Icon "The Triumph of Orthodoxy". The triumph of Orthodoxy: the history of the holiday for children

In the first week of Lent, Christians around the world celebrate the Feast of Orthodoxy. Chin is performed on Sunday, in all churches there are festive divine services.

Feast of the Triumph of Orthodoxy

Every year the word of the pastor is pronounced in the name of the feast of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, Metropolitan Kirill traditionally performs a divine service in the Moscow Cathedral of Christ the Savior. After that, His Holiness the Patriarch made a special order, which was introduced in the 11th century by the Monk Fedosy of Kiev-Pechersky.

In the far eighth century of our era an event occurred that not only restored the possibility of open worship of icons and images of saints to believers, but also became evidence of the restoration of the unity of the Church, as well as victory over heresy and dissent. Speaking on the holiday called "The Triumph of Orthodoxy," the Patriarch's sermon reveals to all of us the profound meaning of this event.

history of the holiday

Historical chronicles indicate that the Holy Scripture-based veneration of icons remained an unchallenged Christian custom until the 8th century AD. But Byzantine emperor Leo III Isaurus was banned from venerating holy images. Destroyed thousands of images, icons, statues of saints throughout the empire. True believing Christians, monks and ordinary Orthodox were subjected to persecution and cruel reprisals. They were imprisoned, tortured, executed.

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 remote from religion and uninitiated people. This applies to virtually all church images. It is difficult to imagine that in ancient times someone had to raise the hand to desecrate the icons. Maybe that's why the holy images are so profound and touch the hearts of people so much that they let through the whole horror of vandalism and fanaticism?

The most important reason for the rejection of icons was the denial of the very belief that the Son of God 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 it and to imprint it. God lost the aura of inaccessibility and incorporeality and, apparently, became closer to the people than all the others. But in the Holy Scripture it was said that the creation of idols is a sin, many clerics were against images of saints. Followers of this theory, rulers and emperors, perhaps, having adopted the theory of the sinfulness of the creation of idols, obliged people to believe in the inadmissibility of church images, and those who did not follow these prohibitions, deprived of life.

Making icons

In the creation of icons there was a ritual. When the Iberian monastery was erected in Valdai, it was decided to make a list for the new church from the Iberian Icon of the Mother of God. The list was made very carefully, with the observance of a special technology. The brotherhood of the monastery in the prayers watered the water, watered her cypress board to write an image. Further this water was mixed with paints, the isograph began to paint the image, accompanying the writing with prayer and fasting.

Mode of iconoclasm

All this was reminiscent of a ritual of idolatry. Therefore, many church people took the side of the iconoclasts. Emperor Theophilus, the iconoclasm, 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 the reign, the emperor became very ill and, realizing his sins, repented of destroying holy images. The spouse 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 served as regent under the young Emperor Michael III, imposed a ban on the persecution of Christians and the destruction of icons. The queen gave the order to the Patriarch of Constantinople Methodius about holding the Council, and on the first Sunday of Lent, on March 11, 843, all Orthodox bishops were summoned to the solemn divine service in the Temple of St. Sophia. The members of the Council recorded the heretic and the late emperor, but after a while his name was not on the list.

All the clergy and ordinary laymen, led by the queen herself, took to the streets of Constantinople with icons in their hands. After the moleben, a procession was held in Constantinople, and the faithful returned the saved icons to their places in the temples.

According to legend, during the moleben Feodora thanked God for forgiving her husband, Emperor Theophilus, who advocated the destruction of icons, considered icon worshipers and destroyed them. This event was the beginning of the annual commemoration of Orthodoxy, which is the most important date of the Orthodox calendar in our days.

The meaning of the holiday

But the true triumph of Orthodoxy did not immediately come, the history of the feast, although it began with the eighth century, but the process of persecution of Christians continued until the middle of the IX century. Only then the icon-worshipers were released from prisons, returned to their dioceses, and those who indulged in the iconoclastic activity were offered either to accept the icon-worship, or to 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 advocates of icons. The victory meant for the Christian church the opportunity to penetrate right into the depths of people's consciousness with truth, clear their minds, give them the opportunity to embark on the true path. The church celebrated the triumph over all heresies, errors and disagreements.

The rite of Orthodoxy was established, a special service, during which the decrees of all Ecumenical Councils are described , icon-worshipers are blessed, reverence to the deceased rulers, patriarchs is expressed, and later texts with Orthodox dogmas began to be included.

The rank of anathematizing

The triumph of Orthodoxy is marked by worship, which includes a special part - the rank of anathematizing, that is, a list of actions that lead to excommunication from the church. Thus, the church warns all believers how unacceptable it is to act, and those who commit such sins are declared anathema.

