Oh yes, this is my favorite topic. I like to talk about horrors and to powder the fragile young heads with world problems that often arise in the choir. The choir is a unique place. Unique themes that people manage to create trouble for themselves out of nowhere. There are several, essentially, good people working together. They work for pennies. And they are not engaged in the production of drugs, but through music and spiritual poetry they glorify the Lord. It would seem that things might not be going well for such sweethearts and darlings? Oh, how can it! I share my experience...
Let me start by deciphering the term “temptation”. By this word, a church person understands a conflict situation in which two (or more than two) people are involved, around whom a quarrel, misunderstanding arises, a dog runs through, and the relationship (sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly) tends to the freezing point. And I’m afraid that a simple soldering iron is not enough to warm souls covered in thick frost. The main idea that gives the phenomenon its name is the assumption that people do not quarrel on their own. They are thrown, as it were, “seeds of quarrels”, some potentially conflict situations Satan and his minions are demons. Sometimes you willingly believe it))
Since the singer does not sing in the toilet or bathroom for himself, but works together with someone, and has superiors over him in the form of a rector (and sometimes unspoken superiors in the form of a core of parishioners - church grandmothers), this is very rich and fertile soil for temptations. Temptations in the choir grow like grain crops on the rich soils of the Don region.
In fact, hello, Dr. Freud, the very structure of this work is such that even without any demons it is very, very easy to get into trouble.
I WANT TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR MY WORK
(AND NOT FOR SOMEONE ELSE'S)!
This is one of the main motives for quarreling. The singer sings in the choir. The choir consists of several people. Each person in the choir is not an angel, he is often just a professional musician after university, working his ass off in music school, or the opera house. That is, it is often a part-time job. And despite the fact that the main motive in a professional choir is to earn at least a little living (usually poor, close to poverty), the singer does not want to disgrace himself. In fact, who wants to participate in something extremely shameful and disgraceful, to go out red after the services, because you are ashamed of either the service that just took place, or the choir of frogs.
Basically, singers want to sing well. But the capabilities of each choir member are not equal, and there are purely physiological problems. The bass is cold and hoarse, the soprano critical days, and her husband yelled at the viola at home and she is still shaking. But I, being so good, came in a normal mood. And tuned in to perfect singing. And instead of singing - something similar to grunting. I'm being framed!
This is the most popular reason to quarrel. Temptation by unequal opportunities and desires. . She sang it poorly! He again (again!) missed that note! And she was five minutes late and drove me crazy. Here, each choir member mentally, in good purebred Russian (sometimes swearing), thanks the alphabet for kindly providing exclamation marks!!! For the nerves swarm inside the body like angry worms.
I'm being framed! I’m a genius, I want perfect singing, but “these” don’t let me show off. I want to sing well, but they don’t let me convey my excellent vision of these works, because they “recruited from the announcement of carriages”... By the way, this really happens. The rector can approach the regent and inform him that he is coming to the choir new person. And then he himself wonders “why today the service went as if the village choir of milkmaids decided to drink port wine and called the loader Vanya to sing ditties together”)) Because the singers are people with good imagination, and everyone already unanimously “anticipated” how “the new singer will ruin everything.” And the poor abbot is wondering what happened to his “birds”. The birds are already in full swing right during the reading of the Gospel at Matins, furiously arguing: “I won’t sing with her,” “if they still accept him, I’ll leave right away,” and similar variations on Khokhloma tunes.
How to treat: The Regent should NEVER allow the choristers to swear at the service. It’s just powerful to shut everyone up. We’ll decide everything at the rehearsals, period. “She sang it poorly”? We'll decide at the rehearsal. Does the abbot want to receive someone without the consent of the choristers? The regent must briefly say, like an ax, “I. This. I'll decide. All". Accordingly, the regent herself should quickly calm down the singers during the services (not allow their nerves to blaze like a nuclear warhead), but at the rehearsals they should completely remove the shavings. People in general react more calmly to failures if they are spared and if they know how to competently sweeten the pill at the right moments.
Actually, this is the main difficulty of working in the choir - people want results, but they disappoint each other by wanting more from a colleague than he can give.
But sometimes you believe in demons and temptations precisely in the church sense.
AND WHAT SHE GOT AT ME...
This also happens. You seem to be doing everything well and correctly. If you do your job well, you will also pile up unnecessary responsibilities on yourself. It seems that there should be an ideal attitude towards you. But you, as a sensitive person, feel that some other person is constantly against you, as they say among young people, “nosit”)) What he needs from you, you cannot understand, but in general you irritate him by the very fact of your existence.
The main feature of this type of temptation is its global injustice. A person who suddenly “filled himself with black water” against you, from your point of view, has no motives to behave this way. But the facts are before your eyes! You see that they don’t like you for something. Moreover, not everything, but only special person(less often a group of people).
Moreover! Sometimes, out of the blue, you yourself feel similar feelings towards a certain singer. You suddenly “realize” that this person is a pretender and in fact “much worse than he really is.” How come you haven't seen this before? Yes, he himself is Lucifer in the flesh! Or, if not to be dramatic, it suddenly seems to you that a certain person taken has very unpleasant qualities that don’t make you feel good. And you are tempted to say something to this person about this. Despite the fact that you’ve been working together for years, and before you didn’t notice anything like that in him, but now suddenly you noticed it.
The trick with such temptations is that “there is no reason,” no reason for this to work in principle. Such conflicts should not arise! But they arise. Moreover, they are always extremely offensive, because in such conflicts one of the parties is offended by the monstrous injustice on the other side. And that is why even the choirs fall apart from nothing from such temptations.
How to treat? Very simple. Someone is sulking at you like this. Go to the church cash desk and say, “I want to order a magpie for health in the NAME OF THE OFFENSER.” Yes, it will cost some money. But this is cheaper than the consequences of treating mortal offenses or leaving the choir. Does it work? Almost always. Do you have any doubts? Just check what you have to lose? If people believe in complete nonsense like horoscopes, then why not believe in the power of prayer for the offender. Still, prayer is a bright force.
