In everyone's life Orthodox person sometimes it becomes necessary to come to church. The reasons for this can be completely different: sometimes a person goes to a large, well-known temple out of curiosity, or, although rarely, he comes to church on major holidays such as Christmas or Easter, but some have a sincere desire to attend services regularly, that is become a churched, full and equal member of the Orthodox Church. The churching of each person begins not only with attending services, but also with the knowledge and observance of certain church rules which must be fulfilled in order to consciously fulfill the requirements of the church charter, ongoing services and prayer services, and most importantly, so as not to offend the feelings of deeply believing and praying parishioners with their behavior. When newcomers first appear in the temple, they can be identified by their confused look, frequently asked questions, and sometimes deviations from established church rules. Or women will come without a headscarf, in trousers, they will put a candle at the wrong time, and even pectoral cross forgotten at home. And then the omniscient grandmothers, who undoubtedly exist in any temple, are already attacking them with condemnation. Sincerely wanting to follow the canons and rules of the Church, they ruthlessly, albeit in a whisper, scold such newcomers. It can be very pitiful to watch how poor newcomers, rather embarrassed, leave the church, and perhaps forever, leaving a negative attitude not only towards this church, but towards Orthodoxy as a whole. It becomes sad to look at such a picture. After all, a perfectly normal impulse human soul to join the religion of their ancestors - Orthodoxy, the need for communication with God was severely interrupted due to some elementary violations of the rules of conduct in the temple.
Before the start of the service
Approaching the temple, pious Christians, looking at the holy crosses and domes of the church, perform three sign of the cross and a bow. On the way to the temple, one should not be distracted by worldly conversations with companions, but read a prayer: “I am going to Your house, I will worship Your holy temple, with reverence for You.” If you do not know it, you should repeat the publican's prayer: "God, be merciful to me, a sinner."
Rising to the porch, before entering the doors, they again make the sign of the cross with a bow three times. At the door of the temple, one should stop and make three waist bows with prayers:
"God, be merciful to me, a sinner."
"You who created me, Lord, have mercy on me."
"Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, for the sake of prayers
Your Most Pure Mother and all saints, have mercy on us. Amen."
But you can read "Our Father". If you don’t know this prayer, you can simply cross yourself and say: “Lord, have mercy.”
When entering the porch, you must cross yourself again. It is here that you leave all thoughts of extraneous topics and focus on spiritual things.
But at the same time, one should not, standing on the street, pray for a long time and for show.
Before entering the temple, turn off mobile phone so as not to disturb the spiritual atmosphere of the temple with the sounds of bells. Moreover, it is unacceptable to talk on the phone in church.
When you go to the temple of God, prepare money at home for candles, prosphora and church fees. It is inconvenient to change them when buying candles, because this interferes with both Divine services and those who pray.
On our sinful earth, the Holy Temple is the only place where we can hide from the storms and bad weather of life, from worldly moral dirt. The temple is the likeness of heaven on earth. In the temple with us "invisibly the powers of heaven serve." Remember and know the Holy Temple is the house of God, in which God Himself invisibly dwells, and therefore our behavior in the temple must correspond to its holiness and greatness. It is necessary to enter the Holy Temple with humility and meekness, in order to leave the Temple justified, like the humble publican of the Gospel.
When you enter the Temple and see the Holy Icons, think that the Lord Himself and all the Saints are looking at you, so be especially reverent at this time and have the fear of God. This does not mean fear itself, but the deepest respect and love for the Lord.
For worship parishioners are collected by the bell ringing 15 minutes before it starts. Therefore, having arrived in advance, you will have time to purchase church books, icons, candles, crosses, talk with a clergyman, submit notes, buy and put candles and venerate the icons. All this can be done only before the start of the service or after it. During worship, only candles can be purchased. By the way, do not try to put candles to all the icons at once in one visit, so that your walk around the temple does not distract other parishioners from prayers. Better visit the church again. For the same reason, it is undesirable to ask those in front to pass a candle to put in front of the icon. Wait for the end of the service and place the candle yourself wherever you want.
Arriving at the temple, you need to venerate the main holiday icon, which is located opposite the Royal Doors in front of the salt. To do this, you need to cross yourself three times, and then kiss the corner of the icon or the edge of the clothes of the depicted image, cross yourself again and quietly move away without disturbing the others. Bows are also made in front of the icons of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Most Holy Theotokos and saints (if the service has not begun at that time). All this must be done in advance so as not to interfere with the prayers during the service.
It is unacceptable for women to kiss icons with painted lips. During the service, many people will venerate the icon, so what will it look like at the end of the service if women smack it with painted lips? It should also be remembered that when kissing an icon, we do not kiss a board with paint on it, but through a kiss we address our love and reverence for the image depicted on it.
Before the start of the service, you can also put a few candles for health or for peace. It doesn't matter which hand you do it with, you just need to do it with sincere prayer for the one for whom you put this candle. A candle is a sacrifice to God, and it burns without a trace only for Him.
It is not supposed to pass between the Royal Doors and the lectern, but if you pass in front of the lectern, make a small bow, overshadowing yourself with the sign of the cross. Being in the temple of God, let us remember that we are in the presence of the Lord God, the Mother of God, Angels and saints. Be afraid, voluntarily or involuntarily, to offend those praying and those shrines that surround us in the temple of God with your behavior. When choosing a place for prayer in a temple, one must take into account that some elderly parishioners who constantly visit this temple and usually stand in the same place begin to consider this place “their own”. If you accidentally stood in "someone's" place and you were asked to vacate it, do not cross and quietly move to another place - do not disturb your prayerful mood with an argument.
Everyone who was late for the beginning of the service should enter quietly, not interfere with other parishioners, take an empty seat closest to the exit, while trying not to block the passage.
Seeing acquaintances in the temple, a silent bow as a sign of greeting or a quiet greeting is enough. Kissing, hugging, shaking hands, talking loudly is not worth it. Do not shake hands in the Temple and do not ask about anything, be truly modest in the Holy Temple.
Holding hands is not allowed in church. It is strictly forbidden to laugh, chew, keep your hands in your pockets and talk loudly. You can not take pictures and use mobile phones. It is better to turn them off before entering the temple.
It is forbidden to sit in an Orthodox church, the only exception can be ill health or severe fatigue of the parishioner.
When coming to the temple with children, you need to make sure that they behave quietly. If Small child burst into tears in the temple, his mother must immediately bring him out. You should never allow children to eat anything in the temple, except for blessed bread and prosphora (at the same time, you need to make sure that the child does not lose the crumbs of these shrines).
In the temple it is indecent to show curiosity and consider others. It is unacceptable to condemn and ridicule the involuntary mistakes of employees or those present in the temple. It is forbidden to talk during worship.
It is customary to perform worship in the temple 3 times. If you got to the church at a time when there is no worship, then you can stand quietly and pray, put candles. If you decide to go to the liturgy (daytime worship), then remember that you need to come in advance, about 10-15 minutes before the start. In different churches, worship begins at different times, so ask in advance. During the service, there are many worshipers in the church, and they do not need to be disturbed. Try to find a comfortable place for you where you can see and hear everything clearly. And this is not without common sense: a simple unchurched person will not immediately understand what is happening at all, he will not even understand what they say and sing (because the service is in Church Slavonic), so it makes sense to at least see what is happening.
During worship
Coming to the temple for prayer, it is better to leave worldly affairs at home. On average, the service lasts 2-3 hours, out of habit it is difficult to spend so much time on your feet, so if you are tired, you can sit on the benches that stand in the porch or inside the temple. You can’t sit with the Royal Doors open, even if the weak, sick old women get up, then what can we say about the young and strong. You also can’t turn your back to the altar, of course, this does not oblige you to back away like a cancer when you exit, but you should not defiantly turn your back to the altar during worship. If for some reason you cannot be in the temple until the end of the service, then you need to quietly exit, crossing yourself at the exit and in front of the temple itself.
In the temple, pray as a participant in Divine services, and not just present, so that the prayers and hymns that are read and sung come from your heart. Follow the service carefully so that you pray for exactly what the whole Church prays for. Place the sign of the cross on yourself and make obeisances at the same time as everyone else. For example, during Divine services it is customary to be baptized at the doxology of the Holy Trinity and Jesus, during litanies - at any exclamation of “Lord, have mercy” and “Give, Lord”, as well as at the beginning and end of any prayer. You need to cross and bow before approaching the icon or putting a candle, and leaving the temple. It is impossible to hastily, inattentively make the sign of the cross over ourselves, because in doing so we appeal to the Lord's love and grace.
They prepare for Communion by prayer and fasting, refraining from various entertainments and pleasures (the duration of the preparation is determined by the blessing of the priest). Those preparing for Communion read the canons and the rule for Holy Communion according to the prayer book, which is better for beginners not to do on the last day, but to distribute the reading of these prayers for all the days of preparation for Communion. Before Communion, you can not eat or drink anything, starting from twelve o'clock at night. An exception is made for those who need something to eat or drink as prescribed by a doctor.
