The evening of Orthodoxy Sunday, March 9, 2025, the first Sunday of Great and Holy Lent, Orthodox Christians from multiple jurisdictions of the Greater Cleveland area gathered at Saint Sava  Serbian Orthodox Cathedral for Pan-Orthodox Lenten Vespers, hosted by the Orthodox Clergy Brotherhood of Greater Cleveland. Presiding over Sunday Vespers was His Grace Bishop Irinej of Washington-New York and Eastern America of the Serbian Orthodox Church. More than 20 priests and several deacons from various jurisdictions, joined by their parishioners came to celebrate the "Triumph of Orthodoxy" – commemorating the victory over Iconoclasm and the restoration of the veneration of icons. With clergy and faithful from Lorain and Akron also present, the community realized our Orthodox unity in faith and prayer in record gathering.

Resplendent and deeply inspiring responses and hymns were sung in various languages and traditions of Orthodox nations, offered by Cleveland’s Pan-Orthodox Choir, under the capable direction of Deacon Milan Damljanovic. Joining them, in alternate chanting this year, were Cleveland area Byzantine chanters.

At the invitation of the Orthodox Clergy Brotherhood of Greater Cleveland, as the host hierarch, His Grace Bishop Irinej was requested to be guest homilist. At the conclusion of the service, His Grace delivered a remarkable homily reflecting on the divisive nature of secular, societal icons, which lead us away from the icon of Christ, “The Land of the Living” (Η χώρα των ζώντων), into darkness and lifelessness. The Bishop noted that Christ alone is the unifying icon of pan-humanity, as opposed to mere humanism, which is centered on humanity without God. He compared this to the first book authored by the Holy Bishop Nicholai Velimirovich, “The All-Man” (Свечовек). In this seminal work, he describes coming into unity with Christ the All-Man - we, as living icons of Christ, Who is the express icon of God the Father. He is the Existing One, Who is offered in the anaphora, “on behalf of all, and for all”. His Graces’s stirring delivery left everyone enthralled and uplifted.

The evening culminated in a social gathering in a packed parish hall. The St. Petka Circle of Serbian Sisters, known for their exceptional hospitality, prepared a delicious Lenten dinner for all. This provided an opportunity for the faithful to enjoy true fellowship with one another and to acquaint themselves with Bishop Irinej, the clergy, as well as other their fellow Orthodox Christian brethren.