The general beginning of all canons:
Through the prayers of the saints, our fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us. Amen.
Heavenly King, Comforter, Soul of truth, who is everywhere and fulfills everything, treasure of good things and giver of life, come and dwell in us, and cleanse us from all filth, and save, O Good One, our souls.
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. (Read three times, with the sign of the cross and bows from the waist.)
Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
Most Holy Trinity, have mercy on us; Lord, cleanse our sins; Master, forgive our iniquities; Holy One, visit and heal our infirmities, for Thy name's sake.
Lord have mercy. (Thrice.) Glory, even now.
Our Father, who art in heaven! Hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, as it is in heaven and on earth. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, just as we forgive our debtors; and do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us, amen.
Lord have mercy. (12 times.) Glory, even now.
Come, let us worship our King God. (Bow.)
Come, let us worship and fall down before Christ, our King God. (Bow.)
Come, let us bow and fall down to Christ Himself, the King and our God. (Bow.)
Lord, hear my prayer, inspire my prayer in Thy truth, hear me in Thy righteousness, and do not enter into judgment with Thy servant, for every living person will not be justified before You. As if the enemy drove my soul, he humbled my belly to eat, he planted me to eat in dark, like dead centuries. And my spirit is depressed within me, my heart is troubled within me. I have remembered the days of old, I have learned in all Your works, I have learned Your hand in all creation. My hands have lifted up to You, my soul, like a waterless land, has lifted up to You. Hear me soon, Lord, my spirit has disappeared, do not turn Your face away from me, and I will become like those who go down into the pit. I hear Thy mercy upon me in the morning, for I trust in Thee. Tell me, Lord, the way, where I will go, as if I have taken my soul to You. Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord, I have fled to You. Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God. Your good Spirit will guide me to the right land. For Thy name's sake, Lord, live me by Thy righteousness, remove my soul from sorrow, and by Thy mercy consume my enemies and destroy all my cold souls, for I am Thy servant.
Glory, even now. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, glory to You, O God. (Thrice.) Lord have mercy (12 times). Glory, even now.
Verse 1: Confess to the Lord that He is Good, that His mercy endures forever.
Chorus: God is the Lord and He has appeared to us, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.
Verse 2: They cheated me and resisted them in the name of the Lord.
God is the Lord and He has appeared to us, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.
Verse 3: I will not die, but I will live and carry on the work of the Lord.
God is the Lord and He has appeared to us, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.
Verse 4: The stone that was built carelessly, This was at the head of the corner, this was from the Lord. This is marvelous in our minds.
God is the Lord and He has appeared to us, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.
Then we read the holy troparion twice.
Glory, and now, the Theotokos according to the voice of the troparion (see Appendix) (Note: The Theotokos is taken in the same voice as the troparion that precedes it.).
Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your great mercy, and according to the multitude of Your mercies, cleanse my iniquity. Above all, wash me from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin; for I know my iniquity, and I will take away my sin before me. To You alone have I sinned and done evil before You; for you may be justified in all of Your words, and you will always triumph over Your judgment. Behold, I was conceived in iniquities, and my mother gave birth to me in sins. Behold, you have loved the truth; You have revealed to me the unknown and secret wisdom of Yours. Sprinkle me with hyssop, and I will be cleansed; Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. My hearing brings joy and joy; humble bones will rejoice. Turn Your face away from my sins and cleanse all my iniquities. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a right spirit in my womb. Do not cast me away from Your presence and do not take Your Holy Spirit away from me. Reward me with the joy of Your salvation and strengthen me with the Lord’s Spirit. I will teach the wicked Your way, and the wicked will turn to You. Deliver me from bloodshed, O God, God of my salvation; My tongue will rejoice in Your righteousness. Lord, open my mouth, and my mouth will declare Your praise. As if you had desired sacrifices, you would have given them: you do not favor burnt offerings. The sacrifice to God is a broken spirit; God will not despise a broken and humble heart. Bless Zion, O Lord, with Your favor, and may the walls of Jerusalem be built. Then favor the sacrifice of righteousness, the offering and the burnt offering; Then they will place the bullock on Your altar.
And we read the canon.
The general ending of all canons:
After the 9th song:
Lady, accept the prayer of Your servants and deliver us from all need and sorrow, You are, Mother of God, our weapon and wall, You are our intercessor, and we resort to You, We still call on You for prayer, and deliver us from our enemies. Let us magnify You all, the all-immaculate Mother of Christ God, South of autumn the Holy Spirit. (Bow.)
Trisagion. Holy Trinity... Lord, have mercy. (Thrice.) Glory, even now. Our Father...
Then we read the troparion, Glory, kontakion, and now, Theotokos.
Lord have mercy (40 times).
And, if desired, one or more prayers. If there is no separate prayer, then you can read the general prayer of the saint (see Appendix 2).
If we omit prayers, then: Glory to this day.
Then:
We magnify You, the most honorable Cherub and the most glorious without comparison Seraphim, who gave birth to God the Word without corruption. (Bow.)
Glory, and now (bow). Lord have mercy (three times). God bless. (Bow.)
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, through the prayers of Your Most Pure Mother, holy martyrs (or holy martyrs, or venerable, or righteous), name and all saints, have mercy and save us, for you are Good and Lover of Mankind. Amen.
Lord have mercy (three times).
If desired, we read the troparion about health three times:
Merciful Lord, save and have mercy on Your servants, their names (bow). Deliver them from all sorrow, anger and need. (bow), from all illnesses of soul and body (bow). Forgive them for every sin, voluntary or involuntary. (bow), and do something useful for our souls (bow).
We magnify you, holy name, and honor your holy memory, for you pray for us to Christ our God.
We please you, reverend mother, name, and honor your holy memory, for you pray for us to Christ our God.
We magnify you, holy martyr, and honor your holy sufferings, which you endured for Christ.
Application.
Voice 1: Gabriel spoke to You, O Virgin, rejoice, O Lord of all, with a voice you were incarnated in You, the holy ark, as the righteous David said: You have appeared who is wider than the heavens, reproaching Your Creator. Glory to Him who dwells in You, glory to Him Who passed from You, glory to Him Who freed us through Your birth.
Voice 2: All more than meaning, all your glorious, Mother of God, sacraments, sealed in purity and preserved in virginity, Mother knew that you are not false, having given birth to the true God, pray to Him to save our souls.
Voice 3: We sing to You, who interceded for the salvation of our race, the Virgin Mother of God, for in the flesh Your Son and our God received from You, Let us receive the passion of the Cross, deliver us from aphids, as a lover of mankind.
Voice 4: A mystery that has been hidden for centuries and unknown to the Angel, by You, the Mother of God, who has appeared on earth as God, we embody in unfused union, and we will accept the Cross for our sake, having resurrected the primordial One, saving our souls from death.
Voice 5: Rejoice, impenetrable door of the Lord; Rejoice at the wall and the cover of those who flow to You; Rejoice, unstormed haven, and unmade, who gave birth in the flesh to Your Creator and God. Pray not to become poor for those who sing and bow to Your Nativity.
Voice 6: You have named Your Blessed Mother, you came to the passion of your free will, having shone on the Cross, even to seek Adam, saying by the Angel: rejoice in Me, for the lost drachma has been found. Our God, who has arranged everything wisely, glory to You.
Voice 7: As if you are the treasure of our resurrection, you who hope in You, O All-Singing One, raise them from the pit and the depths of sins, for you have saved those guilty of sin, who gave birth to our salvation, even before the Nativity the Virgin, and in the Nativity the Virgin, and after the Nativity again abides the Virgin.
Voice 8: Who for our sake was born of the Virgin, and endured the crucifixion of the Good One, who overthrew death with death, and revealed the resurrection as God, who did not despise what Thou didst create by Thy hand, show Thy love for mankind, O Merciful One, accept the Mother of God who gave birth to Thee, praying for us, and save, our Savior, desperate people.
Application.
Oh holy one, namename . Having fought a good fight on earth, you have received in heaven the crown of righteousness, which the Lord has prepared for all who love Him. We also rejoice at the glorious end of your life and honor your holy memory. You, who stand before the Throne of God, accept our prayers and bring them to the all-merciful God, to forgive us every sin and help us against the wiles of the devil, so that, having been delivered from sorrows, illnesses, troubles and misfortunes and all evil, we will live piously and righteously in the present We will be honored by your intercession, even though we are unworthy, to see good on the land of the living, glorifying the one in His saints, the glorified God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages.
Note: If we want to read the akathist to the saint, then it should be read according to the 6th song of the canon, instead of kontakion and ikos. In this case, the kontakion and ikos are read according to the 3rd canto, before the sedalnas or before another kontakion, if there is one. After the akathist, we continue to read the canon - the 7th canto and beyond.
