Holy Fathers of the Seven Ecumenical Councils. Memory of the holy fathers of the seven ecumenical councils

On May 31, the day of commemoration of the holy fathers of the seven Ecumenical Councils, the Divine Liturgy was held at the Sorrowful Convent in the hierarchical order.

The Right Reverend Eugene, Bishop of Nizhny Tagil and Nevyansk, was co-served by: Mitred Archpriest Georgy Poteev, Mitred Archpriest Gennady Vedernikov, Archpriest Yevgeny Kuzminykh, Priest Grigory Elokhin, Priest Yevgeny Samoilov, Priest Alexy Ismagilov.

The priest of the monastery Alexy Ismagilov preached a sermon from the sacrament verse:

“In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Today the Holy Church commemorates the holy fathers of the seven Ecumenical Councils. For this, we will return to the first centuries of Christianity, when the devil tried through persecution, through mortal fear, to intimidate and destroy the Church, to force people to renounce the Lord. But it turned out the other way around. The Christian Church grew with the blood of the martyrs, and people saw how the martyrs suffered, saw their valor and began to turn to the faith.

But now the time of persecution has passed, and the devil comes up with, invents a new trick - not to force one to abandon the faith, but to pervert the doctrine so that a person, believing in the Lord, is no longer saved, believes in the wrong. And then the era of the Ecumenical Councils began.

The first major heresy that shook the Church was the doctrine of Arius, who said that the Lord Jesus Christ is not God, but a created man. Proud Arius, what he could not understand, rejected, did not accept. For him, the criterion of truth was the ability to understand with the mind, to understand simple things. The devil gave him the opportunity to sow this heresy. Trying to attract pagans to the Church, he invented the position that Christ is an ideal person, and nothing more. Many people liked this simplicity. You don't need to think, reflect, you don't need to change. When many followed Arius, deviated from this doctrine, the holy fathers appeared to the world, the very ones who had recently suffered for the faith, the very ones who defended the faith, confessed the faith in torment and persecution. Now they were given to understand by the Holy Spirit that the teaching of Arius is a lie. Then the Equal-to-the-Apostles Emperor Constantine assembles the Council. Maimed, burned, but not broken saints, bishops, monks, laymen came to him. Where in disputes the word failed to crush heresy, to reason with erring people, the Lord Himself intervened, Who by miracles helped to expose it, showed where the Truth is and where the lie.

Arius's delusion was overthrown and rooted out. Other heresies followed him. All wrong teachings rebelled against the nature of Christ, against our main dogma that Jesus Christ is God and Man. Some asserted that He is not God, others that the mind in Him is replaced by the Logos, and still others that there is no human will in Him. Various distortions of faith violated the right doctrine of the nature of Christ. But the Holy Fathers of the Church, by the Holy Spirit, made it possible to understand and comprehend these mistakes.

If you read the acts of the Councils, then it is difficult for an inexperienced person to understand these definitions, it is difficult to understand where the truth is in theological disputes. The Holy Fathers, the lamps of the Church, were given by the Spirit to know where the Truth is. Their holy life, their asceticism was a condition of their right faith. We know that many heresiarchs were subject to terrible sins, were in unrepentant falls. The lack of a godly life distorted their minds. Thus their minds were led astray from the right path. Out of their pride, they invented different creeds, and they often enjoyed the patronage of the secular authorities. Then came the real persecution of believers in Christ, only now not from the pagans, not from the enemies of the Lord, but from their own erring brethren. The blood of martyrs again shed, again there were exiles, even, it happened, few adherents of the right faith remained, and most of the people went into heresy.

The Lord allowed these heresies, delusions to torment people for a long time, so that Orthodoxy would finally prevail. During the Councils, Orthodox dogma was forged, formed, so that we can now understand exactly how we believe. It is no coincidence that the Lord allowed heresies to dominate for decades, centuries, so that they would be entrenched in history as wrong.

It may seem unimportant how to believe, because a person believes in Christ, but we know from history that a minor change in doctrine led to sad consequences. So, at one of the Councils it was indicated that a priest can be both married and celibate. The heretics asserted the obligatory celibacy of the clergy. As a result of this delusion, many who could not live the angelic life fell into grave sins of the flesh. A slight deviation from dogma led a person away from a godly life. Calling himself a Christian, a person no longer lived like a Christian and perished in great sins. The Council stated that a priest may have a high life of the same angels, or may have an ordinary life.

Centuries pass, but the human soul does not change its structure. We, outwardly participating in the sacraments, can be heretics if we do not know the Orthodox doctrine. Now you can find the following words: "Kazanskaya does not help me, but Vladimirskaya helps." This is the real heresy. Often a person does not see these distortions due to his ignorance.

Today is the time of information wars, and it is more important than ever to own information. Once the statesman K.P. Pobedonostsev said that the simple faith of ordinary Christians can fail the country. We saw the results of this "simplicity" 100 years ago. When attacks began on the clergy, on the Church, on faith, such "simpletons" quickly fell away from Orthodoxy, not knowing the depths of their faith. They fell away because of their inexperience. Today the Lord lets us know his faith: there are all the necessary means. He left us the memory of heresies, of the errors of the heresiarchs, the works of the holy fathers, the knowledge of their holy ascetic, confessional life, so that we forge our faith, outline the essence of what we believe in, so that we are Christians who do not just know about Christ, but those who know who Christ is and who God is. Amen".

At the end of the Liturgy, Vladyka Eugene turned to the honest fathers, abbess and sisters, the parishioners of the monastery:

“The Lord gave us life in the morning. We woke up in this world. We have the opportunity to live and choose by our own will: whether to fulfill the commandments of God or not. But for each of us there will come a morning, a day or an evening, when we will no longer be able to choose when, according to the Gospel, “they will explain thee to them and lead them that they don’t want” ( Jn. 21, 18). The day of our death will come, and we will no longer decide whether to go to church today or not to go, whether to go to do good or to do some unkind deeds. Death will gird us up and lead us where we do not want to go, where we will see all our deeds, all our thoughts, all our wishes and all the commandments of God. The Holy Fathers say that that place is terrible, especially for that person who did not strive every day, every morning and, moreover, every moment of his conscious life to devote to God and to what the Lord brought to this earth.

Today is the day of remembrance of the holy fathers of the seven Ecumenical Councils. They have kept the fire of faith for us. Many have read the story of how people used to live. There are many different stories in history, but there is one fact about true ministry. Previously, when there were no shops selling matches and lighters, when there were no thermal power plants, the fire had to be kept, that is, there was a constantly responsible person in the family who kept the fire in the fire, hearth, stove, because it was not easy to get it ... Getting fire is a lot of work. Therefore, it was better to preserve it than to mine it again. Even women were called the keepers of the hearth: they kept the fire from going out. This is an image of how the fire of grace is preserved in the Church, and not some kind of secret knowledge ... Still, Orthodoxy is called not Orthodox knowledge, not Orthodox teaching, but the Orthodox faith. This faith, which lives and grows in grace, is given by God, and the holy fathers of all seven Ecumenical Councils preserved it and did not allow it to be perverted.