At the very beginning, there were only 20 anathematizing in the rite of Orthodoxy, and the list of persons who were subject to anathema was up to 4,000 people. At different times, Archimandrite Yuryev of the monastery Cassian, Stepan Razin, Grigory Otrepiev, Archpriest Avvakum, Emelyan Pugachev, writer Leo Tolstoy, monk Filaret, Gleb Pavlovich Yakunin were included in the list at different times.

The history of the commission of anathematizing

The Orthodoxy rite was performed before the icons of the Savior and the Mother of God in the cathedral. At the end of the XVIII century, in 1767, changes in the Orthodoxy were made. Metropolitan of Novgorod and St. Petersburg, Gabriel made adjustments, eliminating a lot of names. After 100 years, the rank was shortened. Until 1917, there were 12 anathematizing, that is, warnings about what a person might be excommunicated from, and all names from him were excluded. In 1971, an anathema was lifted from the Old Believers and they were returned to the bosom of the church.

The church clergy emphasizes that giving anathema is not a curse. A repentant person can return to the church, and he will be received if there is sufficient evidence of the sincerity of his repentance. Anathema can be withdrawn posthumously.

To date, anathematizing is not usually included in the rite of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, they are present only in the bishops' services.

The image of a 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 of the holy image is in the British Museum of London.

Description of the icon "The 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 him 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, Odigitria (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, as she already knows what awaits him in the future. It is believed that the original Odigitria was written from the nature of Saint Luke. For many years, icon images were destroyed, and the icon "The Triumph of Orthodoxy" represents an icon in the icon, emphasizing that the icons are now not outside the law, that they can not be written and nobody will be able to destroy them.

Above, the artist depicted the Empress Theodore with his son Mikhail. In the lower row, the icon "The Triumph of Orthodoxy shows people who took martyrdom in the name of veneration." To the right of the throne stands Saint Methodius, as well as the Monk Theodore the Studite, with the holy Theophanes the Sigrian Confessor and Stephen the New, a monk, with the image of Jesus Christ. Bishop Theophylact the Confessor, brothers, Theodore and Theophanes the Inscribed (the Emperor Theophilus ordered on the faces of brothers to draw verses as a 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 icon "The Triumph of Orthodoxy", a photo and the 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 great, many people are still drawn to the holy and pure faith.

Deep meaning of the icon

If you look closely, the icon "The Triumph of Orthodoxy", at first glance, has some inaccuracies. An interesting detail was that the icon painter of the XV century depicted people who lived in the ninth century. Why they were recalled posthumously? The fact is that in the 15th century the borders of the Byzantine Empire narrowed considerably. The empire was poorer, tolerated by the raids of enemies, including Muslims, who were furious champions of any images of people as holy images. The Byzantines had no choice but to ask for help in supplying arms and equipment to European neighbors, particularly France, to protect themselves from Muslims. But the French side refused them.

Having appeared without protection and means, the Byzantines decided to write the icon as their last chance, the last reference to the time when the empire was rich and powerful. The image of that time was an attempt to prove to oneself and believe that the power of the empire had not yet dried up. And so the artist painted 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 help them to survive and regain their lost positions.

Unfortunately, this did not help, the great empire fell, but the strong spirit of people who truly believed in the holiness of God was broken, that he would save his children who were devoted to him to the depths of his soul.

What can you tell the children about the holiday?

The first, the strictest week of Lent ends with the holiday "The Triumph of Orthodoxy." The priest's preaching, prayer and sincere faith will help to sustain the entire post. If fasting is observed by Orthodox believers in all canons, then after severe abstinence comes a feeling of lightness and joy about the path that has been made. And this way man did not just overcome, but became better, having passed it. Especially if he abstained not only from eating, but also did not sin, avoided conflicts and quarrels with fellow, native people, filled their hearts with care and love.

Well, if the Triumph of Orthodoxy for children will become as important a holiday as for adults. Previously, schools taught subjects where children learned church etiquette, studied the Holy Scriptures. Today this is not, but they need to understand the key points, at least for the overall development. If the meaning of the concept of "the triumph of Orthodoxy" is correctly conveyed to the modern rising generation, the history of the holiday for children will be very interesting and deeply touch their hearts, of course, if they sincerely believe in God from a small age and do not separate themselves from the church. After all, it begins with every person in his heart.

The holiday, which marks the triumph of Orthodoxy for children and adults, should initially originate in the soul of each person like a sincere and ardent 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 good.