Temple consecrated. Temple consecration
Order for the founding of the church
The foundation and construction of a temple can only be carried out by the ruling bishop of the church region or a priest sent from him. He who is guilty of building a church without the blessing of the bishop is subject to a certain punishment as despising the episcopal authority.
After the laying of the foundation for the temple, the “Order for the foundation of the temple” is performed - all together they are called church bookmark. On the site of the future Throne, at the direction of the Trebnik, a wooden cross prepared in advance is placed.
The foundation of the church (if it is stone) is arranged as follows.
1 . Ditches are being dug around the perimeter of the future temple.
2 . Building materials are being prepared: stones, lime, cement and others necessary for laying.
3 . A special stone is prepared, having a quadrangular shape. A cross is carved or depicted on it.
4 . Under the cross (at the request of the bishop) there may be a place for the investment of holy relics, and in this case a mortgage inscription is made: “In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, this church was founded in honor and memory (the name of the holiday or the name of the temple saint is indicated), under the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia (his name), under the holiness of the Most Reverend (name of the bishop and his city), and laid the essence of the relics of the saint (his name).
In the summer from the creation of the world (such and such) from the Nativity, according to the flesh of God the Word (year, month and day).
The foundation of the temple can be completed without the position of the relics of the saint and the mortgage inscription. If the church is wooden, then two pits are dug instead of ditches: for laying a quadrangular stone under the future altar apse and for installing a cross on the site of the Altar. The logs for the foundation must also be prepared.
The rite for the foundation of the temple can be performed in two ways.
1 . Abbreviated rank according to the Big Trebnik.
2 . The rank according to the Additional Treasury.
Before performing the rite according to the Additional Ritual Book, the bishop or priest, if he performs the rite, puts on all the sacred clothes of his dignity. The procession begins when the bishop (or priest) goes to the place of laying the temple, accompanied by the entire clergy. The bishop (or priest) is preceded by two deacons with censers, priests with crosses, the choir sings litian stichera for the feast or saint in whose honor the temple will be laid. At the site of the bookmark, a table with the Gospel and a cross is placed in advance.
Following the rank to the foundation of the temple
Incense cross and gospel.
Deacon:"Bless, Master."
Choir:"King of Heaven..."
Incense ditches, clergy, people and again the Gospel.
Reader:"the usual beginning", "Come, let's bow ..." (thrice) Psalm 142: “Lord, hear my prayer…”, “Glory, and now”, “Alleluia” (thrice).
Deacon:“Let us pray to the Lord in peace” with special petitions adapted to the subject of prayer.
Choir:“God is the Lord…” and troparia.
Reader: Psalm 50 - "Have mercy on me, God ...".
consecration water and oil.
sprinkling holy water of the place where the cross will be erected, with a prayer: “Bless, Lord Jesus, our God, with a terrible sign and the power of Your Cross ...”.
Hoisting the Cross with the singing of the troparion of the 2nd tone: “The Cross, having been planted on the earth, fell down and by no means needed the reeling of enemies ...”.
Prayer in front of the erected cross: “Lord God, the Almighty, foreshadowing the Honest and Life-Giving Cross with the rod of Moses ...”.
Choir: Psalm 83 - “If Thy village is beloved, Lord ...”, “Glory, and now” and “Alleluia” (thrice).
Deacon:"Let's pray to the Lord."
Choir:"Lord have mercy".
Bishop reads a prayer over a stone.
stone sprinkling consecrated water with the words: "This stone is blessed by sprinkling the holy water sowing into the unshakable foundation of the temple ...".
Consecration of relics into the foundation stone.
laying down bishop stone in the ditch with the words: “This church is founded in the glory of the Great God and our Savior Jesus Christ, in honor and memory (the name of His feast, or the Mother of God, or a temple saint), in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen".
Pouring oil on a stone.
Choir: stichera of the 6th tone - "Jacob got up in the morning, and a stone was taken ...".
If the foundation of a wooden church is consecrated, the bishop, taking an ax, beats it three times on the middle altar log with the words: “This work begins in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, in honor and memory (name of holiday or saint). Amen".
Sprinkling the foundation of the temple on four sides, starting from the north, against the sun with the singing of psalms: the 86th, 126th, 121st and 131st, with the reading of a special prayer and the repetition on each side of three blows with an ax on the middle log with the above words.
Singing in front of the erected cross, facing the east, prayers of invoking the Holy Spirit "King of Heaven ...".
Deacon:"Let's pray to the Lord."
Choir:"Lord have mercy".
Bishop - prayers: “O Lord our God, who has been healed in this place ...” and kneeling: “We praise Thee, Lord God of Powers ...”.
Deacon - litany: "Have mercy on us, O God, according to Thy great mercy...".
Bishop's voice:"Hear us, God..."
Consecration of a Newly Built or Rebuilt Church
Upon completion of construction new church or a major overhaul of the one that existed before, it is necessary to consecrate it. The consecration of the temple is of two types.
1. Complete (great), set out in the Ribbon under the title "The rite of consecration of the temple, from the bishop of the worker."
2. Incomplete (small), consisting only in the consecration and sprinkling of holy water of the temple and church buildings.
Complete consecration takes place if
1) the temple is newly built or overhauled;
2) the premises of the church were defiled by using them for non-liturgical purposes;
3) the church premises were used by non-Orthodox communities;
4) the Throne was moved or damaged in the temple.
The right to consecrate churches belongs only to the bishop. According to the rules Universal Church if the temple is not consecrated by a bishop, services in it are equated with schism and those responsible for this are subject to prohibition.
If, for one reason or another, the bishop is unable to consecrate the temple on his own, then he consecrates one antimension, on which he makes an inscription, for which temple it is intended, and sends it there by courier. Having accepted the antimension and the indication to whom the consecration should be performed, the temple begins to prepare for it. Usually, in this case, the temple is consecrated by the local dean, but the bishop may instruct some other priest to do this. Full consecration of the church can't be done all the time church year. It is forbidden to carry out his on the following days:
1) when the memory of a holy or sacred event is celebrated, in the name or honor of which the temple was built;
2) on the days of the Lord's, the Theotokos feasts, as well as on the days of memory of the great saints, who are supposed to perform a polyeleos service according to the Charter;
3) churches in the name of the Resurrection of Christ should be consecrated only in Sundays but not on Sundays of Great Lent, Easter, Pentecost; not on Sundays dedicated to the memory of the “holy forefathers” and “holy fathers”, and also not on those Sundays when the Mother of God feasts are celebrated.
incomplete consecration takes place if
1) the restructuring carried out in the altar did without the movement of the Throne;
2) the church was defiled by some kind of uncleanness that violates its shrine;
3) a person died in the temple;
4) the temple was stained with human blood.
Great consecration of the temple by the bishop
The newly built temple is an "ordinary" building until the moment when the rite of consecration is performed over it. After the perfect service, the temple acquires new qualities, becomes the receptacle of the greatest shrine.
The following is being prepared for the consecration of the temple.
1 . The altar is on four pillars, about 100 cm high. If the church is consecrated by a bishop, then in the center of the space under the altar there should be a fifth pillar 35 centimeters high with a box for relics. The width of the Altar should be proportionate to the area of the altar.
2 . At the top of the throne pillars, recesses (“receptacles”) are cut out 1 cm deep for wax-mast, and below, 10 centimeters from the floor, cuts are made to fix the cord (rope). The same cuts are made around the throne board.
3 . Holes of such dimensions are drilled at the four corners of the throne board and in the corresponding places of each pillar so that the nail connecting them completely enters them without protruding above the surface.
4 . Four nails for the Throne and a few, if desired, for the altar.
5 . Four smooth stones for driving nails.
Reading the 22nd Psalm.
Repeated exclamation of the bishop: "Blessed is our ...".
Sprinkling holy water on nails and stones.
Installation ("affirmation") of the Throne - nailing the top board to the pillars.
Protodeacon: "Packs and packs, on your knees ...".
The rite of the great blessing of water
Great blessing of water should be done
1) at the end of the Liturgy, after the ambo prayer at the very day of the Epiphany or in holiday eve, when it happens in any other than Saturday and Sunday day of the week;
2) at the end of Vespers, after the litany “Let us fulfill our evening prayer…” on the eve of the Epiphany, if it is on Saturday or Sunday.
On the very day of the Epiphany (January 6), the consecration of water is performed with procession, called the "move to the Jordan."
Following the Great Blessing of the Waters
At the beginning of the ceremony priest or bishop in full dress thrice incenses an honest cross on the one hand, in front, and the clergy leave the altar through the Royal Doors. primate, preceded by two priest-bearers and deacons with censers, bears a cross on his head, and also one of the clergy carries the Holy Gospel. Going to large vessels filled with water beforehand, the primate removes the cross from his head, overshadows the worshipers with it on four sides and puts it on the laid table. Everyone lights candles rector, preceded by a deacon with a candle, thrice incense the table, icons, clergy and worshipers.
The choir sings the troparia:
“The voice of the Lord is crying out on the waters, saying: Come, receive all the Spirit of wisdom, the Spirit of understanding, the Spirit of the fear of God, who has appeared Christ.” (thrice);
“Today the waters are sanctified by nature…” (twice);
“Like a man came to the river…” (twice);
"Glory, even now" - "To the voice of one crying in the wilderness ...".
Then three parimia are read from the book of the prophet Isaiah (35; 1–10, 55; 1–13, 12; 3–6), in which the Old Testament prophet predicts the Baptism of the Lord from John.
Then read the letter of the apostle Paul(), which speaks of the mysterious type of the baptism of the Jews and the spiritual food in the wilderness.
The gospel is read from Mark (1; 9-12), which tells about the Baptism of the Lord "in the streams of the Jordan."
Then follows great litany:“Let us pray to the Lord in peace ...” with special petitions for the blessing of water, after which the priest reads two prayers(secret and vowel), and the deacon censes water. Further the priest blesses the water three times with his hand, saying: “You yourself, philanthropy, King, come now also by the influx of your Holy Spirit, and sanctify this water” and immerses the cross three times in water holding it straight with both hands and making cross movements.
Great water blessing in the temple
choir at that time sings the troparion of the feast of the Epiphany:“In the Jordan, to you who are baptized, O Lord, Trinity worship has appeared: the voice of your parents testifies to you, calling your beloved Son, and the Spirit, in the form of a dove, knows your word affirmation: appear, Christ God, and enlighten the world, glory to you.”
Having made the consecration of water, the priest sprinkles with a cross on four sides.
Then while singing verse“Let us sing, believers, that the majesty of God’s good deeds is about us ...” the priest sprinkles the whole temple.
Singing:"May the Name of the Lord be blessed from now until forever" (thrice) and the priest makes a dismissal:“Whoever was baptized in the Jordan by John…”
Prayers approach the priest to kiss the cross, a he sprinkles them consecrated water.
Small consecration
If the Great Blessing of Water takes place only twice a year, the Small Blessing of Water can take place almost all year round and in different places: in the temple, in the homes of Christians, or in the open air, when it is provided for by the rules.
The Church has established the days on which it is necessary to perform a small blessing of water.
1. On rivers, springs and other bodies of water August 1st on the feast of the Origin (Application) of honest trees Life-Giving Cross Lord's and Friday in Easter week.
2. in temples- on Wednesday of the fourth week after Easter - on the day of Midsummer, and also in temple holidays. In some churches, a small consecration of water is performed according to tradition in Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. In addition, parishioners who need it are periodically ordered to perform a prayer service for the blessing of water in the temple.
3. Outdoors or in Christian homes a small blessing of water is performed when laying the foundation or consecrating a new home.
The preparation for the ritual is
1) in the temple- a set table is set up, on which a holy bowl filled with water is placed, and the cross and the Gospel are placed. Candles are lit in front of the bowl;
2) outdoor- the table is placed in the place where the prayer service will be performed, and the priest begins the procession to the place of consecration, taking the cross on his head out of the altar.
The succession of a small blessing of water
Small water blessing begins the exclamation of the priest"Blessed be our God, always, now and forever, and forever and ever," after which Psalm 142 is read:"Lord, hear my prayer..."
Then sing:“God is the Lord ...” with troparia: “To the Mother of God is now diligently a parson ...” (twice) and "We will never be silent, Mother of God ...". While singing the troparion The priest cruciformly censes water.
Psalm 50 is read:"Have mercy on me, God..." The succession of a small blessing of water does not contain a canon, therefore, here troparia are sung:“Have you already rejoiced as an angel…” (twice) and the subsequent troparion ranks.
The deacon says:"Let's pray to the Lord" the priest says:"Thou art holy, our God..."
During the subsequent singing of the troparia "Now the time has come to sanctify all ..." and others a deacon censes a temple or a house, in which the blessing of water takes place.
At the end of the troparion Prokimen is pronounced, Apostle is read(), after him - Alliluary and Gospel:
There is a pool in Jerusalem at the Sheep Gate, called in Hebrew Bethesda, in which there were five covered passages. In them lay a great multitude of the sick, the blind, the lame, the withered, waiting for the movement of the water, for the Angel of the Lord at times went down into the pool and disturbed the water; and whoever first entered it after the disturbance of the water, he recovered, no matter what disease he was possessed().
After the gospel reading the Great Litany is pronounced, - supplemented by petitions for the blessing of water, during which they make water incense.
Then the priest reads a prayer to the consecration of water: "God, our God, Great in council ...", and then secret prayer -"Incline, O Lord, Thy ear..."