How does it sometimes happen today? A man comes to the store and wants to buy something. For example, it says "milk", a person thinks: "I'll buy a bag" - and does not suspect that the bag is not milk at all. There is something like milk, but if a specialist begins to disassemble the composition of the liquid, it can be anything, but it is not milk. They take sausages or other products and run into the same thing. If you eat such a lie, then the human body stops working normally. And at the level of the soul, the spirit of a person, substitution is deadly. When they read to talk about the alleged truth (but this invention is not the Truth), they talk about God, about Christ something so strange, can you imagine what will happen? There lived a person who sincerely believed that Christ was not God, and acted in accordance with this false teaching, then his life ended, and he did nothing of what the Lord commanded. Man did not live according to God's commandments, he did not live in God. This will be worse cheating than cheating on the shelf in any store.

The holy fathers preserved it indestructibly and did not preserve it so that it would be written down in a textbook on dogma and seminarians then open the necessary page and read it, or so that we can get acquainted in a book about the Law of God and remember these great people as dead monuments. They kept the faith in order to pass it on to the next generation. Today this generation is you and me.

Today we live with you and are, in fact, the fathers of the seven Ecumenical Councils. They formulated and preserved the heritage, and we need to know it and live by it. And the Truth about the Holy Trinity, and about the Mother of God, and about the life and dogmas of the Church, and about holy icons, and about the sacraments, and about what the Holy Orthodox Church keeps in full. You can go to church on Sundays according to the commandment of God, you can read the chapter of the Gospel and two chapters of the Acts of the Holy Apostles a day, but this Truth cannot be understood and kept. The Lord God gave us the gift of health so that we live and work, and the gift of reason to fill our life not with serials, not novels, not empty words, but with what God will reveal to us to everyone in his own measure - the knowledge of faith in God. If we do this, we will imitate the holy fathers of all the Ecumenical Councils, the saints of God and the sisters of the Sorrowful monastery. Nuns like no one else bear this good burden of recognizing God and keeping him in their hearts.

I would like to wish mother, sisters, helpers of the monastery and all the mourners who come to this convent to be filled with Truth, which is real life and food for human life. I would like to wish the sisters of the holy monastery that what we have heard today from the Sermon on the Mount in the Holy Gospel of Matthew about the need to keep our heart, our mind from all temptations: not to commit adultery, not to commit adultery from God, be fulfilled. Saint Nicholas of Serbia, an ascetic of the twentieth century, voiced the idea that every person who deviates from the Truth in his life commits adultery. The soul of man is meant to be betrothed to the Bridegroom Christ. It does not matter whether you are a man or a woman, a child or an old man, you must betray your soul daily to the Heavenly Bridegroom Jesus Christ. There should be no adultery in relation to God. Any our deviation from the Truth is fornication. I would like to wish all those who carry out monastic work that the Lord will fill you with strength, that you are a light for the world that lies around us, and that no enemy intrigue darkens your heart, and that people who see your good deeds glorify our Creator. May God give you strength, prosperity and in the work of merciful service that you do, so that you do it with pleasure and do not forget the fatherly words that it is more blessed to give than to receive. Remember also the patristic testimony that to the person who gives, the Lord replenishes two, three, ten and a hundred times. May the Lord replenish, and you give generously. "

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit!

The first who began to address the word of instruction and instruction to the flock of Christ from the ambo - this elevation in the temple for the readers, was St. John Chrysostom. Before him, that is, until the end of the 4th century, the archpastors and pastors preached from the High place in the altar, which was arranged like the steps of an amphitheater and was very high, so that the person sitting on it could be seen praying in the temple, besides, the altar barrier was low. The aged and sick clergyman had a lot of work to climb to the High place after singing the Trisagion, and even now, in the following of the Divine Liturgy, the blessing of the High place - the High Throne is preserved - asking the Lord for strength and help to ascend it.

Today, from this pulpit - a rare element of the decoration of modern Orthodox churches in our Fatherland, but consecrated by an ancient tradition - let us recall with gratitude and warmth those who repeatedly ascended the pulpits and Gornaya places to preach, to defend and preserve the truth of the faith of Christ, - let us recall the Fathers six Ecumenical Councils.

A pleiad of about 1,500 men - archpastors and pastors, blameless, sober, chaste, decent, honest, strange-loving, teaching - for three centuries formulated and put into verbal expression what every person who calls himself a Christian should know, created the church creed, defined the dogmas of faith - "divinely revealed truths superior to reason, possessing unsearchable depth."

We ask: why did so many people work, why did they engage in these complex and abstracted from the necessary needs? After all, there is Holy Scripture, in which we find the words of Christ the Savior, by which we are guided in our lives, expecting salvation and the inheritance of eternal blessings. To show your intelligence and eloquence? For vanity and pride?

No! Not for the sake of glory and not because of idleness did the fathers of the Ecumenical Councils we remember. “Only the malice of the heretics compels us to talk about what it would be better to keep silent about,” said one of them, St. Hilarius of Pictavia.

“Beware of creating divisions and temptations, contrary to the doctrine you have learned, and shy away from them; for such people do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and with caress and eloquence deceive the hearts of the simple-minded ”(Rom. 16: 17-18), - with these words the Apostle Paul warns Roman Christians of the 1st century. But how often we forget this and succumb to temptation, including the temptation of flattering false doctrine and lies.

Heresy is most often the product of a proud heart and an arrogant mind.

“They do not collect figs from the thistle” (cf. Matthew 7:16), and nothing good and good can grow out of an unclean heart. And if we look at the complex, contradictory period in the life of the Church, which is called the era of the Ecumenical Councils, we will be convinced that heresy is most often the fruit of a proud heart and an arrogant mind.

A strict ascetic and a well-known confessor, who only had more than 200 spiritual daughters, the Alexandrian presbyter Arius set himself the task of uniting Christianity and paganism. Frenzied that the second Hypostasis of the Most Holy Trinity - Christ the Savior - was created by God the Father, he hardly tried to seduce the still fragile minds of Christians who had recently been pagans, on the contrary, his desire was essentially good - to make it easier for the pagans to understand the faith of Christ. As Geb and Nut give birth to good Osiris, as Apollo appears from Zeus and Leto, so, according to Arius, God the Father creates God the Son. A terrible distortion of the doctrine of the Most Holy Trinity and the eternal existence of each of Her Three Persons should, in the opinion of the heresiarch presbyter, become the most effective missionary method, but it became a willful trampling of the Eternal Truth and blasphemy. Many, very many inhabitants of Alexandria and Egypt were seduced by the sermon of Arius, this wonderful gifted poet, who expounded his heresy in the form of the poem Thalia and rhapsody songs. The common people were delighted: a pleasant melodic tune, these songs were written especially for sailors, for millers, for travelers and became very popular and loved. But remember that the expression "Vox populi vox Dei" ("The voice of the people is the voice of God") is erroneous, "for the impermanence of the crowd always borders on madness."

Nestorius, archbishop of the capital city of the great empire of Constantinople, originally from the remote Syrian city of Caesarea Germanicus on the Euphrates, a man of common origin, short in stature, with large expressive eyes and light reddish hair, was possessed by great ambition and pride. Can any of us, the disciples of Christ, say, addressing the governor, as Nestorius addressed the emperor: “Give me a land cleansed of heresies, and for that I will give you heaven; help me defeat the heretics, and I will help you in the fight against your earthly enemies ”? We hope for God's mercy for ourselves and do not even dare to think that it is in our power to give heaven to someone. If Arius saw himself as a great preacher and missionary, then Nestorius took upon himself the duties of the most zealous fighter against malignant doctrines and heresies. As a result, he himself became the founder of a heresy that rejects the Divine Essence of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The desire for absolute power and dominance over one's neighbors, namely to be the first among all the Eastern bishops, prompted the Archbishop of Alexandria Dioscoros to support the heresy of Archimandrite Eutychus, who rejects human nature in the Lord Jesus Christ. Bearing the title of the Thirteenth Apostle and Judge of the universe, he came to the city of Ephesus to investigate the evil doctrine of the Monophysites, but instead he condemned the righteous Saint Flavian of Constantinople at a false council. Seeing that he was losing in the struggle for power, he broke off communion not only with the Universal Church as an institution, but also with the True Faith and dragged almost all of Egypt and Syria into heresy.