I AM NOT VALUEED!
A huge powerful layer of temptations. Temptations of this type peak at Lent(weaker, but also there - on Rozhdestvensky). This temptation looks like this. It suddenly begins to seem to you (and with all convincingness) that they look at you strangely, speak with disdain, and generally do not value you enough.
Resentment begins to accumulate in my heart, I want to leave, to prove “how bad it will be without you.” And if you left, you will constantly want to check “how they sing in the choir without you”; you will have a burning desire to hear how the singing turns from harmonious into an aria from the toilet. You will call choristers loyal to you, or stand in person at the service. And constantly reproach the singers, saying, “Well... singing has turned into garbage... How can this be... but it was enough to just recognize my value, to submit” - and everything would work out. Singing would return to normal.
This type of temptation is, firstly, classic, but also one of the most effective and powerful. The devil simply does whatever he wants with the choirs, where subconscious fermentation and thirst for self-satisfaction begin among the singers.
MONETARY CONFLICTS AND UNFAIR WORKING CONDITIONS.
This is one class of problems. People see some kind of injustice in payment and discord begins (unpleasant conversations take place in the group, singers miss services, behave more insolently than usual, the quality of singing has dropped). For example, a student receives the same amount as a master who has worked in the choir for more than 10 years. It's a shame? I think yes. In general, if I were the abbots, I would introduce a loyalty coefficient. Worked for a year - +10% to the nominal rate. Worked for two years - +15% to the nominal rate. 3 - +20, 4 - +25, 5 - +30. If you have worked in one place for more than ten years, you receive a base rate (which may change with inflation + a bonus for length of service) + 50%. The first employees develop a sense of career, a desire to improve and improve themselves (in order to work longer).
In general, the topic of unfair payment at the choir should be considered in a separate article, it is so voluminous. But in general, I urge rectors to always think closely and carefully about the topic of paying a) newbies b) old-timers c) regents.
GLOBAL SOLUTION TO TEMPTATION PROBLEMS
I came to the conclusion that it is very valuable for the choir to have a strong psychological leader who has high authority and strong power (he should have a whip). Such a leader usually knows how to anticipate problems by psychological analysis calculating conflict situations.
I have seen such people. They worked very gracefully. For example, they tell you the schedule. “Dima, you need to come a little later tomorrow, not at the start of the service. Don’t be tempted, this request is dictated by the fact that there is a lot of reading at the beginning, and we don’t want you to just stand there for an hour and become overtired.” After all, you could just say “come at 5 pm, not 4.” But they not only told me what time to come, but also explained why there was nothing humiliating in the request. I wasn't even given a chance to be offended.
And these people did this all the time. They justified, explained, and deciphered each of their orders. So that there are no incomprehensible moments, so as not to offend or offend. The attitude was caring and sensitive. At the same time, they did not slip into familiarity and pathetic muttering of excuses. They had power and they could draw the line in time: “Dima, I’m not your friend, but your boss, my task is for you to do your job well, and get the maximum for it that I can get for you.” You understood everything and accepted the rules of the game.
I think good leadership can be simply learned. And then 90% of the temptations that arise as a result of lousy management will disappear. And for demonic temptations, which can hardly be explained by rational arguments, there is a church fund and magpies for health))
Often in Orthodox circles one has to hear the notorious: temptation.
Temptation at home, temptation at work or, as they say now, in the office, temptation in the choir and even in the altar.
He put the kettle on the gas and forgot - temptation, overslept and was late for work - temptation, faked it in the choir - temptation, didn't put the incense in the censer - that's it.
It seems that, on the one hand, for the Orthodox, the word temptation replaced all existing swear words at once, and on the other hand, it became the best way shift responsibility for your own mistakes to “someone” further away.
In the first case we are talking about ordinary distortion meaning of the word, which happens all the time today. In the second, everything is much more interesting.
And indeed, the word temptation is often used when a mistake is made, when something doesn’t work out, falls out of hand, or, for example, when it’s rightfully dealt with by the authorities. Then it’s right there.
I recently visited an Orthodox organization. I must say that the agreement that I would arrive there on this particular day already existed a week before my appearance. Having learned that a person had arrived to receive the necessary and very important documents, the organization’s employees suddenly began to run back and forth around the office, shouting something to each other and, most importantly, literally repeating every second: “Oh, temptation.” Having difficulty making out some phrases in the general chaos, I realized that the documents that had been prepared for me and had been lying on the secretary’s desk for three days had mysteriously disappeared. In short, a poltergeist occurred in an Orthodox institution. A few minutes later it turned out that, due to inattention, the secretary gave the documents to a completely different person, who by that time was already halfway to Novosibirsk. As usual, they kept repeating for a long time: “You see what a temptation it is.” Actually, it was not possible to find out why the documents disappeared - because of the machinations of the evil one or because of the laxity of the secretary. I was leaning towards the second. They agreed with me in principle, but assured me of the former.
Of course, we must not forget that the evil one does not sleep and creates situations that push a person to commit sin. The Holy Scripture testifies to us that there really are temptations (Matthew 4:1-11). But isn't it possible to fight them?
On this occasion, I recall a story from the Patericon.
During Lent, the abbot, walking around the monastery, saw that in his cell, a monk was baking an egg over a candle. Abba immediately denounced the careless monk, to which he replied: “Forgive me, father, the demon has misled me…”. Suddenly, a demon appeared from under the stove and interrupted the monk: “Don’t believe him, father, I’m learning from him here.” This edifying story helps to understand the main thing - man is given free will, and no matter how the demon “confuses” him, he himself will always be to blame.
