Sunday of Orthodoxy
First Sunday of Great Lent
By: Bishop Nikiforos Theotokis
On this first Sunday of Great Lent, my fellow Christians, we gather to celebrate the victory over the heresy of the iconoclasts. Many people don’t realize what exactly happened. Saint John Chrysostom said to never complement and never condemn anyone, before they are given audience to. This is why, with God’s Grace, I will give you a detailed account on the situation. I will previously note that the iconoclast controversy began in 726 AD and lasted for over 100 years, until the final victory known as “The Triumph of Orthodoxy” took place in 843 AD.
In the early 700’s, there was a Persian king by the name of Izith, who was an idol-worshipper. Three Jewish sorcerers, who had recently been exiled from Jerusalem, asked to see him personally. When he met with them, they started, “O wise king. Give heed to our words. If you want to live many years, you must do what we say. We are the most powerful of all sorcerers in the kingdom, and with our sorcery we learned that something dreadful is taking place and that you won’t live long if you don’t take action. The Christians have these planks of colored wood in their churches, which they worship. That is blasphemous towards our gods. You must give an order to have them all removed, if you want to live a long peaceful life.”
The king, being an idol-worshipper, hated the Christians. He believed in their words, and the same day ordered that all icons must be removed and destroyed. Unfortunately, the king barely lived another year. He died of sickness, and his son became king. Even though his son was also an idol-worshipper, he was a lot wiser and peaceful than his father. In the mean time, the Christians found out that these Jews were the cause for them to lose their holy icons. A group of them went to the king and said, “Your majesty, we want you to know that those three sorcerers are the cause of your father’s untimely death. Those God-less Jews talked your father into ordering all our icons destroyed, and that is why the wrath of God reached him quickly. This is why, we beg of thee. Order that we are once again allowed to venerate our icons as before, and we will also give you one third increase, on whatever our churches are taxed as well.”
The young king listened to their reply, and immediately ordered that all icons are to be restored. He then put out word to find those filthy Jews, and have them executed. The Jews, in the meantime, heard that the Christians went to the king, and fled away to a place called Isauria, so they won’t be found and executed.
In Isauria, in one of the fields, there was a young man named Leo, who was a shepherd. He had many donkeys which he had released out to pasture, and he was sleeping under a tree when those Jews walked by him. The Jews noticed that an eagle was circling above Leo in a strange way. Being sorcerers, they realized that this was an omen that Leo would one day become king of the empire. They woke him up and said, “Young man, we have something very important to tell you, but if you want to hear it, you must do something for us.” Leo answered back, “Tell me what you want to tell me, and I give you my word I will do whatever you ask of me.” The Jews said, “We have the power to make you king.” Leo answered, “Me? King? What good have I done to be made king? If what you say is true and you make me king, then I promise that whatever you ask of me, I will provide.”
Oh what ignorance! He didn’t think things thru. What if they asked for his kingdom, or his wife, or even his head?! Unfortunately, he was an uneducated shepherd with little if any experience in life. If he was only a little smarter to ask them first what they wanted, before he promised. The Jews ended up leaving, and he stayed there with his donkeys. But, to our amazement, he ended up become king! This is how it happened.
The king in that time period was Konstantinos Pogonatos, and he was getting an army ready, because they were at war with the Dalmations. Leo was one of the young men that were recruited, and when the king saw how strong and tall Leo was, he made him in charge of ten men. Then he rose to centurion, (100 men) and finally a chiliarch (1,000 men). Unfortunately for the Church, King Konstandinos was slain in a bathhouse in Sicily, and Leo was chosen to be the new king.
When those three Jews heard that Leo of Isauria was now the new emperor, they hastened to Constantinople. They came before him and said, “Oh, wise king. Do you by chance remember us?” The king answered, “I honestly don’t remember who you are.” He said this because it had been many years time, since he had last seen them. They said, “We are those three wise men who found you when you were a young man. You were sleeping under a tree and you had your donkeys out to pasture. With our powers, we made you king. Now, it’s your turn to give us what we want.” When King Leo heard these words, he remembered them. He got up from his throne and welcomed them, and ordered that his servants take good care of them, and they laid out splendid feast for the occasion. The three sorcerers would not touch anything on the table and said, “Your majesty, we will not eat or drink anything from this table, until you give us what we came here for.” The king said, “Alright then. Go ahead. Ask of me whatever you want, and I swear to our Almighty God, that I will give you what you ask for.”
