Some Orthodox believers do not always know how to behave in church, what traditions and customs to observe in church, how to pray correctly in church and be baptized. For the correct behavior of an Orthodox Christian in church, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the following rules that will help you.
All over the world, from the Holy Fathers, Orthodox Christians, before entering the temple, make the sign of the cross with three small bows and say at the same time:
“He who created me, O Lord, have mercy.”
“God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”
“I have sinned beyond number, Lord, forgive me.”
In the Church you need to bow to the right and left, stand still and listen to prayers, psalms that are read in the church, but at this time you do not read your own prayers to yourself, do not read from books of other prayers that are currently read in the Church.
Bows must be done not at will, but as established: when “Holy God” (Trisagion), “Come, let us worship,” as well as the threefold “Alleluia” are read, it is necessary to make the sign of the cross three times, while making small bows. The same actions must be performed at the beginning of the doxology “Glory to God in the highest,” as well as after the priest says “Glory to Thee, Christ God, our hope.” It is necessary to make the sign of the cross with a small bow after each exclamation of the priest and when reading “The Most Honest Cherub.”
During the liturgy on weekdays it is necessary to bow to the ground:
- at the very beginning of singing “Worthy and Righteous”;
— at the beginning of reading the prayer “Our Father”;
- at the end of the prayers “We sing to you” and “It is worthy to eat”
- when pronouncing the words “Always, now and ever”;
- At the all-night vigil or morning service, when it is said “Let us exalt the Virgin Mary and Mother of Light in song.”
On Sundays, as well as during the periods from the Nativity of Christ to Epiphany, from Easter to Trinity, on the days of the Transfiguration and Exaltation, the holy apostles are prohibited from kneeling and bowing to the ground.
In Orthodoxy, Christians do not kneel during prayers; this is not allowed by the Orthodox Church and the Church Charter. Only when the priest says “Pack and pack, kneel” can they throw themselves to the ground and get up again.
You need to be baptized in church at the moment when people are overshadowed by the cross, the Chalice, the Gospel or an image, and you need to bow your head. At the moment when they bless with their hands, light candles, burn incense, Orthodox Christians should not cross themselves at this moment, they just need to bow their heads. After all, there should be different worship between shrines and people, even if it is a priest. The only time when a priest with a Cross in his hand censes on the Bright Week of Easter, at that moment you need to cross yourself and say “Truly He is Risen.”
When you accept the blessing of a priest, you only need to kiss the right hand, but do not cross yourself before that. And clergy don’t kiss their left hand, only their right hand, through which he conveys a blessing to you.
The sign of the cross is carried out as follows: fold three fingers of the right hand, place it first on the forehead, then on the belly, on the right and then on the left shoulder. After you have applied the cross to yourself, you need to bend over. Do not bend down until you have completed the signs, and do not wave your hand during the sign in the air. Precisely, correctly, with faith and reverence, the perfect sign of the cross will frighten demons, console sinful passions, and also attract Divine grace.
The spiritual life of a Christian is not limited to individual prayer at home. In order not only to be called a Christian, but also to be one in practice, it is necessary to regularly participate in common, that is, church prayer. By uniting in common prayer, Christians form the Church, and only in the Church is salvation given to us.
Jesus Christ said: “Where there are two or three in My name, there I am among them.” In the temple, not just a few people stand before God, but in its spiritual unity. Christ is constantly present in the life of the Church, and the signs of His presence are, which only a priest can perform. Participation in the sacraments is the most important part of the spiritual life of a Christian.
In the temple, during services, believers perform a common prayer. In joint prayer, everyone prays for everyone and everyone for everyone: when one is distracted, others continue to pray, and the prayer does not weaken. Therefore, joint prayer is more important (and stronger) than private prayer.
The service is performed by a priest, assisted by a deacon. In the temple, the words of prayers are spoken or sung by readers and singers on behalf of all those gathered. The rest of the worshipers should listen carefully to what is read and sung. To better understand the words, you can follow the service with the text in your hands. You can sing along with the choir, as long as the singing does not disturb other worshipers.
