Sunday services in church. Divine services in the Orthodox Church: charter, meaning and order. What time does the festive service in the church on Palm Sunday begin and end?

Divine services are an integral part of church life. Orthodox churches are erected for their sake.

The services that take place in the Church are not just a religious act and ritual, but spiritual life itself: especially the Sacrament of the Liturgy. The services are varied, but despite all the diversity they are subject to a fairly clear system.

What services are held in the Church? We tell you the most important things you need to know.

Divine service in the Church of the Three Saints in Paris. Photo: patriarchia.ru

Services in the Church

The liturgical life of the Church consists of three cycles:

• Year circle: where the central holiday is Easter.
• Weekly circle: where the main day is Sunday
• And the daily cycle: in which the central service is the Liturgy.

Actually, the most important thing you need to know about the services is that with all their diversity, the main thing is the Liturgy. It is for her sake that the entire daily cycle exists, and all the services that take place in the temple are “preparatory” for it. (“Preparatory” does not mean secondary, but means that they prepare a Christian for the main thing that can be in his spiritual life - Communion.)

Externally, the services differ from each other in a more or less solemn appearance. For example, the entire priestly rank that is in the temple or monastery, as well as the choir, takes part in the Liturgy. And in the service of the “hours” (essentially, the reading of prayers and certain psalms) there is only a reader and a priest, who at this moment is hidden in the altar.

What services are held in the Church?

The daily cycle of services in the Orthodox Church consists of nine services. Now they are conventionally divided into evening and morning (they take place in churches in the morning or evening, uniting as if into a single evening or morning service), but initially, once upon a time, they were evenly distributed throughout the whole day and night.

At the same time, according to Church tradition, the beginning of the day is considered to be 6 o’clock in the evening. That is why those who are preparing for Communion need to attend the evening services the day before - so that the entire church day will be illuminated by the upcoming Sacrament.

The sacrament of the Liturgy and communion are the center of the entire liturgical circle in the Church. Photo: patriarchia.ru

Today, the liturgical cycle has acquired the following form. (In its full form, it takes place, as a rule, only in monastery churches.)

Evening services:

• 9th hour
• Vespers
• Compline
• Matins
  • (on the eve of Great Holidays or on Saturday evening, evening services are combined into the All-Night Vigil)
• 1st hour

Morning services:

• Midnight Office
• 3rd and 6th hours
• Liturgy

In “parish” churches the circle is usually reduced to the following services:

In the evening: Vespers, Matins
In the morning: Hours and Divine Liturgy

Ideally, Liturgy in any church should take place every day - since worship is not a ritual, but the Breath of the temple. However, in parishes where there is only one priest or not many parishioners, services are held less frequently. At a minimum: on Sundays and...

What are the requirements in the Church?

Requirements are an integral part of church life. These are services that do not have a clear schedule and are served according to need. In particular:

• Prayer service. Congregational prayers on a variety of occasions at various times (and not only in church). For example, a prayer before an important event, or for warriors, or for peace, or for rain in case of a ruthless drought. In some churches, prayer services are held regularly on certain days.
• Baptism.
• Funeral service for the deceased.
• Memorial service: prayer for the ever departed.

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Liturgy is the main Church service. What time does the liturgy begin and how long does it last? Why and when does the liturgy take place in the evening or at night?

Below is the main thing you need to know about the time and duration of the Liturgy in Orthodox churches.

Liturgy takes place in every church

The Divine Liturgy is the central service, since during it the Sacrament of the Eucharist and the Sacrament occur (or rather, the Liturgy itself accompanies these Sacraments). All other services in one way or another precede the Liturgy - although they can take place the night before or even earlier.

Liturgy takes place at least every Sunday

The regularity of services depends on the temple: the location where the temple is located and the number of parishioners. In other words, the Liturgy takes place in the church as often as is actually needed.

Icon of the Mother of God “It is Worthy to Eat” at the Moscow Compound of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra

How long does the liturgy last in church?

The duration of the liturgy may vary depending on the day or temple. But this does not mean that the composition of the service changes radically. For example, on especially solemn days, part of the prayers, which are sometimes read by the reader, are this time sung in chorus.

