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Sunday of Orthodoxy

Michael G

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Deacon: This is the faith of the apostles! This is the faith of the fathers! This is the Orthodox faith! This faith has established the universe!

Furthermore, we accept and confirm the councils of the holy fathers, and their traditions and writings which are agreeable to divine revelation.

And though the enemies of Orthodoxy oppose this providence and the saving revelation of the Lord, yet the Lord has considered the reproaches of His servants, for He mocks those who blaspheme His Glory, and has challenged the enemies of Orthodoxy and put them to flight!

As we therefore bless and praise those who have obeyed the divine revelation and have fought for it; so we reject and anathematize those who oppose this truth, if while waiting for their return and repentance, they refuse to turn again to the Lord; and in this we follow the sacred tradition of the ancient Church, holding fast to her traditions.

To those who deny the existence of God, and assert that the world is self-existing, and that all things in it occur by chance, and not by the providence of God, Anathema!

All: Anathema! (...and after each exclamation.)

Deacon: To those who say that God is not spirit, but flesh; or that He is not just, merciful, wise and all-knowing, and utter similar blasphemies, Anathema!

To those who dare to say that the Son of God and also the Holy Spirit are not one in essence and of equal honor with the Father, and confess that the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit are not one God, Anathema!

To those who foolishly say that the coming of the Son of God into the world in the flesh, and His voluntary passion, death, and resurrection were not necessary for our salvation and the cleansing of sins, Anathema!

To those who reject the grace of redemption preached by the Gospel as the only means of our justification before God, Anathema!

To those who dare to say that the all-pure Virgin Mary was not virgin before giving birth, during birthgiving, and after her child-birth, Anathema!

To those who do not believe that the Holy Spirit inspired the prophets and apostles, and by them taught us the true way to eternal salvation, and confirmed this by miracles, and now dwells in the hearts of all true and faithful Christians, and teaches them in all truth, Anathema!

To those who reject the immortality of the soul, the end of time, the future judgment, and eternal reward for virtue and condemnation for sin, Anathema!

To those who reject all the holy mysteries held by the Church of Christ, Anathema!

To those who reject the Councils of the holy fathers and their traditions, which are agreeable to divine revelation and kept piously by the Orthodox Catholic Church, Anathema!

To those who mock and profane the holy images and relics which the holy Church receives as revelations of God's work and of those pleasing to Him, to inspire their beholders with piety, and to arouse them to follow these examples; and to those who say that they are idols, Anathema!

To those who dare to say and teach that our Lord Jesus Christ did not descend to earth, but only seemed to; or that He did not descend to the earth and become incarnate only once, but many times, and who likewise deny that the true Wisdom of the Father is His only-begotten Son, Anathema!

To the followers of the occult, spiritualists, wizards, and all who do not believe in the one God, but honor the demons; or who do not humbly give their lives over to God, but strive to learn the future through sorcery, Anathema!

Service of the Triumph of Orthodoxy
 
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If you'll forgive this heterodox Latin for butting in, I think this is by far the most ecumenical, truthful and orthodox summary of the Christian position on ikons that I have ever read:

To those who mock and profane the holy images and relics which the holy Church receives as revelations of God's work and of those pleasing to Him, to inspire their beholders with piety, and to arouse them to follow these examples; and to those who say that they are idols, Anathema!

It makes everything clear. Icons teach and exhort. It makes it clear that they are never to be worshipped. It doesn't say you need icons to be a Christian, but it does say that they aren't a problem, and that the Church (provided they are used properly) receives them as a gift from God. Amen, amen, thrice amen!
 
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Michael G

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If you'll forgive this heterodox Latin for butting in, I think this is by far the most ecumenical, truthful and orthodox summary of the Christian position on ikons that I have ever read:

To those who mock and profane the holy images and relics which the holy Church receives as revelations of God's work and of those pleasing to Him, to inspire their beholders with piety, and to arouse them to follow these examples; and to those who say that they are idols, Anathema!

It makes everything clear. Icons teach and exhort. It makes it clear that they are never to be worshipped. It doesn't say you need icons to be a Christian, but it does say that they aren't a problem, and that the Church (provided they are used properly) receives them as a gift from God. Amen, amen, thrice amen!

Read the writings of St. John of Damascus and Theodore Studite. Icons are to be venerated, not worshipped. You do not need anything, other than to love God. But this statement does not say you "don't need icons" either.
 
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Michael G

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What it does say if you read it closely is that if you reject icons you are anathema.

"To those who mock and profane the holy images and relics which the holy Church receives as revelations of God's work and of those pleasing to Him, to inspire their beholders with piety, and to arouse them to follow these examples; and to those who say that they are idols, Anathema!"
 
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Hey guys.

I was looking at this PDF Encyclopedia I have, named "Encyclopedia of Age of Wars of Religions 1000-1650"

I came accross their definition of Iconoclam. They don't talk much about Orthodox but they do speak about Protestants. What do ya know?

Quote:

Iconoclasm.

"Smashing of holy images and statuary thought to be conducive to
idolatry, heresy, or rank superstition.
Iconoclasm had an ancient pedigree
within the Byzantine Empire and under Islam. In the 8th century, for
instance, fanatic Muslim invaders of India smashed Buddhist and Hindu
statuary and images. In Latin Christendom it was more a phenomenon of the Protestant Reformation, usually carried out by fresh converts to Protestantism against Catholic imagery and statuary, crucifixes, and altars. Protestant mockery of Catholic icons extended to roasting crucifixes over bonfires, feeding the eucharist to dogs or pigs, fouling altars with excrement, and scattering bones from the reliquaries of Catholic saints. Clergy who resisted were beaten; some were killed. Martin Luther opposed these practices but many Calvinists and all followers of Zwingli were fanatic iconoclasts. Waves of violent iconoclasm (‘‘beeldenstorm’’) across the Netherlands were part of the essential prelude to the Eighty Years’ War (1568–1648), as what began as spontaneous violence became organized repression of Catholic worship in the northern Netherlands in 1566, 1576–1579, and 1580–1581. In Holland, the Mass was no longer allowed anywhere after 1581, partly for iconoclastic reasons. See also Anabaptism; French Civil Wars."


From the Encyclopedia of Age of Wars of Religions 1000-1650



I had never known that about the Protestants or Muslims.


Interesting.
 
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Michael G

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Wow, that is a very sloppy definition. Their treatment of Byzantine Iconoclasm is just sad. So many men and women died for our ability to venerate icons. It is just another example of how Western Christians are ignorant of Orthodoxy.
 
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