The icon "Holy Family" does not apply to the canonical icons of Orthodoxy, that is, it is a false icon. The greatest rejection among the clergy is that Joseph the Betrothed embraces the Virgin, while he existed under her more as a guardian, and not as a husband. They were only engaged, as evidenced by the name Betrothed. Yes, and he was during the birth of Christ a hundred-year-old man. There are complaints about the white color of clothes.
Painting or icon
The icon of the Holy Family resembles, rather, a picture written in a biblical plot. The world knows hundreds of such works, the most famous of them belong to the brush of Rembrandt, Raphael and Rubens. About 100 great artists painted on biblical themes, but none of them (except for the only one - “Three Joys”) claims to be an
icon (an “icon” in Greek means “image”, sometimes an icon depicting one or one saint, is called a face).
The icon in Orthodoxy is prayer, conversation with God. Before the revolution, it would never have occurred to anyone to keep an uncanonized icon at home, and even to pray for it. This was apostasy, sectarianism, heresy of pure water.
Nowadays, there is a lack of church education, the concepts are blurred on this basis, there are a lot of false saints around. There was an opportunity to travel to different countries, including Israel, in which there is a real cult of the icon of the Holy Family. It is located in temples, and in all shops and stores located along the route of tourists, made for every taste and budget.
Traditions and rules of the "Holy Family" in Christianity
They position her as the guardian of the hearth, the integrity of the family, and all that is connected with the word "family". The icon of the Holy Family can also help in the search for a soulmate and discourage a female lover. Thus, the icon purchased in the Holy Land and serving noble purposes is becoming increasingly popular in Russia. And not many of its owners will come up with the idea to test it for false church.
Already around this image some traditions, rules and rituals have developed, holidays are indicated to which only this icon should be presented: newlyweds, so that the marriage is happy, on the wedding anniversary, on the birth of the child. So, the icon of the Holy Family, popular in the Holy Land (the prayer of which will save the family from all conceivable and inconceivable troubles), has taken root in Russia. And this is despite the fact that in Orthodoxy there is its own icon of “Three Joys”, which has a second name - the icon of the “Holy Family”, prayed, with its own interesting history. It depicts Joseph the carpenter ( John the Baptist is present on some ), but they are located in the background, as befits the keepers, and by the "holy family" is meant the Virgin and son. In this image, all church canons and subtleties of Russian Orthodoxy are observed.
The importance of the icon for world culture
“Three Joys” or “The Holy Family” is an icon whose value can hardly be overestimated. Firstly, this is the only miraculous icon that was painted in Italy in the manner of Raphael, and brought to Russia became a national shrine.
They turn to her not only with a plea for the preservation of the family, she helps a lot to return a bad debt, an honor to an unjustly slandered person, they pray to her for sinners and prisoners. Her fate, unfortunately, repeated the fate of many Orthodox shrines, when temples were smashed, plundered and destroyed in the 30s of the last century. She's gone.
Her list is now in the Holy Trinity Church on Gryazekh in Moscow. Every Wednesday, hundreds of admirers come to take out this icon; it is known to believers throughout the country. A church holiday in honor of this image falls on January 8 (December 19 according to the old style). Many people are eager to visit the temple on this day and pray to the Holy Family and ask for intercession.