In practice, almost always Another prayer is recited:
“God the great-named, work miracles, they are innumerable! Come now to Thy servants who pray to Thee, Master, and eat of Thy Holy Spirit and sanctify this water: and give to those who drink from it and receive and sprinkle it with Thy servant, change of passion, forgiveness of sins, healing by illness, and liberation from all evil, and affirmation of and the sanctification of the house and the cleansing of all filth, and the slander of the devil, driving away: as if blessed and glorified, Thy most honorable and magnificent Name, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and forever and ever. Amen".
Then the priest takes the cross Crucifix to itself and its lower part makes a cross motion on the surface of the water, after which the entire the cross is immersed in water. In this moment troparia are sung:"Save, O Lord, Thy people..." (thrice) and "Your gifts ...".
After the consecration of water the priest kisses the cross and sprinkles all those present and the whole temple, while singing troparia:“Source of healing…” and “Look at the prayer of your servant…”.
The rite ends abbreviated special litany:“Have mercy on us, God ...”, consisting of only two petitions, after the first of which “Lord, have mercy” is sung three times, and after the second - 40 times.
Then a prayer is read“Vladyko, Many-merciful…”, which is part of the rite of lithium laid down at the all-night vigil.
A dismissal is taken, the worshipers venerate the cross, and the priest sprinkles each suitable one.
Service of prayers
prayer service(prayer singing) is a special divine service in which they ask the Lord or His Most Pure Mother, Heavenly forces or the saints of God for grace-filled help in various needs, and also thank God for receiving blessings, expected or not.
The service of the prayer service in its structure approaches matins. In addition to the temple, prayers may be performed in private homes, institutions, on the street, in the field, etc. Prayers in the temple must be performed before the Liturgy or after Matins or Vespers. As already noted, different types prayers may refer either to public(on the days of temple holidays, during natural disasters, droughts, epidemics, during the invasion of foreigners, etc.), or to private (about blessing various objects, about the sick, about travelers, etc.) to worship.
Usually, on the days of temple holidays, prayers are performed with ringing.
Prayer services differ from each other by the presence or absence of certain components in their rites:
1) prayers with the reading of the canon;
2) prayers without reading the canon;
3) prayers without reading the Gospel;
4) prayers with the reading of the Apostle and the subsequent reading of the Gospel.
canons sung in the rites of the following prayers:
2) during a destructive epidemic;
3) during rainlessness (lack of rain for a long time);
4) during a lack of water (when it rains for a long time).
No canon prayers are performed:
1) for the New Year ( New Year);
2) at the beginning of training;
3) for soldiers during military operations;
4) about the sick;
5) thanks:
a) to receive a request;
b) about every good deed of God;
c) on the day of the Nativity of Christ;
6) with blessing:
a) going on a trip;
b) going on a journey on the waters;
7) at the elevation of the panagia;
8) with the blessing of the bees.
Without reading gospels rites are performed:
1) blessings of a warship;
2) blessings of a new ship or boat;
3) for digging a well (well);
4) blessings of the new well.
The grace poured out by the Lord through prayers resounding at prayer services sanctifies and blesses:
1) elements: earth, water, air and fire;
2) spiritual and bodily health of a person;
3) housing and other places where Christians are located;
4) products, household and household items;
5) the beginning and completion of any activity (“good deed”);
6) the time of a person's life and of human history in general.
The rites of prayers are contained in the Book of Hours, the Big Trebnik and in the book "The Sequence of Prayer Singings".
The rite of the general prayer
Prayer begins the exclamation of the priest "Blessed be our God, always, now and ever and forever and ever." Begins first part of prayer – the prayer of the invocation of the Holy Spirit is sung -"King of Heaven..." and read"usual start". Readable next 142nd psalm does not sound at any prayers. The main principle of including psalms in the composition of one or another rite is that the meaning of the psalm should be correlated with the subject of the petitions contained in the prayer.
Then the deacon proclaims"God is the Lord ..." with the prescribed verses, and the choir "sings":"God the Lord and appear to us, blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord." Thereafter are sung the following troparia to the Theotokos, voice 4th:
“Now diligently to the Theotokos, sinners and humility, and we fall down, calling in repentance from the depths of our souls: Lady, help us, having mercy on us, we are perishing from many sins, do not turn away Your servants of vanity, You and the only hope of the imamy” (twice).
“Glory, even now” - “We will never be silent, O Theotokos, to speak unworthy of Your power: otherwise You would not be praying, who would save us from so many troubles, who would keep us free until now? We will not retreat, Mistress, from Thee: for Thy servants save forever from all cruel ones.
After the troparia read penitential 50th psalm and this concludes the first part of the prayer. second his part opens Canon of the Most Holy Theotokos the eighth tone, which should be sung without irmos, although they are printed in the aftermath of the prayer service. The refrain of the troparia of the canon is different, depending on who is ascended. So, in the canon of the Most Holy Trinity, the refrain is: “Most Holy Trinity, our God, glory to Thee”; in canon
Life-Giving Cross: "Glory, Lord, to Your Honorable Cross"; in the canon to Saint Nicholas: "To Saint Father Nicholas, pray to God for us," etc. In this canon - "Most Holy Theotokos, save us."
After the 3rd ode of the canon, the deacon proclaims a special litany:“Have mercy on us, God ...”, where he remembers those for whom the prayer service is served: “We also pray for mercy, life, peace, health, salvation, visitation, forgiveness and well-being of the servant of God ( or servants of God name). Troparion is sung: "Prayer is warm and the wall is invincible ...".
And on the 3rd and on the 6th song troparia are sung:
“Save Thy servants from troubles, the Mother of God, as if all according to Bose we resort to You, as if the wall and intercession are indestructible.”
“Look with mercy, all-singing Mother of God, on my fierce body, anger, and heal my soul, my disease.”
According to the 6th song laid small litany, ending with the same exclamation as at Matins: "For thou art the King of the world...". Then a kontakion to the Mother of God is read or sung, voice 6:
“The intercession of Christians is shameless, an immutable intercession to the Creator, do not despise the voices of sinful prayers, but precede, as if Good, to help us, who faithfully call Ty: hasten to prayer and plead for supplication, intercession ever, the Mother of God, who honor Thee.”
After the 6th song at a common prayer service the Gospel is read, preceded by a prokeimenon:“I will remember Your name in every generation and generation” and his verse - “Hear, Dshi, and see, and incline Your ear”:
And Mary arose during these days, and went with haste into the hill country, to the city of Judah, and entered the house of Zechariah, and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby jumped up in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and cried out with a loud voice, and said: Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And whence is it to me that the Mother of my Lord has come to me? For when the voice of Your salutation reached my ears, the baby jumped joyfully in my womb. And blessed is she who believed, for what was said to her from the Lord will be fulfilled. And Mary said: My soul magnifies the Lord, and My spirit rejoiced in God, My Savior, that He looked upon the humility of His Servant, for from now on all generations will please Me; that the Mighty One has done me greatness, and holy is His name; and His mercy from generation to generation to those who fear Him; showed the strength of His arm; he scattered the haughty in the thoughts of their hearts; he brought down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted the humble; He filled the hungry with good things, and let the rich go empty-handed; took Israel, his servant, remembering mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his seed forever. And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her house ().
At the end of the gospel reading sings:
"Glory" - "Through the prayers of the Mother of God, Merciful, cleanse the multitude of our sins."
"And now" - "Have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy great mercy, and according to the multitude of Thy bounties cleanse my iniquity."
Then kontakion, tone 6:"Do not entrust me to human intercession, Holy Lady but accept the prayer of your servant: sorrow will hold me, I can’t stand demonic shooting, I don’t have cover, lower where I run accursed, we always win and consolation is not imam, unless you, the Mistress of the world: the hope and intercession of the faithful, do not despise my prayer, make it useful." And litany.
Then the three remaining songs of the canon are recited, after which - "It's worth eating." The second part of the prayer ends stichera:“The highest of the heavens and the purest of the lordships of the sun ...”, etc.
In the final the third part of the prayer sounds Trisagion according to "Our Father ..." with the exclamation of the priest“For Yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and forever and ever.”
Then troparia are read which are part of evening prayers: "Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy on us ...". Further The deacon proclaims a special litany:"Have mercy on us, God..." and the priest reads a prayer to the Most Holy Theotokos: “Oh, Most Holy Lady, the Lady of the Mother of God, Thou art the highest of all Angel and Archangel and of all creatures most honest. You are the helper of the offended, the hopeless vestment, the wretched Intercessor, the sad consolation, the hungry Nurse, the naked robe, the sick healing, sinful salvation, Christians of all help and intercession.
Oh, All-Merciful Lady, Virgin Mother of God, Lady, by Thy mercy save and have mercy on Thy servants, the Great Lord and father of our Most Holy Patriarch (name), and His Grace Metropolitans, Archbishops and Bishops, and the entire priestly and monastic rank, our God-protected country, military leaders, city leaders and Christ-loving hosts and well-wishers, and all Orthodox Christians protect Your honest robe, and implore, Madam, from You without the Seed of the incarnate Christ our God, May He gird us with His strength from above against our invisible and visible enemies.
Oh, All-Merciful Lady, the Lady of the Mother of God, raise us up from the depths of sin and deliver us from gladness, destruction, from cowardice and flood, from fire and sword, from finding foreigners and internecine warfare, and from vain death, and from the attack of the enemy, and from destructive winds, and from deadly sores, and from all evil. Grant, Madam, peace and health to Your servant, all Orthodox Christians, and enlighten their minds and eyes of the heart, even to salvation, and make us, Your sinful servants, the Kingdom of Your Son, Christ our God, as His power is blessed and glorified, with His Father without beginning and with His Most Holy and Good and Life-Giving Spirit, now and forever and forever and ever. Amen". The prayer ends with a dismissal.
Consecration of the warship
The service of a common prayer service can be an example of the structure of any prayer singing. In prayers for various needs, this order of prayers changes slightly: readings of the canon and the Gospel are included or not; petitions are added to the litanies (depending on the subject of prayer); the final one changes. Thus, knowing the sequence of the common prayer service, one can navigate in the order in which any prayer chant is performed. Next, the features of some of the most frequently performed prayers will be given.
Brief charter-scheme of the general prayer service, part I
I part
"King of Heaven..."
Psalm 142: "Lord, hear my prayer...".
"God is the Lord ..." with verses.
Troparion: "To the Mother of God diligently now as a parson ...".
Psalm 50.
II part
Canon of the Most Holy Theotokos (irmos "Water passed ...").
After the 3rd song: "Save your servant from troubles, Mother of God ...".
Troparion: "The prayer is warm and the wall is invincible ...".
After the 6th song: "Save your servant from troubles, Mother of God ...".
Little litany.
The exclamation of the priest: "For thou art the King of the world...".
Kontakion: "Christian betrayal is shameless...".
Prokimen: “I will remember Your name in every kind and generation” with a verse.
Gospel of Luke (1; 39–56).
"Glory" - "Prayers of the Virgin ...".
"And now" - "Have mercy on me, God ...".
Kontakion: “Do not entrust me to human intercession…”.
Litany: "Save, O God, Thy people...".
According to the 9th song: "It is worthy to eat ...".
Stichera: “The Highest Heaven…”.
III part
Trisagion according to "Our Father ...".
The exclamation: "For yours is the Kingdom...".
Troparion: "Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy on us ...".
Eternal litany: "Have mercy on us, O God...".
Prayer to the Most Holy Theotokos.
Prayer for the New Year
The Church sanctifies everything that accompanies a Christian in his Everyday life. Some things and phenomena of everyday life are given more attention, others less, but everything that surrounds a person should be blessed by God. Prayer singing for the New Year has as its goal a petition for God's blessing for the period of a person's life, covered by the annual liturgical cycle.
Features of the ceremony for the New Year are as follows.
1 . Instead of the 142nd psalm, psalm 64 is read: “A song is fitting for you, O God, in Zion…”.
2 . The litany "Let us pray to the Lord in peace" is supplemented by special New Year's petitions:
“O hedgehog is merciful the present thanksgiving and prayer of us, His unworthy servants, to receive His most heavenly altar and have compassion on us, let us pray to the Lord”;
“For the hedgehog to be favorable to our prayers and forgive us and all His people all the sins, voluntary and involuntary, in the past summer we have committed evil, let us pray to the Lord”;
“O hedgehog bless the firstfruits and spending this year with the grace of His love for mankind, but the times are peaceful, the air is well-dissolved and sinless, in health with contentment, grant the belly, let us pray to the Lord”;
“For the hedgehog to turn away all His wrath from us, righteously on us for the sake of our driven ones, let us pray to the Lord”;
“O hedgehog drive away from us all soulful passions and corrupt customs, but plant your Divine fear in our hearts, for the fulfillment of His commandments, let us pray to the Lord”;
“To renew the right spirit in our wombs and strengthen us in the Orthodox faith and hasten to do good deeds and fulfill all His commandments, let us pray to the Lord”;
5 . The Litany “Rzem all…” is supplemented by the following New Year’s petitions:
“Thankfulness with fear and trembling, as if a servant of your indecent goodness, our Savior and Master, our Lord, about your good deeds, I have poured out abundantly on your servants, and we fall down and glorify you, as if to God, we bring and tenderly cry out: deliver the slave from all the troubles Yours and always, like the Gracious, fulfill the good desire of all of us, we diligently pray to Thee, hear and have mercy ”;
“Oh hedgehog bless the crown of the coming summer with Your goodness and quench in us all enmity, discord and internecine strife, give peace, firm and unfeigned love, a decent structure and a virtuous life, we pray Thee, All-good Lord, hear and have mercy”;
“Oh hedgehog, do not remember the innumerable iniquity and crafty deeds of our past years, and do not repay us according to our deeds, but remember us in mercy and bounty, we pray Thee, Merciful Lord, hear and have mercy”;
“O hedgehog, the rains are timely, early and late, the dew is fruitful, the winds are measured and well-dissolved, and the warmth of the sun shines, we pray Thee, the All-Merciful Lord, hear and have mercy”;
“Oh hedgehog, remember Your Holy Church and strengthen, confirm, resolve and pacify and unharmed the gates of hell and all the slanders of visible and invisible enemies to be unstoppable forever, we pray Thee, Omnipotent Vladyka, hear and have mercy”;
“Oh hedgehog get rid of us in this coming summer and all the days of our belly from gladness, destruction, coward, flood, hail, fire, sword, invasion of foreign and internecine rati and all kinds of deadly wounds, sorrow and need, we pray to You, Mercy Lord, hear and have mercy."