In any situation - even the strangest and most stupid - a person there is a choice. Moreover, according to the words of the Apostle Paul, temptation is never sent to a person beyond his strength(1 Cor 10:13). Therefore, no matter how much we would like to look in the eyes of God and our neighbors as an unfortunate victim of demonic tricks, responsibility for the actions committed will always lie with us. It is up to us to decide how to behave, what actions to take, what to do in a given situation. I repeat: the enemy is not asleep, but how effective his efforts will be depends on the person’s personal choice.
Evil spirits are always at work; They also acted during the time of the Savior. 
In the Gospel, by the way, there is a clear indication of how to fight temptations, or rather, how to prevent them. Watch and pray so as not to fall into temptation, the Lord urged the disciples His own in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:38). Of course, staying awake (that is, being always on the alert) and praying is extremely difficult, and even the Apostles could not stand it and fell asleep. But if you have the words of the Savior in front of you as an image to which you need to strive, then it becomes clear that you need to start small: by cultivating in yourself such qualities as composure, attentiveness, diligence, and then the need to complain about the machinations of demons in many cases will disappear on its own yourself.
Oddly enough, now the reason to remember that the evil one operates in the world is often the lack of professionalism and proper qualifications. Quite recently I learned that there is supposedly such a creature - a “choir demon”. I had never heard of this concept, and therefore I thought that it was marginal and not widespread among clergy members. My opinion was changed by a conversation with one young regent, who complained that her charges sang poorly during the service. As the conversation progressed, it became clear that all the troubles were to blame for none other than the aforementioned “choir demon,” who constantly made the singers either laugh or even swear at each other. To the suggestion that, perhaps, in the choir it is worth behaving more restrainedly, not chatting and not laughing, the interlocutor replied that she completely agreed with this, but, they say, the same demon makes the singers chat and laugh.
In the end, everything turned out as in Scripture: the serpent deceived me, and I ate (Genesis 3:13). But the false shame of our forefathers became the reason for their expulsion from paradise! After this conversation, I realized that there is a “teaching” according to which the “choir demon” is not the only one of its kind! Surely there is an “altar demon” that constantly puts tired sextons to sleep, a “refectory demon” that sows confusion among the cooks; Another special demon lives behind the candle box.
I decided to test my guesses, as they say, experimentally. The opportunity presented itself. In the morning I came to the temple for worship. The hours were read and the Liturgy began. Unexpectedly, after the exclamation “Holy of Holies,” a sexton rushed past me like lightning and ran up to the table where the grandmothers were preparing drinks for the communicants. “Mother,” the altar servant whispered breathlessly, “temptation... give me some boiling water urgently... oh, temptation...” “I see,” I thought, “I forgot to heat the water for warmth - the demon got me wrong.”
After the service, I went into the refectory, where I unwittingly witnessed an unpleasant conversation between the senior and junior cooks. “How you tempt me,” the head cook was indignant, “it’s the devil sitting on your shoulder and whispering, and you’re glad, happy, listening to him.” The woman clearly did not look like a person who sees demons, and therefore the “refectory demon theory” found its confirmation here. In general, it is not difficult to find out about the presence of specialized demons: they appear wherever the classic “oh, temptation…” is heard.
If we think seriously, temptation is a test that essentially always involves a choice: either a person succumbs to it, or overcomes it. Therefore, complaints about the evil one are nothing more than a desire to shift responsibility for one’s own mistakes onto him. The same false shame of our ancestors prevents us from admitting to ourselves and others the lack of professionalism, proper qualifications, basic diligence, and finally, our own sinfulness and our own imperfection.
The Apostle James strongly condemns this way of thinking:
When tempted, no one should say: God is tempting me; because God is not tempted by evil and does not tempt anyone Himself, but everyone is tempted by being carried away and enticed by his own lust (James 1:13-14).But the strangest thing is that complaints about demonic tricks are heard more often than anywhere else in the temple of God. For example, on Moscow roads, where you can hear anything, demons are remembered much less often. In fact, it is difficult to imagine a driver who made a U-turn through two solid lines and thereby grossly violated the rules traffic, explaining to the traffic cop that “it was the demon who confused him.” But the temple of God has long in our minds become a receptacle for various temptations, specific demons and similar evil spirits. Of course, a well-read person will object that in Gogol’s “Vie” the temple becomes a place where demons rage. But it also directly says that the temple was abandoned, neglected, that they did not serve in it, but by God’s grace we do not have this.
It should be noted that such parachurch ideas are supported by superstitions that have their origins in paganism, which often become the norm of life.
The most common “disease” that we, as usual, do not notice in ourselves is animism- the belief that the world around us is filled with spirits, usually evil. Wherever you look, they are everywhere. In turn, animism, like any other superstition, creates in a person a fear of dark forces. Fear, which does not contribute to salvation at all human soul, but on the contrary, it gives it over to the power of demons, traumatizing the human psyche (there is still a joke about a seminarian who baptized his socks before putting them on). And it turns out that we are afraid of not what we should be afraid of - Last Judgment, the last judgment, after which we will no longer be able to correct our lives, but the one against which we have the invincible weapon of the world - the Cross of Christ. In other words, we are afraid of demons and forget about the main thing... However, let’s turn to Scripture.
The Savior repeatedly demonstrated His power over demons, casting them out and commanding them (Mark 1:27; 9:25; Luke 8:29-32). Moreover, before the Ascension, He promised His disciples that those who believe in Him will be able to cast out evil spirits: In My Name they will cast out demons (Mark 16:17). It was probably providential that soon the pagans began to call the followers of Christ Christians. And they accepted this seemingly disparaging nickname and died for it, refusing to make sacrifices and worship idols, which are essentially the same demons. Yes, we are Christ's! - they bravely admitted, enduring every temptation of fierce torment and realizing that before the Name of God all the machinations and machinations of the devil become powerless.
And in fact, what can they do evil spirits if Christ deprived the one who had the power of death(Hebrews 2:14)?