They then said, “We, oh mighty king, did not come here to ask for your money, or fame, or positions, or anything like that. We just want you to listen to what we have to say, and put it in effect. Just remember, that you were once a poor young lad, and we with our wisdom and magic, made you king. What we ask of you, is the least you can do for us in return. If you meet our demand, you will live many years and become very famous. Those colored planks of wood that your Christians worship in their churches, are evil. We find in our books that they are deadly to the empire, and all of them must be destroyed. This is why we beg of you, for the good of the empire, order that all icons be destroyed, for it is a major sin that they worship the wood and not God, and that sin is on your neck. This is all we ask of you, your majesty. If you will comply, tell us now, and prove to us that you will carry this out.” The king raised his right hand and said, “I swear to the throne of the Living God, that I will do as you tell me.” Oh what ignorance! What stupidity! How brainless could this king have been?
The Jews left the palace with peace, because they saw that the emperor was, indeed, going to do what they asked him. The king, on the other hand, did not live a life of virtue, and let Satan enter his heart. He decided to do exactly what the sorcerers told him to do, so he was trying to figure out some way to do it. He didn’t have the courage to give a straight out order, because he knew the people would revolt. So, he thought about convincing the Patriarch to tell the people to take out all the icons from the churches.
The Patriarch at that time was Saint Germanos. King Leo summoned him to the palace, and they went into a private room to speak. The king started out by complimenting the Patriarch on the peace, of which he held within the churches, and then he got right to the point. He started, “I’ve come to realize, your beatitude, that the icons that we Christians worship, have no difference what so ever between them and idols. Therefore I command you to order the people to take them out themselves, or force will be used against them. Or, if they are indeed holy, then order your clergy to hang them higher so people cannot worship them. If we sinners go and kiss the icons, then naturally, we defile the saints by kissing them.”
When the Patriarch heard what the king said, he let out a long sigh, and shook his head. He said, “Your majesty. What is that which came forth from your mouth? Our holy icons are not idols. They are like portraits which portray our saints and our Lord and Savior. He who venerates them does not defile them, but rather, he is blessed and sanctified. The more one approaches the icons, the more he is illumined by the grace of whoever saint’s icon he just venerated. Therefore, don’t ever let me hear things like that come out of your mouth, because they are heretical. Once, an old gifted monk told me that there will be an emperor, who goes by the name of Konon, will start a heresy by proclaiming that the icons are idols. So, take my advice. Don’t you ever say anything like this again, for all the archons of the palace and all the people will revolt and kill you.”
When the emperor heard this, he said, “Your beatitude, I am Konon! That is a nickname which one of my friends made up for me, and it stuck until I became emperor.” When the Patriarch heard this, he got up from his seat and said to the emperor, “So, you are Konon. Therefore, you have already made up your mind, and you will proclaim this heresy. Listen to me, o king. You are clearly uneducated, if not illiterate, and there is no way of reasoning with you and explaining the difference between icons and idols. Don’t you see how many miracles happen with our icons? Don’t you see how many people are being healed? You are clearly faithless, like those 3 Jews who visited you the other day. What happened? Are they the ones who put you up to this? And you are going to listen to them? Don’t think for a second, that I will take any part of this. Let it be known, o king, that since you are listening to the Jews, you will be with them in hell!”
When the emperor heard this, he was outraged. He grabbed the Patriarch and gave him a slap in the face. He screamed, “Get away from me you measly old man, before I have you executed! The Patriarch humbly accepted the slap, and was thrown out of the palace. The emperor then had another idea. He was going to visit, “the teacher”.
Back then, all Christian emperors had a certain elder, which they referred to as “the teacher.” They lived in a smaller castle near the main palace, and they had with them 12 disciples, just as Christ had the 12 Apostles. The emperors usually would get the advice of the teacher, before they made any serious proclamations. In that castle was the largest library of church books known to man, at that given time. It had an estimated 700,000 books! The emperor visited the teacher, and told him what he had decided to proclaim.