Before Holy Communion, it is necessary to make peace with your neighbors, to be the first to ask for forgiveness for sins, voluntary and involuntary.
They come to Holy Communion after repentance for sins at confession and the permissive prayer of the priest. Communion without confession is allowed only for children under seven years of age. Approach Holy Communion humbly and reverently, one at a time, without pushing, crossing your arms over your chest (right to left). Communion of the Holy Mysteries with the fear of God. Without crossing yourself, so as not to accidentally push, kiss the cup, and silently move to the table with a drink. The communicants listen thanksgiving prayers after Holy Communion in the church or read them at home according to the prayer book. At the end of the Liturgy, come and venerate the Cross, which the priest gives to the faithful for kissing. When leaving the Temple, reverently cross yourself.
Do not miss Sunday and holiday services in the temple. Teach your children to go to the Temple, teach them to pray and behave reverently in the temple.
After all, the Monk Barsanuphius of Optina said: “A sure sign of the mortification of the soul is evasion from church services. A person who grows cold towards God, first of all, begins to avoid going to church, at first he tries to come to the service later, and then completely stops attending the Temple of God.
Church notes
Orthodox Christians serve during the Divine Liturgy - the main Christian service - notes on the health of their living relatives and, separately, on the repose of the dead. Notes are served before the start of the service, usually in the same place where candles are bought.
If you want the memorial note you submitted to the altar to be read carefully and slowly, remember the rules:
- Write in a clear, understandable handwriting, preferably in block letters, trying to mention no more than 10 names in one note.
- Title it - "about health" or "about repose."
- Write the names in the genitive case (the question of "whom"?).
- Bet full form name, even if you commemorate children (for example, not Serezha, but Sergius).
- Learn the church spelling of secular names (for example, not Polina, but Pelagia; not Artyom, but Artemy; not Yuri, but George; not Svetlana, but Fotinya).
- Names such as Eugene, Alexander, can be called both men and women, so you need to indicate the gender of the person being commemorated next to the name.
- Before the names of the clergy, indicate their rank, in full or in an understandable abbreviation (for example, Priest Peter, Archbishop Nikon).
- A child under 7 years old is called a baby, from 7 to 15 years old - a lad (maiden).
- It is not necessary to indicate the surnames, patronymics, titles, professions of the commemorated and their degree of kinship in relation to you.
- It is allowed to include in the note the words “warrior”, “monk”, “nun”, “sick”, “traveling”, “prisoner”.
- On the contrary, it is not necessary to write “lost”, “suffering”, “embittered”, “student”, “mourner”, “maiden”, “widow”, “pregnant”.
- In the funeral notes, mark the “newly deceased” (deceased within 40 days after death), “the ever-memorable” (the deceased who have memorable dates on this day), “killed”.
For those whom the Church has glorified as saints (for example, Blessed Xenia, Saint and righteous John Kronstadt), you no longer need to pray, because. The Church, ranking them among the saints, implies that they are already in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Those who have health are remembered christian names, not even baptized, but about repose - only baptized in Orthodox Church.
Notes can be submitted to the liturgy:
At the proskomidia - the first part of the liturgy, when for each name indicated in the note, particles are taken out of special prosphora, which are subsequently lowered into the Blood of Christ with a prayer for the forgiveness of the sins commemorated;
At mass - this is how the people call the liturgy in general, and the commemoration after it in particular. Usually such notes are read by clergy and clergy before the Holy See;
At the litany - a commemoration for all to hear. It is usually performed by a deacon. At the end of the liturgy, these notes in many churches are commemorated a second time, on trebs. You can also submit a note for a prayer service or memorial service.
sign of the cross
It is supposed to be baptized slowly, connecting together the first three fingers of the right hand, and the remaining two (a symbol of two natures, Divine and human Jesus Christ) - folded and pressed to the palm of your hand. folded like this right hand you should successively touch your forehead (to sanctify the mind), then the womb of the abdomen (to sanctify the feelings), right and left shoulders (to sanctify the bodily forces) and bow. Why? We depicted a cross on ourselves, now we worship it.
When in the church the people are overshadowed with a cross or the Gospel, an image or a Chalice, then everyone puts the sign of the cross on themselves, bowing their heads.
It is only necessary to bow your head without being baptized when the bishop overshadows the worshipers with candles (dikirium or trikirium), or when the priest blesses with his hand, sanctifying us with the power of the grace of God, and also when they burn incense for those who are coming.
Only on the holy week of Pascha, when the priest censors with a cross in his hand, proclaiming: “Christ is risen!” - everyone makes the sign of the cross and exclaims: “Truly He is risen!”.
We must make the sign of the cross and bow before a shrine (cross, Gospel, icon, Chalice with Holy Mysteries) or when pronouncing the Easter greeting.
During Divine services, it is customary to be baptized at the doxology of the Holy Trinity and Jesus Christ, during litanies - at any exclamation of "Lord, have mercy" and "Give, Lord," as well as at the beginning and end of any prayer. You need to cross and bow before approaching the icon or putting a candle, and leaving the Temple.
The sign of the cross gives us great power drive away and defeat evil and do good, but only we must remember that the cross must be placed correctly and slowly, because at the same time we appeal to the Lord's Love and grace, otherwise there will be no image of the cross, but a simple waving of the hand, which only demons rejoice. By negligently making the sign of the cross, we show our irreverence towards God - we sin, this sin is called blasphemy.
When we are baptized not during prayer, then mentally, to ourselves, we say: “In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen,” thereby expressing our faith in the Holy Trinity and our desire to live and work for the glory of God. The word "amen" means: truly, truly, so be it.
Blessing
Every believer considers it indispensable when meeting with a priest or bishop to ask for a blessing, but many do it wrong. Of course, there are no strict canons on this issue, but the traditions of the Church and simple common sense tell you how to behave.
The blessing has many meanings. The first one is a greeting. When meeting and parting with a priest, it is not customary to say hello or goodbye, but they say: “Bless.” A blessing is received from a priest or bishop (bishop), but not from a deacon (they are easily distinguished by their attire).
Only an equal in rank has the right to greet a priest by the hand; all the rest, even deacons, receive a blessing from him when they meet with the priest. To do this, you need to put your palms together, right over the left, in order to take the blessing hand in them and kiss the right hand (right hand) of the blessing as a sign of respect for the holy dignity. And for nothing more! The addition of palms has no mysterious meaning. There is no need to be baptized. Greeting is only one meaning of blessing, the second is permission, permission, parting words.
- ♦ Father, bless me to go on vacation.
- ♦ Father, bless me to take exams.
- ♦ Father, bless me to start fasting.
You can be blessed by a priest not only when he is in church clothes, but also in civilian clothes; not only in the temple, but also on the street, in public place. It is not necessary, however, to approach for a blessing outside the temple to an unclothed priest who is not familiar with you.
In the same way, every layman says goodbye to a priest. If several priests are standing side by side, and you want to be blessed by everyone, then first you need to approach the senior in rank.
The second meaning of the priestly blessing is permission, permission, parting words. Before starting any responsible business, before traveling, and also in any difficult circumstances, we can ask the priest for advice and blessings and kiss his hand.
Finally, there are blessings in the course of a church service. The priest, saying: “Peace to all”, “God's blessing on you…”, “Grace of our Lord…”, overshadows those praying with the sign of the cross. In response, we humbly bow our heads, without folding our hands, because it is impossible to kiss the blessing right hand.
If the priest overshadows us with sacred objects: the Cross, the Gospel, the Cup, the icon, we are first baptized, and then we bow.
You should not approach the blessing at an inopportune moment: when the priest takes communion, burns the temple, anoints with oil. But you can do this at the end of confession and at the end of the Liturgy, while kissing the Cross. It is not worth it to abuse the blessing by approaching the same priest several times a day. The words “bless, father” should always sound joyful and solemn to a layman, and there is no need to turn them into a proverb.
Candle
A person who has crossed the threshold of the temple, as a rule, approaches the candle box. With a small wax candle, our practical Christianity begins, initiation to the rite. After all, an Orthodox church cannot be imagined without lit candles.
Candles are lit one from the other, and placed in the nest of the candlestick. The candle should stand strictly straight. If, on the day of a great feast, a servant extinguishes your candle in order to light another's candle, do not be indignant in spirit: your sacrifice has already been accepted by the All-Seeing and All-Knowing Lord. You can light a candle with either hand. But you need to be baptized only with the right.
The interpreter of the liturgy, Blessed Simeon of Thessalonica (XV century), says that pure wax means the purity and uncleanness of the people who bring it. It is brought as a sign of our repentance for stubbornness and self-will. The softness and suppleness of wax speaks of our readiness to obey God. The burning of a candle means the deification of a person, his transformation into a new creature by the action of the fire of Divine love.
