The Sunday of Orthodoxy and the Current State of Affairs (Photios Kontoglou)

 

The Sunday of Orthodoxy was established in order for the Church to celebrate the restoration of the Icons and the victory of true religion over the Iconoclasts. The Iconoclasts were the modernists of that time, who began with the abolition of iconography, so that they might proceed gradually, as all such people are wont to do, to other destructive reforms, the end result being to leave nothing in Orthodoxy intact. The Icon was the symbol of Orthodoxy, and Byzantium was in turmoil over the Icons, in civil war, for 116 years. In 787 A.D., the Seventh Ecumenical Synod took place in Nicaea. This Synod proclaimed the restoration of the Icons, and put an end to the Iconoclasm which had started in 726, in the reign of Leo the Isaurian. But even after the Seventh Ecumenical Synod, Iconoclasm was revived, and so another Synod took place in Constantinople in 842, and this Synod confirmed the Seventh Ecumenical Synod. Thus did that madness of Iconoclasm cease.

Commentary on the Synodikon of Orthodoxy (Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos)

The “Synodikon of Orthodoxy” is a text contained in the “Triodion” and read on the Sunday of Orthodoxy, the first Sunday of Lent.

It is well known that through the ages various heresies have appeared which deny the experience of revelation and in fact make use of philosophy and conjecture, doubting the Church’s truth on various dogmatic topics. The Fathers who formed the Synods opposed these errors. The decisions of the Synods on dogmatic topics are called “provisions”. More generally speaking, each decision of the Synods is called a “Synodikon”. Thus we have the synodical tome and the synodical provision, and moreover, each synod has its own synodikon.

The “Synodikon of Orthodoxy” is the decisions of the Seventh Ecumenical Council, which refer to the veneration of holy icons. The reading of them on the Sunday of Orthodoxy gave the title “Synodikon of Orthodoxy”. Of course it must be said that later there was also added to the “Synodikon of Orthodoxy” the definition of faith of the hesychastic Councils of the fourteenth century. Thus the “Synodikon of Orthodoxy” comprises the decisions of both the Seventh Ecumenical Council and the Councils of the fourteenth century, which, as will be said below, have all the elements to characterise and regard as a Ninth Ecumenical Council.

An analysis will be made of the “Synod of Orthodoxy” in its central points. There will not be a broader analysis of the whole Council, but what I consider to be the main points will be emphasised, because they express the ethos of the Church. And this is necessary, because the mind of the Church is linked to, and in harmony with the decisions of the Fathers of the Church as it has been expressed with conciliar authority.

The Synodikon of Orthodoxy compiled in 1583

Whosoever, therefore, shall confess Me before men, him will I confess before My Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I deny before My Father which is in heaven” (Matt. 10:32-33).

The term synodikon is applied to an official definition promulgated by a synod or council, or to a statement which has synodical origin or conciliar authority. The present synodikon was approved and issued by the Synod of 843 which restored the veneration of icons, i.e., it upheld and re-imposed the authority of the Seventh Ecumenical Synod which had fallen into abeyance during the intervening second period of Iconoclasm (815-842). In the manuscripts, the titles are various: The Synodikon of Orthodoxy, The Synodikon Confirming Orthodoxy Read on the First Sunday of Great Lent, The Synodikon Confirming Orthodoxy, The Synodikon Against All Heresy, and different combinations of all the above. In the printed Triodion, the synodikon is titled The Synodikon of the Holy and Ecumenical Seventh Synod for Orthodoxy. Although not entirely correct, we have retained it because the Synod of 843 did not form any new definitions, but was concerned to proclaim again the authority of the Seventh Council and to re-establish the definition of the Faith propounded there.

Sermon on the Sunday of Orthodoxy (St Ignatius Brianchaninov)

Beloved brethren! The beginning of our sermon on Orthodox Sunday is most naturally the question: What is Orthodoxy?

Orthodoxy is true knowledge of God and worship of God; Orthodoxy is the worship of God in spirit and truth; Orthodoxy is the glorification of God through true knowledge of Him and worship of Him; Orthodoxy is the glorification by God of man, the true servant of God, by the gift of the grace of the All-Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the glory of Christians ( John 7:39 ). Where there is no Spirit, there is no Orthodoxy.

Description of the feast of Sunday of Orthodoxy

THE HISTORY OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CELEBRATION OF THE SUNDAY OF THE TRIUMPH OF ORTHODOXY.

The very first mention of the Triumph of Orthodoxy as such was made only in 899 (in the Clitorology of Philotheus), and it is certain that this celebration became an integral part of the life of Byzantium from 843 onwards. It was in March of this year that Saint Methodius was ordained as patriarch and the veneration of holy icons was restored.

