Morning service time in the church. Rules of conduct in the temple

What is the difference between Liturgy and Communion?

The liturgy is the name of the church, and the sacrament is the reception (with due preparation) of the holy gifts. Communion is like a new fresh shirt - you can’t put it on a dirty body. Communion is given as a reward for and enhanced reading of prayers.

1. How to prepare for the service in the church on Sunday (for the Liturgy) correctly if you want to take communion?

If you decide to visit the temple on Sunday "in full", then you should prepare in advance. The Sunday morning “most powerful” service in the church is called the Liturgy (when they take communion, that is, the priest gives the “blood and body of Christ” = a piece of bread in wine). We can talk a lot about the benefits of the sacrament, but here we will talk about how to prepare for it:

- Need to get ready for a coupledays.

- You need to fast at least Friday and Saturday: do not eat animal food, do not sin: do not drink alcohol, do not commit "marital intimacy", try not to swear, do not offend or be offended.
- on Saturday, read 3 canons at night (it will take about 40 minutes) (the canon of repentance to our Lord Jesus Christ, the canon of prayer to the Most Holy Theotokos, the canon to the Guardian Angel) + another 35 minutes “Following Holy Communion.”
- in the evening you should also read prayers for the coming dream (about 20 minutes)
- after midnight do not eat, drink or smoke, that is, go to bed until 00-00.

2. When to come to church before the morning Sunday service (Liturgy)? When does Sunday morning service start?

We arrive at the church at about 7-20 (but better see the schedule).
Until then, you need:
- be strictly on an empty stomach, incl. Do not smoke. You can only brush your teeth, and then try not to swallow anything.
– read the morning rule (min 15-20)

In the church itself? When is the Liturgy and Communion:

—writing notes for health and peace (can be simple)
- We approach and kiss the central icon.
— put candles to whom we want (I usually put 3 candles: on the main candlestick, on the saint at will and for the rest).

There is no need to light candles during the service itself, as this distracts everyone.

We are in line for confession. It usually starts at 7-30 (again, see the schedule of services in your church). We confess.
- we take a place: men in the right side of the temple, women in the left.
— Liturgy goes on for about 2 hours. All this time we listen to prayers, think “about life, what was done wrong where” and all the time we repeat “Lord, Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.”

Time usually passesquickly when there is Liturgy and Communion.

Liturgy takeaway

When everyone began to read the "Symbol of Faith" - it means that communion itself will soon be.
- When everyone began to read "Our Father" - it means that communion will be very soon.
- When the priest takes out 2 large bowls for the first time, we simply bow our heads.
When the priest takes out a small bowl (it is with the sacrament) - then we bowgetting on your knees.
- They can carry alms trays around the church. Donate money there, no matter how much you don't mind.

3. What to do during the actual communion?

- Participle: First, small children receive communion, then men, then women. Only those who have properly prepared themselves have the right to receive communion. Don't anger God.
- When approaching communion, we cross our arms over our chest (right above). We approach the bowl as close as possible. We do not cross ourselves, so as not to hurt the thicket. We call the name, open our mouth, eat Communion from a spoon, let ourselves be wiped, kiss the cup and go to eat and drink.
- On a special table we take a small cup with a drink and a piece of prosphora. They seize and drink so that the pieces of the Communion completely get inside, and do not accidentally fly out with saliva or something else. It is better to drink first, then eat the prosphora.
We are waiting for the end of the service to kiss the cross. The priest can say, “Participants, listen to the words of the thanksgiving prayer,” then we go to listen to the prayer. If this did not happen, then at home we ourselves read "Thanksgiving prayers for Holy Communion".

4. What to do after taking communion?

- we don’t kneel anywhere anymore: neither in front of the icons, nor in the rest of the service
- we wait for the end of the service and kiss the cross of the priest.
- we read thanksgiving prayers for Holy Communion
- you can go home. Immediately after communion, do not immediately smoke or drink alcohol (at least eat normally at first). Do not desecrate the Holy Communion.

When prayer is in progress, the believer bows his head as a sign of humility and reverence, makes bows and bows to the ground, may lie prostrate with his head bowed to the ground. All these bows, knowing the rules of the church, the believer does not just like that and not when he wants to. Everything in worship is endowed with meaning and has both external and inner side. For example, earthly prostrations with the head touching the ground and the subsequent lifting immediately after this have a deep symbolic meaning: because of sin, we fell to the earth and thanks to the redemption of Christ we again have the opportunity to be taken to heaven. Among all prayers and services, Sundays are special

The Meaning of the Sunday Prayer Service

It is important to know, for example, that there are days in the church when prostrations are not done; moreover, they are prohibited by the charter. This is due to the meaning of the celebrated event. First of all, these are Sunday prayers, polyeleos, from the feast of Christmas to Epiphany itself, the entire Pentecost from Easter to the day of the Holy Spirit, and the days before which polyeleos solemn all-night vigils take place. The prohibition of bowing these days was already stipulated at the first Ecumenical Council, where it is clearly stated that this rule applies to the entire church, and prayers on these days should be performed standing on your feet.

Ordinances of councils

The Church attaches great importance to the celebration at services and at home. This is evident from the fact that the ruling on how to perform Sunday prayers, celebrate polyeleos and Pentecost is repeated in a number of canons. VI also explains in Rule 90 about refraining from prostrations from the evening Saturday entrance until the Sunday evening entrance. This symbolizes the joy and veneration of the resurrection of Christ.

Basil the Great in his writings “On the Holy Spirit” (91 canons) says that at the beginning (day 1) of the week, Sunday prayers must be performed standing and straight, because of the resurrected Christ and our future resurrection with him, our duty to seek the highest. Therefore, on Sunday, standing right before God during prayer is a reminder to us of the grace that has been bestowed. This day is called the single eighth day, symbolizing the time following the present - eternity, an endless age. The Church teaches its parishioners to pray standing Sunday prayers in order to often remind of the endless life, not to neglect to repose in it.

The Purpose of Church Prayer

Celebrating the victory of life over death, Christ over the devil, the church on Sunday builds a service accordingly. Therefore, prayers at the Sunday service on your knees these days are unacceptable, this will contradict the whole meaning of the holiday.

It has an instructive purpose for believers when reading the psalter and hymns. It is important to know about true doctrine Christ, become disposed to prayer and repentance. At the same time, it is important in those who pray to evoke a feeling of gratitude to God for everything. It is important for the praying person to feel the need for intensified prayer for further favors to us and to receive peace of mind.

Sunday morning prayers in the church differ from home prayer in that they are performed by clergy who are legally in the church, ordained through the sacrament of the priesthood. Through prayer, a Christian enters into a mysterious communion with God, and through the sacraments he receives from God grace-filled forces for a righteous life.

Church prayers are connected in a special way. They also include the reading of the Psalms, the Holy Gospel. Throughout the service, a certain thought is consistently developed.

The essence of Sunday prayer

The article can describe only some points that reveal the meaning of the Sunday prayer. The text of the full liturgy should be sought in special sources.

About Sunday stichera and troparion

The resurrection verses speak of God leading the soul out of prison. Turning to Christ, the praying one speaks of His great victory over hell, of the death on the cross, of the liberation of the dead. The soul of a penitent sinner prays to Christ, the source of life, to have mercy on her and grant the one who prays to abide with the righteous. He calls out to the Lord from the depths of his heart and asks to hear his voice, the sinner. The soul cries out to God and rejoices in the Resurrection of Christ!

The Sunday troparion speaks of angelic powers and Mary looking for Christ in the tomb. But He is not there - He is risen!

15.05.2013

Public worship in the parish church is usually held on Sundays and holidays. It is important to know that the liturgical (liturgical) day begins the night before. For example, the Sunday service begins on Saturday evening.

The beginning of the evening service in Moscow and St. Petersburg churches, as a rule, falls at 17 or 18 (less often at 16) hours, depending on the schedule of a particular church. It continues in different temples in different ways, but in general, approximately from 2 to 4 hours.

The morning service begins, also depending on the schedule of temple services, at 9 or 10 o'clock (less often at 8), and lasts about 2-3 hours. At the same time, in many churches, if a church holiday falls on a weekday, the morning service begins earlier so that the parishioners can visit it before the start of the working day.

The schedule of services can usually be found on the doors of the temple or in a candle shop. Many churches and monasteries have websites that, among other things, publish schedules of services.

It is better to come to the temple at the beginning of the service and leave after its completion. However, this is not always enough time and effort. Many holy ascetics and theologians spoke of the fact that here, speaking modern language"Quality is more important than quantity". Therefore, if the lack of time does not allow you to stay at the service from beginning to end, it's okay, you can come and go at any time.

Various services, we will get acquainted in more detail with what kind of worship is performed at what time. And accordingly, what moments of worship are most important to visit.

The liturgical charter (in Greek, Typicon), which took shape in its current form by the 16th-17th centuries, measures the time of services by the hours of the day. But there are also more subtle regulations and recommendations regarding the time of services.

For example, the divine service of the feast days, which lasted all night, should have begun “after the sun sets a little,” that is, at sunset. At the same time, the clergyman in charge of the divine service had to ensure that the solemn exclamation “Glory to Thee, who showed us the light” and the hymns following it sounded strictly at the moment when the sun began to rise. Based on this, time was distributed to all elements of the service.

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Let us consider the most frequently performed All-Night Vigil, the Sunday vigil. It is served on the eve of Sunday, on Saturday evening. The Vespers of most holidays are structurally very similar to Sunday, with rare exceptions...

An important question is the "measure" of the discrepancy between the liturgical language and the spoken language, the possibility and necessity of making the language of the liturgy more understandable. This is a matter of serious and very lengthy ecclesiastical discussion, ...

After describing the structure of the services, it is worth asking one extremely important question - perhaps the central one for this book. The question was formulated by one of the readers of the first version of this book before its release...

You can pray to God anywhere, because God is everywhere. But there are special places where it is more convenient to pray and where the Lord is in a special, gracious way.

Such places are called temples of God and are sometimes called churches. The temple is a consecrated building in which believers gather to glorify God and pray to Him. Temples are called churches because Orthodox Christians gather in them to pray and to sanctify themselves with the sacraments. Temples where clergy from other nearby churches gather for solemn worship are called cathedral.

According to your outdoor device God's temples different from other ordinary buildings. The main entrance to the temple is always from the west, that is, from the side where the sun sets; and the most important part of the temple, the altar, always faces east, towards the side where the sun is in the morning. This is how God's temples are arranged with the aim of reminding Orthodox Christians that from the East the Christian faith has spread throughout the universe; in the east of us, in the land of Judea, the Lord Jesus Christ lived for our salvation.

Temples are completed with one or more domes crowned with crosses to remind us of the Lord Jesus Christ, who accomplished our salvation on the cross. One chapter on the church of God preaches that there is a God single Three chapters mean we bow to God united in three persons. Five chapters depict the Savior and the four evangelists. Seven chapters are built on temples to signify, firstly, seven saving sacraments, with which Christians are sanctified to receive eternal life, secondly, seven ecumenical councils, which approved the rules of Christian doctrine and deanery. There are temples with 13 chapters: in this case, they depict the Savior and His 12 apostles. Christian churches have at their base (from the earth) either the image of a cross (for example, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow) or the image of a circle; the cross - to remind of the Crucified on the cross, the circle - to indicate to people that whoever belongs to the Orthodox Church can hope to receive eternal life after death.

The tabernacle of Moses and the temple of Solomon, according to the command of God, were divided inside into three parts. In accordance with this, our churches, for the most part, are divided into three departments inside. The first part from the entrance is called vestibule. In ancient times, catechumens stood here, that is, those preparing to be baptized, and penitents, who, for serious sins, were excommunicated from communion in the sacraments and prayer along with other Christians. The second part of the temple occupies the middle of it and is designated for the prayer of all Orthodox Christians, the third branch of the temple - the most important thing - is altar.

Altar means heaven, the place of God's special habitation. It also resembles a paradise in which the first people lived before sin. The altar can enter, and then with great reverence, only persons with a holy dignity. Others should not enter the altar unnecessarily, the female gender does not enter the altar at all to remind us that for the first sin of the first wife Eve, all people lost heavenly bliss.

Altar throne- This is the main shrine of the temple. On it the sacrament of communion of the body and blood of Christ is performed; this is the place of the special presence of God and, as it were, the seat of God, the throne of the King of glory. Only deacons, priests and bishops can touch the throne, kiss it. visible sign what is on St. the Lord is invisibly present on the throne, the Gospel and the cross on it serve. Looking at these sacred objects, we remember the heavenly Teacher Christ, who came to save people from eternal death by His life, death and resurrection.

More on St. the throne is antimension. The word is Greek, meaning in Russian: instead of the throne. The antimension is a sacred handkerchief depicting the burial of the Lord. He is always consecrated by a bishop and relies on the throne as a sign of the bishop's blessing to perform the sacrament of communion on the throne on which he is. Particles of the relics of the holy martyrs are put into the antimension, when it is consecrated by a bishop, in memory of the fact that ancient temples in the first centuries of Christianity were built over the relics of St. martyrs. The antimension is laid out only during mass, when the sacrament of consecration of St. gifts. At the end of the liturgy, it is folded and wrapped in another scarf, called orton, reminiscent of the bandage that was on the head of the Savior when He lay in the tomb.

Visible on the throne tabernacle, usually arranged in the form of a small temple or in the form of a tomb. Its purpose is to keep St. Gifts, that is, the Body and Blood of Christ, for the communion of the sick. It resembles the tomb of the Lord.

On the left side of St. throne is usually arranged in the altar of St. altar, less important than St. throne. It is appointed for the preparation of bread and wine for the sacrament of communion and resembles the Bethlehem cave, the Savior's deposit and the tomb of the Lord.

For St. throne, between it and the eastern wall of the altar, the place is called mountainous, or lofty place, and signifies the seat of the Lord and the seat of His at the right hand of God the Father. In the middle of it, no one can sit or stand except for the bishop, depicting Christ Himself. Between St. the altar and the royal doors can pass, and then only for the sacred service of persons consecrated, such as: deacons, priests, bishops. The clergy, and even less any of the laity, cannot walk there, as a sign of reverence for the path along which they pass in their saints. gifts King of glory, Lord.

The altar is separated from the prayer temple by an iconostasis. It has three doors leading to the altar. The middle ones are called royal doors because through them in St. gifts passes the King of glory and the Lord of lords. The middle gate is worthy of reverence more than others, because St. gifts and through them it is not allowed to enter ordinary people but only sanctified.