In addition, how long the liturgy lasts can be influenced by such seemingly insignificant factors as the speed with which the priest and deacon serve: one leads the services faster, the other slower, one reads the Gospel at the same pace, the other more measuredly . And so on.

But speaking in general terms, on days the Liturgy lasts longer than on ordinary days - sometimes up to two hours.

On Easter night or Christmas Liturgy lasts no longer than usual, but the night service itself turns out to be many hours long - since the Liturgy is preceded by a long All-Night Vigil.

Night service in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, photo: patriarchia.ru

What time does morning service start in church?

On the one hand, the answer to this question is most often the same as to the question: “What time does the Liturgy begin,” since in almost all non-monastic churches the only morning service is the Liturgy.

Another thing is that in some churches (where there is only one priest) sometimes it takes place not during the service, but before it, and therefore those who want to confess or receive communion come earlier.

But in monasteries, morning services begin much earlier, since a full daily cycle of services is held there.

For example, before the liturgy in monasteries, the Hours are necessarily read (this is a small service that includes the reading of certain prayers and individual psalms), and on most days a midnight office is also served, which can begin at 6 a.m. or earlier.

In addition, the charter of some monasteries also stipulates, for example, the daily morning reading of akathists, and a prayer rule, which will also take place in the temple. Therefore, in some monasteries, morning services, in fact, stretch for several hours, and the Liturgy, as expected, crowns this cycle.

This does not mean that the laity receiving communion need to be present at all monastic services - they are intended primarily for the inhabitants of the monastery (monks, novices and laborers). The main thing is to come to the beginning of the Liturgy.

What time does the evening service start in church?

As in the case of morning services, the specific start time of the evening service is determined by the charter of the temple or monastery (they can always be found either on the website or on the doors of the temple). As a rule, evening worship begins between 16:00 and 18:00.

The service itself, depending on the day or the foundations of a particular temple, lasts from one and a half hours to three. In monasteries, on special days, evening services can last much longer.

Evening worship is obligatory for those who are going to receive communion the next morning. This is due to the fact that the Church has adopted a daily cycle of services, which begins in the evening, and the morning Liturgy crowns it.

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5. “Let’s hear it” – a call to be especially attentive and focused before reading the Holy Scriptures

Liturgical texts

In addition to texts taken directly from the Bible (proverbs, psalms, hymns, etc.), we find two main types in divine services texts: prayers and chants. Prayers are usually recited or spoken by a bishop or priest and are the center or pinnacle of every liturgical action. They express the meaning of the entire service (prayers at Vespers and Matins) or, when it comes to the sacraments, they perform and perform the sacraments (the Great Eucharistic Divine Liturgy, the permissive prayer of the sacrament of repentance, etc.). Chants form the musical part of the service. considers singing an important expression of our worship (“I sing to my God, even as I am”) and prescribes a wide variety of songs for each service.

The main hymnographic types or forms are:

1. Troparion – a short song that expresses the main theme of the celebrated event (holiday, saint's day, etc.) and glorifies it. For example, the Easter troparion: “Christ is risen from the dead” or the troparion of the Exaltation of the Cross: “Save, O Lord, Thy people.”

2. Kontakion-the same as the troparion, the only difference is in their historical development. Kontakion was formerly a long liturgical poem of 24 ikos; gradually it fell out of liturgical use, surviving only in the form of a short song performed at Matins (after the 6th song of the canon), during the liturgy and on the clock. Every holiday has its own troparion and kontakion.

3. Stichera – belongs to the category of hymns that are sung at certain moments of the service, for example, stichera after the psalm “Lord, I have cried” at Vespers, at Matins – stichera on “Praise,” etc.

4. Canon – large hymnographic form; consists of 9 songs, including several troparia. There are canons for every day of the year, which are sung at Matins, for example, the Easter canon: “Resurrection Day,” the Christmas canon: “Christ is born, glorify.”

In total, there are eight main melodies, or voices for liturgical singing, so that each hymn is performed in a certain voice (for example, “Heavenly King” - on the 6th tone, the Christmas troparion: “Thy Nativity, O Christ God” - on the 4th, Easter canon - on the 1st, etc.). The voice indication always comes before the text. In addition, each week has its own voice, so that eight weeks form a “hymnographic” cycle. In the structure of the liturgical year, the counting of cycles begins on the day of Pentecost.

