BOB ABERNETHY: Now, a look at the practice of praying with icons. Icons are used by Orthodox Christians of all ethnic backgrounds, whether they're at home or in church. We talked to Frederica Matthewes-Green, a convert to Orthodoxy and the author of several books about Orthodox Christians' belief and practice.
Ms. FREDERICA MATTHEWES-GREEN (Author; Christian Orthodox Convert): The classic definition of an icon is that it's a window into heaven. If you don't stop with the object itself, the word, the paint, … you use it to go through to enter the heavenly realms.When we're in church, we're surrounded with icons as if we can see these saints of the history of the church praying alongside us. We cherish them, we venerate them, we kiss them. We don't worship them. They're not idols to us. They are not in themselves infused magical, holy objects. But they are a way to make contact with something beyond us.
I found that icons, although they remain somewhat austere, there is something in that that is healing to me; that it knows the truth about me, about my failures and my sinfulness and the things I try to ignore, and that it has the answer.