The Annunciation of the Archangel St. Virgin Mary, because from the day of the annunciation, the entrance to paradise, lost by people for their sins, is open to us. Even on the royal doors are depicted St. evangelists, because only thanks to the evangelists, these witnesses of the life of the Savior, do we know about the Lord Jesus Christ, about the saving power of His coming for us to inherit paradise life. Evangelist Matthew is depicted with an angel-like man. This expresses the distinctive feature of his Gospel, namely, that the Evangelist Matthew in his Gospel preaches mainly about the incarnation and humanity of Jesus Christ, descended from the lineage of David and Abraham. Evangelist Mark is depicted with a lion as a sign that he began his Gospel with a story about the life of the Forerunner John in the desert, where lions are known to live. Evangelist Luke is written with a calf to remind also about the beginning of his Gospel, which primarily tells about the priest Zechariah, the parent of St. Forerunners, and the duty of the priests of the Old Testament mainly consisted in sacrificing calves, sheep, etc. The Evangelist John is depicted with an eagle to signify that by the power of the Spirit of God, like an eagle soaring under heaven, he exalted himself in spirit to depict the Divinity of the Son of God, whose life on earth he described clearly and in accordance with the truth.

The side door of the iconostasis on the left side of the royal doors is called the north door, the door on the right side of the same gate is called the south door. Sometimes the holy archdeacons are depicted on them with the instruments of their sufferings: Stefan, Lawrence, because through these doors the deacons have an entrance to the altar. And sometimes angels and other holy people are depicted on the north and south doors, of course, for the purpose of pointing us to the prayers of St. saints of God, through whom in time we will be rewarded with entrance to the heavenly villages.

Above the royal gates, for the most part, there is an icon of the Last Supper to remind that Zion chamber greatness and carpeted, where the Lord established the sacrament of communion, which continues to this day in St. altars of our temples.

The iconostasis separates the altar from the second part of the temple, where all the worshipers take place. Iconostasis with St. icons should remind Christians of the life in paradise, to which we must strive with all the strength of our soul, in order to stay in the Heavenly Church together with the Lord, the Mother of God and all the saints. By the example of their lives, the saints of God, depicted in many on the iconostasis, show us the way to the kingdom of God.

The holy icons to which we bow are of the most ancient origin in the Church. The first image of the Lord, according to legend, came out of His own pure hands. Prince Avgar of Edessa was ill. Hearing the miracles of the Savior and not being able to personally see Him, Abgar wished to have at least His image; at the same time, the prince was sure that from one look at the face of the Savior, he would receive healing. The princely painter arrived in Judea and tried in every possible way to write off the divine face of the Savior, but because of the shining lordship of the face of Jesus, he could not do this. Then the Lord called the painter, took the canvas from him, wiped His face, and on the canvas was displayed the miraculous face of the Lord, not made by hands. The holiday for the sake of this icon is set on August 16.

On all icons of the Savior in His crowns three letters are written: w, O, H. These letters are Greek, meaning that he- existing, eternal. Since the time when the faith of Christ was brought from Greece to Russia, Christian antiquity has not changed these letters to Slavonic, of course, out of respect and memory for that country from which we have been enlightened by the faith of Christ. There is a legend that the icons of the Mother of God and the apostle. Peter and Paul were written by the Evangelist Luke. When her first icon was brought to the Mother of God, the Queen of heaven and earth was pleased to say the following words of consolation: with this image, let the grace and power of my Son and mine be. The Evangelist Luke is credited with several icons of the Mother of God, of which the more famous are: Smolensk, located in the Smolensk Cathedral, and Vladimirskaya, located in Moscow's Assumption Cathedral. On each icon of the Mother of God, four letters are written under the titles: m r. Oh. These are again the Greek words in abbreviation: Mithir Feu, and they mean in Russian: Mother of God. We bow to icons not as God, but as St. images of Christ, St. Virgin and St. saints. The honor of the icons goes to the one whom it depicts; whoever worships an image worships what is depicted on it. As a sign of special reverence for God, the Mother of God and St. saints of God, depicted in St. icons, they are decorated with metal vestments, pure wax candles are placed before them, oil is lit and incense is burned. A burning candle and burning oil in front of the icon signify our love for the Lord, Rev. Theotokos and St. saints of God, depicted on the icons. Burning incense before icons, in addition to reverence, serves as a sign of our prayers to God and St. to His saints. May it be corrected my prayer like a censer before Thee! This is how a Christian prays to God together with the whole Church.

The place elevated by several steps between the kliros is called salt. pulpit on the salt is arranged against the royal doors for the offering of litanies and the reading of St. gospel; here are the teachings. The ambo resembles the stone of the Holy Sepulcher and the angel sitting on the stone with a sermon about the resurrection of Christ. No one stands on the ambo except for those who are ordained to the holy dignity.

Banners are erected near the kliros, which signify the victory of Christianity over idolatry. They have become everyone's property. Orthodox church since the time of the Roman king, Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine, when the Christian faith was declared free from persecution.

Of the sacred vessels have greater value: chalice and paten. Both are used during the liturgy during the sacrament of communion. From the chalice we are rewarded by means of a spoon to receive the body and blood of Christ under the forms of bread and wine. The chalice recalls that St. the cup from which the Lord shared His disciples at the Last Supper.

The diskos, which we usually see on the head of a deacon during the Liturgy, when St. gifts from the altar at St. throne. Since a part of the prosphora, or a lamb, is placed on the diskos in remembrance of the Lord Jesus Christ, the diskos depicts either the manger in which the born Savior was laid, or the tomb of the Lord, in which the most pure body of our Lord lay after death.

The chalice and discos are covered with covers made of brocade or silk fabric. So that the cover, which during the liturgy relies on the diskos, does not touch the lamb and other parts of the prosphora, is placed on the diskos asterisk, reminiscent of that wonderful star that was visible at the birth of the Savior.

For the communion of Christians with the body and blood of Christ, it is used liar.

copy by which St. lamb and parts are taken out of other prosphora, reminiscent of the spear with which the body of our Savior was pierced on the cross.

Sponge(Greek) is used for wiping diskos and chalice after eating St. gifts. It resembles the sponge that Jesus Christ was given to drink on the cross.

Liturgy of the Orthodox Church in ancient time took place during the day nine times, because there were all nine church services: the ninth hour, Vespers, Compline, Midnight Office, Matins, the first hour, the third and sixth hours, and Mass. At present, for the convenience of Orthodox Christians, who do not have the opportunity to visit the temples of God so often on the occasion of homework, these nine services are combined into three church services: vespers, matins and lunch. Each individual service contains three church services: at vespers the ninth hour, Vespers, and Compline entered; matins consists of Midnight Office, Matins and the first hour; Mass begins at the third and sixth hours and then the liturgy itself is celebrated. For hours such short prayers are called, after which psalms and other prayers appropriate for these times of the day are read for mercy on us sinners.

The liturgical day begins with the evening, on the grounds that at the creation of the world, it was first evening, and then morning. For Vespers usually a service in the temple is sent to a feast or a saint, whose remembrance is performed on the next day according to the arrangement in the holy calendar. On every day of the year, one remembers either an event from the earthly life of the Savior and the Mother of God, or one of St. saints of God. In addition, each day of the week is dedicated to a special memory. On Sunday, a divine service is celebrated in honor of the risen Savior, on Monday we pray to St. angels, on Tuesday is remembered in the prayers of St. John, the Forerunner of the Lord, on Wednesday and Friday there is a service in honor of the life-giving cross of the Lord, on Thursday - in honor of St. Apostles and St. Nicholas, on Saturday - in honor of all the saints and in memory of all the departed Orthodox Christians.

Evening worship is sent to give thanks to God for the past day and to ask God's blessing for the coming night. Vespers consists of three services. Read first ninth hour in memory of the death of Jesus Christ, which the Lord accepted according to our account of time at the 3rd hour in the afternoon, and according to the Jewish account of time at the 9th hour of the day. Then the most evening worship, and Compline is attached to it, or a series of prayers that Christians read after the evening, at nightfall.

Matins starts Midnight Office which took place in ancient times at midnight. Ancient Christians at midnight came to the temple for prayer, expressing their faith in the second coming of the Son of God, who, according to the belief of the Church, has to come at night. After the Midnight Office, Matins itself is immediately performed, or such a service, during which Christians thank God for the gift of sleep to calm the body and ask the Lord to bless the deeds of every person and help people spend the coming day without sin. Joins the morning first hour. This service is so called because it departs after the morning, at the beginning of the day; behind it, Christians ask God to direct our lives towards the fulfillment of God's commandments.

Mass begins by reading the 3rd and 6th hours. Service third hour reminds us how the Lord at the third hour of the day, according to the Jewish account of time, and according to our account at the ninth hour of the morning, was led to judgment by Pontius Pilate, and how the Holy Spirit at this time of the day, by His descent in the form of fiery tongues, enlightened the apostles and strengthened them for the feat of preaching about Christ. Service of the sixth hours is called so because it reminds us of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary, which was according to the Jewish account of time at 6 o'clock in the afternoon, and according to our account at 12 o'clock in the afternoon. Mass is celebrated after the hours, or liturgy.

In this order, worship is performed on weekdays; but on some days of the year this order changes, for example: on the days of the Nativity of Christ, the Baptism of the Lord, on Maundy Thursday, on Good Friday and Great Saturday, and on Trinity Day. On Christmas and Epiphany Eve watch(1st, 3rd and 9th) are performed separately from mass and are called royal in memory of the fact that our pious kings usually come to this service. On the eve of the feasts of the Nativity of Christ, the Baptism of the Lord, on Maundy Thursday and on Maundy Saturday, Mass begins with Vespers and therefore takes place from 12 noon. Matins on the feasts of the Nativity and the Epiphany of the Lord is preceded by great compline. Here is evidence that the ancient Christians continued their prayers and singing all night long on these great holidays. On Trinity Day, after Mass, Vespers is immediately performed, during which the priest reads prayers of tenderness to the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Holy Trinity. And on Good Friday, according to the charter of the Orthodox Church, mass is not supposed to strengthen the fast, but after hours that are celebrated separately, Vespers is sent at 2 pm, after which a funeral is taken out of the altar to the middle of the temple shroud Christ, in remembrance of the removal from the cross of the body of the Lord by the righteous Joseph and Nicodemus.

AT great post on all days, except Saturday and Sunday, the arrangement of church services is different than on weekdays throughout the year. Leaves in the evening great compline, on which, on the first four days of the first week, the touching canon of St. Andrew of Crete (mephimons). Served in the morning matins, according to its charter, similar to an ordinary, everyday matins; in the middle of the day, 3, 6 and 9 are read watch, and joins them vespers. This service is usually called hours.

Most often we hear litanies recited by a deacon or a priest during divine services. Litany is a long, fervent prayer to the Lord God for our needs. Litany four: great, small, severe and pleading.

The litany is called great by the multitude of petitions with which we turn to the Lord God; each petition ends with singing in the kliros: Lord have mercy!

The great litany begins with the words: Let's pray to the Lord in peace. With these words, the clergyman invites the faithful to pray to the Lord, reconciled with everyone, as the Lord commands.

The following petitions of this litany read as follows: For heavenly peace and the salvation of our souls, let us pray to the Lord, i.e. about peace with God, which we have lost as a result of our grave sins, with which we offend Him, our Benefactor and Father.

About the peace of the whole world, about the well-being of the saints churches of God and uniting all to the Lord let us pray; With these words, we ask God to send us harmony, friendship among ourselves, so that we would remove quarrels and enmities that are contrary to God, so that no one offends the churches of God, and that all non-Orthodox Christians who have separated from the Orthodox Church unite with her.

About this holy temple, and with faith, reverence and fear of God entering it(in that) Let's pray to the Lord. Here we pray for the temple in which worship is performed; it must be remembered that the Holy Church deprives of her prayers the one who immodestly and inattentively enters and stands in the temple of God.

About the Most Holy Governing Synod, and about His Grace(name), honorable presbytery, deaconhood in Christ, let us pray to the Lord for all the parish and people. The Holy Synod is an assembly of archpastors who are entrusted with the care of the Orthodox Greek-Russian Church. Presbytery is called the priesthood - priests; deaconry - deacons; church clergy are churchmen who sing and read on the kliros.

Then we pray for the Sovereign Emperor and His Spouse, the Empress
Empress, and to all the reigning house that the Lord would subdue to our Sovereign all our enemies, scold those who want.

The sin of man not only removed him from God, destroying all the faculties of his soul, but also left its gloomy traces in all the surrounding nature. We pray in the great litanies for the well-being of the air, for the abundance of the fruits of the earth, for the times of peace, for the sailors, for the traveling, for the sick, for the suffering, for the captives, for deliverance from anger and from every need.

When listing our needs, we call on the help of the Mother of God and all the saints and express to God our devotion to Him in such words : most holy, pure, most blessed, glorious Our Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, with all the saints, remembering ourselves and each other, and our whole belly ( life) Let's commit to Christ God!

The litany ends with the exclamation of the priest: as all glory befits you and so on.

The small litany begins with the words: paki(again) and in peace let us pray to the Lord and consists of the first and last petition of the great litany.

The special litany begins with the words: rcem all, i.e. Let's all say with all my heart and with all our thoughts. What we are going to say is complemented by those who sing, namely: Lord have mercy!

The name august was given to this litany because, after the request of the priest or deacon, it is sung three times: Lord have mercy! Only after the first two requests Lord have mercy! sung once. This litany, once after Vespers and once after Matins, begins with the third petition: have mercy on us God! The last petition in the special litany reads as follows: we also pray for those who bear fruit and do good in this holy and all-honourable temple, for those who labor, sing and stand by people, who expect great and rich mercy from You. In the early days of Christianity, pilgrims brought various aids to the church of God for church services and divided them among poor people, they also took care of the temple of God: these were fruitful and virtuous. Now zealous Christians can do no less good through brotherhoods, guardianships, and shelters, arranged in many places at the temples of God. working, singing…. these are people who take care of the splendor of the church through their work, as well as intelligible reading and singing.