Divine services of the daily cycle, except for the Liturgy, can be performed by believers without a priest, the so-called lay rite. For this you do not need a temple, but a chapel is enough.
There is a huge variety of liturgical prayers - troparia, kontakions, stichera. Some of them are read only by priests during services: prayers of light, the Eucharistic prayer, the prayer of Ephraim the Syrian, prayers for performing sacraments and requirements. Such prayers are called priestly or priestly, and they are contained in liturgical books (Octoiche, Menaea, Triodion, Book of Hours).
Some prayers are sung by the parishioners gathered at the service together with the priests and the church choir, and the laity need to know them by heart:
Believers sanctify their every action with prayer. Moreover, such an important matter as the path to the temple cannot be done without it. What prayers do they read when they go to church? There is a person going to the temple, and it must be said to oneself or in a quiet whisper along the way. If you don’t remember it by heart, you can recite the “Our Father” or the Jesus Prayer.
When entering the church, you need to cross yourself three times and bow from the waist.
Since in everyday life a person is constantly distracted by vain thoughts and worries, completely it is necessary to participate in church services. Only there is it possible to escape from everyday life and devote your thoughts to God. This is the main meaning of worship.
Orthodox worship consists of chants, prayers, reading passages from Holy Scripture and sacred rites, the order (order) of which is established by the Church.
The book in which the rules of Orthodox worship are written is called the Typikon.
The order and regulations of church services were formed a long time ago. It is taught in seminaries to future priests, deacons, readers and choir directors. However, any believer must have at least a general understanding of the liturgical regulations in order to understand what is happening at the service.
Each moment in time is simultaneously part of the day, part of the week and part of the year. According to the same principle, the services of the modern Orthodox Church are divided into three “circles”:
The liturgical day begins in the evening, so the evening service (vespers) is considered the first service of the next day. During the day, Matins, 1st, 3rd, 6th (and sometimes 9th) hours and the Divine Liturgy are also served. On the evening before holidays and Sundays, Vespers, Matins and the 1st hour are combined into one solemn service - the all-night vigil.
The most important public service of the day is the Liturgy. Only at the Liturgy is the Eucharist, or Communion, celebrated. During the Eucharist, through the action of the grace of the Holy Spirit, bread and wine are invisibly transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ. Believers, eating them, receive communion, that is, unite with the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins and eternal life.
Three stages can be distinguished in following the Liturgy:
The importance of the Eucharist in the Orthodox Church is very great. By participating in this sacrament, believers actually, and not symbolically, become bearers of the divine Nature.
The key moment of the liturgy is the reading of the Eucharistic prayer (anaphora) over the Holy Gifts at the proskomedia.
In the modern Church, the anaphora is read by the priest secretly, in the altar, and only a few exclamations are heard by those praying in the temple.
The Eucharistic prayer begins with the words “Let us become good!”, and at this moment the lights in the church are turned on, and at the end of the prayer the lights are turned off.
Chopping – symbolic fumigation with aromatic smoke using a censer(vessel with burning coals) at certain moments of the service.
During the small incense, the priest or deacon is on the pulpit and censes the altar, icons and the gathered people. People bow in response to censing.
During full censing, the clergy walk around the entire temple with the censer. Worshipers should move away from the walls closer to the middle of the temple to free up space. As the clergy with the censer walk past you, turn slightly and bow. However, there is no need to turn your back to the altar.
During prayers in church you must, in accordance with the Church Charter:
Sign of the cross without bowing:
Sign of the cross with bow from the waist (three times):
Sign of the Cross with a bow from the waist (one time):
At the Liturgy on Sunday and during the period from Easter to Pentecost, when prostrations are not performed, the sign of the cross is made with a bow from the waist:
Half bow without the sign of the cross:
For prostration kneel down and touch the floor with your hands and head.
Prostrations are made:
On Sundays and from Easter to Pentecost, bows to the ground are replaced by bows.
You need to come to the temple some time before the start of the service to venerate the icon of the day or miraculous icons.
The icon of the day is an image of a saint or an event in Sacred history, the memory of which is celebrated on this day. The icon of the day lies (on a small inclined table). If there is no holiday on this day and no saint is remembered, then the icon of the day is the icon of the saint or holiday in whose honor the temple is consecrated.