The teacher said, “Oh great king, I’ve read so many books, and never have I once read that it is bad to venerate the icons. To the contrary, I’ve read that he who rejects the icons, is a heretic and is cursed by the fathers.” The king answered, “Where does it say that it is good to venerate icons?” The teacher said, “We first find it in the life of Apostle Luke. It says that St. Luke was an excellent artist. When Panagia (The All Holy or The Mother of God, the Virgin Mary) was still living, he drew up the first three icons in her name. When Panagia visited his home and saw them, She was so happy, that She said, “May my son’s grace, and mine as well, be with them always.” Now, if it was bad to have icons, wouldn’t Panagia reprimand St. Luke for painting them? Apparently, it wasn’t bad. To the contrary, She loved them.”
The king replied, “Then why do the scriptures say that God told Moses to never worship any idol or icon?” The teacher answered, “God told Moses that because He knew that they were going to fall into idolatry. When Moses died, the first thing that several Jews did is they made idols and said that those idols where God. We, on the other hand, do not say that our icons are God. We just venerate them as portraits of Christ and His saints. It’s very similar to our coins, oh king. An image of your face is on every coin, and that’s why people don’t dare step on them or disrespect them. The people don’t say that the coins are our king, just because your face is on them. Therefore, oh king, don’t say that our holy icons our idols, because you become heretical. Have you by chance asked our holy Patriarch Germanos his opinion?”
The king replied, “Yes. I summoned him yesterday, but he told me the same gibberish that you told me now.” The teacher answered, “So, you consider what I’m saying gibberish? You are telling me that the blasphemous and heretical comments you made about our icons are better? I see that you have made up your mind. Do whatever you want, king. I can’t stop you. Just know that I will have nothing whatsoever to do with this issue, because it’s purely heretical.” The teacher got up without paying the proper respects to the king, turned his back, and simply went back to his disciples.
By now, the king had become totally demon-possessed. He had clearly made up his stubborn mind. When nighttime came, the king himself with a few of his trusted servants lit the castle on fire. That night, the teacher, his disciples, and all those books burned down. They were the first of many martyrs, during this period.
The king proclaimed the following morning that all icons be removed from the churches and homes. They were all to be burned or thrown into the sea. This is when everything began. He first threw out Patriarch Germanos, and put one of his friends named Anastasios as Patriarch. He and another two friends of the kings, named Constantine and Nikitas, were even worse than the emperor. They pushed him on even further.
There was a large icon of our Lord Jesus Christ above one of the gates of the city. He ordered his spatharion (he who holds the king’s sword) with a few of his friends to destroy the icon. Because it was very high, the spatharion climbed up there on a tall ladder. Many Christians were present and begged of him to not destroy the icon, but he didn’t listen. As he started breaking it apart, a group of zealous youngsters got together and threw the ladder down, killing the spatharios. Their names were: Julian, Markianos, John, James, Alexios, Dimitrios, Fotios, Peter, Leondios, and a girl named Maria. When the king heard what happened, he sent in his soldiers and they slew whoever was present at the site. They captured the youngsters, and after a good beating they were imprisoned. King Leo ordered that they get 500 lashings a day. They endured for about 8 months, until the king ordered their faces burned. The next day, they were all beheaded.
There was Saint Theofilos, who was beaten and imprisoned. He was starved and finally exiled. Then we have Saint Logginos the Stylite. King Leo ordered him down on his hands and knees, and put an icon under each hand and knee. They shaved his head, and had whatever icon they found in his cell, burned on his head. He was whipped so brutally, that the blood was pouring like a stream from his body. Even though the soldiers put icons under his hands and knees, he refused to step on them and would fall down sideways. That’s when the emperor himself got up from his throne and repeatedly beat him in his face with his wretched hand, until he gave up his soul. Bishop Hypation and Fr. Andrew from Lydia, were first dragged behind horses, before the king ordered their heads scalped. Then they burned icons on their skulls, also. After that, they poured hot tar on them, drove them around the city so everyone can laugh at them, and they were finally slaughtered in a hill outside the city. Whatever was left of their bodies were thrown to the dogs. St. John the Damaskene had his right hand chopped off, after he wrote three letters to the emperor defending the icons. But Panagia miraculously connected his hand back to his arm. Then we have St. George the Confessor. The king had his nose cut off and icons burned on his face. He died on the spot. Then there was Saints Basil and Prokopios, who had the skin off their necks ripped off, and were left in prison until they died of hunger. There were many more, but it would take a very long time to narrate them all.
