The Nicene Creed, also called the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, was composed and affirmed at the first ecumenical council at Nicea (325 AD) and at the second ecumenical council in Constantinople (381 AD). The text is probably somewhat familiar to most.

The word ‘creed’ comes from the Latin word ‘credo’ which means ‘I believe.’ In the Orthodox Church, the Nicene Creed is usually called the ‘Symbol of Faith,’ meaning the creed is the symbol—the ‘bringing together’ and the expression and confession—of the whole Christion faith. It is used as the formal statement of faith of anyone entering into the communion of the Orthodox Church. In the same way, it is an essential part of the life of Orthodox Christians and an essential element of the Divine Liturgy of the Orthodox Church at which each person formally and publicly affirms and renews their baptism and membership in the Church.

Here is the text as preserved without alteration or addition in the Orthodox Church:

The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed

(As recited in the Divine Liturgy)

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only-begotten, begotten of the Father before all ages; Light of Light; true God of true God; begotten, not made; of one essence with the Father; by Whom all things were made; Who for us men and for our salvation, came down from heavens and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became man; and was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate and suffered and was buried; and arose again on the third day according to the Scriptures; and ascended into the heavens and sitteth at the right hand of the Father; and shall come again, with glory, to judge both the living and the dead; Whose Kingdom shall have no end; and in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life; who proceedeth from the Father; Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; Who spake by the prophets. In one Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the remission of sins. I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the age to come. Amen.