And at every opportunity we try to point out that demons are stronger and more cunning than us, forgetting about our Christian dignity: You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people taken as an inheritance, in order to proclaim the perfections of Him who called you out of darkness into wonder. Your light; once not a people, but now the people of God; who once did not obtain mercy, but have now obtained mercy (1 Pet 2:9-10).
Meanwhile, Church Tradition brings to us cases that can give rise to, so to speak, constructive reflection.
Athonites tell about a monk who discovered a demon in his washstand. To begin with, the monk placed his cross on top of the washstand, and the demon began to pitifully beg to remove this terrible object that was causing him torment. The monk offered the demon freedom in exchange for singing “Cherubimskaya”. The unclean one resisted for a long time, but the monk was adamant, and even instructed in singing: you need to sing gently, melodiously, and not anyhow. After many unsuccessful attempts, it began to work out - and then the demon brightened, then became covered with whiteness, turned into an angel and flew away on luminous wings.
They also tell about a Russian schema-nun who said this: “When a demon tempts me, I tell him: are you being disgraceful? Come on, quickly kneel down next to me, ask the Lord for forgiveness for your deeds!”
And what we get is, on the one hand, a funny thing, and on the other, a rather sad thing. Of course, a situation where a person blames dark forces for any of his mistakes cannot cause anything but a smile. But the fear of demons, and even more so the desire to shift responsibility for one’s actions onto someone else, in itself seems very dangerous. Indeed, isn’t there a certain feeling of complacency and innocence if temptation is to blame for everything? Unfortunately, demons do not appear from under the stove so often to indicate our reluctance to work on ourselves, negligence and ordinary laziness. This is probably beneficial for them. But still, the question naturally arises: will the story of the “choir demon” at the Last Judgment be convincing?
Source http://kiev-orthodox.org/site/faithbasis/1967/
"...and a solemn silence settled in the church, broken only by the giggling and whispering of the singers in the choir. The singers constantly whispered and giggled throughout the entire service. There was once such a church choir that behaved decently, but I forgot where exactly "It was something a very long time ago, and I remember almost nothing about it, but, in my opinion, it was not here, but somewhere abroad." - Mark Twain. Adventures of Tom Sawyer. M., 1977. P. 28.
Let us at least remember the words of the prayer “as wax melts in the presence of fire, so may demons perish in the presence of those who love God and are signified.” sign of the cross".
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Liturgical singing
One of the most worthy and greatest types of serving God is liturgical singing. “Nothing so elevates and inspires the soul, does not detach it from the earth, does not deliver it from the bonds of the body, does not dispose it to philosophize and despise everything worldly, like consonant singing and a harmoniously composed divine song,” notes St. John Chrysostom. IN Holy Scripture it is said: “It is good to sing to our God”, “Sing to our God, sing, sing to our King, sing…” ... “sing all wisely.”
The beginning of the song of praise to God was laid by heavenly ethereal forces, and the reason for the angelic singing was the abundance of grace. The reason that gave rise to the existence of liturgical singing on earth was God’s gift of the Law to man. For the first time, a song to the True God on earth was sung by the Israelites who crossed the Red Sea. Before the prophet Moses received the commandments of God, liturgical singing on earth was impossible. By fulfilling the Law of God, man became like the angels, and due to the fact that singing was an integral part of the angelic nature, man also received the ability to sing praises to the Creator. This was a prototype of divine singing, and later it served as a preparation for the New Testament song.
Earthly liturgical singing has its own history. Before Moses, liturgical singing, as an independent melodic system, did not yet exist; service to the True God was done without singing. Music, as a phenomenon, participated in the service of pagan gods and from Moses to the Nativity of Christ was allowed to serve the True God. During the period of New Testament singing, that is, after the Nativity of Christ, liturgical singing, separated from music, was formed as an independent singing system.
According to Holy Scripture, when the active exploration of the outside world began, along with other historical events music appears, but unlike liturgical singing, the reason for its emergence is the loss of grace that followed shortly after the Fall. Man sought to replenish lost grace and in order to satisfy his spiritual hunger, man creates tools called “musical instruments.” Also in Old Testament The Jews were commanded to glorify God with all musical instruments. (Ps. 150:3-6). “Those tools were then allowed to the Jews, both because of their weakness, and in order to dispose them to love and harmony, to encourage their minds to do with joy what is beneficial, and with such delight of the soul to guide them to greater zeal.” Musical instruments were involved in liturgical singing in the temple even under King David. This activity was quite professional; the duties of each musician and the place of the instrument were precisely regulated. Thus, “Heman, Asaph, Ethan played loudly on brass cymbals, while the other eight people had to play on psalms in a “subtle voice.” Seven priests also joined in, blowing trumpets. It was a fairly established ensemble that required professional training.
Under Solomon, liturgical singing, in which the singing was accompanied instrumentally, received even greater development. During the dedication of the temple by King Solomon, the large number of singers (288) and musicians trained to sing to God in the temple were joined by another “120 priests blowing trumpets and were as one trumpeting and singing, uttering one voice to praise and glorify the Lord.”
Over time, the use of musical and instrumental accompaniment in liturgical singing has decreased significantly. After the Nativity of Christ, liturgical singing took place as an independent singing system.
Choir obedience
Readers and choir singers perform a special service in the church. The reading in the temple is reverent and close in melody to singing.
In the New Testament Church, singing is sanctified by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. The Gospel says that the Lord and His apostles after the Last Supper, having sung, went to the Mount of Olives (Matt. 26:30).
Earthly singers imitate heavenly ones, prefiguring the seraphim, flaming with love for God. Choir obedience is performed with fear and reverence. The regent directs the monastic choir. The singers begin and end singing all together and, at the end, sign themselves with the sign of the cross. The regent makes sure that the singers sing touchingly and in harmony, for singing should touch the hearts of those present and lead to the glorification of the Name of God. Diligent singers, according to the testimony of the holy fathers, ascend to great spiritual perfection, and for reverent singing they are awarded the special favor of the Mother of God and the holy saints of God.