6 . The priest reads a prayer adapted to the subject of prayer singing:
“Vladyka O Lord our God, Source of life and immortality, of all creatures visible and invisible to the Creator, setting times and years in Your power and governing all by Your wise and all-good Providence! We give thanks for Your bounties, even if You surprised us in the past time of our belly. We pray Thee, all-merciful Lord, bless the crown of the coming summer with Thy goodness. Grant from above Thy good to all Thy people, health, salvation and good haste in everything. Save Thy Holy Church, this city and all cities and countries from every evil situation, grant peace and serenity to those. To You, the Beginningless Father, with Your Only Begotten Son, Your All-Holy and Life-Giving Spirit, in One Being glorified by God, always bring thanksgiving and praise Your Most Holy Name and make me worthy.
Prayer for the beginning of the training of the youths
There is no need to say how important the process of raising children and teaching them the basics of the Christian faith and other sciences. What is laid down in a child in childhood turns out to be the most stable "material" for the formation of a person's personality and affects the content of his future activities. The process of upbringing and education of youths, like all other aspects of a Christian's life, is sanctified by God's blessing, bestowed by Him through the prayers of the Church. In the prayer service at the beginning of training, there are the following features.
1 . Instead of the 142nd psalm, the 33rd psalm is read: "I will bless the Lord at all times ...".
2 . The litany “Let us pray to the Lord in peace” includes the following special petitions:
“For the hedgehog to send down on these youths the spirit of wisdom and understanding, and open the mind and mouth, and enlighten their hearts to accept the punishment of good teachings, let us pray to the Lord”;
“For a hedgehog to plant the beginning of wisdom in their hearts, His Divine fear, and thereby drive away youth from their hearts, and enlighten their minds, to avoid evil and do good, let us pray to the Lord”;
“For a hedgehog to open their minds, to accept and understand and remember all the good and soul-beneficial teachings, let us pray to the Lord”;
“For a hedgehog to give them the wisdom that sits on His Throne, and plant it in their hearts, as if to teach them what is pleasing before Him, let us pray to the Lord”;
“For a hedgehog to succeed them with wisdom and age to the glory of God, let us pray to the Lord”;
“On the hedgehog to be wisdom and a virtuous life, and prosperity in Orthodox faith joy and consolation of their parents, and the affirmation of the Orthodox Catholic Church, let us pray to the Lord ”;
3 . The rites do not contain a canon.
4 . Before the Gospel, the Apostle to the Ephesians, conceived 218th () is read. Then the beginning of the 44th Gospel of Mark () is read.
5 . After the Gospel - a special litany "Have mercy on us, God ...", supplemented by a special petition:
“We still pray to the Lord our God, to look graciously on these youths, and send down into their hearts, minds and mouths the spirit of wisdom, mind and piety and fear of His, and enlighten them with the light of His prudence, and give them strength and strength , in a hedgehog soon accept, and hastily get used to the Divine law of His punishment, and all good and useful teaching; hedgehog to prosper with wisdom and reason, and all good deeds to the glory of His Most Holy Name, and grant them health, and create them for a long time for the creation and glory of His Church, with the help of all: Lord, hear and have mercy.
6 . The priest reads a special prayer adapted to the subject of prayer singing:
“O Lord God and our Creator, honoring people in His image, teaching Your chosen ones, as if marveling at those who listen to Your teaching, revealing wisdom as a baby; who taught Solomon and all those who seek Your wisdom, open the hearts, minds and mouths of Your servants, in order to receive the power of Your law, and successfully learn the useful teachings taught by them, to the glory of Your Most Holy Name, for the benefit and creation of the Saints of Your Church, and understand your good and perfect will. Deliver them from every tax of the enemy, keep them in Orthodoxy and faith, and in all piety and purity all the days of their belly, may they succeed in reason and in the fulfillment of Your commandments; Yes, such preparations glorify Your Most Holy Name, and there will be heirs of Your Kingdom. As if you are God, strong in mercy, and good in strength, and all glory, honor and worship befits you, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, always, now and forever and forever and ever, amen.
Prayer for the sick
Health of body and soul is the greatest gift of God to His creation. A healthy person can direct the powers bestowed on him to various good deeds: prayer, helping the weak, beautifying churches, and other works of mercy. But it often happens that a person is overcome by various ailments that prevent him not only from doing good deeds, but also from fulfilling the necessary duties on duty and at home. According to the teachings of the Church, there is a direct dependence of a person's bodily illnesses on the sins he commits. Therefore, in order to cure any disease, it is important first of all to pay attention to the root of the disease - this or that passion, which is the cause of sin. It is necessary to treat the disease from its root - fighting passions and supplementing it with medical help.
But any spiritual work is impossible without a prayer to God for help in existing problems. Therefore, first of all, a Christian must repentantly ask the merciful God to cleanse his sins, and then to heal the ailments that are the result of these sins. Prayer singing for the sick is based precisely on such a sequence of petitions for healing. The service of this prayer service has its own characteristics.
1 . Instead of Psalm 142, Psalm 70 is read: “In Thee, Lord, I hope ...”.
2 . Then the patient, if he is able to do this (and if not, the priest), reads.
3 . After the petition “For the peace of the whole world…”, special petitions for the sick are added to the great litany:
“For this house and those who live in it, let us pray to the Lord” (if the prayer service is performed at home);
“Oh hedgehog to forgive every sin, voluntary and involuntary, of His servants (His servant, name) and be merciful to him (him), let us pray to the Lord ”;
“Oh hedgehog of mercy for the sake of His mercy, youth and ignorance of them (him) do not remember; but graciously grant them (him) health, let us pray to the Lord ”;
“Oh hedgehog, do not despise the diligent prayers of His servants (His servant), who are now praying with us (praying); but graciously hear, and benevolent, and benevolent, and be philanthropic to him (him), and give good health, let us pray to the Lord ”;
“About the hedgehog, as if sometimes relaxed, by the word of His Divine grace, soon His servants (His sick servant) who are sick will be raised from the bed of sickness, and create healthy (healthy), let us pray to the Lord”;
“Oh hedgehog to visit them (him), by visiting His Holy Spirit; and heal every ailment, and every disease nesting in them (in it), let us pray to the Lord ”;
“O hedgehog mercifully, like a Canaanite, hear the voice of prayer, us, unworthy servants of His, crying out to Him, and like that daughter, have mercy and heal His sick servants (His sick servant, name), Let's pray to the Lord";
4 . After the litanies are read troparion:“Quick in intercession, One, Christ, soon from above show a visit to Your suffering servant (Your suffering servant), and deliver from ailments and bitter illnesses, and raise up hedgehogs to Thee, and glorify unceasingly, with the prayers of the Theotokos,
One Humanity" and kontakion:“On the bed of illness lying (lying) and wounded by a mortal wound (wounded), as if sometimes you raised up, Savior, Peter's mother-in-law, and relaxed on the bed worn; and now, Mercy, visit and heal the suffering (suffering): You are the only one who bears the ailments and illnesses of our kind, and all that is mighty is much merciful.
5 . The Apostle is read from conciliar message the holy Apostle James, conceived 57th () and the Gospel of Matthew, conceived 25th ().
6 . Then a special litany for the sick is pronounced:
“To the doctor of souls and bodies, with tenderness in a contrite heart, we fall down to You, and groaning with a cry of Ty: heal the sickness, heal the passions of the souls and bodies of Your servants (the soul and body of Your servant, name), and forgive them (him), like a good-hearted, all sins, voluntary and involuntary, and soon raise up from the bed of illness, we pray Thee, hear and have mercy ”;
“Do not want the death of sinners, but if they turn and be alive, spare and have mercy on Your servants (Thy servant, name), Merciful: forbid illness, leave all passion, and all ailment, and stretch out Your strong hand, and like Jair’s daughter from the bed of illness, raise up and create healthy (healthy), we pray to You, hear and have mercy ”;
“Healing the fiery disease of Peter’s mother-in-law with Your touch, and now the suffering of Your suffering servants (the suffering of Your suffering servant, name) Heal the disease with Your mercy, health to them (him) soon giving, diligently pray to Thee, Source of healing, hear and have mercy ”;
“Tears of Hezekiah, repentance of Manasseh and the Ninevites, and the confession of David accepted, and soon had mercy on them; and ours, in tenderness, accept prayers brought to Thee, O All-good King, and as if generously have mercy on the sick servants of Yours (Your sick servant), granting them (him) health, with tears we pray to Thee, Source of life and immortality, hear and have mercy soon ";
7 . Then the Priest reads a special prayer for the sick:
“Lord of the Almighty, Holy King, punish and not kill, affirm those who fall, and raise up the overthrown, bodily people of sorrow, correct, we pray to You, our God, Your servant ( name) visiting the weak with Your mercy, forgive him any sin, voluntary and involuntary. To her, Lord, send down Your healing power from heaven, touch the body, quench the fire, tame passion and all hidden weakness; be the doctor of your servant (name), raise him up from the painful bed, and from the bed of embitterment, whole and all-perfect, grant him to Thy Church pleasing and doing Thy will. Yours is more than to have mercy and save us, our God, and we send glory to You, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and forever and ever, amen.
The rite of blessing on a journey ("prayer for travelers")
One of the most frequently performed prayer services in our churches is the rite of blessing on a journey. We all have to periodically make various trips - for short or long distances, of one or another duration. Travel is always associated with a certain risk: mechanical means of transportation or the paths that are used for this, sometimes under the influence of various external circumstances, become unusable. Traffic safety is often affected by natural disasters, as well as the physical and psychological state of people responsible for transportation. All of these factors can lead to serious injury and even death on the road.
Therefore, the Church pays great attention to ensuring that travels associated with obvious or implicit dangers are sanctified by God's blessing and protection of travelers. Prayer singing, anticipating the journey, has the following features.
1 . Instead of the 142nd psalm, psalm 140 is read: “Lord, I cry to Thee…”.
2 . In the Peaceful (Great) Litany, after the petition “On those who are floating ...”, special petitions are added for those who are going on a trip:
“O hedgehog have mercy on His servants (or his servant, name) and forgive them every sin, voluntary and involuntary, and bless their journey, let us pray to the Lord ”;
“For a hedgehog to send them an Angel of peace, a companion and mentor, preserving, protecting, interceding and keeping intact from every evil situation, let us pray to the Lord”;
“For a hedgehog to cover them and keep them unharmed from all enemy slanders and circumstances, and send and return without harm, let us pray to the Lord”;
“For a sinless and peaceful journey and a safe return in health, in all piety and honesty give them, let us pray to the Lord”;
“O hedgehog save them unharmed and invincible from all visible and invisible enemies and crafty people of bitterness, let us pray to the Lord”;
“For a hedgehog to bless their good intention, and to create safely for the benefit of the soul and body with His grace, let us pray to the Lord.”
3 . On “God is the Lord ...” special troparia about travelers are sung, tone 2: “This way, Christ, the companion of Your Angel, Your servant now, like Tobias sometimes, ate preserving, and unharmed, to glory
His own, from all evil in all well-being observing; the prayers of the Mother of God, the One Lover of mankind”;
“Luce and Cleopas, traveling in Emmaus, Savior, now also descend as Thy servants, who want to travel, delivering them from every evil situation: all of you, like a Lover of mankind, you can want.”
4 . A reading is being made from the Acts of the Holy Apostles, the beginning of the 20th (). After that, the Gospel of John is read, conceived 47th ().
5 . Then a special litany is said about those who set off on their journey:
“Correct human feet, Lord, look mercifully on Your servants (or on your servant, name)
and, having forgiven them every sin, voluntary and involuntary, bless good intention their advice, and the outcomes, and the entrances with the path correct, diligently we pray to Thee, hear and have mercy ”;
“Joseph from the bitterness of his brethren, gloriously freed, Lord, and instructed him into Egypt, and by the blessing of Your goodness in everything he did well; and bless these Thy servants who want to travel, and make their procession serene and safe, we pray to Thee, hear and have mercy ”;
“Sending to Isaac and Tobias the Angel of the Companion, and thereby creating a journey and return of their peaceful and prosperous creation, and now, Preblesse, the Angel is peaceful by Your servant, we pray to You, in a hedgehog instruct them in every good deed, and deliver them from the enemy visible and invisible, and from every evil situation; healthy, peaceful and safe to return to Your glory, earnestly we pray to You, hear and have mercy ”;
“Luce and Cleopas who traveled to Emmaus and merrily returned to Jerusalem by Your glorious knowledge of creation, travel by Your grace and Divine blessing, and now Your servant, we are diligently praying to You, and in every deed of blessing, to the glory of Your Most Holy Name, prosper, in health and prosperity Observing and returning in time blissfully, like an all-generous benefactor, we pray to You, hear soon and have merciful mercy.
