A Message from Father David

On the first Sunday of Great Lent, known as the “Sunday of Orthodoxy,” we commemorate the restoration of the holy icons in the life and worship of the Church. You can read of the history of this event in the article below. The deep meaning of this commemoration lies far beyond mere “paint on wood.” The true significance of how we understand icons in the church’s worship lies in the fact of the Incarnation of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. God, in Christ, has entered His creation, in flesh and blood, uniting heaven and earth. Icons are a representation that in Christ, the material, physical world, has been penetrated with His life. Therefore, we can represent this sanctification of the Creation. To be sure, we do not worship the icons – we worship God alone. But we venerate the icons, that is to say, we honor them. When we venerate the icons, bowing before them or kissing them, we are directing our devotion to the archetype – that which lies through and beyond the mere image. A common expression is that the holy icons are “windows into heaven.” We see through them, to that which lies behind and beyond them. They reveal to us how God in Christ has broken into our world, and in Him, heaven and earth have come together.

 

+ Fr. David