Orthodox believers proclaiming that we venerate the icons not as idols, but as a declaration of the “Truth of the Incarnation”.
With the blessing of His Eminence Metropolitan HILARION, Archbishop of Eastern America and New York, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, on Sunday March 08, 2020, Divine Liturgy was celebrated for the Pakistani Orthodox Christians, and on this Sunday, Saint Michael the Archangel Orthodox Mission in Pakistan commemorated the restoration of the use of holy icons in the Orthodox Churches.
Every year on the First Sunday of the Great Lent, the ROCOR community in Pakistan, according to that sacred traditions of the Holy Russian Orthodox Church and teaching of the Church fathers, commemorates the restoration of the use of holy icons with the special theme, the Triumph of Holy Orthodoxy.
On the first Sunday of the Great Lent, we preached about the place and veneration of holy icons in the Holy Orthodox Churches. He explained the Orthodox teaching about holy icons as defined at the Seventh Ecumenical Council of 787 AD by the holy fathers. Orthodox Christians on the Sunday of the Triumph Orthodoxy commemorate the “restoration” of holy icons in the churches and their use in Orthodox worship. Further we told the faithful that the veneration of icons has been the practice of the Church for almost its entire existence. Eastern Orthodox Church tradition claims that St. Luke painted the first icon, a depiction of the Theotokos and the infant Jesus.
We told the faithful that holy icons are venerated by burning oil lamps and candles in front of them, by the use of incense and by kissing them. The holy icons, the depictions of Christ, the Mother of God, and the Holy Saints, are kept and venerated both in churches and in private homes. We told the faithful that St John of Damascus says, “The icon is a song of triumph, a revelation, an enduring monument to the victory of the saints, and the disgrace of the demons.”
This year a kind lady from Greece named Ifigeneia donated very beautiful icons of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and of the Most Holy Theotokos. These icons have special inscriptions with some extra handwork using the art of lithography on a piece of wood.
At the end of the service, the Orthodox believers with special respect and honor venerated and kissed the holy icons our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and of the Most Holy Theotokos. We prayed for God's Mercy for the people of China and other nations where this new corona-virus is spreading.
Oh Most Merciful God, hear our prayers and show your mercy upon your people and grant them peace. For Thou art the Physician of our souls and bodies, and to Thee do we send up glory: to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