In time, King Leo passed away, and his son Constantine became emperor. Unfortunately, he was more of an iconoclast than his father was. He gathered numerous ascetics from the mountains, and had butchers come with their cleavers, who slaughtered all those holy men- only because they wouldn’t step on the icons of Christ and Panagia. After Constantine, four other kings came to power, and with God’s grace, they were against the iconoclasts. Peace came upon the empire, but only for a short time. That is when King Leo the Armenian came into power. He started the second major iconoclast period.
King Leo was a true Orthodox Christian, who believed that icons were holy. But unfortunately, he was tricked into joining the iconoclast. This is how it happened. King Leo was one of the previous king’s praetorian. (The praetorian guards were the emperor’s elite body guards.) One day as Leo went hunting, he saw some human tracks, and decided to follow them. He came upon a cave, of which an old ascetic lived in. He got the ascetics blessing, and sat with him for a while and confessed his sins. Before he left, the ascetic looked in to his eyes and said, “I want you to know that one day you will be the emperor of our empire.” Hearing this, Leo left and joined his party. A few days after this meeting, the ascetic passed away, and some of his disciples buried him in his cave and went on their ways.
A few years later, Leo the Armenian becomes emperor. He summons one of his servants, who was secretly an iconoclast, and tells him to go find the ascetic that foretold him of his kingship, so he may come and bless him and the palace. His servant, Theodosios, thought of this to be a perfect opportunity to bring the iconoclasts back. He knew of an old man, who was as eager as he was to bring the iconoclasts back, so he devised a scheme. He found the old man and told him to go to the cave of the previous ascetic, and they laid out their plan.
King Leo sent out a group of servants to the cave. They had many simple gifts for the ascetic from the King; raisins, figs, dried bread, and nuts. When they reached the cave and offered these gifts, the wretched old man said, “Stop in the name of Christ! I will not accept anything from an idolater. The king is an idol-worshipper because he worships those colored planks of wood! Go now, and tell him, that God is sick of this treachery, and that in a few days time, he will wipe out the king from the face of this earth!” The servants went back to the palace and told the emperor what the ascetic had said. The emperor was shocked! He didn’t know what to make out of this situation. He summoned for his servant Theodosios and asked him for his opinion. Theodosios, in the meantime, had everything worked out. He said, “O king. I don’t know what to make of this situation. Why don’t we visit the ascetic in three days time? We will surprise him in the middle of the night, and why don’t we switch our clothes? I’ll look like the emperor and you will look like the servant. That way we will see if he truly has the gift of for-knowledge. If he does, then we know that God sent him, and we will do exactly what he tells us to.” It sounded like a good idea to the king, so he agreed. Theodosios, in the meantime, sent one of his personal servants to the fake ascetic, and told him what was going to happen. To make a very long story a little shorter, the king went and the fake ascetic simply tricked him into believing that the icons are idolatry. That is when the king, once again, proclaimed that the icons must be removed from the churches.
Once again, turmoil began within the empire. King Leo was not as violent as the previous iconoclasts. He simply exiled everyone who rose up against him. He did order some tortures, but they weren’t nearly as bad as those as Leo of Isauria. He exiled Patriarch Methodios, and put a sorcerer named John as patriarch. He told people that it was also forbidden to venerate the relics, etc. King Leo was eventually murdered during a church service in Constantinople, and a man named Theofilos was crowned emperor.
Theofilos, was a very brutal man. He was more of an iconoclast than any of the previous kings. The only good thing he had was justice. He was very just, and could not stand to see anyone taken advantage of. One of his good friends, an archon of the palace, took advantage of a young widow, and took all her belongings including a small ship her late husband had left her. When Theofilos was made aware of what happened, he ordered that they light up a bonfire, and he had his friend burned to the stake for what he did to that widow. Even though Theofilos was a savage man, he lived with his wife- Saint Theodora the Queen.
