One of the world’s greatest mysteries, the Orthodox icon embodies all heavenly traits: composedness in prayer, harmony of spirit, grandeur of humility and austerity, fear of God, and piety. It silences worldly passions and vanity, standing tall in an exalted plane of being.

A special place of its own is occupied by the so-called “mernaya” or “measured” icon, which gets its name from Russian “mera” for “measure”.

Regrettably, the tradition of measured icon painting was lost in Russia under Peter the Great. Now, centuries later, it is being revived. The gist of it is that following the birth of a child our ancestors would have an icon painter paint an icon depicting the baby’s patron saint. It would be made especially for the sacrament of baptism. The icon would be “made to measure”, meaning that the height of the wood piece on which the patron saint was painted standing would match the baby’s height at birth.

This had a profound meaning: a measured icon is unique and one of a kind, just like the person for whom it is created. The image of the patron saint occupies a space that matches the size of the child that enters this world. This establishes a special, personal, indestructible bond between the patron saint and the icon owner. Through prayers to the saint, the icon protects and heals the person from the first days and for the entire duration of their earthly life.

Our icon painting studio, called Mernaya Icona, was the first to speak of the need to revive this pious tradition that echoes the words of St. John Chrysostom: “… May each bring the saint’s name to his home, awakening the spiritual light in his soul”.

Understandably, nowadays not all Christians get a personal measured icon upon baptism in infancy. Yet we all are children of God, His creations, which is why getting a measured icon as a gift, much like receiving the sacrament of baptism, can never be too late for an Orthodox believer at any age.

Much like ages ago, our masters approach the creation of icons as a spiritual act, sprinkling their materials and tools with holy water. They use a wooden board, usually linden. It is coated with fish glue and primed using an ancient technology before the icon painter sets to work on it using only the best paints.

We can paint you a measured icon in a variety of styles as well as make a beautiful icon case. If you do not know the exact patron saint from whom your child takes his or her name (since there are many saints with identical names, including the recently canonized New Martyrs), we will help you determine the child’s name day before painting a measured icon. We view the tradition of measured icon painting as a step toward a reunion of our contemporaries, both young and old, with the church.