During Great Lent, on the first Sunday, the Church celebrates the Triumph of Orthodoxy—one of the most ancient feasts, first observed in 843 to commemorate the victory of the Faith over the last false teaching. After more than half a century of persecution against holy icons, their veneration was affirmed by simple and sound definitions in accordance with Holy Tradition and Holy Scripture.

According to tradition, in churches, and especially in cathedrals, a special rite is performed on this Sunday—one that proclaims the Orthodox Faith, glorifies God, and honors all those who struggled, even unto blood and death, for the purity of the Faith, and thus, for our salvation.

In our St. Barbara’s Cathedral, this solemn prayer service is also held annually, followed by a procession with the Cross, the Gospel, Church banners, and holy icons of the Lord, the Theotokos, sacred events, and the saints of the Church.

Unfortunately, our time is not the best for Church unity, and for now, we lack the concelebration of priests from different jurisdictions that had always taken place before and, we believe, will certainly be restored in the future.

Yet, just as in the times of the Gospel events, so too in our procession, children bear the signs of the victory of the Lord Jesus Christ—in this case, His Gospel and Salvation depicted in the holy icons!

And we all continue to proclaim thanksgiving prayers and supplicatory litanies addressed to the entire Orthodox world, once again testifying that our Faith is founded on the self-sacrificing and ascetic life of those who fast and strive in piety, on the rejection of worldly temptations, and on the preference for everything arranged according to the source of all good—our Lord God!