In addition, a candle is evidence of faith, a person's involvement in the Divine light. It expresses the flame of our love for the Lord, the Mother of God, angels or saints. You can not light a candle formally, with a cold heart. External action must be supplemented by prayer, even the simplest one, in your own words.
A lit candle is present at many church services. It is held in the hands of the newly baptized and those who are combined with the sacrament of marriage. Among the many burning candles, the funeral service is performed. Covering the flame of the candle from the wind, the pilgrims go to the procession.
There are no binding rules on where and how much to put candles. Their purchase is a small sacrifice to God, voluntary and not burdensome. An expensive big candle is not at all more beneficial than a small one. Candles should be bought only in the temple where you came to pray.
Those who regularly visit the temple try to put a few candles each time: to the festive icon lying on the lectern in the middle of the church; to the image of the Savior or the Mother of God - about the health of their loved ones; to the Crucifixion on a rectangular candlestick table (eve) - about the repose of the dead. If your heart desires, you can light a candle to any saint or saints.
Sometimes it happens that there is no free space in the candlestick in front of the icon, everyone is occupied with burning candles. Then it’s not worth extinguishing another candle for the sake of your own, it’s more appropriate to ask the attendant to put it on at a good time. And do not be embarrassed that your unburned candle was extinguished at the end of the service - the sacrifice has already been accepted by God.
There is no need to listen to talk that a candle should be placed only with the right hand; that if it went out, then there will be misfortunes; that melting the lower end of the candle for stability in the hole is a mortal sin, etc. There are many superstitions around the church, and they are all meaningless.
pleasing to God wax candle. But He appreciates the burning of the heart more. Our spiritual life, participation in worship is not limited to a candle. By itself, it will not free from sins, will not unite with God, will not give strength to invisible warfare. The candle is full of symbolic meaning, but it is not the symbol that saves us, but the true essence - Divine grace.
Cloth
Believers come to the temple in attire appropriate to their gender. What is allowed to walk on the street or on the beach is completely unacceptable in the church. In no case should you come to worship in this form. Immodest clothing destroys the splendor of the temple setting. The temple is not only a house of prayer, but also a place of the special presence of God. Coming to the Church, we should remember to Whom we come and Who looks at us. A person who carefully monitors the state of his soul will surely notice that his behavior, thoughts, wishes also depend on clothing. Strict clothing obliges a lot.
Women should dress decently and modestly in church. Calm are preferred dark tones, screaming are unacceptable. You can not wear a miniskirt, shorts, a transparent blouse, clothes with a deep neckline, too open tops and T-shirts to church.
It is customary for women to be in the temple with a ready-made cover (this can be a scarf, a scarf or just an upper headdress), in a skirt below the knees and in a long-sleeved sweater. Only virgins can come to church with an uncovered head - keep this in mind. Do not use cosmetics. Lipstick is especially unacceptable. It is unacceptable to partake of the Holy Mysteries, to venerate shrines, icons or crosses with painted lips.
At communion and at confession, a woman must have a skirt, and if she doesn’t, then in many churches you can rent a scarf and a skirt with ties to wear directly over a miniskirt or jeans.
Perfume should be applied very carefully or not at all, as during the service in the church it can become stuffy without that. Therefore, deodorant will be quite enough, and then, provided that it does not have a pungent odor.
It is highly undesirable to come to the temple with makeup. At the very least, make it as inconspicuous as possible.
Men are required to remove their hats before entering the temple. You can not appear in the church in T-shirts, shorts, sports untidy clothes. Clothing should be as close to the body as possible. During Holy Week and days of mourning, they wear dark-colored clothes, and on solemn religious holidays they come to the temple in light-colored clothes.
You can not come to the temple in clothes decorated with non-Christian symbols.
Other church rules
The main thing is mutual love parishioners and understanding of the content of the service. If we enter the Temple of God with reverence, if, standing in the Church, we think that we are in heaven, then the Lord will fulfill all our petitions.
It is good if there is a place in the Temple where you used to stand. Go to him quietly and modestly, without fuss, and standing up, make three bows. If there is no such place yet, do not be embarrassed. Without disturbing others, try to stand up so that you can hear the singing and reading. If this is not possible, stand in a free place and carefully make outward movements. morning prayer.
If you are still late, be careful not to interfere with the prayer of others. Entering the Temple during the reading of the Six Psalms, the Gospel, or after the Cherubic Liturgy (when the transubstantiation of the Holy Gifts is performed), stay at entrance doors until the end of these critical parts of the service.
An ancient church custom establishes that if there is a service, men stand on right side, women - on the left, freeing the central passage.
When a clergyman burns the Temple, you need to step aside so as not to interfere with him, and when burning the people, slightly tilt your head.
In the Temple, pray as a participant in the service, and not just as someone present. It is necessary that the prayers and chants that are read and sung come from your heart. Follow the service carefully so that you pray for exactly what the whole Church prays for. Place the sign of the cross on yourself and make obeisances at the same time as everyone else.
In addition, to this day in many churches one can observe the pious rule when women let the men go ahead during anointing, communion, and affixing to the festive icon and to the Cross. And children or parents with children are let in exactly in all churches.
If you come with children, make sure that they behave modestly and do not make noise, accustom them to prayer. If the children need to leave, tell them to cross themselves and leave quietly, or take them out yourself.
If a small child bursts into tears in the Temple, immediately take him out or carry him out.
Until the end of the Divine Service, never, unless absolutely necessary, leave the Temple, for this is a sin before God.
Never allow a child to eat in the Temple, except when the priests distribute the blessed bread. Parents sometimes give a whole prosphora even to very young children, who crumble it all over the floor. People walk on these crumbs and involuntarily trample on the sacred bread. Isn't it better for parents to give their children a piece of prosphora themselves and make sure that they do not crumble. Sometimes children come to church with gum in their mouths. This is completely unacceptable.
Only the clergyman and the male person whom he blesses can enter the altar.
Every church has a collection of donations. You can participate in this if you wish. You can donate not only money, but also food, dishes, cloth, candles, etc. It can also be a payment for ceremonies - weddings, baptisms, funerals, commemorations.
When you are in the Temple, do not judge or ridicule the involuntary mistakes of the servants or those present in the Temple; it is more useful and better to delve into your own mistakes and shortcomings and diligently ask the Lord for the forgiveness of your sins.
To make a remark to a neighbor who has violated the rules of good behavior, you need to quietly and delicately. It is better to refrain from remarks at all, unless, of course, there is a brazen, hooligan action. After participating in church services, try to maintain a reverent state at home: be courteous to your parents, affectionate to your children. Free time dedicate to works of mercy or reading spiritual literature. This is especially true for those who have received Holy Communion. Mysteries of Christ. These rules of pious behavior in the temple are not difficult for those who participate in church services every Sunday and on holidays.
And finally, perhaps the most main advice: during the service, do what others do. If believers are baptized - baptize with them, bow - bow too. Each bow or sign of the cross is made in response to some words or actions of the clergy. And believe me, most of those present in the temple do not know why they are baptized and bow at this particular moment, and not at another. But behind every action there is a deep tradition that has evolved over the centuries. And you should not break them, trying to show your liberality or independence from the rules. After all, we enter the church for prayer, but this will not bring us truth and benefit if we enter the temple without humility.
You should not condemn and rebuke a newcomer who does not know the rules of the church. It is better to help him with polite and kind advice. A reprimand can only be made to someone who grossly violates piety, interfering with common prayer.
Your correct behavior in an Orthodox church is not only an indicator of your upbringing, but also a demonstration that you respect Orthodox traditions and rites. At the same time, keep silence, behave modestly, do not interfere with believers and other visitors. So before visiting Orthodox church be sure to read the rules of conduct in it, this will save you from embarrassment, and those around you from inconvenience.
At the end of the service
The service is over. Everyone who submitted notes can again go to the candle box and get prosphora - white wheat bread baked with yeast, with the addition of holy water. Prosphora is a Greek word, it means “offering”… It was the custom of the first Christians to bring bread from home to perform the sacrament of Communion. Now prosphora is baked in bakeries at churches. During the Liturgy, particles are removed from the prosphora in memory of those whom we commemorate in our notes, and after the particles are removed, the prosphora is returned to us. This is holy bread and should be eaten on an empty stomach, with holy water and prayer.
Here is the text of such a prayer: “Lord my God, may Your holy gift be: prosphora and Your holy water for the remission of my sins, for the enlightenment of my mind, for the strengthening of my spiritual and bodily strength, for the health of my soul and body, for the subjugation of passions and my infirmities through Thy boundless mercy, through the prayers of Thy Most Pure Mother and all Thy saints. Amen".
After the morning service, prayers are served in the temples. What is a prayer service? A short prayer for our specific needs. “Briefly and hotly,” St. Ambrose of Optina taught us. That's just at the prayer service and pray ... Are you sick? Let's pray for the sick. Thinking of something important? Let's ask God's help. Are we on our way? There is a parting prayer. You can order a prayer service behind the same candle box where we bought candles and left notes. It is only necessary to indicate the name of the person for whom the prayer is performed. There is such a practice: they will order a prayer service and go home. Of course, it is better to stay and pray with the priest.
