PASTORAL LETTER

OF THE HOLY SYNOD OF THE ROMANIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH
ON THE SUNDAY OF ORTHODOXY

IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 2026

TO THE HONORABLE CLERGY,

TO THE MOST REVEREND MONASTIC COMMUNITY, 

AND TO THE BELOVED FAITHFUL OF THE ROMANIAN PATRIARCHATE

Grace, joy, and peace from God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
and archpastoral blessings from us!

Most Reverend Fathers,
Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord,

In the spiritual light of the beginning of the Holy and Great Lent, the Church sets before us, as the first station on our ascent toward the Resurrection, the Sunday of Orthodoxy - the celebration of the victory of the true faith over all heresies or errors and, in particular, the Sunday of the solemn restoration of the veneration of the holy icons in Constantinople in the year 843.

In order to understand this victory fully, it is fitting to recall, even briefly, the difficult path traveled by the Church in the 8th and 9th centuries. At that time, emperors such as Leo III the Isaurian and Constantine V Copronymus, confronted with political and military pressures from neighboring peoples and seeking cooperation with non-Christian peoples in the East, launched a fierce struggle against the veneration of icons. This attempt at a political-religious compromise inflicted a deep wound on the life of the faithful and the monks of Constantinople.

Under the providential care of two holy empresses, Irene and Theodora, God established the formulation of the Orthodox faith concerning the veneration of icons. Thus, at Nicaea in 787, the Holy Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council established the dogma of the veneration of icons, and in 843, through the synod convened in Constantinople and the proclamation made by Patriarch Methodius, Orthodoxy triumphed fully. From that moment on, the first Sunday of Great Lent became the feast of the triumph of the true faith.

Two great empresses, two holy women - Irene and Theodora - wonderfully fulfilled the will of God in a period of history when, sadly, some male emperors became persecutors of the holy icons.

Saint John of Damascus, "the trumpet of the Holy Spirit against the iconoclasts," said in the 8th century: "I do not worship matter, but I worship the Creator of matter, Who became matter for my sake."[1] And Saint Theodore the Studite, in the 9th century, confirms the same truth of faith, according to which "the Invisible One became visible so that, seeing His image, we might desire likeness to Him."[2]

Thus, the icon becomes a window toward the Kingdom of God, a place of the presence of grace, a call to holiness, and a confession of the truth that Christ is "the image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:15).

In the light of these teachings, the Sunday of Orthodoxy is an occasion of profound gratitude toward the confessors of the true faith - hierarchs, monks, theologians, and multitudes of faithful with pure lives - who defended the truth even at the cost of their lives. They represent "so great a cloud of witnesses" (cf. Hebrews 12:1) who accompany us even today on the path of fasting and repentance.

Beloved spiritual sons and daughters,

The Sunday of Orthodoxy shows us that the human person is the living icon of God, created in His image (cf. Genesis 1:26), called to reflect in this world the love, purity, and glory of the One who created him. Saint Gregory the Theologian exhorts us: "Honor God through yourself, for you are His image."[3]

The icon of the saints is not merely a remembrance, but a living testimony of the fulfillment of the human person, proof that grace can transfigure an ordinary life and raise it to likeness with God. Saint Basil the Great says: "The honor given to the icon passes to the prototype,"[4] and the honor given to the saints passes to God.

Therefore, the icon reveals two great truths:

• who God is for man: the One who became visible and near, namely God made Man;
• who man can become in relationship with God: like God by grace, light, and holiness.

Looking at the icon, we understand that every human face is called to eternal life. In a world that often humiliates, manipulates, or diminishes the value of the person, the Church defends and affirms the unique and eternal value in every human being - child, elderly, sick, refugee, lonely, marginalized - because each is an icon of God, and in the humblest the face of Christ truly shines (cf. Matthew 25:40).

