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The Meaning of Objects Held by Saints in Orthodox Icons
adapted from A Reader’s Guide to Orthodox
Icons
Iconography can be an extremely concise way of communicating the Faith.
Therefore, what the Saints hold in their hands in portrait icons helps in identifying them and in telling us about
their lives. I hope to show that what is held in the hands of the
Saints in icons is their instrument of Salvation, i.e., the “tools” by which God saved and glorified these people.
First, a Cross, which indicates the Saint is a Holy Martyr.
The reason Martyrs are shown holding a cross is two-fold: firstly,
‘martyr’ comes from the Greek for ‘witness’, and so these witnesses hold the preeminent symbol of
Christianity, the Cross. Secondly, the Cross symbolizes the most perfect
sacrifice of life for others, Christ’s own crucifixion. Therefore,
any Saints who were murdered for confessing the Faith are shown with Crosses, regardless of how they died.
The manner of a Saint’s execution is not how they gained Sainthood.
Multitudes of people suffer horribly each day, and die in all sorts of gruesome ways and yet are nor called Saints
or Martyrs for it. It is the confession of Faith that counts, and so those
who confessed Christ and died for it hold a Cross to mark their martyrdom. Saints
holding the instruments of their execution are more common in Renaissance-era art of Europe, but this, I suggest, reflects
a preoccupation with the earthly life, rather than eternal heavenly reality. Orthodox
icons may sometimes show the martyrdom itself, but portrait icons are “windows into Heaven”, and so the Saints
are not shown burden by the things that killed them.
A Scroll indicates Holy Wisdom, and so it often shown in the
hands of the Old Testament Prophets, but it is also commonly seen in the hands of the Apostles. Both were given wisdom from
God – the Prophets through visions, the Apostles through meeting and knowing Jesus Christ.
Later Saints may also be shown holding scrolls if they were known for prophecy, percipience, and imparting divine knowledge
to others. One example is Ephrem the Syrian, a hymnographer and deacon from
the 4th century well-known for his poetic works of theology. Where
the scrolls are unfurled, quotes from the Saints’ own writings are shown.
At first this may seem as though the Saints are being glorified for their own “works”.
However, it is precisely because these Saints’ writing/wisdom/prophecy is believed to come from God, not from
their own reasoning, that they are glorified. This is clear when we see,
for example, the Prophet Isaiah holding a scroll which bears the words, “Hear, O Heavens, and give ear, O Earth”
[Is 1.2]. These words are Isaiah’s, but are also the words of God spoken
through his Prophet. It’s the same for later Saints who are shown holding
scrolls bearing the words they were inspired to write.
In the New Testament we read of the Apostles, especially Paul, appointing overseers
(Greek, episkopos) to guide the new Christian communities, keeping them strong within the faith.
It is theses overseers which over a generation become the bishops we know today. It is fitting therefore, that Sainted
Bishops in icons hold their main tool, the Gospel Book, from which they proclaimed the Good News to the faithful
during the Liturgy. Many of the Church Fathers were also Bishops, and some
of their writings which we read today were not writings at all, but sermons preached after the reading of the Gospel and later
copied down by the congregation for other churches to benefit from. Their
inspired teachings were grounded in the Gospel, and so they hold these books in icons as the instruments through which God
granted them sainthood. And they hold them with great reverence indeed, indicated by the way some icons show the Bishops covering
their bare hand with their vestments or stole. It is this supreme respect
for the Gospel which inspired the Bishops to defend the Faith so vehemently at the Ecumenical Councils, another way in which
some went on to be recognized as Saints. Naturally, the Evangelists are
also depicted in icons holding the Gospel Book, often open and, in the same way as scrolls, they bear the words they penned.
Another role of the Bishop is that of a pastor, or shepherd, of Christ’s flock.
This is symbolized by the Crosier, which in Orthodoxy does not look the same as the “shepherd’s
crook” held by Bishops in the West. It is of a simpler design, usually
in the shape of the Greek letter Tau, which symbolizes life, resurrection, or the Cross (more on the symbolism of the Tau
below). Sometimes the crosier will be topped by a Cross, just above the
double crook. This double crook is sometimes in the shape of serpents’
heads, symbolizing the serpent lifted up by Moses in the wilderness. Which
design of crosier used in an icon is largely dependent upon the actual design used in life by the Saint in Question.
The Tau-shaped crosier is also a symbol of authority held by abbots
and abbesses of monasteries, and so icons of monastic saints may also show them holding this kind of staff if they were known
for shepherding the faithful. On occasion, a Saint who was not a bishop,
abbot or abbess in life will be shown holding a crosier in iconography. This is a recognition of their spiritual authority, regardless of any office they
achieved during their lives. A perfect example of this is Saint Xenia of
Petersburg, a homeless wanderer who through her life of renunciation “taught us to disregard the body for it passes
away” (troparion of Saint Xenia). Because of her wanderings she is
shown in iconography with a walking stick, yet in some icons this is rendered as a Tau-shaped crosier.
The walking stick is an image of Saint Xenia’s earthly life, but it has been given a new meaning to reflect her
heavenly role in the life of the Church.
Saints Peter and Paul are sometimes depicted together in a single icon (they
also share a feast day, June 29) and when they do, they are shown together supporting a small Church Building in
their hands. This reflects the hymnology of the Church, where the two Apostles
are praised as “pillars of the Church.” Not only were they pillars, but church builders too, establishing Christian
communities (churches) around the Mediterranean and Holy Lands.
There are other objects not mentioned here which are held by Saints in their “heavenly portraits.” The reasons for each object are different, but the principle is the same: the Saints hold the tools for their Salvation.
The sheer number of different items depicted in icons show us the
diversity of ways in which God calls us. The Cross, the Gospel, holy Wisdom,
the Church: all ultimately lead to Christ, of course, yet the richness of
items points to the abundance of his mercy and grace.
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