Dear friends!

Today our Church celebrates the Triumph of Orthodoxy – a special feast profound in its meaning.

Historically, it was established as a remembrance of the victory of the patristic confession of faith over the heresy of the iconoclasts.

Over time, the first Sunday after the beginning of Great Lent became the triumph of Divine Truth over all false teachings, mistaken beliefs and lies.

As a system that rejected God and lusted for unlimited power over people, the civilization of “this world” always encroached on Christianity for its gift of freedom, tried to enslave the Church of Christ, place it at its service, and make it another department of its own.

At all times, those in power wanted to control the thoughts and feelings of their subjects, to tell people how and in whom they should believe, what they should honour, and what temples they should go to.

In this sense, present days differs from past eras, perhaps only in having more advanced technologies. Our Church is again going through a time of trials. The people of God are going through yet another furnace of temptation.

And today’s feast of the Triumph of Orthodoxy reminds us that Christ has already defeated this fallen system and its evil logic. He defeated it when He rejected all the temptations from the enemy of the human race in the wilderness, when He offered Himself as a sacrifice on the Cross for the sake of our salvation. When He founded His Church and commanded that She would stand until the end of time.

This Victory of Christ gives strength to all generations of Christians to stand unshakably in Truth. And no matter how the new persecutors and false teachers try to lord it over today, no matter how they try to ruin the true Church, to force Her to be silent and serve them, to build Her simulacra, it is beyond their power.

And on this day of the feast, we do not triumph over these ill-fated people – no!

We rejoice because God is with us!

“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm,” the Book of Psalms says.

I believe that our Holy Church will emerge victorious from all these trials, as has happened more than once in its history. And those who fell away from Her will return to Her heaven-sent protection.

I wholeheartedly congratulate you on the day of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, dear brothers and sisters!

I wish everyone to be strengthened in their faith, to keep the purity of Orthodoxy in their hearts, and to always abide in the true Church of Christ!