Feast of Orthodoxy
Date: 9. March 2025Time: All day
On the first Sunday of the pre-Lenten fasting period, Orthodox churches of the Byzantine tradition and Eastern Catholic churches celebrate the "Feast of Orthodoxy." They commemorate a decree from the year 843, which definitively reintroduced the veneration of images (= "icons") in the church of the (Eastern) Roman Empire. It was issued by Theodora, the widow of the deceased Emperor Theophilus, as regent in the name of her then-underage son Michael III. Preceding this was the so-called "Byzantine Iconoclasm," during which the cultic veneration of icons in the (Eastern) Roman Empire was questioned and even temporarily banned. Therefore, the liturgy of the day primarily has a supplicatory character, through which prayers are offered for all those who have gone astray in matters of faith.