This Sunday, March 17th, is the first Sunday of Great Lent and the commemoration of the Triumph of Orthodoxy (see below). If you would like to take part in the small procession with icons after the Liturgy, please bring an icon from home. Children and adults alike are invited! The Rite of Orthodoxy will also be held after the Liturgy.
The readings for this Sunday are: John 20:19-31 (9th Matins Gospel), Hebrews 11:24-26, 32-12:2 (Epistle), and John 1:43-51 (Gospel).
What is the Sunday of Orthodoxy?
The Sunday of Orthodoxy is the first Sunday of Great Lent. The dominant theme of this Sunday since 843 has been that of the victory of the icons. In that year the iconoclastic controversy, which had raged on and off since 726, was finally laid to rest, and icons and their veneration were restored on the first Sunday in Lent. Ever since, this Sunday has been commemorated as the “Triumph of Orthodoxy.”
From the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America website article Sunday of Orthodoxy
See also the modern day classic Homily on the Triumph of Orthodoxy from Saint Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and Enlightener of North America, delivered in 1903 on the Sunday of Orthodoxy at the Cathedral Church in San Francisco.