There are also public and public prayers. The church prays during bad weather or during drought, there is a New Year's prayer service, there is a prayer service from unclean spirits, there is from the disease of drunkenness. But especially it is necessary to remember the prayers of thanksgiving. The Lord helped, choose the time, come to the temple, serve a prayer service, give thanks. It’s not bad to teach children: I passed the exam at school, let’s go, order a prayer service, for example, Saint Sergius Radonezhsky, after all, he helps us in teaching ...
The day we were in the temple was not a wasted day. We commemorate relatives and friends, participate in divine services, we pray for those who feel bad, and give thanks for God's mercy. We learn to humble ourselves and be better, we learn to repent and rejoice, to endure and rejoice. And you don’t have to look around in confusion, be embarrassed and even more angry if you suddenly did something wrong and got “wrong” beyond measure for it.
How to deal with beggars
Orthodox canons provide for giving alms to the poor sitting at the entrance to the church.
Doing good to others, everyone should remember that the Lord will not leave him. “Do you think that he who feeds Christ (that is, the poor), wrote St. Augustine, “will not be fed by Christ?” Indeed, in the eyes of the Lord, because of our sins, perhaps we look more terrible and insignificant than all these unfortunate people living on alms.
But at the same time, if you see that there are beggars in front of you, spending all their money on drinking, give them not money, but food: an apple, cookies, bread, etc.
We should not tempt ourselves with the thought that the beggars "earn" no less than we do, and sometimes they are dressed no worse. Everyone will be asked first of all for his deeds. Your job in this case is to show mercy.
It is in relation to us, who can see Christ Himself in the asking brother, that the words of the Savior uttered by him at His Last Judgment apply: “Come, blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom ... I was hungry, and you gave Me food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you accepted Me; was naked, and you clothed me; was sick and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came to Me… Truly, I say to you, because you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you did it to Me.”
Liturgy is the main church service. What time does the liturgy begin and how long does it last? Why and when is the liturgy held in the evening or at night?
Below is the main thing you need to know about the time and duration of the Liturgy in Orthodox churches.
Liturgy is held in every church
The Divine Liturgy is the central service, since during it the Sacrament of the Eucharist and Communion take place (or rather, the Liturgy itself accompanies these Sacraments). All other services in one way or another precede the Liturgy - although they can take place the night before or even earlier.
Liturgy takes place at least every Sunday
The regularity of services depends on the temple: the place where the temple is located, and the number of parishioners. In other words, the Liturgy takes place in the church as often as it is actually needed.
Icon of the Mother of God "It is worthy to eat" at the Moscow Compound of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra
How long does the liturgy last in the temple?
The duration of the liturgy may vary depending on the day or temple. But this does not mean that the composition of worship is changing in some fundamental way. For example, on especially solemn days, part of the prayers, which are sometimes read by the reader, this time are sung by the choir.
In addition, how long the liturgy lasts can be influenced by such seemingly insignificant factors as the speed with which the priest and deacon serve: one leads the services faster, the other slower, one reads the Gospel at the same pace, the other more measuredly . Etc.
But speaking in general terms, on days the Liturgy lasts longer than on ordinary days - sometimes up to two hours.
On Easter night or the Christmas Liturgy, the Liturgy lasts no longer than usual, but the nightly service itself turns out to be many hours long - since the Liturgy is preceded by a long All-Night Vigil.
Night service in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, photo: patriarchia.ru
What time does the morning service start at the church?
On the one hand, the answer to this question is most often the same as to the question: “What time does the Liturgy begin,” since in almost all non-monastic churches the only morning service is the Liturgy.
Another thing is that in some churches (where there is only one priest) sometimes it takes place not during the service, but before it, and therefore those who want to confess or take communion come earlier.
But in the monasteries, morning services begin much earlier, since a full daily circle of services is held there.
For example, before the liturgy in the monasteries, the Hours are necessarily read (this is a small service that includes the reading of certain prayers and individual psalms), and on most days, the Midnight Office is also served, which can begin at 6 in the morning or earlier.
In addition, the charter of some monasteries also implies, for example, daily morning reading akathists, and prayer rule, which will also take place in the temple. Therefore, in some monasteries, morning services, in fact, stretch for several hours, and the Liturgy, as expected, crowns this cycle.
This does not mean that laymen who take communion need to be present at all monastic services - they are intended primarily for the inhabitants of the monastery (monks, novices and laborers). The main thing is to come to the beginning of the Liturgy.
What time does the church service start?
As in the case of morning services, the specific start time of the evening service is determined by the charter of the temple or monastery (they can always be found either on the website or on the doors of the temple). Usually, evening worship starts between 4pm and 6pm.
The service itself, depending on the day or the foundations of a particular temple, lasts from an hour and a half to three. In monasteries, on solemn days, evening worship can last much longer.
Evening worship is obligatory for those who are going to take communion the next morning. This is due to the fact that the Church has adopted a daily circle of services, which begins in the evening, and the morning Liturgy crowns it.
Read this and other posts in our group in
All church services are divided into three circles: daily, weekly and annual.
DAILY CIRCLE OF SERVICES
1. Daily cycle of Divine Services those services are called that are performed by St. Orthodox Church throughout the day. There are nine daily Divine Services to be celebrated: Vespers, Compline, Midnight Office, Matins, the first hour, the third hour, the sixth hour, the ninth hour, and the Divine Liturgy.
Following the example of Moses, who, describing God's creation of the world, begins the "day" in the evening, so in the Orthodox Church the day begins in the evening - evening.
Vespers- a service performed at the end of the day, in the evening. With this service, we thank God for the passing day.
compline- a service consisting of reading a series of prayers in which we ask the Lord God for forgiveness of sins and that He would give us, coming to sleep (going), peace of body and soul and save us from the wiles of the devil during sleep.
Midnight Office the service is intended to be performed at midnight, in remembrance of the nightly prayer of the Savior in the Garden of Gethsemane. This service calls on believers to be always ready for the Day of the Last Judgment, which will come suddenly, like “the bridegroom at midnight” according to the parable of the ten virgins.
Matins- a service performed in the morning, before sunrise. With this service, we thank God for the past night and ask Him for mercy for the coming day.
First hour, corresponding to our seventh hour in the morning, sanctifies the day that has already come with prayer.
On the third hour corresponding to our ninth hour in the morning, we remember the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles.
On the sixth hour corresponding to our twelfth hour of the day, the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ is remembered.
On the ninth hour corresponding to our third in the afternoon, we remember the death of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Divine Liturgy is the most important Divine service. It remembers the entire earthly life of the Savior and makes the sacrament of St. Communion established by the Savior Himself at the Last Supper. Liturgy is served in the morning, before dinner.
All these services in ancient times in monasteries and with hermits were performed separately, at the time set for each of them. But then, for the convenience of believers, they were combined into three Divine Services: evening, morning and afternoon.
Evening Divine Liturgy consists of the ninth hour, Vespers and Compline.
morning- from Midnight Office, Matins and the first hour.
Daytime- from the third and sixth hours and the Liturgy.
On the eve of major holidays and Sundays, evening service in which Vespers, Matins and the first hour are combined. Such worship is called all-night vigil(all-night), because among the ancient Christians it lasted all night. The word vigil means: awake.
A visual diagram of the daily circle of worship
Evening.
1. Ninth hour. - (3 p.m)
2. Vespers.
3. Compline.
Morning.
1. Midnight Office. – (12 am)
2. Matins.
3. First hour. – (7 am)
Day.
1. Third hour. – (9 am)
2. The sixth hour. – (12 noon)
3. Liturgy.
WEEKLY SERVICE CIRCLE
2. Weekly, or weekly, circle of Divine Services called the order of services for the seven days of the week. Each day of the week is dedicated to some important event or a particularly revered saint.
On Sunday– The Church remembers and glorifies Resurrection of Christ;
V Monday(the first day after Sunday) incorporeal forces are glorified - Angels created before man, the closest servants of God;
In Tuesday- glorified saint John the Baptist, as the greatest of all the prophets and the righteous;
V Wednesday the betrayal of the Lord by Judas is remembered and, in connection with this, a service is performed in memory Cross of the Lord(fast day).
V Thursday glorified St. Apostles and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker;
V Friday the sufferings on the cross and the death of the Savior are remembered, and a service is performed in honor of Cross of the Lord(fast day).
V Saturday is rest day- are glorified Mother of God Which is gratified and daily, forefathers, prophets, apostles, martyrs, saints, righteous and all saints, rested in the Lord. All the dead are also commemorated in the true faith and hope for the resurrection and eternal life.
ANNUAL SERVICE CIRCLE
3. The annual cycle of Divine Services called the order of services throughout the year.
Every day of the year is dedicated to the memory of certain saints, as well as special sacred events - holidays and fasts.