The Liturgical Rules suggest that the singing of the canon at Matins throughout the year (with the exception of Holy and Holy Weeks) is accompanied by songs from the Holy Scriptures. There are three editions of biblical songs (located in Irmologiya): festive (“We sing to the Lord...”), everyday (“We sing to the Lord...”) and Lenten. However, in the everyday life of the Russian Orthodox Church, the practice of singing a canon with biblical songs has become established only on St. Lent, during other periods of the year, use the so-called “prayer refrains.”
The singing of the canon with the verses of biblical songs on all days of the year on which this is prescribed by the Charter is more consistent with the content and historical development of the service, but in many churches the implementation of these instructions of the Typikon is often difficult to implement. Therefore, the performers of the service have a need to have at hand a collection of the main choruses for the canons of Matins for the whole year.
Choruses are sometimes given in liturgical books, but more often they are the result of liturgical practice, largely depending on local traditions. There is a general rule to pronounce a chorus before the troparion, reflecting the content of the canon and connected in meaning with the subsequent troparion.
The list of choruses offered below, without claiming to be complete, is an attempt to offer readers choruses for the canons. In addition, the collection of choruses will be useful for clergy when performing prayer services.
In the ancient church books there are two canons for the dead, intended for home use: the canon for the same deceased and the general canon for the dead. These are the same canons that were mentioned when talking about the memorial service. They are also published in our liturgical books. The ancient editions of these canons are important because they give detailed instructions on how to read them at home for a layman.
The order of home reading of these canons is as follows: after the initial exclamation: the prayers of the saints of our fathers, there follows the usual beginning, Psalm 90, the troparion of the Depth of Wisdom with its Theotokos, Psalm 50 and the canon itself: In the following there is no indication regarding the singing of the Irmos: we have established a practice in the cell, The home rule is to read the canons with the Irmos. So on the three canons, so on the rule for Communion. In cell, home rule, antiphonal singing is not expected, therefore there may be an odd number of chants for each song. Likewise, the canons about the dead can be sung at home with the Irmos. According to the 3rd song of the canon, sedalen, and when reading the canon for the departed many, the usual sedalen, Truly, all kinds of vanity are, with his Mother of God. And at the canon for the one who died, the sedal was placed at the requiem and funeral matins before the 50th psalm: Peace, our Savior... with his Theotokos. According to the 6th canto, kontakion and ikos, according to the 9th canto, It is worthy to eat.
Trisagion and troparion: With the spirits of the righteous... After them, instead of the litany, the Lord have mercy 40 times, Glory and now, Most Honest... Bless in the name of the Lord, father010. Exclamation: Through the prayers of our saints, our fathers, and a special funeral prayer: Remember, Lord God. The prayer is followed by those preceding the dismissal: Most honorable... Glory, and now, Lord, have mercy (three times), Bless and dismiss: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, through the prayers of Thy Most Pure Mother, our reverend and God-bearing fathers and all the saints, have mercy and rest the soul of Thy servant ( or Thy servant) to endless ages, for He is good and a lover of mankind, and then it is proclaimed three times: to the servant of God who has departed (name of rivers) everlasting memory. And at the canon for the many who have died, the final proclamation is in this form: The reposed servant of God, our father and brothers and all Orthodox Christians, of whom we make remembrance, eternal memory. In conclusion, the following prayer: Remember, O Lord, the souls of your departed servants (bow), as much as men have sinned in your life, but You, as a Lover of Mankind, forgive them and have mercy (bow), deliver eternal torment (bow), and partakers of the Kingdom perform (bow), and do good for our souls (bow).
Where did morning or evening prayers come from? Can something else be used instead? Is it necessary to pray twice a day? Is it possible to pray according to the rule of St. Seraphim of Sarov? Should children pray according to the “adult” prayer book? How to prepare for Communion? How do you understand that prayer is a dialogue and not a monologue? What should you pray for in your own words? We are talking about the prayer rule with Archpriest Maxim Kozlov , rector of the Church of the Holy Martyr Tatiana at Moscow State University.
- Father Maxim, where did the existing prayer rule - morning and evening prayers - come from?
In the form in which the prayer rule is now printed in our prayer books, other Local Churches do not know it, except for those Slavic Churches that at one time began to focus on the church press of the Russian Empire and de facto borrowed our liturgical books and corresponding printed texts. We will not see this in the Greek-speaking Orthodox Churches. There, the following scheme is recommended for morning and evening prayers for the laity: in the evening - a reduction of Compline and some elements of Vespers, and for morning prayers - unchangeable parts borrowed from Midnight Office and Matins.
If we look at a tradition that was recorded relatively recently by historical standards - for example, we open the “Domostroy” of Archpriest Sylvester - then we will see an almost fantastically ideal Russian family. The task was to provide some kind of role model. Such a family, being literate according to Sylvester, reads the sequence of Vespers and Matins at home, standing in front of the icons along with the household and servants.
If we pay attention to the monastic, priestly rule, known to the laity in preparation for receiving the Holy Mysteries of Christ, then we will see the same three canons that are read at Little Compline.
The collection of prayers under numbers arose quite late. The first text known to us is the “Road Book” by Francis Skaryna, and today liturgists do not have a clear opinion when and why such a collection was made. My assumption (it cannot be considered a final statement) is this: these texts first appeared in southwestern Rus', in the volosts, where there was a very strong Uniate influence and contacts with the Uniates. Most likely, there is, if not a direct borrowing from the Uniates, then a certain kind of borrowing of the liturgical and ascetic logic characteristic of the Catholic Church at that time, which clearly divided its composition into two categories: the church of those who teach and the church of students. Texts were offered for the laity, which had to be different from the texts read by the clergy, taking into account the different educational level and intra-church status of the laity.
By the way, in some prayer books of the 18th-19th centuries we see a relapse of that consciousness (now this is not reprinted, but can be found in pre-revolutionary books): for example, prayers that a Christian can read at the liturgy during the first antiphon; prayers and feelings that a Christian must read and experience during the small entrance... What is this if not some kind of analogue for a layman of those secret prayers that the priest reads during the corresponding parts of the liturgy, but only assigned not to the clergyman, but to the layman? I think that the fruit of that period in the history of our Church was the emergence of today’s prayer rule.
Well, the prayer rule became widespread in the form in which it is now already in the synodal era in the 18th-19th centuries and gradually established itself as a generally accepted norm for the laity. It is difficult to say in what year, in what decade this happened. If we read the teaching on prayer of our authoritative teachers and fathers of the 19th century, then we will not find any analyzes or discussions about the morning-evening rule either in St. Theophan, or in St. Philaret, or in St. Ignatius.
So, on the one hand, recognizing the existing prayer rule has been used for several centuries within the Russian Church and in this sense has become partly unwritten, partly written norm of our spiritual-ascetic and spiritual-prayerful life, we should not overestimate the status of today’s prayer books and given they contain prayer texts as the only possible norm for organizing prayer life.
Is it possible to change the prayer rule? Now this approach has been established among the laity: you can supplement, but you cannot replace or reduce. What do you think about this?
In the form in which they exist, morning and evening prayers are in some inconsistency with the principle of constructing Orthodox worship, which combines, as we all know well, a changeable and an unchangeable part. Moreover, among the changing parts there are repeated - daily, weekly, once a year - cycles of worship: daily, weekly and annual. This principle of combining a solid, unchanging backbone, a skeleton on which everything is built up, and variable, changeable parts is very wisely designed and corresponds to the very principle of human psychology: on the one hand, it needs a norm, a charter, and on the other, variability so that the charter does not become into formal reading and repetition of texts that no longer evoke any internal response. And here there are just problems with the prayer rule, where the same texts are used in the morning and in the evening.
When preparing for Communion, the laity follows three of the same canons. Even in priestly preparation, the canons differ by week. If you open the service book, it says that each day of the week has its own canons. But among the laity the rule remains unchanged. So what, read only this for the rest of your life? It is clear that certain types of problems will arise.
Saint Theophan gives advice, which at one time I was very happy about. I myself and other people I know have found much spiritual benefit in this advice. He advises, when reading the prayer rule to combat coldness and dryness several times a week, noticing the standard chronological period taken to read the usual rule, to try in the same fifteen to twenty minutes, half an hour, not to set yourself the task of necessarily reading everything, but repeatedly returning to the place from which we were distracted or wandered in thought, to achieve utmost concentration on the words and meaning of prayer. Even if in the same twenty minutes we read only the initial prayers, we would learn to do it for real. At the same time, the saint does not say that it is generally necessary to switch to this approach. And he says that you need to combine: on some days, read the rule in its entirety, and on others, pray in this way.