There is also litany of supplication, so called because in it most of the petitions end with the words: we ask the Lord. Chorus answers: give, Lord! In this litany we ask: the bottom of everything is perfect, holy, peaceful and sinless, - an angel of peace ( not formidable, giving peace to our souls), faithful mentor ( leading us to salvation) guardian of our souls and bodies - forgiveness and forgiveness of sins and transgressions ( falls made by our inattention and distraction) ours, - good and useful to our souls and peace of the world, - other time of our belly in peace and repentance will end, - Christian death(bring true repentance and partaking of the Holy Mysteries ) are painless ( without severe suffering, with the preservation of a sense of self-consciousness and memory), not shameful(not shameful) peaceful(characteristic of pious people who, with a peaceful conscience and a peaceful spirit, part with this life) and a good answer at the terrible Judgment Seat of Christ. After the exclamation, the priest, turning to the people with a blessing, says: peace to all! That is, let there be peace and harmony among all people. The chorus responds to him with mutual goodwill, saying: and spirit to your, i.e. We wish the same to your soul.

Deacon's voice: bow your heads to the Lord reminds us that all believers are obligated to bow their heads in submission to God. The priest at this time, with a secretly read prayer, brings down on the coming blessings of God from the throne of grace; therefore, whoever does not bow his head before God is deprived of His grace.

If the petitionary litany is read at the end of Vespers, then its beginning is with the words: we will execute evening prayer our Lord, and if it is pronounced at the end of Matins, then it begins with the words: let us fulfill our morning prayer to the Lord.

At Vespers and Matins, various sacred songs are sung, called stichera. Depending on what time of the service the stichera are sung, they are called stichera. on the Lord cry or stichera on the poetry sung at Vespers after the petitionary litany, if there is no lithium; verses are also called laudatory; which are usually sung before great doxology.

Troparion there is a sacred song, in brief but strong lines reminding us of either the history of the holiday or the life and deeds of the saint; sung after evening Now let go, for the morning after God the Lord and appear to us ... and read on the clock after the psalms.

Kontakion has the same content with the troparion; read after song 6 and on the clock after the Lord's Prayer: Our Father…

Prokimen. This is the name of a short verse from a psalm, which is sung on kliros alternately several times, for example: The Lord reigns, clothed in splendor(i.e. dressed in splendor). Prokimen sung after Light quiet and at matins before the gospel, and at mass before reading from the books of the apostles.

On Sundays and holidays, a special service to God is performed in the evening (and in other places in the morning), usually called the all-night vigil, or the all-night vigil.

This service is called so because in ancient times it began in the evening and ended in the morning, therefore, the whole pre-holiday night was spent by believers in the church for prayer. And now there are St. monastery, where the all-night vigil lasts about six hours from the beginning of it.

The custom of Christians to spend the night in prayer is very ancient. The apostles, partly following the example of the Savior, Who more than once in His earthly life used the night time for prayer, partly out of fear of his enemies, had prayer meetings at night. The first Christians, fearing the persecution of idolaters and Jews, prayed at night on holidays and days of remembrance of the martyrs in suburban caves, or the so-called catacombs.

The Vigil depicts the history of the salvation of the human race through the coming to earth of the Son of God and consists of three parts, or sections: Vespers, Matins and the first hour.

The beginning of the vigil is performed as follows: they open royal doors, a priest with a censer and a deacon with a candle are censing St. altar; then the deacon says on the pulpit: rise, God bless! Priest says: glory to the holy, consubstantial, life-giving and inseparable Trinity, always, now and forever, and forever and ever. Then the priest calls on the faithful to worship Christ the King and our God; the chanters sing selected passages from Psalm 103: Bless, my soul, the Lord... Lord My God, exalted thou zelo ( i.e. Very) ... Waters will rise on the mountains ... Wonderful are Your works, Lord! You have created all wisdom! ... Glory to Thee, Lord, who created everything. Meanwhile, the priest with the deacon, having censed the altar, go around the whole church with the censer and censing St. icons and worshipers; after this, towards the end of the singing of psalm 103, they enter the altar, and the royal gates are closed.

This singing and actions of the priest with the deacon before they enter the altar remind us of the creation of the world and happy life the first people in paradise. The closing of the royal doors depicts the expulsion of the first people from paradise for the sin of disobedience to God; the litany that the deacon says after the closing of the royal doors recalls the joyless life of our forefathers outside paradise and our constant need for God's help.

After the litany we hear the singing of the first psalm of King David: Blessed is the man who does not go to the council of the wicked, and the way of the wicked will perish, work(serve) Lord with fear, and rejoice in Him with trembling; blessed are all who hope on him) . Resurrect Lord, save me, my God; of the Lord is salvation, and on your people your blessing. Selected places from this psalm are sung in order to depict both the sorrowful thoughts of our forefather Adam on the occasion of his fall, and the advice and exhortations with which our forefather Adam addresses his offspring in the words of King David. Each verse from this psalm is separated by an angelic doxology alleluia what does it mean in Hebrew praise God.

After a small litany, two touching prayers to the Lord God are sung: Lord, I call to You, hear me. Hear me, Lord, Lord, cry to Thee, hear me; heed the voice of my supplication, call me to Thee, hear me, O Lord! ( Psalm. 140)

May my prayer be corrected, like a censer before Thee, the uplifting of my hand is an evening sacrifice. Hear me, Lord!

May my prayer come like incense before Thee; the lifting up of my hands shall be an evening sacrifice. Hear me, Lord!

This singing reminds us that without the help of God it is difficult for a person to live on earth; he constantly needs God's help, which we remove from ourselves by our sins.

When those who follow the song sing Lord cry prayers called stichera, is done evening entrance.

It is performed as follows: during the last stichera in honor of the Mother of God, the royal gates are opened, first the priest with a burning candle comes out of the altar with a burning candle, then the deacon with a censer and the priest. The deacon censes St. icons of the iconostasis, and the priest stands on the pulpit. After singing the Hymn of the Theotokos, the deacon stands at the royal doors and, depicting the cross as a censer, proclaims: wisdom, sorry! The chanters respond with the following touching song of the Hieromartyr Athenogenes, who lived in the 2nd century AD:

Quiet light of the holy glory, Immortal Heavenly Father, Holy, Blessed, Jesus Christ! Having come to the setting of the sun, having seen the evening light, let us sing to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit of God. Thou art worthy at all times to sing to be the voices of the reverend, Son of God, give life: the world glorifies Thee with the same.

Quiet light of holy glory, Immortal Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ! Having reached sunset, having seen the evening light, we sing of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit of God. You, the Son of God, the giver of life, are worthy to be sung at all times by the voices of the saints. Therefore the world glorifies You.

What does the evening entrance signify? The removal of a candle means the appearance before the coming of Christ, St. John the Baptist, whom the Lord Himself named lamp. The priest, during the evening entrance, depicts the Savior, who came into the world to make amends before the Lord for the guilt of man. Deacon's words: forgive wisdom! They inspire us that we should, with special attention, standing observe sacred actions, praying to the Lord, may He forgive us all sins.

While singing Light quiet the priest enters the altar, kisses St. throne and stands on a high place, turning his face to the people. By this action, he depicts the ascension of Jesus Christ to heaven and His reign in all glory over the world, therefore, the chanters after singing Light quiet sing: The Lord reigned in beauty, clothed, that is, that Jesus Christ, after His ascension, reigned over the world and clothed himself in beauty. This verse is taken from the psalms of King David and is called a prokimen; it is always sung on Sunday. On other days of the week, other prokeimenes are sung, also taken from the psalms of David.

After the prokimen on the Twelfth and Mother of God feasts and on the feasts in honor of the holy saints of God, especially those revered by us, we read proverbs, or decent for the holidays, three small readings from the books of the old and new testaments. Before each paroemia, the exclamation of the deacon wisdom indicates the important content of what is being read, and by the deacon's proclamation let's hear! It is suggested that we be attentive while reading and not mentally entertain ourselves with foreign objects.

Litiya and the blessing of loaves

Litiya and the blessing of loaves are sometimes performed on more solemn feasts after the special and petitionary litanies.

This part of the all-night service is performed as follows: the priest and deacon leave the altar to the western part of the church; the stichera of the feast are sung on the kliros, and after them the deacon prays for the Sovereign Emperor, the Sovereign Empress and for the entire Reigning House, for the diocesan bishop and all Orthodox Christians, that the Lord save us all from troubles and misfortunes. Litiya is performed in the western side of the temple in order to announce the feast to the penitents and the catechumens, who usually stand in the porch, and pray for them together with them. Here is the reason to pray for lithium about every Christian soul that is in sorrow and grief, in need of God's mercy and help. Litiya also reminds us of the ancient processions that the leading Christians performed during public disasters at night for fear of being persecuted by the pagans.

For lithium after the stichera sung on stikhovne, after the dying song of Simeon the God-Receiver, and when the troparion of the holiday is sung three times, the blessing of the loaves is performed. In the early days of Christianity, when the all-night vigil continued until dawn, to strengthen the strength of those praying, the priest blessed bread, wine and oil and distributed them to those present. As a reminder of this time and for the sanctification of the faithful, and at the present time the priest prays over 5 loaves, wheat, wine and oil, and asks God to multiply them and from there, so that the Lord would sanctify the faithful who eat from these loaves and wine. Oil (oil), consecrated at this time, is used to anoint those praying at the All-Night Vigil, and wheat is eaten. The five loaves consecrated in this case are reminiscent of the miracle that the Lord performed during His life on earth, when He fed 5,000 people with 5 loaves.

The first part of the All-Night Vigil ends with the words of the priest: the blessing of the Lord is upon you, that grace and love of mankind always, now and forever and forever and ever, amen.

At this, there is a ringing, reminiscent of the end of Vespers and the beginning of the second part of the All-Night Vigil.

The second part of the All-Night Vigil is Matins following Vespers. It begins with the joyful song of the angels on the occasion of the birth of Christ: glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.

After it, the Six Psalms is read, which contains the six psalms of King David, in which this pious king prays to God to cleanse people from sins, with which we offend God every minute, despite His constant providence for us. During the reading of the Six Psalms, the priest, first in the altar, and then on the pulpit, prays to God to send God's mercy to people. The humble exit of the priest from the altar to the pulpit points to the quiet, solitary life of the Lord Jesus in Nazareth, from which He only occasionally came to Jerusalem to pray during the feasts. The Six Psalms ends with a proclamation in honor of the Triune God: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, glory to Thee, O God!

After the great litany, recited after the Six Psalms, a verse from the Psalms of King David is sung four times: God the Lord and appear to us, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, pointing to the appearance of the Savior to people as a Teacher and Wonderworker.

Then the troparion of the feast is sung, and two kathismas are read.

Kathismas- these are the sections of the psalms of the king and the prophet David, of which there are 20 sections in the psalm. These sections of the psalms are called kathismas, because during their reading it is allowed for those praying to sit in the church. Word kathisma With Greek means seat. Every day different kathismas are read, so that during the week the whole psalter is read.

After each kathisma, the clergyman pronounces a small litany. Then the most solemn part of the all-night vigil begins, called polyeleem many mercy, or much oil. The Royal Doors open, large candles before St. icons extinguished during the reading of the Six Psalms and Kathismos are lit again, and a laudatory song of praise to God from Psalms 134 and 135 is sung on the kliros: Praise the name of the Lord, praise the servant of the Lord, hallelujah! Blessed be the Lord from Zion(where in ancient times there was a tabernacle and a temple) alive in Jerusalem, hallelujah! Confess to the Lord confess your sins) like good ( because He is good) for His mercy is forever, hallelujah! Confess to the God of heaven, for it is good, for His mercy is forever, hallelujah! The priest and deacon are burning incense throughout the church. The opened royal doors signify to us that the angel has rolled away the stone from the tomb of the Lord, from where a new eternal life has dawned on us, full of spiritual joy and fun. The walking of the clergy around the church with a censer reminds us of St. myrrh-bearing women who went to the tomb of the Lord on the night of the resurrection of Christ to anoint the body of the Lord, but received joyful news from an angel about the resurrection of Christ.

On Sundays, after the singing of the laudatory verses 134 and 135 of Psalms, in order to better imprint the thought of the resurrection of Christ in those who pray, troparia are sung, in which the reason for our joy in the resurrection of Christ is expressed. Each troparion begins with words praising the Lord: blessed be thou, O Lord, teach me thy justification(i.e. Your commandments). The Sunday Polyeleos ends with the reading of St. gospel about one of the appearances of the resurrected Savior. The Holy Gospel will be worn out in the middle of the temple, and the faithful will kiss St. The gospel, having (at the same time) in thought all the benefits of the risen Lord. The choir at this time sings an invocative song to bow to the resurrection of Christ:

Having seen the Resurrection of Christ, let us worship the Holy Lord Jesus, the only sinless one. We worship Thy Cross, O Christ, and we sing and glorify Thy holy Resurrection: Thou art our God; unless(Besides) We know nothing else for you, we call your name. Come, all faithful, let us worship the Holy Resurrection of Christ. Se(here) For through the cross joy has come to the whole world, always blessing the Lord, let us sing of His resurrection: having endured the crucifixion, destroy death by death.

The polyeleos for the twelfth feasts and feast days of the holy saints of God differs from the Sunday polyeleos in that after the laudatory verses 134 and 135 of the psalms, the clergy go out to the middle of the temple, where the icon of the feast relies on the lectern, and magnification is sung, while verses in honor of St. Myrrh-bearing women are not sung. The gospel is read, having application to the day of the feast; worshipers in the temple kiss St. icon on the lectern and anointed with oil consecrated during the lithium, but not St. peace, as some ignorantly call this oil.

After reading the gospel and praying to the Lord God for mercy on us sinners, usually read by the deacon before the icon of the Savior, canon, or a rule for glorifying God and the saints and for asking for God's mercy for oneself through the prayers of the holy saints of God. The canon consists of 9 sacred songs, modeled on those Old Testament songs that were sung by righteous people, starting with the prophet Moses and ending with the father of the Forerunner John, the priest Zechariah. Every song is sung at the beginning irmos(in Russian - communication), and at the end confusion(in Russian - convergence). Name of the song katavasia It is accepted because for its singing it is necessary, according to the charter, for both choirs to come together. The content of the irmos and katavasia is taken from those songs, on the model of which the entire canon is composed.

Song 1 is modeled on the song that the prophet Moses sang about the miraculous passage of the Jewish people across the Red Sea.

Song 2 is modeled on the song that the prophet Moses sang before his death. With this song the prophet wanted to dispose the Jewish people to repentance; like a song repentance, according to the charter of the Orthodox Church, is sung only during Great Lent. At other times, after the first ode in the canon, the third ode immediately follows.