Of all the holidays of the year is the biggest feast of the Light Christ's Resurrection(Easter). This is the feast of the Feast and the Celebration of the festivities. Easter occurs not earlier than March 22 (April 4, NS) and not later than April 25 (May 8, NS), on the first Sunday after the spring full moon.
Then there are twelve great holidays in the year, established in honor of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Mother of God, which are called twelfth.
There are holidays in honor of great saints and in honor of the ethereal Powers of heaven - angels.
Therefore, all the holidays in the year, according to their content, are divided into: Lord's, Mother of God and saints.
According to the time of celebration, the holidays are divided into: motionless, which occur every year on the same day of the month, and mobile, which, although they occur on the same days of the week, fall on different days of the month in accordance with the time of the celebration of Easter.
According to the solemnity of the church service, the holidays are divided into great, medium and small.
Great holidays always have all-night vigil; average holidays - not always.
liturgical church year begins on September 1, old style, and the entire annual cycle of Divine Services is built in relation to the Easter holiday.
Archpriest Seraphim Slobodskoy. Law of God
CATECHISICAL
(Short teaching on the Orthodox faith),
carried out with the blessing
ARCHBISHOP ATHANASIUS
v Cathedral Perm
ORDER and EXPLANATION
CHURCH SERVICES
Perm Diocesan Administration
ORDER AND EXPLANATION OF CHURCH SERVICES
What is called a service?
A church service is a combination according to a special plan, into one set of prayers, sections from the Holy Scriptures, chants and sacred actions to clarify some specific idea or thought.
Due to the fact that a certain thought is consistently developed in each service of Orthodox worship, each church service is a harmonious, complete, artistic sacred work, calculated to ensure that, through verbal, song (vocal) and contemplative impressions, a pious mood is created in the soul of the worshipers, strengthen a living faith in God and prepare Orthodox Christian to receive divine grace.
Find the guiding thought (idea) of each service and establish a connection with it constituent parts- is one of the moments of the study of worship. The order of presentation of one or another service is called in the liturgical books the “order” or “additional examination” of the service.
Origin of daily services
The names of the daily services indicate at what hour of the day each of them should be performed. For example, Vespers indicates the evening hour, Compline indicates the hour following “Supper” (that is, after the evening meal), at Night Office - at midnight, Matins - at the morning hour, Mass - at lunchtime, that is, noon, the first hour - in our opinion it means the 7th hour of the morning, the third hour - our 9th hour in the morning, the sixth hour - our 12th hour, the ninth - our third hour in the afternoon.
The custom of prayerful consecration of these particular hours in the Christian Church is of very ancient origin and was established under the influence of the Old Testament rule three times during the day to pray in the temple for offering sacrifices - morning, afternoon and evening, as well as the words of the Psalmist about glorifying God “in the evening, morning and noon ".
The discrepancy in the account (the difference is about 6 hours) is explained by the fact that the eastern account is accepted, and in the East, sunrise and sunset differ by 6 hours compared to our countries. Therefore, the 1st hour of the morning in the East corresponds to our 7th hour, and so on.
SACRED EVENTS GLORIFIED
IN DAILY SERVICES
Vespers is placed first among the daily services because, according to the image of the Church, the day begins in the evening, since the first day of the world and the beginning of human existence was preceded by darkness, evening, twilight.
At Vespers, both in Jewish and Christian worship, the image of the creation of the world and man stands out vividly. In addition, in the Orthodox Church, Vespers is commemorated of the fall of people and the expected salvation through Jesus Christ...
The “evening” hour coincides with the time of going to bed, and sleep reminds of death, followed by resurrection. Therefore, in the Orthodox the worship service at Compline is reminded to those who pray for awakening from eternal sleep, that is, for the resurrection.
The “midnight” hour has long been sanctified by prayer: for Christians it is memorable, because at this hour the prayer of Jesus Christ took place in the garden of Gethsemane, and also because “to the floor at the hour of the night” in the parable of the ten virgins, the Lord timed His second coming. Therefore, for the floor at the night-keeper remembers the prayer of Jesus Christ in the garden of Gethsemane, His second coming and His terrible Judgment.
The morning hour, bringing with it light, vigor and life, always arouses a grateful feeling for God, the Giver of Life. Therefore, this hour was sanctified by prayer among the Jews. In the Orthodox divine service at the morning service, the coming into the world of the Savior is glorified, bringing with Him new life people.
The following exclusively Christian events are recalled on the "clock": at 1 o'clock - the trial of Jesus Christ by the high priests, which really took place around this time, that is, around 7 o'clock in the morning; at the 3rd hour - the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles, which took place approximately at 9 o'clock in the morning; on the 6th - the suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, coinciding with 12-2 hours. day; finally, at the 9th hour, there is a remembrance of the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross, which took place at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon.
These are the sacred events that gave rise to the establishment of the first eight daily services. As for mass, then it contains a remembrance of the entire earthly life of Jesus Christ and the establishment of the Sacrament of Holy Communion by Him.
Mass or Liturgy in the proper sense is a Christian service that appeared earlier than others and from the very beginning acquired the character of a service that united the Christian community through the sacrament of Holy Communion.
At first, all these services were performed separately from each other, especially in monasteries. Over time, they began to group in rarer periods of performance, until the modern order was developed - to perform three services in three periods, namely: in the evening the ninth hour is celebrated, Vespers and Compline, in the morning- floor at Night Office, Matins and the 1st hour, in the afternoon - hours: the third, sixth and Liturgy.
Other Sacred Memories of Church Services
Wanting to make their children as pure, pious and concentrated as possible. The Holy Church gradually gave prayerful remembrance not only to every hour of the day, but to every day of the week. Thus, from the very beginning of the existence of the Church of Christ, the “first day of the week” was dedicated to the remembrance of resurrection Jesus Christ and became a solemn, joyful day, that is, a holiday. (1st Cor. XVI. 1, 2; Acts. XX, 7-8).
Friday recalled the day of the Savior's suffering and His death; Wednesday became a reminder of the betrayal of Jesus Christ to death, which happened on that day.
Little by little, the remaining days of the week were devoted to the prayerful remembrance of the following persons: in time closer than others standing to Christ: St. John the Baptist (constantly remembered during divine services Tuesdays) Holy Apostles (after Thursdays). In addition, on Thursdays, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker is also commemorated. By Saturdays - Mother of God, and Monday dedicated to the memories of the honest heavenly disembodied Angelic forces that welcomed the birth of the Savior, the resurrection, as well as His ascension.
As the faith of Christ spread, the number of Holy Persons increased: martyrs and saints. The greatness of their deeds provided an inexhaustible source for pious Christian songwriters and artists to compose in memory of their various prayers and hymns, as well as artistic images.
The Holy Church included these emerging spiritual works in the composition of church services, timing the reading and singing of the latter to the days of memory of the saints designated in them. The range of these prayers and hymns is wide and varied;
it unfolds for a whole year, and every day there are not one, but several saints being glorified.
The manifestation of God's mercy to a well-known people, locality or city, for example, deliverance from floods, earthquakes, from the attacks of enemies, etc., gave an indelible occasion to prayerfully commemorate these events.
Since each day is a day of the week and at the same time a day of the year, there are three kinds of memories for each day: 1) memory "daytime" or hourly, connected with a known hour of the day; 2) memories “weekly” or weekly, connected with individual days of the week; 3) memories are "annual" or numerical, connected with certain numbers of the year.
The concept of circles of worship
Due to the above circumstance, that every day there are three kinds of memories: daily, weekly and yearly every one who prays can explain to himself the question why church services speak not only of those events that took place at certain hours and days, but also of other events and even of many sacred persons.
Thanks to the same knowledge of the threefold kind of sacred remembrance that falls on each day, the prayer can explain to himself the following other observation.
If you attend every church service for several weeks, at least two, carefully follow the content of those sung and recited prayers, it can be noted that some prayers, for example, “Our Father”, a prayer to the Most Holy Trinity, litanies - are read at each service: other prayers, and most of them, are heard only at one service, and they are not used for another.
Consequently, it turns out that some prayers are used without fail at each service and do not change, while others change and alternate with each other. The change and alternation of church prayers occurs in this order: some prayers, performed at one service, are not performed after another. For example, the prayer “Lord, I have called...” is performed only after vespers, and the prayers “Only Begotten Son...” or “I have seen the true light...” are sung only at Mass. Then these prayers are not repeated in the church until the next day.
The next day, we hear these prayers at the same service at which we heard the day before, for example, “Lord, cry ...” at Vespers and “Only Begotten Son ...” at Mass; consequently these prayers, although they are repeated every day, are always confined to one specific service.
There are prayers that are repeated every week on a certain day. For example, “Seeing the Resurrection of Christ ...” we hear only on Sunday after the Vespers; prayer "Heavenly armies. Archistratisi...” - only on Mondays. Therefore, the “turn” of these prayers comes in a week.