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For many of us, on the day of receiving the Holy Mysteries of Christ, especially for the laity, regardless of the frequency of communion, the soul, and not laziness, prompts a person to rather seek thanksgiving to God on that day than to repeat again in the evening the words that “we have sinned, lawless” and so on. . When everything in us is still full of gratitude to God for accepting the Holy Mysteries of Christ, so that, for example, we don’t take this or that akathist chant or, say, an akathist to the Sweetest Jesus, or some other prayer book and make it the center of our prayer rule for this day?
In fact, prayer, I’ll say such a terrible phrase, needs to be approached creatively. It is impossible to dry it down to the level of a formally executed scheme: to have, on the one hand, the burden of having to carry out this scheme day after day, year after year, and on the other hand, some periodic internal satisfaction from the fact that I am fulfilling what is due , and what else do you want from me in heaven, I did, not without difficulty, what was required. Prayer cannot be turned into reading and fulfilling only a duty, and counting - I don’t have the gift of prayer, I’m a small person, the holy fathers, ascetics, mystics prayed, but we’ll just wander through the prayer book - and there’s no demand.
Who should decide what prayer rule should be - should the person himself decide, or should he still go to his confessor, to a priest?
If a Christian has a confessor with whom he determines the constants of his internal spiritual structure, then it would be absurd to do without him in this case, and decide for himself what to do with his own head. We initially assume that a confessor is a person at least no less experienced in spiritual life than the one who turns to him, and in most cases somewhat more experienced. And in general - one head is good, but two are better. From the outside it is clearer that a person, even a reasonable person in many respects, may not notice. Therefore, it is prudent, when determining something that we seek to make permanent, to consult with our confessor.
But there is no advice for every movement of the soul. And if today you wanted to open the Psalter - not in terms of regular reading, but simply open and add the psalms of King David to your usual prayer routine - shouldn’t you call the priest? It’s another matter if you want to start reading kathismas along with the prayer rule. Then you need to consult and take a blessing for this, and the priest, based on whether you are ready, will help you with advice. Well, as for just natural movements of the soul - here you somehow need to decide for yourself.
I think that it is better not to omit the initial prayers unnecessarily, because they contain perhaps the most concentrated experience of the Church - “To the Heavenly King,” “To the Holy Trinity,” who taught us the prayer “Our Father,” we already know, “ It is worthy to eat” or “Rejoice to the Virgin Mary” - there are so few of them, and they are so obviously chosen by the prayer experience of the Church. The charter sometimes asks us to abstain from them. “To the Heavenly King” - we wait 50 days before the Feast of Pentecost; on Bright Week we generally have a special prayer rule. I don't understand the logic of this refusal.
Why is it necessary to pray exactly twice a day - morning and evening? One of our readers writes: when I work with children, cook or clean, it’s so easy for me to pray, but as soon as I stand in front of the icons, everything seems to cut off.
Several themes arise here. Nobody calls us to limit ourselves to only the morning or evening rule. The Apostle Paul says directly - pray without ceasing. The task of good organization of prayer life implies that a Christian strives not to forget about God during the day, including not to forget in prayer. There are many situations in our lives when prayer can be developed in a distinct way. But the reluctance to stand up and pray precisely when it is supposed to be a duty must be fought, because, as we know, the enemy of the human race is especially opposed there when there is no self-will. It's easy to do, it's done when I want. But it becomes a feat that I have to do regardless of whether I want to or not. Therefore, I would advise you not to give up efforts to put yourself in morning and evening prayers. Its size is another matter, especially for a mother with children. But it should be like some constant value of the prayer structure.
As for prayers during the day: if you stir porridge, young mother, chant a prayer to yourself, or if somehow you can concentrate more, read the Jesus Prayer to yourself.
Now for most of us there is a great school of prayer - this is the road. Each of us goes to school, to work on public transport, in a car in the well-known Moscow traffic jams. Pray! Don't waste your time, don't turn on unnecessary radio. If you don't hear the news, you'll survive for several days without it. Don’t think that you are so tired on the subway that you want to forget yourself and fall asleep. Well, okay, if you can’t read the prayer book on the subway, read “Lord, have mercy” to yourself. And this will be a school of prayer.
- What if you’re driving and put on a CD with prayers?
I once treated this very harshly, I thought - well, these discs are some kind of hack, and then, from the experience of various clergy and laity, I saw that this could be an aid to the prayer rule.
The only thing I would say is that you don’t need to reduce your entire prayer life to listening to discs. It would be absurd to come home in the evening and take the evening rule, turn on the disc instead of yourself, and some reverent Lavra choir and experienced hierodeacon will begin to lull you to sleep in their usual voice. Everything should be in moderation.
- How do you feel about the rule of Seraphim of Sarov?
How can you relate to the rule given by the great saint? Like the rule given by the great saint. I just want to remind you under what circumstances he gave it: he gave it to those nuns and novices who were in difficult labor obediences for 14-16 hours a day. He gave them so that they could start and end their day without having the opportunity to fulfill regular monastic rules, and reminded them that this rule must be combined with internal prayer work during the labors that they carry out during the day.
Of course, if a person in a hot shop or in equally tiresome office work comes home so that eating a dinner, whipped up by his beloved wife and reading prayers is all that he has the strength left for, let him read the rule of St. Seraphim. But if you still have the strength to leisurely sit at your desk, make a few not-so-necessary phone calls, watch a movie or news on TV, read a friend’s feed on the Internet, and then - oh, you have to get up for work tomorrow and only have a few minutes left - then, perhaps, it is not the most correct way to limit yourself to the Seraphim rule.
Father Maxim, if during prayer in your own words some successful words arise that you want to write down and then pray according to them, is it possible to do this?
Write it down and pray, of course! The prayers that we read in the prayer book, created by great saints, were born that way. They prayed with these words as if they were their own. And someone, they or their students, once wrote down these words, and then from personal experience they became the experience of the Church.
For the most part, we cannot claim that our successes will receive wide church dissemination, but, let’s say, the prayer of the Optina Elders, the prayer of St. Philaret, some of the prayers of St. John of Kronstadt, which recently emerged and has become dear to many Orthodox Christians, is exactly that. appeared. There is no need to be afraid of this.
Many parents say that some of the evening prayers are completely incomprehensible and not close to children and adolescents. Do you think a mother could create some kind of prayer rule for her children?
That would be very reasonable. Firstly, because in other cases we are talking about sins that children do not know, and the later they learn about them, the better. Secondly, these prayers are largely correlated with the experience of a person who has already walked a fair path in life, who has some concepts about spiritual life, about his own weakness and about the failures that we experience in spiritual life.
The main thing that we should strive to cultivate in children is the desire to pray and a joyful attitude towards prayer, and not as something that must be done under pressure, as a painful duty from which it is impossible to get away. The main word in this phrase will be “painful”. The children's rule must be treated very, very delicately. And it’s better for children to pray less, but willingly. A small sprout can eventually grow into a large tree. But if we dry it to the state of a skeleton, then even if it is something big, there will be no life in it. And then you will have to laboriously create everything again.
Father, what if, while reading the sequence to Communion, you read for the first ten minutes and really feel that you are praying, and then it’s purely reading?
First, we need to notice whether this happens to us regularly. And if there is some tendency towards this, then it would be prudent to try to spread the rule for Communion over several days. Indeed, it is difficult for many to read with concentration first the three canons, then the canon for Communion, then the rule for Communion, and somewhere else to place the evening or morning prayers - this, as a rule, is more than a person’s regular norm. Well, why not distribute the same three canons over the two or three days that follow before Communion? This will help us to go through the path of fasting and preparation more consciously.
- And if a person receives communion every week, how do you think he should prepare?
I hope that the question of the extent of preparation for Communion will become one of the topics of the corresponding commission of the inter-council presence. Many of the clergy and laity realize that it is impossible to transfer mechanically those norms that developed in the 18th-19th centuries with the very rare communion of the laity - once a year or in four multi-day fasts, or a little more often - rarely any of the laity, including very pious ones , took communion more often then. I don’t want to say that this was necessarily bad, but this was the practice of the spiritual and sacramental life of the laity at that time.
Already in Soviet times, a practice developed in which a significant part of our laity began to receive communion often or very often, up to and including weekly communion. It is clear that if a person receives communion weekly, it is impossible for him to fast for a week; his life will be entirely fasting. Without in any way suggesting this as a norm for everyone, based on the advice of experienced priests whom I have known in my life, and from some assessment of the benefits for people in the parishes in which I had to serve, it seems to me that if a person takes communion on Sunday , then Friday and Saturday will be sufficient days of fasting for those who partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. There are canonical problems with the Sabbath, but it would still be strange to cancel fasting on the eve of Sunday communion. It would be good not to miss the evening service on the previous Saturday evening, if life circumstances allow it to any extent.
