Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council

1 On 29 May, according to the calendar of the Holy Fathers—known as the Old Style or Julian calendar—the Church commemorates the Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council. In the modern secular calendar, this day corresponds to 11 June. The First Ecumenical Council was held in 325 during the reign of Emperor Constantine in the city of Nicaea. An Ecumenical Council is a gathering of the episcopate of the Churches within the Roman Empire, as well as certain bishops from beyond its borders, invited to participate by the emperor himself. This gave the Ecumenical Council a legislative character. The Roman Empire referred to itself as the “Ecumene” (Greek for “universe”). 

2, The First Ecumenical Council adopted twenty canons—rules of immense importance for the life of the entire Church. Yet, unfortunately, few people today, even among the most devout believers, remember or know their content. The main practical decree of Nicaea was a single rule regarding the celebration of Easter, which to this day, in one form or another, is followed by all of Christendom.

3, Most importantly, the Council of Nicaea adopted the Nicene Creed, which solemnly proclaimed that the Son of God, who became man in Christ Jesus, is consubstantial with God the Father. This meant that the Son of God has always existed. He was not created, and there was no time, or any period before time, when He, the Son of God, did not exist or was not. This is a binding dogma of the faith.

4, The paramount importance of this dogma lies in the fact that only in this way can we be certain that everything Jesus Christ said and did during His earthly life was an unadulterated, direct divine revelation. We are saved by God Himself, Who entered history, lived among us, and became our Friend and Brother. In Him, salvation is certain and is granted to us absolutely and for all eternity. Faith in the divinity of Jesus Christ is a distinctive feature of Christianity.

5, The commemoration of the Fathers of the Ecumenical Councils during the annual liturgy, as well as throughout the year, is a distinctive feature of Orthodoxy. Let us strive to remember this. The significance of the Ecumenical Councils lies in the fact that they emphasize the essence of apostolic Christianity not merely as morality or doctrine—which is also important—but as Dogma. This also distinguishes Christianity from Judaism and Islam. The Orthodox Church recognizes seven Ecumenical Councils. The First Ecumenical Council is exceptional and the most important.

6, The city of Nicaea, whose name literally translates from Greek as ‘Victory’, was chosen as the venue for the Council for reasons that remain unclear to theologians and historians. The Council was originally planned to be held in Ankara, or Ancyra, whose name means ‘anchor’, the modern-day capital of Turkey, but was perhaps moved for logistical reasons. This change of venue proved providential. For that time, an event of such magnitude, following centuries of persecution, was unprecedented, the first of its kind in history and truly exceptional. The very name of the city seemed to confirm that the course of events had been predestined from above. A city bearing the name ‘Constantinople’—which was soon to become, and for many centuries thereafter remain, the capital of the entire Eastern Orthodox world—did not yet exist. It was founded on 11 (24) May 330. The tragic irony of history is that it was on 29 May (11 June) – that is, literally on the day commemorating the Fathers of the Council of Nicaea – that Constantinople fell to the Ottomans in 1453.