In Christ, Through Faith: The Holiness of the Church and the Light of the Icon

On the 21st Sunday after Pentecost and the Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council, His Grace Bishop Ioan Casian celebrated the Divine Liturgy at St. Parascheva Parish in Newmarket, Ontario. Concelebrating with him were Father Mihail Cristea (parish priest), Father Costel Lavrentie Gheorghe, and Deacon Ștefan Cârcoană.

In the homily delivered at the end of the Divine Liturgy, the bishop explained the meaning of the Church’s holiness:

"One of the essential attributes of the Church is holiness. However, the Church is not holy in and of itself, but because it partakes in the holiness of God. Holiness is not a human possession; it is not something we can acquire and control like knowledge or a technical skill. Holiness does not belong to anyone.

When sin enters a person’s life — even if they had previously lived in holiness — they begin to gradually move away from the source of holiness, which is God. That is why in spiritual language we often speak of a 'fall from grace.' What does this mean? It means that as you draw near to God and remain in His light, you are clothed in His grace. But the moment you distance yourself through sin — through disbelief or other passions — you are essentially moving away from the source of light and grace.

This clearly shows that grace does not belong to us. The grace of God cannot be appropriated, unjustly claimed, or manipulated. It is a free gift from God and works in those who draw near to Him with faith and purity.

God cannot be 'possessed' or 'owned.' No one can grasp Him by force. As St. Dumitru Stăniloae beautifully put it, God cannot be forced by human will, reduced to the limits of our minds, or taken into possession. God is eternal light, and man lives to the extent that he remains in this light."

Returning to the Epistle and Gospel readings of the day, the hierarch emphasized that both convey the same core truth: the importance of faith.

"St. Paul emphasizes that nothing can be accomplished without faith — neither in the Church nor in daily life. If we aim to achieve something, we must first believe that we can. The same is true in spiritual life: without faith, there is no spiritual growth. St. Paul says clearly: 'I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.'

Therefore, man can only return to his natural state — the one God intended from the beginning — by living together with Christ and through faith in Him.

Faith is the way by which we rise from our fall and draw near once more to God’s life. A lack of faith, by contrast, means distancing from the divine life — and from this comes suffering and death, just as it happened after the fall of Adam and Eve."

Commenting on the Parable of the Sower, His Grace Bishop Ioan Casian highlighted that:

"True faith is faith in the Word of God. He is the Sower who casts the seed into the world — that is, His word, which brings light into our lives. In the parable, the Savior describes how people receive this word: some seeds fall by the wayside and are eaten by birds (symbolizing the devil who snatches the word from inattentive hearts); others fall on rocky ground (the person who receives the word with joy but lacks depth and soon withers); others among thorns (choked by worldly worries and pleasures); and some fall on good soil (in the heart of the one who listens, keeps, and bears fruit with patience).

Thus, while the Apostle Paul teaches us the necessity of right faith, today's Gospel shows the causes for which faith bears no fruit, and also the path by which spiritual growth becomes natural: through hearing, preserving, and living the Word of God.

God does not ask us to flee the world, but to live in the world in a true way. He does not take away our responsibilities — as parents, spouses, citizens — but gives us the power to live them in light. Holiness is not found only in monasteries, but also in villages, cities, and homes. The clearest and most well-known example is that of the thirty-two saints canonized this year by the Romanian Patriarchate. Many were monastics, but not a few were simple people living among others during the century of communist persecution. Some suffered in prisons, others struggled in forests, others were exiled to Siberia. And yet they remained unshaken in faith, becoming pillars of Romanian Orthodoxy.

Worldly anxiety is like a disease: if you don’t guard yourself, you will become infected. If you don’t pray, don’t read Scripture, and don’t practice spiritual discipline, the worries of others will consume you, and you’ll end up living only for them. And then your life will gradually fade — not physically, but spiritually. You will continue to live biologically, but without inner life.

True faith is not perfected in an instant; it is built slowly, with patience, like a tree that grows and bears fruit in its proper season."

Referring to the importance of the Seventh Ecumenical Council, Bishop Ioan Casian emphasized:

"The icon is not just an image, but a testimony to the Incarnation of Christ and a window to the Kingdom of Heaven. The Holy Fathers taught that we can represent in icons the visible part of Christ — that is, His human body. He remains a divine Person, but what we depict is not His divine nature, but His human nature. Christ revealed Himself to us in human form.

This is why the Seventh Ecumenical Council affirmed that it is legitimate to depict God in His human form, because He became circumscribable — the disciples saw and touched Him. Moses and Elijah, by contrast, did not see God face to face, only His light. When Scripture says Moses saw 'the back of the Lord,' it expresses the reality that man cannot see God's face, for God is beyond our comprehension.

The Seventh Ecumenical Council based on the teaching about incarnation affirmed the legitimacy of representing not only the Savior but also the Mother of God and the Saints. If God became man, suffered, was crucified, buried, and appeared to His disciples in the flesh, then it is natural that we should depict Him in icons in the form in which He appeared."

The bishop continued by listing several iconographic principles established by the Holy Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council:

"We can depict Christ because He was seen in the flesh. We depict Him within the limits of His human nature. The Holy Spirit can be painted only in the forms in which He manifested: as a dove or as tongues of fire. God the Father, however, cannot be represented in any form, because He revealed Himself only through voice and luminous cloud.

In icons, every person must be named. There is no icon without a name. Each saint bears his or her name because an icon is not a generic image but a real presence — a visible image of a holy person.

Furthermore, Church representations must be done with great care and respect for the theology of the icon. The icons are not painted according to one’s own imagination. The icon is not a painting — it is theology in colors, a confession of faith. It does not have a merely decorative role, but a liturgical and pedagogical one."

At the end of the service, His Grace Bishop Ioan Casian awarded the Centennial Medal to Father Mihail Cristea and to Deacon Ștefan Cârcoană, and centennial insignias to other members of the parish.

Father Mihail Cristea thanked the bishop and invited everyone present to join in the festive agape meal.

(contribution Nun Ana Bulgariu)