6 . In conclusion, the priest reads a special prayer for those who travel: “Lord Jesus Christ our God, the true and living Path, wander your imaginary father Joseph and the Blessed Virgin Mother to Egypt, deviant Luce and Cleopas to Emmaus traveling; and now we humbly pray to Thee, O Most Holy Master, and travel by Thy servant, by Thy grace. And as if to Your servant Tobias, they ate the guardian angel and mentor, preserving and delivering them from every evil situation of visible and invisible enemies and instructing them to fulfill Your commandments, peacefully, and safely, and healthyly forwarding, and returning whole and serenely; and give them all your good intention to your pleasing, safely fulfill it to your glory. Yours is, to have mercy and save us, and we send glory to You with Your Father without beginning, and with the Most Holy, and Good, and Your Life-giving Spirit, now and forever, and forever and ever.
Thanksgiving Prayer
(“Thanksgiving for receiving a petition and for every favor of God”)
For a person who asked and received what he asked for, a feeling of gratitude is natural. There is the following parable in the Gospel: And when He entered a certain village, ten men of lepers met Him, who stopped at a distance and said with a loud voice: Jesus the Master! have mercy on us. Seeing them, He said to them: Go, show yourselves to the priests. And as they went, they cleansed them. One of them, seeing that he was healed, returned, glorifying God with a loud voice, and fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him; and that was a Samaritan. Then Jesus said, Were not ten cleansed? where is nine? how did they not return to give glory to God, except for this foreigner? And he said to him: get up, go; your faith saved you ().
The obvious condemnation of ungrateful people is the direct content of this Gospel passage. The book “The Follow-up of Prayer Singings” indicates how a Christian, blessed by the Lord, should behave: “Having received some kind of beneficence from God, abie should have recourse to the church, and ask the priest to give thanks to God from him…”. The thanksgiving service may be included in the service of the Divine Liturgy, but much more often it is performed as a separate service. The rite of thanksgiving performed outside the Liturgy has the following features.
1 . Instead of Psalm 142, Psalm 117 is read: "Confess to the Lord, for it is good...".
2 . To the great litany, after the petition "On floating, traveling ...", special thanksgiving petitions are added:
“O hedgehog is merciful this present thanksgiving, and the prayer of us, His unworthy servants, to receive His most heavenly altar, and have compassion on us, let us pray to the Lord”;
“Oh, do not disdain the gratitude of us, His indecent servants, about the blessings received from Him, we offer in a humble heart; but as a fragrant incense, and a fat burnt offering be favorable to Him, let us pray to the Lord ”;
“Oh hedgehog and now listen to the voice of prayer of us, unworthy of His servants, and the good intention and desire of the faithful
Always fulfill your own, for good, and always, as if generous, benefactors to us, and to His Holy Church, and to every faithful servant of His petition to grant, let us pray to the Lord ”;
“O hedgehog deliver Your Holy Church (and Your servants, ti his servant, name) and all of us from all sorrow, trouble, anger and need, and from all enemies, visible and invisible; health, long life, and peace, and the Angel of His army of His faithful always protect, let us pray to the Lord.
3 . On “God the Lord ...” the troparion is sung “Give thanks to Thy unworthy servants, Lord, about Thy great good deeds on us who were, glorifying Thee, we praise, bless, thank, sing and magnify Thy goodness, and slavishly with love we cry out to Thee: Glory to our benefactor Savior, glory You". On “Glory” - “Your good deeds, and gifts to the tuna, like a slave to indecent, have become worthy, Master, we diligently bring gratitude to You according to strength, and to You, as a Benefactor and Creator, glorifying, we cry out: glory to You, God the most generous.”
4 . The Apostle to Ephesus is read, conceived 229-230th () (on the days of the celebration of military victories - the Apostle to the Corinthians, conceived 172nd ()) and the 85th conceived of the Gospel of Luke ().
5 . The litany “Have mercy on us, O God…” includes additional petitions:
“Thankfulness with fear and trembling, as if a servant of your indecent goodness, our Savior and Lord, our Lord, about Your good deeds, I have poured out abundantly on Your servants, and we bow down, and praise You as God we bring, and tenderly cry out: deliver Your servant from all troubles , and always, as if merciful, fulfill the good desire of all of us, diligently pray to Ty, hear and have mercy ”;
“As now, Thou hast graciously heard the prayers of Thy servants, O Lord, and hast shown them the benevolence of Thy philanthropy, not despising this and in the past, fulfill to Thy glory all the good desires of Thy faithful, and show us all Thy rich mercy, despising all our sins : we pray to Ty, hear and have mercy";
“It is favorable, like a fragrant incense and like a fat burnt offering, may it be, O All-good Lord, this is our thanksgiving before the majesty of Thy Glory, and always send down, like a generous servant of Thy rich mercy, and Thy bounty, and from all the resistance of visible and invisible enemies, Thy Holy Church (this abode, or this city, or save all this, save your people all a sinless long life with health, and grant prosperity in all virtues, we pray to Thee, the All-Generous King, graciously hear and have mercy soon.
6 . Then the priest reads a special thanksgiving prayer:
“Lord Jesus Christ our God, God of all mercy and bounty, his mercy is immeasurable, and philanthropy an unsearchable abyss; falling to Your majesty, with fear and trembling, as if a slave unworthy of gratitude to Your goodness for Your good deeds on Your servants (on Your servant) who were, now humbly offering, as the Lord, Master and Benefactor, we glorify, praise, sing, and magnify, and crouching again Thank you, Your immeasurable and inexpressible mercy is humbly imploring. Yes, as if now the prayers of Your servants are accepted, and mercifully fulfilled thou art, and in the past in Your and sincere love and in all the virtues of those who prosper, Your good deeds of all Your faithful will receive, Your Holy Church, and this city (or all this or delivering this abode) from every evil situation, and granting peace and serenity to you, with Your Beginningless Father, and the All-Holy, and the Good, and Your Consubstantial Spirit, in the One Being, glorified God, always bring thanks, and deigning to speak and sing ".
On other existing rites of prayer chants
The Church performs some more rites of prayer songs, called to ask God's help for certain human needs. The rites of these prayers are given in the above liturgical books. Since in the recent past, humanity was engaged almost exclusively in agricultural activities, most prayer rites are composed with a focus on the problems of farmers and livestock breeders. The reason for intense prayers are also such "universal" problems as wars and epidemics. In short, the Ribbons contain the following main rites of prayer chants:
against adversaries(“following prayer singing to the Lord God, sung during the battle against adversaries who are upon us”) - a prayer service performed during the invasion of foreigners;
during the ravages(“prayer singing during a destructive plague and deadly infection”) - prayers performed during terrible infectious diseases devastating the Earth, such as plague, cholera, typhoid, malaria, smallpox, diphtheria, polio and others. Despite the fact that most of these diseases are practically placed under strict medical control and local cases do not reach the level of an epidemic, now there are problems with other, no less dangerous infectious diseases;
when there is no rain for a long time(“following prayer singing sung during rainlessness”) - a prayer service that takes place during catastrophic droughts for farmers, and therefore for all people. Apparently, now, as a result of the development of irrigation methods in agriculture, the severity of the problem has been removed, but the climate changes observed in the most recent years have already led to a noticeable shortage of agricultural products in the world;
Consecration of the "chariot"
when it rains for a long time(“following prayer singing to the Lord our God Jesus Christ, sung in times of lack of water, when it rains a lot uselessly”) - prayer singing, performed, like the previous one, when there are problems with growing crops caused by adverse weather conditions;
Thanksgiving on Christmas Day(“following thanksgiving and prayer singing to the Lord God, sung on the day of Christmas, hedgehog according to the flesh, our Savior Jesus Christ, and remembering the deliverance of the Church and the Russian State from the invasion of the Gauls and with them twenty languages”) - everything that has been said about the actual thanksgiving service , applicable to this rite of passage. The difference is that thanksgiving to God is sent up in memory of one of the most important historical events in the life of Russia - its liberation from the troops of Napoleon and his satellites;
traveling on the waters(“rite of blessing for those who want to swim on the waters”) - a prayer service for travelers, which has small features determined by the method of movement;
blessings of a warship or blessings of a new ship or boat- two rites, in which one of the important means for a person to conduct combat operations, movement, transportation of goods and other things necessary in human activity is consecrated;
for digging a well (well) or blessing a new well- two prayer services - the most important for a person of recent times, the service of rites, which have not completely lost their significance even in modern world, especially against the background of existing environmental problems;
prayer for floods the service of a prayer service performed during a real danger of this natural disaster;
for the consecration of the "chariot"- the service of a prayer service performed over cars and other wheeled vehicles.
The consecration of a new house
Before the consecration of a newly built house, the priest can perform a small consecration of water in order to use it in the ceremony. If there is no small blessing of water, he brings holy water and a vessel with oil with him. Before starting the ceremony, on each of the four walls of the house, the priest depicts a cross with oil. A table covered with a clean tablecloth is supplied in advance in the house, a vessel with holy water is placed on it, the Gospel, a cross are placed, and candles are lit.
A brief charter-scheme of the rite of blessing the new house
The exclamation of the priest: "Blessed is our God ...".
Prayer for the invocation of the Holy Spirit: "To the King of Heaven ...".
"Usual beginning": Trisagion according to "Our Father ...".
"Lord have mercy" (12 times).
"Glory, and now."
"Come, let's bow..." (thrice).
Psalm 90: "Alive in the help of the Most High ...".
Troparion: "Like the house of Zacchaeus ...".
Prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ our God..."
Secret priestly prayer: “Vladyka, Lord our God…”.
The exclamation of the priest: "Your more is, hedgehog and save us ...".
The blessing of the oil with the reading of the prayer over it: "Lord, our God, look now mercifully ...".
Sprinkling all the walls of the house with water.
Anointing the walls of the house with oil with the words: "This house is blessed by the anointing of holy oil in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit."
Lighting candles in front of each cross depicted on the walls of the house.
Stichira: “Bless, O Lord, this house…”.
Gospel of Luke (19; 1-10).
Psalm 100: “I will sing mercy and judgment to Thee…” and incense at home.
Litany: "Have mercy on us, O God...".
The exclamation of the priest: "Hear us, O God, our Savior...".
Perennial.
The meaning and purpose of the prayers of the rite can be understood from its individual fragments. So in the troparion on the 8th tone the following petition sounds:
“Like Zaccheus to Your house, Christ, salvation was the entrance, and now the entrance of Your sacred servants, and with them Your saints Angel, give Your peace to this house and mercifully bless it, saving and enlightening all who want to live in it ... ".
In a prayer read some time later, the following is requested: “Lord, Jesus Christ, our God, deigning under the shadow of Zacchaeus the tax collector to enter and salvation to that and his whole house, He Himself and now wants to live here and we are unworthy of praying to You and bringing prayer from all evil keep unharmed, blessing them and this dwelling and hating those belly take out (always) preserve and abundantly all your good things give them your blessing for the benefit. As befits You all glory, honor and worship with Your Father without beginning and Your Most Holy and Good and Life-giving Spirit, now and forever, and forever and ever. Amen".
And finally, after everyone bows their heads, the following prayer is read:
“Lord, Lord, our God, look upon the high living and the humble, bless the house of Laban at the entrance of Jacob and the house of Pentephria with the arrival of Joseph, bless the house of Avedarin by bringing in the ark and in the days of the coming in the flesh of Christ our God, salvation to the house of Zaccheev bestowed, bless this house also and in it protect those who want to live in Thy fear, and preserve them unharmed from the resisters, and send down Thy blessing from the height of Thy dwelling, and bless and multiply all the good things in this house.
monastic vows
The monastic path is a special path of salvation, characterized by the fact that the monk takes on a burden that exceeds that which a Christian bears in the world. monks(from Greek monkos - lonely, hermit), or monks, take vows, the fulfillment of which is one of the most important components of their feat:
1) virginity;
2) voluntary poverty, or non-possession;
3) renunciation of one's own will and obedience spiritual mentor.
Monasticism has three degrees.
1 . Three-year art, or degree novice, characterized by the fact that the “candidate”, without giving irrevocable monastic vows, lives a monastic life to test his determination and ability to “equal-angelic life”. A novice for this period puts on a cassock and kamilavka, and therefore this degree is also called cassava.
2 . Small angelic image, or mantle.
3. Great angelic image, or schema.
Devotion to monastic vows is called tonsure which is performed by a bishop if the person being tonsured is a clergyman, and by a hieromonk, abbot or archimandrite if the person being tonsured is a layman. Secular clergy cannot be tonsured as a monk, according to the Nomocanon, which says: “Let a worldly priest not tonsure a monk, according to his will, even in Nicea of the Holy Cathedral. What more he will give to another, he himself does not have ”(ch. 82).
The consequences of dressing the cassock and kamilavka, the small schema or mantle, as well as the rank of tonsure into the great schema are not the subject of study in this collection. Those who wish to obtain complete information on these issues can refer to the Handbook of the Clergyman.
To answer these questions, we should start with the most obvious, it would seem ... Any first grader will tell us that Orthodox church is a place where people pray to God.
The Lord granted us to live in those times when the domes of churches can be seen in every district of the city, especially in the center, and moreover, the entrance to these churches is free for everyone. “But wait,” some will object to us, “is it really necessary: to go to church, to stand among the crowd that crowds you and at certain moments ask everyone for the same thing? I’m calmer at home, sometimes I’ll light a candle there in front of the icon, pray in my own words about one thing, about another - God will hear me anyway ... ”.
Yes, quite right, the Lord hears everyone who calls on Him in truth, as the words of the Apostles say, but there is a huge difference between these two things.
The Monk Joseph Volotsky in his work “The Illuminator” writes: “It is possible to pray at home - but to pray as in a church, where there are many fathers, where singing is unanimously exalted to God, where there is unanimity, and consent, and the union of love, is impossible.