The faint-hearted and afraid to contradict the emperor, the patriarchs Sergius of Constantinople, Cyrus of Alexandria, Pope Honorius, justifying their cowardice and servility by the high goal of serving the fatherland and the people torn apart by Monophysitism and Nestorianism, began to falsely teach about the common will of the Savior. But their heretical compromise was of no use, and their memory perished with noise.

We believe, dear brothers and sisters, that there is only one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, and her body cannot be dissected without ceasing to live. Heretics and schismatics are like infected members who have fallen away from this Body and are in a state of spiritual death, without violating the unity and integrity of the Holy Church.

Let's look around and see what is happening now with these ancient heresies. Once a third of Alexandria and Egypt sang "Thalia" Aria, the barbarian tribes of the Goths, Vandals, Burgundians were Arians. The dioceses of the Nestorian Church of the East stretched from Mesopotamia to China. The Monophysite churches of Syria, Egypt, Armenia and Ethiopia have long lost both interest and the ability for theological polemics in upholding the doctrines of Eutychus and Dioscorus, and have become only closed national churches for Christian peoples surrounded by a hostile Muslim world.

We know that always “evil people and deceivers will prosper in evil, deceiving and deceiving” (2 Tim. 3:13), and as long as sin dwells in people, new heresies will appear. But they “do not have much time; for their folly will be revealed before all "(2 Tim. 3: 9), the Apostle Paul consoles us. Saint Gregory the Theologian echoes him: “There is no trouble if the heretics have warmed up and in the spring dare to crawl out of their holes ... I know very well that they will hiss for a short time, then they will hide, deposed by both truth and time; and the sooner, the more hopefully we leave everything to God. "

Instead of unnecessary arguments with heretics, let us work hard to study our faith and the history of the Holy Church.

Likewise, you and I, dear brothers and sisters, will leave everything to God, and He Himself, by truth and time, will destroy all the follies of those who doubt the faith of Christ. We ourselves will refrain from pouring even under the plausible pretext of sinful oil into the fire of our anger, irritation, condemnation and backbiting, which first burns against erring heretics, and then burns up our neighbors and ultimately turns for ourselves into an endless fire of hellish flame ... Instead of unnecessary disputes with heretics (and we remember that “heretic, after the first and second admonition, turn away.” - Titus 3:10) let us work hard on studying our faith and the history of the Holy Church, so that the names of St. Athanasius the Great, Cyril of Alexandria, Gregory the Theologian, Maximus the Confessor, Mina of Constantinople and other fathers of the six Ecumenical Councils became close and dear to us.

Today, on the day of remembrance of these true archpastors and pastors, in order to keep ourselves from extremes and for spiritual edification, let us not forget the simple and wise word of St. Silouan the Athonite: “The Holy Spirit, it is said, set in the Church bishops to feed the flock of the Lord; and if people understood this, they would love the shepherds to great love and rejoice in soul at the sight of the shepherd. He who carries the grace of the Holy Spirit within himself knows what I am talking about. For their humility and love for the people, the Lord loves them. They are in great labor and exploit, and for this they are enriched with the minds of the saints, whom they imitate by their lives. Brothers, let us remain in obedience to our shepherds, and then there will be common peace, and the Lord, by the Holy Spirit, will abide with all of us. "

On Saturday, May 31, on the day of remembrance of the holy fathers of the seven Ecumenical Councils, Matins and Divine Liturgy were performed at the Peresvetov Compound, after which a prayer service was served to the Great Martyr. Panteleimon.

Ecumenical Councils- meetings of primates and representatives of all Local Churches, convened to overthrow heresies and affirm the truths of doctrine, to establish rules that are binding in the whole Church, and to resolve issues of general church importance.
These Councils were attended by the heads of the local Churches or their official representatives, as well as the entire episcopate representing their dioceses. The dogmatic and canonical decisions of the Ecumenical Councils are recognized as binding on the entire Church. For the Council to assimilate the status of "Ecumenical", it needs a reception, that is, a test of time, and the adoption of its decrees by all local Churches. It happened that under severe pressure from the emperor or an influential bishop, the participants in the Councils made decisions that contradicted the gospel truth and Church Tradition; over time, such Councils were rejected by the Church.

FIRST UNIVERSAL COUNCIL

The first Ecumenical Council was convened in 325, in the mountains. Nicaea, under Emperor Constantine the Great.

This Council was convened against the false teaching of the Alexandrian priest Arius, who rejected the Deity and the eternal birth of the second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Son of God, from God the Father; and taught that the Son of God is only the highest creation.

The Council was attended by 318 bishops, among whom were: St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, James Bishop of Nizibia, Spiridon of Trimyphus, St. Athanasius the Great, who was still a deacon at that time, and others.

The Council condemned and rejected the heresy of Arius and confirmed the immutable truth - dogma; The Son of God is the true God, born of God the Father before all ages and as eternal as God the Father; He was born, not created, and consubstantial with God the Father.

In order for all Orthodox Christians to know exactly the true teaching of faith, it was clearly and succinctly stated in the first seven terms of the Creed.

At the same Council, it was decided to celebrate Easter on the first Sunday after the first spring full moon, it was also determined for the priests to be married, and many other rules were established.

SECOND UNIVERSAL COUNCIL

The Second Ecumenical Council was convened in 381, in the mountains. Constantinople, under the emperor Theodosius the Great.

This Council was convened against the false teaching of the former Arian bishop of Constantinople Macedon, who rejected the Deity of the third Person of the Holy Trinity, the Holy Spirit; he taught that the Holy Spirit is not God, and called Him creation or created power, and at the same time serving God the Father and God the Son, like the Angels.

The Council was attended by 150 bishops, among whom were: Gregory the Theologian (he was the chairman of the Council), Gregory of Nyssa, Meletius of Antioch, Amphilochius of Iconium, Cyril of Jerusalem, and others.

At the Council, the heresy of Macedonia was condemned and rejected. The Council approved the dogma of the equality and consubstantiation of God the Holy Spirit with God the Father and God the Son.

The Council also supplemented the Nicene Creed with five members, which set forth the doctrine: about the Holy Spirit, about the Church, about the sacraments, about the resurrection of the dead and the life of the century to come. Thus, the Nikaotsaregrad Symbol of Faith was compiled, which serves as a guide for the Church for all times.

THIRD UNIVERSAL COUNCIL

The Third Ecumenical Council was convened in 431, in the mountains. Ephesus, under the Emperor Theodosius the 2nd Younger.

The council was convened against the false teaching of Archbishop Nestorius of Constantinople, who impiously taught that the Most Holy Virgin Mary gave birth to a simple man Christ, with whom, then, God united morally, dwelt in Him as in a temple, just as he had previously dwelt in Moses and other prophets ... Therefore, Nestorius called the Lord Jesus Christ Himself the God-bearer, and not the God-man, and called the Most Holy Virgin the Mother of God, and not the Mother of God.