3 the song is modeled on the song sung by the righteous Anna after the birth of her son Samuel, the prophet and wise judge of the Jewish people.

Song 4 is modeled on the song of the prophet Habakkuk.

The 5th song of the canon has for its content thoughts taken from the song of the prophet Isaiah.

Song 6 is reminiscent of the song of the prophet Jonah, which he sang when he was miraculously delivered from the whale's belly.

Songs 7 and 8 are modeled on the song sung by three Jewish youths about the miraculous deliverance from the kindled Babylonian furnace.

After the 8th ode of the canon, the song of the Mother of God is sung, divided into several verses, after which the song is sung: The most honest cherubim and the most glorious seraphim without comparison, without corruption(diseases) the God of the Word, who gave birth to the Mother of God, we magnify Thee.

9. The song contains thoughts taken from the song of the priest Zechariah, which he sang after the birth of his son, the Forerunner of the Lord John.

In ancient times, Matins ended with the onset of the day, and now, after singing the canon and reading Psalms 148, 149 and 150, in which St. King David enthusiastically invites all nature to glorify the Lord, the priest thanks God for the light that has appeared. Glory to You, who showed us the light, says the priest, turning to the throne of God. The choir sings great praise to the Lord, beginning and ending with the song of St. angels.

Matins, the second part of the All-Night Vigil, ends with a special and petitionary litany and dismissal, usually pronounced by a priest from the open royal doors.

Then the first hour is read - the third part of the all-night vigil; it ends with a song of thanksgiving in honor of the Mother of God, composed by the inhabitants of Constantinople for delivering them through the intercession of the Mother of God from the Persians and Avars who attacked Greece in the seventh century.

Victorious to the Chosen Voivode, as if having got rid of the evil ones, we thankfully describe Thy servants, Mother of God. But as if you have an invincible power, free us from all troubles, let us call Thee: rejoice, Bride not bride.

To you, who has the upper hand in battle (or war), we, Your servants, the Theotokos, bring victorious (solemn) songs, and, as delivered by You from evil, songs of thanksgiving. And you, as one who has invincible power, deliver us from all troubles so that we cry out to You: Rejoice, Bride who does not have a bridegroom from people.

Liturgy, or mass, is such a divine service at which the sacrament of St. communion and a bloodless sacrifice is offered to the Lord God for the living and the dead.

The sacrament of communion was established by the Lord Jesus Christ. On the eve of His crucifixion and death, the Lord was pleased to celebrate the Passover supper together with His 12 disciples in Jerusalem, in memory of the miraculous exit of the Jews from Egypt. When this Easter was celebrated, the Lord Jesus Christ took the sour wheat bread, blessed it, and, distributing it to the disciples, said: take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you for the remission of sins. Then he took a cup of red wine and, giving it to his disciples, said: drink of it ye ​​all: this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the remission of sins. Then the Lord added : Do this in remembrance of Me.

After the ascension of the Lord, His disciples and followers did exactly His will. They spent their time in prayer, reading divine scriptures, and communion with St. bodies and blood of the Lord, or something like that, celebrated the liturgy. The most ancient and original order of the liturgy is attributed to St. Apostle James, the first bishop of Jerusalem. Until the fourth century after the Nativity of Christ, the liturgy was celebrated, not recorded by anyone, but the order of its celebration was transmitted from bishop to bishop and from them to presbyters, or priests. In the fourth century, St. Basil, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia for his spiritual wisdom and labors for the benefit of St. Church of Christ surnamed Great, wrote down the rite of the liturgy, as it came from the apostles. Since the prayers in the liturgy of Basil the Great, usually read secretly in the altar by its performer, are lengthy, and as a result of this, the singing was slow at the same time, then St. John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, called Chrysostom for his eloquence, noticing that many Christians do not stand the entire liturgy, shortened these prayers, which made the liturgy shorter. But the liturgy of Basil the Great and the liturgy of John Chrysostom do not differ in their essence from one another. The Holy Church, condescending to the infirmities of the faithful, has decided to celebrate the Liturgy of Chrysostom throughout the year, and the Liturgy of Basil the Great is celebrated on those days when an intensified prayer is needed from our side for mercy on us. So, this last liturgy is celebrated on 5 Sundays Great Lent, Besides Palm Sunday, Thursday and Saturday Holy Week, on Christmas Eve and Epiphany Eve and in memory of St. Basil the Great, January 1, upon entry into New Year life.

The Liturgy of Chrysostom consists of three parts, which have different names, although this division is after mass and is imperceptible to the worshiper. 1) the Proskomedia, 2) the liturgy of the catechumens, and 3) the liturgy of the faithful - these are the parts of the Mass. After the proskomedia, bread and wine are prepared for the sacrament. During the liturgy of the catechumens, the faithful prepare with their prayers and the clergy for participation in the sacrament of communion; during the Liturgy of the faithful, the sacrament itself is performed.

Proskomidia is a Greek word, which means bringing. The first part of the liturgy is called so from the custom of ancient Christians to bring bread and wine to church to perform the sacrament. For the same reason this bread is called prosphora which means from Greek offering. Five prosphora are used on the proskomedia in memory of the Lord's miraculous feeding of 5,000 people with 5 loaves. Prosphora in their appearance are made two-part in memory of the two natures in Jesus Christ, divine and human. At the top of the prosphora is depicted St. a cross inscribed at the corners with the following words: Ic. XP. ni. ka. These words mean Jesus Christ, the Conqueror of death and the devil; ni. ka. Greek word.

Proskomidia is performed in the following way. The priest with the deacon, after praying before the royal doors for their cleansing from sins and for giving them strength for the upcoming service, enter the altar and put on all the sacred clothes. The vestment ends with the washing of hands as a sign of spiritual and bodily purity, with which they begin to serve the liturgy.

Proskomidia is performed on the altar. The priest allocates with a copy of the prosphora the cubic part required for the performance of the sacrament, with the recollection of the prophecies relating to the birth of Christ and the suffering of Jesus Christ. This part of the prosphora is called the Lamb, because it represents the image of the suffering Jesus Christ, just as before the Nativity of Christ the Paschal lamb was represented, which the Jews, by the command of God, slaughtered and ate in memory of deliverance from perdition in Egypt. The Holy Lamb is entrusted by the priest on a diskos in memory of the saving death of Jesus Christ and is cut from below into four equal parts. Then the priest plunges a spear into right side Lamb and pours wine combined with water into the chalice in remembrance of the fact that when the Lord was on the cross, one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and blood and water flowed out of the pierced side.

On the paten is laid the Lamb in the image of the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of heaven and earth. Church song sings: where the King comes, there and his rank. Therefore, the Lamb is surrounded by many particles taken out of other prosphora in honor and glory. Holy Mother of God and holy men of God, and in memory of all people, both living and dead.

The Queen of Heaven, the Most Holy Mother of God is closer than all the saints to the throne of God and prays unceasingly for us sinners; as a sign of this, from the second prosphora, prepared for the proskomedia, the priest takes out a part in memory of the Most Holy Theotokos and puts it on the right side of the Lamb.

After that, 9 parts are placed on the left side of the Lamb, taken from the 3rd prosphora in memory of 9 ranks of saints: a) Forerunner of the Lord John, b) prophets, c) apostles, d) saints who served God in the rank of bishop, e) martyrs, f) the monks who have attained holiness through their lives in St. monasteries and deserts, g) unmercenaries who received from God the power to heal people's illnesses, and for this they did not charge anyone a reward, h) saints of the day according to the calendar, and the saint whose liturgy is celebrated, Basil the Great or John Chrysostom. At the same time, the priest prays that the Lord, through the prayers of all the saints, would visit people.

From the fourth prosphora, parts are taken out for all Orthodox Christians, starting with the sovereign.

Parts are taken from the fifth prosphora and relied on south side Lamb for all those who died in the faith of Christ and the hope of eternal life after death.

The prosphora, from which parts were taken out for their position on the diskos, in memory of the saints and Orthodox Christians, living and dead, are worthy of reverent attitude towards them on our part.

Church history presents us with many examples, from which we see that Christians, reverently eating prosphora, received from God sanctification and help in diseases of the soul and body. The Monk Sergius, being in his infancy dull in the sciences, through eating a part of the prosphora given to him by one pious elder, became a very intelligent boy, so that he was ahead of all his comrades in the sciences. The history of the Solovetsky monks tells that when the dog wanted to swallow the prosphora, lying by chance on the road, the fire came out of the earth and thus saved the prosphora from the beast. This is how God guards His sanctuary and by this shows that we should treat it with great reverence. You need to eat prosphora before other food.

It is very useful for them to commemorate the living and dead members of the Church of Christ behind the proskomedia. The particles taken out of the prosphora on the divine proskomedia for commemorated souls are immersed in the life-giving blood of Christ, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all evil and is powerful to beg God the Father for everything we need. blessed memory St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow, once before when he was preparing to serve the Liturgy, another time, before the very beginning of the Liturgy, they asked to pray for some of the sick. At the liturgy, he took out parts from the prosphora for these sick people, and they, contrary to the doctors' sentence to death, recovered ("Soul. Thu." 1869 Jan. Dep. 7, p. 90). St. Gregory the Dialogist tells how a dead man appeared to a pious priest known in his time and asked to be commemorated at Mass. To this request, the one who appeared added that if the sacred sacrifice would ease his lot, then he would no longer appear to him as a sign of this. The priest fulfilled the demand, and there was no new appearance.

During the proskomedia, the 3rd and 6th hours are read in order to occupy the thoughts of those present in the temple with prayer and remembrance of the saving power of the suffering and death of Christ.

When the commemoration is performed, the proskomidia ends with the fact that an asterisk is placed on the diskos, and it and the chalice are covered with covers with a common veil, called air. At the same time, the altar is incense and a prayer is read by the priest so that the Lord would remember all those who brought their gifts of bread and wine to the proskomedia and those for whom they were offered.

Proskomidia reminds us of two main events in the life of the Savior: Christmas and death of Christ.

Therefore, all the actions of the priest and the things used at the proskomedia remind both the Nativity of Christ and the death of Christ. The altar is reminiscent of both the Bethlehem cave and the Golgotha ​​burial cave. The diskos marks both the manger of the born Savior and the tomb of the Lord. The covers, the air serve as a reminder of the swaddling clothes of both infants and those in which the deceased Savior was buried. Censing marks the incense brought by the magi to the born Savior, and those aromas that were used were at the burial of the Lord by Joseph and Nicodemus. The asterisk marks the star that appeared at the birth of the Savior.

The faithful prepare for the sacrament of communion during the second part of the liturgy, which is called the liturgy of the catechumens. This part of the liturgy was given such a name because, in addition to those who were baptized and allowed to receive communion, catechumens are also allowed to listen to it, that is, those preparing for baptism and penitents who are not allowed to receive communion.

Immediately after the reading of the Hours and the celebration of the proskomedia, the liturgy of the catechumens begins with the glorification of the kingdom of the Most Holy Trinity. The priest at the altar to the words of the deacon: bless lord, answers: blessed is the kingdom of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and forever and ever, amen.

This is followed by a great litany. After it, on ordinary days, two pictorial psalms 142 and 145 are sung, separated by a small litany. These psalms are called pictorial because they very clearly depict the mercies of God, revealed to us by the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ. On the twelfth Lord's feasts, instead of pictorial psalms, antiphons. This is the name of those sacred songs from the psalms of King David, which are sung alternately on both kliros. Antiphonal, i.e., countervocal, singing owes its origin to St. Ignatius the God-bearer, who lived in the first century after the Nativity of Christ. This St. the apostolic husband in revelation heard how the angelic faces alternately sang in two choirs and, imitating the angels, established the same order in the Antiochian Church, and from there this custom spread throughout the entire Orthodox Church.

Antiphons - three in honor of St. Trinity. The first two antiphons are separated by small litanies.

On ordinary days after the second pictorial psalm, and on the Twelfth Feasts of the Lord after the second antiphon, a touching song is sung to the Lord Jesus: The only-begotten Son and Word of God, immortal, and deigning our salvation for the sake of being incarnated from the Holy Mother of God, and Ever-Virgin Mary, immutably ( true ) incarnated, crucified, Christ God, righting death by death, one of the Holy Trinity, glorified by the Father and the Holy Spirit, save us. This song was composed in the fifth century after the Nativity of Christ by the Greek emperor Justinian in refutation of the heresy of Nestorius, who impiously taught that Jesus Christ was born an ordinary man, and the deity united with Him during baptism, and that therefore the Most Holy Mother of God is not, according to his false teaching, Mother of God, but only Christ-bearer.

When the 3rd antiphon is sung, and on ordinary days - when the Savior's teaching about the beatitudes is read, or blessed, in. for the first time during the liturgy, the royal doors are opened. In the presentation of a burning candle, the deacon takes out through the north door from the altar to the pulpit of St. Gospel and, asking the priest standing on the pulpit for a blessing to enter the altar, he says in the royal gates: wisdom, sorry! This is how the small entrance is made. He reminds us of Jesus Christ, who appeared with the sermon of St. gospel. Candle worn before St. gospel, marks St. John the Baptist, who prepared the people for the worthy acceptance of the God-Man Christ, and whom the Lord Himself called: a lamp that burns and shines. The open royal doors mean the gates of the heavenly kingdom, which opened before us along with the appearance of the Savior into the world. Deacon's words: wisdom, sorry, have in mind to point us to the deep wisdom contained in St. Gospels. Word sorry invites believers to reverent standing and worship of the Savior of the world, the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, immediately after the exclamation of the deacon and the choir of those who sing, they convince everyone to pay homage to the Finisher of the salvation of the world. Come bow down, the choir sings, and let us fall down to Christ, save us, Son of God, singing Thi alleluia. Anyone who, at the call of St. The Church would not respond with low worship to its great benefactor, the Lord Jesus Christ. Our pious ancestors, while singing this verse, all fell to the ground, even our God-crowned All-Russian Sovereigns themselves.

After the troparion and kontakion to the feast or the holy day, the deacon prays at the local icon of the Savior: Lord, save the pious and hear us. The pious are all Orthodox Christians, beginning with those of the Royal House and the Holy Synod.

After this, the deacon stands in the royal doors and, turning to the people, says: and forever and ever. These words of the deacon serve as a complement to the exclamation of the priest, who, blessing the deacon to give praise to God by singing the Trisagion, speaks before the words Lord save the pious exclamation: for thou art holy our God, and to Thee we send glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and forever. The deacon's appeal to the people at this time indicates to all those who pray at the time of singing the Trisagion, which should be sung by silent lips. and forever and ever!

