IC The first and last letter in the name "Jesus", or IHCOYC in Greek.   XC The first and last letter in the name "Christ", or XPICTOC in Greek.   IC XC The Lamb of God, The Only Begotten Son. The Alpha and the Omega, The Beginning and The End. The Shepherd and Bishop of Souls. The Son of David, The Bridegroom, The Truth, The Life, and The Way. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ   ICONS "Icon" comes from the Greek word "eikon" meaning "image". Icons are representations of holy persons and events on wooden panels, walls (frescoes and mosaics), and textiles, but they are never statues. Icons are often called "Windows into Heaven". As such, we pray not to the icon, but through it. We use the icon as a vessel to transport our prayers to the Saint portrayed in the icon, in hopes that the Saint will intercede with Christ our Lord, on our behalf. Byzantine iconography began with St. Luke the Evangelist, painter of the first icon, in the Byzantine Empire of the Hellenic East and is generally believed to have been fully developed by about 500 A.D. In the year 726, the Emperor Leo III issued an edict which condemned the making and veneration of icons as idolatry. Known as Iconoclasm, this official opposition led to extensive destruction of icons and to the persecution of those who made or venerated them. Iconoclasm ended in 843, and since then, the rich tradition and spirituality of icons have made them desirable to Orthodox and non-Orthodox all over the world. Depicted in icons are the holy figures of Christ, the Theotokos (Virgin Mary), Saint John the Baptist and Forerunner, the Angels, and the six orders of Saints: Apostles, Martyrs, Prophets, Hierarchs, Monastics, and the Righteous. The holy events are scenes mainly from the life of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and from the lives of various Saints.   ICXC ICONS The most important part of painting an icon is prayer. The harder one prays to the Saints we paint, the more beauty shows through in those icons. An icon is nothing if not created through prayer and reverence. We must remember that an icon is created not by us, but through us. Carrying on the fine tradition of Byzantine Icons in the Orthodox Church begun by the Holy Saint Luke, the Evangelist, is Iconographer Mark Kinan. Mark has been painting icons since 1997, having apprenticed at the St. John of Damascus Sacred Art Studio at the Antiochian Village in Ligonier, PA. In 2000, he started ICXC Icons, painting and teaching classes. His icons can be seen across the country and have been found as far away as Greece and Russia. Originally from Niagara Falls, NY, he now resides with his wife, Christina, in Pittsburgh, PA, and feels blessed to be able to paint the images of our Lord and His Angels and Saints.