In the first week of Lent, Christians around the world celebrate the celebration of the Triumph of Orthodoxy. The rite is performed on Sunday, in all temples there are celebratory services.
Celebration of the Triumph of Orthodoxy
The Shepherd’s word is pronounced annually in the name of the Feast of the Triumph of Orthodoxy , Metropolitan Cyril 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 XI century by the Rev. Fedosiy of Kiev-Pechersk.
In the distant VIII century AD, an event occurred that not only returned to believers the possibility of open veneration of icons and images of saints, but also became a testament to the restoration of the unity of the Church, as well as victory over heresy and dissent. The Patriarch’s sermon delivered on a holiday called “The Triumph of Orthodoxy” reveals to us all the profound meaning of this event.
history of the holiday
Historical chronicles indicate that the veneration of icons based on the Holy Scriptures remained an untouchable Christian custom until the eighth century AD. But the Byzantine emperor Leo III Isaur imposed a ban on the veneration of holy images. Thousands of images, icons, sculptures of saints throughout the empire were destroyed. True believing Christians, monks, and simple Orthodox Christians were persecuted and brutalized. They were imprisoned, tortured, executed.
Icon - idol or 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 remote and uninitiated people from religion. This applies to almost any church image. It is hard to imagine that in ancient times someone raised a hand to desecrate icons. Perhaps that is why the holy images are so deep and so touch people's hearts that they let through all the horror of vandalism and savagery?
The most important reason for the rejection of the icons was the denial of the belief that the Son of God had acquired 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 and capture it. God lost the halo of inaccessibility and incorporeality and, apparently, became closer to the people than everyone else. But the Holy Scripture said that the creation of idols is a sin, many clerics 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
The creation of the icons was attended by a ritual. During the construction of the Iversky monastery in Valdai, it was decided to make a list for the new church with the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God. The list was made very carefully, in compliance with special technology. The brotherhood of the monastery in prayers sanctified water, watered a cypress board for writing the image. Then this water was mixed with paints, the isograph began to write an image, accompanying the writing with prayer and fasting.
Icon Combat Mode
All this resembled some kind of ritual of idolatry. Therefore, many church people took the side of the iconoclasts. Emperor Theophilus, an iconoclast who ruled the Byzantine Empire until 842, was no exception. And his wife, Queen Theodore was a true Christian.
The first holiday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy
There is a version that once, in the twelfth year of rule, the emperor became very ill and, realizing his sins, repented of the destruction of holy images. 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 played the role of regent under the young emperor Michael III, imposed a ban on the persecution of Christians and the destruction of icons. The tsarina gave the order to the Patriarch Methodius of Constantinople to hold the Council, and on the first Sunday of Great Lent, March 11, 843, in the Church of Hagia Sophia, all Orthodox bishops were called to a solemn service. The participants in the Council recorded heretics of the late emperor, 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, a procession was held across Constantinople, and the faithful returned the saved icons to their places in the churches.
According to legend, during a prayer service, Theodore thanked God for the forgiveness of her husband, Emperor Theophilos, who advocated the destruction of icons, considered worshipers of icons to be heretics and destroyed them. This event marked the beginning of the annual celebration of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, which is the most important date in the Orthodox calendar today.
The meaning of the holiday
But the real triumph of Orthodoxy did not immediately begin, although the history of the holiday began from the eighth century, but the process of persecution of Christians continued until the middle of the IX century. Only then did icon worshipers be released from prisons, returned to their dioceses, and those who condoned iconoclastic activities were invited to either accept icon worship or cease 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 church the opportunity to fully penetrate the depths of consciousness of people with truth, to clear their minds, to give them the opportunity to embark on the true path. The church celebrated triumph over all heresies, delusions and disagreements.
The rank of the Triumph of Orthodoxy was established, a special service during which the decrees of all Ecumenical Councils are described , icon worshipers are blessed, respect is given to the deceased rulers, patriarchs, and later texts with Orthodox dogmas began to be included.
Chin anathematization
The triumph of Orthodoxy is marked by divine services, which include a special part - the rite of anathematization, that is, a list of actions that lead to excommunication. Thus, the church warns all believers how to act inadmissible, 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 a total of 20 anathematizations, and the list of people who were subject to anathema amounted to 4 thousand people. At different times, Archimandrite Yuryev’s monastery Kassian, Stepan Razin, Grigory Otrepyev, Archpriest Avvakum, Emelian Pugachev, writer Leo Tolstoy, monk Filaret, Gleb Pavlovich Yakunin were on the list.