Holy Temple

The place of worship is called temple. The double meaning of the word “Church”, meaning both the Christian community and the house in which it worships God, already indicates the function and nature of the Orthodox church - to be a place of liturgy, a place where the community of believers reveals itself to be God’s, a spiritual Temple. Orthodox architecture therefore has a liturgical meaning, its own symbolism, which complements the symbolism of worship. It has had a long history of development and exists among different peoples in a wide variety of forms. But the general and central idea is that the temple is heaven on earth, the place where, through our participation in the liturgy of the Church, we enter into communion with future century, with the Kingdom of God.

The temple is usually divided into three parts:

1. Narthex, front part, theoretically in the center of it there should be a baptismal font. The Sacrament of Baptism opens the doors to the newly baptized, introducing him into the fullness of the Church. Therefore, Baptism first took place in the vestibule, and then the new member of the Church was introduced into the Church in a solemn procession.

2. The central part of the temple – this is the meeting place of all believers, the church itself. Here going in the unity of faith, hope and love, in order to glorify the Lord, listen to His teachings, accept His gifts, in order to be admonished, sanctified and renewed in the grace of the Holy Spirit. The icons of saints on the walls, candles and all other decorations have one meaning - the unity of the earthly Church with the Heavenly Church, or rather, their identity. Gathered in the temple, we are a visible part, a visible expression of the entire Church, the head of which is Christ, and the Mother of God, prophets, apostles, martyrs and saints are members, like us. Together with them we form one Body, we are raised to a new height, to the height of the Church in glory - the Body of Christ. This is why the Church invites us to enter the temple “with faith, reverence and fear of God.” For the same reason, the ancients did not allow anyone to attend services except the faithful, that is, those who had already been included in the heavenly reality of the Church by faith and baptism (cf. in the liturgy: “Catechumens, come forth”). To enter, to be together with the saints, is the greatest gift and honor, therefore the temple is the place where we truly accepted to the Kingdom of God.

3. Altar – place throne. The throne is the mystical center of the church. He depicts (reveals, realizes, reveals to us - this is the real meaning of the liturgical image): a) Throne of God to which Christ lifted us up by His glorious Ascension, to which we stand with Him in eternal worship; b) Divine meal to which Christ has called us and where He eternally distributes the food of immortality and eternal life; V) His Altar, where His complete offering is made to God and to us.

All three parts of the temple are decorated icons(images of Christ and saints). The word “decoration” is not entirely appropriate, since icons are more than “decoration” or “art.” They have a sacred and liturgical purpose, they testify to our real communion, unity with “heaven” - the spiritual and glorified state of the Church. Therefore, icons are more than images. According to the teachings of the Orthodox Church, those whom they depict are truly spiritually present, they are spiritual reality, and not just a symbol. Iconography – sacramental art, in which the visible reveals the invisible. This art has its own rules, or "canon", a special method and technique of writing, which have been developed over centuries to express transformed reality. Today people are once again striving to discover the true meaning of icons and to comprehend real iconographic art. But much still needs to be done to remove from our churches cloying and sentimental images that have nothing in common with the Orthodox understanding of the icon.

An Orthodox church, in its form, structure and decoration, is intended for liturgy. The “material” temple should help in building the spiritual temple - the Church of God. But, like everything else, it can never become an end in itself.

