For an Orthodox person, an icon is a great shrine, a window to the spiritual world. Orthodox people honor not the material itself, from which the image is made, and the colors, but directly the person depicted in the icon.
In the Christian tradition, it is customary to call the painted images of the great devotees of piety as holy icons. In Orthodox missal books there is a special rite of consecration of various icons.
Every Orthodox person wants to have in his home a consecrated shrine - a holy icon. The icons that can be purchased in churches have already been consecrated. Some people want to buy holy images not only in temples, but also in any stores. In such cases, if the icon is painted according to the Orthodox canon, the image must be consecrated.
Most often, icons are consecrated in churches. This can be done at any time when a priest is present in the House of God. Usually icons are consecrated after the morning services. On holidays and Sundays - after the liturgy or the performance of the services.
In order to consecrate an icon, you need to bring the holy image to the temple and ask the priest for consecration. You can also pre-contact the seller in the church shop, expressing a desire to consecrate the holy image.
Icons can also be consecrated before or after the evening service. It all depends directly on the employment of the priest.
Some people may ask the priest to bless the icon at the time when the priest is performing any services at home. In this case, the holy image can be consecrated immediately before or after the performance of the service itself.