For example, for a mother with children this is probably not always realistic. Perhaps there is no need to take communion so often, but there is a desire, but it is not possible to attend the evening service. Or for a person who works a lot, the father of a large family. It often happens that such a person cannot cancel work on Saturday, but his soul asks for Communion. I think he has the right to come and receive communion without an evening service. But still, if he preferred to go to the cinema or somewhere else on Saturday evening, then he preferred leisure. Still, visiting a movie, theater or even a concert - I don’t think that can be a way of preparing for the reception of the Holy Mysteries of Christ.
Certainly no one should in any way cancel the canon and prayers before Holy Communion. But others - what we talked about the three canons and so on - can probably, on the advice of the confessor, be somehow distributed over the days, replaced by other aggravation of prayers.
The main task of the prayer rule for Communion is for a person to have at least a small segment of his life’s journey in which his main guideline would be preparation for receiving the Eucharist. What this segment will be in his specific life circumstances is today determined rather individually by the person himself, together with his confessor. I hope that the conciliar mind of the Church will provide some clearer guidelines as a result of the work of the Inter-Council Presence.
Question from our reader: “Christ said not to be like the pagans in the verbosity of prayer, but our prayers are still quite long.”
The Lord said this, first of all, so that we would not pray verbosely for show. The Lord reproached the Pharisees for this to a large extent.
With the many words that we see in our prayer books, these prayers have three main goals - repentance, gratitude and praise to God. And if we focus ourselves on this, then this will be the good purpose of prayer.
Many words are often needed for one simple reason: so that out of the ninety to ninety-five percent that will turn out to be ore for us, we still find five percent of diamonds for the soul. Rarely do any of us know how to approach prayer in such a way that, knowing that it will last three minutes, these three minutes, cutting off all everyday worries, concentrate and enter into our inner hearts. Need some overclocking if you want. And then during this somewhat lengthy prayer there will be several peaks of concentration, some kind of movement of the soul and heart. But if there is no this path, then there will be no peaks.
When a creative approach to a prayer rule is discussed, most people are sensitive about it. This applies to fasting and many other things in church life. Why do you think this happens?
There is a certain tendency, our Russian one, which is the flip side of another positive trend - this is a tendency towards ritual belief. It is known that, according to St. Gregory the Theologian, among the Greeks, despite the general theological and contemplative direction of the soul of the people, the other side of this was idle talk about lofty things. The saint’s famous phrase is that you cannot go to the market to buy fish without hearing discussions about the two natures and the relationship between the hypostases. We Russians never had such a penchant for theology before the advent of the Internet era. But there was a tendency rather towards a sacred, sacral, sublime, church-like existence, and at the same time a life in which everything would be united in the Church, everything would be churchly. The same Domostroy is a very indicative book in this sense.
But the flip side is the extreme sacralization of ritual and everything connected with the letter. The late professor at Moscow University Andrei Cheslavovich Kozarzhevsky liked to say at his lectures back in Soviet times that if in the Church a priest suddenly says not “Our Father” but “Our Father,” then he will be considered a heretic. This is true, for many it can be some kind of challenge. Why would a priest say that is another matter, but even at the level of some kind of reservation, they will think that this is a very, very strange and dangerous trend. So I would connect this with the general structure of our Russian mentality.
On the other hand, there is some understanding here that there is no need to shake what stands firmly (I quote St. Philaret) so that reconstruction does not turn into destruction. A person seeking good order in his prayer life should always strive for utmost honesty before God and understand that he cares about prayer, and not about shortening it. About filling it, and not about feeling sorry for yourself, not about creatively looking for something, but simply praying less. In this case, you need to honestly say to yourself: yes, my measure is not what I imagined, but this one is very small. Not that “I found it through creative prayerful searching.”
How can you feel that prayer is not a monologue, but a dialogue? Can you use some of your own feelings here?
The Holy Fathers teach us not to trust our emotions in prayer. Emotions are not the most reliable criterion. Let us recall, for example, the Gospel parable of the publican and the Pharisee: it was not the one who was more justified by God, as Christ the Savior tells us, who left satisfied with his prayer, with a correct sense of his inner order.
Prayer is recognized by its fruits. How repentance is recognized by results - by what happens to a person. Not because of what I went through emotionally today. Although each of us cherishes tears in prayer and the warmth of the soul, we cannot pray in such a way as to evoke tears in ourselves or artificially warm up the warmth of the soul. It must be gratefully accepted when the Lord gives it as a gift, but not feelings, but our relationship with God should be the goal of prayer.
- What if you feel tired during prayers?
Ambrose of Optina says that it is better to think about prayer while sitting than to think about your feet while standing. But again, just be honest. If fatigue sets in after the thirtieth second of prayer, if we are able to pray much better while sitting in a chair or lying on a pillow, then this is no longer fatigue, but internal deceit. If a person has a pinched calcaneal nerve, well, let him sit, poor thing. Mom is pregnant - why bother her with a child at 6-7 months? Let him recline as best he can.
But we must remember: a person is a mental-physical, psychophysical being, and the position itself, the structure of the body during prayer, matters. I will not talk about high things that none of us have any idea about - how to focus attention in the upper part of the heart, for example. I don't even know where the top of the heart is or how to focus my attention there. But the fact that scratching the ear or picking the nose affects the way we pray - this, I think, is understood even by less exalted mystics.
What about prayers for beginners? There are special prayer books for them, but the prayers there are no more understandable than in ordinary ones.
It seems to me that beginners need, first of all, to be taught this - so that the prayers become clear to them. And here prayer books a) explanatory and b) with parallel translation into Russian can play a good role. Ideally, this should be combined: it should be both a translation into Russian and some kind of interpretation.
Let's say, before the revolution, a series was published on the twelfth holidays by N.A. Skabalanovich, which contained the entire Slavic text of the holiday service, a parallel translation into Russian and an explanation of the meaning of what is sometimes not enough to translate. I think that if people make the text of the prayer understandable, this will remove many difficulties. And the size of the prayer rule is a matter that should rather be determined individually.
Can a person who has just become interested in church life be advised to pray the Optina Elders, for example, as a prayer rule?
Yes, more often than not, beginners should rather be limited from overdose. My experience speaks rather differently: beginners, in neophyte zeal, strive to take more than they can. They rather need to be told: “Read this and that’s all, dear, then someday you will pray more. There is no need to read three kathismas.”
Question from our reader: he has a difficult relationship with his father; they never communicated particularly closely. After joining the church, he felt that he could not talk to God as Father with a capital F.
This is some kind of specific spiritual complex, I would say. It is difficult to speak in relation to a person whom I do not know, much less make any judgments that can speak critically about his internal structure, but let him ask himself the question: is he not experiencing a certain kind of absolutization of personal experience on the scale of the Universe? That is, doesn’t it turn out that if I had some negative experience within the limits of my tubercle and bump, then I can’t teach myself to look in any other perspective except from this bump and from this tubercle?
According to this logic, children whom their mother abandoned cannot or should not learn to love the Most Holy Theotokos... It seems to me that here is an unwillingness to accept that difficult experience, but for some reason God allowed this person, and not just an unsuccessful relationship with his own father. But I repeat: I’m arguing this way in three lines of this question, the problem can be much deeper, you need to know more than a person to say.
Father, what should you pray for in your own words? Sometimes they say: don’t ask for humility, because God will send you such sorrows that you yourself won’t be happy.
You need to pray for one thing that is needed. Why, in fact, not ask for humility? It’s as if we are being overheard in the heavenly office, and if we say something like that, we’ll immediately say: oh, you asked, here’s a stick to your head, take it. But if we believe in the Providence of God, and not in some heavenly KGB tracking down incorrect words, then we should not be afraid to ask for the right one.
Another thing is that in other cases you need to be aware of the value of prayer. Let's say, a mother asking for deliverance from the passion of drug addiction for her son must understand that this is least likely to happen in such a way that tomorrow he will wake up like a lamb, having forgotten about his addictions, hardworking, abstinent and loving his neighbors. Most likely, when asking for her son’s deliverance, she is asking him for sorrows, illnesses, or some very difficult life circumstances that the son may encounter - perhaps the army, prison.
The value of prayer must be realized, but, nevertheless, one must pray for the right thing and not fear God. We believe in our Heavenly Father, who sent his only begotten Son so that those who believe in Him would not perish, and not in order to rein them all in some correct way.
- What is the general meaning of asking for prayer, if the Lord already knows what we need?
God knows, but expects good will from us. “God does not save us without us,” these wonderful words of St. Peter of Athos fully apply to prayer. And we are saved not as cubes that are rearranged from place to place, but as living individuals, as hypostases entering into a relationship of love with the One who saves us. And these relationships imply the presence of free will and moral choice from a person.
