Family Icon

What is a Family Icon?

A family icon is an image that has been especially honored by family members for many generations. It can be any depiction of Jesus Christ, the Mother of God, or a particular saint. Parents bless their children for separate family life with Family icon.

In the dictionary, the phrase “family icon” refers to iconography in one of the meanings. On a family icon, the patron saints of the family are depicted standing side by side. For example, husbands and wives, parents and children - even creating an entire “family tree” in the icon. Such icons are unique, so they are painted to order in icon workshops.

The origin of family icons goes back centuries. It is known that in Rus', such icons were mainly painted for wealthy and noble families. Icons that belonged to the Godunov and Romanov dynasties have survived to our days. They could be ordered for special occasions, not necessarily related to family events. For example, a 19th-century family icon has been preserved, painted "in memory of the liberation of peasants from serfdom". It depicts Alexander Nevsky, Constantine the Great, and Mary Magdalene.

Nowadays, the ancient tradition of family icons is being revived. People want to have a family icon as a guardian of the family members, to pray for peace and love in the family.

Before Which Icon to Pray for Family Well-being?

Many saints help us in family life when we turn to them in our prayers. One can pray for family happiness and well-being before the icon of a beloved saint. But there are also saints who are known for helping in family relationships. Their icons are often given as a blessing to newlywed. Their icons are often given as a gift to a young family.

The holy and righteous Sts. Peter and Fevronia, and the martyrs Sts. Adrian and Natalia are considered the patrons of family and marriage. People usually pray to them for the strengthening of the relationship between spouses, for the birth of peace, love, and harmony. You can also pray for the family, especially for the granting of children and cure of infertility, to the saints and righteous Joachim and Anna, the parents of the Mother of God, and to the righteous prophets Zechariah and Elizabeth. For a successful marriage and the resolution of financial difficulties, people pray to the Blessed Matrona of Moscow, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, and the Great Martyr Catherine.

Certainly, the main patroness of the family is the Most Holy Theotokos. People turn to Her many icons in their everyday and domestic life.

People pray to the icons “Fedorovskaya” and “Kazanskaya” to find a spouse and get married. Also, people pray for the birth of children, help in pregnancy and the birth of healthy children - to the icons “Holy Family” or “Three Joys”, “Helper in Childbirth”, “Mother of Milk”. In the upbringing of children, people prayerfully turn to the icons of the Mother of God “Upbringing” and “Tikhvin”.

An Interesting Fact: The Feodorovskaya Icon of the Mother of God is the family patron icon of the Dynasty of the Romanov Emperors, it is often depicted in the icon of the Royal Passion-Bearers. Also it's known that it was depicted in the family icon of Romanov patron saints.

An Icon of Family Happiness. How to Choose?

If a person wants to buy an icon, which in the future can become a family heirloom, the image of the patron saints of the family will be the best solution. Most often, a family icon is commissioned in connection with a significant event in the family: a wedding, the birth of a child, an anniversary.

In iconography, there are no strict canons or special rules for how a family icon should be - everything is done according to the customer's wishes. However, there are several common types of such icons.

The most common type of family icons is the full-length or half-length depiction of the patron saints of the family members. In the center of the icon there are the patrons of the parents, and on the sides - the children's. If the customer wants, icon-painters can make an entire “genealogical tree” of the family, if the names of the deceased relatives are known.

The icon with the heavenly patrons can become a valuable gift for the newlywed.

Paleostic Icons of the Saints

If a family has a particularly venerated image of the Mother of God or the Savior, it can be placed in the center of the family icon. Then the images of the patron saints of the family members will be arranged around the central image on the borders. The icons on the borders are called "paleostic".

Triptych

A family icon can be painted not as a single composition, but as several separate ones, connected on a single board or in the form of a triptych. The icons of the Mother of God or the Savior and the patron saints of the family are painted on a single board in several separate recesses - arched niches - then they resemble a small iconostasis. The icons can also be painted on separate boards, which are then connected using a kiot (small icon case). In the form of a triptych in a kiot, the icon can be stored more safely and, if necessary, transported.

When acquiring a family icon for the home, a person strives to receive a blessing for family life and to enlist the help of the saints in the feat of acquiring love. The most important thing, of course, is to constantly turn to the patron saints in prayer.

If you want to acquire a painted icon-keeper of the family hearth, before ordering, you should think through the details of the composition. On this issue, you can be consulted by a professional iconographer, and he will also tell you about the materials, painting techniques, and decorative elements.

When choosing and ordering a family icon, one of the most important criteria is its durability. As a spiritual heritage, it will be stored in the family for centuries and bless subsequent generations. Therefore, special attention should be paid to the reliability and quality of the materials.