In front of the icon you need to cross yourself twice with a bow from the waist.
Wherein say a prayer to yourself:
After this you need to touch your lips to a specific place of the icon:
Divine services in Russian, Serbian and Bulgarian are conducted in Church Slavonic. Only passages from the Holy Scriptures can be read in Russian. The Church Slavonic language is not always easy to understand by ear, so you can take a printout of the text with translation with you to services.
People often ask: is it possible to pray in Russian and why don’t they translate the service into Russian?
You can pray in Russian, in Russian, as in any national language, there is nothing bad or unworthy of prayer. However, at present, a complete translation of divine services into Russian is impossible: the norms and style of the modern Russian literary language are constantly changing, and the language is becoming outdated very quickly. In addition, the Russian language simply does not have many words that are used in prayer poetry.
How to pray correctly: 8 general tips + 5 rules for praying in church + 7 short prayers for every day + 5 appeals to God that every believer should know.
Prayer is the speech with which we address God. If our appeal is sincere and our faith is strong, then it is not so important whether we make some minor mistakes, which are often pointed out by particularly zealous old ladies in churches.
And yet, in matters of faith, as in any other, there are rules that must be followed. That is why it is advisable to learn how to pray correctly so that your words are heard by the recipient.
There won’t be much advice, but it’s better to stick to them so as not to run into judgment from others and not feel embarrassed for doing something wrong.
Prayer cannot be in vain if your appeal to God is sincere and you think, first of all, about him, and not about yourself and your needs.
In addition to this rule, there are several more mandatory recommendations that should be followed, regardless of where you pray: in church or at home.
People often confuse faith with business.
For some reason, it seems to them that turning to God is something like a commercial transaction: I came, donated to the temple, bought a candle and turned to You with a request. That's it - I've fulfilled my part of the deal, now it's your turn to give me what I ask for.
This is the main mistake!
The correct way to pray is to turn to God:
There are feelings that are right to address to God and those that should be avoided.
At the same time, the church claims that during prayer you should not look for any special feelings or bring yourself to such an emotional state when hysteria begins.
Stay calm, clear your head of obscene thoughts and turn to God with sincere words - then He will hear you.
At the same time, it is important to accept His will and not impose your own. Simply put, you can ask, but you do not have the right to demand and complete the prayer with the firm conviction that your request must certainly be fulfilled.
Remember: “Thy will be done”!
There are not many rules regarding prayers that believers should follow. It's all about the level of your humility before His will and the sincerity of your faith.
That is, the main thing is feelings, not details: where to stand, how to fold your hands, whether it is correct to kneel, etc.
Still, here are some tips for those who want to pray to God correctly:
And in general, it is better not to ask for material things only if you are completely begging or have lost everything as a result of some accident.
1.Our Father.
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.
Our Father who art in heaven! Hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
2. To the King of Heaven.
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.
Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of truth, abiding everywhere and filling everything, Source of blessings and Giver of life, come and dwell in us and cleanse us from all sin and save, O Good One, our souls.
3.Virgin Mother of God, rejoice.
Virgin Mother of God, Rejoice, Blessed Mary, the Lord is with You, Blessed are You among women and blessed is the fruit of Your womb, for You have given birth to the Savior of our souls.
Mother of God Virgin Mary, filled with the grace of God, rejoice! The Lord is with You; Blessed are You among women and blessed is the fruit born of You, because You gave birth to the Savior of our souls.
4. Eat with dignity.
It is worthy to eat as you truly bless Thee, the Mother of God, the Ever-Blessed and Most Immaculate and the Mother of our God. We magnify You, the most honorable Cherub and the most glorious without comparison Seraphim, who gave birth to God the Word without corruption.
Truly it is right to please You, Mother of God, eternally blessed and immaculate, and Mother of our God. You are superior in honor to the cherubim and in your glory incomparably higher than the seraphim. You virginally gave birth to God the Word, and as the true Mother of God we magnify You.
5. Creed.
If you remember to pray often during the day, you can address Jesus Christ like this:
But there is no need to memorize a huge number of prayer verses. It is quite correct to address God in your own words, in your native language, and not in Church Slavonic. He will hear.