Interviewed by Maria Abushkina
4.6 (91.11%) 18 votes
You can prepare for the Sacrament of Communion by reading the Correct Canons, according to the Psalter, as well as through the prayer (bows or prayers) - at the choice of the fasting person.
However, the most faithful assistant on the path of preparing a believer to participate in Christ’s Table - decorating the soul with pearls of tearful repentance - are the Correct Canons.
In one verse, they touchingly call us to realize our sins: “Sweet Jesus Christ, open the door of repentance to Jesus, O most loving Jesus...” , and in another - how caring and tender it is! - are already delighting the desperate soul with the joyful hope of forgiveness: “Lift up Your servant, O my Jesus, who falls with tears at Your feet. And save, O my Jesus, the repentant one, and save me from hell, Lord, O Most Sweet and Most Merciful Jesus...”
Song after song we ask the All-Bounteous Benefactor for a libation of healing oil for the wounded soul, forgiveness of sins and eternal union with the elect in the radiance of Divine glory: “... My Most Red Jesus, who has come running to You, My Savior Jesus, have mercy... and vouchsafe food of heaven, O Jesus, the Lover of Mankind.” By reading the divinely inspired Correct Canons, we also learn to glorify our Lord Jesus Christ, the Most Holy Theotokos and our Guardian Angel in the most sweet-smelling words dear to our heavenly Patrons, filling ourselves with the Spirit, faith and bright joy of a lover of the law.
This question worries many, and here's why. The fact is that Orthodox Christians pray the Correct Canons according to a reprint of a book published in the city of Uralsk in 1908 for monks of Old Believer monasteries. As a result, only a prepared pilgrim can pray correctly using this book: it omits many instructions regarding chants, bows and other important details, known today mainly to a small number of clergy and clergy.
This article is intended to solve this problem and teach Orthodox Christians, who are not at all familiar with the Church Charter, to pray according to the Ural book without a single mistake.
Practical part The practical part of the article includes a scanned reprint of the Ural book
with instructions added in the margins, which it would be great if you copied
in your book. You can purchase a reprint of the Ural book in the church shop of your parish or, in case of its absence, order it by mail to any corner of the world by writing a letter to the email address [email protected].Hints in the margins will help you read the Correct Canons more confidently, faster, and, most importantly, with greater concentration on prayer: You will not need to remember which song of which canon you are reading, where and which chant should be sung, whether you need to bow, and if necessary, which one, waist, throwing or great earthly - all the necessary instructions will always be before your eyes.
The theoretical part of this manual consists of a detailed scheme for reading the Correct Canons for every day, outlined below.
The article was written based on the materials of the Sunday school operating at the Church of the Presentation of the Vladimir Icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Ostozhensk community - one of the three churches of the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church in Moscow, and on the practice of reading the Correct Canons, established in this parish.
The accuracy and completeness of the information provided in the article was confirmed by the Sunday school teacher Fr. Protodeacon Alexander Govorov.
Anyone approaching the Body and Blood of Christ must pray seven Rules, each of which includes 4 canons:
1) canon of the Lord Jesus Christ;
2) canon to the Most Holy Theotokos (Akathist, Hodegetria or Annunciation) with 13 kontakia
and 12 ikoses;
3) a small canon to the Most Holy Theotokos (“Water has passed…” or on the day of the vespers);
4) the small canon to the Guardian Angel (or Great Monday).
Thus, the fasting person reads 28 canons during the week.
Rule to St. Communion, celebrated on the eve and on the day of the Sacrament, includes the Sacrament Hours, the Sacrament Canon and the Sacrament Prayers, as well as the daily circle of church services - Vespers, Vespers, Midnight Office, Matins, Hours and Divine Liturgy. At the end of the Sacrament, the communicant reads the prayers of thanksgiving in the temple or at home, located at the end of the Ural reprint mentioned above.
You can only get the answer to this question from your spiritual father. But, for example, the rector of our church, Fr. At the beginning of each post, Sergius Lisurenko addresses his spiritual children with a call for responsible fulfillment of the seven Rules before Confession. Such a strict requirement, in my observation, arouses special reverence in the believer
to the terrible, sacred Sacrament of Communion, kindles the fear of God to the fullest, ignites spiritual fire and, as a result, literally opens the soul, every “cell” of it, for the healing effect of God’s Grace, protecting the communicant from the sinful flood and lifting his soul to Heaven itself .
The answer to this question is left to your discretion. This requires not a specific time or other external circumstances, but first of all a suitable spiritual disposition: a cheerful, collected mind, a humble heart and a grieving soul, presenting a sacrifice of tearful repentance to the heavenly altar of the Physician of souls. Let's listen to St. John Chrysostom: “Let us awaken our conscience, let us sadden our souls with the memory of our sins” (“Symphony…”, 2008, p. 280).
The correct canons are read in pairs, first the senior canons to Jesus and the Mother of God (by day), then the minor canons to the Mother of God and the Angel (by day) in the following combination:
On Monday(starting Sunday evening):
1-2) canon to Jesus + canon to the Theotokos Akathist;
3-4) canon to the Mother of God “Water passed through...” + canon to the Great Guardian Angel.
By Tuesday:
On Wednesday:
1-2) canon to Jesus + canon to the Mother of God Hodegetria;
3-4) canon to the Mother of God “Water passed through...” + small canon to the Guardian Angel.
By Thursday:
1-2) canon to Jesus + canon to the Theotokos Akathist;
3-4) canon to the Mother of God “Water passed through...” + small canon to the Guardian Angel
By Friday:
1-2) canon to Jesus + canon to the Theotokos Akathist;
3-4) canon to the Mother of God “Water passed through...” + small canon to the Guardian Angel.
On Saturday:
1-2) canon to Jesus + canon to the Theotokos Akathist;
3-4) canon to the Mother of God “Water passed through...” + small canon to the Guardian Angel.
On Sunday:
1-2) canon to Jesus + canon to the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary;
3-4) canon to the Mother of God “Water passed through...” + small canon to the Guardian Angel.
* Some Christians replace the canon to the Theotokos “The water passed...” with another canon to the Theotokos from the vespers of that day in Oktai.
In the Ural book, to our joy, the canon of Jesus and the canon of the Akathist to the Mother of God are combined in finished form, as well as the canon of the Theotokos “Water passed” and the canon of the small Guardian Angel. These canons can be read in a row under Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The remaining three pairs of canons, read on Monday, Wednesday and Sunday, must be combined by the fasting person independently by analogy.
Canon is a series of sacred chants in honor of a saint or holiday. The canon usually consists of 9 songs. Canto 2 is missing from the Correct Canons.
Each hymn, in turn, consists of an irmos and troparia. Irmos is the first verse of the song. According to the general rule, in combined canons only the irmos of the first canon is read. For this reason, in the Correct Senior Canons, the irmos of the second canon (To the Mother of God) is read at the end of the song at the place of the catavasia, and in the Correct Small Canons, the irmos of the second canon (to the Guardian Angel) is left completely.
Tropari- all subsequent verses of the song. The correct canons have 4-7 troparia (we read them without connecting). Before each troparion, a chant is pronounced corresponding to the canon being read:
Song to Jesus: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner (or us).”
Song to the Mother of God: “Most Holy Lady Theotokos, save us.”
Song to the Angel: “Angel of Christ, my holy guardian, save me, Thy sinful servant.”
Females should say “sinful” instead of “sinful”; Likewise, in all prayers one should make a declination according to its type. See also changing endings
in a scanned reprint of the Ural book.
The penultimate troparion of the last (in our case the second) canon has the chant: Glory to the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit (abbreviated as Glory), and the last troparion (theotokos) has the chant: And now and ever and unto ages of ages, Amen (abbreviated as And now).
Initial bows and prayers(before the Creed):
Semipoklonny began
12 bows (to the waist, only the last bow to the ground)
Having crossed ourselves, we read: “To the King of heaven...”
Lord have mercy (12 times)
Glory, And now
“Come, let us bow...” (3 bows from the waist)
Poems to Jesus and the Virgin Mary(by day):
3 stichera to Jesus (starting with “Sweet Jesus...”) with the chant for each “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner (or us)” (on the first stichera, bow to the waist)
3 stichera to the Theotokos with the chant for each “Most Holy Lady Theotokos, save us”
(at the first stichera, bow to the waist) by day:
If the canon is Akathist or Annunciation, then we read on the row “Council of the Eternal...”
If the canon of Hodegetria, then look at l. 47 rev. “We please You, give birth to all of us...”
(or optional l. 48 rev. “Golden Censer...”)
Glory
4th stichera to Jesus (theotokos) “Who gave birth to Jesus...”
And now
4th verse of the day to the Mother of God:
If the canon is Akathist, then we read in the row “The sacrament that has come from the ages...”
