Tuesday, 4 November 2025

Icons - Fr John Baggley - CTS Deeper Christianity Series

Icons: 
Reading Sacred Images
Father John Baggley
Catholic Truth Society
ISBN 9781860824371
CTS Booklet SP19

Icons - Fr John Baggley - CTS Deeper Christianity Series

I have been focusing on this series and CTS books by Pope Benedict XVI lately, I have been tracking down as many of each as I can find, and I believe I now have all from this series. This is another great read in a wonderful series. Over the last several years, I have read many books from the Catholic Truth Society, in fact over 450 of them as of the reading of this volume; many read more than once; this all since the spring of 2018. Most were good reads; some were great reads; and a few are exceptional. This was the twenty-first in the Deeper Christianity Series that I have read; many of them have been read twice. This is the first I have read by Father John Baggley, and I believe the only one of his published by the CTS. This booklet was originally published 2007 and there is no eBook editon. The description of this volume is:

“Images have been used in Christian worship for over seventeen centuries and few styles have withstood the test of time as well as the holy icon. In this richly illustrated book Fr Baggley guides the reader through the history of the holy icon and gives useful keys for understanding the main types of icons and their use in prayer and liturgy."

About the series we are informed:

“The Deeper Christianity Series delves into the mysteries of Christianity, opening up the spiritual treasures of the Church.”

About the author:

“Fr John Baggley is a priest of the Archdiocese of Birmingham. He has been interested in icons for about 40 years, and has written two books and several articles on the subject. He is currently parish priest at Corpus Christi, Headington, Oxford.”

The chapters in the book are:

Introduction 
What's in a Word? 
Why Holy Icons? 
The Anonymous Iconographers 
The First Named Iconographers 
Evolution of the Holy Icons 
The Language of the Holy Icons 
What do we discover through the Holy Icons? 
Where do we see the Holy Icons? 
Commentary on Plates 
     1. Portrait of a Bearded Young Man 
     2. The Annunciation 
     3. The Nativity of Christ 
     4. The Mother of God, Hodegitria 
     5. The icon of the Mother of God, Eleousa 
     6. The Mother of God of the Sign 
     7. Christ the Saviour 
     8. The Transfiguration of Christ 
     9. Anastasis - Resurrection 
     10. St Sergius of Radonezh (c .1 314-1392) 
     11. The Holy Trinity Icon of Andrei Rublev 
Living and Praying with the Holy Icons 
Futher Reading 
Abbreviations

I highlighted numerous passages while reading this volume, some of them are:

“Icons have been part of the prayer life of the Church for about seventeen hundred years. For many centuries they were the main form of Christian liturgical art. In the Eastern Churches they continue to have the same dominant liturgical significance, even though styles have varied in different times and places. In the Western Church icons have never completely disappeared, but they have been overshadowed by other forms of sacred art with a more naturalistic style, and the rich tradition of Christian sculpture.”

“The forty years since the Second Vatican Council coincide with a period in which the use of icons by Western Christians has increased enormously. Reasons for this include developments in the study, conservation and creation of icons, greater opportunities for travel, the dispersion of many Orthodox Christians around the world, and ecumenical contacts which have been promoted since Vatican IL The increased use of icons has been warmly welcomed and also greeted with caution in Catholic circles.”

“The welcome witnesses to the spiritual significance and beauty of icons, which resist the cult of originality and individuality which has dominated much modem Christian rut.”

“I hope this booklet will help you to know something about the theology and history of icons, but above all to use them in your praying. Some people 'click' with icons very quickly; for others their appreciation takes longer t mature; some people find them alien and difficult. If you find that icons do 'speak' to you, you may want to go further in your exploration of this form of sacred art.”

“In the second century BC when Jewish scholars translated their scriptures into Greek, the word they used for image in the book of Genesis was eikon, from which we derive the word icon. We are created to be icons of God! That is our human vocation.”

“The earliest surviving panel icons date from the 6th century; some can be seen in Rome, others at the Monastery of St Katherine at the foot of Mount Sinai, and a few others in museums around the world.”