In the Vvedensky Church of the monastery, singing is performed in two choirs - right and left. On Sundays and twelve holidays they are joined by the upper mixed choir.
The regent of the mixed choir is Mon. Anastasia (Khristenko), the regents of the right choir are Mon. Agnia (Lyapina), Mon. Veronica (Purgel), Mon. Melitina (Spire), St. Iulia (Chebotaru), regent of the left choir - St. Fotinia (Efremova).
The sister choir under the direction of Monk Anastasia (Khristenko) recorded 2 discs of chants.
Choir obedience
God's providence for each person is special (which is why a confessor can give completely different advice to two of his children in the same situation) - and at the same time, the path different people intertwined all the time, revealing this amazing pattern of the Lord’s plan for the salvation of everyone.
Sometimes the way the Lord controls people’s relationships seems strange, even meaningless to the human mind: why does a grandmother get cancer, whose physical and spiritual help is so needed by her many little grandchildren? Why is a mother forced to bury her only son?
But the Lord does not need those who are prosperous in an earthly way, not intoxicated with worldly happiness, but saved souls. And if a person has become capable of prayer, the Lord takes him away from physical work (even if it seems to everyone around him that without him this work will completely stop and fall apart), and if a person is ripe for the Kingdom of Heaven, the Lord does not keep him on earth for an extra minute . He is needed there more. Even for us, for the living.
And sometimes it is even more incomprehensible by human standards. A wonderful shepherd goes blind and can no longer serve. But his spiritual children needed him so much - there, in the church, they needed his inspired services, his sermons... And the Lord needed to nurture his soul for the Kingdom of Heaven. And that means that otherwise she would not have “grown” to the measure assigned to her. And the Lord (temporarily or forever) takes away from a person the opportunity to increase external (even if directed towards the spiritual) talents, turning him inside his own soul: here it is, your garden, look after it... You seek, with all your heart, with all your soul, seek the Kingdom of Heaven, and I will take care of everything else - both those external things left behind, and those things you cannot live without now...
...The first time this happened was in the winter of 2004. Novice Tatyana called the temple and said that she and her mother were not feeling well and would not come. And then in a telephone conversation with me she added that maybe they would never come again. “Learn to read the Apostle, get ready to be a teacher.”
By that time, I had been reading in the choir for almost two years. Sometimes I was even left as the only reader in the service - but only in a regular one, which is easy to “build.” And only when there is definitely a choir - because I couldn’t sing at all.
But this time, when Tatyana and her mother got sick, it was Cheese Week. On the eve of Wednesday, I almost fell asleep in my arms with the Divine Service Instructions - a service according to the Lenten rite, but do I know it? The priests encouraged. But the confessor thoughtfully said: “As a teacher - well, fine, learn little by little... And the Apostle - no, no need for now...”. And indeed, on Saturday, when for the first time there was no altar boy reading, the familiar rustling of steps was heard: Tatyana and her mother Vera came. Mom Vera always went with Tatyana - she was very old and was afraid to stay at home alone. They placed a chair for her next to our reading table, and she sat in it throughout the service: when she prayed, when she dozed...
...The months passed. I graduated from college, by the grace of God I got a job in Synodal Department, entered graduate school... I only appeared in church on weekends. In addition, Tatyana gave us, the younger readers, all-night vigils - it became difficult for mother Vera to go to church twice a day. I was willingly released from work for all-night vigils, but neither my superiors nor my confessor allowed me to attend morning services. Meanwhile, Tatiana was blessed to serve at the altar (monastics are sometimes allowed to help at the altar) - and the Lord managed so that Lena, our third charter member, was able to read on all the days of Tanya’s altar service. morning services, there was both time and strength...
My work as a literary editor took up all my daytime and evening time(at home I finished reading what I didn’t have time to do at work). From time to time I cried out to my confessor: “I can’t combine study and work!” But he consoled: “You will learn.”
And once again I was not allowed to go to the library: I was proofreading a newspaper, I had to be there. I came home and called my confessor: Father, I can’t do both, I’ll never write a dissertation! And in response to my usual complaint, I suddenly heard something completely different: it means I need to give up something. Let's think and pray.
We prayed and thought for a week. On Saturday evening I realized: yes, I need to quit work. On Sunday, the confessor confirmed: yes, I understood that too, go away.
And on Monday morning Lenka called me: Tatyana and her mother Vera unexpectedly did not come to the service, because Vera’s mother’s legs gave out. Tanya said that all services remain with us... Let's divide the days - can you do it?
And the Lord arranged it the day before so that I could...
“You see,” the confessor said when I called him back, “we doubt, we suffer, but the Lord has already decided everything for us all...”
And a few days later he himself told me: “Learn to read the Apostle.”
...The time has come for Tanya’s retreat, the time has come to cultivate what mother Vera’s soul was nourished with in the church - and the Lord immediately changed their whole lives, took away many dear things (seven months without church - it’s scary to imagine! Especially for a person who went to church every day) in order to do the most precious thing - to help a mustard seed germinate...
For seven months, parishioners asked Lena and me: where is Tanya? How is Tanya, how is her mother? “They are at home, in seclusion, pray for them...” And prayers filled with love and anxiety reached out to Heaven, and a precious sprout stretched upward...
But Lenka and I were still waiting, asking on the phone: Tatyana, are you sure you’ll show up for Epiphany? And we heard an evasive answer: we won’t appear for a long time... And Lenka and I buried ourselves in Liturgical books. The Apostle, the proverbs, Great Compline, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts - everything that we, as “little ones” did not receive before, now fell upon us... Sometimes it seemed strange: Tatyana can do all this, Tatyana can read it better, why did the Lord arrange it this way? And you immediately realize: the Lord arranged it - and that’s enough, what else is there to inquire about...