Saint Theodora was a beautiful, delicate creature, who loved the icons with all her heart. She would take out from hiding, her beloved icons, and venerate them everyday. She constantly prayed for her beloved husband, so he can one day come to his senses and accept the icons. Theofilos was such a savage, that whenever his beloved wife would come up to him to talk to him, he would “shoo” her away. Due to this, she learned not to speak to him that much and she would unceasingly pray day and night that he might find some mercy in God’s eyes.
One day, as the queen went to her room to pray, she forgot to lock the door. The moment she had put her lips on an icon to venerate, the door flies open, and who walks in? Venderis! The kings pet chimpanzee! He was a funny looking creature that the king had as a pet for entertainment purposes. When Venderis saw the queen kiss the icons, he ran out of the room and went back to the king. There, he started imitating what the queen had just done. He bent down, kissed his hand, and pointed to the queen’s room. The king instantly suspected that the queen might have icons, so he barged in her room and said, “Are you not a Christian? Are you an idolatress?” The queen answered, “Lord have Mercy! What kind of question is that? Who told you I worship idols?” The king said, “Venderis told me u kissed icons.” “Oh that crazy little creature!” she replied. “I was looking at my beautiful reflection in the glass, and kissed it. He probably got confused with that.” The king believed her and never again brought up the subject.
After five years had passed, the Arabs started taking parts of the empire, and taking many Christians as slaves. They took Crete, Sicily, and many smaller islands. Not only was Constantinople in fear of being taken over, but a bitter cold hit the city, and earthquakes one after another. King Theofilos, would not repent. He didn’t see these disasters as warnings from above. He was in power for 12 years, when he started getting very sick. He got so sick, that his entrails would pour out of his mouth. The doctors were trying everything to heal him. They tried sticking his intestines back in, but they would just pour out by themselves. The worst part about it was that he wouldn’t die!
Saint Theodora was constantly by his side, praying for him. One night, she fell asleep next to him and saw the following dream. She saw our Panagia come up to him, circled by numerous Angels. She ordered the Angels to whip him, because of all the evil things he did to her icons. That is when the queen awoke, and the king awoke also. He started to scream, “Woe to me the sinner! I am being whipped merciless by Angels! It is all because of the icons! Forgive me, oh Lord!” He looked around and saw that one of his servants had a pendant on his neck with an icon of Christ on it. He summoned him closer, took the pendant off his neck, and took it and kissed it with all his soul. When he did that, the intestines which were pouring from his mouth, ceased instantaneously! Queen Theodora ran to her room and brought an icon of Christ with Panagia for him to kiss. He took it in his arms, and with many sobs, kissed it also. To everyone’s surprise, the king left his last breath as he was kissing the icon of Christ.
After the death of King Theofilos, his son Michael became king. Michael was only five and a half years old when he was crowned, but naturally, Theodora was the queen so she was now in command. She ordered that whoever was in exile or in prison because of the icons, be freed immediately. She threw out the sorcerer John from the patriarchal throne, and reinstated Patriarch Methodios from exile. (It took a while to find him. He was locked in between two walls, in a way where only his face can be seen so he can be fed.)
Saint Ioannikios the Great, the ascetic from the mountains of Prussia, and Saint Arsaakios, both saw visions, in which God ordered them to go to the city, and help the Queen and the Patriarch reinstate the icons. On the road to Constantinople, they met with an ascetic Isaiah who also was told to go thru a vision. He was told in his vision, that the enemies of our Lord and our icons have fallen, there will be no more iconoclasts, and that from now on, there will be piece in the empire. So all three, joined together and went to help the Patriarch.