This is why inexperienced churchgoers often run into comments and nagging from those who consider themselves omniscient, and therefore worthy of criticizing others.
But we go to church to pray, and not to keep an eye on others. Making comments and looking for conflict means accumulating additional sin, putting pride first rather than love for God.
If you have become a victim of such a remark, there is no need to be indignant, say some offensive words, or get angry. Just thank the person who gave you the advice, because he wanted to do what was best, and get back to what you were doing.
Here are 5 tips for those who doubt how to pray correctly in church:
Take care of your appearance when going to church.
Take the recommendations regarding a long skirt, headscarf (for women), no head covering and a ban on shorts (for men) as a mandatory dress code. Out of a spirit of contradiction and pride, there is no need to offend others and come to church in a defiant manner.
And remember that when entering and leaving the temple, you should cross yourself.
In order to be heard by God, it is not necessary to visit the temple every day.
It is enough to participate in Sunday and holiday services, and the rest of the time turn to the Lord at home.
Few people have the opportunity to attend church every day. This is quite understandable, because there is work, family, worldly responsibilities. I want to relax and do something nice for myself.
But you cannot remember the Lord only on those occasions when you come to church. You can (moreover, you need to) pray at home.
Make it a habit to go to bed and start a new day with a prayer on your lips.
The simplest and most familiar option from childhood is this:
To greet a new day with God, you should pray as soon as you get out of bed, saying the same words as at night.
It is correct to pray in your own words:
Talk about what's on your mind. You need to finish your appeal to the Lord with the traditional: “In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen,” making the sign of the cross over himself.
You need to pray correctly at home in front of icons - every believer should have them in their home, and not as a fashionable decoration, but as a reminder of the need to turn to God more often.
How to get closer to God by praying in church:
Believers can be divided into two camps, which are often at odds with each other:
Both the first and second are wrong in many ways.
The first, because they do not consider it necessary to visit the temple, adhere to church rituals, such as fasting, communion, confession, etc. Their pride is manifested by the phrase: “I believe in my soul.” But can faith in the soul prevent you from attending church and seeking help from a spiritual mentor?
The second group, in pursuit of perfect fulfillment of all the rules, even begins to pray formally, putting in the first place not the sincerity of their appeal, but the beauty of the kneeling pose, the ideality of the fingers folded for the banner of the cross, etc.
It is correct to pray not only in church and at home alone, but also to remember God throughout the day:
You need to pray briefly and silently throughout the day. This is right. You can touch your pectoral cross with your hand or look at the icon if it is in close proximity.
You can use these short appeals so that God hears you:
Don't spend too much time thinking about how to pray correctly. If your faith is sincere and you ask for something good not only for yourself, but also for others, then God will definitely hear you.
He didn’t point out to us that we were making the sign of the cross incorrectly. In the monastery church of St. Sergius of Radonezh, there is a reminder for Orthodox Christians on how to be baptized correctly.
As a good memory and for edification, the monk handed us a reminder printed on a simple sheet of A-4 format. The copy is unclear, some places are very difficult to read, the last paragraph of the text is completely impossible to read. Nevertheless, we consider much of what is written in the instructions, for example, how to be baptized correctly, to be very useful. We don’t entirely agree with some of the conclusions, but we don’t dare judge them.
We present the instructions almost in their entirety, with the exception of the last paragraph. It is not possible to read it. In reprinting the text, we have preserved the original spelling and punctuation. Author's notes highlighted in color and italics
.
“All the power is in the sign of the cross. The cross is a symbol of victory over the devil! And not only. When the fingers are folded correctly, fire comes out of them. And when we put the sign of the cross on ourselves, the blessed fire scorches, sanctifies and cleanses our body. The blood supplied by the heart passes through the fiery cross and therefore is cleansed of everything bad and terrible, everything burns up!
Therefore, the more we are baptized, the purer the blood, the higher the mind, the closer to God, the faster our prayer reaches the Lord. This is the meaning of the Cross."