If the canon of Hodegetria, then look at l. 48 rev. “Godly and All-Honorable...”
(or another l. 49 “Like joy...”)
If the canon is for the Annunciation, then look at l. 38 rev. "Sent quickly..."
In the canon of Jesus, each hymn begins with an irmos, in the canon of the Theotokos, with the chant and troparion of the song. The Irmos of the canon to the Mother of God is read at the end of the corresponding song at the place of the chaos.
Scheme of reading the song in the canon of Jesus:
Irmos
4 troparions (chant to Jesus -> troparion; chant to Jesus -> troparion; chant to Jesus -> troparion; chant to the Theotokos -> troparion of the Theotokos)
Scheme of reading the song in the canon of the Virgin Mary:
4 troparions (chant to the Theotokos -> troparion; chanting to the Virgin Mary -> troparion; Glory -> troparion; And now -> troparion); some songs have 5 troparia
Katavasia (in place of the catavasia the irmos of this (second) canon is sung)
* After the 1st chorus in the 1st and 9th songs in each of the two canons: bow from the waist.
From the 3rd song:
Lord have mercy (three times)
Kontakion and Ikos to Jesus “O Jesus the Savior, cleanse and save me...”
Under Wednesday: kontakia (two) and ikos to the Mother of God Hodegetria “Imams do not have any other help...” (fol. 53 – 53 rev.)
Sedalen to Jesus “My Savior Jesus, like the Prodigal Savior...”
Glory, And now
Theotokos by day:
On Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday we read on the row “Prayers of our servants...”
Under Wednesday we look l. 50 rev. “The prayer book is warm...”
On Friday we read on the row of the Holy Cross “Like your intercession...”
Under Sunday we look l. 40 “Gabriel was sent…” –> Glory, And now –> l. 40 rev. "Gabriel from heaven..."
According to the 6th song:
Lord have mercy (three times)
Glory, And now
Akathist to the Mother of God, consisting of 13 kontakia and 12 ikos (at the end of the 1st ikos “Representative angel...” in place of the word “we worship” an earthly bow; kontakion 13 “Oh! All-Sung Mother...” we read three times with earthly bows)
We repeat the ikos 1st “Representative Angel...” (fol. 21 rev.), then the kontakion 1st “To the elected governor...”
Prayer to the Mother of God (before prayer: chant to the Mother of God + bow from the waist; at the end of prayer: bow to the ground)
* 13 kontakia and 12 ikos (the so-called akathist to the Theotokos) + prayer to the Theotokos are read, including on Wednesday and Sunday, when the canons of the Hodegetria are read
and Annunciation. In this regard, the kontakion (two) and ikos of the canon of the Hodegetria are read according to the 3rd song - after the kontakion and ikos of Jesus, and the kontakion and ikos of the canon of the Annunciation are left due to the coincidence with the 1st kontakion and ikos of the akathist to the Theotokos.
According to the 9th song:
Prayer to Jesus (before prayer: chant to Jesus + bow from the waist; at the end of prayer: bow to the ground)
On Wednesday: prayer to the Mother of God Hodegetria “Most Holy Lady Lady...” (l. 56)
On Sunday: prayer to the Annunciation of the Mother of God “To You, Most Pure...” (fol. 46 rev.)
Then the small canons are read - to the Mother of God “Water passed through...” and to the Guardian Angel (by day):
Small canon: on a row
Great Canon: l. 68 rev.
The canon to the Mother of God begins with the irmos, the canon to the Guardian Angel begins with the chant and troparion of the song. The Irmos of the canon to the Guardian Angel are not read at the site of the chaos; they remain completely unread here.
Scheme of reading the song in the canon of the Theotokos:
Irmos
4 troparions (chant to the Theotokos -> troparion; chanting to the Theotokos -> troparion; chanting to the Theotokos -> troparion; chanting to the Virgin Mary -> troparion)
Scheme of reading the song in the canon to the Guardian Angel:
4 troparions (chant to the Angel -> troparion; chanting to the Angel -> troparion; Glory -> troparion; And now -> troparion of the Theotokos); in the great canon 5-7 troparia
* After the 1st chant (To the Mother of God, Jesus, Angel) in the 1st and 9th songs of each of the two canons: bow from the waist.
* In the canon of the Little Guardian Angel in the 1st and 9th cantos, before the chant and troparion to the Angel, the chant and troparion to Jesus are read.
* In the canon to the Great Guardian Angel in the 1st and 9th cantos, the chant and troparion to Jesus is read after the chant and troparion to the Angel.
From the 3rd song:
Lord have mercy (three times)
Kontakion and Ikos to the Guardian Angel by day:
In the small canon, in the row “Be merciful to me...”
In the great canon “Oh! To the representative of the non-military..." (l. 73)
Sedal to the Guardian Angel in the small and great canon “From the love of the soul...”
Glory, And now
Sedalen theotokos “Like the All-Immaculate...” (or optionally “To the Brideless Mother of God...”)
According to the 6th song:
Lord have mercy (three times)
Glory, And now
Kontakion and Ikos to the Mother of God “Unashamed Intercessor of Christians...”
According to the 9th song:
Prayer to the Guardian Angel by day:
In the small canon “Holy Angel of Christ...”
In the great canon “Standing Holy Angels...”
(before prayer: chant to the Angel + bow from the waist; at the end of prayer: bow to the ground)
After completing the minor canons:
It is worthy to eat (bow to the ground)
Trisagion (3 bows to the waist), and Our Father
“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us. Amen” (bow from the waist, if several people are praying, then only the eldest one, the one praying, bows)
Dismissal troparia and kontakia of the 4 canons read (those troparia are read
and kontakia, which canons were read on a given day):
Troparion (two) to Jesus
Troparion to the Theotokos (by day), Hodegetria - two troparions
Troparion to the Guardian Angel (by day)
Kontakion to Jesus
Glory
Kontakion to the Guardian Angel (by day)
And now
Kontakion to the Mother of God (by day)
Lord have mercy (40 times)
Most honorable cherub (bow from the waist)
Glory (bow from the waist)
And now (bow from the waist)
Lord, have mercy (twice), Lord, bless (waist bow)
Vacation:
For Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday:
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, prayers for the sake of the Most Pure Ti Mater, honest
and Her glorious Praise, and the holy Guardian Angels, and all the saints, have mercy
and save us, as you are Good and Lover of Mankind. Amen.
On Wednesday:
and Her glorious Hodegetria, and our holy Guardian Angels, and all the saints, have mercy and save us, for you are Good and Lover of Mankind. Amen.
On Sunday:
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, prayers for the sake of the Most Pure Ti Mater, honorable
and Her glorious Annunciation, and our holy Guardian Angels, and all the saints, have mercy and save us, for you are Good and Lover of Mankind. Amen.
Lord have mercy (three times)
Semipoklonny began
The publican’s prayer “God is merciful...” (3 bows to the waist)
1. During Lent, bows directly in the canons remain unchanged.
2. Only individual bows from the waist in the initial and initial prayers are replaced with small bows to the ground (throwing).
3. Additionally, one great bow to the earth is added after the prayer “To the King of Heaven...”.
Thus, the opening and initial prayers during Lent are read as follows (changes in italics):
Initial bows and prayers(before the Creed):
Semipoklonny began (
)
The publican’s prayer “God is merciful...” (3 bows to the waist; if several people are praying, then only the eldest, the one praying, makes these 3 bows)
12 bows ( throwing, only the last great bow to the earth
)
5 prayers addressed to the Lord Jesus Christ
The publican’s prayer “God is merciful...” (3 bows to the waist)
We kiss the pectoral cross, first protecting ourselves with it with the prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, bless, and sanctify, and preserve me by the power of Your Life-Giving Cross.”
Having crossed ourselves, we say 3 times: “Glory to Thee, our God, glory to Thee, for everyone’s sake.”
“For the prayers of the saints, our father, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us. Amen" (bow from the waist)
Having crossed ourselves, we read: “To the King of heaven...” ( great bow to earth
)
Trisagion ( 3 throws
), and according to Our Father
“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us. Amen” (waist bow; if several people are praying, then only the eldest, the one praying, bows)
Lord have mercy (12 times)
Glory, And now
“Come, let us worship...” ( 3 throws
)
Psalm 50 “Have mercy on me, O God...”
Protecting ourselves with the sign of the cross, we say “I believe in one God...”