Finally, there is a third series of prayers, which are performed only on certain dates of the year. For example, “Your Christmas, Christ our God” is heard on December 25, in “Your Christmas, Virgin Mother of God” - on September 8 (or in the days following these numbers) on December 25. Art. Art. - Jan 7 n. Art., 8 sect. Art. Art. - 21 sects. n. Art.
If we compare the threefold change and alternation of church prayers, it turns out that every day prayers are repeated relating to sacred remembrances and “hours”, a week later - related to sacred remembrances “of the week”, and a year later - related to sacred remembrances “annual ".
Since all our prayers alternate with each other, repeat (as if “circling”), some with the speed of the day, others for weeks and still others for years, these prayers are assimilated in church books the name of the service of the “everyday circle”, “the circle of the week” and “the circle of the year”.
Every day, the prayers of all three “circles” are heard in the church, and not just one, moreover, the main “circle” is the “everyday circle”, and the other two are additional.
Composition of church services
The alternating prayers of the daily, weekly, and yearly circles are called "changing" prayers. Meeting prayers for every service called "unchanging". Each church service consists of a combination of unchanging and changing prayers.
Unchanging prayers
In order to understand the order and meaning of our church services, it is more convenient to first understand the meaning of “unchanging” prayers. The unchanging prayers that are read and sung at every service are as follows: 1) opening prayers, that is, prayers with which all services begin and which are therefore called the “Usual Beginning” in liturgical practice; 2) Litany; 3) Exclamations and 4) Leaves or vacations.
Normal start
Each divine service begins with the call of the priest to glorify and give praise to God. There are three such invocative invitations or exclamations:
1) “Blessed is our God always, now and forever and forever and ever” (before the start of most services);
2) “Glory to the Saints, and to the Consubstantial, and Life-Giving, and Indivisible Trinity, always, now and ever and forever and ever” (before the beginning of the All-night service);
3) “Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and forever and ever” (before the beginning of the Liturgy).
After the exclamation, the Reader, on behalf of all those present, expresses with the word “amen” (true) consent to this praise and immediately begins to praise God: "Glory to Thee, our God, glory to Thee."
Then, in order to prepare ourselves for worthy prayer, we, following the reader, turn to the Holy Spirit (“King of Heaven”), Who alone can give us the gift of true prayer, so that He moved into us, cleansed us from all filth and saved us. (Rom. VIII, 26).
With a prayer for purification, we turn to all three Persons of the Holy Trinity, reading: a) “Holy God”, b) “Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit”, c) “ Holy Trinity have mercy on us” and d) “Lord have mercy”, e) “Glory... and now”. Finally, we read the Lord's Prayer, that is, "Our Father" as a sign that this is the best example of our prayers. In conclusion, we read three times: “Come, let us bow down and fall down to Christ,” and we move on to reading other prayers that are part of the service. The normal start order is:
1) The exclamation of the priest.
2) Reading "Glory to Thee, our God."
3) "King of Heaven".
4) “Holy God” (three times).
5) “Glory to the Father and the Son” (small doxology).
6) "Holy Trinity".
7) “Lord have mercy” (Three times) Glory now.
8) Our Father.
9) Come and worship.
Litany is derived from the Greek ektenos, meaning "zealously".
After each service, such a prayer is heard, which, being itself lengthy, is divided into several smaller parts or passages, each of which ends on the part of the persons singing or reading, in response words; “Lord have mercy”, “God give”.
Litanies are divided into several types: 1) Great litany, 2) Special litany, 3) Petitionary Litany, 4) Lesser Litany, and 5) Litany for the Dead or Funeral.
Great Litany
The great litany consists of 10 petitions or divisions.
1) Let us pray to the Lord in peace.
This means; Let us call upon our prayer meeting the peace of God, or the blessing of God, and under the shadow of the face of God, who is addressed to us with peace and love, let us begin to pray for our needs. Likewise, let us pray in peace, having forgiven mutual offenses (Matt. V, 23-24).
2) About the peace from above and the salvation of our souls. Let's pray to the Lord.
“The world above” is the peace of the earth with heaven, the reconciliation of man with God or the receipt of forgiveness from God for sins through our Lord Jesus Christ. The fruit of forgiveness of sins or reconciliation with God is salvation of our souls about which we also pray in the second petition of the Great Litany.
3) About the peace of the whole world, the well-being of God's holy churches and the union of all. Let's pray to the Lord.
In the third petition, we pray not only for a harmonious and friendly life among people on earth, not only for the peace of the entire universe, but also for a wider and deeper peace, this is: peace and harmony (harmony) in around the world in the fullness of all God's creations (heaven and earth, the sea and everything else in them, angels and people, living and dead).
The second subject of the petition; well-being, i.e., the peace and well-being of the holy churches of God or individual Orthodox societies.
The fruit and consequence of the prosperity and well-being of Orthodox societies on earth will be extensive moral unity: harmony, a unanimous proclamation of the glory of God from all the elements of the world, from all animate beings, there will be such penetration of “everything” by the highest religious content, when God will be “perfectly in everything” (1 Cor. XV, 28).
4) About this holy temple, and with faith, reverence and the fear of God entering it. Let's pray to the Lord.
(Reverence and fear of God are expressed in a prayerful mood, in laying aside worldly cares, in cleansing the heart from enmity and envy. - From the outside, reverence is expressed in bodily purity, in decent clothes and in refraining from talking and looking around).
To pray for the Holy Temple means to ask God that He never depart from the temple with His grace; but he kept the faith from desecration by enemies, from fires, earthquakes, robbers, so that the means for maintaining it in a flourishing state would not be scarce in the temple.
The temple is called holy according to the sanctity of the sacred actions performed in it and according to the grace-filled presence of God in it, from the time of consecration. But the grace that abides in the temple is not available to everyone, but only to those who enter it. with faith, reverence and the fear of God.
5) About this city, (or about this village) every city, country, and by faith living in them. Let's pray to the Lord.
We pray not only for our city, but for every other city and country, and for their inhabitants (because, according to Christian brotherly love, we must pray not only for ourselves, but for all people).
6) About the well-being of the air, about the abundance of earthly fruits and peaceful times. Let's pray to the Lord.
In this petition, we ask the Lord to grant us our daily bread, that is, everything necessary for our earthly life. We ask for favorable weather for the growth of bread, as well as peacetime.
7) About floating, traveling, sick, suffering, captives, and about their salvation. Let's pray to the Lord.
In this petition, the Holy Church invites us to pray not only for those who are present, but also for those who are absent: 1) those on the road (swimming, traveling), 2) sick, infirm (that is, sick and weak in body in general) and suffering (that is, chained to a bed dangerous disease) and 3) about those in captivity.
8) O deliver us from all sorrow, anger and need. Let's pray to the Lord.
In this petition, we ask the Lord to deliver us from all sorrow, anger and need, that is, from grief, calamity and unbearable embarrassment.
9) Intercede, save, have mercy, and save us, O God, by Your grace.
In this petition, we pray to the Lord to protect us, keep us and have mercy through His mercy and grace.
10) Let us commit the Most Holy, Most Pure, Most Blessed, Glorious Lady Our Lady, and Ever-Virgin Mary with all the saints, remembering ourselves, and each other, and our whole life to Christ our God.
Therefore, we constantly call on the Mother of God in litanies, because She serves as our Intercessor and Intercessor before the Lord. After turning to the Mother of God for help, the Holy Church advises itself, each other and our whole life to entrust to the Lord.
The great litany is otherwise called “peaceful” (because it often asks people for peace).
In ancient times, litanies were continuous prayers in form and common prayers. all those present in the temple, the proof of which is, among other things, the words “Lord have mercy” following the deacon’s exclamations.
Special Litany
The second litany is called “double,” that is, intensified, because for each petition pronounced by the deacon, the chanters answer with the triple “Lord, have mercy.” A special litany consists of the following petitions:
1) Rtsem all with all my heart, and from all our thoughts, Rtsem.
Let us say to the Lord with all our heart and with all our thoughts: (further on, it is explained what exactly we will say).
2) Lord Almighty, God of our fathers, we pray to you, hear and have mercy.
Lord Almighty, God of our fathers, we pray to You, hear and have mercy.
3) Have mercy on us. God, by Your great mercy, we pray to You, hear and have mercy.
Have mercy on us, Lord, according to Your great goodness. We pray to You, hear and have mercy.
4) We also pray for all the Christ-loving host.
We also pray for all the soldiers, as defenders of the Faith and the Fatherland.
5) We also pray for our brethren, priestesses, holy monks, and all our brotherhood in Christ.
We also pray for our brethren in the service and in Christ.
6) We also pray for the blessed and ever-memorable Orthodox Patriarchs, and the pious tsars, and the faithful queens, and the creators of this holy temple, and for all the Orthodox fathers and brothers who have fallen asleep here and everywhere.