Words of Blessed Pelageya of Ryazan (1890-1966)
You need to be baptized slowly, reverently, with fear and with a little tapping so that the body feels it. The devil is very afraid of this knock.
– An icon is a living person. When you pray in front of an icon, you need to look at the image depicted on it.
- The head is slightly raised. Look at the icon.
– Until you make the sign of the cross, do not take your eyes off the icon.
– It’s scary to make the sign of the cross with your head bowed.
– Place your feet correctly – heels together, maintain grace.
– When praying or being in a temple, you cannot look at the ground.
– It is a terrible sin to keep your hands on your stomach or behind your back.
– In the Church you need to pray, be baptized, and bow down. Mourn sins.
“Whoever does not pray in church, does not cross himself and does not bow is an idol.”
– If we cross ourselves and bow at the same time, then the Cross breaks.
– We lower our hand, and only then bow!
“You can’t whisper a prayer—the demon prays in a whisper!” Pray out loud or silently. If about yourself, then prayer comes from the heart!
Press the little finger and ring finger tightly against the palm. For the sake of our salvation, the Son of God, bowing the heavens, came down to earth, took upon Himself human nature, and thus two natures were united in Him - God's and man's. Palm - earth.
Schema-nun Sepfola said that you need to press your fingers tightly so that there is no space between the palm and the last two, so that the enemy does not run into the soul and heart.
Fold the first three fingers correctly - the fingertips are equal. It is very important to align the tips of the index finger and thumb - equality of the Divine Faces, as if taking a pinch of salt from the table.
Three fingers are the Holy Trinity. Don't bend your thumb! (as in the picture)! 
+ With our right hand we place the three-finger on the forehead - the center of the forehead with a tap. God Trinity is in heaven / In the Name of the Father.../ You need to not just touch the forehead, but firmly press the fingers connected into three fingers to the forehead. Blessed Pelageya said that you need to tap, as if with a ball, so that the body feels it.
Then we draw a straight line at a short distance from the body to the umbilical cord - just 1-2 cm above the navel and also firmly touch the womb with our joined fingers. /..and Son../ If you put it on your chest, the cross will be upside down!
This symbolizes the descent to earth and the incarnation of Christ. From the womb of the Mother of God the Savior was born. The umbilical cord symbolizes the head of the forefather Adam. The lower horn of the Cross, on which the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified, was located above the head of Adam. And the Blood of Christ, flowing from the wounds, washed all of Humanity in the face of Adam.
Next, we apply the right hand to the shoulder joint of the right and then the left hand. /..and the Holy Spirit.../ On the joint, not in the hole! And from the front, not from above! We lower our hand /…Amen./ And with our hand lowered we bow. If we cross ourselves and bow at the same time, then the Cross breaks, is thrown under our feet and trampled underfoot (a grave sin)!
The righteous will stand on the right hand at the Last Judgment, and the sinners will stand on the left.
Don’t be lazy, reach your hand to the joints, move your hand in a straight line, everything is perpendicular with a tap... Health, knowledge of the truth, salvation, help and strength in cruel torment and an easy death depend on this.
Blessed Pelageya of Ryazan told her godson (R. Peter) to go to Kyiv in the cave of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra to find the relics of St. Spyridon and look at his hand (three-fingered addition), which he did. This arrangement has been preserved to this day. Go and see! This is stated in the akathist to the venerable fathers of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra.
Our preacher is your honorable right hand, the God-pleasing Spyridon, with whom you teach your Orthodox children how to place fingers in the image of the Holy Cross on the forehead, and you stop the mouths of the schism teachers, clearly denouncing their wrong teaching about putting the finger; In this way, having made the sign of the cross, you departed to Christ. Let us pray to Him before us, may He extinguish the immensely burning furnace of our passions, may He grant us true zeal to praise Him unceasingly in psalms and spiritual songs in this life and in the future, may He vouchsafe us to sing: Alleluia.
In the memo, the kontakion is not given in full, down to the words “having made the sign of the cross, you departed to Christ.” We have given the kontakion in full.
They couldn’t read the last sentence of the first page of the memo.