Gradually, what was happening ceased to frighten me. We distributed the days, got into a rhythm: reading for 1.5 hours alone - after Lent it’s just childish fears... And when you go out with the Apostle, your knees no longer tremble, and you can even take your eyes off the book and look at the altar... It began to seem that Tanin shutter and ours independent reading may take more than one year...
And in mid-June my voice disappeared. We held out for two weeks with the help of other readers, then I went on a month’s vacation. I was diagnosed and given a course of treatment. But when it ended, the next day all the symptoms returned: it hurts to speak, instead of ligaments there is something soft, warm and plump, I can’t sleep at night because of the burning sensation... And Lenka is going on vacation from July 30, I can read alone - but how? I start frantically calling all the “junior” readers - by that time everyone is going to leave for vacation.
I called my father near Volgograd, where he is vacationing with his family. He worriedly: “Have you been reading these days?” Because the blessing is not to read until he returns, and if I violated it, then it’s clear why it all started. “Haven't you read it? – with relief, “Then this is God’s will, be patient, don’t be discouraged...” Consecrate yourself? God bless.
I said my last prayers. Not easier. But I finally calm down: good, that means everything is fine, the Lord Himself will manage, find readers... It’s not clear, however, how, where He will get them, but He knows better...
On the morning of July 30, one of the younger readers unexpectedly came to the temple, having changed her mind about going to the dacha. With her strength - under my leadership - we served Matins.
And on the 30th day, mother Vera died.
P.S. My reading obedience lasted almost 5 years - and ended with the strict blessing of the priest in the fourth month of my pregnancy, when, after the Entry into the Temple service Holy Mother of God, which I had to read alone, I suddenly almost lost consciousness, apparently from overexertion.
I cried at the first “non-cliros” all-night vigil behind the backs of my “comrades-in-arms” in Octoechos and Triodion. The first few months were unbearable. Then there was no time for these experiences anymore.
A year has passed since then. It's been a difficult year for me. How difficult it was, after several years of living “at the temple,” to accept the new, “mother’s” format of attending Divine services! How difficult it was to come to terms with the fact that parish pilgrimages, catechetical conversations in the hospital, Sunday parish conversations with the priest - all this is no longer my life. Only a few months after the birth of my son did I begin to slowly recover from these changes.
At the beginning of December, my husband, five-month-old son and I went on a “local” pilgrimage - to the Church of Equal-to-the-Apostles Olga, which was two bus stops from our house. My husband stayed with the stroller in the park, and I went to church. How unusual it was - again, as before, in my girlhood, to venerate icons without rushing, without throwing the child over right hand to the left, without stopping to think: “Won’t it blow through without a hat? Wow, they opened all the windows again!” and so on. One of the icons that I lingered near was the icon of the Apostle Andrew. I have never prayed to this saint in any special way before. And then I suddenly remembered that in a week his memorial day is the day of the angel of the late Father Andrei Grachev, the priest of our church, who baptized me. Not being sure that it is canonically possible to pray to a saint for a deceased person, I simply venerated the icon, without words, but with a sudden surge of tenderness. And she walked away. And in the coming days I did not remember either Father Andrei or the Apostle.
But it’s amazing how the saints respond to even such a fleeting impulse!
A week later, on the eve of the day of remembrance of the Apostle Andrew, Lenka called me with an absolutely incredible message: all the custodians of our church have absolutely urgent matters tomorrow, and therefore, can’t I read at the service?..
And here I am again at our table with books. First time in a year. It’s still half-dark in the church—Aunt Zina reverently lights the lamps one by one in front of the images. There is no one at the altar yet. I place an icon of the apostle on the lectern. Slowly, checking myself according to the Liturgical instructions, I lay out the Menaion, Psalter, Book of Hours on the table... The polyeleos service begins. Everything is the same as a year ago. Everything is as usual. Or maybe everything will come back? Well, think about it, son. My husband can stay with him on Saturday mornings. Or maybe it will work out on weekdays too - he’s a teacher, he doesn’t have to work every day...
My thought soars higher and higher. The voice sounds more and more confident, having “remembered” the desired reading style. It’s as if this year-long break never happened... Or maybe, maybe... is it God’s will for this return? After all, they couldn’t do without me today. It worked all year, but today they called me. Maybe it was the Lord who called me here? For good?
The younger reader nudges me with her elbow and whispers: “Write to me “Let us bless the Father...”, otherwise I will get confused.” I take a pen from the table, move the piece of paper towards me and... freeze.
On the handle is written “AGUSHA” in large letters.
The answer couldn't be clearer. This is my current obedience. And the choir is just a “one-time” gift. A gift from the Apostle Andrew.
...The most interesting thing is that none of the readers and instructions could tell me later where this pen came from. “Someone probably brought it,” Tatyana suggested absentmindedly. “They bring us a lot of pens.”
But I know who also wove this pattern into the intertwining of our destinies...
“The prayer rule guides the soul correctly and holy, teaches it to worship God in Spirit and Truth (John 4:23), while the soul, left to itself, could not follow the correct path of prayer. Due to her damage and darkening by sin, she would constantly turn to the sides, often into the abyss: now into absent-mindedness, now into daydreaming, now into various empty and deceptive ghosts of high prayerful states, created by her vanity and self-love.”
Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov
The urgency of the problem lies in the fact that at present many choristers and choristers believe that prayer is their singing itself, while the individual prayerful participation of singers in the choir is, in some cases, excluded.
The main idea that I would like to bring up for discussion: if a person does not pray at home, in calm atmosphere, then we can assume that he will not pray in the choir, where there are many temptations. The general conclusion that the authors wish to draw from this article is that in the choir it is advisable to sing only those singers who know completely, or close to it, evening and morning rule, or at least a certain minimum of prayers included in house rule.