We also pray for St. Orthodox Patriarchs, about faithful Orthodox tsars and queens; - about the always memorable creators of the Holy Temple; about all our dead parents and brothers buried here and in other places.
7) We also pray for mercy, life, peace, health, salvation, visiting, asking for and forgiving the sins of the servants of God, the brethren of this Holy Temple.
In this petition, we ask the Lord for bodily and spiritual blessings to the parishioners of the church where the service is performed.
8) We also pray for those who are fruitful and virtuous in this holy and all-honourable temple, for those who labor, sing and come forward, expecting great and rich mercy from You.
We also pray for people: “fruit-bearing” (i.e., those who bring material and monetary donations for liturgical needs in the temple: wine, oil, incense, candles) and “virtuous” (i.e., those who make decorations in the temple or donate to maintain the splendor in the temple), as well as about those doing some work in the temple, for example, reading, singing, and about all the people who are in the temple in anticipation of a great and rich mercy.
Pleading Litany
The petitionary litany consists of a series of petitions ending with the words “We ask the Lord”, to which the chanters answer with the words: “Give, Lord.” The petitionary litany reads thus:
1) Let us fulfill (evening or morning) prayer to our Lord.
Let's make (or supplement) our prayer to the Lord.
Save protection, have mercy and save us, O God, by Your grace.
3) Day (or evening) of the whole accomplishment, holy, peaceful and sinless, we ask the Lord.
Let us ask the Lord to spend this day (or evening) expediently, holy, peacefully and sinlessly.
4) The angel is peaceful, faithful mentor, guardian of our souls and bodies, we ask the Lord.
Let us ask the Lord for the Holy Angel, who is a faithful mentor and guardian of our soul and body.
5) Forgiveness and forgiveness of our sins and transgressions, we ask the Lord.
Let us ask the Lord for forgiveness and forgiveness of our sins (heavy) and sins (light) of ours.
6) Kind and useful to our souls and peace of the world, we ask the Lord.
Let us ask the Lord for everything useful and good for our souls, peace for all people and the whole world.
7) End the rest of your life in peace and repentance, we ask the Lord.
Let us ask the Lord that we live the rest of our lives in peace and a calm conscience.
8) Christian death of our belly, painless, shameless, peaceful, and a good answer at the terrible Judgment of Christ, we ask.
Let us ask the Lord that our death would be Christian, that is, with confession and Communion of the Holy Mysteries, painless, shameless and peaceful, that is, that before death we make peace with our loved ones. Let us ask for a kind and fearless answer at the Last Judgment.
9) Our Most Holy, Most Pure, Most Blessed, Glorious Lady Our Lady and Ever-Virgin Mary, with all the saints, let us commit ourselves and each other and our whole life to Christ God.
Small Litany
The small litany is an abbreviation of the great litany and contains only the following petitions:
1. Packs and packs (again and again) let's pray to the Lord in peace.
2. Intercede, save, have mercy and save us. God, Your grace.
3. Our Most Holy, Most Pure, Most Blessed, Glorious Our Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary with all the saints remembering ourselves and each other, and our whole life to Christ our God.
Sometimes these petitions of the great, special, small and petitionary litanies are joined by others, composed on a special occasion, for example, on the occasion of the burial or commemoration of the dead, on the occasion of the blessing of water, the beginning of teaching, the onset of the New Year.
These litanies with additional "changing petitions" are contained in a special book for prayer singing.
Funeral Litany
a) Great:
1. Let us pray to the Lord in peace.
2. For heavenly peace and for the salvation of our souls, let us pray to the Lord.
3. For the forgiveness of sins, in the blessed memory of those who have passed away, let us pray to the Lord.
4. For the ever-memorable servants of God (the name of the rivers), peace, silence, their blessed memory, let us pray to the Lord.
5. To forgive them every sin, voluntary and involuntary. Let's pray to the Lord.
6. For the uncondemned to stand at the terrible throne of the Lord of glory, let us pray to the Lord.
7. Let us pray to the Lord for those who are weeping and sick, looking forward to Christ's consolation.
8. Oh, let them go from all sickness and sorrow, and sighing, and inspire them, where the light of the face of God shines. Let's pray to the Lord.
9. Oh, yes, the Lord our God will restore their souls in a place of light, in a green place, in a place of peace, where all the righteous abide, let us pray to the Lord.
10. For their counting in the bowels of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, let us pray to the Lord.
11.0 deliver us from all sorrow, anger and need, let us pray to the Lord.
12. Intercede, save, have mercy and save us, O God, by Your grace.
13. Mercy of God, the kingdom of heaven, and forgiveness of sins, having asked for ourselves, each other and our whole life to Christ God.
b) Small and
c) The Triple Litany for the Dead consists of three petitions in which the thoughts of the Great Litany are repeated.
exclamations
While the deacon on the solea pronounces the litanies, the priest on the altar recites (secretly) prayers to himself (there are especially many secret prayers in the liturgy), and the end pronounces them loudly. These ends of the prayers, recited by the priest, are called "exclamations." They usually express base, why we, praying to the Lord, can hope for the fulfillment of our prayers, and why we have the boldness to turn to the Lord with petitions and thanksgiving.
By direct impression, all the exclamations of the priest are divided into introductory, liturgical and litanious. In order to clearly distinguish between the one and the other, one must carefully assimilate the exclamations of the litany. The most common are the following exclamations:
1. After the Great Litany: Yako (i.e. because) All glory, honor and worship befits Thee, Father and Son and Holy Spirit, now and forever and forever and ever.
2. After a special litany: Thou art merciful and philanthropic God, and we send glory to Thee, Father and Son and Holy Spirit, now and forever and forever and ever.
3. After the pleading litanies: For God is good and philanthropist, Thou art also giving glory to Thee, Father and Son and Holy Spirit, now and forever and forever and ever.
4. After a small litany:
a] For Your dominion, and Yours is the kingdom, and the power and the glory, of the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit, always, now and forever and forever and ever.
b] As the God of mercy and generosity and philanthropy, and we send glory to You, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever, and forever and ever.
c] For bless Thy Name and glorify Thy kingdom, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and forever and ever.
G] For you are our God, and we send glory to you, to the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and forever, and forever and ever.
e] Thou art the King of the world and the Savior of our souls, and we send glory to You, the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and forever, and forever and ever.
However, in addition to the above, there are several more exclamations that contain the same thoughts as the noted eight exclamations. For example, after the Vespers and Prayers, the following exclamations are also pronounced:
a] Hear us, O God our Savior, the hope of all the ends of the earth and those who are in the sea far off: and be merciful, be merciful, Lord, about our sins and have mercy on us. Merciful and philanthropist, Thou art God, and we send glory to You, the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and forever and ever.
Hear us. God our Savior, You, in whom are hoped in all the ends of the earth and in the far sea, and being merciful, be merciful to our sins and have mercy on us, because You are a merciful philanthropist God is and we send Glory to you ...
b] Mercy, and bounty, and the love of mankind of Your Only-begotten Son, with whom you are blessed, with your most holy, and good, and life-giving spirit, now and forever and forever and ever.
By the mercy, generosity and philanthropy of Your Only Begotten Son, with whom You (God the Father) are blessed with Your Most Holy, Good and life-giving Spirit.
c] As holy, Thou art our God, and rest in the saints, and we send glory to Thee, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and forever and ever.
Because you are Holy, our God, and you dwell in the saints (with your grace) and we send glory to you.
Deadly exclamation:
As you are the resurrection and the life and rest of your dead servants (name of the rivers) Christ our God, and we glorify You, with Your Father without beginning, and Your most holy and good and life-giving Spirit, now and ever and forever and ever.
Each church service ends with special prayer chants, which together make up a “vacation” or “vacation”. The order of dismissal is this, the Priest says: “Wisdom”, that is, let's be careful. Then, turning to the Mother of God, he says: “Most Holy Theotokos, save us.”
The chanters answer with the words: “To the most honest Cherubim and the most glorious without comparison Seraphim”... Further thanks to the Lord for the perfect service, the priest says aloud: “Glory to Thee, Christ God, our Hope, Glory to Thee”, after which the chanters sing: “Glory now ”, “Lord have mercy” (three times), “Bless”.
The priest, facing the people, lists all the Saints, through whose prayers we turned to God for help, namely - 1) the Mother of God, 2) Holy Week, 3) Holy Day, 4) Holy Temple, 5) Holy Local Territory, and finally, 6) the Godfather of Joachim and Anna. Then the priest says that through the prayers of these saints the Lord will have mercy and save us.
With leave, believers receive permission to leave the temple.
Changing prayers
As already mentioned, selected passages from the Holy Scriptures and prayers written by pious Christian writers and poets are read and sung in the Church. Both those and others are introduced into the composition of church services in order to portray and glorify the sacred event of the three circles of worship: daily, weekly and annual.
Readings and chants from St. Books are named after the book from which they are borrowed. For example, psalms from the book of Psalms, prophecies from books written by prophets, the Gospel from the Gospel. The changing prayers that make up sacred Christian poetry are found in church liturgical books and bear various names.