The choir sings: Holy God Holy Strong, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us.

The origin of this sacred song is remarkable. There was a strong earthquake in the city of Constantinople; believers prayed in the open air. Suddenly, one boy from the folk top was lifted by a storm into the sky, and there he heard the singing of St. angels who, glorifying the Holy Trinity, sang: holy God, holy Mighty(strong, almighty) holy immortal! Having descended unharmed, the boy announced his vision to the people, and the people began to repeat the angelic song and add have mercy on us and the earthquake stopped. The event narrated happened in the fifth century under Patriarch Proclus, and since that time the Trisagionary Hymn has been introduced into all divine services of the Orthodox Church.

On some days, as, for example, on Lazarus Saturday, on Great Saturday, on the days of Bright Week, on Trinity Day and on Christmas Eve of Nativity and Theophany, instead of the Trisagion, the words of the Apostle Paul are sung: You are baptized into Christ, put on Christ, hallelujah! This singing reminds us of the time of the primordial Church, when in these days the baptism of the catechumens took place, who from paganism and Judaism passed into the Orthodox faith of Christ. It was a long time ago, and this song is sung to this day, then, to remind us of those vows that we made to the Lord at St. baptism, whether we holily fulfill them and keep them. On the day of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord and Great Lent on Sunday of the 4th week, the veneration of the Cross, instead of the Trisagion, it is sung: We worship Thy Cross, Master, and glorify Thy holy Resurrection.

For the Trisagion song; after the prokimen, follows the reading of the apostolic epistles, with which they enlightened the world when they went around the whole universe in order to teach it the true faith in St. Trinity. Burning incense at this shows that the apostolic preaching of the word of God filled the entire universe with the fragrance of Christ's teaching and changed the air, contaminated and corrupted by idolatry. The priest sits at the high place, meaning Jesus Christ, who sent the apostles before Him to preach. There is no reason for other people to sit at this time, except for great infirmity.

The reading of the divine deeds of Christ is offered to us from His gospel, following the epistles of the apostles, so that we learn to imitate Him and love our Savior for His inexpressible love, like the children of our father. The Holy Gospel must be listened to with such great attention and reverence, as if we were seeing and listening to Jesus Christ Himself.

The royal doors, from which we heard the good news about our Lord Jesus Christ, are closed, and the deacon again invites us with a special litany to fervent prayer to the God of his fathers.

The time is drawing near to the celebration of the most holy sacrament of communion. The catechumens, being imperfect, cannot attend this sacrament, and that is why they must soon leave the assembly of the faithful; but first the faithful pray for them, so that the Lord He enlightened them with the word of truth and united them with His Church. When the deacon speaks about the catechumens during the litany: proclamation, bow your heads to the Lord, the faithful are not obligated to bow their heads. This appeal of the deacon directly refers to the catechumens, if they stand in the church, as a sign that the Lord blesses them. During the litanies for the catechumens, it develops at St. on the throne, the antimension required for the performance of the sacrament.

With the command to the catechumens to leave the church, the second part of the Liturgy, or the Liturgy of the catechumens, ends.

The most important part of the mass begins - liturgy of the faithful when the King of kings and the Lord of lords comes to slaughter and give into food(food ) is correct. What a clear conscience every one who prays at this time needs to have! Let all human flesh be silent, and let it stand with fear and trembling So great is the mood of prayer in those who pray.

After two short litanies, the royal doors are opened, the Church inspires us to become like St. angels in reverence for the shrine;

Even the Cherubim secretly formative, and Life-Giving Trinity Singing the trisagion hymn, now let us set aside all worldly care, As if we would raise the King of all, angelic invisibly dorinosima chinmi, alleluia!

Mysteriously depicting cherubim and singing the Trisagion Hymn to the Life-Giving Trinity, let us lay aside all care about worldly things in order to raise up the King of all, who is invisible angelic ranks carry, as if on spears (dori) with the song: alleluia!

This song is called the Cherubim, both from its first initial words, and because it ends with the song of the Cherubim: allylia. Word dorinoshima depicts a man who is guarded and escorted by spear-bearing bodyguards. As the kings of the earth in solemn processions are surrounded by bodyguards-soldiers, so the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of heaven, is served by ranks of angels, warriors of heaven.

In the midst of the Cherubic Hymn, the so-called grand entrance, or the transfer of St. gifts - bread and wine, from the altar to St. throne. The deacon, on his head through the northern door, carries a diskos with St. Lamb, and the priest - a chalice with wine. At the same time, they remember in turn all Orthodox Christians, starting with the Sovereign Emperor. This commemoration is performed on the pulpit. Standing in the temple, as a sign of reverence for St. gifts that have to be changed into the true body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, bow their heads, praying to the Lord God that He remember them and those close to them in His kingdom. This is done in imitation of the prudent thief, who, looking at the innocent sufferings of Jesus Christ and, recognizing his sins before God, said: remember me, Lord, when you come into your kingdom.

The Great Entrance reminds the Christian of the procession of Jesus Christ to free suffering and death for the sinful human race. When the liturgy is celebrated by several priests, during the great entrance they carry sacred objects resembling the instruments of the sufferings of Christ, for example: an altar cross, a spear, a sponge.

The Cherubic Hymn was introduced into the liturgy from 573 AD. Chr., under Emperor Justinian and Patriarch John Scholastica. At the Liturgy of Basil the Great on Maundy Thursday, when the Church remembers the Last Supper of the Savior, instead of the Cherubic Hymn, a prayer is sung, usually read before the reception of St. Mysteries of Christ:

Your Secret Supper today(now) , Son of God, accept me as a communicant: we will not tell your enemy a secret(I'll say) no kiss(kissing) I will give you, like Judas, like a robber, I confess you: remember me, Lord, in your kingdom. On Great Saturday, instead of the Cherubim, a very touching and touching song is sung: Let all human flesh be silent, and let it stand with fear and trembling, and let nothing earthly in itself think: the King of kings and the Lord of lords comes to be slaughtered and given as food (food) to the faithful; but the faces of the angels come before him with every beginning and authority, the many eyes of the cherubim, and the six-winged seraphim, covering their faces, and crying out the song: Alleluia. Angels have neither eyes nor wings by nature, but the name of some of the ranks of the angels, many-eyed and six-winged, indicates that they can see far and have the ability to quickly move from one place to another. Beginnings and authorities- these are angels appointed by God to protect persons in positions of power - bosses.

Holy gifts, after bringing them from the pulpit to St. altar, delivered to St. throne. The royal doors are closed and covered with a veil. These actions remind believers of the burial of the Lord in the garden fine Joseph, closing the burial cave with a stone and setting guards at the tomb of the Lord. In accordance with this, the priest and deacon in this case depict the righteous Joseph and Nicodemus, who served the Lord at His burial.

After the petitionary litany, the faithful are invited by the deacon to unite in brotherly love: let us love one another, but confess with one mind, i.e. As if by one thought let us all express our faith. The choir, supplementing what the deacon has said, sings: Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit, Trinity consubstantial and indivisible. In the ancient times of Christianity, when people really lived like brothers, when their thoughts were pure, and their feelings were holy and blameless, - in these good times, when the proclamation was pronounced let's love each other The pilgrims standing in the temple kissed each other - men with men, and women with women. Then there was no modesty among people, and St. The Church has abolished this custom. Now, if several priests serve mass, then they kiss the chalice, paten, and each other's shoulder and hand in the altar, doing this as a sign of unanimity and love.

Then the priest takes away the veil from the royal doors, and the deacon says: Doors, doors, let us pay attention to wisdom! What do these words mean?

In the ancient Christian Church during divine liturgy Deacons and subdeacons (church ministers) stood at the doors of the temple of the Lord, who, having heard the words: Doors, doors, let us pay attention to wisdom! No one was to be let in or out of the church, so that during these holy moments one of the unbelievers would not enter the church, and so that there would be no noise and disorder from the entrance and exit of the worshipers in the temple of God. Recalling this wonderful custom, St. The Church teaches us that when we hear these words, we hold firmly the doors of our mind and heart, so that nothing empty, sinful comes to our mind, and something evil, unclean does not sink into our hearts. Let us listen to wisdom! these words are intended to excite the attention of Christians to a meaningful reading of the creed, which is pronounced after this exclamation.

While singing the creed, the priest himself reads it quietly in the altar and, while reading, raises and lowers (shakes) air(shroud) over St. cup and diskos as a sign of the grace-filled presence of the Spirit of God over St. gifts.

When the creed is sung on the kliros, the deacon addresses the praying people with these words: let's become good, let's stand with fear, let's pay attention, bring holy exaltation in the world, that is, let us stand with dignity, let us stand with fear, and let us be attentive, so that with a calm soul we offer holy offerings to the Lord.

What is the exaltation of St. Does the Church advise us to bring with fear and reverence? The choristers on the kliros answer this with the words: the mercy of the world, the sacrifice of praise. It is necessary to bring to the Lord the gifts of friendship and love and the everlasting praise, the glorification of His name.

After this, the priest, being in the altar, addresses the people and gives them gifts from each person of the Holy Trinity: the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, he says, and the love of God and the Father and communion(presence) Holy Spirit be with you all! At this time, the priest blesses the believers with his hand, and they undertake to respond to this blessing. waist bow and together with the choir say to the priest: and with your spirit. Those who are in the church, as it were, say to the priest: and we wish your soul the same blessings from God!

Priest's voice: woe we have hearts, means that we all must direct our hearts from the earth to God. Imams(we have) to the Lord our hearts, our feelings, - the praying people answer through the mouths of the singers.

In the words of a priest: thank the Lord, the sacrament of communion begins to be performed. The singers sing: it is worthy and righteous to worship the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the Trinity consubstantial and inseparable. The priest secretly reads a prayer and thanks the Lord for all His blessings to people. At this time, it is the duty of every Orthodox Christian to express his gratitude to the Lord with a bow to the ground, since not only people praise the Lord, but angels glorify Him, a victorious song singing, crying, calling and speaking.

At this time there is good news for the so-called worthy then, so that every Christian who cannot for some reason be in church, in the service of God, hearing the blows of the bell, cross himself and, if possible, make a few bows (whether at home, on the field, or on the road - it doesn’t matter), remembering that in in the temple of God in these moments a great, holy action is taking place.

The song of the angels is called victorious as a sign of the Savior's defeat of evil spirits, these ancient enemies of the human race. Angel song in the sky sing, sing, call out and say. These words designate the image of the singing of the angels surrounding throne of God, and an indication is given of the vision of the prophet Ezekiel, described by him in the 1st chapter of his book. The prophet saw the Lord sitting on a throne supported by angels in the form of four animals: a lion, a calf, an eagle, and a man. Under the one who sings here is meant an eagle, under the crying - a calf, under the crying - a lion, under the speaker - a man.

To the exclamation of the priest: song of victory singing, crying, calling and speaking, the choir answers for all those praying by pointing to the words of the song of the angels itself: holy, holy, holy, Lord of Hosts, heaven and earth are full of Thy glory. Angels singing in this way were heard by the prophet Isaiah when he saw the Lord on a throne high and exalted(Prop. Is. 6). Triple pronunciation of the word holy angels point to the trinity of persons in God: Lord of Hosts- this is one of the names of God and means the Lord of forces, or heavenly armies. Heaven and earth are full of Your glory, that is heaven and earth are full of the glory of the Lord. To the song of the angels, these heavenly singers of the glory of God, is joined by a human song of praise - the song with which the Jews met and accompanied the Lord when He had a solemn entry into Jerusalem: hosanna in the highest(save us who lives in heaven), blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, hosanna in the highest!

After this, the priest pronounces the words of the Lord, spoken by him at the Last Supper: take, eat, this is my body, which is broken for you(suffering) for the remission of sins. Drink of her all, this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the remission of sins.. Double pronunciation of the prayers of the word Amen we express before the Lord that indeed at the Last Supper the bread and wine served by the Lord were the true body of Christ and the true blood of the Lord.

The most important action in the last (3) part of the liturgy begins. At the altar the priest takes in right hand diskos, into the left chalice and, raising the holy gifts, proclaims: Yours from Yours, offering you about everyone and for everything. These words of the priest have the following meaning: To you, the Lord God, we bring Your gifts, that is, bread and wine, but you have given us about all people living and dead and for all beneficence. In response to this proclamation, the choir sings to the Holy Trinity: We sing to you, we bless you, we thank you, O Lord, and we pray to our God. At this time, the priest, with a show of hands, prays that the Lord God the Father (the first person of the Holy Trinity) sends down the Holy Spirit (the third person of the Holy Trinity) on himself and on St. our gifts, bread and wine. Then, blessing St. bread, says to God the Father: and make this bread, the honest body of your Christ; blessing St. bowl, says : and the hedgehog in this cup is the honest blood of your Christ: blessing bread and wine together, says: changing by Your Holy Spirit, amen, thrice. From this moment on, bread and wine cease to be an ordinary substance and, at the instigation of the S. Spirit, become the true body and true blood of the Savior, only types of bread and wine remain. Consecration of St. gifts is accompanied by a great miracle for the believer. At this time, according to St. Chrysostom, angels descend from heaven and serve God before St. his throne. If angels, the purest spirits, reverently stand before the throne of God, then the people standing in the temple, every minute offending God with their sins, should intensify their prayers at these moments so that the Holy Spirit dwells in them and cleanses them from all sinful filth.

After the consecration of the gifts, the priest secretly thanks God that He accepts the prayers of all holy people for us, who constantly cry out to God about our needs.

By the time this prayer ends, the touching song of the clergy We sing to you ends, the priest says aloud to all those praying: pretty about the Most Holy, Most Pure, Most Blessed, Glorious Our Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary. With these words, the clergyman urges those who pray to glorify the everlasting prayer book for us before the throne of God - the Queen of Heaven, Rev. Mother of God. The choir sings: It is worthy to eat as truly blessed Theotokos, blessed and most immaculate, and the Mother of our God, the most honest cherubim and the most glorious seraphim without comparison, without the corruption of God the Word, who gave birth to the real Mother of God, we magnify Thee. In this song, the Queen of Heaven and Earth is called blessed, since She, having been honored to be the Mother of the Lord, has become for Christians a constant subject of praise and glorification. We magnify the Mother of God immaculate for Her spiritual purity from all sinful filth. Further in this song we call the Mother of God the most honest cherub and the most glorious without comparison seraphim because in the quality of the Mother of God She surpasses the highest angels - cherubim and seraphim - in proximity to God. The Holy Virgin Mary is glorified by giving birth to God the Word without decay in the sense that She, both before birth, and at the time of birth and after birth, remained forever virgin, which is why it is called ever-virgin.