The first question that should be considered within the framework of this topic is whether there are any provisions of the Russian Orthodox Church, determining the need for home prayer rules for Orthodox Christian?
Among the many books addressed to the laity, one should dwell on the “Christian Catechism” compiled by Metropolitan Philaret (Voznesensky). Chapter XXVIII of this catechism speaks of the importance and necessity of prayer for an Orthodox Christian.
“Whoever does not pray to God is not a Christian... Prayer is the first and most necessary element of our spiritual life. It is the breath of our spirit, and without it it dies, just as the human body dies without air... In the same way - in spiritual life everything depends on prayer, and a person who does not pray to God is spiritually dead... Prayer is a conversation between a person and God. He who remembers, knows, loves God will certainly turn to Him, and this turning is prayer. But the view of prayer that is so widespread now (especially among young people) is deeply erroneous. People often say: “If I want to pray, I will pray; there is no hunting - there is no need to force it, there should be no violence in prayer”... Complete misunderstanding of the matter! What would come of a person’s earthly activity if he did not force himself to do anything, but only did what he wanted?! This is especially true in spiritual life. In it, everything valuable and sustainable is acquired through effort, through the feat of working on oneself. Let us remember once again: “The Kingdom of God (and everything related to it) requires force” (achieved through effort). No, a Christian must once and for all lay in his heart the fact that he must pray at all costs - regardless of any of his desires or reluctances. If you have a good desire to pray, thank God, from Whom all good things come, and do not lose the opportunity to pray from your heart. If you don’t have this desire, and the time has come for prayer (in the morning, in the evening, in church), you need to force yourself, encouraging your dull and lazy spirit with the fact that prayer (like any good deed) is the more valuable in the eyes of God, the more difficult it is given.”
Thus, we see how great the importance of prayer is in the spiritual life of an Orthodox Christian: “Prayer is the first and most necessary element of our spiritual life... A person who does not pray to God is spiritually dead.” This is the meaning of prayer!
However, the Christian Catechism says nothing about the content of the home prayer rule.
The answer to this question is contained in the “Handbook of the Clergyman,” volume 4, p. 736.
“There are three basic rules of prayer:
1) complete prayer rule, designed for monks and spiritually experienced laity, which is published in the “Orthodox Prayer Book”;
2) a short prayer rule designed for all believers; in the morning: “Heavenly King”, Trisagion, “Our Father”, “Virgin Mother of God”, “Rising from sleep”, “Have mercy on me, O God”, “I Believe”, “God, cleanse”, “To You, Master”, “ Saint Angele", " Holy Lady", invocation of saints, prayer for the living and the dead; in the evening: “Heavenly King”, Trisagion, “Our Father”, “Have mercy on us, Lord”, “Eternal God”, “Good King”, “Angel of Christ”, from “The Chosen Governor” to “It is worthy to eat”; these prayers are contained in any prayer book;
3) a short prayer rule of St. Seraphim of Sarov: “Our Father” three times, “Virgin Mother of God” three times and “I Believe” once - for those days and circumstances when a person is extremely tired or very limited in time. You cannot completely omit the prayer rule. Even if the prayer rule is read without due attention, the words of the prayers, penetrating the soul, have a cleansing effect.” (End quote).
Should choir singers follow these regulations?
This question is not at all idle. Prayer is a person's communication with God. The attitude towards prayer essentially reflects the spiritual state of a person.
It’s no secret that now there are almost no requirements for singers spiritual plan. “If only he could sing” - this is how the directors of church choirs argue. Often you can even meet unbaptized people in church choirs.
This has already been discussed in our previous article “Some features of choir obedience” ( http://www.rusk.ru/st.php?idar=113842).
Back in the 4th century, St. Basil the Great, in one of his epistles recognized by the Church as canonical, wrote: “According to the custom that has been established in the churches of God since ancient times, the ministers of the Church were accepted after testing with all severity, and all their behavior was diligently examined: were they not slanderous? “Are they not drunkards, are they not prone to quarrels, are they instructing their youth.”
Are all the above-mentioned institutions of the Church just empty words? Don’t singers need to cultivate the need for prayer and force themselves to it? Is this a relic of the past that is not relevant in our time? Is it possible to replace the gift of communication with God, which is given to each of us, by simply singing the words of prayer, without understanding and accepting them?
Is it possible for non-praying singers to sing in the choir?
This is what it says on the website of the inter-diocesan Spaso-Preobrazhenskaya community ( http://www.spo.orthodoxy.ru/library/05_Kutuzov_01.html):
“In ancient times, all those praying sang in the Church, and the ideal Orthodox Divine Service lies precisely in the unity of prayer. And if over time, church singing, having become more complex and enriched, has become the lot of professionals, when only the choir sings, then the need for every singer to pray diligently while singing increases even more. But if the singers on the choir do not pray while singing, then this is already a profanation of the Divine service. And the attitude that the choir supposedly sings for the parishioners is fundamentally wrong, and whether the singers pray or not is their own business. Only in a prayerful atmosphere on the choir is truly church singing possible, capable of creating a prayerful mood among parishioners.
The church right choir is increasingly turning into a semblance of a secular choir with hired singers who come “to work” - they will not learn to pray here, even if they had a small prayer, here they will lose it too.
Many modern Christians confirm these words with deeds - they do not want to listen to the right-wing choir with its “professional” singing and prefer to go to the early liturgy on a holiday, when the left-wing (everyday) choir sings.”
The choir ceased to be a place of service and, for many, gradually turned into work. Nowadays, people who have been singing in church choirs for many years sometimes do not imagine the elementary move church service. Those who see the severity of the problem that has arisen understand that both the regent and the church choir must, first of all, be bearers of genuine Orthodox culture, must be truly included in the liturgical service, the “common cause.” And “in order for the church’s plan for this service to be realized, it must be conscious, perceived, suffered and realized precisely as participation in the Divine service - that is, it requires genuine faith, prayer, moral, spiritual life. Otherwise, instead of genuine church art, it will be just a fake-stylization,” points out E. Reznichenko in the book “Higher Regency Education in Russia” (M.: “Composer”, 2000).