The Council was attended by 200 bishops.

The Council condemned and rejected the heresy of Nestorius and decided to recognize the union in Jesus Christ, from the time of the incarnation, of two natures: the Divine and the human; and determined: to confess Jesus Christ as a perfect God and a perfect Man, and the Blessed Virgin Mary - to be the Mother of God.

The Council also approved the Niceotzaregrad Symbol of Faith and strictly forbade any changes or additions to be made in it.

FOURTH UNIVERSAL COUNCIL

The Fourth Ecumenical Council was convened in 451, in the mountains. Chalcedon, under the emperor Marcian.

The council was convened against the false teaching of the archimandrite of one of the Constantinople monastery Eutykhios, who rejected human nature in the Lord Jesus Christ. Refuting the heresy, and defending the divine dignity of Jesus Christ, he himself went to an extreme, and taught that in the Lord Jesus Christ human nature was completely absorbed by the Divine, why only one Divine nature should be recognized in Him. This false teaching is called Monophysitism, and its followers are called Monophysites (Monophysites).

The Council was attended by 650 bishops.

The Council condemned and rejected the false teaching of Eutychios and determined the true teaching of the Church, namely, that our Lord Jesus Christ is true God and true man: according to the Divine He is eternally born of the Father, according to humanity He was born of the Most Holy Virgin and is similar to us in everything, except sin ... During the incarnation (birth from the Virgin Mary), the Divine and humanity were united in Him, as a single Person, unmixed and invariable (against Eutychius), inseparable and inseparable (against Nestorius).

FIFTH UNIVERSAL COUNCIL

The Fifth Ecumenical Council was convened in 553, in the city of Constantinople, under the famous emperor Justinian I.

The council was convened over a dispute between the followers of Nestorius and Eutychios. The main subject of controversy was the writings of three famous teachers of the Syrian Church, namely Theodore of Mopsuet, Theodoret of Cyrus and Iva of Edessa, in which Nestorian errors were clearly expressed, and at the Fourth Ecumenical Council nothing was mentioned about these three writings.

In a dispute with the Eutychians (Monophysites), the Nestorians referred to these writings, and the Eutychians found in this a pretext to reject the 4th Ecumenical Council itself and to slander the Orthodox Ecumenical Church that she had allegedly deviated into Nestorianism.

The Council was attended by 165 bishops.

The Council condemned all three works and Theodore of Mopsuetsky himself, as not repentant, and regarding the other two, the condemnation was limited only to their Nestorian writings, but they themselves were pardoned, since they abandoned their false opinions and died in peace with the Church.

The council again repeated the condemnation of the heresy of Nestorius and Eutychios.

SIXTH UNIVERSAL COUNCIL

The Sixth Ecumenical Council was convened in 680, in the city of Constantinople, under Emperor Constantine Pogonatus, and consisted of 170 bishops.

The council was convened against the false teaching of the heretics - the Monothelites, who, although they recognized in Jesus Christ two natures, the Divine and the human, but one Divine will.

After the 5th Ecumenical Council, the unrest produced by the Monothelites continued and threatened the Greek Empire with great danger. Emperor Heraclius, desiring reconciliation, decided to persuade the Orthodox to concession to the Monothelites and, by the strength of his power, commanded to recognize in Jesus Christ one will with two natures.

The defenders and exponents of the true teaching of the Church were Sophronius, the Patriarch of Jerusalem and the Constantinople monk Maxim the Confessor, whose tongue was cut out and his hand was cut off for his firmness of faith.

The Sixth Ecumenical Council condemned and rejected the heresy of the Monothelites, and determined to recognize in Jesus Christ two natures - the Divine and the human, - and according to these two natures - two wills, but in such a way that the human will in Christ is not contrary, but submissive to His Divine will.

It is noteworthy that at this Council the excommunication was pronounced along with other heretics, and Pope Honorius, who recognized the doctrine of unanimity as Orthodox. The determination of the Council was also signed by the Roman legates: the presbyters Theodore and George, and the deacon John. This clearly indicates that the ultimate authority in the Church belongs to the Ecumenical Council and not to the Pope.

Eleven years later, the Council reopened meetings in the royal chambers called Trulli, to resolve issues primarily related to ecclesiastical deanery. In this respect, it seems to have supplemented the Fifth and Sixth Ecumenical Councils, and therefore is called the Fifth-Sixth.

The Council approved the rules by which the Church should be governed, namely: 85 rules of the Holy Apostles, rules of 6 Ecumenical and 7 local Councils, and rules of 13 Church Fathers. These rules were subsequently supplemented by the rules of the Seventh Ecumenical Council and two more Local Councils, and made up the so-called "Nomokanon", and in Russian "Helm Book", which is the basis of the church administration of the Orthodox Church.

At this Council, some innovations of the Roman Church were condemned that did not agree with the spirit of the decrees of the Ecumenical Church, namely: the compulsion to celibacy of priests and deacons, strict fasting on the Saturdays of Great Lent, and the image of Christ in the form of a lamb (lamb).

SEVENTH Ecumenical Council

The Seventh Ecumenical Council was convened in 787, in the mountains. Nicaea, under Empress Irina (widow of Emperor Leo Khozar), and consisted of 367 fathers.

The council was convened against the iconoclastic heresy that arose 60 years before the council, under the Greek emperor Leo the Isaurian, who, wishing to convert Mohammedans to Christianity, considered it necessary to destroy the veneration of icons. This heresy continued under his son Constantine Copronymus and grandson Lev Khozar.

The Council condemned and rejected the iconoclastic heresy and determined - to supply and lay in St. temples, together with the image of the Honorable and Life-giving Cross of the Lord, and holy icons, to honor and worship them, raising the mind and heart to the Lord God, the Mother of God and the Saints depicted on them.

After the 7th Ecumenical Council, the persecution of holy icons was again erected by the following three emperors: Leo the Armenian, Michael Balboi and Theophilus, and for about 25 years the Church worried.

Veneration of St. icons was finally restored and approved at the Local Council of Constantinople in 842, under Empress Theodore.

At this Council, in gratitude to the Lord God who granted the Church victory over the iconoclasts and all heretics, the feast of the Triumph of Orthodoxy was established, which is supposed to be celebrated on the first Sunday of Great Lent and which is celebrated up to this day in the entire Ecumenical Orthodox Church.

In this idle-no-va-nii, all seven tables of the Church-vi are gathered - seven All-Lena So-bo-dvs.

Na-sha Tser-kov from-del-no-id-nu-em is the memory of the holy fathers of each All-Lena So-bo-ra.

Seven All-Lena So-bo-dovs are the establishment of the Church, its dog-ma-tov, the definition of the foundations of Christ-an-sko ve-ro-teaching. Therefore, it is very important that in the most co-cut, dog-ma-tic, in-pro-sah Cer -kove never took in the highest av-to-ri-te-you the opinion of one person. It was-lo-de-de-le-no, and to this day it remains that av-to-ri-te-tom in the Church-vi count-that-em-sya so-bor-ny ra -Zoom Tserk-vi.

The first two All-Lena So-bo-ra were in the fourth century, the next two - in the fifth, two - in the sixth.

The seventh All-Lena So-bo-rom in 787 for-kan-chi-va-epo-ha of the All-Lena So-bo-dov.

In the IV century, when there was a peri-od of mundane-ness - pagans-nikov and christi-an - here it was clearly visible, but also understood -but who is on which side, who is fighting for what.

