THE INTERIOR OF AN ORTHODOX CHURCH is designed to speak to the worshipper, to establish the mood for worship, to preach the Gospel through architecture and icons, to elevate one’s mind and heart to the God one comes to praise and worship.


THE NARTHEX or vestibule of the church, represents this world in which man is called to repentance. The nave represents the kingdom of heaven. Passing from the narthex into the nave of the church symbolizes the Christian’s entrance into the kingdom of heaven.


THE ICONS AT THE ENTRANCE TO THE NAVE remind the Orthodox Christian that Christ and the saints are his invisible hosts when he comes to church. His first act upon entering church is to salute them by making the sign of the cross. Often the worshipper also lights a candle upon entering the sanctuary as a reminder that he is to reflect the light of Christ in the world.


ARCHITECTURALLY, Orthodox churches vary. Many are built in the form of a cross. Above the middle of the cross there is often a dome. This represents that in order to receive the many blessings that descend upon us from heaven through the open dome, it is necessary first to accept the cross, or salvation through Jesus Christ.


THE CHURCH EDIFICE, is considered to represent the universe. The ceiling represents heaven. The opening in the ceiling (dome) on which is usually painted a picture of Christ Pantocrator, i.e., the all-ruling Christ, represents Christ looking down through heaven upon the assembled congregation, hearing their prayers, reminding them of His all-pervading presence in the universe. The floor of the church represents this world. The altar uplifted from the floor by a series of steps and suspended, as is were, between heaven and earth gives expression to the fact that its purpose is to lift us up to heaven through the teachings of the Gospel and the grace of the Sacraments, both of which emanate from the altar.


THERE IS A HIERARCHICAL PLAN in the way the icons are arranged in the Orthodox Church. The highest point, the dome, is reserved for our Lord. Then on the front wall there is the figure of the Mother of God, the link between Creator and the creation. Next there are the icons of the angels, apostles and saints on the iconostasis. These constitute the Church Triumphant in heaven. The floor level of the church is reserved for us—the members of the Church Militant. Thus around the figure of Christ is gathered His entire Church both that in heaven and that on earth.


THE CHURCH IS A PALACE for the King of Kings. This explains the extensive use of royal colors: gold, blue, white, etc. The fact that the church is the palace of God’s presence gives expression to our faith that even now earth is changed into heaven whenever the Eucharist is celebrated and divine grace is received.


THE VICTORIOUS CHRIST (PANTOCRATOR) The victory of Christ is central to our Orthodox Christian faith. It is to dramatize this victory that the figure of Christ is placed at the highest point of the church, i.e., the top of the dome. It gives full expression to the great victory hymn of the early Church, quoted by Paul in his letter to Philippi: He lowered His dignity still more becoming obedient even unto death to the death of the cross Therefore God has raised Him up and has given Him that name which is above every name So that all things, at the name of Jesus must bend the knee—those in high heaven and upon the earth, and under the earth And every tongue must proclaim of Jesus Christ, that He is the Lord in the glory of God the Father The resurrection is not only an integral part but the predominant motif of the Eastern Church’s view of Christ’s work as Savior. The East has always viewed redemption in its more positive aspect, namely, that “God became man that man might become God,” to use the words of St. Athanasius. This divinization of man is made possible through the resurrection of the Lord Jesus in which all Christians share. This accounts for the great emphasis on the resurrection in the Eastern Church. And it explains why the greatest of all services in the Eastern Church is the midnight Easter liturgy, which has been described as having no parallel in the experience of other Christian worship services.


THE TWO LARGE CANDELABRA before the icon screen, represent the column of light by which God guided the Jews at night to the promised land. When the light appeared the Jewish people followed it until it eventually led them to the promised land. During the day God used a cloud. These two candelabra remind us that we, too, have a promised land, i.e., the kingdom of heaven. Just as God guided the Jews to their promised land, so today He guides us to ours through the teachings of the Gospel and the grace of the sacraments.


THE ICONOSTASIS OR ICON SCREEN separates the nave from the altar. It is symbolical of the temple veil in the Old Testament which separated the Holy of Holies from the remainder of the temple. On the screen are placed icons or religious pictures of Christ, Mary, and various other saints. All these invite the faithful to a worshipful meditation of God.


THE SECOND ROW OF ICONS on some icon screens depicts the major scenes in the life of our Lord from the Annunciation to His Ascension. This serves as a visual Gospel to the worshipper.


THE ROYAL DOORS on the icon screen are called “royal” in view of the fact that Christ the King is carried through them in the Sacrament of Holy Communion as the priest brings the precious Body and Blood to the congregation. They remind us that Christ alone is the door leading to communion with the Father: “No one comes to the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).


THE FORERUNNER OF THE ICON is the Egyptian funeral portrait. It was the desire on the part of the deceased not to be forgotten that led the Egyptians to have a portrait of the deceased person’s face on the mummy’s coffin. The distinguishing feature of the Egyptian funeral portrait was the large eyes, wide-open and staring at the gazer, as if to say, “Here I am. You may think I’m gone and forgotten, but as I look at you with these piercing eyes, I dare you to forget me.” The early Christian icons followed the same pattern. The saints whom they represented also looked straight into the eyes of their beholders, as if to say, “Here I am. I may seem dead to you, but I am very much alive in the presence of God. I am still a member of the Church—the Church Triumphant in heaven.” The Orthodox icon shows the transfiguration of the human body. It represents the saint’s body transformed, transfigured by grace in prayer and Holy Communion.


