This post was originally published on this site
The first Sunday of Great Lent is called the Sunday (or Triumph) of Orthodoxy because it commemorates the “triumph” of true doctrine over heresy regarding the creation and veneration of holy icons. For over 100 years, there was disagreement and war over the issue of depicting Christ and the Saints in a work of art. The iconoclasts (those against icons) falsely accused Christians of idolatry and superstition. The 7th Ecumenical Council in 787 AD officially confirmed the rightness — even the necessity — of honoring holy icons because icons express the theology of the Orthodox Faith. Iconoclasm was finally defeated on the First Sunday of Great Lent in 843.