But the enemy is not asleep, the fight is going on and on and on and on, more sophisticated about-ro-you: this is not a fight-ba language-che- state with chrism-an-stvm, and struggle-ba dia-vo-la and man-ve-ka. There is no more plus-sa and mi-nu-sa. Now, in the very environment of Christ-sti-an-skoy, among-di-de-christi-an, it appears that the church-people who that-rye carry the spirit of darkness - it would-va-et, that it is pre-saint-te-s or even saint-te-li. For-ra-wives av-to-ri-te-tom of the "church-teachers-te-lei" heresy, for them there are hundreds and you-sya-chi chri-sti- an.

Such a new way to fight against man is invented dia-vol: Church "pro-bu-et-sya for strength" out of chickpea -ri here-sya-mi and ras-ko-la-mi, here-ti-ch-ni-ni-ni.

IV century - the time of the first two All-Lena So-bo-drov - the epo-ha ob-ra-zo-va-tel-naya, when the great teachings come -te-li Tserk-vi, Ni-ko-lai Mir-li-kiy-sky and many others.

The holy fathers start to form the God-word-thought, but so far it does not form-mi-ro-va-na, here-ti-ki py-ta-ut-sya under-me-thread in-ny-ty, from-blood-veneration about God, about the persons of the Holy Trinity-and-ts - Spa-si-te-le , Doo-he Saint-tom. It’s very important to get together and work out those holy righteousness that will stay and will get stronger. Th stone-nya, solid-same-les-za, will remain until the end of the whole existence of the world.

All-Lena So-bo-ry usually co-bi-ra-lied in the most difficult is-to-r-ch-ry-ch-ry-o-dy of the life of the Church, when the will-no-niya in the chr-sti-an-skom world of sta-vi-li the right-to-glorious nation before you-bo-r.

Mo-gu-chai of the epo-ha of All-Lena So-bo-dov from the IV to VIII century you-ra-bo-ta-la those dog-ma-you and those za-kons, some unceasingly so-ver-sha-are in our Church to this day.

Church you-sto-I-la in such unbelievable mu-ch-no-ch-n-y-y, unbelievable is-py-tha-no -yah, and right-to-glory to-er-stu-is in 1014.

A holiday, in which the memory of the holy fathers of the seven All-Lena So-bora is honored, never a -tu-al-ness, because to this day, the enemy of the family is still new, very serious ways to fight with man and with the Church.

The great mover of our time, the recently departed ar-khi-mand-rit noted that the Russian Church was a lot -stra-distant-on-ra-zu Os-no-va-te-la her - we all go after the Gos-at-home, for the Cross-hundred-nose-cem.

What did the 20th century co-with our Cer-co-view? How far was a man from God in ancient times and now?

Look at other Churches, who is more like ben Christ? More mu-che-no-che-sko, go-no-my and un-what-my-oh-my, than the Russian Pra-in-glorious Church, there are no churches.

Now we have begun to revolve our thoughts towards God, but we are already standing behind our back false mess: only in the 90s dah we do not see-de-whether in Russia: ka-to-li-ki build their temples, pro-in-ve-du-ut pro-te-stan-you, krish-na-i -you and in-du-i-st - all teach differently about God, and what is going on in Ukraine - Russian Ior-dan, on the bottom ? And now, the fight-ba for the right-to-glory-only-to-usi-va-et-sya, if-if you take the si-tu-a-tion around pre-da-va- niya in the mas-co-voy school "Os-nov pra-v-glorious culture". By-is-ti-no, by-le-bit-you are a man-ve-ka heart ...

Raz-di-ra-et-Xia Te-Lo Church-vi prin-ci-pi-al-ny-mi ras-khozh-de-ni-mi, the highest ku-mi-rum, "The measure of all-su-shche-go" hundred-but-vit-Xia man-age. Young people want to be successful, god-ha-you-mi and go along this doubtful path to reach any-po-ty-mi success-ha in this world, not knowing that the words of the Holy God’s identity and His righteousness, and all this is attached to you ”() remain pro-ro-th-mi for all time.

In order to understand, where-yes, go-ti in this multitude of roads, like pillars, like a support, there is a memory of the holy fathers and the fact that they remain vi-li after-bya. All their dog-ma-tic decisions are kept by the Pra-glorious Church. We are called right-in-glorious-mi, so-chit, one-hundred-and-so-mi on the right-hand path.

The holy fathers do not allow us to wander in this buzzing sea of ​​modern scientific and non-scientific opinions. They have left us an inescapable legacy in the form of dog-ma-tov Tserk-vi, who keep us some-le-bi-mo on way to right-to-glory.

Bo-go-word-thought in the time of the holy fathers for-mi-ro-wa-las under the influence of one powerful fact -ra: need-ho-di-most-sti-protection-you christi-an-stva, on the one hand, from na-tis-ka language-min- ra, with the other - from the ras-va-va-yu-shch-th influence of heres-this. But their main ideas are for all time.

Christ-sti-an-bo-go-word development-vi-va-el, forming a slender ve-ro-teaching system, for-key-chav -which in itself eternal truths, explained in an intelligible way for a modern man-ve-ka language, under-strengthened- flax-nye ras-judg-de-ni-mi ra-zu-ma.

Ve-li-chai-nee to-a-hundred-in -ness of the holy-fatherly-god-word is that it was developed, not va-yas from the apo-so-sko-ted-giving, os-but-you-va-el on the Divine-ness-from-to-blood and co-answer va-lo for-pro-life.

ST. OF THE FATHERS OF THE SEVENTH UNIVERSAL COUNCIL

SATURDAY ON A LITTLE EVENING

The stichera are Sunday and the Mother of God according to custom.

at great vespers

On "Lord I have cried:" we sing the stichera of the Octoichus, 3 Sundays and the eastern one.

Stichera of St. fathers for 6, voice 6

Seven Councils of the Fathers / at different times former, having combined, / into one gathered by a single rule / very beautifully Patriarch Herman the New, / together and writing down and confirming their dogmas; / he them and the vigilant leaders of salvation / presents them to the Lord and the flock with the shepherds.

The letter of the Law established the sacred week / children of the Hebrews, who held onto the shadow and served it; / her fathers, gathered at seven Councils / by the beating of God, who completed all this in six days, / and day the seventh who blessed, / made it even more sacred, / setting out the definition of faith.

About the Trinity, all things in the world of creation, the true cause, / you clearly told, dear fathers: / for, three and four Councils / by the most mysterious reason, / and having appeared as guardians of the Orthodox teaching, / you themes presented four existing elements / and the Trinity, who created them / and created the world.

It was enough just once to fall down and to straighten up / to the most glorious prophet Elisha, / to breathe life / into the lying dead child his assistants; / however it went up seven times / and again leaned over him, / foreshadowing, like a seer, your meetings, / at which you mortified belief in The Word of God was animated / killed by Arius and his accomplices.

"Who tore your robe, Savior?" / - "Arius", - you said, - "who dissected the Trinity is equal to the honored Beginning to divisions." / He refused to consider You as one of the Trinity, / he and Nestoria teaches not to name Your mother Mother of God. / But the cathedral, gathered in Nicaea, / He proclaimed you the Son of God, O Lord, / to the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Arius the insane / divided autocracy of the Holy Trinity / into three dissimilar and dissimilar beings. / Therefore, the God-bearing fathers gathered together diligently, / flaring up with zeal, like the Thesbite Elijah, / with a spiritual sword they strike / the blasphemer who has invented the inglorious doctrine, / like the Spirit About announced.

