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is a very pastoral question. What do you do with

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former iconoclastic Christians who decide to

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return to the fullness of orthodoxy when they're

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converted from their heresy, if you want to put

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it in those terms? Well, it was pretty clear

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for lay people that they would be received through

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penance and confession. and then be restored

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to communion. But the issue was, what do you

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do with the iconoclastic clergy? How do they

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come in? Do they come in as laymen, because they

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promoted this heresy? They can't be priests and

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deacons. Or do we take an easy route and accept

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them in their orders and allow them to continue

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functioning now as Orthodox priests and deacons?

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The patriarch at the time was the famous St.

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Photius, who had been in the diplomatic service.

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He was a civil official before he became bishop

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and patriarch. And so he took a more mellow path.

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He belonged to, sometimes the history books refer

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to as the doves and the hawks among the bishops

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at this time. So he was a dove. leniency, let

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them abjure their heresy and come in. And that

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his point of thinking, his way of thinking is

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the one that was accepted at these councils in

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689 and excuse me, 769 and 770. No, 869 and 879.

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Got it right. The Presence of icons in the church

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is a fascinating one from my point of view. I

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remember years ago back in the late 1970s, there

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were a group of Christians called the Evangelical

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Orthodox Church. Many of you probably heard about

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them. But they were looking around and trying

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to discover how can we become Orthodox. So our

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bishops had an official dialogue with them. And

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I was asked to present a paper on the church

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as one holy Catholic and apostolic to describe

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what these four marks are of the church. And

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I was told, you know, don't be too soft. Say

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it as it is. And afterwards, I finished my paper

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and I looked around. at the Evangelical Orthodox,

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and I said, well, any questions? Anything to

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discuss? He said, nope, we believe everything

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you said, which was very gratifying to see the

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completeness of their mental conversion to the

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Orthodox Church. After the paper, also, Father

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Schmemann came up to me and he said, Father James,

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that was a very good paper. He said, but next

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time, I want you to present a paper that doesn't

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say so much that the church is the same, but

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I want you to present a paper which says the

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church is the true church because it is always

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changing, which is a fascinating way. I knew

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how Father Schmevin thought. And that has always

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stuck in my mind. And I think the development

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of icons, the president... The presence of icons

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in our church is a perfect illustration of what

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this means. The church is the same, but it is

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always changing. Because if you had apostles

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or first, second, third, fourth century Christians

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that came in, they would probably be surprised

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at the presence, proliferation really, of icons

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and images in our church. But their presence

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came about as an organic development, an integral

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process within the life of the church. It was

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something that was a change, but an intrinsically

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correct change. And that, of course, in the history

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of the Christian church, this is a real point

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of contention. What is an authentic development

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or what is an innovation? Notice the difference.

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An authentic development or an innovation. And

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icons are a perfect example of an authentic development.

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Even today, if modern non -Orthodox were to come

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into the church, Some of them, frankly, I don't

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mean this uncharitably, but some Protestants

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are modern -day iconoclasts, that there shouldn't

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be all this kind of artwork in the church. It's

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distracting, so to speak. So what they notice

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are the icons and the beauty of our liturgical

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worship. the texts, and the music. So what attracts

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people, by and large, to the Orthodox Church

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is the truth of what we teach, that what we teach

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is the one holy Catholic and apostolic faith,

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the one that was revealed by Jesus Christ, preached

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by the apostles. taught and explained by the

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fathers of the church and the councils of the

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church, which has come down to us as a package,

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as an authentic development in the life of the

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church. And the theology behind the presence

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of icons is precisely this. The hinge is that

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Jesus Christ as the... Troparian and the Kentuckian

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proclaim, no one could describe the image of

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the Father, but when you took flesh from the

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Theotokos, you accepted to be described. So the

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icons are an artistic affirmation of our belief

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that Jesus Christ is God who became a human being,

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became man. And in his human form, we can express

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the inexpressible incarnate word of the Father.

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So today is frequently called the triumph of

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orthodoxy. And in many places, the orthodox get

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together from all different jurisdictions and

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show everybody how united we are. You know, we

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really are united in our faith, but sometimes

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we don't put this unity into canonical practice.

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Let me put it gently like that. So we have so

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much, my friends, those of us who converted to

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the church, those of us who are cradle Orthodox,

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we have so much to be thankful for. particularly

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on this day, that we possess this pearl of great

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price, the fullness of the Catholic and apostolic

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faith, which has been transmitted to us. So today,

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with the entire church, let us thank God for

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this wonderful heritage that we have and let

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us live a life expressive of what God has given

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to us. in his church. Amen.