Pastoral Letter of the Holy Synod

of the Romanian Orthodox Church

on Sunday of Orthodoxy in the Year of the Lord 2024

To the Most Reverend Clergy and

the beloved faithful of the Romanian Patriarchate,

Grace, peace and joy from God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,

and from us, hierarchical blessings!

Most Reverend Fathers,

Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

            The Divine Scripture teaches us that our Holy Church is "the body of Christ, the fullness of Him who fills all in all" (Ephesians 1, 23). The Church, headed by the Savior Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1, 22), continues in the world, through the presence of the Holy Spirit, the saving work of Christ, preaching His word, sharing God's grace, leading to the Kingdom of God all who believe, baptizing in the name of the Holy Trinity and following Him.

            But the Light of Christ, right from the beginning of Christianity, encountered opposition, which, over time, manifested itself through heresies, schisms, persecutions, various disturbances, coming from the enemies of the Church. There was no point in Christian teaching that was not attacked, denied, or misinterpreted by the teachings of various heretics. The mystery of the Holy Trinity, the divinity and humanity of the Saviour, the quality of always being Virgin of the Mother of God, the Holy Mysteries, the Holy Icons, the Holy Cross, all were challenged. The struggle was great and hard, but every time, Hierarchs and Fathers (of the Church) strengthened and enlightened by the Holy Spirit, rising up, during the Holy Ecumenical Councils, fought the wrong teachings and established the right faith.

            Today, on the first Sunday of Holy and Great Lent, also called the Sunday of Orthodoxy, we remember the victory of the true faith over the iconoclastic heresy, celebrating, at the same time, the victory of Orthodoxy over all heresies.

            Although, since the first Christian centuries, the Holy Icons had a special place in the worship of the Church and constituted an important component of the religious life of the faithful, there were voices that rejected them, becoming fierce fighters against them. They were called iconoclasts.

            The first Byzantine emperor which issue official acts against the veneration of icons was Leo III Isaurus (717-741). He promulgated several iconoclastic decrees between 726 and 729. It was a turbulent period for the Church, in which the defenders of the true faith suffered: some were tortured, others exiled, and others died as martyrs. Then numerous icons, true treasures of the Orthodox Church, were also destroyed,.

            One of those who resolutely stood up in defense of the Holy Icons was St. John of Damasc, the great theologian and survivor of the St. Sava Monastery in the Judean desert. Other Fathers who defended with solid arguments the veneration of the Holy Icons were St. Theodore the Studite, St. Nicephorus the Confessor, St. Gregory of Decapole, etc.

             The disturbances caused by the iconoclasts continued, so that, in 787, Empress Irina (†802), as regent, with the support of Patriarch Tarasius of Constantinople (784-806), convened the VII Ecumenical Council in Nicaea, in Bithynia province in Asia Minor. The synod, attended by approximately 350 bishops, decided that the veneration of icons is a practice pleasing to God. He also stated that icons can be painted and must be honored, because the images of holy persons are painted on them, and the honor is not addressed to the material of the icon, but to the person represented on the icon.

            The peace, however, did not settle in the Church even after the VII Ecumenical Synod in 787. The opponents of the icons continued the fight. To put an end to the controversy, Empress Theodora of Byzantium (842-846) together with Patriarch Methodius convened a Synod in Constantinople in March 843. The Synod established the Orthodox teaching on the veneration of icons, on the basis of Holy Scripture and the writings of the Holy Fathers, and declared all the decisions of the VII Ecumenical Councils valid. Since the restoration of icon worship took place on the eve of the first Sunday of Great Lent, this Sunday was called the Sunday of Orthodoxy. Since then, every year, on the first Sunday of Great Lent, which constitutes a first stop in the spiritual ascent to the Resurrection, the Orthodox Church throughout the world remembers the victory over the iconoclasts and pays tribute to those who fought for the right faith.

            The word "Orthodoxy" means "right faith" or "right worship." Orthodoxy means "to believe rightly" not in something, but in Someone, in the true God. Orthodoxy is man's living connection with Christ, which leads us to God the Father, to eternal life, because Christ the Savior says: "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14, 6). In other words, faith in our Savior Jesus Christ is the true way that leads to eternal life.

            The Sunday of Orthodoxy is also a reminder of the faith of our ancestors, which is the faith of the Holy Apostles, the Holy Fathers and the martyrs, and how our forefathers lived and defended the true faith. The Sunday of Orthodoxy is a moment of reflection and awareness of the duties that fall to us to preserve the treasure of faith inherited from our ancestors and pass it on to future generations, in this way doing our duty to God and to our ancestors.