“Why holy icons? Because Christians needed an imagery which would express what they believed about the Holy God who had been revealed in Jesus Christ, the Holy One of God (cf. Jn 6:69), and also express what they wished to commemorate in connection with the holy ones of their communities who had lived and died for the faith. The presence of icons in churches for the Divine Liturgy reinforces the sense of the presence of Christ and his holy ones in the Communion of Saints.”

“The earliest icons were painted by the same artists who produced the Fayyum portraits - ordinary anonymous artists engaged in portraiture, and who made images for the Christian churches and homes. Later on, work was done by more specialised artists, in many instances linked to monastic communities. The names of the artists are not known.”

“The iconoclasts sought to destroy the holy icons; the iconophiles or iconodules defended the icons and the practice of venerating them. Thousands of icons were destroyed during this conflict, and many iconodules were martyred for their faith.”

“The defenders of the icons believed the iconoclasts were not simply attacking Church art, but the reality of the Incarnation, and its implications for Christian faith and worship.”

“The invisible God has been made manifest, has been seen, touched and handled (1 Jn 1:1 -3) in the person of Jesus Christ. To represent the person of Christ in icons is not idolatry; it is to affirm that revelation can be perceived through the eye as well as through the ear.”

“The nature of the veneration of the sacred images was clarified: true adoration (latreia) is given to God alone; honour or veneration (proskynesis) is given through the material image to whoever is represented therein. The decisions of 787 were re-affirmed when the controversy ended with the Triumph of Orthodoxy in 843.”

“Nicaea II had permanently linked the work of the iconographers to the doctrine and liturgy of the Church. Icons could not gain a place in public worship and liturgy until they had been 'received' and blessed by a bishop or priest. It was clear that iconographers worked as servants of Christ, of the Church and of the Faith it professes.”

“The intention behind the icon is to make the invisible visible - to put us in touch with something that is greater than the sum of the visible elements, to put us in touch with a different kind of 'reality', to raise us up to the divine realm. To achieve these goals iconographers work with various conventions, symbolic images and styles which constitute part of the language of the holy icons.”

“Sometimes icons can slow us down, and help us to be still. They have the power to put us in touch with a whole spiritual tradition of inner prayer, prayer of the heart, where heart and soul are purified and renewed by the grace of the Holy Spirit.”

“Human life and literature include many extra-ordinary experiences - changes in levels of consciousness and perception which can only be communicated through the metaphors and imagery of transition. Sacred iconography uses its own language of symbols and imagery to take us deeper into the mystery of Christ.”

“The life of the Kingdom of God involves conversion and a transformation of our way of life.”

“Henri Nouwen speaks of "the compassionate solidarity out of which healing comes forth". It is a good phrase to bear in mind when praying with an icon like this which turns our attention to the compassionate solidarity of God and Man in Christ from whence comes forth forgiveness and healing for the human heart.”

“If we use a prayer corner or icon corner regularly it will become 'holy ground', the place where we come before God, a place of meeting. Being in the presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ changed the lives of his disciples and apostles, and that process of transformation and transfiguration has continued through the ages. In praying with icons we are not simply beholding beautiful works of art; we are being put in touch with the divine beauty and the divine energies which transfigure and re-create us in the image and likeness of God.”

I hope those quotes give you a feel for the volume. The chapter Commentary on Plates, contains 11 images, most are full page and 2 are double full page spreads. Each of these has a breakdown of the meaning and items in the image. There was a lot of great information in this little volume. A history of Icons in both the east and west, changing traditions around the use of icons, and some information on learning how to read icons. I really enjoyed working through this volume. It was a great read.

This book is a great read in a wonderful series. The CTS Deeper Christianity Series of books are written in such a way that they can easily be read in any order. Pick and choose the ones that interest you, read them in order, or jump around. I have been blessed by the entire series that I have read and can highly recommend this book and the series.

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews:  2025 Catholic Reading Plan! For other reviews of books from the Catholic Truth Society click here.


Books in the Deeper Christianity Series:
7 Gifts of the Holy Spirit 
8 Deadly Sins Learning to Defend the Life of Grace 
Art and Prayer  
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