St John of Kronstadt: He unites His presence to the temple, to the icons...

Owing to our corporality, the Lord, so to say, binds His presence and Himself to materiality, to some visible sign—for instance,

- in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, He Himself wholly takes up His abode in the Body and Blood; 
- in that of penitence, He acts through the visible person of the priest; in that of baptism, through water; 
- in that of chrism, through the anointing with chrism; 
- in that of orders, through the bishop; 
- in matrimony, through the priest and the crowns He Himself crowns the bride and bridegroom; 
- in the sacrament of unction with oil, through the oil;

He unites His presence to the temple, to the icons, to the cross, to the sign of the cross, to His name, consisting of separate sounds, to the holy water, to the consecrated bread, wheat, and wine; but the time will come when His Body and Blood, as well as all other visible signs, shall be no longer required for us, for we shall then " more truly communicate of Him on the nightless day of His kingdom," whilst now only through material things—that is, through images and signs.

St John of Kronstadt