Priest and parish

In the Orthodox teaching about the Church (and, consequently, worship, which is the sacred act and expression of the Church), the clergy and the laity cannot be opposed to each other, but they cannot be mixed either. All are laity, the people of God, everyone in it is, first of all, a member of the church body, an active participant in common life. But within the church people there is order of services, Established by God for the correct life of the Church, for the preservation of unity, for fidelity to its Divine purpose. The main ministry is the priesthood, which continues in the Church the priestly ministry of Christ Himself in its three aspects: priesthood(Christ is the High Priest, Who offered Himself as a sacrifice to the Father for the salvation of all), teaching(Christ is the Teacher who teaches us the commandments of the new life) and shepherding(Christ is the Good Shepherd, knowing His sheep and calling each by name.) The unique priesthood of Christ is continued in the Church by the sacred hierarchy, which exists and operates in three ministries - bishop, priest and deacon. The fullness of the priesthood belongs to the bishop, who is the head of the Church. He shares his priestly duties with elders, whom he ordains to be his assistants in administration and to lead individual parishes. The bishop and priests are assisted by deacons who cannot perform the sacraments, but their purpose is to maintain a living connection between the hierarchy and the people. This hierarchical structure or order in the Church is expressed in its worship, each member participating in it according to his calling. The whole Church celebrates the liturgy, and in this common task everyone has his own purpose. It is fitting for a bishop (or priest) to lead the people, bring the prayer of the Church to God and teach the people Divine grace, teaching and gifts of God. When performing the liturgy, he reveals a visible icon of Jesus Christ - Who, as a Man, stands before God, uniting and representing us all, and Who, as God, gives us the Divine gifts of forgiveness, the grace of the Holy Spirit and the food of immortality. Therefore, there can be no liturgy and no service of the Church without a priest, since it is precisely his duty to change or transform the earthly and human assembly into the Church of God, continuing the mediatorial ministry of Christ in it. And there cannot be a liturgy without the people, the community, since it is their prayers and offerings that the priest brings to God, and for this he received the grace of Christ’s priesthood in order to transform the community into the Body of Christ.

“About floating, traveling... captives and about saving them...“remembers everyone who is in difficulty, sick and captive. She must demonstrate and fulfill Christ’s love and His commandment: “I was hungry and you fed Me, I was sick and in prison, and you visited Me” (). Christ identifies Himself with everyone who suffers, and the “test” of a Christian community is whether or not it places helping others at the center of its life.

“May we be delivered from all sorrow, anger and need...” We pray for our own peaceful life in this world and for Divine help in all our affairs.

“Intercede, save, have mercy and preserve us, O God, by Your grace.” The last petition helps to realize that “without Me you can do nothing...” (). Faith reveals to us how completely we depend on the grace of God, on His help and mercy.

“Having remembered our most holy, most pure, most blessed Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary with all the saints, we will give ourselves and each other and our whole life to Christ our God.” The wonderful conclusion of our prayer is a confirmation of our unity in the Church with the Heavenly Church, a wonderful opportunity to give ourselves, each other and our whole lives to Christ.

With the help of the Great Litany, we learn to pray together with her, to perceive her prayer as our own, to pray with her as one whole. It is necessary for every Christian to understand that he comes to Church not for individual, private, separate prayer, but to be truly included in the prayer of Christ.

Antiphons and Entrance

The Great Litany is followed by three antiphon and three prayers. An antiphon is a psalm or song that is sung alternately by two choirs, or two parts of believers. Special antiphons are performed on special days, seasons, and holidays. Their general meaning is joyful praise. The first desire of the Church, gathered to meet the Lord, is joy, and joy is expressed in praise! After each antiphon, the priest reads a prayer. In the first prayer he confesses the incomprehensible glory and power of God, who has given us the opportunity to know Him and serve Him. In the second prayer he testifies that this His meeting of people and His property. In the third prayer, he asks God to grant us in this century, that is, in this life, the knowledge of the Truth, and in the coming century - eternal life.

3 . Reading Apostle.

4 . Singing "Hallelujah" And censing.

5 . Reading the Gospel by a deacon.

6. Sermon priest

Thus, all members of the Church take part in the liturgy of the Word (laity, deacons, priests). The text of Holy Scripture is given to the whole Church, but its interpretation - the special “gift of teaching” - belongs to the priest. Liturgical preaching, which the Church Fathers considered an important and integral part of the Eucharist, is the main thing expression of teaching mission in the church. It cannot be neglected (because, we repeat, preaching is an organic part of preparation for the sacramental part of the Eucharist), one cannot deviate from its only goal: to convey to the people the Word of God, by which the Church lives and grows. It's also a mistake to preach after Eucharist, it essentially belongs to the first instructive part of the service and complements the reading of Holy Scripture.

The Liturgy of the Catechumens ends with a special litany, a prayer of “diligent supplication,” prayers for the catechumens, and the exclamation: “Catechumens, come forth.”