After completing the minor canons:
It is worthy to eat (great bow to the ground)
Trisagion ( 3 throws
), and according to Our Father
“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us. Amen” (waist bow; if several people are praying, then only the eldest, the one praying, bows)
Vacant troparia and kontakia of 4 canons read
Lord have mercy (40 times)
The most honest cherub ( throwing
)
Glory ( throwing
)
And now ( throwing
)
Lord have mercy (twice), Lord bless ( throwing
)
Vacation
Lord have mercy (three times)
Semipoklonny began ( 6 bows to the waist are replaced by throwing
)
The publican’s prayer “God is merciful...” (3 bows to the waist)
RULE FOR READING PRAYER CANONS
According to the usual beginning, the layman says: Through the prayers of the saints, our fathers, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us. A min.
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us (three times, with bows).
Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. A min.
Holy Trinity, have mercy on us. Lord, cleanse our sins. Master, forgive our iniquities. Holy One, visit and heal our infirmities, for Thy name's sake.
Lord have mercy (three times). Since lava, and now.
O our father, who art in heaven. Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done as it is in Heaven and on earth. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors, and do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us.
A min.
Lord have mercy (12). Since lava, and now.
Come, let us bow to our God the King (bow).
Come, let us bow down and bow down to Christ our King God (bow).
Come, let us bow and fall before Christ Himself, the King and our God (bow).
Psalm 142.
Lord, hear my prayer, inspire my prayer in Thy truth, hear me in Thy righteousness, and do not enter into judgment with Thy servant, for every living person will not be justified before You. As if the enemy drove my soul, he humbled my belly to eat, he planted me to eat in dark, like dead centuries. And my spirit is depressed within me, my heart is troubled within me. I have remembered the days of old, I have learned in all Your works, I have learned Your hand in all creation. My hands have lifted up to Thee, my soul, like the waterless land unto Thee. Hear me soon, Lord, my spirit has disappeared. Do not turn Your face away from me, and I will become like those who go down into the pit. I hear Thy mercy upon me in the morning, O Lord, for I have trusted in Thee. Tell me, O Lord, Thy way; I will go as if I had taken my soul to Thee. Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord, I have fled to You. Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God. Your Good Spirit will guide me to the right land. For Thy name's sake, O Lord, live me, and through Thy righteousness bring my soul out of sorrow. And by Thy mercy consume my enemies and destroy them all, those who oppress my soul, for I am Thy servant.
Since lava, and now. And lleluia, alleluia, alleluia, glory to Thee, O God. (three times, with bows).
Lord have mercy (12). Since lava, and now.
God is the Lord and He has appeared to us, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
And confess to the Lord that He is good, for His mercy endures forever.
About what happened, they cheated me and resisted them in the name of the Lord.
I will not die, but I will live and carry on the work of the Lord.
To the stone that those who carelessly built, This was at the head of the corner, this came from the Lord This is marvelous in our minds (and to each verse we chorus: God the Lord :).
Also, the troparion for the holiday to which you deign to sing, say it twice, Since lava, and now: still the same.
If you eat only one saint, then the troparion to the saint twice. Since lava, and now: The Theotokos is risen, according to the voice of the holy troparion.
Psalm 50. Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your great mercy, and according to the multitude of Your compassions, cleanse my iniquity. Above all, wash me from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my iniquity and bear away my sin before me. I have sinned against You alone, and I have created evil before You, so that You may be justified in Your words and overcome, never judge You. Behold, I was conceived in iniquity, and my mother gave birth to me in sins. Behold, Thou hast loved the truth, Thou hast revealed to me Thy unknown and secret wisdom. Sprinkle me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Give joy and gladness to my hearing; humble bones will rejoice. Turn Your face away from my sins, and cleanse all my iniquities. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a right spirit in my womb. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit away from me. Reward me with the joy of Your salvation, and strengthen me with the Master’s Spirit. I will teach the wicked Your way, and the wicked will turn to You. Deliver me from bloodshed, O God, God of my salvation; my tongue will rejoice in Your righteousness. Lord, open my mouth, and my mouth will declare Your praise. As if you had wanted sacrifices, you would have given burnt offerings, but you would not have been pleased. The sacrifice to God is a broken spirit, a contrite and humble heart, God will not despise. Bless Zion, O Lord, with Your favor, and may the walls of Jerusalem be built. Then you will be pleased with the sacrifice of righteousness, the wave offering and the burnt offering, then they will lay the bullock on Your altar.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us. A min.
Therefore, give a canon to him, whether it be a holiday or a saint.
Therefore, the Most Holy and Our Father: (prayers from the Holy God: to Our Father: and the prayer and Jesus inclusive.)
Troparion for the holiday. From lava, and now, kontakion to him.
If a canon is for a saint, then first a troparion for a saint. Glory, kontakion to him (look for the 6th canto). And now, Theotokos Sunday, according to the voice of the troparion.
Therefore, Lord have mercy (40). Since lava, and now.
Add a prayer to the saint, if you have one.
According to this:
We magnify You, the most honorable cherub and the most glorious seraphim without comparison, without corruption of God the Word, who gave birth to the real Mother of God.
Since lava, and now. Lord have mercy (three times), God bless (with bows), and dismissal:
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, prayers for the sake of Thy Most Pure Mother, and the Holy (the name of the rivers for which the canon was sung), and for the sake of all the saints, have mercy and save us, for you are Good and Lover of Mankind.A min.
And after our release, we pray for health and salvation, saying three times:
Merciful Lord, save and have mercy on Your servants (their names), [bow]
deliver them from all sorrow, anger and need, [bow]
from all illnesses, mental and physical, [bow]
forgive them every sin, voluntary and involuntary, [bow]
and do something useful for our souls. [bow]
Notes:
(and according to Donikon’s practice, chaos is read after each songs)
After the 3rd song there may be saddle- troparia in honor of the saint, so named because previously it was customary to sit while performing them and the patristic readings that followed them. The last sedalene (like the last troparion in general) is usually dedicated to the Most Holy Theotokos, and therefore is called Theotokos.
After the 6th song and chaos follows kontakion and sometimes ikos.
After the 9th song, either D is worthy to eat: (in the initial bows), or this worthy person is read: In the Lady, accept the prayer of Your servants and deliver us from all need and sorrow. You are the Mother of God, our weapon and wall. You are the Intercessor, and we resort to You, and now we call on You for prayer, so that we may deliver us from our enemies, let us all magnify You, the Immaculate Mother of Christ our God, the Holy Spirit even in the autumn.
On great holidays it is read zadostoynik holiday.
After the canon, the Holy Trinity and Our Father are read again: troparion And kontakion holiday or saint, 40 times Lord have mercy (replacing the special litany read when the priest serves), then maybe prayer to the saint, and then the usual ending with release.
There is an ancient practice of praying after a vacation. about health(for example, those for whom a prayer service was sung), reading three times with bows “ Merciful Lord, save and have mercy..." ( in the text). There are 15 bows in total. When praying together, the eldest reads the first part of the prayer and pronounces the names, and the rest read the rest in chorus (“Deliver them from all sorrow...” and further to the end.)
At the end of the prayer service, the same bows should be made as at the beginning.
If the prayer service is performed by several people, the leader reads this part of the dismissal as follows: “... the holy Angels, our guardians, and all for the sake of the saints, have mercy and save us, as you are Good and Lover of Mankind.”
In general, if subsequent readings (for example, sedalny) are divided into Glory and now, then it is read there, and not after “Lord, have mercy.” According to the 6th song, Glory is still read immediately after “Lord, have mercy,” since kontakion and ikos are never separated by doxology.
Communion and confession bring with them the purification of a person’s soul, the forgiveness of his sins. Sincerity, truthfulness, the desire to improve make these Sacraments so simple and complex at the same time.
Simplicity lies in simple steps that most people can do. The difficulty lies in avoiding a formal approach, in realizing one’s sins, in the desire to receive forgiveness. This is difficult inner work.
Prayer and the canon before Communion are designed to set a person up for spiritual work. The ability to forgive, understand and accept your mistakes, shame for them, the desire to change - this is not an easy path, at the end of which Grace will descend on the soul. And you won’t want to lie, be angry, be angry, or envy anymore. The gradual cleansing of the soul will entail changes in life. There will be inner peace, tranquility, a desire to understand and forgive other people.
Canon translated from Greek means “norm, rule.” Has 2 meanings.
First. The Canon is a set of rules of the Orthodox Church.
Second. A canon is a kind of poem, a hymn, which is recited in honor of a holiday or saint. It replaced the kontakion in the 8th century. Contains 9 songs.
Canons are large and small. Dedicated to prophets, saints, great martyrs. In addition, there is a canon before Communion, a canon for the sick, for the deceased.
There is a book “Correct Canons”. It was written for monks of Old Believer monasteries in 1908. It contains notes that will help you read the canons correctly at home. The tips indicate in which canon which song to read, with which chorus and how many times to alternate, when to bow.
The canon consists of 9 songs. The very first verse of each song is called irmos. All the following are called troparia. Before each of them, a chant corresponding to the canon is read. Depending on the gender of the reader, the endings should be changed (for example, sinner - sinner).
