Spiritual attributes play a significant role in religious practice and in the self-expression of believers, as they become not only a visual element of worship but also a means of experiencing and conveying the sacred content of myth and dogmatic truths.

Sacred Symbols: Bridging the Material and Divine

Spiritual attributes play a significant role in religious practice and in the self-expression of believers, as they become not only a visual element of worship but also a means of experiencing and conveying the sacred content of myth and dogmatic truths. For example, in the liturgical ritual, it is not merely that stylized images are used—but through symbolic actions such as liturgy, sacrifices, and sacraments, a living religious symbol is embodied, which helps the faithful internalize the content of the dogma (source: link txt).

The icon holds a special place, which, according to certain views, does not serve merely as an image but as a “window” into the transcendent. In this way, the icon excludes the empirical and the sensual, directing the gaze toward the purely spiritual. This allows believers to perceive worship not only as a set of ritual actions but also as a process of experiencing sacred revelation (source: link txt).

Furthermore, spiritual attributes—particularly the technique of creating icons—possess their own specificity. For instance, a genuine icon painter can be recognized by the luminous background of his creations, where the light acts as a representation of the Holy Spirit. This symbolism, employed by Western artists, enhances the sense of sacred presence and assists the faithful in connecting with the divine through visual imagery (source: link txt).

Thus, in religious practice, spiritual attributes not only adorn the space of worship, but also serve as a mediator between the material and the spiritual worlds. They enable the faithful to express their beliefs, through which the spiritual content is transmitted via symbolic and theurgic actions within the church.

Supporting citation(s):
"In the liturgical ritual, which naturally arises in every religion, the content of the myth is symbolically experienced; the dogma becomes not a formula, but a living religious symbol. The most central place in the cult is occupied, of course, by the sacraments. Alongside liturgy and iconography, one should include symbolic actions that have a theurgic significance: the order of worship, sacrifices, and sacraments." (source: link txt)

"The Church rejects any imagination associated with visions, not trusting the senses, and surrounds itself with icons, because an icon fundamentally excludes all that is empirical and sensual, raising the gaze to the purely Spiritual. If the Byzantine liturgy presents an icon of all biblical events, then, in them, one is meant to see an image of the Heavenly liturgy. Its power is maximal because it is a window into the transcendent without a sensual image. According to Father Ioann Damascene, an icon is not an image but an Apocalypse—a revelation of the innermost secret." (source: link txt)

"Spiritual practice is correlated with communion with God, asceticism, and the organization of human energies. The technique of icon-making differs. A true icon painter can be recognized primarily by the luminous background of his icons. From the standpoint of natural symbolism, light is the representation of the Holy Spirit. Western artists skillfully employed this motif, depicting light as descending from above onto the faces of the saints." (source: link txt)