In the year 2026, declared by the Holy Synod as the "Solemn Year of the Pastoral Care of the Christian Family" and the "Commemorative Year of the Holy Women in the Calendar (Myrrh-bearing Women, Martyrs, Nuns, Wives, and Mothers)," we are called to look more attentively at the dignity of the human person illumined by grace: in the family, in the discreet sacrifice of mothers, in the devotion of wives, and in the steadfastness of faithful women who keep the flame of love burning in their homes.

Through them and through all contemporary saints - spiritual fathers, confessors, and tireless servants - we understand that true holiness is born in the heart, where love, forgiveness, and reconciliation restore the merciful image of God within each of us.

Today we celebrate the triumph of Orthodoxy, which means the victory of the living true faith-for faith must be lived, not only confessed. Orthodoxy means right faith, but also right understanding; right thinking, but also right worship; right representation (iconography), but also right hymnography; right ascetic struggle, but also right discernment-the virtue of virtues, as the Fathers of the Church have called it.

Orthodoxy is nothing other than human nature sanctified, as it has been revealed to us through the God-Man, Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God.

Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord,

If the icons in the church show us the glory of the Kingdom of God, the icon of our suffering brother or sister shows us the concrete way to attain this glory. Love for our neighbor is the light of Orthodoxy in daily life.

Love for one’s neighbor is the light of Orthodoxy in daily life. The Holy Apostle John asks us, saying: “If anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love remain in him?” (1 John 3:17).

And St. John Chrysostom urges: “Do you wish to honor the body of Christ? Do not despise it when you see it hungry or naked.”[5]

Charity is the living icon of our faith. It is not merely a social gesture, but a work of the Spirit, a continuation of God's love in the world.

As every year, on this blessed Sunday, a collection is organized for the Central Missionary Fund, established by the Holy Synod as a form of solidarity in the life of the Church. This fund supports the Church's social-philanthropic and missionary work, assisting:

• dioceses, parishes, and monasteries in difficulty;
• vulnerable families, children lacking support, and persons in suffering;
• educational and social-missionary programs;
• communities in disadvantaged areas that need strengthening and hope.

In the gift of every Orthodox Christian, whether small or great, lies the power to restore a living icon: the face of a sorrowful person, a child in need, a lonely elderly person, a parish undergoing hardship.

Beloved Christians,

On this Sunday of Orthodoxy, let us approach the holy icons with pure hearts, discovering in them the beauty of the calling God has planted within each of us. Let us look, with the same reverence, toward the face of our neighbor in need and support him according to our ability, as a living testimony of Christ's love.

At this first spiritual stopping place of Great Lent, let us strive to become ever more like our Lord Jesus Christ, the Image of the Father and the source of our holiness.

Thanking you for your generosity shown throughout the years in supporting the Central Missionary Fund, with fatherly love we address to you all the apostolic blessing:

"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 with all the members of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church.

___________

[1] St. John of Damascus, Against the Iconoclasts I, 16, in The Three Treatises Against the Iconoclasts, trans., introd. and notes by Fr. Dumitru Fecioru, Publishing House of the Biblical and Orthodox Missionary Institute, Bucharest, 2016, p. 65.

[2] St. Theodore the Studite, Writings Against the Iconoclasts, trans. and introd. by Policarp Pîrvuloiu, Publishing House of the Biblical and Orthodox Missionary Institute, Bucharest, 2017.

[3] St. Gregory the Theologian, Oratio I, 4, in PG 35, col. 397.

[4] St. Basil the Great, On the Holy Spirit 18, in St. Basil the Great, Writings, Part Three, trans., introd., and notes by Fr. Teodor Bodogae, Fathers and Ecclesiastical Writers series, vol. XII, Publishing House of the Biblical and Orthodox Missionary Institute of the Romanian Orthodox Church, Bucharest, 1988, p. 60.

[5] St. John Chrysostom, Homily 50, 3, in St. John Chrysostom, Writings, Part Three, trans., introd., and notes by Fr. Dumitru Fecioru, Fathers and Ecclesiastical Writers series, vol. XXIII, Publishing House of the Biblical and Orthodox Missionary Institute of the Romanian Orthodox Church, Bucharest, 1994, p. 584.