Is it okay to have icons in the bedroom?

Discussion · 31

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• − opinion#2827 49 likes at the source

  The only version of this I've ever come across is "no icons in the bathroom."

  • − opinion#2846 19 likes at the source

    I've actually argued the opposite: the Last Judgement makes sense in the bathroom, since that's the room where we spend the most time thinking about our own mortality.
  • − opinion#2847 1 likes at the source

    At my church there's an icon of the Theotokos above the bathroom sink and I always found that pretty strange lol
• − opinion#2828 40 likes at the source

  Never heard of that. :-)

  • − opinion#2848 1 likes at the source

    Isn't it canon law that you have to cover the icons with sheets before relations with your wife? Or else you're anathema.

    • − opinion#2853 4 likes at the source

      I'd want to see the actual canon cited. :-)
• − opinion#2829 36 likes at the source

  Your friend is wrong. Most of us keep icons in our bedrooms.

  • − opinion#2849

    I'm not saying it's bad to have icons in the bedroom, it's genuinely a good thing. Most of my icons are in my bedroom too. But your reasoning is bad: "*Wrong is wrong even if everybody is wrong. Right is right even if nobody is right*".

    • − opinion#2854 7 likes at the source

      I never claimed it's right *because* everyone does it.
• − opinion#2830 26 likes at the source

  Our "icon corner" is in the bedroom since there's no good spot anywhere else in the house. It's never felt odd to me. I suspect your friend has been exposed to weird, extreme stuff online.

  • − opinion#2850 11 likes at the source

    There are definitely ethnic traditions that carry this kind of superstitious thinking.
  • − opinion#2851 7 likes at the source

    Ours have always been in the bedroom. Jesus said to go into your room, shut the door and pray to your Father in secret. Plus I love seeing the face of Jesus first thing when I wake up. It seems bizarre that anyone would object to that.
• − opinion#2831 23 likes at the source

  My priest once told a story: when his kids were scared of monsters under the bed, he hung an icon above the bed. They felt protected after that and slept fine.
• − opinion#2832 17 likes at the source

  Well, you have a cloud of witnesses whether their images are there or not. From everything I've heard, icons belong everywhere.
• − opinion#2833 15 likes at the source

  Uh, growing up, my grandma and mom specifically wanted an icon in every room, ideally above each doorway. I've kept that up in my own home too. Never heard of banning icons from rooms in your house!
• − opinion#2834 12 likes at the source

  It's actually really normal to have an icon or an icon corner in the bedroom, to help with prayer when you first wake up and before you sleep. Traditionally you place the icon(s) on the east wall, if that's possible.
• − opinion#2835 9 likes at the source

  I have icons in every room except the bathroom.

  • − opinion#2852 5 likes at the source

    Why not the bathroom? I once kept a small laminated one in there. I cried a lot in that bathroom... I don't think it's a sin.

    • − opinion#2855 3 likes at the source

      I think it's because the bathroom counts as a "dirty" place.
    • − opinion#2856 3 likes at the source

      I've had apartment blessings and the bathroom was the only room left out. There's probably some old canon about it, but honestly I'd also just not want to ruin icons with shower steam and such.

      • − opinion#2857 2 likes at the source

        That bathroom had no shower, the one I have now does but the icon isn't near it. As for apartment blessings, the priest blessed the closed bathroom door, so the whole bathroom got blessed, since a shut door can't stop the Holy Spirit from coming in. I even take the censer into the bathroom myself.
• − opinion#2836 7 likes at the source

  If any room is right for icons, it's the bedroom, since that's where you spend most of your time. Doesn't your friend have an icon corner in their room?
• − opinion#2844 7 likes at the source

  I'm Eastern Orthodox and what you're describing doesn't sound Orthodox to me.
• − opinion#2837 5 likes at the source

  My family's prayer corner is in my room. It's the only usable east-facing wall in our place. My priest stood right there for a house blessing and for my daughter's 8th day prayers. He never said a word about where my icons were. I have icons everywhere in my home except closets and bathrooms.
• − opinion#2845 5 likes at the source

  Idolatry isn't something you can stumble into by accident. Most Protestants today have zero clue what real idolatry actually looks like.
• − opinion#2838 3 likes at the source

  My icon corner is in the bedroom, where I both change clothes and sleep next to my wife. My priest blessed my house and never said it was an issue.
• − opinion#2839 3 likes at the source

  I'm in college and have always had icons in my room. My old roommate wasn't Orthodox so I held off out of respect. Now that I'm married, we keep icons in both the bedroom and living room, and I've never once heard that icons don't belong in a bedroom.
• − opinion#2840 2 likes at the source

  My daughter has an icon of St. Nicholas above her bed. There's a mirror on the opposite wall, and thanks to how the light hits it, you can see the icon's reflection in 3D. She thinks it's wonderful and so do I, it's a really cool effect!
• − opinion#2841 1 likes at the source

  There's actually an old Orthodox practice of covering icons in the bedroom during certain activities. Not because those things are sinful, but because they don't call for an audience. How we interact with icons and their part in worship is what leads you to that conclusion.
• − opinion#2842 1 likes at the source

  Mine sit above my night stand next to my prayer book and bible, facing my bathroom door from the other wall. Honestly, it keeps you in check when you're about to do something dumb at night and the Theotokos and all the saints are right there staring at you. A visual reminder like that does wonders.
• − opinion#2843

  From what I've heard, the only time icons in the bedroom are a problem is during intimacy, though I don't know if that's actually true. Otherwise having icons in your bedroom is basically a must.