Standing in front of an icon or other Shrine, first cross yourself, without taking your eyes off it. Polya Zakharovskaya repeatedly warned everyone not to be baptized with a bowed head! You need to look straight into the face of the icon! And don’t start bowing until you lower your hand, otherwise the Cross will break! Heels together (keep grace). A bow from the waist is performed by worshiping the body to the waist, the head is slightly raised (pressed to the back, this is how the monks prayed with St. Sergius of Radonezh), look at the icon, do not lower your head down, you cannot look at the floor (a grave sin, because it is located underground hell and to look into it is to long for it). This action is very IMPORTANT and means “I deny you, Satan, your pride and service to you and unite with you, Christ, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen” – lyrics by the blessed virgin Pelageya of Ryazan. You need to lower your body more slowly, reaching the waist (the body is parallel to the floor, the head is pressed to the back), you need to return to a straight position quickly. The person praying must stand straight, without spreading his legs, in order to maintain grace. Our ancestors said: “Don’t spread your legs, otherwise the demon will slip through.” Often in temples you can observe that worshipers make a bow from the waist with a simple nod of the neck, which is a mistake.
Lay people perform Z.P. (bows to the ground) kneeling (they cannot stand on their feet). Bowing to the ground is the highest prayer before God. There is nothing higher. Standing in front of an icon or other Shrine, first cross yourself, without taking your eyes off it. Heels together (keep grace). The Christian then kneels either together or 
first right, then left. Heels together. We place our hands on the floor, palms next to each other, with our head (brow) touching only the palms (back) side. And we quickly raise our heads. We rise from the right knee, then from the left.
A common mistake is to place your hands on the floor too wide and touch your forehead to the floor. The palm symbolizes the earth - hence the name: prostration. The forehead is the sky, so you cannot touch the ground with your forehead, but touch the back of your hands. There is a mistake Christians make - they close their foreheads to the ground and remain in that position.
Which is unacceptable! With such prayer, a person becomes like evil spirits, demons; in this position they show that we will never submit to God (a grave sin before God). Extended to Trinity on three kneeling prayers. “On Trinity Sunday, all of Russia goes to hell” - the saying of Blessed Pelageya Zakharovsa, do not spread your legs, keep your heels together.
A bow to the ground is 25 times more expensive than a bow. On annual holidays and Sundays, prayer to God is received with special love. Seraphim of Sarov rested on Sunday, kneeling, that is, he prayed on his knees on Sunday. The night bow is 40 times higher than the daytime bow (from 23.30 to 03.00) at any time of the year, and at least three bows before going to bed should be done every day with prayer. Remember that THREE or more Z.P. are strictly obligatory: before the Icons of the Most Holy Trinity, the Savior, the Life-Giving Cross and the Mother of God, the Shrouds of the Savior, the Mother of God, confession and Communion, before the Relics of the Pleasants of God. You cannot wear short sleeves in church, because... The soldiers who hammered nails into the Body of the Savior had their sleeves rolled up.
Women with short hair, trousers, and dyed hair are not allowed to approach the relics or enter the church. Just for wearing trousers, women will go to hell - the schema of the Nile. The Mother of God will pull women out of hell by the braid! What if she has short hair? It is unacceptable for both men and women to wear shorts.
You cannot burn (cremate) the bodies of the deceased, because... This is not even a sin, but service to Satan itself. It will be bad for the whole family.
It is unacceptable to have idols and dogs in the house. Grace leaves and icons are desecrated. A person is not allowed to take communion. After the dogs, the house needs to be blessed. Toads with coins are mammon (the sin of superstition and love of money). It is great to feed doves for the dead and for the living. You can even help suicide victims! Pelageya warned that it is impossible to read 15 Kathisma ((Ps. 105, 106, 107, especially 108). It will bring great troubles. When reading Psalms 15, Kathisma is replaced by 20 Kathisma (i.e. 20 Kathisma is read 2 times). The highest for the deceased 20 Kathisma.
Polya forbade watching TV, saying that this monster had a terrible effect on people and was destroying the people. TV is an icon of the Antichrist. Through TV he appears in every home.
The power of Orthodox prayer. Why, how and to whom should we pray? Izmailov Vladimir Aleksandrovich
How to pray in church?