Sublime Litany

The Great Litany and its concluding prayer (“great petition”) differ from the Great Litany; its purpose is to pray for the actual and immediate needs of the community. In the Great Litany, the person praying is called to pray with the Church, combining his needs with the needs of the Church. Here the Church prays with each individual, mentioning the various needs of each and offering her motherly care. Any human need can be expressed here; at the end of the sermon, the priest can announce these special needs (illness of a parish member, or a “silver” wedding, or a school graduation, etc.) and asks to participate in prayers for them. This Litany should express the unity, solidarity and mutual care of all members of the parish.

Prayers for the Catechumens

Prayers for the Catechumens remind us of the golden time in the history of the Church, when mission, i.e., turning unbelievers to Christ, was considered necessary task Churches. “Go therefore, teach all nations” (). These prayers are a reproach to our parishes, immobile, closed and “self-centered” communities, indifferent not only to the general mission of the Church in the world, but even to the general interests of the Church, to everything that does not relate to the direct interests of the parish. Orthodox Christians think too much about “business” (building, investing, etc.) and not enough about mission (about the participation of each community in the common cause of the Church).

The expulsion of the catechumens - the last act - is a solemn reminder of the high calling, the great privilege of being among the faithful, those who, by the grace of Baptism and Confirmation, are sealed as members of the Body of Christ and as such admitted to participate in the great sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ.

Liturgy of the Faithful

Liturgy of the Faithful begins immediately after the removal of the catechumens (in ancient times this was followed by the removal of the excommunicated, who were temporarily not admitted to Holy Communion) with two prayers of the faithful, in which the priest asks God to make the community worthy to offer the Holy Sacrifice: “Make us worthy to be.” At this time he reveals A ntimins on the Throne, meaning preparation for the Last Supper, Antimins (“instead of the table”) is a sign of the unity of each community with its bishop. It bears the signature of the bishop, who gives it to the priest and parish as permission to perform the sacrament. The Church is not a network of freely “united” parishes, it is an organic community of life, faith and love. And the bishop is the basis and guardian of this unity. According to St. Ignatius of Antioch, nothing in the Church should be done without the bishop, without his permission and blessing. “No one should do anything related to the Church without the bishop. Only that Eucharist should be considered true, which is celebrated by the bishop or by those to whom he himself grants it. Where there is a bishop, there must be a people, just as where Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church” (Epistle to Smyrna, ch. 8). Having holy orders, a priest is also representative bishop in the parish, and antimins- a sign that both the priest and the parish are under the jurisdiction of the bishop and, through him, in the living apostolic succession and unity of the Church.

Offering

The Cherubic hymn, the incense of the throne and those praying, the transfer of the Eucharistic gifts to the throne (Great Entrance) constitute the first main movement of the Eucharist: Anaphora, which is the sacrificial act of the Church, sacrificing our lives to God. We often talk about the sacrifice of Christ, but we so easily forget that the sacrifice of Christ requires and presupposes our own sacrifice, or rather, our participation in the sacrifice of Christ, since we are His Body and partakers of His Life. Sacrifice is a natural movement of love, which is the gift of giving oneself, renouncing oneself for the sake of another. When I love someone, my life V the one I love. I give my life to him - freely, joyfully - and this giving becomes the very meaning of my life.

The mystery of the Holy Trinity is the mystery of the perfect and absolute sacrifice, because it is the mystery of Absolute Love. God is Trinity because God exists. The entire Essence of the Father is eternally communicated to the Son, and the entire Life of the Son is in the possession of the Essence of the Father as His own, as the Perfect Image of the Father. And, finally, this is the mutual sacrifice of perfect love, this is the eternal Gift of the Father to the Son, the true Spirit of God, the Spirit of Life, Love, Perfection, Beauty, all the inexhaustible depth of the Divine Essence. The mystery of the Holy Trinity is necessary for a correct understanding of the Eucharist, and first of all its sacrificial property. God so loved the world that gave (donated) His Son to us to bring us back to Himself. The Son of God loved His Father so much that He gave Himself to Him. His whole life was a perfect, absolute, sacrificial movement. He accomplished it as the God-Man, not only according to His Divinity, but also according to His Humanity, which He assumed according to His Divine love for us. In Himself He restored human life to its perfection, as sacrifice of love for God, sacrifice not out of fear, not out of any “benefit”, but out of love. And finally, this perfect life as love, and therefore as a sacrifice, He gave to all who accept Him and believe in Him, restoring in them the original relationship with God. Therefore, the life of the Church, being His life in us and our life in Him, is always sacrificial, she is the eternal movement of love for God. Both the main state and the main action of the Church, which is the new humanity restored by Christ, is Eucharist – an act of love, gratitude and sacrifice.

