Day 158: Holy Images in the Liturgy

The sacred image, the liturgical icon, principally represents Christ. It cannot represent the invisible and incomprehensible God, but the incarnation of the Son of God has ushered in a new "economy" of images: "Previously God, who has neither a body nor a face, absolutely could not be represented by an image. But now that he has made himself visible in the flesh and has lived with men, I can make an image of what I have seen of God . . . and contemplate the glory of the Lord, his face unveiled." CCC 1159

The Catechism discusses the use of images in worship in today's reading. This issue was explosive during what came to be known as the Iconoclast Controversy, which was finally settled at the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea II in 787 A.D. Icons, statues, and other holy images are used by Christians to focus prayer and on what they represent, ultimately to God. No piece of wood, plaster, marble, or other things can replace the worship of God, and in the case of holy images are certainly not meant to. St. John Damascene is correct that the coming of Jesus changed everything in how we can relate to God. Some object, but as we've seen in findings from Dura-Europos and in Megiddo, early Christians did not feel bound to reject them. 

The Catechism Compendium summarizes today's reading:

The image of Christ is the liturgical icon par excellence. Other images, representations of Our Lady and of the Saints, signify Christ who is glorified in them. They proclaim the same Gospel message that Sacred Scripture communicates by the word and they help to awaken and nourish the faith of believers. (#240)

I like how the Catechism Companion, Vol II puts this:

Scripture uses words that are symbols that represent a deeper reality. Artwork is similar. The role of art is meant to unveil, to point to something greater than itself. There are "transcendentals": the true, the good, the beautiful. Words and art are meant to reveal the truth, draw us closer to the good, and unveil beauty - to lift the mind and the heart to the Lord. Art does this in a way that words sometimes cannot do. (p. 80)

Finally, some Eastern Orthodox apologists put together a good video on this matter which I mostly endorse, save for the criticisms of the Church near the end:

The Second Council of Nicaea, with Patriarch Tarasios (left of cross), Constantine VI (right of cross), seated bishops and a condemned iconoclast (below).