Icons

Icons

Icons are an integral part of Orthodox Christianity. They are stylized images depicting Christ, the Mother of God, saints, angels, or ecclesiastical feasts.

Iconographic faces do not express varying human emotions, but rather the divine peace and stillness shine from the icon's face.

An icon is an instrument of prayer: like a window into the joyful assembly of saints, into eternity. Icons are not worshipped, but respect is shown before them to the saints depicted in them. The manner of depiction in Orthodox church art has remained very unchanged throughout the ages. The task of the icon painter is not to emphasize their own work, but to continue an ancient tradition through their own hand for the glory of God.

Miracle-working icons

Many people have experienced receiving a very special answer to their prayers after praying before a specific icon: for example, they have been cured of illnesses.

The veneration of icons is not associated with magic, as an icon does not perform miracles "by itself," but for some reason, it serves as a vessel of God's special grace and is therefore an object of devout veneration by believers.

The most renowned miracle-working icons of Valamo Monastery include the Konevets Mother of God icon (commemorated on July 10th), the Valamo Mother of God icon (commemorated on August 7th), and the Sweet-Kissing Mother of God icon (commemorated on January 11th), all located in the main church.

Icons of the Trapeza

On the end wall of the refectory's main hall, there is a large icon depicting the monastery's founders, the Venerable Fathers Sergius and Herman of Valamo, holding the Feodorovskaya Icon of the Mother of God between them. The upper part of the icon features the Icon of the Transfiguration of Christ.

The icon, painted between 1914 and 1915, originates from one of Valamo's subsidiary monasteries on Lake Ladoga, the Skete of Smolensk. Next to it is the Icon of the Mother of God "The Sign," painted in Valamo on Lake Ladoga. The icons lining the main hall depict over thirty saints: martyrs, venerable saints, and unmercenary healers. These icons are from Valamo on Lake Ladoga and were painted between 1895 and 1914. Young novices served as models for the female saints. Members of the brotherhood also modeled for other icons displayed in this hall.

In the icon corner of the Imperial Cabinet, there is the Tolga Icon of the Mother of God in a kiot. The cabinet's paintings feature Russian tsars Peter the Great, Paul I, Alexander I, Nicholas I, Nicholas II, and Crown Prince Alexei. The room also contains two paintings of imperial family visits to Valamo on Lake Ladoga in 1819 and 1858.

In the icon corner of the Red Cabinet, there are the Valamo Mother of God icon, Christ Pantocrator, the Icon of the Annunciation, the Icon of the Dormition of the Mother of God, and an icon depicting the patron saints of the Russian Imperial Family. In the icon corner of the upper hall, Christ Pantocrator and the Archangels Michael and Gabriel are placed.