How does Orthodox worship before icons differ from Catholic worship before statues?
The Orthodox see icons as “windows into heaven”, and prefer that the representations not be “realistic” as seen with the natural eye; they are to bring us closer to God and the things of God, not things of the earth. To be clear, praying in front of an icon is little different from the picture you see from time to time of an old man sitting at a table with his Bible open in front of him, praying. He is not “praying to” the Bible, nor are Christians who employ images praying to the icon or statue. They are focal points of where particular instances of prayer can happen, but are not the object of such prayer. Honor given to the image, according to official Orthodox teaching, passes to the one depicted. If you think you’d treat, say, John the Baptist with certain amount of respect if you met him personally, so we treat the icon. The use of images stems from the practice of the early church, where it is known that images, primarily paintings and mosaics, were used. Statuary is a direction
