual Help

St. George

St. Catherine of Alexandria

St. Seraphim of Sarov

St. Patrick

Ss. Cosmas and Damian

St. Barbara

St. Theodore Stratelates

St. Nicholas of Mira

St. Richard of Wessex (my onomastic)

St. John of Damascus

And I intend to add St. Anastasia of Roma (my fiancé's patron saint), St. Michael the Archangel, St. John Maximovitch and St. Panteleimon. I'm also trying to find an icon of St. Flavian of Constantinopla, but I can't find it anywhere.

Plus, I keep candles and holy water in a nearby drawer.

Every day, (well, okay almost!) I try to read:
The Breastplate of St. Padraig

Hi, Suzannah. I read the Breastplate every morning. It's really wonderful. You should hear how beautiful it sounds in Portuguese.

In XC,
Rick