At this time, O beloved, not only people cry out with a trembling voice, but also angels fall down to the Lord, and archangels pray ... And Peter was delivered from prison by a prayer: “Meanwhile the church prayed diligently to God for him” (Acts 12, 5). If Peter helped church prayer- how do you not believe in its power, and what answer do you hope to get?
Therefore, the temple is a place of special presence of God. Yes, we are talking about the Creator in prayer to the Holy Spirit, that He “abides everywhere and fills everything with Himself” (“... who is everywhere and fills everything ...”), however, it is obvious that His presence in the hypermarket, where distracting music is constantly playing, tangibly different from the presence in the temple, where a great praise is performed to Him.
“Let Your eyes be open to this temple this day and night, to this place, about which You said:“ My name will be there, ”King Solomon once prayed, having built the Lord’s first temple in Jerusalem (1 Kings 8:29). The same words are pronounced aloud by the bishop during the rite of the great consecration of the temple. During this sacrament, something very reminiscent of the holy Mysteries performed by God over man takes place.
The gates of the altar are closed and not a single candle in the temple is still burning. The clergy prepare the altar behind the Royal Doors and, just as nails were driven into the hands and feet of Christ, so they drive them into the four corners of the altar, pouring after that a fragrant composition that quickly hardens in the air.
The future throne is washed with water and wine, consecrated by the prayer of the bishop, mixed with incense, as a sign of memory that from the Wound of Christ, when He was pierced on the Cross by the centurion Longinus, Blood and water flowed ...
The throne is anointed with chrism - the same chrism through which the Holy Spirit descends on all Christians immediately after Baptism. The acquisition of the Holy Spirit, according to the word Reverend Seraphim Sarovsky is the goal Christian life. Such chrismation is performed in the future also over the walls of the temple. It is surprising that myrrh, prepared exclusively for the performance of the Sacrament over a person, is used here, consecrating inanimate objects. It is this sacrament that gives rise to that inexpressible difference between an ordinary building and a temple, the house of the Almighty Lord. Thanks to him, even churches that are dilapidated and defiled by years of atheism retain this atmosphere of prayer that was once performed in it ...
An important point is that a piece of the martyr's relics is necessarily laid at the foundation of the throne. This is continuity from antiquity: for the first three centuries after the Nativity of the Savior, being persecuted, Christians performed their most important sacred act - the Divine Liturgy - in catacombs, underground burials.
And they certainly did this over the tombs of those who, with their lives, even before death, testified about the incarnate Savior that He conquered death. After all, this is how the word martyr was originally translated from the ancient Greek language - a witness.
The logic of the ancients was surprisingly simple and elegant: there is no more worthy place on earth for the Body and Blood of the Lord to reside than the relics of those who suffered for Him. That is why, to this day, the sacred Liturgy is celebrated on the relics of the martyrs, embedded in the foundation of the altar, and it is precisely for this reason that before the moment of the service when it will be sung Cherubic Hymn and bread and wine is transferred from the Altar to the Altar, the priest fully opens the antimension - a special plate lying on the altar, in which there is also a piece of the relics of the martyr of Christ. It is here that bread and wine will become the Body and Blood of God incarnate.
The relics, before being laid at the foundation of the throne, are solemnly worn out by the bishop together with all the clergy from the church, and a procession is made around the newly consecrated church.
The procession stops on the street in front of closed gates, behind which there is only a church choir - these people represent the angelic army, which, seeing Jesus Christ on the day of His glorious Ascension to Heaven, wondering about the mystery of the Incarnation, asked with the words of the Psalm: “Who is this King of glory? » and heard the answer: "The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory!" Such a dialogue is also taking place here, between the bishop and the choristers, in memory of those events.
And only at the end of the sacrament, the bishop lights the first candle in the temple, the fire from which spreads to all the other candles. Then the first liturgy is performed, after which the temple begins to live a new liturgical life.
As we can see, the consecration of the temple is not only a symbolic action, it also has a very important spiritual significance. The very place where people gather in the name of the Lord becomes partaker of the grace of the Holy Trinity. Therefore, just as a person, through the Sacrament of Baptism and Chrismation, according to the word of the Apostle Peter, is chosen into the inheritance of the Lord (1 Pet. 2:9), so the Orthodox church becomes special place the presence of God on earth.
Deacon Daniel Maslov
Photo by Antony Topolov/ryazeparh.ru
It is proper for a Christian who has dedicated himself to the service of God to sanctify all his good undertakings by invoking God's help and blessings, since "unless the Lord builds a house, the builders toil in vain" (Ps. 126:1). All the more it is necessary to call on God at the foundation of the house of God, where the throne of God will be erected.After the laying of the foundation (foundation) for the temple, the “rite for the foundation of the temple” is performed, which is usually called the laying of the temple. At the same time, there is also the erection of the cross. Since the rules of the Church (Apostolic canon 31; Council of Antioch, pr. 5; Chalcedon, 4; Double, 1, etc.) decreed that the construction of the temple began with the blessing of the bishop, the rite for the foundation of the temple is performed either by the bishop himself, or sent from him and the blessed archimandrite, or presbyter, or priest. The rite of worship at the foundation of the temple is placed in the Great Treasury. The worship service for the foundation of the temple of God consists, after the usual beginning and the initial psalms, in censing around the base while singing the troparion to the saint in whose name the temple will be erected. Then the rector reads a prayer in which he asks the Lord to keep the builders of the temple unharmed, and the foundation of the temple unshakable and perfect showed the house to the glory of God. After the prayer, a dismissal is performed, on which the saint is mentioned, in whose name the temple is being built. Upon dismissal, the abbot, taking a stone and drawing a cross with it, puts it in the foundation, saying: “The foundations a and (his) Most High, God is in his midst and will not move, God will help him in the morning in the morning. Then the rector sets up a cross at the place where the holy meal (throne) will be, while saying a prayer in which he asks the Lord to bless and sanctify this place with the power and action of the Honest and Life-giving and Most Pure tree of the Cross to drive away demons and everyone resisting.
At the site of the laying of the temple, a metal plate is usually placed, on which an inscription is made, in honor of which holiday or saint the temple was consecrated, under which patriarch and bishop, what year, month and date. The above rite of laying the foundation stone and erecting the cross is usually performed after a prayer service with the blessing of water.
Note.
In the Supplementary Ribbon, this rite is described more extensively. If the temple is made of stone, then ditches are dug at the site of the foundation of the temple, stones are prepared, and on one of them - a quadrangular one - a cross is carved, under which, if the bishop or his governor deigns, a place is made to place the relics. Then a board with an inscription is prepared, when, in whose name the temple is consecrated, under which patriarch and bishop the laying of the temple was completed. In addition, a large wooden cross is prepared and a ditch is dug in the place where the throne should be built (for the erection of the cross in this place). If the church is built of wood, then the logs on which it will stand are prepared. After preparing all these accessories, the bishop or priest proceeds from the nearest church, preceded by deacons with censers, accompanied by other priests in full vestments, with a cross and the Gospel, presenting icons and singing sacred hymns in honor of the future church, and come to the place of laying . Here, after the usual beginning, while singing "To the King of Heaven", the rector performs incense at the site of the foundation of the temple. After reading the 142nd psalm, a great litany is pronounced with the application of petitions for the consecration and blessing of the foundation of the church and the successful completion of the work begun. After the exclamation, "God is the Lord" is sung and troparia to the feast or holy temple and foundation. After the 50th psalm, a prayer is read for the consecration of the water and the cross is immersed in the water with the singing "Save, Lord"; a prayer for the blessing of oil is also read, in which Jacob pours out oil on the stone on which he slept and saw the ladder. After the consecration of water and oil, the rector sprinkles the place where the cross will be erected with holy water, and reads a prayer for the consecration of this place by the power of the cross, and while singing the priest. with a song, the priests erect a holy cross in the place of the future throne. Then the rector goes to the moat in the eastern part of the temple, sprinkles the main stone with holy water and the place where it should lie, saying: “This stone is blessed by sprinkling sacred water sowing into the unshakable foundation of the temple, created in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen". Then, putting a board with an inscription into the recess, he covers it with a stone, saying the words: “This church is being founded for the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ ... in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” On the laid stone, the priest pours consecrated oil and sprinkles holy water on all sides of the foundation of the temple while reading prayers and singing psalms. At the same time, if the church is built of wood, then, as a sign of the beginning of the work, the rector strikes the prepared logs with an ax several times with a cross. After sprinkling the entire foundation, the priest stands in front of the erected cross, sings "O Heavenly King" and reads a prayer for the strengthening of the builders and for keeping the foundation of the temple unshakable. Then he reads another prayer with kneeling of all those praying for a blessing on this place of the altar to offer a bloodless Sacrifice. Then a special litany is proclaimed, to which are attached three petitions for the founders and for the successful construction of the temple. After the exclamation: “Hear us, O God…” there is a pronouncement of many years to the builders and benefactors of the newly built church and dismissal. The procession returns to the church when singing the stichera to the temple or other hymns to the glory of God (Additional breviary, 1st chapter. The rite that happens at the foundation of the church and the erection of the cross).
DELIVERY OF THE CROSS ON THE TEMPLE
With Christians, everything is sealed and sanctified by the image and sign of the cross. The cross is supplied not only to St. temples and in houses, but the temple itself is overshadowed and crowned with it (St. John Chrysostom).
The cross on the temple is supplied for the magnificence and decoration of the temple, as a cover and a solid fence, deliverance and preservation by the power of the cross from all evil and misfortune, from visible and invisible enemies - the temple and all the faithful, with faith and reverence entering the temple, and on an honest cross looking, and to the Lord Jesus Christ crucified on the cross with faith and love bowing.
In the Supplementary Ribbon (Chapter 2) there is a special "Order of prayer for putting a cross on top of the roof of the newly created church." This rite is performed in this way. The priest, having dressed and incense, utters the initial exclamation: “Blessed is our God ...”, and after the usual initial prayers, troparia are sung: “Save, Lord, Thy people ...”, “Glory”: “Ascended to the Cross by will ...”, “And Now”: “The Representation of Christians…”. The priest reads a prayer in which, remembering the installation by Moses in the desert of a copper serpent, which saved people from being bitten by snakes and served as a prototype of the Cross, he asks the Lord to bless the sign of the cross for the magnificence and decoration of the temple, for protecting by the power of the cross those who enter the temple and worship the Son crucified on the Cross God's and have mercy on all who look at this sign and remember the saving death of the Lord. After the prayer, the priest sprinkles the cross with holy water, saying: “This sign of the cross is blessed and sanctified, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, by sprinkling this sacred water, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen.” After singing: "Ascended to the Cross by will," the dismissal of the temple is pronounced, and the builders, taking the cross, put it in place, at the top of the church.
BLESSING THE BELL
Before hanging the bell on the bell tower, it is hung at the church so that it can be sprinkled on top and inside, and there is a blessing of the bell according to a special order: “The order of the blessing of the campaign, this is the bells, or ringing” (chap. 24 of the Additional Breed Book).
This rite is performed as follows: the bishop or priest comes out of the church and comes to the bell, near which there is consecrated water and sprinkles on the table, and proclaims the usual beginning. The clergy sings: “O Heavenly King”, the Trisagion is read, Our Father and psalms of praise are sung (Ps. 148-150), a great litany is pronounced, to which 4 petitions for the blessing of the bell are attached.
After the litany and the 28th psalm, a prayer is read for the blessing of the bell, and another prayer, bowed to the head, is read secretly. The petitions of the litany and the prayers contain a prayer for the blessing of the bell, for grace to be sent down to the bell, so that all “hearing its ringing in days and nights are excited to glorify the holy name of the Lord and to do the commandments of the Lord”; a prayer is also raised up that “at the ringing of the blessed campan, all windy storms, ill-dissolved airs, hail, whirlwinds, terrible thunders and harmful lightning, lack of water, and all slander of the enemy would be driven away.”
After prayers, the priest sprinkles the bell with holy water from 4 sides, from above, and around, and inside, saying three times: “This campan is blessed and sanctified by sprinkling this sacred water in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen.”
After sprinkling, the priest censes around the campan, inside and outside it, while the clergy sing the 69th psalm: "God, help me, get out." Then a proverb is read about the construction of sacred silver trumpets by Moses to call the people to prayer and sacrifice to God (Num. 11,
1-10). After paroemia, three stichera are sung and a day's leave is pronounced.
CHURCH CONSOLIDATED BY A BISHOP
The consecration, or "renewal," of the temple. A built temple can be a place for the celebration of the Divine Liturgy only after its consecration. The consecration of a temple is called “renovation,” because through consecration the temple becomes holy from an ordinary building, and therefore completely different, new. According to the rules Orthodox Church(IV Ecum. Sob., 4th rights.) The consecration of the temple must be performed by the bishop. If the bishop himself does not consecrate, then he sends the antimension consecrated by him to the newly created temple, where, after the establishment and consecration of the throne by the priest, the antimension is laid on him. This consecration of the temple - bishops and priests - is called great.
The existing ranks of the great consecration of the temple:
The temple is consecrated by the bishop himself- at the same time, he sanctifies the antimension. The rite is set out in a special book and in the Additional Ribbon (or in the Ribbon in 2 parts, part 2): "The rite of consecrating the temple from the bishop of the worker."
The bishop consecrates only the antimension. “The inquiry into how to consecrate the antimins to the bishop” is found in the “Officer of the Bishop’s Clergy”, as well as in the aforementioned “Order of Consecration of the Church from the Bishop of the Creator”.
The priest consecrates the temple, who received from the bishop a consecrated antimension for position in the temple. The rite of worship is in the Big Trebnik, ch. 109: “The following is to put a consecrated antimension in a newly built church, given from the bishop to the archimandrite or abbot, or protopresbyter, or presbyter, chosen for this and skilled.”