Glory, voice 6: The mysterious trumpets of the Spirit - / we praise the God-bearing fathers in this day, / who sang in the midst of the Church / a song of theology, / preaching The Trinity is one, / unchanging in Being and Deity, / the dethrones of Arius and the Orthodox of people champions, / always praying to the Lord / for mercy on our souls.

And now, the Theotokos: the dogmatist of the voice. Entrance. The proxy of the day. And readings of the holiday:

1. Genesis reading

Abram, hearing that Lot, his nephew had been taken captive, counted his own household members - three hundred and eighteen - and chased after them to Dan. And he attacked them by night, he and his youths with him, and smote them, and pursued them as far as Hoal, which is to the left of Damascus; And he brought back all the cavalry of Sodom, and Lot his nephew, he returned, and all his property, both women and people. The king of Sodom went out to meet him upon his return from the defeat of Khodol-Logomor and the kings, former with him, to the valley of Savi, it was the plain of the kings. And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine - and he was a priest of the Most High God. And he blessed him, and said: “Blessed is Abram by God the Most High, who made heaven and earth; and blessed is God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hands. "

Genesis 14: 14–20

2. Deuteronomy reading

In those days, Moses said to the children of Israel: Look, I gave the land before you: come in, take as an inheritance the land about which the Lord swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give it to them and their offspring after them. " And I said to you at that time, saying: I cannot lead you alone: ​​the Lord your God has multiplied you, and behold, today you are like the stars of heaven in multitude. The Lord, the God of your fathers, may he add to you a thousandfold to that how many you are, and bless you as He has spoken to you. And I took from among you men wise, knowledgeable, and prudent, and appointed them to rule over you: leaders of thousands, heads of hundreds, heads of fifty, heads of ten, and chiefs of clerks to your judges. And I ordered your judges at that time, saying: “Listen litigation between your brothers and judge justly, between a man and his brother, and between a stranger, which at him. Do not respect the person at the trial: small, great whether you will judge. Do not be afraid of the human face, for this is- the judgment of God. "

Deut 1: 8-11; 15-17

3. Deuteronomy reading

In those days Moses said to the children of Israel: “Behold, with the Lord your God, the heavens and the heavens of the heavens, the earth and all that is on it. However, the Lord preferred your fathers, having loved them, and chose you, their seed, after them from all nations, to this day. And cut off your cruel heart, and harden your neck no more; for the Lord your God - he is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, a great God, and strong and terrible, who does not honor the face and does not take the gift, judging the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow; and loves the stranger by giving him bread and clothing. And you love a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. Fear the Lord your God, and serve Him alone, and stick to Him, and swear by His name: He is your praise, and He is your God, who has done with you those great and glorious deeds that your eyes have seen.

Deu 10: 14-18, 20-21

On the lithium of the stichera of the temple

Glory, voice 3: The apostolic traditions were strict keepers / you, holy fathers: / for having defined the Holy Trinity in an Orthodox way / Arius blasphemy you conciliarly rejected; / with him and Macedonia-Dukhobor denouncing, / condemned Nestorius, Eutychus and Dioscorus, / Sabellius and Sevir-Acephalus. / US the same those who have rid themselves of their deception, / keep our blameless life in faith / ask, we pray.

And now, the Theotokos: Without seed from the Divine Spirit / and by the will of the Fathers you conceived the Son of God. / From a Father without a mother before the ages, Having a beginning, / but for our sake, from You without a father who happened / You carried in the flesh in your womb / and nourished a baby with milk. / Therefore, do not stop interceding / for deliverance from the troubles of our souls.

On the verse stichera Sunday

Glory, St. fathers, voice 4: The annual memory of the God-bearing fathers, / from all over the universe gathered / in the glorious city of Nicaea, / we, the Orthodox congregations, reverently celebrate with faith. / For they Arius of the insidious godless doctrine / with a pious mind deposed, / and expelled him from the Catholic Church, / and it is clear that the Son of God is consubstantial and so the same eternal, / existing before of all centuries / everyone was taught to confess in the Creed, / having expounded it accurately and piously. / Therefore, we also follow their Divine teachings, / firmly believing, serve / with the Father, the Son and the All-Holy Spirit in one Deity, / Consubstantial Trinity.

And now, the Theotokos: Bend down to the prayers of Thy servants, O All-blameless, / stopping the troubles that rise against us, / rescuing us from all sorrow: / for You alone how We have a firm and reliable support, / and we have found protection in You. / Let us not be ashamed, Lady, calling on You! / Hurry to execute prayer to You with faith crying: / "Rejoice, Lady, help to all, / joy and protection and salvation of our souls!"

If a vigil is celebrated we sing: Virgin Mary, rejoice: (2)

Troparion of St. fathers, voice 8

Thou art glorified, Christ our God, / how shone on the earth of our fathers who established, / and with them on the path of true faith, who directed us all, / Most Merciful, glory to Thee! (1)

at matins

On "God is Lord:" we sing the troparion of the Sunday voice twice.

Glory, troparion of St. fathers, voice 8

(1)

And now, the Theotokos: For our sake, born of the Virgin / and the crucifixion, / who overthrew death by death / and manifested the resurrection as God, / do not despise, the Good, created by your hand; / manifest Thy humanity, Merciful, / accept the Mother of God, who gave birth to you, interceding for us, / and save, our Savior, people who have despaired .

Canons: Sunday with Irmos at 4, Holy Cross at 2, Mother of God at 2 and St. fathers, a voice 8 to 6, having an acrostic: "I sing the Blessed Assembly of the Seventh." The creation of St. Patriarch Herman (Greek: Theophan).

Canon of St. fathers, voice 8

Song 1

Irmos: Pharaoh's chariot chariot was loaded / the once miraculous rod of Moses, / with a cruciform blow divided the sea, / Israel saved the fugitive, the traveler on foot, / who sang a song to God.

Me, sing the seventh fathers Assembly to the aspirant now, / grant, Lord, from the seven gifts of the Comforter, / who made wise as if fiery tongues that council / and silenced all blasphemous idle talk.

From the beginning, the greatest of the numbers is the seventh: / and, indeed, the entire creation of the Divine became an archetype / perfect repose on the seventh day; / and now - the end of all heresies / at the Council of equal numbers.

The former victorious theomachist Arius in Nicaea / the host of fathers with the pastoral staff / Orthodox teachings directed the Church, / and now the iconoclasts in it have put the iconoclasts to shame, / how truths champion.

Theotokos: As the fathers piously taught, / we confess faithfully the Virgin's womb, / painlessly gave birth to the Ethereal in the flesh; / and worship Him, inscribing an image on the pillar, / and his kiss with respect.

Confusion: I will open my mouth / and they will be filled with the Spirit; / and I will utter a word to the Queen Mother, / and I will appear brightly triumphant, / and I will joyfully sing Her miracles.

Song 3

Irmos: He who established heaven in the beginning wisely / and founded the earth on the waters! / On the rock of Thy commandments, Christ, confirm me, / for there is no saint but You, / the only Man-lover.

Mysteriously taught by Christ, / that His indestructible Church will not be shaken, / Divine shepherds who wanted to shake her, / as to the lot of Antichrist owned by, / they rejected the pious.

Cleans the muddy and dirty streams, / having gleaned from the sources of salvation, / and saturates the thirsty people of Christ / teachings with the streams of the fathers of the assembly.