They told the Patriarch why they were there, and he told them to go talk to the Queen. When they met the queen, they said, “We beg of thee, wise queen. Please, let our holy icons once again adore our churches. They are truly holy, and are not idols. Let us bring back the grace and beauty of which our churches initially had, so our Christians’ faith can once again be made strong. If you do this, our queen, your memory will be eternal.” The queen humbly answered, “I accept your words, wise and holy fathers, and I will like to make something known to you. I am an Orthodox Christian from birth, and always have been. I’ve been venerating our holy icons during this whole ordeal, but in secret. (As she was saying those words, she pulled out an icon of Christ and Panagia from her breast pocket and kissed it.) He who does not venerate the icons of Christ, Panagia, and the Saints, let him be anathematized!” When the fathers heard what the queen said, they gave thanks to God for the faith, of which she had.
The queen continued, “I beg of you, fathers. Please pray to God for the salvation of my husband. Due to his heresy and all his treachery, I fear he is in hell.” The patriarch said, “This is way above us, oh queen. But fear not, for the mercy of God is endless. I would recommend you order a strict fast for three days in your kingdom. Everyone must fast, starting from the youngest to the oldest. Let free many of your servants, and give almsgiving to the poor. God doesn’t want anybody to be condemned. He may be touched by all this, and he may show us some sign.”
After saying this, the Patriarch went to the Patriarchate, for it was the beginning of Great Lent. There he ordered a strict fast to take place. All young, old, elders, men, women, priests, bishops, metropolitans, laity, monks, and ascetics, gathered with the Patriarch to church. Within that group, was Saint Theodore the Studite, Saint Ioannikios the Great, Saints Theofanis and Theodore, Saint Theofanis the Abbot, and many more virtueous and miraculous fathers. They held supplication services and vigils, for the soul of Theofilos, during the whole first week of Lent.
The queen did what the patriarch told her, and gathered everyone from her palace into one of the big churches of Panagia, and prayed with everyone for his soul. She hadn’t slept for days and on Saturday morning, she slept and saw the following vision. She saw many black men running thru the city, holding different items. Some had knifes, some spears, and some swords. She noticed they were dragging something behind them, and as she got closer, she saw that it was her husband Theofilos! He was being dragged naked, and was being beaten by the blacks without mercy. She ran behind them to see what they were going to do to him. They finally reached one of the gates of the city, where a glorious king was sitting on an immense throne. There, they brought Theofilos, and tied him on a column in front of the king. That is when the queen ran thru the crowd and reached the throne. She fell on her feet, and begged of the king to show mercy on her husband and let him free. The king just sat there and looked at her, not even opening his mouth. So, the queen continued crying and begging for his release.
Finally, after quite some time, the king opened his mouth. He said, “Oh woman. Great, is your faith. I want you to know that due to your tears and due to the prayers of all my priests, I forgive Theofilos.” He then ordered that Theofilos be untied, and they handed him over to the queen.
And that was the end of her vision.
The Patriarch, on the other hand, had done something else. He had written on a piece of paper all the names of the iconoclast emperors, including Theofilos, and had put the paper under the altar table so they can be commemorated. As he was praying, also on Saturday morning, he fell into ecstasy and saw an angel. The angel said to him. “Your prayers have been heard and answered, oh Patriarch. Theofilos has been forgiven, so don’t bother God anymore with your request,” and then he vanished. The patriarch didn’t know what to make of it. He wasn’t sure if it was truly an angel, or if it was demonic. He ran right into the altar and opened up the piece of paper and was shocked! Every emperor’s name which he wrote on the paper was there, but Theofilos had vanished from the paper!
The Patriarch notified the queen immediately, and all the clergy and laity. Everyone gave thanks and glory to God. The next morning, First Sunday of Lent, they all went to church at the Patriarchate, with the queen and the young King Michael. After Liturgy, the queen grabbed an icon with her son, and everyone followed her example. The clergy wore their best vestments, and the Patriarch officially anathematized anyone who dared disrespect our icons. They then held a procession around the city. Since then, the First Sunday of Lent is dedicated to the reinstatement of our holy icons.
My blessed Christians! Let us keep strong in our faith. Let us believe in what the prophets had seen. In what the Apostles taught. Let us believe in what our Mother Church has handed down to us. In what our fathers and our martyrs died for. May we believe in what Christ Himself has established. We will stand up for our faith in Christ our God, and we will honor and venerate our Panagia and our Saints. With words, with chants, with icons in our churches and our homes, we pray that we will be found worthy for the Kingdom of Heaven. Amen.
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