Saint Theodore the Tiro and Great Martyr (+306) and the Feast of Kollyva

The Holy Martyr Theodore lived during the reigns of Emperors Maximian (286-305) and Maximinus (308-313), and resided in the metropolis of Amasea, which is an eminent city of Cappadocia off the coast of the Black Sea, and was from the village of Houmialos. At the time therefore when the Saint was numbered among the soldiers called the Tiron (Tiro means armed soldier, or rather was a newly enlisted recruit), when he was under the regimental command of Vriga, then he confessed that Christ was the true God, and that the idols of the Greeks were lifeless statues, the work of men's hands. Wherefore he was brought before his commander, and he gave Theodore some time and a deadline to think things over. Then the Saint did a great virtuous action, for he took an idol of Rhea, the mother of the gods, which played the Greeks for fools, and he threw it into the fire and burned it.

Thus he was arrested and confessed that it was he who burned the idol. First he was hung up and scraped, then he was put in a flaming furnace, in which he was perfected, and received the crown of martyrdom. His Synaxis is held in his martyric Temple which is in Phorakion, on the Saturday of the first week of the Fast. This is when the miracle with the kollyva took place through him, by which he liberated the Orthodox Christian people from the polluted foods of the pagans.

A Reflection on Fr Alexander Schmemann's book ''For the life of the world'' concerning mission in Orthodoxy

As the author sited the Gospel words: You are witnesses to this...

This is very true, the apostles are the real witnesses of Christ the incarnate God, They listened to His teachings, saw His miracles,His betrayal,Death and Ressurection and His appearences during the 40 days.Also on the 50th day during Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended on them in the form of flames.So they had experiencial knowledge of God, This helped them greatly during their mission to spread the Gospel, This was the reason why they had such boldness to proclaim the truth in front of rulers and a mass of pagan people. They were ready to even give up their lives and endure the worst possible tortures. Such was the zeal they had.

Why is confession necessary? (Igumen Tikhon)

Question:
- Father, if God knows everything, then why confess? After all, He sees everything in my heart...

The Life of Our Venerable Father Martinian and the Holy Women Zoe and Photinia (V century)

In Palestine, near the city of Caesarea there is a mountain called the "Place of the Ark." Many hermits labored there, among them the blessed and praiseworthy monk, filled with divine grace—Saint Martinian. From a young age, he loved God and began to lead a monastic life. The handsome Martinian, at eighteen years of age, left the city and his relatives, renounced worldly vanity, and came to this mountain for a life of silence and solitude. Living like incorporeal angels, he remained here for 25 years. For his virtuous life, he was deemed worthy to receive from God the gift of healing ailments and diseases. Many, through his holy prayers, were healed of various ailments; many, possessed by evil spirits, came to him on the mountain and were freed from the wiles of the evil one. God performed many other miracles through the prayers of His saint. Day by day, Martinian became increasingly successful in his ascetic endeavors; the fame of his virtuous life spread far beyond the borders of that land; all who heard of him came to him for spiritual benefit. But the enemy of mankind, the devil, could not tolerate such a virtuous life of a young ascetic, so adorned with spiritual struggles. At first, he began to tempt blessed Martinian in every way and tried to intimidate him in various ways. Then the ancient envy of mankind used the same weapon with which he once expelled Adam from paradise, wishing to expel this ascetic from his silent wilderness and deprive him of eternal bliss.

Follow God and not the world

 

Let me be different God, I don't mind.

Satan's strategy is simple:

Make sin seem normal and righteousness strange. The closer you are to God, the stranger you are to people. Don't fall for that. If your heart is not grounded in the truth, you will be carried away by everything that is popular.
Compromise always distances you from Christ. God did not create you to fit in.
He chose you to stand out. You are not strange for walking in obedience - you are walking in wisdom.
If the path you are taking seems easy to you, if everyone greets and praises you... it is probably not the narrow path. The Lord's path has always been a challenge to the culture.
He gave his life for it, and His followers paid the same price.
Your obedience to God is more important than the world's opinion.
The Lord Jesus was perfect, they still hated him. Stop seeking validation from a world that crucified its Creator. God’s approval is worth more than the applause of the whole world. I don’t care who laughs at me, I will boldly say:
I would rather stand with God and be rejected by the world than stand with the world and be rejected by God.
If you choose God over culture, if you would rather be singled out than accepted…you probably feel like a “white sheep” in this dark world…
But God singled them out on purpose.

Source: Repost from ''End Times''