The Son who shone forth from the Father, was born of woman in two natures. Having beheld Him, we do not deny the image of His form. Devoutly depicting it we honor it in faith. Therefore the Church, maintaining the true faith, venerates the icon of Christ’s incarnation.
Kontakion Hymn of the Fathers of the 7th Ecumenical Council
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Tomorrow the Church remembers the 350 holy Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council under the holy Patriarch Tarasius (February 25).
The Synod of 787, the second to meet at Nicea, refuted the Iconoclast heresy during the reign of Empress Irene and her son Constantine VI.
The Council decreed that the veneration of icons was not idolatry (Exodus 20:4-5), because the honor shown to them is not directed to the wood or paint, but passes to the prototype (the person depicted).
It also upheld the possibility of depicting Christ, Who became man and took flesh at His Incarnation. The Father, on the other hand, cannot be represented in His eternal nature, because “no man has seen God at any time” (John 1:18).
In our Greek Orthodox practice, the holy God-bearing Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council are commemorated on October 11 (if it is a Sunday), or on the Sunday which follows October 11. And that, my beloved in the Lord, is why we celebrate these great luminaries of the Faith, their doctrinal galvanization, and the unity of the Church tomorrow on October 12th. Through their intercessions may we also find clarity, vision, steadfastness and joy in witnessing our Orthodox Christian Faith. I remain,
With Love in Christ,
Fr. Anthony Savas
Protopresbyter