First Sunday of Lent; Sunday of Orthodoxy

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

Today is the First Sunday of our Great and Holy Lent, and on this day, we celebrate the Triumph of Orthodoxy and the restoration of the veneration of the holy icons in the Church. From 726 to 843 AD, a movement came out against the Church called Iconoclasm, where the veneration of icons was prohibited.

From the very beginning of the revelations of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ, and even in the Old Testament with Moses, it was very clear that there was a proper place for images. We know that on a secular level in ancient times, there were paintings on caves, and even writing, as it began, was a system of pictures which then developed into symbols. Images are very much a part of the human experience and our expression of ourselves.

When God appeared to Moses, it's very clear that on the one hand, the worship of idols—that is, the veneration of created things in heaven, on earth, or in the sea—was condemned. But on the other hand, Moses was given the directive to build the Ark of the Covenant, which had golden cherubim, and where the mystery of the light of God dwelt. These were obviously sacred images, divinely revealed to Moses, and they foresaw the incarnation of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ. So, symbols and pictures were very much a part of the experience of man and also blessed by our Lord.

In the beginning of the apostolic period, we know that our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ took a cloth and wiped his face with it, and his image was impressed upon the cloth. We have this beautiful icon of the Savior, the Image Not Made with Hands. In addition, we also know from tradition that the Apostle Luke painted the first icons. So, we have this very rich tradition.

Furthermore, in areas like Egypt and the Middle East, when people of substance reposed, they would be buried with what is called a death mask—namely, the image of that person would be on the mask. It's fascinating because I remember some years ago going to the Museum of Fine Arts, where they have an Egyptian collection, and seeing some of these death masks. You look at them and say, "Wow, they are very much like iconography." So the idea that all images are prohibited is, of course, not part of our tradition.

When we have icons of holy people, we believe that these images are really manifestations of the mystery of the Word of God. This is very important. Even when we read the Gospels, as we grow in our faith and awareness, we not only read words about events that have happened, but in an interior disposition of prayer and stillness, we communicate with the mind of Christ and with the mind of the Apostles who wrote the words. This is a mystery and may be difficult to grasp, but in reality, we don't just read words; we pray in the presence of the words, and the light of Christ comes.

The rational mind can grasp many things, but even evil people can reason exquisitely for their purposes. The rational mind is not the measure of our awareness of God. Beyond the rational mind, there's a faculty called the nous, which is the spiritual intellect, something like intuition; it is part of the spirit of man. When we read Scripture or contemplate an icon, we not only see an objective account, but through prayer and contemplation, we enter into a deeper consideration and understanding of the truth of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ.

The icons and the images are extremely important to us. One of the beauties of the Church is the presence of icons. We have been very blessed to have many ancient icons, one even from the 15th century. As we grow in faith, when we stand in front of, let's say, the icon of the Mother of God, and if you stand there quietly and pray, you will begin to feel the energy in your heart and mind, and you'll experience the love of God that shines through these images. It's true with all the icons.

Some of them, according to Holy Tradition, are miraculous. The Kursk Root icon is a miraculous icon. There are myrrh-streaming icons, which are a confirmation for us. For those who may not know, this is when a cloud of myrrh, like a mist, will form and alight upon the icon, and streams of a fragrant, oily substance will come down the face of the icon. We had a myrrh-streaming icon come to us twice years ago, and it's a miracle to see. What it is, is a confirmation of the fact that these images are really windows into heaven. They open up into the heavenly realm so that we can commune with our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ. We can commune with the saints who are depicted. That communion is without words, but it is not without knowledge in the highest sense.

The icons were very important to the Holy Church. Around the 7th and 8th centuries, under pressure from the rise of Islam which rejected all religious images, the Iconoclast movement began. In an attempt to soften the persecution, Emperor Leo III the Isaurian suppressed the veneration of icons. The movement came and went, leading into the 9th century. In 787, the Seventh Ecumenical Council affirmed the veneration of icons, but persecution erupted again. St. Theodore the Studite was exiled, and many of his followers were imprisoned and murdered. Patriarch Nikephoros was deposed. Finally, in 843, after the death of the last iconoclast emperor, Theophilos, his widow, the Empress Theodora, and their son Michael promoted the election of the monk Methodius as patriarch. He then restored the veneration of the holy icons. The icons were celebrated in the holy churches, and on the first Sunday of Great Lent, we celebrate this Triumph of Orthodoxy.

To go a little more into the theology: God became man. He became incarnate. In this mysterious, remarkable, and life-saving way, He united Himself to flesh. The Incarnation—that God became man—is the very center of our understanding and our faith. As St. John says, "The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth... As many as received him, to them He gave power to become sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." If God became man and dwelt among us in the flesh and revealed Himself, certainly the icons of Christ are a confirmation and a seal that God did, in fact, become man.

When we venerate the icon depicting the person of Christ, our veneration passes on to the God-man Himself. When we venerate the icons of the holy saints, our love and prayers are received by those who are alive in Christ. Brothers and sisters in Christ our God, we are alive in Christ! Imagine such a thing. We are already partaking of salvation. Salvation has come to us here in the flesh. This is a great mystery, but it is a mystery that we believe with all our hearts, and believing this gives us the strength to resist the many temptations that come to us from without and from within.

The icon of Christ is a manifestation of the mystery of the Word of God. It is a window through which the faithful mind can behold the uncreated energies of His divinity. It is a window through which the uncreated energies of God the Word shine the light of salvation upon the person of faith, as each one can endure.

Here in the eighth and ninth centuries, there was a persecution of images. Today, we live in a society that is persecuting the image of God in a new way, doing so with blindness and hatred. How so? We are created in the image and likeness of God. We are persons with an individual identity in the very heart of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ. He knows us by name. As we have been manifested, we are in the image of God, striving always to live according to the likeness of God.

If you look at what's going on in our society today, there is a growing hatred of the very God who made man in His image and likeness. It's at the point where there are those advocating that our Christian faith is "hate speech" and that it should be made illegal. This is the new iconoclasm. For those who have rejected God, God is a mirror, and His light reveals the corruption and hatred that self-worship causes in the soul. This hatred exists because those men and women who have denied God and turned to self-worship and the exaltation of impure passions are devoured by their own self-loathing and hatred for God.

On the other hand, the good news is that the life of joy and fulfillment is acquired through God-like humility, purity of life, faith, hope, and love—love for God, love for our families, love for our brothers and sisters and our neighbors. This is truly a life radiant with God's love, as He shines His light upon His faithful servants.

May our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ strengthen us in these dark times and make it possible for us to hold fast to the divinely revealed faith of our incarnate Lord. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.