Therefore, every chorister should pray diligently while singing. Regardless of whether he considers himself obligated to do so.
The famous painting by V. Makovsky “Court Singers” (1870), which is in the State Tretyakov Gallery, depicts five court singers in beautiful caftans (the so-called surplices). The expression on the faces of the choir workers is spiritual, the singers are imbued with the whole body and soul of the Divine service, fulfilling their obedience. Even the clothes themselves obliged them to a pious life.
In those days, choristers wore home clothes of the same uniform as deacons - cassocks and cassocks, and for Divine services they dressed in surplices: “gold”, “silver” or black brocade.
Singer and reader were the lowest degrees of the church clergy, which, as preparatory ones, everyone preparing for acceptance had to go through holy orders. The initiation into a singer (reader) was called hirothesia and, in essence, was the selection of the most worthy of piety from among the laity to serve at the temple service.
According to the authors of the article, in connection with the above, it would be advisable to try to implement the ancient, time-tested practice, when parishioners became singers, and unchurched people were not allowed to sing in church.
A parishioner who wants to become a chorister must participate in Divine services and in the life of the community until he acquires the SKILL to pray. And only after this he can be admitted to the choir, if he has musical abilities. That’s right: first prayer, and only then musical talent and other abilities.
It is quite easy to assess whether a singer has the skill to pray based on his knowledge of morning and evening prayers, or at least the minimum of them, defined in the “Handbook of the Clergyman” (the rule of Seraphim of Sarov, as indicated there, is read in case of extreme fatigue or lack of time, therefore it is very strange if, in the absence of time for prayer, a layman will devote this time singing in the choir). If you adhere to these rules as expected, they will remain in memory, without special effort, in a year or two. It's not a long time at all. And not a single choir will become poorer because of this. And not a single singer will lose anything if he gets to the choir only after this short period of time, during which he will participate in the life of the community, along with the rest of the parishioners.
The main objection that is possible here is: “There will be no one to sing.”
In this case, quantity does not replace quality. Why are singers needed in the choir if they do not consider it necessary to pray? The Apostle Paul in his Epistle to the Corinthians writes: “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, then I am like ringing brass.” The same comparison seems possible to use in relation to such singers. After all, such singing, in essence, is no different from mechanical reproduction. The place of unchurched singers is not in the choir, but in the church with the parishioners. Until they become churchgoers. Until they acquire the skill to pray, until they learn to understand the purpose and meaning of the Divine Service.
The fact is that two people can sing a service beautifully. It sounds even more beautiful when many people (believers), even amateurs, sing in two voices. It was with one-voice and two-voice singing that the Divine service in our Church began. It was with such singing that the words and meaning of the prayers were clear, even if the singers were amateurs and not professionals. Therefore, I would like to cautiously suggest that in small churches, four-voice singing, for which parishes often bear a significant financial burden, could be successfully and even usefully replaced by two-voice singing.
Another objection that may be voiced in response to the thesis about the inappropriateness of people who have just come to the Church singing in the choir could be this: “A person can become a believer in the process of joining church singing.”
Indeed, theoretically this is possible, but, unfortunately, very often the opposite happens. If a person who has recently come to church begins to sing in the choir (the authors believe that this happens in most cases), then he does not see parishioners praying, but sees ordinary singers who, as already mentioned, sometimes do not even consider it necessary to pray. Prayer in the choir too often looks like a painful sitting in pauses between singing, filled with extraneous matters.
Why is it generally accepted in the choir that during the sixth psalm, 1st hour, paremias, kathismas, etc., that is, at a time when the choir is not singing, it is possible to fill these “pauses” with some kind of activity? After all, the Temple of God is a house of prayer. If singers perceive breaks between singing as “pauses,” then this is spiritual emptiness. Are the liturgical readings read simply for the sake of shaking the air? Shouldn’t we listen to them with great care and listen to what is being said there?
Some choristers will say that they pray while they sing. But will praying while singing be better than sitting during “pauses”? Alas, not every one of us can learn to pray with such an attitude. To prevent all this from happening, you need to learn prayer and force yourself to it.
The ways of the Lord are inscrutable; it also happens that singers who came to church initially for part-time work or simple interest, over time become worthy Orthodox Christians. In addition to the fact that these people learn prayer, obedience, the Sacraments of the Church, etc., they also learn to live with everyone in peace, become less irritated, judge and offend their neighbors less, regret their past, their past deeds, cry about their sins, sincerely repent of them, and regret that they could not come to God earlier... But, unfortunately, these are exceptions. You shouldn’t follow this path, reassuring yourself that someday all this will come on its own.
The first and most important thing that is required of singers (future singers) is to have the skill of prayer. Until a parishioner accustoms himself to reading out prayers at home, at least some of them, until he has developed the skill for this, it is too early (!) for him to sing in the choir.
The participation in the performance of choir obedience by those singers who were not parishioners at all looks completely strange and inappropriate.
You can avoid indifference and spiritual cooling in the choir by initially cultivating in yourself a stable relationship to the shrine, to prayer, and by protecting yourself from temptations with certain rules of spiritual life. For a person who wants to carry out choir obedience, in our opinion, parish preparation is extremely desirable, or, more simply, the period during which a churchgoing person, visiting the temple of God, partaking of the sacraments of the Church, becomes accustomed to prayer (both church and cell prayer) and other virtues, receives the grace of God, which gives a person the opportunity and strength for spiritual growth. This period is individual for each of us and can last from several months to decades, so it is quite difficult to say unambiguously how many years of parish practice in preparation for performing choir obedience will be enough for this or that person. But, in our opinion, this period should be no less than 1-2 years of regular and full-fledged parish practice.