Against true haters, / accusers of Christians / The Seventh Meeting of the Christ-loving / took place in the glorious city of Nicea, / kings the same Irina and Konstantin are his defenders.

Theotokos: May every wicked retire / who does not honor the sacred icon of the Mother of God / and does not proclaim that She / carried the God-man in the womb of Christ, / and be sent into the fire / to burn in him endlessly.

Confusion: Your singers, Mother of God, / is a living and abundant source, / who arranged a spiritual holiday, confirm / and in your divine glory / honor the crowns of glory.

Kontakion and ikos are Sunday.

Sedalen of St. fathers, voice 4

By the luminaries of the glorious truth of Christ / you have appeared to the world on earth, / truly blessed fathers, / having dried up the heresies of inglorious idle talkers / and extinguished similar flames of confusion of blasphemers. / Therefore, as the saints of Christ, / intercede for our salvation.

Another sedan of St. fathers, voice 2

Glory: From the beginning, the hostile Arius / fiercely incurred violence, Savior, on Your Church, / but by this, they were moved, the fathers of the army / defeated him, / and You, how The word consubstantial with the Father / praise with faith.

And now, the Theotokos: Present yourself soon, Virgin-Mother pure; / Deliver us from enemies who blaspheme against You / and do not worship You; / crush all heresies of idle talk, / (destroy their aspirations by Thy power), / may they know that You are the only Mother of God, / the Orthodox host / saving by Thy intercessions.

Song 4

Irmos: You are my fortress, Lord, / You are my strength, / You are my God, You are my joy, / who did not leave the bowels of the Fatherland / and who visited our poverty. / Therefore, with the prophet Habakkuk, I proclaim to You: / "Glory to Your strength, Humanitarian!"

Having the Word of God with an arrow and a sword, / the most God-like fathers / completely destroy all those hostile / who do not equally respect the image of the Cross with the image of the Cross / Christ, the Mother of God and all the saints.

Like the walls of Jericho from the sound seven pipes / collapsed on the seventh round; / so the seven Councils brought down into the abyss / the whole regiment ascending to God, / at the Seventh Assembly / the euphonic trumpets of the Spirit.

Youthful showing resistance / and being inflamed with divine jealousy, / the fatherly host, like Elijah, / killed the bad priests. / Therefore, with boldness to the image of Christ / he decreed how to worship.

Theotokos: You are my hope, All-Pure, / You are my singing, / You are my harbor, You are my guidance, / You are God, the Word of the Father incarnate, / without combination with husband carried in the womb! / Therefore, I adore Thy icon without a doubt, / strengthened by Thy power.

Confusion: Sitting in glory / on the throne of the Divine, / on a light cloud, / came the most divine Jesus, / wearable with a blameless hand, / and saved those crying: / "Glory to Christ, to Thy strength!"

Song 5

Irmos: Why did You reject me / from Your face, inextinguishable Light, / and foreign darkness covered me, the unfortunate one? / But turn me to the light of Thy commandments / direct my ways, I pray.

Having considered together with lofty thought, / the venerable fathers anathematized / those iconoclasts, as strange invented; / and honor to the image of Christ, as befits, / they decided to give.

Now is the time of rejoicing, / now the day of salvation has come; / let us rejoice and joyfully exclaim to Christ: / "Give us thy peace with the prayers of the fathers / of the Seventh Council, Humanitarian!"

Theotokos: By merciful mercy / the Son of God was born of the Virgin without change / wearing the foreign as His own; / and limited by this appearance, contemplated at will To his, / - He is truly unlimited by nature.

Confusion: All amazed world/ about your divine glory: / for you, the virgin who did not know marriage, / carried in your womb Yours The Most High God / and gave birth to an eternal Son, / to all who praise You, the world giving.

Song 6

Irmos: Have mercy on me, Savior, - / for my iniquities are many, - / and bring me out of the depths of evil, I pray; / for I have cried to You - and You hear me, / God of my salvation!

Let the mountains sprinkle sweetness and joy: / for the heretical multitude has been expelled, / pouring out bitter poison / - rejection of holy icons.

Heaven and earth celebrate in agreement / for the sake of the greatness of the Daughter of God: / and she is really exalted / by the deposition of those who humiliate her.

Theotokos: The Son of the Mother - He who was formerly / the Son of the Father without a mother. / He but without a father he was born, as befits God, / and revived me. / That is why I gave birth to the Born / depicting, kissing.

Confusion: This divine and honored by all / celebrating the feast of the Mother of God, / come, God-wise, / we will begin to applaud, / glorifying the God-born from Her.

Kontakion St. fathers, voice 6

His

Ikos: All-merciful God, / always wanting to encourage us / to a perfect memory of His incarnation, / gave people this method: / through painting with paints of icons / to reproduce the venerable image; / so that when we see him before our eyes, / we believe what we heard in the word, / knowing clearly the deeds and the name, / the appearance and deeds of holy men, / and Christ, the giver's crowns, / the giver's crowns, / the ascetics and martyrs. / Thanks to them, the Church today, / holding on to the true faith even more definitively, / is kissing the icon of the incarnation of Christ.

Canto 7

Irmos: God's descent / fire was ashamed in Babylon at one time; / therefore the youths in the oven, with joyful feet / as if dancing in a meadow, sang: / "Blessed are You, God of our fathers!"

The heresiarchs / dogmas of theological men, / combining honor of images with prototypes of law, / as the great Basil said, are defeated. / Blessed be the God of our fathers!

Temples dress up, / are now adorned with shining icons; / therefore the world in the churches / more than all people in blooming beauty / sings along with the singers: / "Blessed be the God of our fathers!"

Light has risen, darkness is far away; the wicked are driven away. / Therefore, everything, having been filled with light, / the light of the Giver of Christ / joyfully sings and proclaims: / "Blessed is the God of our fathers!"

Theotokos: All-pure Lady, / one hope for all salvation, / in awe-inspiring manner / who gave birth to the King of Kings Christ! / On hands Their He, like a baby wearing, / with Him together accepts worship / in images, as the fathers say.

Confusion: God-wise did not honor / creations more than the Creator, / but threatened them bravely trampling the fire, / joyfully chanted: / "Glorious Lord and God of the fathers, / blessed are You!"

Canto 8

Irmos: Sevenfold oven / Chaldean ruler / for those who worship God in a frenzy kindled; / but when he saw them by the power of the supremely saved, / to the Creator and the Redeemer he cried: / "Bless the children, chant the priests, / exalt people in all ages!"

It is the most skillful of the fathers that law establishes the assembly / proper worship of God / and the restoration of the sacred icon of Christ. / We, who love piety, / their annual memory / as obedient children do / and kiss the image of Christ with love.

Seven times bend the humble, the lofty / and the aspirations of those who love virtue reflected, / by slandering / their divine deeds; / but of the Seventh Council, the fathers who met at Nicaea / immediately lower their brows / seven times stronger.

Arrows of infants according to the psalm become / for the elderly wise / ulcers and wounds from the immature mind; / and many tongues are fatigued by the Divine power, / blasphemy against high words; / and everyone who does not know the Father, Son and Spirit, / One God, and the only culprit.

Theotokos: The Creator is being created, how Infant, / voluntarily by His mercy from Your pure blood, / keeping You cleansed after childbirth, completely blameless / and cleansing the defiled image our... / That is why the icons depict with You / He who became a man by nature, / although he is God by nature.