During the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great instead worthy another song is sung in honor of the Mother of God: O grace-filled one, every creature rejoices in You(creation), angelic cathedral, and the human race and so on. The composer of this song is St. John of Damascus, presbyter of the monastery of St. Savva the Sanctified, who lived in the VIII century. On the twelfth holidays and on the days of Great Thursday and Great Saturday to the exclamation of the priest: pretty about the Blessed, irmosy 9 songs of the festive canon are sung.

During the singing of these songs in honor of the Mother of God, the faithful, together with the clergyman, commemorate the deceased relatives and acquaintances, so that the Lord will repose their souls and forgive them their sins, voluntary and involuntary; but the living members of the Church are remembered by us at the exclamation of the priest: First of all, Lord, remember the Most Holy Governing Synod and so on, that is, pastors who govern the Orthodox Christian Church. The clergy responds to these words of the priest by singing: and everyone and everything, that is, remember, Lord, all Orthodox Christians, husbands and wives.

Our prayer for the living and the dead is at the liturgy at this time supreme power and meaning, because we ask the Lord to accept it for the sake of the bloodless sacrifice that has just taken place.

After the priest's spoken prayer for the Lord to help us all praise God with one mouth, and the benevolence of the priest, so that the mercy of the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ never stopped for us, - the deacon pronounces a petitionary litany. Together with the priest, we pray to God that the Lord would accept the offered and consecrated gifts, like the smell of incense on His heavenly altar, and send down to us His divine grace and the gift of the Holy Spirit. This prayer is joined by other petitions to God for the granting of everything necessary for our temporary and eternal life.

At the end of the litany, after a brief prayer of the priest for the granting of us boldness (boldness) without condemnation to cry out to the heavenly God and Father, the chanters sing the Lord's Prayer: Our Father and so on. As a sign of the importance of the petitions contained in the Lord's Prayer, and to signify the consciousness of their unworthiness, all those present in the church at this moment bow to the ground, and the deacon girds himself with an orarion for the convenience of communion, and also depicting by this action angels covering their faces with wings from reverence to St. secrets.

After the exclamation of the priest, there come moments of remembrance of the Last Supper of the Savior with His disciples, suffering, death and burial. The royal doors are closed with a veil. The deacon, arousing the worshipers to reverence, says: let's hear! And the priest at the altar, raising St. The Lamb over the paten says: holy to saints! These words inspire us that only those who have been cleansed of all sins are worthy of receiving the Holy Mysteries. But since none of the people can recognize themselves as clean from sin, the chanters answer the exclamation of the priest: one is holy, one is the Lord Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father, amen. Only the Lord Jesus Christ is sinless; He, in His mercy, can make us worthy of the Holy Communion. Mystery.

The chanters sing either whole psalms or parts of them, and the clergy receive St. mysteries, eating the body of Christ separately from the divine blood, as it was at the Last Supper. It must be said that the laity received communion in the same way until the end of the 4th century. But St. Chrysostom, when he noticed that one woman, having taken the body of Christ into her hands, took it to her house and used it there for sorcery, he commanded to teach St. the body and blood of Christ together from a spoon, or spoon, directly into the mouth of those who take communion.

After the communion of the clergy, the deacon lowers into the chalice all the particles taken for health and repose, and at the same time says: wash away, O Lord, the sins of those who are remembered here by Your honest blood, by the prayers of Your saints. Thus, all parts removed from the prosphora enter into the closest communion with the body and blood of Christ. Each particle, imbued with the blood of Christ the Savior, becomes, as it were, an Intercessor before the throne of God for the person for whom it was taken out.

This last act ends the communion of the clergy. Breaking the Lamb into pieces for communion, investing a part of St. bodies in the blood of the Lord, the sufferings on the Cross and the death of Jesus Christ are remembered. Communion of St. the blood from the chalice is the outflow of the blood of the Lord from the most pure ribs after His death. Closing the veil at this time is, as it were, a stone clinging to the hump of the Lord.

But this very veil is taken away, the royal gates are opened. With a chalice in his hands, the deacon proclaims from the royal doors: come with the fear of God and faith! This solemn appearance of St. gifts depicts the resurrection of the Lord.

Believers, in the consciousness of their unworthiness and in a feeling of gratitude to the Savior, proceed to St. secrets, kissing the edge of the chalice, as if the very rib of the Savior, who shed His life-giving blood for our sanctification. And those who have not prepared for union with the Lord in the sacrament of communion should at least bow before St. gifts, as if at the feet of our Savior, imitating in this case the myrrh-bearing Mary Magdalene who bowed to the ground to the risen Savior.

Not long did the Savior live on earth after His glorious resurrection. The Holy Gospel tells us that on the 40th day after the resurrection He ascended into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God the Father. These dear to us events from the life of the Savior are remembered at the liturgy, when the priest wears St. bowl into the royal doors and says, turning to the people: always, now and ever and forever and ever. This action shows us that the Lord always abides in His Church and is ready to help those who believe in Him, so long as their petitions are pure and beneficial to their souls. After a small litany, the priest reads a prayer, called after the place of its pronunciation. beyond the ambo. After it there is a dismissal, always pronounced by the priest from the royal gates. The liturgy of Saints Basil the Great or John Chrysostom ends with the wish of longevity for all Orthodox Christians.

The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, or simply the Presanctified Liturgy, is such a divine service during which the sacrament of the change of bread and wine into the body and blood of the Lord is not performed, but the faithful partake of St. gifts formerly sanctified at the Liturgy of Basil the Great or St. John Chrysostom.

This liturgy is celebrated during Great Lent on Wednesdays and Fridays, in the 5th week - on Thursday and on Holy Week- Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. However, the liturgy of the presanctified gifts on the occasion of temple feasts or feasts in honor of St. saints of God can be performed on other days of Great Lent; only on Saturday and Sunday it is never performed on the occasion of the weakening of the fast on these days.

The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts was established in the early days of Christianity and was performed by St. apostles; but she received her real appearance from St. Gregory Dvoeslov, a Roman bishop who lived in the 6th century A.D. Chr.

The need for its establishment by the apostles arose in order not to deprive Christians of St. the Mysteries of Christ and during the days of Great Lent, when, at the request of Lenten time, there is no liturgy performed in a solemn manner. The reverence and purity of life of the ancient Christians were so great that for them to go to church to the liturgy meant without fail to receive St. secrets. Today, piety among Christians has become so weak that even in the midst of Great Lent, when there is a great opportunity for Christians to lead a good life, no one is visible who wants to start holy. meal at the liturgies of the presanctified gifts. There is even, especially among the common people, a strange opinion that, as if at the pre-consecrated mass, the laity cannot partake of St. Mysteries of Christ - an opinion based on nothing. True, infants do not partake of St. Mysteries for this liturgy, because St. the blood, with which only infants partake, is in union with the body of Christ. But the laity, after proper preparation, after confession, are honored with St. the Mysteries of Christ and at the liturgies of the presanctified gifts.

The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts consists of Lenten 3, 6, and 9 hours, vespers and the liturgy proper. Lenten liturgical hours differ from ordinary ones in that, in addition to the prescribed three psalms, one kathisma is read at each hour; the distinctive troparion of each hour is read by the priest before the royal doors and is sung three times on kliros with bows to the ground; At the end of every hour, the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian: Lord and Master of my life! Do not give me the spirit of idleness, despondency, arrogance and idle talk; but grant the spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love to Thy servant. Yes, Lord, King, grant me to see my sins and not condemn my brother, for you are blessed forever and ever. Amen.

Before the most presanctified liturgy, an ordinary vespers is served, at which, after the stichera, sung on Lord, call committed entrance with censer, and on holidays with the Gospel, from the altar to the royal doors. At the end of the evening entry, two proverbs are read: one from the book of Genesis, the other from the book of Proverbs. At the end of the first paroemia, the priest addresses the people at the open gate, making the cross a censer and a burning candle, and says: the light of Christ enlightens all! At the same time, believers fall on their faces, as if before the Lord Himself, praying to Him to enlighten them with the light of Christ's teachings for the fulfillment of Christ's commandments. singing may my prayer be corrected the second part of the presanctified liturgy ends, and the special litany begins proper liturgy of the presanctified gifts.

Instead of the usual cherubic song the following touching song is sung: Now the powers of heaven serve with us invisibly: behold, the King of glory enters, behold, the secret sacrifice is completely delivered. Let us approach with faith and love, and let us be partakers of eternal life. Alleluia(3 times).

Among this song is committed grand entrance. Discos with St. Lamb from the altar, through the royal doors, to St. the throne is carried by the priest at his head, he is preceded by a deacon with a censer and a priest-bearer with a burning candle. Those who are present fall prostrate on the ground in reverence and holy fear before St. gifts, as before the Lord Himself. The Great Entrance at the Presanctified Liturgy is of particular importance and significance than at the Liturgy of St. Chrysostom. During the presanctified liturgy at this time, the already consecrated gifts, the body and blood of the Lord, the sacrifice perfect, Himself the King of glory, therefore, the consecration of St. there are no gifts; and after the petitionary litany, pronounced by the deacon, is sung Lord's Prayer and join St. gifts to clergy and laity.

Behind this, the liturgy of the presanctified gifts resembles the liturgy of Chrysostom; only the prayer outside the ambo is read a special one, applied at the time of fasting and repentance.

In order to take part at the royal table, decent clothes are needed for this; so, in order to participate in the joys of the heavenly kingdom, sanctification is necessary for every Orthodox Christian, communicated, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, by Orthodox bishops and priests, as direct successors to the ministry of the apostles.

Such consecration of Orthodox Christians is communicated through sacred rites, which were established by Jesus Christ Himself or His St. apostles, and which are called sacraments. The name of these sacred rites, the sacraments, is adopted because through them, in a secret, incomprehensible way, the saving power of God acts on a person.

Without the sacraments, the sanctification of a person is impossible, just as the operation of the telegraph is impossible without a wire.

So, whoever wants to be in communion with the Lord in His eternal kingdom must be sanctified in the sacraments.

Baptism is performed by a priest, during which the person being baptized is immersed three times in consecrated water, and the priest says at this time: a servant of God is baptized, or a servant of God(saying name ), in father's name and the Son and the Holy Spirit. An infant enlightened by baptism is cleansed of the sin communicated to him by his parents, and an adult who receives baptism, in addition to the original sin, is left with his arbitrary sins committed before baptism. Through this sacrament, a Christian is reconciled with God and from a child of wrath becomes a son of God, receives the right to the inheritance of the kingdom of God. From this, baptism by the holy fathers of the Church is called door to the kingdom of God. Baptism is sometimes, by the grace of God, accompanied by healing from diseases of the body: thus were delivered from the eye disease of St. Apostle Paul and Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir.

It is required of those approaching the sacrament of baptism repentance for one's sins and faith in God. To do this, he solemnly, aloud to the whole people, refuses to serve Satan, blows and spits on him as a sign of contempt for the devil and disgust from him. After this, the one preparing for baptism makes a promise to live according to the law of God, spoken in St. Gospel and other sacred Christian books, and pronounces the confession of faith, or, what is the same, symbol of faith.

Before immersion in water, the priest crosswise anoints the person being baptized with consecrated oil, because in ancient times anointed with oil preparing to fight on the spectacles. The one who is being baptized prepares for the struggle with the devil throughout his life.

The white robe put on by the baptized means that he received through holy baptism purity of soul from sins.

The cross placed by the priest on the baptized indicates that he, as a follower of Christ, must patiently endure sorrows, whatever the Lord will appoint him to test faith, hope and love.

The baptized person walking around the font three times with burning candles is done as a sign of the spiritual joy he feels from union with Christ for eternal life in the kingdom of heaven.

Cutting the hair of a newly baptized means that from the time of baptism he became a slave of Christ. This custom is taken from the custom in ancient times to cut the hair of slaves as a sign of their slavery.

If baptism is performed on an infant, then the recipients are entrusted with his faith; instead of him, they pronounce the creed and undertake to subsequently take care of their godson, so that he maintains the Orthodox faith and leads a pious life.

Baptism is performed on a person ( united, symbol Faith) once and is not repeated even if it was committed by a non-Orthodox Christian. In this last case, it is required from the performer of baptism that it be performed through three immersion with the exact pronunciation of the name God the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Church historian Socrates narrates about one extraordinary case, to which the Providence of God miraculously testified to the uniqueness of the sacrament of St. baptism. One of the Jews, turning in appearance into Christian faith, was vouchsafed the grace of St. baptism. After moving to another city, he completely abandoned Christianity and lived according to the Jewish custom. But, wishing to laugh at the faith of Christ, or, perhaps, seduced by the benefits that the Christian emperors acquired for the Jews who turned to Christ, he again dared to ask for baptism from a certain bishop. This latter, not knowing anything about the cunning of the Jew, after being instructed in the dogmas of the Christian faith, proceeded to perform the sacrament of St. baptism and ordered to fill the baptismal with water. But at the same time, as he, having performed preliminary prayers over the font, was ready to plunge the Jew into it, the water in the baptismal instantly disappeared. Then the Jew, convicted by Heaven itself of his blasphemous intention, prostrated himself in fear before the bishop and confessed to him and the whole Church in his wickedness and his guilt (Abridged Histor., ch. XVIII; Sunday, Thurs. 1851, p. 440 ).

This sacrament takes place immediately after baptism. It consists in anointing the forehead (forehead), chest, eyes, ears, mouth, hands and feet with sanctified chrism. At the same time, the priest utters the words: seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit. The grace of the Holy Spirit, communicated in the sacrament of chrismation, gives the Christian strength to perform good deeds and Christian deeds.

Miro - a combination of several aromatic liquids mixed with fragrant substances, is consecrated exclusively by bishops at the liturgy on Thursday during Holy Week: In Russia, St. Myrrh is prepared in Moscow and Kyiv. From these two places it is sent to all Russian Orthodox churches.

This sacrament is not repeated over Christians. At the coronation, Russian tsars and queens are anointed with St. the world, not in the sense of repeating this sacrament, but in order to communicate to them the special grace of the Holy Spirit, which is necessary for the passage of an extremely important royal service to the fatherland and the Orthodox Church.

