The Icon Corner

Orthodox Christians pray at set times, and they like to pray in a set place. The icon corner is that place: a spot in the home — often literally a corner — set apart for prayer and marked by icons. Russians traditionally call it the krasny ugol, the "beautiful corner" (the same old word meant both "beautiful" and "red"), and it was once the first thing arranged in a new house and the first thing a guest greeted on entering. The home is meant to be a small image of the Church, and the icon corner is its sanctuary.

Where possible the corner faces east, the direction of prayer for the whole Church, so that the family prays the same way the congregation does in the temple (orientation-facing-east). Apartments and floor plans do not always allow it, and that is no obstacle: an east-facing corner is the ideal, not a rule. What matters is a stable, visible, honored place that the whole household knows is for prayer.

At the heart of the corner are two icons above all: Christ and His Mother, the Theotokos. By custom the icon of Christ is placed on the right and the Theotokos on the left, as they stand on the icon screen in church. Around them families add the icons dear to them — a patron or name saint, the saint of a family member, the feast of the parish, a cross, and sometimes a small Gospel book. On icons themselves and why they are venerated rather than merely admired, see icons-an-introduction and venerating-icons.

Before the icons hangs or stands a vigil lamp (lampada or kandili), an oil lamp whose steady flame is an image of prayer and of Christ the Light; families light it for prayer and on feasts, and some keep it always burning (vigil-lamps-kandili-lampada). Near it the household keeps the blessed things of the year: holy water from Theophany, a candle from Pascha, palms or pussy-willow from Palm Sunday, dried flowers from a feast, and sometimes a small hand censer for incense. None of this is required all at once; a corner grows over the years.

The icon corner exists to be used, not admired. It is where the family stands for morning and evening prayers and keeps its prayer rule, usually opening with the usual beginning. One lights the lamp or a candle, makes the sign of the cross, venerates the icons with a bow and a kiss, and prays facing east. Children learn the faith here first, by imitation, long before they can follow a book.

Beginners sometimes worry about doing it "correctly." The tradition is gentle: start small — two icons and a shelf — and grow the corner as the household's prayer grows. A parish priest can bless the corner and advise on what to place there and how to keep the lamp. Christ's own counsel frames the whole practice: "enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret." The icon corner is that closet, given a face.