His Eminence Metropolitan Ioan of Banat urged the faithful on Sunday to turn their attention to the holy icon rather than to television when facing difficulties.
Speaking on the Sunday of Orthodoxy about the importance of venerating icons, the metropolitan noted that they are a sign of the victory of the true faith.
“During the Great Entrance at today’s Divine Liturgy, the priests and deacons carried icons in their arms as a sign of the victory of Orthodoxy. In the year 843, the decisions of the Seventh Ecumenical Council concerning the veneration of icons were finally implemented, after icons had previously been condemned, desecrated, and burned,” he said.
“Do this good for people, so that in the difficult moments of their lives they will not go before the television to seek help, but instead turn to the place where they have an icon, even a modest one, and pray to God in moments of trouble or blessing,” Metropolitan Ioan added.
Give icons as gifts
The hierarch also noted that the Sunday of Orthodoxy coincided this year with March 1, encouraging the faithful to offer icons as gifts so that no home would remain without one.
“If you know a family that has no icon in their home, give them one today, tomorrow, or whenever you can. Let there be no house without a holy icon. Just as people offer mărțișor tokens on March 1, offer a holy mărțișor—an icon. This is the true and blessed gift of the season,” he said.
Metropolitan Ioan concluded with an appeal to support the Central Missionary Fund, which assists Romanian communities in the dioceses of Bessarabia and the Odesa region of Ukraine.
He also offered prayers for peace and for the end of conflicts near Romania and throughout the world.
Photo: Banat Metropolis
