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Mar 25th, 2025
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Greetings to all.
Under the "Holy Fire" thread, it is mentioned by an esteemed collegue that if you are Catholic, there is no prohibition in venerating an Orthodox saint.
My question then is,
"Is it okay to ask your Eastern Catholic priest to bless an Orthodox icon, such as the Saints of North America icon, or St. Seraphim of Sarov?"
I ask this due to having these beautiful icons, although they are currently unblessed, as opposed to our other icons that are "acceptable" for veneration and have been on the altar for 40 days.
I do not wish to cause any type of scandal and look towards your guidance.
In Christ,
Michael
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40 DAYS  . Gosh I thought we were doing it the long way by putting them on the altar for the duration of the Liturgy. ICXC NIKA
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Dear Pavel,
I have been taught that a proper blessing of an icon requires having it reside upon the altar for a full 40 days, and then it receives the blessing from the priest, in addition to baptism.
I have also been told, in some churches, after the 40 days, the icon is even given communion by the priest (but not in any of our EC Churches- this was told to me by a dear Baba).
In Christ,
Michael
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Well I have been told that the 40 days period is a pious custom - but both the Icons for Deacon Gerald [ the one of the Kazan Icon for his Diaconate Ordination ,and the one of the Pantocrator which he will Receive in June after his
Ordination to the Priesthood [ have been placed on the Holy Table for the customary 40 days and also one of Ss Cosmos and Damien [ which was given to me a while ago ] .
Anhelyna - who whilst in Lourdes this weekend Received back the Icon of Christ which will be given to Gerald in June
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Greetings,
This is of great interest to me. I am new to the Eastern Rite. I have registered with the Maronite Catholic Church, and I am in the long process of changing from the Latin rite to the Eastern rite. I am in the process of "beefing up" my Icon "collection" and I was not sure how the blessing of said Icons were done. Do I now understand that I have to place the Icon on the altar for 40 days? How is this done if you have a rather large Icon? I just purchased and Icon of the Virgin Enthroned and it is very large...what is the custom of blessing something so large?
O holy Mother of God, remember us, I say, who make our boast in you, and who in august hymns celebrate your memory, which will ever live, and never fade away
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Dear Friends,
The tradition of keeping one's icons or "Aghia" in Church for 40 days and annointing them with CHRISM, as opposed to holy water, is a Greek tradition, not a Slavic one.
The Eastern Slavs simply bless the icon with Holy Water.
There is no reason why icons of St Seraphim or the North American Orthodox Saints cannot be blessed in any Eastern Catholic Church.
Alex
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Dearest Birthday boy,
Many years to you!
Thank you for the clarification. I did not wish to insult my priest with these icons.
Dear Maronite Catholic,
Welcome to the East, and welcome to the Byzcath forum. When I have had an icon that would not fit in the space available on the altar, I would place it in the sacristy prior to Divine Liturgy, and then ask our presbyter to bless it afterwards. It is better, imho, to have a quickly blessed icon, than to have one not blessed at all.
Regarding the 40 days usage in the Maronite Church, I would suggest speaking with the priest, cantor, and/or someone you feel is knowledgable regarding what is the normal procedure in your parish for icons prior to approaching your priest. You may receive slightly different information from different people. If so, do not be alarmed, but instead, embrace the diversity of your parish!
In Christ,
Michael
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Thanks so much! I appreciate your feed back...this is of great importance to me, because I desire to have "windows to heaven" not just "pretty art"!
O holy Mother of God, remember us, I say, who make our boast in you, and who in august hymns celebrate your memory, which will ever live, and never fade away
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I have never had an icon on the altar for 40 days.
Customs differ; my Ruthenian Byzantine priest recites a blessing prayer from a liturgical book and sprinkles holy water, usually after the Divine Liturgy. At the Romanian cathedral, the icon is placed on the altar and then anointed with oil...
A blessing is a blessing is a blessing. I have Roman Catholic friends who have their priest bless icons with a simple sign of the cross.
-Daniel
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Oh - agreed there Daniel  At Nativity I took an Icon through to Edinburgh to be Blessed during the Liturgy and that was placed on the Tetrapod and then very thoroughly sprinkled with Holy Water and Blessed after liturgy - the same also with my tryptich of St Seraphim. It does seem to vary with the Parish. I know that at present there is an icon which has been placed on the Table of Preparation in the Lourdes Church and it was there the whole 4 days I was there. Anhelyna
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