The measure icon is the most beautiful gift that a person can receive on Baptism day, a gesture of affection from the person who gives it, parents, godparents, grandparents, friends…..whose memory will remain forever because it is destined to last over time.

The tradition of the icon of measure has deep roots. The oldest known measurement icon belonged to the son of Ivan the Terrible, Prince Ivan Ivanovich, is located in the collection of Russian museums in the Moscow Kremlin and bears the date 1554. But the tradition of measurement icons is more ancient and dates back to the origins of Eastern Christianity.

Writing an icon is not just an artistic work, but above all it is prayer. You cannot entrust this task to just any painter, nor can you paint the image according to your tastes or imagination. The iconographer must have a good knowledge of Theology and Sacred Scripture.

The icon is not a devotional painting, therefore it must be absolutely faithful to the Tradition of the Church. It must be canonical. The icon-making process begins long before the iconographer picks up the brush. Fast, pray, be silent. The image to be painted must first be painted in its soul and then on the table. Iconographers cannot paint the size icon until after the baby is born, because you need to know the baby's name and size at birth to begin with. The work is long, it can require a time ranging from 15 days to a month, for this reason it is necessary to commission it in time.

The measure icon is a unique, personal gift that is received only once in a lifetime. It is written specifically on the occasion of the birth of a child, and will remain with him forever. He will take her away from the parental home when he gets married. Those who choose to give a measure icon give it to the family on the day of Baptism and it is blessed by the Priest during the celebration. After the blessing it is used to hang it in the child's bedroom, usually above the cradle.

The image that is painted represents the Patron Saint whose name the newborn bears, or that of the day of his birth. The Patron Saint will be, for the child, like a prayer book always open before his eyes. Just as God gives each child a Guardian Angel, so the saint represented in the measure icon has the task of making divine protection visible. With the measure icon we want to implore the physical and spiritual protection of the child by entrusting him to the intercession of his Patron. The icon is therefore destined to accompany the individual throughout his life, he will take it with him wherever he goes to live.

"The patronage of the saint offers a model of charity and ensures his intercession" (CCC 2156). Over time, looking at the icon, the child begins to know and love the life of the patron saint, learns to ask him to intercede for himself and for the whole world and is helped to nourish faith in Christ, who is glorified in the saint. (CCC 956, 2683). The child develops the inner gaze and gets used to contemplating the celestial reality through the visible image. A physical and spiritual relationship is generated between the icon and the person. While the table will remind him of his initial physical stature, the saint represented will be the model to follow for his growth in the Faith.