On the first Sunday of Great Lent, the Orthodox Church celebrates the victory of the right faith over all heresies, especially the iconoclasm. At the Romanian Orthodox Mission Church Saint John Cassian of San Antonio, Texas, the Divine Liturgy was served by Father Dean Emeritus Dumitru Păun from the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America (OCA), together with Father Valentin Ilies and many faithful present. After reading the Holy Gospel, Fr. Dumitru addressed a word of teaching in which he interpreted the Gospel, underlining how, like the Apostle Nathaniel, we are also called to confess Christ and have Him as Lord and Master of our lives. Fr. Dumitru also spoke about the importance of icons and how the honor is directed to the one depicted and not to matter. At the appointed time it was read the Meditation for the Sunday Orthodoxy of HE Metropolitan Nicolae. After the Divine Liturgy, Fr. Dumitru Păun held the conference "The Romanian Orthodox Church, the Spiritual Mother of the Romanian People", in which he highlighted the work of the Romanian Orthodox Church in the realization of the Union Act of 1918.             

This year, Saint John Cassian Mission was the host of the pan-Orthodox Vespers celebration for the Sunday of Orthodoxy, attended by priests and believers from the San Antonio Orthodox parishes (American, Greek, Russian, Antioch, and Serbian). At the right time, a procession with the icons around the church was done. On this day of great spiritual charge and for the joy of these moments of communion, at the end of the day all priests and believers enjoyed the brotherly agape prepared by the Committee of Ladies of the Romanian Orthodox Mission of San Antonio.

We thank You, Lord, for all the blessings that are poured upon us, and help us and teach us to praise and praise You all the days of our lives!