Today, on the Sunday of Orthodoxy, we commemorate the restoration of the Holy Icons and triumph of the Orthodox Faith against the terrible heresy of the Iconoclasts.
As is tradition in the Orthodox Church, a small procession with icons was held at the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, along with the reading of the Synodikon of the 7th Ecumenical Council:
“As the prophets beheld, as the apostles have taught, as the Church has received, as the teachers have declared, as the world has agreed, as grace has shown forth, as truth has been revealed, as falsehood has been dispelled, as wisdom has become manifest, as Christ awarded;
Thus we declare; thus we affirm; thus we proclaim Christ our true God, and honor His saints in words, writings, thoughts, sacrifices, churches, and holy icons;
On the one hand, worshiping and reverencing Christ as God and Lord, and on the other, honoring the saints as true servants of the same Lord of all, and offering them proper veneration.
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 on which the world is established.
Therefore, with fraternal and filial love we praise the heralds of the faith, those who with glory and honor have struggled for the faith, and we say: to the champions of Orthodoxy, ‘faithful emperors, most-holy patriarchs, hierarchs, teachers, martyrs, and confessors: May your memory be eternal.”
Photos from the morning can be found below.