The First Sunday of Lent‚ also known as the Sunday of Orthodoxy‚ celebrates the restoration of icons in their proper place in Churches and in the houses of the faithful at the 7th Ecumenical Council in Nicea (787). The question immediately arises: why is it not called the Sunday of the Holy Icons? What makes icons so special that their restoration is equated with the triumph of Orthodoxy?
I will first answer the question briefly: icons are Orthodoxy and Orthodoxy is an icon. Let me now explain.
Prior to vesting for Divine Liturgy‚ the priest and deacon take together the ritual of “kairos”‚ a ritual of preparation meant to transfer us from linear time‚ chronos‚ into the fitting time to act in God‚ kairos. Besides the order of prayers‚ it also includes a veneration of the icons on the iconostasis. It is particularly this veneration that uncovers not only a transfer of time from man’s to God’s but also moves us‚ and all that follows in the Divine Liturgy‚ into a different reality‚ the transcendent reality of the Kingdom‚ accurately illustrated through the holy icons. Venerating the icons‚ we submit ourselves to the transcendent reality in which the Divine Liturgy is introducing us. Just like Luke and Cleopas recognized Christ in the breaking of the bread‚ we also recognize Christ in the Divine Liturgy‚ that is performed in the Church‚ in the presence of the Holy icons. We cannot recognize Christ without the Liturgy‚ and we cannot have the Liturgy without the icons. They both reveal the same dimension.
Orthodoxy is an icon of God‚ it is how we understand God‚ how we see Him; the icon depicted by Orthodoxy is the basis for our life in Him. But this is not a created image‚ but a revealed one; it is not the result of our thoughts‚ of our logical rationality. The dogmas and the subsequent discipline of the Church are in fact the experiences of God of those men and women that have lived to the fulness of the potential of humanity: the saints. The sum of their experiences is our iconic vision of God and His Kingdom in Orthodoxy.
The expression of the dogmas in the faith is iconic as well. The theology‚ the hymnology‚ the Liturgy‚ the icons‚ the vestments‚ the smell of incense‚ all represent the revealed understanding of the Kingdom of God to the saints. Orthodoxy is not meant however‚ as a static image of God that we passively accept as reality. This holy imagery has the important role of stimulating us to act for the restoration of the image of God in us. It reminds us that we are ourselves icons: living‚ dynamic icons. We are called to discover in ourselves‚ through our own lives‚ that the experiences of the saints are true.
When Adam was first created‚ he was a very clear image of God. He still had to work on filling the image with the likeness‚ but one could clearly recognize God in his “artwork”. The fulness of the likeness would have been achieved by aligning his free will with God’s will. But he chose a different path and‚ gradually‚ the image of God in himself and in his offspring has started to fade. This is where we find ourselves right now‚ in an advanced state of degradation of the original icon of God in us.
In all of us‚ there is a distortion of the original icon. The colors May be faded‚ for example. Some lack the blues‚ which in icons represents divinity. They are the ones that chose a life which ignores their relationship with the divinity. They don’t go to church very often‚ they lack on personal prayer and find themselves always busy with the cares of life.
For others the greens start to disappear. Green is the color of holiness‚ of the Holy Spirit that is achieved through great spiritual struggles or askesis. Those missing the greens are not engaged in the works of this struggle that attract the Holy Spirit: fasting‚ prayer‚ prostrations‚ vigils. They deny their benefits and therefore fail to reap the benefits.
Others are characterized by the lack of red‚ denoting sacrifice. They are concerned mostly with themselves and have a hard time sacrificing anything for others. It is all about number one.
There are even few that are blackened all together‚ like an old‚ smoked painting you cannot even say that there is an image there. Many of them are actually denying there ever was an image there‚ or that there is an original Artist Who put it there.
The shapes can also be skewed as some May be images‚ but are not icons. The reality depicted cannot be recognized anymore. Like a cubist interpretation of a portrait: one can see the painter’s intent but one cannot recognize the prototype anymore. These are the heresies‚ which‚ just like modern or post-modern art‚ are the artist’s interpretations of reality and cannot be trusted as genuine reality.
What is to be done? The Church has many master iconographers that can help refresh the colors‚ retrace the image and reveal God’s likeness in every one of us. The Apostles‚ the Saints‚ the priests‚ all are here to help restore the original beauty of the icon of God planted in us. Their restoration techniques they recommend are fasting‚ prayer‚ charity‚ obedience‚ repentance and so on.
Using these means of restoration‚ we can uncover in us the image of the original prototype and start living in His likeness‚ progressing evermore into becoming more and more alike Him. He says to be perfect as our Father who is in heavens perfect is‚ so we should strive to work on more and more details to achieve the perfection that is asked from us. What is that perfection? Or better said Who is this perfection? His icon that is the incarnate Son. Once we reach the full stature of a man in Christ‚ then‚ if someone would enter in a church‚ even with white walls‚ but filed with such people‚ they would say: this Church is full of icons!