Prayers and rites of temple consecration raise our eyes from temples made by hands to temples not made by hands, members of the spiritual body of the Church, which are all faithful Christians (2 Cor. 6:16). Therefore, at the consecration of the temple, like that what is done for the sanctification of each person in the sacraments of baptism and chrismation.
The consecration of the temple, performed by the bishop, is the most solemn.
All-night vigil on the eve of the consecration of the temple. On the eve of the day of consecration, a small vespers is served in the newly created temple and all-night vigil. The service is performed for the renewal of the temple (stichera and canon) from the Big Breed Book in conjunction with the service of the temple, that is, the saint in whose name the temple was built. Both small vespers and vigil are sung before the altar with the royal doors closed.
Note.
The consecration of a temple should not be performed on the very day on which the memory of the saint or the event in whose name the church was built is celebrated, for the reason that the service of consecrating the temple should not be confused with the temple service in honor of the holiday. The consecration of the temple must be completed before the temple feast.
Temples in the name of the Resurrection of Christ are consecrated only on Sundays, because it is not appropriate to sing Sunday service in simple (weekly) days.
The temple in the name of the Resurrection of Christ and the temples of the Lord, the Mother of God and the saints are not allowed to be consecrated on the Week (Sunday) of Forty, Pentecost, the Week of the forefathers, the father before R.H., in the Week after R.H. and after the Enlightenment, as well as on those Sundays , on which the feasts of the Lord, the Theotokos and polyeleos saints occur, “before (in these days) in stichera and in canons there is a great oppression.” For the same reason, the consecration of the temple to the saint (or saint) is not performed on all the feasts of the Lord, the Theotokos and polyeleos saints.
AT great post on weekly days, the consecration of the temple (for the sake of fasting) is also not performed.
Preparing for the consecration of the temple. On the eve of the day of consecration, relics are brought to the newly created temple. The holy relics are placed on a diskos under a star and a cover in front of the image of the Savior on a lectern, and a lamp is lit in front of them. Prev royal doors a table is supplied, on which the accessories of the throne usually rely: the Holy Gospel, the honest cross, the holy. vessels, clothes on the throne and on the altar, nails, etc., and lighted candles are supplied at the four corners of the table. In the altar, closer to the mountainous place, a table is placed, covered with a veil, and holy Myrrh, church wine, rose water, a pod for anointing with Myrrh, sprinkles, stones for nailing are supplied on it.
On the very day of the consecration of the temple (before the ringing), the relics are carried with reverence to the nearby temple and placed on the throne. If there is no other church nearby, then the relics stand in the consecrated church in the same place near the local icon of the Savior. On the very day of the consecration of the temple, a prayer service is sung and a small consecration of water is performed, after which the clergy participating in the consecration of the temple put on all the sacred clothes, and on top of these clothes, for their protection, put on white protective zapons (aprons) and gird them. After vestment, the clergy bring in a table with prepared utensils through the royal doors and place it on the right side in the altar. The royal doors are closed, and the laity cannot be in the altar, in order to avoid crowding.
The rite of consecration of the temple includes:
arrangement of the throne (holy meal);
washing and anointing him;
the vestment of the throne and the altar;
consecration of the walls of the temple;
transfer and position under the throne and in the antimension of relics;
closing prayers, a brief litia and dismissal.
The device of the throne is done in this way. First of all, the bishop, having blessed his co-servants, sprinkles the pillars of the altar with holy water and waters its corners with boiling wax paste in the form of a cross, and the priests cool the wax paste with the breath of their lips. Wax, otherwise mastic (i.e., a composition of wax, mastic, crushed marble, dewy incense, aloe and other fragrant substances), serving together with nails as a means for attaching the board of the throne, at the same time marks the aromas with which the body was anointed Savior taken down from the Cross.
After short prayer that the Lord vouchsafed to consecrate the temple without condemnation, the bishop sprinkles holy water on the upper board of the altar on both sides of it, and it relies on the altar pillars while singing (in chorus) the 144th and 22nd psalms. Then the bishop sprinkles four nails and, putting them into the corners of the altar, fixes the board on the altar pillars with stones, with the help of the clergy.
After the approval of the throne, for the first time the royal doors, which are still closed, are opened, and the bishop, facing the people, kneeling together with the faithful, reads a lengthy prayer at the royal doors, in which, like Solomon, he asks the Lord to send down the Most Holy Spirit and sanctify the temple and the altar this, so that the bloodless Sacrifices offered on it may be accepted into the heavenly altar and bring down upon us the grace of heavenly overshadowing from there.
After the prayer, the royal doors are closed again and the great litany is proclaimed, with petitions for the consecration of the temple and the altar attached. This ends the first part of the rite of consecration of the temple - the arrangement of the holy meal.
Washing and Anointing of the Throne holy world. After approval, the throne is washed twice: the first time with warm water and soap, and the second time with rose water mixed with red wine. This and the other ablution is preceded by a secret prayer of the bishop over water and wine for the blessing of the Jordan and the grace of the Holy Spirit to be sent down on them for the consecration and completion of the altar. When washing the throne with water, the 83rd psalm is sung, and after washing the throne is wiped with towels. The secondary washing of the throne consists in the threefold cross-shaped pouring of red wine mixed with rose water (rhodostamnaya) on it. At each pouring of mixing, the bishop says the words of the 50th psalm: “Sprinkle me with hyssop and I will be cleansed: wash me and I will be whiter than snow,” and after the third pouring, the remaining verses are read until the end of the psalm. The priests grind the roodostamna, rubbing it with their hands on the upper board of the altar, then each priest wipes the “meal” with his lip.
After washing the meal, the bishop, with the blessing of the name of God, proceeds to the mystical anointing of it with holy chrism. First, he depicts the World with three crosses on the surface of the meal: one in the middle of the meal, and the other two - on both sides of it a little lower, designating those places where the Holy Gospel, paten and chalice should stand during the liturgy; then depicts three crosses on each side of the pillars of the throne and on the ribs; finally, on the antimension depicts three crosses with Holy Peace. At the same time, at each anointing, the deacon proclaims: “Let us listen,” and the bishop says three times: “Alleluia.” The choir at this time sings the 132nd psalm: "Behold what is good or what is red." After the chrismation of the throne, the bishop proclaims: “Glory to Thee, Holy Trinity, our God, forever and ever!”
Throne vestments. After being anointed with the World, the throne is clothed in clothes sprinkled with holy water. Since the throne marks the tomb of Christ and the Throne of the King of Heaven, two clothes are laid on it: the lower one is “srachitsa” and the upper one is “inditiya”. Having put on the lower garment (“srachitsa”) on the throne, the clergy three times encircle the throne with a rope (rope) so that a cross is formed on each side of it. When girdling the throne, the 131st psalm is sung. After putting on the throne in underwear, the bishop proclaims: "Glory to our God forever and ever." Then the outer garment of the throne (inditiya) is consecrated, and the throne is clothed with it while singing the 92nd psalm: “The Lord reigns, clothed in splendor”, then they put on the throne after sprinkling with holy water the iliton, antimens, the Gospel, the cross and all this is covered with a veil.
Having rendered glory to God (“Blessed be our God…”), the bishop orders the elder presbyter to clothe, sprinkled with holy water, the altar in sacred garments, place consecrated vessels, covers on it, and cover them with a shroud. The altar is only a place for the preparation of the sacrifice, and not for its consecration, and therefore it is not consecrated like a throne. When the altar is dressed in clothes and when vessels and covers are placed on it, nothing is said, only holy water is sprinkled, and then everything on the altar is covered with a veil. The zapons from the bishop and priests are removed, and the royal doors open.
After the consecration of the throne, the whole temple is also consecrated by incense, prayer, sprinkling with holy water and chrismation of the walls. The bishop, after burning incense in the altar, goes out and incenses the whole church, preceded by the protodeacon with a candle, and the bishop is followed by two elder presbyters, one of whom sprinkles the walls of the church with holy water, and the other anoints them crosswise with Holy Myrrh, first over the high place, then over gates - western, southern and northern. During this circumambulation, the choir sings the 25th psalm (“Judge me, Lord, for I walk with my gentleness”), in which the royal prophet pours out his joy at the sight of the splendor of the house of the Lord.
After the return of the spiritual cathedral to the altar, a short litany is pronounced, and the bishop, having removed the miter, reads a prayer before the throne, in which he asks the Lord to fulfill new temple and an altar of glory, holiness and splendor, so that a bloodless Sacrifice is offered in it for the salvation of all people, "for the forgiveness of voluntary and involuntary sins, for the management of life, for the correction of good living, for the fulfillment of all righteousness." After this prayer, the bishop, at the bow of the head of those present, reads a secret prayer in which he thanks the Lord for the continuous outpouring of grace that descended to him from the apostles. After the exclamation, the bishop lights the first candle with his own hands and sets it on a high place near the throne, and until that time not a single candle was lit in the altar.
Transfer and position under the throne of holy relics after the consecration of the church. From the church being consecrated there is a solemn procession to another church for the relics, if they were placed in the nearest church. If the holy relics were in the church being consecrated, then the bishop, having distributed the Gospel, the cross, holy water and icons on the altar to the presbyters, and the candles on the pulpit to the laity, after incense of the holy relics and litanies, raises the holy relics to the head, proclaiming: “In peace Let's leave, ”and they all go with crosses and banners around the whole temple while singing troparia in honor of the martyrs:“ Who is Thy martyr in all the world ”and“ Like the first principles of nature ”.
When the relics are being carried around the consecrated church, the troparion is sung: “Whoever built Your Church on the rock of faith, O blessed one.” During this procession, one of the priests, going forward, sprinkles the walls of the temple with holy water. If the terrain does not allow the relics to be carried around the temple, then they are carried around the throne.
Upon completion of the procession, when they come to the western gates of the temple, then the singers sing the troparia: “Holy Martyrs” (twice) and “Glory to Thee, Christ God” (once), and go to the temple, the western gates are closed behind the singers, and the bishop with priests remains outside in the narthex, puts the diskos with the relics on the prepared table, worships them, overshadows the priests standing with the Gospel and icons at the table in front of the doors, facing west, and after the exclamation: “Blessed be Thou, Christ our God”, exclaims "Take up the gates, your princes, and take up the eternal gates, and the King of glory will enter." The singers inside the temple sing, "Who is this King of glory?" The bishop, after incense of the shrine, again repeats these words and the singers again sing the same words. Then the bishop, having removed the miter, reads a prayer aloud, in which he asks the Lord to confirm the church being consecrated unwaveringly until the end of the age in order to bring worthy praise to the Most Holy Trinity in it. Then, at the head bow of all, he secretly reads the entrance prayer, which is read at the liturgy at the entrance with the Gospel.
After the prayer, the bishop, taking the diskos with the holy relics on his head, marks the gates of the temple with them in a cruciform manner and says in response to the inquiring choir: “The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory.” The choir repeats these words. The temple opens, the bishop with the clergy enters the altar, while the singers of the troparion sing: “Like the firmament of splendor from above,” and lays the diskos with holy relics on the throne. Having rendered honor to the holy relics with veneration and incense, the bishop anoints them with holy chrism, and places them in an reliquary with wax-mask, as if at burial. This reliquary, with the blessing of the bishop, is supplied under the altar in the middle pillar as at the base of the altar.
After the position of the relics under the throne, the bishop, having anointed a particle of the relics with the Holy Myrrh, puts it in the antimension and strengthens it with wax. After reading the prayer: “Lord God, Izhe and this glory,” the bishop with kneeling reads a prayer for the founders of the temple (with kneeling and all the people). In these prayers, petitions are raised so that the Lord sends down on us the grace of the Holy Spirit, gives everyone unanimity and peace, and forgiveness of sins to the creators of the temple.
Closing prayers, brief litany and dismissal. After this prayer, a small litany is pronounced, after which the bishop with the clergy proceeds to the cloudy place (or to the saline). The protodeacon pronounces a short special litany. After the exclamation, the bishop overshadows those who come on all four sides three times with the cross, and the protodeacon on each side proclaims before the fall (standing before the bishop): “Let us pray to the Lord, with all the people,” and incense to the cross. The choir sings: "Lord, have mercy" (three times). This is followed by the usual prayers preceding the dismissal, and the dismissal, which the bishop pronounces on the pulpit with a cross in his hands. The protodeacon proclaims many years. The bishop sprinkles holy water on the temple (on all four sides), the clergy and the people.
After the consecration of the temple, the (3rd and 6th) hours are immediately read and the Divine Liturgy is performed.
In the newly consecrated church, the liturgy should be celebrated for seven days in a row for the sake of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, who from now on always abides in the church (Simeon of Thessalonica). Newly consecrated antimensions must also remain on the throne in the temple for 7 days.
CONSOLIDATION OF THE TEMPLE BY THE PRIEST
The priest consecrates the temple through the position (on the throne) of the antimension with holy relics, consecrated and sent by the bishop. And therefore, during the consecration of the temple, the priest does not do everything that relates to the consecration of the antimension, as a result of which the rite itself is distinguished by greater brevity and less solemnity. In all other respects, the rites during the consecration of a temple by a priest, with a few exceptions, are the same as those that take place during the consecration of a temple by a bishop.
Features during the consecration of the temple by the priest. The priestly consecration of a church differs from that of a bishop in that:
prayers for the confirmation of the throne, which are read by the bishop during the consecration of the antimension, are not read;
lower throne clothes ("srach and tsa") is tied with a rope (cord) around the throne simply like a belt, and not crosswise;
around the temple, instead of relics, they encircle an antimension; holy relics are not placed under the throne, but only the antimension is placed on it.
