Sunday of Orthodoxy

Yesterday, on this same day during the Great Fast in each year, that we celebrate "the Sunday of Orthodoxy," also called "the Triumph of Orthodoxy."  It commemorates the final victory of the Church over the iconoclasts, those who would have declared the use of icons to be counter to the law and/or the will of God, to be a form of idol worship.

While the Holy Church won that victory (in the eighth century), those who hold to such a position never truly "went away."  They remain around us to this very day.

Within the Stichera on Lord I Call from Vespers for this day, one of the hymns we sing (and this is where great teaching from the Church emanates), "The Grace of Truth has shown on us.  The mysteries darkly prefigured in times of old have now been openly fulfilled.  Behold, the Church is clothed in beauty beyond all earthly measure, through the Icon of the Incarnate Christ that was foreshadowed by the Ark of Testimony.  This is the safeguard of the Orthodox Faith, for if we hold fast to the Icon of the Savior, Whom we worship, we shall not go astray.  Let all who do not share this faith be covered in shame.  But we shall glory in the Icon of the Word made flesh, which we venerate, but do not worship as an idol.  So let us kiss His precious Icon, and with all the faithful cry aloud, 'O Lord, save Your people, and bless Your inheritance.' " 

Listen carefully to these words.  "Let all who do not share this faith be covered in shame."  It refers to those who venerate icons in spirit and truth in the Orthodox manner, yes.  But it speaks also to those who revere the Holy Sacraments, and those who abide by the doctrines handed down by the Holy Fathers, and those who know that salvation comes through Christ within this very Church that He established.  Therefore, let us accept not only icons, but the fullness of the faith - including (and especially in this season) the Church's prescription for aiding us in our ascetic efforts through the increase in Divine services, in prescriptions for reading Scripture, in fasting and almsgiving.