If I worship the image of the Cross, made of whatever wood it may be, shall I not worship the image which shows me the Crucified and my salvation through the Cross? Oh, inhumanity of man! It is evident that I do not worship matter, for supposing the Cross, if it be made of wood, should fall to pieces, I should throw them into the fire, and the same with images.
Gospel of St Matthew
Receive the united testimony of Scripture and the fathers to show you that images and their worship are no new invention, but the ancient tradition of the Church. In the holy Gospel of St Matthew our Lord called His disciples blessed, and with them all those who followed their example and walked in their footsteps in these words: “Blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. For, amen I say to you, many prophets and just men have desired to see the things that you see, and have not seen them, and to bear the things that you hear, and have not heard them.” (Mt. 13.16-17) We also desire to see as much as we may.
“We see now in a glass, darkly,” (I Cor. 13.12) and in image, and are blessed. God Himself first made an image, and showed forth images. For He “made the first man after His own image.” (Gen. 1.27) And Abraham, Moses, and Isaias, and all the prophets saw images of God, not the substance of God. The burning bush was an image of God’s Mother, and as Moses was about to approach it, God said: “Put off the shoes from thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.” (Ex. 3.5) Now if the spot on which Moses saw an image of Our Lady was holy, how much more the image itself?
And not only is it holy, but I venture to say it is the holy of holies (agiwn agia). When the Pharisees asked our Lord why Moses had allowed a bill of divorce, He answered: “On account of the hardness of your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your wife, but in the beginning it was not so.” (Mt. 19.8) And I say to you that Moses, through the children of Israel’s hardness of heart, and knowing their proclivity to idolatry, forbade them to make images. We are not in the same case. We have taken a firm footing on the rock of faith, being enriched with the light of God’s friendship.
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