In the sacrament of communion, a Christian receives, under the guise of bread, the true body of Christ, and under the guise of wine, the true blood of Christ, and is united with the Lord for eternal life.

It is performed without fail in the temple, at St. throne, at the liturgy, or Mass: but the body and blood of Christ, in the form of spare St. gifts may be brought into homes for the communion of the sick.

In view of the importance and salvation of this sacrament, St. The Church invites Christians to partake of the body and blood of Christ as often as possible. Every Christian, at least once a year, must sanctify himself with this most holy sacrament. Jesus Christ Himself says this: eat my flesh and drink my blood to have eternal life, i.e. Has in itself eternal life or a pledge of eternal blessedness (Heb. John 6:54).

When the time comes for St. Mysteries of Christ, a Christian should approach the holy chalice with dignity, bow once to earth Christ, who is truly present in the mysteries under the guise of bread and wine, fold his hands crosswise on his chest, open his mouth wide so that he can freely receive gifts and so that a particle of the most holy body and a drop of the purest blood of the Lord do not fall. Upon acceptance of St. The Mystery Church commands the communicant to kiss the rim of the holy cup, as the very rib of Christ, from which flowed blood and water. After this, the communicants are not allowed to bow to the ground for the sake of protection and honor, received by St. Mystery until it is accepted by St. antidoron, or part of the consecrated prosphora, and grateful prayers to the Lord were heard.

Whoever eats Me, and he will live for Me, said our Lord Jesus Christ (John VI, 57). The truth of this saying was most strikingly justified in one case, about which Evagrius narrates in his church history. According to him, in the Church of Constantinople it was customary for the clergy and people left from the communion of St. gifts to teach children in schools to read and write. They were called for this from the schools to the church, in which the clergyman taught them the remains of the body and blood of Christ. One day, among these youths, the son of a Jew who was engaged in making glass appeared, and, due to the uncertainty of his origin, St. Tain along with other children. His father, noticing that he had tarried in a more ordinary school, asked him about the reason for this delay, and when the simple-hearted youth revealed the whole truth to him, the impious Jew became furious to the point that, in the heat of rage, he grabbed his son and threw him into a kindled furnace, into which melted glass. The mother, not knowing this, waited long and in vain for her son; not finding him, she walked around crying through all the streets of Constantinople. Finally, after a fruitless search on the third day, she sat at the door of her husband's workshop, weeping loudly and calling her son by name. Suddenly she hears his voice, echoing to her from the midst of the hot furnace. Overjoyed, she rushes to her, opens her mouth and sees her son, standing on hot coals, but not in the least damaged by fire. Amazed, she asks him how he could remain unharmed in the midst of the scorching fire. Then the lad told his mother everything and added that a majestic wife, dressed in purple, descended into the cave to him, breathed coolness on him and gave him water to extinguish the fire. When the news of this came to the attention of Emperor Justinian, he, at the request of his mother and son, ordered to enlighten them to St. baptism, and the impious father, as if fulfilling the words of the prophet about the hardening of the Jews, became emaciated in heart and did not want to imitate the example of his wife and son, which is why, at the command of the emperor, he was executed as a son-killer (Evagr. Ist. Cer., book IV, ch. 36. Sunday Thu 1841, p. 436).

In the sacrament of repentance, a Christian confesses his sins before a priest and receives an invisible permission from Jesus Christ Himself.

The Lord Himself gave the apostles the power to forgive and not to allow the sins of people who sin after baptism. From the apostles, this power, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, was granted to the bishops, and from them to the priests. To make it easier for those who want to repent at confession to remember their sins, the Church assigns fasting, that is, fasting, prayer and solitude, to him. These means help Christians to come to their senses in order to sincerely repent of all voluntary and involuntary sins. Repentance is then especially useful to the penitent when it is accompanied by a change from a sinful life to a pious and holy life.

Confess before accepting St. The sacraments of the body and blood of Christ are entrusted by the charter of the Orthodox Church from the age of seven, when consciousness appears in us and with it responsibility for our deeds before God. To help a Christian get out of the habit of a sinful life, sometimes, according to his reasoning spiritual father, assigned penance, or such a feat, the fulfillment of which would remind of his sin and contribute to the correction of life.

The Cross and the Gospel during confession signify the invisible presence of the Savior Himself. The laying on of a stole by a priest on a penitent is the return of the mercy of God to the penitent. He is received under the grace of the Church and joins the faithful children of Christ.

God will not allow a penitent sinner to perish

During the cruel Decian persecution of Christians in Alexandria, one Christian elder named Serapion could not resist the temptation of fear and the seduction of the persecutors: having denied Jesus Christ, he offered a sacrifice to idols. Before the persecution, he lived impeccably, and after his fall, he soon repented and asked to be forgiven for his sin; but zealous Christians, out of contempt for the act of Serapion, turned away from him. The troubles of persecution and schisms of the Novatians, who said that they should not accept fallen Christians into the Church, prevented the pastors of the Alexandrian Church from testing Serapion's repentance in time and granting him forgiveness. Serapion became ill and for three days in a row had neither language nor feeling; having recovered somewhat on the fourth day, he, turning to his grandson, said: "Child, how long will you keep me? Hurry, I beg you, give me permission, quickly call one of the presbyters to me." Having said this, he again lost his tongue. The boy ran to the presbyter; but since it was night, and the presbyter himself was sick, he could not come to the sick man; knowing that the penitent had long been asking for forgiveness of sins, and desiring to release the dying with good hope into eternity, he gave the child a particle of the Eucharist (as happened in the primordial Church) and ordered that it be placed in the mouth of the dying elder. Before the returning boy had entered the room, Serapion became livelier again and said: "Have you come, my child? The presbyter could not come himself, so do as quickly as you are ordered and let me go." The boy did as ordered by the presbyter, and as soon as the elder swallowed a particle of the Eucharist (the body and blood of the Lord), he immediately expired. “Isn’t it obvious,” St. Dionysius of Alexandria remarks in reproach to the Novatians, “that the penitent was preserved and kept in life until the moment of permission?” (Church History of Eusebius, book 6, ch. 44, Sunday Thurs. 1852, p. 87).

In this sacrament, the Holy Spirit, through the prayerful laying on of the hands of the bishops, appoints the rightly chosen one to perform divine services and instruct people in faith and good deeds.

Persons celebrating in the Orthodox Church are: bishops, or bishops, priests, or priests, and deacons.

Bishops are the successors of the holy apostles; they ordain priests and deacons by the laying on of hands. Only that bishopric and priesthood has the grace and authority of the apostles, which, without the slightest interruption, originates from the apostles themselves. And that bishopric, which had a break in the succession, a gap, as it were, a void, is false, unauthorized, without grace. And such is the pseudo-hierarchy among those who are called Old Believers.

The deacon does not perform the sacraments, but helps the priest in worship; the priest performs the sacraments (except for the sacrament of the priesthood) with the blessing of the bishop. The bishop not only performs all the sacraments, but also appoints priests and deacons.

The elders of the bishops are called archbishops and metropolitans; but the grace that they have, according to the abundance of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, is the same as that of bishops. The elders of the bishops are the first among equals. The same concept of dignity applies to priests, some of whom are called archpriests, that is, the first priests. Archdeacons and protodeacons, found in certain monasteries and cathedrals, have the advantage of seniority between their equal deacons.

In monasteries, monastic priests are called archimandrites, abbots. But neither the archimandrite nor the hegumen have the grace of a bishop; they are senior among the hieromonks, and they are entrusted by the bishop with the management of the monasteries.

Among other sacred rites of bishops and priests, it is important for every Orthodox Christian to hand blessing. In this case, the bishop and the priest fold their blessing hand so that the fingers depict the initial letters of the name of Jesus Christ: Ič. 35;c. This shows that our shepherds give blessings in the name of Jesus Christ Himself. God's blessing descends on the one who reverently accepts the blessing of a bishop or priest. Since ancient times, the people irresistibly strove for the sacred persons in order to be overshadowed by the sign of the cross from their hands. Kings and princes, says St. Ambrose of Milan, bowed their necks (necks) before the priests and kissed their hands, hoping to protect themselves with their prayers (On the worthiness of the Priesthood, ch. 2)

Sacred garments of a deacon: a) surplice, b) orarion worn on the left shoulder, and c) handrails, or oversleeves. Orarem deacon excites people to prayer.

Sacred robes of a priest: underdress, stole(in Russian, a collar) and phelonion. Epitrachelion for the priest is a sign of the grace he received from the Lord. Without an stole, not a single service is performed by a priest. The phelonion, or chasuble, is worn over all garments. Distinguished priests receive a bishop's blessing to consume during divine services gaiter hanging on a tape from the right side, under the phelonion. As a distinction, the priests wear the award on their heads skufii, kamilavki. Unlike deacons, priests use pectoral crosses over their own clothes and church vestments, which were installed by Sovereign Emperor Nikolai Alexandrovich in 1896.

Sacred vestments of a bishop, or bishop: sakkos similar to the deacon's surplice, and omophorion. Sakkos is the ancient clothing of kings. Bishops began to wear sakkos after the 4th century AD. Chr. The ancient Greek kings adopted these clothes to the archpastors out of respect for them. That is why all the saints who lived before the 4th century are depicted on icons in phelonions, which they had decorated with many crosses. The omophorion is worn by bishops on the shoulders, over the sakkos. The omophorion is similar to the deacon's orarion, only wider than it, and means that Christ, having sacrificed himself on the cross, provided people to God the Father pure and holy.

In addition to the clothes we have indicated, the bishop during the service wears mace, which is visible on the icons of saints from the right side in the form of a scarf, with a cross in the middle. The club is a spiritual sword, it depicts the power and duty of the bishop to act on people by the word of God, which is called in St. writing with the sword of the Spirit. The club is given to archimandrites, abbots and some honored archpriests as a reward.

During the service, the bishop wears a miter on his head, which is also assigned to archimandrites and some honored archpriests. Interpreters church service assign to the miter a reminder of the crown of thorns placed on the Savior during His suffering.

On the chest, over the cassock, the bishop wears panagia, i.e., an oval image of the Mother of God, and a cross on a chain. This is a sign of episcopal dignity.

In hierarchical service, it is used mantle, a long garment worn by a bishop over a cassock as a sign of his monasticism.

Bishop's services include: wand(cane), as a sign of pastoral authority, dikyrium and trikirium, or a two-candlestick and a three-candlestick; The hierarch overshadows the people with dikirion and trikirion, expressing the sacrament of the Holy Trinity in one God and two natures in Jesus Christ, the source of spiritual light. Ripids are used in the hierarchal service in the form of metal cherubs in circles on the handles in the image of concelebration with the people of the cherubs. Round carpets, named after the eagles embroidered on them eagles, depict in the bishop the power of the bishopric over the city and a sign of his pure and right teaching about God.

In the sacrament of marriage, the bride and groom, in the likeness of the spiritual union of Christ with the Church (the society of those who believe in Him), are blessed by the priest for mutual coexistence, the birth and upbringing of children.

This sacrament is performed without fail in the temple of God. At the same time, the newlyweds are three times betrothed to each other with rings and circled around the holy cross and the Gospel (placed on the analogy), as a sign of mutual, everlasting and inextricable love for each other.

Crowns are placed on the bride and groom both as a reward for their honest life before marriage, and as a sign that through marriage they become the ancestors of new offspring, according to ancient name, princes of the next generation.

A common bowl of red grape wine is served to the newlyweds as a sign that from the day of the blessing of their St. By the Church they should have a common life, the same desires, joys and sorrows.

Marriage should be entered into as much by mutual consent of the bride and groom, as much with the blessing of the parents, as the blessing of the father and mother, according to the teaching of the word of God, approves the foundation of houses.

This sacrament is not obligatory for all; it is much more salvific, according to the teaching of the word of God, to lead a celibate life, but a pure, undefiled life, following the example of John the Baptist, the Blessed Virgin Mary and other holy virgins. Whoever cannot lead such a life, God has established a blessed marriage for him.

The divorce of husband and wife is condemned by the teachings of the Savior.

Christ the Savior, the doctor of our souls, did not leave without His grace-filled care even those who were afflicted with serious bodily illnesses.

His holy apostles taught their successors - bishops and presbyters - to pray over sick Christians, anointing them with consecrated wood oil, combined with red grape wine.

The sacrament performed in this case is called unction; it's called unction, because seven priests usually gather to perform it in order to strengthen the prayer for the granting of health to the sick. Out of need, the sick and one priest consecrates the sick. At the same time, there are seven readings from the Apostolic Epistles and the Holy Gospel, which remind the sick person of the mercy of the Lord God and His power to grant health and forgiveness of voluntary and involuntary sins.

Prayers read during the sevenfold anointing with oil instill in a person the strength of the spirit, courage against death and the firm hope of eternal salvation. The very grains of wheat, usually delivered at the consecration of the oil, inspire the patient with hope in God, who has the power and means to bestow health, just as He, by His omnipotence, is able to give life to a dry, apparently lifeless grain of wheat.

This sacrament can be repeated many times, but many modern Christians have an opinion that the anointing of the unction is a parting word to the future afterlife, and that after this sacrament one cannot even get married, and therefore rarely anyone uses this holy, multi-useful sacrament. This is extremely misconception. Our ancestors knew the power of this sacrament, and therefore resorted to it often, with every difficult illness. If, after the unction, not all the sick recover, then this happens either due to the lack of faith of the sick person, or by the will of God, since even during the life of the Savior, not all the sick were healed, not all the dead were resurrected. Whoever among special Christians dies, according to the teachings of the Orthodox Church, receives forgiveness for those sins for which the patient did not repent at confession to the priest due to forgetfulness and weakness of the body.

We should be thankful to the all-good and all-generous God, Who deigned to arrange in His Church so many life-giving springs pouring out abundantly His saving grace upon us. Let us resort as often as possible to the saving sacraments, which communicate to us the various Divine help we need. Without seven sacraments committed over us in the Orthodox Church by the legitimate successors of St. apostles - bishops and presbyters, salvation is impossible, we cannot be children of God and heirs of the kingdom of heaven.