The most important of them are the following:
1)Troparion- a song that briefly depicts the life of a Saint or the history of a holiday, for example, the famous troparia: “Your Christmas, Christ Our God”, “Thou hast been transfigured on the mountain, Christ our God ...”, “The rule of faith and the image of meekness”.
The origin and meaning of the name “troparion” is explained differently: 1) some produce this word - from the Greek “tropos” - temper, image, because the lifestyle of a saint is depicted in the troparion or a description of the holiday is contained; 2) others from “trepeon” - a trophy or a sign of victory, which indicates that the troparion is a song proclaiming the victory of a saint or the triumph of a holiday; 3) others derive from the word “tropos” - tropes, that is, the use of the word not in its own meaning, but in the meaning of another object by the similarity between them, this kind of word usage is indeed often found in troparia; saints, for example, are likened in them to the sun, moon, stars, etc.; 4) finally, the word troparion is also produced from “tropome” - they changed, since the troparia are sung alternately on one or the other kliros, and “trepo” - I turn, because “they refer to other prayers and relate to them.”
2)Kontakion(from the word “kontos” - short) - a short song depicting some separate feature of the celebrated event or the Saint. All kontakia differ from troparia not so much in content as in the time at which they are sung during the service. An example of a kontakion is - “Virgin today ...”, “Choose Voivode ...”
Kontak - produced from Greek word"kontos" - small, short, which means such a short prayer, in which the life of a saint is briefly glorified or a remembrance in brief main features of some event. Others - the name kontakion is derived from the word that names the material on which they were previously written. Indeed, initially “kontakia” - were called bundles of parchments, written on both sides.
3)magnificence- a song containing the glorification of a Saint or a holiday, magnification is sung during the all-night service before the festive icon, first by the clergy in the middle of the temple, and then repeatedly repeated on the kliros by the singers.
4)Stichira(from the Greek “stichira” - many lines) - a chant consisting of many verses written in one size of versification, having for the most part verses of Holy Scripture in front of them. Each verse contains the main idea, variously revealed in all stichera. For example, the glorification of the Resurrection of Christ, the Entry into the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos, St. Ap. Peter and Paul, John the Theologian, etc.
There are many stichera, but they all have different names, depending on the time of their performance at the service. If the stichera is sung after the prayer “Lord, I have called,” then it is called the “stichera for the Lord, I have called”; if the stichera is sung after the verses in which the glorification of the Lord is contained (for example, “Let every breath praise the Lord”), then the stichera is called the stichera “in praise”.
There are also stichera “on the verse”, and the stichera of the Theotokos are stichera in honor of the Mother of God. The number of stichera of each category and the verses preceding them varies - depending on the solemnity of the holiday - then 10, 8, 6 and 4. Therefore, the liturgical books say - “stichera for 10, for 8, for, 6, etc. These numbers indicate the number of psalm verses to be sung with stichera. At the same time, the very verses, if their not enough, can be repeated several times.
5)Dogmatist. Dogmatists are called special stichera, which contain the teaching (dogma) about the incarnation of Jesus Christ from the Mother of God. And the prayers, which primarily speak of the Most Holy Theotokos, are called by the common name “Theotokos”.
6)Akathist- “not seated”, prayer, especially laudatory singing in honor of the Lord, the Mother of God or the Saint.
7)antiphons- (alternate singing, counter-voicing) prayers that are supposed to be sung alternately on two kliros.
8)Prokimen- (lying in front) - there is a verse that precedes the reading of the Apostle, the Gospel and proverbs. The prokeimenon serves as a preface to the reading and expresses the essence of the remembered person. There are many prokimens: they are daytime, festive, etc.
9)involved a verse that is sung during the communion of the clergy.
10)Canon- this is a series of sacred hymns in honor of a Saint or a holiday that are read or sung at the Vespers at the time when the worshipers kiss (apply) the Holy Gospel or the icon of the holiday. The word "canon" is Greek, in Russian - a rule. The canon consists of nine or sometimes fewer parts called "songs".
Each song, in turn, is divided into several sections (or stanzas), of which the first is called “irmos”. Irmos are sung and serve as a link for all the following sections, which are read and called troparia of the canon.
Every canon has a specific subject. For example, in one canon the Resurrection of Christ is glorified, and in another - the Cross of the Lord, the Mother of God, or some Saint. Therefore, the canons have special names, for example, “Sunday canon”, canon “ Life-Giving Cross”, the canon “Theotokos”, the canon “Saint”.
According to the main subject of the canon, special refrains are read before each verse. For example, during the Sunday canon, the refrain: “Glory to Thee, Our God, glory to Thee...”, under the canon of the Theotokos, the refrain: “Most Holy Theotokos, save us.”
The concept of liturgical books
The books necessary for worship are divided into sacred liturgical books and church liturgical books. The first contains a reading from the Bible (Holy Scripture): these are the Gospel, the Apostle, the Prophetic books and the Psalter; the second contains the changing prayers of the daily, weekly and annual circle.
Circle prayers daytime, that is, the order and text of the daily church services: Midnight Office, Matins, Vespers, etc. are contained in a book called the Book of Hours.
Circle prayers weekly content:
a) in a book called “Oktoih” or Osmoglasnik, which is divided into 8 parts, corresponding to eight church tunes, and is used at all times, except for the period of Great Lent and ending with the feast of the Holy Trinity;
b) in the book - “Triod”, (two types: “Lenten Triod” and “Color”), used during Great Lent and up to the feast of the Holy Trinity inclusive.
Finally, the prayer circle annual are contained in the Menaion or Monthly Book, divided into 12 parts according to the number of 12 months. All the prayers and hymns in honor of the Saints in the Menaion are arranged according to the numbers, and those in the “Octoechos” according to the days.
In addition, those and other departments are divided into services: evenings, mornings and liturgies. For convenience, the prayers and hymns of the great feasts are contained in a special book called the Feast Menaion.
However, familiarization with the liturgical books would be insufficient if it were not for the following book, called the "Ustav" or Typicon.
This voluminous book contains detailed order services at various times and days of the year, as well as the state and behavior of those praying in the temple, during worship and outside the temple, during the day.
Service in the church is a service to God, which consists of appropriate rites and prayers. It reflects the inner religious content. Temples are specially designed for church service. Every day in Orthodox churches, public afternoon, morning and evening services are performed.
Each service in the church consists of three types of services. All together they form a daily circle of services, starting from the evening (from the ninth hour, Vespers and Compline) and ending with the daytime (from the third hour, the sixth hour and the Divine Liturgy). Between them there is still a morning service in the church (midnight office, matins and the first hour). It is not difficult to calculate that the entire daily circle contains nine services.
How is the service in the church?
The Orthodox church service borrowed a lot from the Old Testament worship. So, a new day does not begin at twelve o'clock at night, but at six o'clock in the evening. Therefore, the daily cycle of worship begins with Vespers. This service in the church is significant in that the main biblical events are voiced at it, starting from the creation of the world, the fall of Adam and Eve, the Mosaic commandments and ending with the ministry of the prophets. Orthodox parishioners thank the Lord for the day they lived.
Prayer for the coming dream
After supper, Compline is served in the churches. What is such worship? This is a kind of church prayer for the coming dream. Believers remember the descent of Christ into the underworld and the liberation of the righteous from the power of Satan.
Seven services of the daily circle
At midnight, the third divine service of the daily cycle takes place - the Midnight Office. This service is to remind parishioners of the Last Judgment and the second coming of Christ. Matins is served before sunrise. This church service is one of the longest. It is dedicated to the events of the earthly life of Christ. Numerous thanksgiving and penitential prayers are offered on it. The first hour is spent around seven in the morning. This service is short. It recalls the presence of the Messiah at the trial of the Jewish high priest Kaifa. The third hour is served at nine o'clock in the morning. This divine service is dedicated to the events in the Zion Upper Room, where the Holy Spirit descended on the companions of Christ, and in Pilate's Praetorium, where the son of God was sentenced to death. The sixth hour is celebrated at twelve o'clock in the afternoon, and the ninth hour is celebrated at three o'clock in the afternoon. This time is considered the moment of Christ's death on the cross. Therefore, these divine services are dedicated to this event.
main worship
The main Orthodox church service in daily circle is the Divine Liturgy. This worship service provides an opportunity not only to remember the moments sacred history, but also to unite with Christ through the sacrament of Communion, which, according to church tradition, was established by him during the Last Supper. This service is held between the sixth and the ninth hour, as a result of which it is also called Mass.
How long is the church service?
From 1-2 hours, depending on the service itself and on the temple in which it is held. Today, some changes have been made to the prescriptions of the church charter. In parish churches, Compline is served only during Great Lent, and on the eve of Easter, Midnight Office is served once. The ninth hour is also almost not served, and the remaining six services are combined into 3 church services.
