In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

(Bism Al Ab W Al Ibn W Al roh Al kodus Ilah wahed Amen)

Today we celebrate the first Sunday of Great Lent known as the “Sunday of Orthodoxy” also called “The Triumph of Orthodoxy”. At the conclusion of the Liturgy we will join a procession around the outside of the church building carrying icons and when we come back inside a special prayer is read to celebrate the feast. This is the first of many processions which we will take part in during Great Lent.

So what is it that we are celebrating today? There have been two periods in the history of the Orthodox Church (730 – 787 AD and 814 – 843AD) when the rulers of Byzantium pursued a policy of “iconoclasm” – an official ban on the use of religious images followed by the destruction of icons, mosaics and religious objects depicting Christ, the Mother of God and the saints, (iconoclast literally meaning a “breaker of images”) and the persecution of the supporters of the veneration of images. These periods where known at the time as the “image struggle” or the “war on icons”. The Sunday of Orthodoxy commemorates the end of the second and final period of iconoclasm in 843 AD.

The motives of the iconoclasts are largely lost to history and are the subject to academic debate, but it is possible to find some of their theological arguments in the writings of the “iconodules”, the defenders of icons and the arguments they used to counter the iconoclast position. It is important for us to understand these theological issues because icons are not just a nice optional extra to our worship but integral to our faith and understanding of the work of Christ.

One of the key concerns of the “image struggle” was about the nature of Christ. The iconoclasts argued that in order to paint a true image of Jesus Christ you would need to depict not only his humanity, which was possible, because you could paint ordinary material living things, but also his divinity, which was impossible, because you couldn’t depict divine things as this was prohibited in the Ten Commandments. Furthermore an icon would either confuse Christ’s human and divine natures, the heresy of Monophylitism or separate the human nature from the divine, the heresy of Nestorianism. Following this argument the iconoclasts concluded iconography itself was heretical. Here is a quotation from an iconoclastic council:

If anyone ventures to represent the divine image of the Word after the Incarnation with material colours, he is an adversary of God. ...

Given that iconoclasm was the official policy of the Empire it was extremely dangerous to defend icons on Byzantine territory. The iconoclast Emperor, Constantine V had icons publicly thrown into the sea, and ordered the execution of those like St Stephen the Younger who opposed him.

One of the main defenders of icons was able to do so because he lived beyond the reach of the Byzantine rulers. Yūḥana ibn Manṣūr better known as St John of Damascus (675-749 AD) was a Christian Arab who lived in Damascus, the capital of the Islamic Umayyad Caliphate where its possible he had a role in the Caliphs civil service before he became a monk in the monastery of Mar Saba near Jerusalem. St John wrote a defence of icons called “Apologetic Treatises against those Decrying the Holy Images” he wrote in a simple and direct style that ordinary people could understand:

Some people reprove us for honouring images of the Saviour, of the Mother of God and other holy servants of Christ, But let them think for a moment. In the beginning God created humanity in his own image. Why ever should we have respect for one another, if not because we are made in the image of God? (Genesis 1:26)

St John argued that because God had made man in his own image and because God has become incarnate in the person of Jesus Christ taking human flesh and blood it was not only possible to depict Christ, the Mother of God and the Saints in the icons, but actually essential to do so.

In former times God, who is without form or body, could never be depicted. But now when God is seen in the flesh conversing with men, I make an image of the God whom I see. I do not worship matter; I worship the Creator of matter who became matter for my sake, who willed to take His abode in matter; who worked out my salvation through matter. Never will I cease honouring the matter which wrought my salvation!

And again:

When He who is a pure spirit, without form or limit, immeasurable in the boundlessness of His own nature, existing as God, takes upon Himself the form of a servant in substance and in stature, and a body of flesh, then you may draw His likeness, and show it to anyone willing to contemplate it.

St John taught there is a difference between worship, which is due to God alone, and veneration – recognising and giving thanks for the work of God in the lives of the Mother of God and the saints:

I also venerate the matter through which salvation came to me, as if filled with divine energy and grace.

He includes in this latter category the ink in which the gospels were written as well as the paint of images, the wood of the Cross, and the Holy Gifts – the body and blood of Jesus.

The veneration of icons teaches something fundamental about the Orthodox churches attitude towards the Incarnation of God in the flesh. God has made humanity in His “image and likeness” (Genesis 1:26) as such all human beings are understood as icons of God. As part of the worship of the church the priest or deacon offers incense not just to the Holy Table, the throne of God, not just to the painted icons but to each of us. As this happens we should be reminded of the value of each and every human person in the eyes of God. With the incarnation of Christ, God becomes man and humanity is offered the opportunity of communion with the Lord.

The Sunday of Orthodoxy is also called “The Triumph of Orthodoxy”. There is an expression “No triumph, no tragedy”. There are several tragic aspects to today’s feast. The first is that the “image struggle” is sadly another example in the long history of people using professed religious reasons as a means of exerting power and control and as a justification for persecuting and oppressing other people. While we should celebrate and affirm our Orthodox Christian faith we should do this by striving to cultivate a heart of mercy, not a heart that looks for justification and seeks to triumph over others. The “image struggle” is also an illustration of the unhappy history of state interference in matters of faith and the unhealthy alignment of some religious people with the power of the state. Sadly iconoclasm, the “breaking of images” hasn’t stopped, it continues on a daily basis and doesn’t just involve defacing beautiful tile mosaics and throwing painted icons into the sea, it also involves breaking “images” of flesh and blood, people made in the image of God through violence of word and deed and we have to continue the fight against this evil.

So what can we take from this feast to help us through the coming days and weeks of Great Lent that lead us to Holy Week? Firstly let us remember the truth; foundational to our faith that all people are made in the image of God and are loved by God and respond accordingly:

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. (John 3:16)

Secondly we should continue to pray for Christians living in places where it is hard to practice Christianity, where going to church, wearing a cross, even owning a Bible let alone proclaiming their faith carries a risk and for all people persecuted for their faith or experiencing any kind of oppression. People continue to be martyred up to this day. Pray also for all of our clergy and teachers, give thanks for Saints like John of Damascus and remember that we proclaim our faith in every interaction we have with others:

So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:20)

Finally we should remember that the most audacious attempt at “breaking images” the events of Good Friday, the trial and crucifixion of Our Lord Jesus Christ do not end in defeat but in Christ’s victory over evil and death.

Amen.

1st Sunday of Great Lent: Sunday of Orthodoxy - Troparion & Kontakion

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 Savior, / 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 state by uniting it to divine beauty. / We confess and proclaim our salvation in word and images.