Orthodox iconography of the Mother of God falls into several main types: the Hodegetria (She Who Shows the Way), the Eleusa (Tenderness), the Orans (Praying), and the Enthroned Queen. Each type uses a specific pose and composition to teach something different about Mary’s role and about Christ himself.
The Hodegetria is probably what you’ll see most often. Mary holds the Christ Child on one arm and gestures toward him with her other hand. She’s literally pointing the way. This isn’t about her, it’s about directing us to Christ as the path to salvation. The composition keeps pulling your eye toward Jesus. When you venerate a Hodegetria icon, you’re being taught that Mary’s whole purpose is to bring us to her Son.
The Eleusa type shows something different. Here the infant Christ presses his cheek against his mother’s face in an intimate embrace. Sometimes he wraps an arm around her neck. The word means “tenderness” or “mercy,” and that’s exactly what you see: the tender love between God and humanity made visible. This type invites us into confidence. It shows us that God isn’t distant or cold but came close enough to rest his face against ours.
The Orans (also called Our Lady of the Sign) depicts Mary standing with her hands raised in prayer. Sometimes Christ appears as a small figure in a medallion on her chest, representing the mystery that her womb contained the uncontainable God. This type emphasizes her role as intercessor, she’s praying for us, and as the living sign of the Incarnation. You’ll often see this image in the apse of Orthodox churches, presiding over the altar.
The Enthroned type shows Mary seated on a throne with Christ on her lap, both facing forward. This emphasizes her royal dignity. She’s the Queen of Heaven, the All-Holy One, but more importantly she’s the throne of God. The image teaches that God chose to be carried by a human being, to rest in her arms. It’s Incarnation theology in paint.
There are other types too. The Galaktotrophousa shows Mary nursing the infant Christ, emphasizing his true humanity. If God needed milk, he really became one of us. The Deesis composition places Mary in an intercessory position beside Christ the Judge, usually on the iconostasis. And then there are all the feast icons, the Annunciation, the Nativity, the Presentation, where Mary appears as part of the Gospel narrative.
Beyond these basic types, you’ll encounter hundreds of named icons. The Vladimir, the Kazan, the Iviron (also called the Portaitissa). These are usually variations on one of the main types but they’ve acquired their own histories, their own feast days, their own miracle stories. The Vladimir is an Eleusa type. The Kazan is a Hodegetria. But each has become beloved in its own right, venerated in particular places, credited with particular intercessions.
Church tradition says St. Luke painted some of the earliest icons of the Theotokos. Whether that’s historically provable or not, we know these icon types were established by the Byzantine era and have been copied, adapted, and treasured ever since. After the Council of Ephesus affirmed Mary as Theotokos in 431, images of her became visual theology. They weren’t just art. They were teaching tools, objects of veneration, windows into heaven.
We use these icons everywhere in Orthodox life. They occupy prominent places in the church, on the iconostasis, in the apse, on stands for veneration. We process with them, light candles before them, kiss them. We sing hymns to the Theotokos while looking at her image. At home, Orthodox families keep icons of the Mother of God in their prayer corners. When we’re in trouble, when we’re grateful, when we’re just trying to pray and the words won’t come, we stand before an icon and ask her intercession.
The icons aren’t magic. They’re not idols. But they’re not “just symbols” either. When you venerate an icon of the Theotokos, you’re venerating the person depicted, not the wood and paint. You’re entering into communion with the Mother of God, who’s alive in Christ and praying for us. The icon is a meeting place.
If you visit St. Michael’s, you’ll see several of these types. Pay attention to which is which. Notice what each one teaches. The Hodegetria points you to Christ. The Eleusa shows you his mercy. The Orans reminds you that Mary prays for you right now. Let the icons do their work. They’ve been teaching the faith for fifteen hundred years, and they’re still pretty good at it.