ICONS are more than visual aids in the Eastern Orthodox Church. They are sermons in form and color. They are prayers enshrined in painted wood, sanctified by Church blessing to assist worshippers in their heavenly ascent by making real the presence of God. They are used for inspiration and instruction. It has been said that the Eastern Orthodox Church has two Gospels: one written and the other visual, consisting of the icon. Icons are not considered to belong to the realm of art but to that of theology. They are visual sermons. They make real the persons they depict. For this reason Eastern Orthodox worshippers do not hesitate to kiss the icon. This reverence is not intended for the painted wood but for the person depicted thereon (whose presence the icon actualizes). Icons are considered to be windows through which worshippers gaze into the world beyond time and space and are reassured that this earthly pilgrimage is only the beginning of another fuller life. Just as Christ used His physical body to communicate with man, so the Church today continues to use the material world (wood, paint, etc.) to make God known to man.


THE ROLE OF ICONOGRAPHY The Christian people need to realize that they belong to a pilgrim people en route to heaven. Here we have the role of iconography in our churches: to represent some of the major phases of salvation history to the worshippers and provide a reminder that the small local parish is in communion with the angels and saints. The whole story of the Incarnation is depicted on the walls of an Orthodox Church.


LIVING ICONS During the services of our Church the priest censes first the icons and then the entire congregation. In so doing the Church honors not only the angels, saints and martyrs, but also the living icon (image) of God which every faithful Christian bears.


THE HOLY ALTAR From the very beginning Christians honored the memory of those who died in the persecutions. The tombs of the early martyrs were held in high veneration. On the anniversary of their deaths the liturgy was celebrated on their graves and a sermon was preached. This was practiced especially during the first 300 years of Christianity when worship was entirely underground, in the catacombs, where the tombs of these early martyrs were easily accessible. From this early Christian custom has come the practice of placing the relics of some martyr in the holy altar of each church upon its consecration. It represents that the Church is founded on the sacrifices of the martyrs.


THE TABERNACLE is kept on the center of the holy altar. In the Old Testament the tablets on which God had written the Ten Commandments were kept in the tabernacle. In the New Testament it is the Lord Jesus Himself who dwells here. His precious Body and Blood are ever kept in the tabernacle. The church, then, is truly the house of God. God is ever present here in a very real way. This is why the Eastern Orthodox Christian makes the sign of the cross whenever he passes before the holy altar.


THE ETERNAL LIGHT is the votive light that is suspended above the tabernacle or burns before it on the altar table. It burns constantly to denote that the Lord Jesus Who is the “Light of the World” is present in the tabernacle.


THE TWO CIRCULAR STANDARDS ON EITHER SIDE OF THE TABERNACLE which are found in many Orthodox Churches are called in Greek “exapteriga” (six wings). Engraved on these are the six-winged angels which, according to Isaiah’s vision of God, surround the throne of God in heaven. They remind us that these same angels surround the throne of God on earth—the holy altar.


THE GOSPEL BOOK is enthroned constantly on the holy altar where Christ is present as the Word of Life in the Gospel book and as the Bread of Life in the Tabernacle.


THE FOUR GOSPEL WRITERS Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are usually depicted at the four corners of the base of the dome to express the fact that through their writings they spread the Gospel of Jesus to the four quarters of the earth.


A CHANDELIER is usually suspended from the dome or ceiling to signify the majesty of the firmament and the glory of God’s heavenly bodies i.e., the sun, the moon and the planets. “The heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1).


THE TABLE OF PREPARATION is a small altar to the left of the main altar behind the icon screen. Here the people’s gifts of bread and wine are prepared before the liturgy and later carried in a solemn procession to the main altar. An icon of the Nativity is usually found of the altar of preparation to signify that it represents the manger of Bethlehem. Just as Jesus was born in Bethlehem, so through the Eucharist He comes to be born and dwell in our lives today.


A SEVEN-BRANCHED CANDELABRA is usually found in Orthodox churches to represent the seven sacraments and the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.


THE BAPTISMAL FONT in the language of the Church Fathers, is the Divine Womb whence we receive the second birth as children of God. Baptism is truly a birth. “But to all who receive him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God; who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12, 13). The baptismal font is also a tomb where we die to sin.


THE BISHOP’S THRONE is usually found to the right of the iconostasis. It is set apart for the bishop or archbishop who is considered to be the head of the Church and represents Jesus Christ. For this reason an icon of Christ, the High Priest, is usually painted somewhere on the throne. The bishop occupies the throne during church ceremonies.


THE PULPIT is usually located to the left of the iconostasis near the center of the nave. Used for the reading of the Gospel and the preaching of the sermon, it symbolizes the stone used to seal the entrance to Christ’s tomb from which the angel proclaimed the good tidings of the Resurrection to the women who had come to anoint His body. Often the pulpit is decorated with icons of the Lord and the four Gospel writers.