According to the ancient practice of the Russian Orthodox Church, which came to us from Greek Church, during the consecration of the temple by the priest, the throne and walls of the temple were anointed with holy Myrrh, and only in the Synodal period, starting fromFrom 1698 until 1903, it was forbidden for a priest to perform this sacrament, believing that only a bishop had the right to perform it.
But at the beginning of the XX century. (since 1903) the ancient practice of consecrating the throne by a priest through anointing with holy chrism was again restored.
On the eve of the day of consecration, before the all-night vigil, at the local icon of the Savior, the priest places a diskos with a consecrated antimension on the table, over which he places a star, and covers everything with air. Before the holy antimension, a lamp is lit, which should burn all night.
In the altar, on a special table near the mountainous place, they put an aspergill and stones for nailing, and other items necessary for the consecration of the temple.
A table is supplied in the middle of the temple, and the sacred items of the altar are placed on it: the clothes of the throne and the altar, the sacred vessels, the Gospel, the cross, the Holy Myrrh and the pod, etc. (see details in the Appendix).
In front of this table, on two lecterns, they put three consecrated icons: Savior, Mother of God and temple.
The All-Night Vigil is performed in front of these icons in the middle of the temple, and not in the altar. (The royal doors and the veil are closed.) The whole service is performed for renewal and for the temple.
On the very day of the consecration of the temple, a small blessing of water is performed, after which the priests bring in holy water and a table with the holy. objects to the altar through the royal doors and put on the right side of the throne.
The priests participating in the consecration of the temple must be dressed in full priestly vestments, over which they put on protective bands.
Having brought the table, they close the royal doors, after which they proceed to the consecration of the throne and the temple.
Like the episcopal consecration of a temple, the rite of consecrating a temple by a priest includes:
arrangement of the throne (meal);
washing him and anointing him with holy Peace;
dressing the throne and the altar in clothes;
consecration of the whole temple;
the transfer of the antimension and its position on the throne;
closing prayer and a short litia.
The device of the throne. After the table with St. objects, the royal doors and the veil are closed. The priests take the upper board of the future throne, the primate sprinkles it with holy water on both sides, without saying anything. The singers begin to sing the 144th psalm. The board is installed on the pillars so that the holes drilled in it and in the pillars for the nails coincide.
Wax paste is poured into the holes drilled under the nails and cleaned with knives. The singers sing the 22nd psalm. They also bring four nails and put them at the meal. The primate sprinkles them with holy water and puts them into the holes at the corners of the board. The priests, taking four stones, hammer nails into the pillars, thus attaching the table to its base.
The washing and consecration of the throne. Warm water is poured on the throne, and the priests rub it with their hands, and then rub the meal with soap. Then water is poured again to wash off the soap and the throne is wiped with towels. The primate again sprinkles the meal with holy water.
After that they bring red wine mixed with rose water; the primate pours crosswise into the meal three times (in the middle and on the sides a little below the middle). The priests, together with the primate, rub the wine with the chapel over the altar and rub it dry with sponges. (The singers sing the 83rd psalm.)
Finally, the primate anoints the throne with holy chrism. (The singers sing the 132nd psalm at the same time.) According to ancient practice, the priest, consecrating the throne, anoints the meal with a cross in the middle and at four corners. The deacon at each anointing says "Lemme," and the primate says "Alleluia" three times for each anointing.
After that, it takes place clothe the throne and the altar in their garments.
The primate sprinkles the lower garment of the altar (outside and inside) with holy water and puts it on the altar; then he sprinkles the cord with holy water, and they tie the throne with it “simply” (the Big Breed Book), that is, around the throne - in a circle, and not crosswise, as during the bishop's consecration of the temple; usually the primate holds the end of the cord in his hand on the upper right corner of the throne (in the place of the notch for the cord - on the end of the board), and the deacon girds the throne with a cord three times, after which they tie a knot at the right pillar of the throne (Additional Breed Book). At this time, the 131st psalm is read.
Then, while singing the 92nd psalm, an outer garment sprinkled with holy water ("india") is put on the throne. After that, they place the Gospel, the cross and the tabernacle on the throne, sprinkled with holy water, and cover everything with a veil.
In the same way, with the sprinkling of holy water, they put clothes on the altar, and, after consecration with holy water, sacred vessels and covers are placed on it, and covered with a veil.
Consecration of the altar and the whole temple. Having finished the vestment of the throne and the altar, all the priests take off their bands. The royal doors are opened, and the primate, with two other senior priests, consecrates the altar and the entire church. The rector, preceded by the deacon, censes the altar and the whole temple with a candle; the priests following him - one sprinkles the altar and the whole temple with holy water, and the second crosswise anoints the walls of the temple with Peace: above the mountainous place, above the western, southern and northern doors of the temple. At this time, the singers sing the 25th psalm.
After the consecration of the temple, entering the altar, the primate lights a candle with his own hands and places it on a high place near the throne. (Until now, not a single candle has been lit in the altar).
The transfer of the antimension and its position on the throne. At this time, the altar cross and banners are worn out in the middle of the temple. The priests take the gospel, the cross and temple icon, deacons - censers; the second priest takes the sprinkler. The primate proclaims: "We will depart in peace." And all the clergy proceed to the middle of the temple (the younger ones are in front, as in a procession). The choir follows the banner-bearers. The primate, going out on the solea, incenses the antimension lying on the paten in front of the icon of the Savior, makes a bow, takes the paten with the antimension on his head and follows the procession around the temple. The second priest goes ahead of the procession and sprinkles the temple and people with holy water. The deacons, while periodically turning, incense the antimension worn by the primate on the head, and also incense the temple on its southern, northern and western sides.
During the circumambulation, the singers sing the troparia: “Izhe on the stone of faith”, “Holy martyrs”, “Glory to Thee, Christ God.”
When the procession comes to the western doors, the singers enter the temple, and the doors are closed (or hung with a curtain). The primate removes the paten from his head, places it on the table in front of the church gates, and venerates the relics three times. Four candles burn at the corners of the table. (The bearers of the Gospel, the cross, icons and banners stand at the table in front of the doors facing west.)
The primate, standing before the relics (antimins) facing the east, proclaims: "Blessed are you, Christ our God ...". Singers (inside the temple): Amen.
After that, the primate says: "Take up the gates, your princes, and take up the eternal gates, and the King of glory will enter." To these words the chanters answer by singing: "Who is this King of glory?"
The primate, leaving the questions of the singers unanswered, reads the entrance prayers (one aloud, the other secretly).
After the prayer, the primate answers the question of the singers: "The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory." The singers repeat the question: "Who is this King of glory?" The primate again proclaims: "The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory." After that, taking the diskos, he blesses (the doors) crosswise with the diskos with the antimension lying on it, - the doors open, and everyone enters the temple while the troparion singers sing: “Like the magnificence of the highest.”
The primate with all the clergy enters the altar and places an antimension on the throne, places the Holy Gospel on it, and, shaking his head, reads a prayer with kneeling. (The deacon exclaims: “Packs and packs bow the knee.”)
After the prayer, the deacon pronounces a small litany: “Intercede, save, have mercy, raise up and save us, O God,” and the priest utters a special exclamation: “For Thou art holy, our God, and rest on the saints who suffered in Thee, honored martyrs ...”
After the exclamation, the primate, taking the cross, goes out with the cathedral of clergy to the middle of the temple. The deacon, standing in front of them, proclaims: "Let us pray to the Lord, with all the people," and incenses the cross. Singers (and people): "Lord, have mercy" (3 times). The primate overshadows with a cross three times to the east. Then, according to the same rank, it overshadows three times to the west, to the south and to the north. After this there is no leave and longevity; the primate and the clergy (and then the people) kiss the cross sprinkled with holy water. Then the hours are read, and the Divine Liturgy is served.
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RITES INCLUDED IN THE REGION OF THE GREAT DESCRIPTATION OF THE TEMPLE
The actions performed during the consecration of the temple have a mysterious sign and an ancient origin. The rite of consecration begins with prayer and the invocation of the Holy Spirit, because the altar is dedicated to the Almighty. The affirmation of the throne spiritually points to the Lord's indwelling among the believers for their sanctification. The board of the throne is affirmed with four nails as a reminder of the nailing of the Savior to the cross. The corners of the altar, which marks the tomb of Christ, are fastened with a special fragrant composition (wax paste), to signify that fragrant ointment with which Nicodemus and Joseph anointed the body of the Savior taken from the Cross. After the approval of the throne, its ablution is performed, which is an ancient and sacred action. An example of the cleansing of the temple of God and the altar was prescribed in Old Testament(Lev. 16:16-20). The throne is washed first with warm water and soap, and then with rose water and red wine, in remembrance of the fact that the Church was washed and sanctified by the Blood of Jesus Christ, which was represented by the sacrificial blood poured out by Moses on the altar during the consecration of the tabernacle (Lev. 8, 24).
The throne will be anointed with the World as a sign of the outpouring of the grace of God. Confirmation of the throne and the temple has been used since ancient times. God Himself commanded Moses to consecrate the altar in the tabernacle with anointing oil, and Moses anointed the altar and consecrated it (Numbers 7:1).
After the throne is anointed, two robes are placed on it, corresponding to spiritual meaning throne as the tomb of the Lord and the Throne of the King of Heaven. The lower garment is girded with rope to remind of the bonds with which the Savior was bound and brought to the high priests Anna and Caiaphas.
After the consecration of the throne, the altar and utensils, the entire temple is also consecrated by incense, prayer, sprinkling of holy water and anointing the walls of the temple with the Holy Myrrh. The censing by the bishop of the entire temple depicts the glory of God, covering the Old Testament sanctuary in the form of a cloud (Exodus 40:34; 1 Kings 8:10). The anointing of the walls with Myrrh marks the consecration of the temple by the grace of God.
After the return of the spiritual cathedral to the altar, the bishop reads a prayer, and lights the first candle with his own hands, and places it near the throne in a high place. A lit candle indicates that the throne has become the true altar of Christ, and depicts the Church of Christ, shining with the light of grace and giving light to the whole world.
After the consecration of the temple, there is a solemn procession with holy relics around the temple or to another, the nearest, temple to transfer the relics to the newly consecrated temple. This last action signifies that the grace of sanctification is passed on and taught through the first temples, and that the new temple is dedicated to the patronage and protection of the holy intercessors of the former temple. So in the Old Testament, at the consecration of the temple of Solomon, the kivot of the covenant was transferred from the tabernacle and placed in the holy of holies. Enclosing the relics (or an antimension with relics) means the dedication of the temple to the Most High forever, and bringing them into the temple marks the entry into the newly created church of the King of Glory Jesus Christ Himself, the resting saint. During this procession, the outer walls of the temple are sprinkled with holy water.
Before bringing the relics into the temple, the bishop places the diskos with the relics on a special table in front of the closed gates of the temple and proclaims: “Take the gates, your princes,” and so on. And the singers inside the temple sing: "Who is this King of glory?" These words of the psalm, according to the explanation of St. Justin the Martyr and St. John Chrysostom, are related to the circumstances of the ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven. When Christ ascended to heaven, then the higher ranks of the angels, established by God, were commanded to open the gates of heaven, so that the King of glory, the Son of God, the Lord of heaven and earth, would enter and, ascending, sit at the right hand of the Father. But Heavenly Forces, seeing their Lord in a human form, they asked in horror and bewilderment: “Who is this King of glory?” And the Holy Spirit answered them: "The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory." And now, when at the entrance to the consecrated temple, which marks the sky, with holy relics or an antimension, these words are pronounced, before the eyes of Christians, the same event, witnessed by the celestials, seems to be repeated. The King of Glory enters the temple with holy relics, on which, according to the faith of the Church, the glory of the Crucified, "resting in the saints" invisibly rests.
The holy relics are brought into the altar and placed under the altar, or in antimensions, on the grounds that in the first three centuries Christians celebrated divine services on the tombs of the martyrs, by whose blood the Church was founded, established and strengthened throughout the world. On the seventh Ecumenical Council it was determined that churches should be consecrated only with the relics of the martyrs placed in them (7 rights).
ANCIENTITY OF DESIGNATION OF TEMPLE
The consecration of a temple and its dedication to God is an ancient and everlasting custom of the Church of God. Patriarch Jacob consecrated the stone into the house of God by pouring oil on it (Genesis 28:16-22). Moses, at the command of God, consecrated the tabernacle and its accessories (Genesis 40:9). Solomon consecrated the newly created temple and celebrated the consecration for seven days (2 Chr. 7, 8-9). After the captivity of the Babylonian Jews under Ezra, they renovated the second temple (1 Ezra 6:16), and after the temple was cleansed from the persecution of Antiochus, they established an annual seven-day holiday of Renewal. The tabernacle and the temple were consecrated by the introduction of the covenant there, the singing of the holy. song, sacrifice, pouring of sacrificial blood on the altar, anointing with oil, prayer and national holiday(Ex. 40; 1 Kings 8 ch.).
During the period of persecution, Christians usually built churches over the tombs of the martyrs, which already consecrated churches, but there could not yet be a solemn and open consecration of churches. Churches were to be built with the blessing of the bishop. Thus, the custom was gradually established, which later received the force of law, to consecrate the places of prayer meetings of Christians by placing relics in churches and episcopal blessings. When, with the multiplication of churches, the bishops did not have the opportunity to consecrate all the churches themselves, they consecrated only the throne, or its upper board, and left the consecration of the building itself to the presbyters. This was the beginning for the device of portable thrones, which were already in the troops of Constantine the Great, and then antimensions.
