In the first week of Lent, Christians around the world celebrate the feast of the Triumph of Orthodoxy. The rite is performed on Sunday, festive services are held in all churches.
Feast of the Triumph of Orthodoxy
Annually, in the name of the feast of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, the word of the pastor is pronounced, Metropolitan Kirill traditionally performs a divine service in the Moscow Cathedral of Christ the Savior. After that, His Holiness the Patriarch performs a special rite, which was introduced in the 11th century by the Monk Theodosius of the Kiev Caves.
In the distant 8th century AD, an event occurred that not only returned to believers the opportunity to openly venerate icons and images of saints, but also became evidence of the restoration of the unity of the Church, as well as the victory over heresy and dissent. The sermon of the Patriarch, delivered on the holiday called "The Triumph of Orthodoxy", reveals to all of us the deep meaning of this event.
History of the holiday
Historical chronicles show that the veneration of icons based on the Holy Scriptures remained an inviolable Christian custom until the 8th century AD. But the Byzantine emperor Leo III the Isaurian imposed a ban on the veneration of holy images. Thousands of images, icons, statues of saints were destroyed throughout the empire. True believing Christians, monks and ordinary Orthodox were subjected to persecution and cruel reprisals. They were imprisoned, tortured, executed.
Is the icon an idol or a holy image?
The image symbolizing the triumph of Orthodoxy - the icon of the holiday - is so eloquent and frank that it will not leave indifferent even the most distant from religion and uninitiated people. This applies to almost any church images. It is hard to imagine that in ancient times someone raised a hand to desecrate icons. Maybe that's why the holy images are so deep and touch people's hearts so much that they let through themselves the whole horror of vandalism and savagery?
The most important reason for the rejection of icons was the denial of the very belief that the Son of God took on a human form and saved the whole world from destruction. The appearance of Jesus visualized the divine spirit, God became close and accessible to people, it became possible to depict him and capture him. God lost the halo of inaccessibility and incorporeality and, apparently, became closer to the people than everyone else. But in the Holy Scriptures it was said that the creation of idols is a sin, many clergy were against the images of saints. The followers of this theory, rulers and emperors, perhaps adopting the theory of the sinfulness of creating idols, obliged people to believe in the inadmissibility of church images, and those who did not follow these prohibitions were deprived of their lives.
Icon making
There was a ritual in the creation of icons. During the construction of the Iversky Monastery in Valdai, it was decided to make a copy of the Iberian Icon of the Mother of God for the new church. The list was made very carefully, in compliance with a special technology. The brotherhood of the monastery in prayers sanctified the water, watered it with a cypress board to write the image. Then this water was mixed with paints, the isographer began to paint the image, accompanying the writing with prayer and fasting.
Iconoclasm Mode
It all looked like some kind of ritual of idolatry. Therefore, many church officials took the side of the iconoclasts. Emperor Theophilus, an iconoclast who ruled the Byzantine Empire until 842, was no exception. And his wife, Queen Theodora, was a true Christian.
The First Feast of the Triumph of Orthodoxy
There is a version that one day, in the twelfth year of his reign, the emperor became very ill and, realizing his sins, repented of the destruction of the holy images. The wife with a prayer laid on him the image of the Virgin, kissing which, the emperor felt much better.
Nevertheless, the disease did not recede, and after the death of Emperor Theophilus, his wife, who acted as regent for the infant Emperor Michael III, imposed a ban on persecutionChristians and the destruction of icons. The Empress gave an order to Patriarch Methodius of Constantinople to hold a Council, and on the first Sunday of Great Lent, March 11, 843, all Orthodox bishops were summoned to a solemn service in the Church of Hagia Sophia. The participants of the Council recorded the late emperor as heretics, but after some time his name was not on the list.
All the clergy and ordinary laity, led by the queen herself, took to the streets of Constantinople with icons in their hands. After the prayer service, a procession was made through Constantinople, and the faithful returned the saved icons to their places in the temples.
According to legend, during the prayer service, Theodora thanked God for the forgiveness of her husband, Emperor Theophilus, who advocated the destruction of icons, considered icon worshipers to be heretics and destroyed them. This event was the beginning of the annual celebration of the rite of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, which is the most important date of the Orthodox calendar today.
The meaning of the holiday
But the real triumph of Orthodoxy did not immediately come, the history of the holiday, although it began in the eighth century, the process of persecution of Christians continued until the middle of the 9th century. Only then were the iconodules released from prison, returned to their dioceses, and those who connived at iconoclasm were asked to either accept iconoclasm or stop serving in the church.
The day when the Triumph of Orthodoxy is celebrated is marked not only by the victory of the church over the champions of icons. Victory meant for the Christian churchthe opportunity to fully penetrate into the depths of people's consciousness with the truth, clear their minds, give them the opportunity to embark on the true path. The Church celebrated the triumph over all heresies, delusions and disagreements.
The rite of the Triumph of Orthodoxy was established, a special service during which the resolutions of all Ecumenical Councils are described, icon worshipers are blessed, reverence is expressed for deceased rulers, patriarchs, and later texts with Orthodox dogmas began to be included.
The rite of anathematization
The triumph of Orthodoxy is marked by worship, which includes a special part - the rite of anathematization, that is, a list of actions that lead to excommunication from the church. Thus, the church warns all believers how it is unacceptable to act, and anathema is proclaimed to those who have committed such sins.