You can pray everywhere - on the way home or to work, in transport, at work, at home. But the main place of prayer is still God's temple.
Saint Alexy, Metropolitan of Moscow, said this: “... flock to church prayer without laziness and do not say like this: we will sing at home. That prayer cannot accomplish anything without church prayer. Just as a house cannot be warmed by smoke without fire, so is that prayer without church prayer. For the Church is called earthly Heaven, in it the Lamb, the Son, the Word of God is slain, for the cleansing of the sins of the whole world, of the faithful and of people who tremble at the words of God...”
Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem
Church prayer
Church prayer is a prayer performed in a church.
The prayer of clergy - people who have received the sacrament of the priesthood - has special, extraordinary power. Their prayers are especially accessible to Him and holy. We must know that God is more likely to hear when the ministers of the Church pray for us.
God allows clergy, people endowed with special holiness, to His throne, they are closer to Him, He always listens to any request from them and through their prayer grace descends from above. It is through the hand of a priest that the Lord gives us His blessing.
Where do the clergy of the Church get such power, why are their prayers so accessible to God?
This does not happen because they are holier than others, but because of the holiness of the Lord to whom they offer our prayers. When they pray, they represent the Holy Church, in which the Lord always abides by His grace. Therefore, we can say that the one for whom the clergy pray, the whole Church prays for, and Jesus Christ Himself intercedes for him.
The Gospel of Matthew says that Jesus Christ promised to always be with those praying where two or three of them gather in His name (Matthew 18:20). Many people gather in the Church of Christ, and then, in the person of the priests, He Himself prays for us. Through the priest, Jesus Christ gives us God's mercy.
This is why the prayers of the clergy are so powerful: in their person, the Son of God Himself prays to God the Father.
So, you need to constantly pray, but do not forget to go to the temple of God to unite your prayers with the prayers of the clergy.
“They say: I can pray at home. You are deceiving yourself, my friend. True, you can pray at home, but you cannot pray as in church, where so many fathers are gathered, where a unanimous voice rises to God. You cannot offer prayer when you alone begin to call on the Lord, as you can offer it when you stand with your brothers, for here there is something more - the unity of many, the union of love, the prayers of priests. This is why priests have been appointed, so that the prayers of the people, which may be weak, uniting with stronger ones, can be lifted up to Heaven.”- this is what St. John Chrysostom said.
Try to stay in the temple with your thoughts and soul, remembering it. For those who seek salvation, purification of their soul, church prayer is the true path to salvation.
Is it possible to pray in your own words?
Largely The Fathers of the Church are cautious about prayers composed by believers , believing that you need to pray only according to the prayer book. They believe that words “from themselves” cannot be accepted by God and cite Jesus Christ as an example, whose prayers during His suffering on the cross were lines from the psalms.
However other clergy allow prayer in their own words, stipulating that the main thing is that the prayer be sincere, warm, coming from the heart, so that it is filled with love for the Lord. On this occasion, the holy righteous John of Kronstadt said: “It’s good to say a few of your own words in prayer, breathing with ardent faith and love for the Lord... And how pleasing to the Lord is this our own babble, coming directly from a believer, loving and grateful heart...”
Moreover, many clergy believe that praying in your own words is not only possible, but necessary, and prayers composed by saints can be transformed into their own.
In addition, some Church ministers believe that it is very important to repent of sins in your own words, without hiding behind a prayer book. At the same time, if we pray with the words of established prayers, we thereby draw closer to God, since these prayers were written by the Fathers of the Church, who throughout their lives proved their love for God. The prayers written by them enable a person to feel what they felt when they wrote these prayers.
Icon of the Mother of God above the gates of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. Mosaic. Saint Petersburg.
Photo by A. Solodov
At the same time, reading prayers according to the prayer book is very important, because at this time our Guardian Angel prays with us, thanks to which the connection with God becomes even closer. The prayer book disciplines the believer. He, like a tuning fork in music, tunes our mind and soul to the right tone of prayer.
