1. Orthodox icons are two-dimensional images depicting saints, angels, the Lord, or important events. They are considered an authentic record of spiritual truth, a divine revelation (Lossky and Ouspensky 1952: 30; Meyendorff 1996). Although the images convey reality, icons are not photographic or artistic depictions, and neither artistic merit nor verisimilitude is a primary goal. The images are considered divinely inspired, and the help of the Holy Spirit is needed either to properly create (by the icon writer) or to perceive (by the believer) a holy image (Evdokimov 1990: 3). To venerate an icon is to worship the subject of the image (Meyendorff 1996: 28). Because a truly holy image transcends the limits of the earthly materials of which it is made, it allows the viewer to attain “ontological continuity with the prototype itself” (Florensky 1996: 69), or to open a spiritual connection between the believer and the divine.
2. Traditionally, Eastern Orthodox Christians, while spiritually united, are divided into local or national jurisdictions which are hierarchically independent of one another. The Russian Revolution and attempts by the Soviet government to control the Church led to confusion about jurisdictional authority and conflict over which organization was the “real” Russian Orthodox Church. When I conducted my research, Orthodox Christianity was represented in the United States by the Orthodox Church in America (OCA: the descendant of the pre-1917 Russian Orthodox Church mission to the United States), The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR: a transnational organization made up of believers who had been forced out of Russia by the Revolution), and a number of European mission jurisdictions primarily serving immigrant populations. In Russia, the primary jurisdiction was the Moscow Patriarchate, the historic state religion (MP). Although the vast majority of Russian believers were affiliated with the MP, a number of competing jurisdictions, including ROCOR operated in Russia and rejected the authority of the MP because of its ties to and collusion with the atheist Soviet government.
3. It is amazing, really, how easy it is to be very insulting when you do not speak Russian well enough to know exactly what is going on. In my first couple of months in Russia, I discovered new ways to misunderstand what was going on or say the wrong thing almost daily. I owe a great deal to the patience of the staff, faculty, and associates of SRPH.
4. Yes, this is the same St Nicholas who is “Santa Claus” in America.
5. Art historians and iconographers study them as such in academic contexts, but to believers artistic and historical concerns are secondary. Icons are not decorative and their content is not a depiction of visible reality but of invisible truth.