The history of the anathematization
The rank of Orthodoxy was performed in front of the icons of the Savior and the Mother of God in the cathedrals. At the end of the XVIII century, in 1767, changes and additions were made to the rank of Orthodoxy. Metropolitan Gabriel of Novgorod and St. Petersburg made adjustments to exclude many names. After 100 years, the rank was still reduced. Until 1917, 12 anathematizations remained in it, that is, warnings about why a person could be excommunicated, and all names from him were excluded. In 1971, the anathema was removed from the Old Believers and they were returned to the fold of the church.
Church clergy emphasizes that anathema is not a curse. A repentant person can return to church, and he will be accepted if there is sufficient evidence of the sincerity of his repentance. Anathema can be lifted posthumously.
To date, anathematization is usually not included in the rank of Triumph of Orthodoxy, they are present only at bishop services.
The image of the great holiday
The icon "The Triumph of Orthodoxy" was written in the 15th century in Constantinople (today it is the city of Istanbul). The original holy image is in the British Museum of London.
Description of the "Triumph of Orthodoxy" icon
As a symbol of the depth, complexity and heterogeneity of such a holiday as the Triumph of Orthodoxy, the icon dedicated to him, depicts not one martyr, but several and consists of two parts. In the upper part of the composition is depicted the icon of the Mother of God, Hodegetria (Guidebook), the beloved icon of the Greeks. The Virgin Mary 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 of Hodegetria was written from nature by St. Luke. For many years, icon-painting images were destroyed, and the "Triumph of Orthodoxy" icon is an icon in an icon, emphasizing that the icons are no longer outside the law, that they can be written and no one will destroy them.
Above, the artist portrayed Empress Theodora with her son Michael. In the bottom row, the icon "The Triumph of Orthodoxy shows people who suffered a martyrdom in the name of icon veneration. To the right of the throne stands St. Methodius, as well as the Monk Theodore Studit. The icon depicting Jesus Christ is kept by St. Theophanes the Sigrian Confessor and Stephen New, the monk. To their right Bishop of Nicomedia, Theophylactus the Confessor, brothers, Theodore and Theophanes Inscribed (Emperor Theophilus ordered the brothers to draw verses in sign of their disobedience to iconoclasm.) To the left of the Throne, the martyr Theodosius embraces stake of Christ. According to historical facts, she accepted death, not allowing a soldier to lose the image of the Savior with the gates of Constantinople.
The "Triumph of Orthodoxy" icon, 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 such an identity, the artist apparently wanted to emphasize that the number of icon worshipers is very large, many people are still converted to a holy and pure faith.
The deep meaning of the icon
If you look more closely, the icon "The Triumph of Orthodoxy", at first glance, has some inaccuracies. An interesting detail was that the 15th century icon painter depicted people who lived in the ninth century. Why were they remembered posthumously? The fact is that in the 15th century the borders of the Byzantine Empire were greatly reduced. The empire became poorer, endured 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 European neighbors, in particular France, for help in the supply of weapons and funds, in order to defend themselves against Muslims. But the French side refused them.
Finding themselves without protection and means, the Byzantines decided to write an icon as their last chance, their last appeal by the time the empire was rich and powerful. The image of that time was an attempt to prove to ourselves and to believe that the power of the empire had not yet exhausted. And so the artist portrayed people from the past, ninth century, symbolizing a prosperous empire. The Byzantine people, like all true Christian believers, believed that the holy image would certainly help them to withstand and regain their lost ground.
Unfortunately, this did not help, the great empire fell, but the strong spirit of people who truly believe in the sanctity of God, that he would save his children, who were devoted to him to the core, was not broken.
What can children say about the holiday?
The first, most severe week of Lent ends with the celebration of the "Triumph of Orthodoxy." The priest’s sermon, prayer and sincere faith will help to withstand the whole fast. If the fast is observed by Orthodox believers according to all the canons, then after strict abstinence comes a feeling of lightness and joy about the distance traveled. And man did not just overcome this path, but became better by going through it. Especially if he refrained 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.
Well, if the Triumph of Orthodoxy for children will be as important a holiday as for adults. Previously, schools taught subjects in which children studied church etiquette and studied scripture. Today this is not, but they must understand the key points, at least for the common development. If the meaning of the term “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 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. It can be said that each of us can celebrate his personal holiday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy not once a year, but much more often if he chooses the right, pure path of love and goodness.