Dear christian faithful,

            The basis of the iconographic representation of our Lord Jesus Christ, His Mother and the saints is the Incarnation of the second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Son of God. St. John the Evangelist says: "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1, 14). St. John the Evangelist also witnes: "What was from the beginning, what we heard, what we saw with our eyes, what we looked at and our hands touched about the Word of life, and the Life appeared and we saw it and we testify and you we proclaim the Eternal Life, which was with the Father and has been revealed to us" (1 John 1, 1-2).

            Thus, the icon of our Savior Jesus Christ reminds us the humility of the Son of God, Who "emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, making Himself like men, and in appearance being like a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross" (Philippians 2, 7), to make us, people, sons of God according to grace (cf. John 1, 12). The Savior humbled Himself, He descended from heaven to earth, in order to raise people from earth to heaven.

            The Icon is not an idol, as the persecutors of the Holy Icons misinterpreted and those who deny their veneration interpret today. The idol is the invented god that does not exist in reality, a graven image that the pagans worshipped, believing that it listens to them and fulfills their demands. The icon is a face of a real person, whether it is our Savior Jesus Christ, the Mother of God, or the saints of God. There is a spiritual connection between the icon and the person painted on it, and we venerate not the material (wood or canvas), but the painted person, establishing a spiritual connection between the prototype and us. The Orthodox Christian, when he prays in front of the icons, does not say "icon, help me!", but "Lord, have mercy on me!", "Mother of God or Blessed Virgin, help me!", "Saint Nicholas or Saint George, pray for us!".

            The icons show us scenes from the Holy Scriptures or faces of people with lives pleasing to God, who have earned the happiness of eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven, reminding us that man is called to holiness.

            The icons are windows to eternity, through which our soul, looking towards holiness, rises and grows spiritually. It is hard to imagine a orthodox christian home or a orthodox church without an icon. Such a space would be like a desert, a desolate place without God.

            The icon facilitates communication with the person painted on it, to whom we direct our prayer. In front of the icon, the prayer is mysterious, more humble, more intense. The icon helps us gather our thoughts and focus our attention on prayer. The gracious presence of the person painted on the icon becomes a guide which reminds us that we are all called to become part of eternal happiness and that we can acquire, through works of faith, the Kingdom of God.

            The icon shows us that man can overcome sin and reach deification, with the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit and through a pure life.

Beloved spiritual sons and daughters in Christ,

            The Romanian Orthodox Church, as the "spiritual mother of the Romanian people" (Mihai Eminescu), always took care of her sons (and dauthers), no matter where they are, in the country or outside the borders. Through various social-philanthropic assistance programs, canteens for people with modest incomes, homes for the elderly, medical units for the sick and homes for children were built. This charitable activity was made possible by the contribution of each member of the Church, who generously donated.

            One of the Savior's commandments is to be merciful: "Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful" (Luke 6, 36). Charity is the manifestation of the virtue of kindness. An Orthodox Christian knows that when he is merciful, he resembles God, and "God loves the one who gives willingly" (2 Corinthians 9, 7). Let us not forget our fellow man who is in need, who is hungry, who is devoided, the thirsty, the sick, the one in prison, the stranger and the one who is lost, the one in suffering, the saddened and estranged, the one who was left on the streets, without shelter, understanding that in each of these brothers of us, Christ Himself, our Savior, is secretly suffering (cf. Matthew 25, 35-36).

            To support the pastoral mission and social-philanthropic activities of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Central Missionary Fund was established, in which donations from each parish or monastery of the Romanian Orthodox Church are deposited. The Central Missionary Fund is an expression of the solidarity of the Romanian Orthodox faithful, but also a testimony of the unity of the nation.

            The support of this fund benefits, every year, parish communities, churches, monasteries and social establishments in the country and in the diaspora, which thus contribute, through missionary, social, educational and charitable activities, to the preservation of our Romanian identity.

            In this year, therefore, we address to the priests and faithful of our Holy Church, with the exhortation to participate in the collection for the Central Missionary Fund and to contribute each one according to his strength and heart, with love for God and for his fellow men, having the conscience that by helping the Church of the nation, we help ourselves as a orthodox people.

            Having the hope that our exhortation will be heard and that you will respond with Christian generosity, we thank you for your offering and we pray to God to bless you with His rich gifts and to help you in your spiritual ascent towards the glorious feast of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ!

“May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all!” (2 Corinthians 13, 13).

The text is signed by His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel together with all the members of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church.