Solemn and open consecration of churches began from the time of the end of the persecution of Christians. In the time of Constantine the Great, the consecration of churches was already an ordinary matter and was performed solemnly, with the participation of a council of bishops. Thus, the temple erected by Constantine the Great in Jerusalem at the tomb of the Savior was consecrated by a council of bishops, whom Constantine the Great convened first in Tyre, and then in Jerusalem in 335 (September 13) for this purpose. Similarly, the temple in Antioch, founded by Constantine the Great and completed by his son Constantius, was consecrated by the Council of Antioch in 341.
The most important actions of the consecration of churches were: the erection of a cross at the site of the construction of the throne; anointing the walls with sacred oil and sprinkling the walls with holy water; reading prayers and singing psalms. From IV century. the prayer of St. Ambrose of Milan for the consecration of the temple has survived to us, similar to the current prayer, pronounced at the consecration of the temple after the establishment of the throne.
ABOUT THE SMALL CONSOLIDATION OF THE TEMPLE
The rite of the great consecration of the temple through the placement of the relics or the consecrated antimension in it occurs not only after the creation of the church, but also when:
the church is desecrated from pagan or heretical violence (Instructive message in the Missal) and
when, during the repair and restoration of the temple, the throne is damaged or shaken. This consecration of the temple is also called great.
In addition to this rank, there is the rank of a small consecration of the temple. It is performed in the case when, during the repair of the temple inside the altar, the throne was not damaged and was not moved from its place. In this case, it is prescribed, without doing a great consecration of the temple, to sprinkle holy water on the throne from all sides, then the altar and the whole temple. For this, a small consecration of the water is usually performed, after which two prayers are read for the “renovation of the temple” (Big Book of Treaties, ch. 93). One of them: "O Lord our God" - the one that is read at the end of the great consecration.
A small consecration of the temple also happens when the throne is desecrated only by the touch of unconsecrated hands (as, for example, during a threatening fire), or when the temple was defiled by some kind of impurity that violates the shrine, or human blood is shed in the church, or someone has died here by violent death. In these cases, special prayers are read "for the opening of the church" (Big Breed Book, ch. 40, 41 and 42).
Patriarch Tarasius of Constantinople owns the “Prayer for the Opening of the Temple from the Defiled Heretic”, written by him after the restoration of icon veneration to cleanse the temples desecrated by the wickedness of the iconoclasts.
THE CONSOLIDATION OF INDIVIDUAL CHURCH ICONS AND ITEMS THAT IS NOT PERFORMED WHEN THE TEMPLE IS CONSOLIDATED
When a temple is consecrated, all its accessories are also consecrated, including the iconostasis and other icons located in the temple.
Church icons and things new or renewed are consecrated separately before their use in an already consecrated church. In the Additional Ribbon (and in the 2nd part of the Ribbon in 2 parts) there are special rites for the consecration of the iconostasis, individual icons, several icons together, the cross, church vessels and clothes, vestments of the throne and other newly arranged utensils for the temple.
The consecration of these sacred objects and icons is performed according to the following order.
The things to be consecrated are placed on a table in the middle of the church. The priest, dressed in an epitrachelion and phelonion, proceeds through the royal gates to the table and, shaking it from all sides, usually begins: "Blessed is our God."
Singers: "Amen. King of Heaven." Then the Trisagion is read according to Our Father, Lord have mercy (12 times) and a special psalm, depending on which priests. objects are consecrated. After the psalm: Glory even now. Alleluia (three times).
The priest reads special prayers for the consecration of this icon or thing, and after the prayer he sprinkles them with holy water three times, saying each time:
“These vessels (or these clothes, or this icons, or this image) are consecrated - by the grace of the Most Holy Spirit, by sprinkling this sacred water, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen.” If an icon is consecrated, then the corresponding troparion is sung in honor of the one depicted on the icon.
After that, the priest creates a dismissal.
In the prayer read at the consecration of the cross, the Church prays to the Lord to bless and sanctify the sign of the Cross and fulfill the powers and blessings of the tree on which the most pure body of the Lord was nailed.
During the consecration of the icons of the Lord, a prayer is offered for blessing and consecration of the icons of the Lord and giving them healing power and about the fulfillment of their blessing and strength of the Image Not Made by Hands.
With the blessing of icons Holy Mother of God a prayer is read to the Lord, incarnated from the Ever-Virgin Mary, for the blessing and consecration of the icon and giving it strength and strength of miraculous action.
With the blessing of the icons of the saints, a prayer is said for the blessing and consecration of the images in honor and memory of the holy saints of God, so that the faithful, looking at them, glorify God who glorified them, and try to imitate the life and deeds of the saints.
Washing the upper board of the throne with soap is optional if it is new and clean. “Since soap is used only for washing the meal, which can be washed without it, especially when it is wooden, well ironed and clean; therefore, whether to use it or not is one thing ”(Reverend Nicholas. In response to the question of the old-fashioned M., 1839).“The priests accept the table of the meal, the ruler sprinkles the pillars or the single-pillar with holy water, without saying a word, and the table of the meal is strengthened, as if it is splendid, and is washed with warm water ... and watered with rodostamnoy (“gulyaf water”), if there is the same wine, if there is no native tamny, with wine. The same initial priest will anoint St. meal of the world. The holy meal will be anointed with the holy great Peace: the cross will create in the middle of the refectory table, and at the four corners it will create on the cross ”(Officer of the Most Holy Cyr Paisios, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria. Translated into Slavic language, sheet 12; see also Big Trebnik Kyiv, 1862).
In the host of temples Old Believer Church added one more. Friday, August 17, in the Ural village Staroutkinsk consecrated. On a significant day, Christians from all over Ural diocese and even guests from Nizhny Novgorod.
I look around and do not stop admiring the beauty, these beautiful distances, - said His Eminence (Titov), Metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia, after the end of the service.
… The wonderful distances that Vladyka speaks about really open here in all directions — both from the altar and from the porch. So this temple is located - on a mountain, visible from everywhere. According to the community trustee Alexey Syukosev, the authorities did not "murizhili" the local Old Believer community and offered a place that turned out to be ideal ... Alexei himself deservedly was in the spotlight that day, because - we must pay him his debt and bow to the earth - on his enthusiasm, with the involvement of several caring Staroutkintsy, he built the temple literally for a little over a year. It's hard to believe, but the icons for the iconostasis of the newly built church were painted longer than the building of the house of God itself!
The celebration, as usual, began here on the eve of the day of consecration - on Thursday afternoon, residents of the village and guests met Vladyka Korniliy with the accompanying protodeacon and reader, who arrived from Yekaterinburg, where they rested after their arrival. A ceremonial vespers, a leisurely dinner at a local cafe, where a fasting but very tasty table was laid for the bishop and guests - the day ended with conversations about the progress of construction, about the difficulties that the community, spiritually supported by the archpriest, had to overcome Mikhail Tataurov, dean of the Old Believer parishes of the Sverdlovsk region.
Among those who at 7:00 met the bishop at the walls of the temple was the head of the local administration Sergey Kuzovkov. He did not just come and go, putting a "tick" in this matter, as many in power usually do.
In the temple, together with the Old Believers - he himself does not belong to the community of believers, but with great respect for the Old Orthodox Christians who live and develop their parish in the territory entrusted to him - with a short break, he stayed until evening, until the very end of a long service, which is quite a lot surprised the lord. But it was later, but for now the ceremonial consecration began.
The weather in the morning completely deteriorated - on the day of the Metropolitan's arrival in Yekaterinburg, it seemed that the heavens had mercy and parted, giving everyone a magnificent sunset. But weather forecasters warned and were right: on Friday Staroutkinsk was enveloped in gloom, so much so that the rain that day was one of the main "actors". And, when the Old Believers left the temple to go through the procession, the abyss of heaven opened up.
... It is dark in the temple, dim light penetrates through small windows. But there are no designers' mistakes in this, nor the desire of the community to save money. "" already wrote that it was decided to install small windows here for anti-vandal reasons. And, due to the fact that there is a massive foundation under the temple, you can’t just get close to the windows from the street.
If it were my will, I would even make a temple without lamps, because we are Old Believers, and our ancestors had candles instead of lighting fixtures, - Alexey Syukosev laughs.
Today he is in great demand - either giving interviews to journalists who specially came from Yekaterinburg to talk about an event significant not only for the Urals, but for all Russian Old Believers, or solving household problems, or helping to complete preparations for the festive dinner. This is also his holiday - he, the builder, took on himself ... a feasible burden. Built a temple. Of course, not one - in the community he has everything, everyone is helpers, prayer books, hard workers.
Elizaveta Fyodorovna Gorbunova- 95 years old. Despite her advanced age, she is among the worshipers. She doesn’t sit, she stands, she rejoices that she has lived to see the day when the temple becomes a full-fledged building for worship.
A few guests - rarely anyone was able to escape 120 kilometers from Yekaterinburg on a working day - they are surprised at the simplicity, but sincerity and sincerity of the celebration. This is how it should be, and not otherwise!
The rain is not accidental - it would be sunny, during the service people would go out for a walk around the temple, look around the surroundings, and the precipitation seems to make us understand how important it is to be inside the church being consecrated on this day, - rightly notes the kliroshanin Evgeny Doronin who came here from the village of Baranchinsky.
In the newly consecrated church, after a short break, the Liturgy begins - decorously, with beautiful singing: the kliros are strictly divided on this day into men's and women's. But when, at the end of the service, the Metropolitan Vladyka's long life is performed by the combined choir, the temple trembles.
Congratulating a handful of those gathered on the holiday, Metropolitan Korniliy also notes the temporary rector of this temple, and all the same Alexei.
I watched this temple four years ago, when work here was just beginning, and I see it now - I am glad that colossal work has been invested, and it is not in vain, - says Vladyka. - Of course, there is something to finish, and I would ask Sergei Yakovlevich, as a representative of the authorities, to contribute to the improvement of the area around the temple.
Remembering Saint Vladimir, in whose honor for the first time in recent history the temple was consecrated to the Old Believer Church, the metropolitan noted that the prince was, in fact, the first Old Believer in Russia. And, developing the theme, he remarked:
Unlike the New Believers, we have gone through our entire history without changing anything, without betraying anyone, and without splitting anything”…
My work is not as big as it seems—father responded Mikhail Tataurov. — I would say that work is just beginning now — we need to strengthen faith in Staroutkinsk and involve the population of nearby territories in the community.
The head of the village promised to assist the Old Believers - of course, as much as it would be in the power of the local authorities.
Sergei Kuzovkov gratefully accepted a memorable gift with a kind inscription from the primate of the Church, and the trustee of the church, it seems, was even at a loss when Vladyka invited him closer to the pulpit and thanked him for the great work of creation, which certainly leads to the Kingdom of Heaven...
On the banks of the Dnieper, this iconic object, significant not only for the city, but for the entire Orsha region, was erected in less than a year.
The building is made of natural wood, because all previous churches in Kopys were also made of wood. The first one was laid in the same place more than 300 years ago. Since then, it has been rebuilt once or twice a century. On the joyful day of the solemn opening and consecration of the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord, it was filled with believers from all around. A new countdown in history began with the blessing of Metropolitan Pavel of Minsk and Zaslavl, Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus. He sincerely thanked everyone who created and created this beautiful temple. And he wished that everyone who would come here would feel the grace of the Holy Spirit and touch Heaven.
After the consecration, a festive divine liturgy. The event was also attended by Assistant to the President - Inspector for the Vitebsk Region Vitaly Vovk, Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Council of Deputies Vladimir Terentiev and Deputy Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee Vladimir Penin.
The rector of the local church, Father Sergiy Vorobyov, was incredibly inspired by the event:
- It became possible thanks to donations from patrons, including the main ones - Nikolai Vasilyevich Martynov, the head of the Marko holding, as well as Belagroprombank. In total, more than ten organizations acted as our sponsors. To everyone involved in this miracle - a huge thank you!
The need for renewal arose a long time ago, because the century wooden churches not long, does not hide the interlocutor. The previous temple was built in 1947, it is not surprising that for more than 70 years the building began to deteriorate. Reconstruction, and, given the scope of work, rather, construction anew, began in October 2017 and was completed by August of this year. They changed everything - from the old rubble foundation to the majestic vaults. At the time of the big construction, the parish was temporarily housed in the chapel of St. Paraskeva Pyatnitsa. Today it was filled with the former decoration of the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord, icons late XVIII-XIX centuries. And for the completely transformed church in Kopys, a new iconostasis was painted. The efforts of local, Orsha, masters were applied to its creation. There is also a special relic, which, most likely, will be transferred to the new temple. This is the Iberian icon Mother of God, which was made not on a wooden, but on a tiled board, Father Sergius shares:
- We associate this with the rich handicraft past of our settlement. In the XVI-XX centuries Kopys was the center of artistic and industrial ceramics. The Iberian Icon of the Mother of God is an eloquent reminder of the former glory of Kopys as a city of unique tiles and tiles.
The church in the name of the Transfiguration of the Lord was built of wood in 1694. It had three altars and was a typical example of a three-tower temple: the central, higher volume was crowned with a dome of light, the lower altar and narthex ended with small cupolas. The church had a large iconostasis measuring 8.9 by 9.25 meters. The room was illuminated by 19 windows. The role of a warm temple was performed by the adjacent Vvedenskaya Church. Nearby was a wooden chapel built in 1910.
The Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord experienced different times, but no matter what happened, it always led to the light. Even in a difficult time for Christianity, the parish was preserved, and the doors of the temple were open.
Recall that Kopys became the first so-called “village of the future” in Belarus. It was here, in the small homeland of Alexander Lukashenko, that a pilot project was launched to improve small settlements. When the President received the village, the local residents asked to build a church. The dreams and hopes of believers have come true: the majestic, revived temple looks into the blue sky.
