Sunday of Orthodoxy

The Sunday of Orthodoxy (or Orthodox Sunday) is celebrated on the first Sunday of Great Lent. It is the celebration of the victory of the iconodules over the iconoclasts by the decision of the seventh ecumenical council. Therefore, the service is to commemorate the restoration of icons for use in services and private devotional life of Christians. Services often include the clergy or the faithful triumphantly parading around the church, holding icons of their patron or parish saints. Pan-orthodox vespers are also usually celebrated in the evening.