Confusion: The pious youths were saved in the furnace / The Child of the Theotokos was saved: / then - the representative, and now - the acting; / He calls the whole universe to sing to You. / Sing to the Lord, creatures, / and exalt in all ages!

Canto 9

Irmos: Heaven was amazed at that, / and the borders of the earth were horrified, / that God appeared to people in flesh, / and Your womb became wider than heaven. / Because of You, Mother of God, / the hosts of the Angelic and the Human praise.

Great power and in his holding everything to the will, / incomprehensible one God, / the most powerful of all the Head, the autocratic Tsar! / Confirm the Church, in Thy Orthodoxy her preserving, / by the prayers of the all-glorious fathers, who have put to shame.

Great honors have you received on earth, / heavenly mind acquired saints, / for Christ's image was honored, as it should be. / And now, having laid aside a shadow and a covering of flesh, / personally you see His Face, / and you are worth more.

Crush the barbarian cavalry of omnipotence, / whose onslaught You yourself initiated for our punishment, / and their insolence against us, and assist / in the struggle of the king, who is entrusted to You, Creator of everything, / by the bold intercessions of the holy fathers, / whose memory we celebrate.

Theotokos: To comprehend the secret of the awe-inspiring of Your birth / cannot in any way Not only mortal mind, / but even Angelic, lofty: / for You supernaturally gave birth to the Incarnate God. / Therefore, we, knowing You, how The Mother of God, / with Him depicting, we magnify.

Confusion: Everyone on earth born / may rejoice, enlightened by the Spirit; / let the essence of disembodied Minds triumph, / honoring the sacred triumph of the Mother of God, / and call out: / "Rejoice, All-Blessed, / Pure Mother of God, Ever-Virgin!"

Sunday shine

Glory, St. fathers: Fathers, heavenly in mind, / gathered at the Seventh Council! / Bring fervent prayer to the Trinity, / may we get rid of all heresy and eternal condemnation / and reach the Kingdom of Heaven / we, your Divine Cathedral, singers.

And now, the Theotokos: Through the intercessions, good Lord, Thy Mother / and the fathers, at the seven Councils gathered, / Strengthen the Church and strengthen the faith, / and reveal all the fellows of the Kingdom of Heaven, / when you come to earth to judge all creation.

The Theotokos' Sunday lamp is not read.

On "Praise:" Sunday stichera 4

and St. fathers 4, voice 6

All having combined the art of the soul, / and together with the divine Spirit, conducting research, / the heavenly and sacred Symbol faith/ the venerable fathers inscribed with divinely inspired letters. / In it they teach the clearest way, / that the Word to the One who gave birth is from the beginning / and in all truth is consubstantial, / openly following the apostolic teachings, / glorious, and all-blessed, and truly divinely wise.

Verse: Blessed are you, Lord, God of our fathers, / and your name is praised and glorified forever. Dan 3:26

All, having accepted the immaterial radiance of the Holy Spirit, / supernatural prophecy / in short words and many minds / divinely spoken fathers blessed, / as Christ's heralds, / defenders of the teachings of the gospel and the traditions of the pious, / clearly received their revelation from above / and, enlightened, the definition faith,/ taught by God, set out.

Verse: Gather Him / His saints. Ps 49: 5a

All having gathered pastoral art / and moved by anger to the now righteous, / in all justice drove away / fierce and destructive wolves, / by expelling the Spirit their from the fullness of the Church, / as fallen to death and as incurable incurable, / divine shepherds, / as the true servants of Christ / and the sacraments of divine preaching / the most sacred servants.

Glory, voice 8, George of Nicomedia: The Holy Fathers are a host / gathered from the ends of the universe, / of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, / one nature and nature as a dogma proclaimed / and the sacrament of theology / was clearly conveyed to the Church. / Praising them, let us glorify them with faith, proclaiming: / “O divine regiment, / theological warriors of the Lord’s militia, / the stars of the many-luminous firmaments of the immaterial, / the mysterious Zion towers impregnable, / mvrom fragrant flowers of paradise, / the mouth of the Word, all of gold, / Nicaea praise, the universe is decoration! / Intercede earnestly for our souls! "

And now, voice 2: Blessed are you, Virgin Mary: Great doxology, Sunday troparion, litany and dismissal.

At the liturgy

Blessed are Octoicha at 6 and St. to the fathers canto 3, on 4.

After entering the troparion Sunday

and St. fathers, voice 8

Thou art glorified, Christ our God, / as the lights of our fathers on earth who established our fathers, / and by them directed us all to the path of true faith, / Most Merciful, glory to Thee!

Then the Sunday kontakion,

Glory, kontakion of St. fathers, voice 6

The Son, who shone ineffably from the Father, / was born from a wife in two natures. / Knowing this, we do not deny the outline His appearance, / but piously portraying him, we worship faithfully. / And therefore the Church, holding on to the true faith, / kisses the icon of the incarnation of Christ.

And now: temple of the Virgin, or"Intercession by Christians:"

Voice proxy

and St. to the fathers, voice 4, song of the fathers

Blessed are You, O Lord, God of our fathers, / and your name is praised and glorified forever. Dan 3:26

Private apostle

and St. fathers, to Hebrews, conceived 334

Brethren, remember your instructors, who preached the word of God to you, and, looking at the end of their life, imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be carried away by different and alien teachings; for it is good by grace to strengthen hearts, and not with food, from which those who practice them have not benefited. We have an altar from which the servants of the tabernacle have no right to eat. Since the bodies of animals, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for the cleansing of sin, are burned outside the camp, then Jesus, in order to sanctify people with His own blood, suffered outside the gates. Let us therefore go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach; for we do not have a permanent city here, but we are looking for the future. Let us therefore through Him continually offer God the sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of the lips that glorify His name. Do not forget also goodness and sociability, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. Heb. 13: 7-16

Alleluia of the voice and st. fathers, voice 1

God of Gods Lord spoke and called the earth from the east of the sun to the west. Poem: Gather His saints to Him who have made a covenant with Him about sacrifices. Ps 49: 1, 5

Common gospel

and St. fathers, from John, conceived 56

In those days Jesus lifted up His eyes to heaven and said: Father! The hour has come, glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son will glorify Thee, for Thou hast given Him authority over all flesh, and that He will give eternal life to everything that Thou hast given Him. This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ sent by You. I have glorified You on earth, I have completed the work that You have commissioned Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me with You with the glory that I had with You before the world was. I have revealed Thy name to the men whom Thou hast given Me from the world; they were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they have understood that everything that You have given Me is from You, for the words that You have given Me, I have given them, and they received, and truly understood that I came from You, and believed that You sent Me. I pray for them: I pray not for the whole world, but for those whom You gave Me, because they are Yours. And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I am glorified in them. I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father! keep them in Thy name, those whom Thou hast given Me, that they may be one, as We are. When I was in peace with them, I kept them in your name; those whom You gave Me, I have kept, and none of them perished, except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. Now I am coming to You, and I say this in the world, so that they may have My perfect joy in themselves. John 17: 1-13

Involved

Praise the Lord from heaven; praise Him in the highest. And another: Rejoice, the righteous, in the Lord, praise is proper for the righteous. Alleluia. (3) Ps 148: 1; 32: 1

Memory of the Holy Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council Confession, repentance is one of the sacraments of the Church. When we confess aloud before a priest, Christ the Lord Himself invisibly stands nearby, Who accepts this confession and knows all our sins much better than we do.