Orthodox Mom

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{Why I love the} Christ Pantocrator of Mt. Sinai Icon

I wanted to introduce the icon I chose for the bookmark I recently had designed for the Orthodox Book Club.It is called Christ Pantocrator of Mt. Sinai and is the oldest surviving Pantocrator icon in existence.It's been one of my favorite icons of Christ since I began really trying to learn more about the Orthodox Church, fourteen years ago. I was instantly drawn to it, though I wasn't sure why exactly.  One day, after I told my spiritual father about my fascination with it, he showed me something very interesting:When you cover the right side of His face, the left side appears the way He will be seen by those condemned on Judgement Day.When you cover the left side of His face,the right side appears the way He will be seen by those who will be found righteous on that day.When my husband visited St. Katherine's monastery on Mt. Sinai, one of the monks there told him the same story.We have this icon hanging in our bedroom and it's the first thing I see when I awake in the morning. No matter how many times a day I pass by it, I shudder with fear and utter the Jesus prayer. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me, a sinner.