7. Life of St. Theodora of Thessalonike - Dumbarton Oaks

St. Theodora of Thessalonike 175
selves on the revelations from above of the Holy Scriptures and on the apostolic
and patristic traditions, we render the reverence of veneration in a fitting and
relative manner in honor of the person depicted. 71 Thus when we consecrate the
icon of Christ with reverence and veneration, we do not circumscribe the reverence
and honor in it [i.e., the icon], but we direct and offer these
to the One Who became incarnate for our sake through the ineffable wealth of
His love for mankind. 72 Thus we venerate the thrice-blessed and life-giving
wood of the cross, on which the body of the Lord was stretched, and the blood
that cleanses all filth, that purifies all the world, poured forth from His side
that flows with life; and watered by its streams, it [the cross] changed its nature
and produced eternal life for us instead of death. Thus we venerate the symbol
of the cross, by which phalanxes of demons are put to flight and incurable diseases
are healed, as if the same grace and power in the prototype
were operative in the symbolic form. 73 Thus when we render the reverence of
veneration to the other holy symbols and holy places of our pure and holy worship,
74 we are not divided into various and different rites, but through their visible
different and divisible worship and veneration we are led indivisibly to that indivisible,
uniform and unifying divinity. 75 Thus we honor and venerate the holy icons
of our all-pure Lady the Mother of God and of all the saints in proportion to 76
the pre-eminence and venerability of their prototypes, 77 and [p. 94], to sum up,
we venerate in a relative manner the relics and churches and tombs of the saints,
and other things of this sort, in our unblemished and holy rites. For we acknowledge
and praise the original and primordial cause through the gift and blessing
worked by them. 78 And we do not depict in an icon 79 that which cannot be
71 Phot., ep. 1.424–26.
72 Phot., ep. 1.442–47.
73 Phot., ep. 1.435–40.
74 Phot., ep. 1.428–29.
75 Phot., ep. 1.431–34.
76 After ajnalogían, Paschalides omitted the phrase th'" tw'n prwtotúpwn uJperoch'"
kaì sebasmióthto", kaì . . . which is to be found in the Arsenij ed., p. 8.38–39 (and in
the letter of Photios).
77 Phot., ep. 1.456–58.
78 Phot., ep. 1.447–53.
79 ´
Here eijkw n has the double meaning of “icon” and “image.”