Technically speaking, synodikon are the minutes, conclusions, and/or issuances from an ecclesiastical meeting of a synod – such as a synod of bishops. The Synodikon, however, is a liturgical text or statement read each year on the Sunday of Orthodoxy (first Sunday of Great Lent) containing a series of praises for the heroes of Orthodoxy and for emperors and bishops who distinguished themselves in the struggles through the centuries against heretics and heresies that attempted to adulterate the true Orthodox faith. This is then followed by a series of anathemas against the heresies and those who ascribed to them (i.e. heretics). The text of the Synodikon was originally composed by Patriarch Methodius I in the year 843, particularly for the feast of Orthodoxy. It was edited by Patriarch Sergius II in about 1000, and later old names were taken off and new ones inserted. In recent years, however, only the praises have come to be read in church. The Synodikon is generally read at Orthodoxy Sunday vespers, during which time a procession of icons takes place commemorating the restoration of icons in Orthodox worship following the Iconoclast Controversy of the Eighth Century.