In the same way, you cannot eliminate words from prayer that you do not understand or that you do not want to say. By doing so, you are setting yourself up against God, showing that you know better how to pray and what to do than He does. In this case, the whole essence, the whole meaning of prayer is lost. Why pray if you yourself know everything and can do everything? It turns out that in this case you do not need the Lord’s help, and then you hardly have the right to count on His help.
As we see, a person can pray in his own words, coming from the heart, whether God hears him or not depends only on himself, on his sincerity and love for God. But if he prays with words from the prayer book, with the words of those saints who realized their sins and understood the greatness of God, he thereby draws closer to them, and through them, to God. That is, if a person wants to become closer to God and improve, then he must know the alphabet of prayer - a prayer book.
It can be said that there is no need to contrast prayers said in one’s own words and prayers written by the Fathers of the Church . The main thing is that the words come from the heart, are sincere and filled with love for the Lord. As Saint Theophan the Recluse said: “If the soul is lethargic and is not strong enough to rise to God on its own, read a prayer from memory, repeating each word several times in order to break the soul as if with a hammer.
When the soul goes to the Lord on its own, do not read any memorized prayers, but lead your speech directly to the Lord, starting with thanksgiving for the mercies to yourself, then saying other things that need to be said. The Lord is near! He listens to the word from the heart.”
Very often people think that no matter what prayer they turn to God with, it will help them. They take texts from magazines, dubious books, calendars compiled by people who are not related to the Church. At the same time, in such publications, next to prayer, you can see conspiracies, descriptions of rituals and magical rites. Prayers are very often printed in a distorted form, with abbreviations; here you can also find advertisements for psychics, astrologers, clairvoyants of all stripes, and so on.
Such texts are a trap for illiterate Christians who, seeing the name of God or a saint in the text, believe that this is really a prayer with divine power.
There are prayers that only clergy have the right to read due to their special rank. “In the New Testament Church, the sacrament of the priesthood was established, performed only by bishops. What is this sacrament? At the moment of its completion, the grace of the Holy Spirit descends on the one who is ordained, sanctifying and giving him spiritual power in the sacrament of repentance to forgive our sins. This power is passed on by succession from the apostles of Christ, to whom the Lord Himself granted it, sending them into the world with the words: “Whose sins you forgive, their sins will be forgiven; on whomever you leave it, it will remain on him.”(John 20, 23).
There are also prayers that can only be read by priests of the highest rank. The same people who read such prayers, which are not intended for them, are simply desecrated . That is why it is recommended to use prayer books that contain prayers for the laity to fulfill the prayer rule.
Ordinary people - the laity - should read morning and evening prayers. Therefore, your reference book should first and foremost be a prayer book. In addition, you need to read the Psalter and the Gospel. According to Ephraim the Syrian: “By reading the Psalter, even one who does not have wisdom will receive it, and if he has many sins, these sins will be forgiven him...”
If a person reads books intended for clergy, this is a sin.
That is why you need to be careful about what is published in various publications and not trust dubious ones. Read the prayers compiled by the Holy Fathers of the Church.
How to maintain attention during prayer?
“Prayer without attention is not prayer. She is dead! She is useless, soul-harming, God-offending idle talk!”- said Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov). How can we make sure that all our thoughts are directed only to prayer?
As a rule, when we begin to read a prayer, we are attentive at first, but then our attention dissipates, and everyday vain thoughts come to mind. The eyes see the words of the prayer, but the mind and feelings hover somewhere far away. How to keep your attention on prayer constantly?
First of all, if extraneous thoughts and feelings appear during prayer, then you need to turn to the Lord: “Sweetest Jesus, I am aware of my weakness, forgive me.” During prayer, try to reject all extraneous thoughts and not give them free rein. “We must use tension to maintain attention, knowing in advance that the thought will run away. Then, when she runs away during prayer, return her; If he runs away again, come back again; like this every time. But every time you read something while your thoughts are running away - and, therefore, without attention and feeling - do not forget to read it again; and even if your thought wanders off in one place several times, read it several times until you read it with understanding and feeling. Once you overcome this difficulty, another time, perhaps, it will not happen again, or it will not happen again with such force.”- this is how Saint Theophan the Recluse teaches us.
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