On the Sunday of Orthodoxy, when the Church commemorates the restoration of the veneration of icons in 843 during the reign of Empress Theodora and Patriarch Methodios, the faithful of Belgrade gathered beneath the domes of the Church of Saint Sava in Vračar to participate prayerfully in the Divine Liturgy presided over by Patriarch Porfirije of Serbia.
In his homily, Patriarch Porfirije reflected on the spiritual meaning of the feast and the beginning of Great Lent.
“Today, the first Sunday of the Fast is called the Sunday of Orthodoxy, the Sunday of the Orthodox faith, because on this day we celebrate the triumph of the true and right faith, knowing that if we do not believe in the right way, we cannot live in the right way, for as our faith is, so is our life. As we believe, so we live,” the Patriarch said.
He warned that when faith is distorted, life itself becomes distorted. “If the principle by which we believe is that man is a wolf to man, then we will organize our lives accordingly. Sadly, brothers and sisters, we see that the time in which we live is one in which people rely more often on that principle than on the truth of faith and God’s commandment of love.”
Patriarch Porfirije emphasized that the foundation of Christian life is faith in Christ and in His word. “Our foundation is faith in Christ and faith in His word, faith in His Gospel, faith that God’s commandment is truth and righteousness, and that only if we hold fast to the word of Christ, if we truly believe in it, then we have true and authentic life,” he preached.
The Patriarch also underlined that the ultimate aim of fasting is love, noting that self-love and pride stand as the greatest obstacles on this spiritual path.
At the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, the Synodikon of Orthodoxy from the year 843 was solemnly read. The text proclaims praise and eternal memory to all those who, over two centuries of struggle, contributed to preserving the veneration of the holy icons.
