Sunday of Orthodoxy

Date: 16 March 2008 02:52:44

Troparion - Tone 2:
We venerate Your most pure image, O Good One,
and ask forgiveness of our transgressions, O Christ God.
Of Your own will You were pleased to ascend the Cross in the flesh
to deliver Your creatures from bondage to the enemy.
Therefore with thanksgiving we cry aloud to You:
You have filled all with joy, O our Saviour,
by coming to save the world.

Kontakion - Tone 8:
No one could describe the Word of the Father;
but when He took flesh from you, O Theotokos, He accepted to be described,
and restored the fallen image to its former beauty.
We confess and proclaim our salvation in word and images.

Today, as our Western brothers and sisters celebrate the last Sunday before Easter, and the entrance to Holy Week, we celebrate the First Sunday of Great Lent, which is commemorated as The Sunday of Orthodoxy. From that website,
The dominant theme of this Sunday since 843 has been that of the victory of the icons. In that year the iconoclastic controversy, which had raged on and off since 726, was finally laid to rest, and icons and their veneration were restored on the first Sunday in Lent. Ever since, this Sunday has been commemorated as the "Triumph of Orthodoxy."

You can read more about the historical background and the liturgical celebrations today on that link from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. It is a day of great joy -- perhaps surprisingly in Great Lent, but it is a foretaste of the great joy of the Resurrection -- when we process around and outside the church, holding aloft icons -- I brought my Ladder of Divine Ascent and Saint John of the Ladder [my patron saint] icons; others brought their own favourites, or took an icon off the wall, or took a card icon some of our parishioners were giving out. To the chanting of "Lord, have mercy" in English, Greek and Arabic, we made our way outside and back into the Church -- remembering not only the restoration of icons but also the lives of Christ, his mother Mary, and all the Saints whose icons we had. This aspect of remembrance was particularly touching as we also had a memorial service today for a newly departed servant of God: may her memory be eternal!

I leave you with this extract from the proceedings of the the Seventh Ecumenical Council which is read during the service today:

As the Prophets beheld,
As the Apostles taught,
As the Church received,
As the Teachers dogmatized,
As the Universe agreed,
As Grace illumined,
As the Truth revealed,
As falsehood passed away,
As Wisdom presented,
As Christ awarded,

Thus we declare,
Thus we assert,
Thus we proclaim Christ our true God
and honour His saints,

In words,
In writings,
In thoughts,
In sacrifices,
In churches,
In holy icons.

On the one hand, worshipping and reverencing Christ as God and Lord.
And on the other hand, honouring and venerating His Saints as true servants of the same Lord.

This is the Faith of the Apostles.
This is the Faith of the Fathers.
This is the Faith of the Orthodox.
This is the Faith which has established the Universe.