The Holy Orthodox Church, which cares for its living members, does not leave our departed fathers and brothers without its care. According to the teaching of the word of God, we believe that the souls of the dead will again unite with their bodies, which will be spiritual and immortal. Therefore, the bodies of the dead are under special protection of the Orthodox Church. The deceased is covered cover in the meaning of the fact that he, as a Christian, and in the afterlife is under the overshadowing of St. angels and the cover of Christ. On his forehead rests crown with the image of the Savior, the Mother of God and John the Baptist and the signature: holy God, holy Mighty, holy Immortal, have mercy on us. This shows that he who has finished his earthly career hopes to receive crown of truth by the mercy of the Triune God and by the intercession of the Mother of God and St. John the Baptist. A permissive prayer is put into the hand of the deceased in commemoration of the forgiveness of all his sins. Saint Alexander Nevsky, at his burial, accepted the permissive prayer, as if alive, unbending his right hand, which showed that such a prayer is also needed by righteous people. The deceased is covered earth. By this action of the clergyman, we betray ourselves and our deceased brother into the hands of the providence of God, who pronounced the final sentence on the sinning forefather of all mankind, Adam: Thou art the earth, and into the earth thou shalt depart(Gen. 3:19).

The state of the souls of people who died before the general resurrection, not the same: the souls of the righteous are in union with Christ and in the forerunner of that blessedness, which they will fully receive after the universal judgment, and the souls of unrepentant sinners are in a painful state.

The souls of those who died in the faith, but who did not bear fruits worthy of repentance, can be helped by prayers, alms, and especially the offering for them of the bloodless sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself said: whatever you ask in prayer with faith, you will receive(Matthew 21:22). St. Chrysostom writes: he almost died in alms and good deeds, for alms serve to deliverance from eternal torment (42 devils in the Gospel of John).

A memorial service and litia are held for the dead, in which we pray for the forgiveness of their sins.

The Holy Church decided to commemorate the deceased on the third, ninth and fortieth day after his death.

On the third day, we pray that Christ, who rose on the third day after His burial, would raise our dead neighbor to a blessed life.

On the ninth day, we pray to God that, through the prayers and intercession of the nine orders of angels (Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominions, Powers, Authorities, Principles, Archangels and Angels), forgive the sins of the deceased and canonize him as a saint.

On the fortieth day, a prayer is made for the deceased, so that the Lord, who suffered temptation from the devil on the fortieth day of His fast, would help the deceased shamelessly endure the test at the private judgment of God, and that He, on the fortieth day, ascended to heaven, would lift up the deceased into heavenly abodes!

St. Macarius of Alexandria also provides another explanation of why these days are appointed by the Church for a special commemoration of the dead. Within 40 days after death, he says, the soul of a person goes through ordeals, and on the third, ninth and fortieth days it is ascended by angels to worship the Heavenly Judge, Who on the 40th day appoints her a certain degree of bliss or torment until the universal final judgment; therefore, the commemoration of the deceased these days is especially important for him. Word of St. Macarius was published in the "Christian Reading" of 1830 for the month of August.

To commemorate the dead, everyone in general, the Orthodox Church has established special times - Saturdays, known as the parent. There are three Saturdays: Myasopustnaya on the meat-fat, otherwise motley week before Great Lent; since on Sunday after this Saturday the terrible judgment is remembered, then on this Saturday, as if before the most terrible judgment, the church prays before the Judge - God for mercy on her dead children. Troitskaya- before the Trinity day; after the triumph of the Savior's victory over sin and death, it is proper to pray for those who have fallen asleep in faith in Christ, but in sins, so that the dead may be honored with the resurrection for blessedness with Christ in heaven. Dmitrovskaya- before St. Great Martyr Demetrius of Selun, that is, before October 26. The Moscow prince Dimitry Donskoy, having defeated the Tatars, this Saturday made a commemoration of the soldiers who fell in battle; since that time, a commemoration has been instituted on this Sabbath. In addition to these Saturdays, we also have commemorations: Saturdays of the second, third and fourth weeks of Lent. The reason for this is as follows: since at ordinary times the commemoration of the dead is performed daily, but this does not happen during Great Lent, because the full Liturgy, with the celebration of which it is always connected, does not occur daily during Great Lent, St. The Church, in order not to deprive the dead of her saving intercession, has established, instead of daily commemorations, to perform three general commemorations on the indicated Saturdays, and it is on these Saturdays because the other Saturdays are dedicated to special celebrations: the Saturday of the first week - to Theodore Tyron, the fifth - to the Mother of God, and the sixth to the resurrection of the righteous Lazarus.

On Monday or Tuesday of St. Thomas' week (2 weeks after Light Christ's Resurrection) the dead are commemorated with that pious intention to share the great joy of the Bright Resurrection of Christ and with the dead in the hope of their blessed resurrection, the joy of which the Savior Himself proclaimed to the dead when he descended into hell to preach victory over death and brought out the souls of the Old Testament righteous. From this joy - the name Radonitsa that give this time of remembrance. On August 29, on the day of commemoration of the beheading of John the Baptist, soldiers are commemorated as those who laid down their lives for the faith and fatherland, like John the Baptist - for the truth.

It should be noted that the Orthodox Church does not offer prayers for unrepentant sinners and suicides, because, being in a state of despair, stubbornness and bitterness in evil, they turn out to be guilty of sins against the Holy Spirit, which, according to the teachings of Christ, will not be forgiven. neither in this age nor in the future(Matt. 12:31-32).

Not only the temple of God can be a place for our prayer, and not only through the mediation of a priest can the blessing of God be brought down on our deeds; every house, every family can still become house church when the head of the family, by his example, leads his children and household members in prayer, when family members, all together, or each separately, offer their prayers of supplication and thanksgiving to the Lord God.

Not content with the common prayers offered for us in churches, and knowing that we will not all hurry there, the Church offers each of us, like a mother to a baby, special prepared food. home, - offers prayers intended for our home use.

Prayers recited daily:

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Prayer of the publican mentioned in the gospel parable of the Savior:

God, have mercy on me a sinner.

Prayer to the Son of God, the second person of the Holy Trinity.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, prayers for the sake of Your Most Pure Mother and all the saints, have mercy on us. Amen.

Prayer to the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Holy Trinity:

Glory to Thee, our God, glory to Thee.

Heavenly King, Comforter, Soul of Truth, who is everywhere and fills everything, the treasure of the good, and the giver of life, come and dwell in us, and cleanse us from all filth, and save, blessed, our souls.

Three prayers to the Holy Trinity:

1. Trisagion. Holy God, holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us(thrice).

2. Doxology. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and forever and forever and ever. Amen.

3. Prayer. Holy Trinity, have mercy on us; Lord, cleanse our sins; Lord, forgive our iniquities; Holy One, visit and heal our infirmities, for Your name's sake.

Lord have mercy(thrice).

The prayer called Lord's because the Lord Himself spoke it for our use.

Our Father, Who art in heaven; Hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, as in heaven and on earth. Give us our daily bread today, and forgive us our debts, just as we forgive our debtors: and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

When you wake up from sleep in the morning, think that God is giving you a day that you yourself could not give yourself, and separate the first hour, or at least the first quarter of the hour that is given to you of the day, and offer it as a sacrifice to God in a thankful and pleading prayer. The more diligently you do this, the stronger you will protect yourself from the temptations that you meet every day (the words of Filaret, Metropolitan of Moscow).

Prayer read in the morning after sleep.

To you, Lord, loving man, having risen from sleep, I run, and I strive for Your works by Your mercy, and I pray to You: help me at all times in every thing, and deliver me from every evil worldly thing and the devil's haste, and save me, and enter into your eternal kingdom. Thou art my Creator, and for all good, a maker and giver, all my hope is in Thee, and to Thee I send up glory now and ever and forever and ever. Amen.

Prayer to the Mother of God.

1. Angelic greeting . Theotokos, Virgin, rejoice, blessed Mary, the Lord is with you: blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, as if you gave birth to our souls as the Savior.

2. Magnification of the Mother of God. It is worthy to eat as truly blessed Thee, the Blessed and Immaculate Mother of God and the Mother of our God. The most honest cherubim, and the most glorious seraphim without comparison, who, without the corruption of God's word, gave birth to the real Mother of God, we magnify Thee.

In addition to the Mother of God, the intercessor of Christians before the Lord, each has two intercessors for us before God, prayer books and guardians of our life. This is, firstly, angel ours from the realm of incorporeal spirits, to whom the Lord entrusts us from the day of our baptism, and, secondly, the saint of God from the holy men of God, also called an angel whose name we bear from the day we were born. It is a sin to forget your heavenly benefactors and not offer up prayers to them.

Prayer to an angel, the incorporeal guardian of human life.

Angel of God, my holy guardian, given to me by God from heaven! I diligently pray to you: enlighten me today, and save me from all evil, guide me to a good deed and direct me to the path of salvation. Amen.

Prayer to the holy saint of God, whose name we are called from birth.

Pray to God for me, holy servant of God(say name) or holy saint of God(say the name) as if I diligently resort to you, first aid and a prayer book for my soul, or ambulance and prayer book for my soul.

Sovereign Emperor is the father of our fatherland; His ministry is the most difficult of all the ministries that people go through, and therefore the duty of every loyal subject is to pray for his Sovereign and for the fatherland, that is, the Country in which our fathers were born and lived. The Apostle Paul says in his epistle to Bishop Timothy, ch. 2, Art. 1, 2, 3: I beg you, first of all, to make prayers, supplications, petitions, thanksgiving for all people, for the Tsar and for everyone, those who are in power ... This is good and pleasant before our Savior God.

Prayer for the Sovereign and the Fatherland.

Save, O Lord, your people, and bless your property: granting victory to our Blessed EMPEROR NIKOLAI ALEXANDROVICH against the opposition, and keeping your life with your cross.

Prayer for relatives of the living.

Save, Lord, and have mercy(therefore, briefly bring a prayer for the health and salvation of the entire Royal House, the priesthood, your spiritual father, your parents, relatives, bosses, benefactors, all Christians and all servants of God, and then add): And I remember, visit, strengthen, console, and with your strength give them health and salvation, as if they are good and philanthropist. Amen.

Prayer for the dead.

Remember, Lord, the souls of your departed servants(their names), and all my relatives, and all my departed brethren, and forgive them all sins, free and involuntary, granting them the kingdom of heaven and the communion of your eternal good and your endless and blissful life enjoyment, and make them eternal memory.

Brief prayer, pronounced before the honest and life-giving cross Lord's:

Protect me, Lord, with the power of your honest and life-giving cross, and save me from all evil.

Here are the prayers that every Orthodox Christian needs to know. It will take a little time to slowly read them, standing before the holy icon: May God's blessing on all our good deeds be a reward for diligence towards God and our piety ...

In the evening, when you go to sleep, think that God gives you rest from your labors, and take the firstfruits from your time and rest and dedicate it to God with pure and humble prayer. Its fragrance will bring an angel closer to you to guard your peace. (Words by Philar. Metropolitan of Moscow.).

During the evening prayer, the same thing is read, only instead of the morning prayer, St. The Church offers us the following prayers:

Lord, our God, if I have sinned in these days, in word, deed, and thought, as good and philanthropist, forgive me; peaceful sleep and serene grant me; send your guardian angel, covering and keeping me from all evil; as you are the guardian of our souls and our bodies, and we send glory to you to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever, and forever and ever Amen.

Prayer before eating.

The eyes of all trust in You, Lord, and You give them writing in good time, You open Your generous hand, and fulfill every animal goodwill.

Prayer after eating.

We thank Thee, O Christ our God, for Thou hast satisfied us with Thy earthly blessings: do not deprive us of Thy heavenly kingdom.

Prayer before teaching.

All-good Lord, send us the grace of Your Holy Spirit, bestowing and strengthening our spiritual strength, so that, listening to the teachings taught to us, we grow up to You, our Creator, to the glory, our parent for consolation, the Church and the fatherland for the benefit.

After teaching.

We thank Thee, the Creator, as if Thou hast vouchsafed us Thy grace, in a hedgehog heed to teaching. Bless our bosses, parents and teachers who lead us to the knowledge of the good, and give us strength and strength to continue this teaching.

Students of the sciences and arts should turn to the Lord with special zeal, for He gives wisdom, and from His presence knowledge and understanding(Prov. 2, 6). Most of all, they should preserve the purity and integrity of the heart, so that, without being eclipsed, the light of God enters into the soul: As if wisdom does not enter into an evil soul, below it dwells in a body guilty of sin(Prem. 1, 4). Blessed are the pure in heart: like not only the wisdom of God, but God Himself will be seen(Matthew 5:8).

And now everything is in order. Church services or public worship - this is the main purpose of all churches. Evening, morning and afternoon services are held daily, and each of them consists of three types of services. Thus, it turns out that 9 services are held per day, which are repeated every day, therefore such daily services are called the daily circle.

There is also a seven-day circle of worship - a sequence of services that repeat within 1 week (1 week). There are services that are held once a year, they are called annual. The church bell calls all believers to the temple for prayer, but it is better to come to church in advance in order to have time to venerate the icons before the start of the service, order a commemoration, and light candles.

Women should wear a dress or skirt to the temple, they must come with a covered head, it is also advisable not to use cosmetics. Men, on the contrary, must bare their heads when entering the temple. If you have a desire to take part in the service, it is better to find out in advance how the service is going on in the church.

Entering the temple, you should cross yourself 3 times and bow. As soon as the service begins, you should stand in one place. The service itself is prayers and church hymns performed by a clergyman, who is often assisted by a church choir. From these hymns, Christians learn about the life of Christ and his disciples; in prayers, believers thank the Lord.

During the service, you can’t walk around the temple, you can’t talk, you must stand and listen carefully to everything that the clergyman says. Only seriously ill people are allowed to sit, while the rest can only sit down while reading some prayers. If you are late for the start of the service, then you should enter the temple and join the worshipers.

But the Orthodox celebrate the most important parts of the service, such as the Six Psalms, the Gospel, during which entry is prohibited: you should stay at the door, waiting for the end of these prayers. Leaving the temple during the service is a great sin. If you see someone you know while there is a service in the church, you are only supposed to nod your head to him, it is forbidden to shake hands in the temple.

The duration of divine services is not limited by any canons, the service can last from 1.5 to 3 hours. Orthodox Church attaches great importance to any prayer, but it is believed that it is the conciliar prayer of the assembled believers that has the greatest power. In addition to the daily, seven-day and yearly cycle of services, services are also held in the church, called trebs, which means according to the needs of Christians. These include baptism, prayer services, weddings, funeral services, memorial services, etc.