Each canon contains from 4 to 7 troparia. The second canto is usually absent. It is pronounced only on certain holidays. At certain moments of reading, one should bow to the ground, bow from the waist, or do throwing. The latter means that you should cross yourself and touch the floor with your right hand.
Depending on the day of the week, the presence or absence of a church holiday, the additions to the canon have their own notes. Thus, bows from the waist can be replaced with throwing. In the church calendar you can find the Rules for bowing for every day.
Communion is communion with God, the most important Sacrament in the life of a Christian. This ritual can be performed once a year or more often. What is important here is not the number of Communions performed, but their sincerity.
For the laity, there are several rules before taking Communion.
The entire preparatory process takes 7 days. You should know that you should fast the same amount. If your health condition does not allow you to fast for a week, then it can be limited to 3-5 days. In rare cases, fasting is allowed for a day.
The canon before Communion is read every evening. After it - prayers. On fasting days you should attend church services.
Children under 7 years of age are allowed to receive Communion without confession or fasting. In this case, another, more simplified preparation is required. Parents' behavior is reflected in children. The child reproduces his attitude towards church, prayers, bad and good behavior in himself. Therefore, each family individually finds an individual approach to preparing for Communion.
Before the sacrament of Communion, it is necessary to undergo repentance. Confessing your sins, realizing them, receiving forgiveness is the first step towards cleansing the soul. Before confession, be sure to ask for forgiveness from relatives and acquaintances. Mentally remember everyone who was offended.
Before confession, you can read the penitential canon. Prayerful preparation will set a person up for repentance. This is the ability to see, realize, admit your sins and imperfections. Repentance cleanses a person from sins and defilement. A person's sincere repentance of all his unseemly deeds is necessary. And then getting rid of these sins, preventing them from entering your life, fighting them.
bring with them only temporary cleansing of the soul. The person must do all the rest of the work himself. Honesty with oneself, understanding the slightest movements of the soul, awareness of mistakes, shame for them - this is the true essence of repentance.
Confession is not a lengthy discussion about one’s sins. It does not lead to self-justification. This is sincere repentance of your unworthy thoughts, feelings, and actions. Therefore, before Communion, confession is mandatory. She prepares the soul with prayers, awareness of sinfulness, and the need for forgiveness.
The canon before communion should also be read before confession. This is not a mechanical voicing of the text, but a purposeful preparation of the soul. That confession did not become a formal ritual, but brought purification and forgiveness.
You should not hide your sins in front of a clergyman. Only the truth should be heard in confession. Then pangs of conscience, repentance, shame will lead to full awareness and desire to fight one’s sins and eradicate them.
Prayerful preparation for confession will help to reconcile with loved ones and acquaintances. It will eradicate callousness and narcissism. A person will want to change, become kinder.
The path to God can be long. One confession, one Communion will not make an indifferent person immediately attentive and positive. Most likely, you will have to go through these Sacraments many times before you come to understand the essence of Orthodox rituals.
Communion is a personal matter of a person, his relationship with the Lord. Therefore, whether or not to read home prayers and canons is something everyone decides for themselves. First of all, the soul must be cleansed from sinful thoughts. You should not allow yourself to display anger or aggression. Learn calmness, patience, understanding.
During prayerful preparation for Communion, you can read three canons. They reflect the whole essence of the ritual. This is the preparation of the body and soul to receive the Holy Mysteries. Therefore, one should cleanse the body by fasting. Soul - with prayers.
The practice of reading the canons before Communion is not mandatory. Therefore, you should consult your confessor.
After the three canons have been read before communion, the Follow-up to Holy Communion should be read. All this is read on the eve of the ceremony, after attending the evening service. Prayers for Holy Communion can be postponed until the morning. Read them immediately before the ritual.
The number of prayers, canons, and akathists has no clear restrictions. Different cities, churches, and monasteries have their own rules. Therefore, you should turn to your confessor for guidance. It is obligatory to read the penitential canon and the Follow-up to Communion.
The prayer rule is not a violent decision. Each person individually decides what to read at home and how many times to go to church services. However, a Christian should have a daily prayer rule. It can be changed in accordance with health, state of affairs, and internal mood.
Before communion, you should get rid of temptation and read the canons and prayers every day. This should become a tradition, but not become a formal pattern. Personal prayer preparation remains on the conscience of the person. You shouldn’t overwork yourself with countless repetitions of canons. They bring enlightenment to the soul when read sincerely and consciously. Monotonous repetition leads to a scholastic understanding of church rules.
The ability to delve into the essence of the Sacraments will allow you to consciously relate to your transformation. If a person understands what he needs to change in himself, what to work on, then repentance and Communion will not become an empty phrase and a standard ritual for him.
Seeking what is useful for the soul and body is what the prayer rule serves. The canons are easy to remember by heart. Therefore, they can be read on the way to the temple, standing in traffic jams. The main thing is that they come from the heart.
There are no exact laws when canons and prayers should be read. At home, a person himself determines what time should be devoted to prayers and what time to worldly affairs.
The canon before communion, its text creates a certain state of mind. Makes a person more focused and collected. The canon concentrates on internal, spiritual work. The spoken words fill the heart with rejoicing and the mind with sorrow for all human imperfections.
It is best to read the canons and subsequent prayers before going to bed. This will allow you to tune your mind and soul to communicate with God. When all worldly affairs are completed, you should devote some time before going to bed to prayers and summing up the results of the day. For some, ask for God’s forgiveness, for others, thank you.
The canon of repentance before communion will allow you to comprehend your thoughts, feelings, and actions for the whole day. Only by concentrating on the desire to purify oneself and partake of the Holy Mysteries is it possible to receive the Supreme Grace.
The canons are allowed to be read one each evening. Such prayer preparation should be included in the ritual of every Christian. On the eve of Communion, before midnight, it is recommended to voice the necessary three canons. They can be read one after another. Or you can combine them.
3 canons are connected before communion in this way:
You can read all subsequent songs, but in this case you should omit the troparia before the canons of the Theotokos and the Guardian Angel and the stichera after the canon of the Theotokos. In the Orthodox prayer book you can find more detailed information on how it is possible to combine the canons.
During fasting, it is necessary to say morning and evening prayers and canons. They create a calming mood. After reading the holy texts, negative emotions are pacified. A person tunes in to communicate with God.
The correct canons before communion are read according to a certain pattern. It can be found in the Charter on reading the correct canons. Daily humility and saying prayers prepares a Christian to receive the Sacrament, when the Lord enters the human body in the form of wine and bread. It is necessary to prepare for the arrival of such an expensive guest. Body and soul must be cleansed from sinful thoughts and earthly excesses.
The canons read before communion are not a formal instruction. Therefore, they should be read in a certain state of mind. Without anger and irritation, without extraneous thoughts and conversations. Only concentration, solitude and understanding of the text of prayers and canons will allow you to competently prepare for Communion.
Before Communion, one should pacify greed, envy, and give up excesses and bad habits. Forget evil thoughts, greed, anger, rage. Try to forgive those who offended. Do not remember or keep negative manifestations within yourself. Ask for forgiveness from friends and relatives. Feel humility within yourself, readiness to repent.
Stay in solitude more often. Focus on prayers and communication with the Lord. Communion heals the souls of people. The hot-tempered and irritable become kind and calm. The obstinate and indifferent become flexible and attentive. Rude - polite. Lazy people are hardworking. People stop being offended and swearing. Apathy and depression disappear. The soul is filled with kindness and joy.
After communion, be sure to thank the Lord, the Mother of God, and the Guardian Angel. Ask to preserve the gift of Communion. This is done so that the peace of the soul does not leave. After leaving the church, do not talk to anyone, go straight home. Before going to bed, say prayers of gratitude again. Try not to quarrel with anyone, not to swear, to be silent anymore, not to watch TV.
Canons before Confession and Communion — This is a request to the Lord and the Mother of God to grant health and the opportunity to confess, to give me strength to go to Communion and cleanse my soul, to have a Guardian Angel guard all the way to church and prevent temptations.
It happens that a person forgets about confession and Communion. Or he will get tired and refuse to participate in the Sacraments. The canon before communion will help to tune the mind, soul and heart to communion with the Lord. It will give you strength and health to go to confession, cleanse yourself of sins, and fight them. In no case should you justify yourself, give concessions or blame other people for your problems. Experience and shame for your actions must be sincere.
The health of the soul will give strength to the physical body of a person. Anger and anger will pass. You won't want to swear and quarrel anymore. A good mood will appear and a desire to share it with people. There are known facts when, after confession and Communion, people got rid of fatal diseases and gave up their bad habits. Peace and tranquility appear in the soul after an honest and sincere appeal to God.
