Day 15: Sunday of Orthodoxy - Different Orthodox Traditions Compared

From Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Lent )

The First Sunday of Great Lent is the Feast of Orthodoxy, which commemorates the restoration of the veneration of icons after theIconoclast controversy, which is considered to be the triumph of the Church over the last of the great heresies which troubled her (all later heresies being simply a rehashing of earlier ones). Before the Divine Liturgy on this day, a special service, known as the "Triumph of Orthodoxy" is held in cathedrals and major monasteries, at which the synodicon (containing anathemas against various heresies, and encomia of those who have held fast to the Christian faith) is proclaimed. The theme of the day is the victory of the True Faith over heresy. "This is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith" (1 John 5:4). Also, the icons of the saints bear witness that man, "created in the image and likeness of God" (Genesis 1:26), may become holy and godlike through the purification of himself as God's living image.

The First Sunday of Great Lent originally commemorated the Prophets such as Moses, Aaron, and Samuel. The Liturgy's Prokeimenon and alleluia verses as well as the Epistle and Gospel readings appointed for the day continue to reflect this older usage.

In keeping with today being the Feast of Orthodoxy, below are some links to Great Lent or Lenten recipes from a variety of Orthodox Church traditions. More will be placed over the next few days, so please be patient.

Website	Description	Images/Comments/Links
Greek Orthodox Lent, Week-by-Week description, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America	A very well organized and clearly written week-by-week description, with numerous references to the purpose of fasting, as well as how it benefits our spiritual world.
St. George Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Greenville, South Carolina (Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America)	Great church website, with interesting articles (in .pdf format) about the reasons, process and benefits of fasting during Lent.	Handout links for "Why Don't You Fast?", "Fasting", "More on Fasting"
Serbian Orthodox Lenten recipes	About.com's Eastern European Food page. It contains a variety of interesting recipes such as Serbian roasted eggplant-pepper spread (ajvar), Serbian sweet sauerkraut salad, white bean soup (pasulj), baked beans (prebranac), Lenten crepes (posna palacinke)
Russian Orthodox St. Innocent Russian Orthodox Cathedral, Anchorage, Alaska (O.C.A.)	Several delicious-sounding Lenten recipes are provided in this simple, but very effective page. Recipes include: banana bread, chocolate tofu pie, chocolate cake, orange cake, carrot cake, beer bread, Hawaiian wedding cake, apple cake, apple pancakes, lenten pancakes, quick green chile soup-stew, pasta with coconut-lemon curry sauce.
Ukrainian Orthodox	An interesting article by Dr. Alexander Roman "Hunger for Righteousness' Sake: A "how to" of fasting
Syrian Orthodox Lenten recipes	Although not a Syrian Orthodox Church, St. Paul the Apostle Orthodox Church, Dayton, Ohio (O.C.A.) contains several Syrian and Lent recipes, including Tabouleh, Syrian bread salad, Syrian potato salad, hummus and egglplant with sesame oil. The recipes are well organized in a 41 page .pdf.
Japanese Orthodox Lent recipes	Links to be provided at a later date.
Mexican Orthodox Lent recipes	Links to be provided at a later date.
Antiochian Orthodox Lent recipes	Links to be provided at a later date.
Polish Orthodox Lent recipes	Links to be provided at a later date.
American Orthodox Lent recipes	Links to be provided at a later date.
Cypriot Orthodox Lent recipes	Links to be provided at a later date.
Cretan Orthodox Lent recipes	Links to be provided at a later date.