At the very beginning, in the rank of the triumph of Orthodoxy, there were only 20 anathematizations, and the list of persons who were anathematized was up to 4 thousand people. At various times, Archimandrite Cassian, Stepan Razin, Grigory Otrepiev, Archpriest Avvakum, Yemelyan Pugachev, writer Leo Tolstoy, monk Filaret, Gleb Pavlovich Yakunin were included in the list.
The history of the rite of anathematization
The rite of Orthodoxy was performed in front of the icons of the Savior and the Mother of God in cathedrals. At the end of the 18th century, in 1767, changes and additions were made to the order of Orthodoxy. Metropolitan of Novgorod and St. Petersburg Gabriel made adjustments,excluding many names. After 100 years, the rank was further reduced. Until 1917, 12 anathematizations remained in it, that is, warnings about why a person could be excommunicated from the church, and all names were excluded from it. In 1971, the anathema was lifted from the Old Believers and they were returned to the bosom of the church.
Church clergy emphasize that anathematization is not a curse. A repentant person can return to the church, and he will be accepted if there is enough evidence of the sincerity of his repentance. Anathema can be lifted posthumously.
Today, anathematizations are usually not included in the rite of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, they are present only at episcopal services.
The image of a great holiday
The icon "The Triumph of Orthodoxy" was painted in the 15th century in Constantinople (today it is the city of Istanbul). The original of the holy image is in the British Museum in London.
Description of the icon "Triumph of Orthodoxy"
As a symbol of the depth, complexity and heterogeneity of such a holiday as the Triumph of Orthodoxy, the icon dedicated to it depicts not one martyr, but several and consists of two parts. At the top of the composition is an icon of the Mother of God, Hodegetria (Guide), a favorite icon of the Greeks. The Mother of God points to her son, Jesus, who sits on her lap, and her image is sad, because she already knows what awaits him in the future. It is believed that the original Hodegetria was written from life by St. Luke. For many years, icon-painting images were destroyed, and the icon "Triumph of Orthodoxy" is an icon inicon, emphasizing that icons are no longer illegal, that you can write them and no one will destroy them.
At the top, the artist depicted Empress Theodora with her son Michael. In the lower row, the icon "The Triumph of Orthodoxy" shows people who were martyred in the name of icon veneration. To the right of the throne stands St. Methodius, as well as St. Theodore the Studite. The icon with the image of Jesus Christ is held by St. Theophan the Sigrian Confessor and Stefan the New, a monk. To their right Bishop Theophylact of Nicomedia, the Confessor, brothers, Theodore and Theophanes Inscribed (Emperor Theophilus ordered verses to be drawn on the faces of the brothers as a sign of their disobedience to iconoclasm). To the left of the Throne, the martyr Theodosia embraces the icon of Christ. According to historical facts, she accepted death, not allowing the soldier to throw off the image of the Savior from Gates of Constantinople.
The icon "The Triumph of Orthodoxy", photo and original, conveys the unity and cohesion of the men depicted on the canvas. Indeed, they all have beards, and they are dressed in the same style. Observing this identity, the artist apparently wanted to emphasize that the number of icon worshipers is very large, many people are still converted to the holy and pure faith.
Deep meaning of the icon
If you look closely, the icon "Triumph of Orthodoxy", at first glance, has some inaccuracies. A curious detail was that the icon painter of the 15th century depicted people who lived in the ninth century. Why were they remembered posthumously? The point is that inIn the 15th century, the borders of the Byzantine Empire were significantly reduced. The empire became poor, endured the raids of enemies, including Muslims, who were fierce champions of any images of people as holy images. The Byzantines had no choice but to ask for help in the supply of weapons and funds from their European neighbors, in particular from France, in order to protect themselves from the Muslims. But the French side refused them.
Found without protection and funds, the Byzantines decided to paint an icon as their last chance, the last appeal to the time when the empire was rich and powerful. The image of that time was an attempt to prove to ourselves and believe that the power of the empire had not yet dried up. And so the artist depicted people from the past, the ninth century, symbolizing a prosperous empire. The Byzantine people, like all true believing Christians, believed that the holy image would definitely help them survive and regain their lost positions.
Unfortunately, this did not help, the great empire fell, but the strong spirit of people who truly believe in the holiness of God, that he will save his children, who are devoted to him to the core, was not broken.
What can you say to children about the holiday?
The first, strictest week of Great Lent ends with the "Triumph of Orthodoxy" holiday. The sermon of the priest, prayer and sincere faith will help to endure the entire fast. If fasting is observed by Orthodox believers according to all the canons, then after strict abstinence comes a feeling of lightness and joy about the segment of the path that has been completed. And this onea person not only overcame the path, but became better by passing it. Especially if he abstained not only from eating, but also did not sin, avoided conflicts and quarrels with his neighbors, relatives, filled their hearts with his care and love.
It's good if the Triumph of Orthodoxy for children becomes the same important holiday as for adults. Previously, schools taught subjects in which children learned church etiquette, studied the Holy Scriptures. Today this is not the case, but they must understand the key points at least for general development. If the meaning of the concept of “triumph of Orthodoxy” is correctly conveyed to the modern younger generation, the history of the holiday for children will turn out to be very interesting and will deeply touch their hearts, of course, if they sincerely believe in God from an early age and do not separate themselves from the church. After all, it begins in every person in his heart.
The holiday, which marks the triumph of Orthodoxy for children and adults, should initially be born in the soul of every person like sincere and fervent prayer and fasting. If a person follows the path of belief, his soul is filled with happiness, love, a sense of belonging to something true and eternal. We can say that each of us can celebrate our personal holiday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy more than once a year, but much more often if we choose the right, pure path of love and kindness.