We can now understand in this first stage of the Eucharistic movement that the Bread and Wine are in anaphora designate us, i.e. our whole life, our whole existence, the whole world created by God for us.

They are ours food, but the food that gives us life becomes our body. By sacrificing it to God, we indicate that our lives are “given” to Him, that we follow Christ, our Head, in His path of absolute love and sacrifice. We emphasize once again that our sacrifice in the Eucharist is not different from Christ’s sacrifice, this is not a new sacrifice. Christ sacrificed Himself, and His sacrifice - complete and perfect - does not require a new sacrifice. But this is precisely the meaning of our Eucharistic offering, that in it we are given the invaluable opportunity to “enter” Christ’s sacrifice, to partake of His only Sacrifice to God. In other words: His one and only perfect Sacrifice made it possible for us - the Church, His body - to be restored and re-accepted into the fullness of true humanity: a sacrifice of praise and love. The one who did not understand the sacrificial nature of the Eucharist, who came get, but not give, did not accept the very spirit of the Church, which, first of all, is the acceptance of Christ’s sacrifice and participation in it.

Thus, in the procession of offering, our very life is brought to the throne, offered to God in an act of love and worship. Truly, “The King of kings and Lord of lords comes to sacrifice and give food to the faithful” (Song of Great Saturday). This is His Entrance as Priest and Sacrifice; and in Him and with Him we are also on the paten, as members of His Body, partakers of His Humanity. “Let us now put aside every care of this life,” the choir sings, and, indeed, aren’t all our cares and worries taken up in this single and ultimate care, which transforms our entire life, in this path of love, which leads us to the Source, Giver and Content of Life?

Until now the movement of the Eucharist has been directed from us to God. This was the movement of our sacrifice. In the matter of bread and wine we brought myself God, sacrificing your life to Him. But from the very beginning this offering was the Eucharist of Christ, the Priest and Head of the new humanity, so Christ is our offering. Bread and wine - symbols of our life and therefore our spiritual sacrifice of ourselves to God - were also symbols of His Offering, His Eucharist to God. We were united with Christ in His only Ascension into Heaven, we were partakers of His Eucharist, being Him, His Body and His people. Now through Him and in Him is our offering accepted. The One Whom we sacrificed – Christ, we now receive: Christ. We have given our lives to Him and now we receive His life as a gift. We united ourselves with Christ, and now He unites Himself with us. The Eucharist now moves in a new direction: now the sign of our love for God becomes the reality of His love for us. in Christ gives Himself to us, making us participants in His Kingdom.

Consecration

The sign of this acceptance and completion is consecration. The path of the Eucharistic ascent ends offering of the Holy Gifts priest: “Thine from Thine bringing Thee...” and the prayer of epiclesis (Invocation of the Holy Spirit), in which we ask God to send down His Holy Spirit and create “This bread is the honorable Body of Thy Christ” and wine in the Chalice "by the precious Blood of Thy Christ" transubstantiating them: "Transformed by Your Holy Spirit."

Holy Spirit performs the action of God, or rather, He embodies this Action. He - Love, Life, Completeness. His descent at Pentecost means the fulfillment, completion and achievement of the entire history of Salvation, its completion. At His coming, the saving work of Christ is communicated to us as a Divine Gift. Pentecost is the beginning of the Kingdom of God, the new age, in this world. lives by the Holy Spirit, in her life everything is achieved by the gift of the Holy Spirit, who comes from God and abides in the Son, from whom we we receive revelation about the Son as our Savior and about the Father as our Father. His perfect action in the Eucharist, in the transubstantiation of our Eucharist into the Gift of Christ to us (hence in Orthodoxy there is a special attitude towards epiclesis, towards calling Holy Spirit) means that the Eucharist is accepted into the Kingdom of God, in the new age of the Holy Spirit.

The transubstantiation of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ takes place on the heavenly Throne in the Kingdom of God, which is beyond the time and “laws” of this world. Transubstantiation itself is the fruit of the Ascension of Christ and the participation of the Church in His Ascension, in His new life. All attempts to “explain” what happens in the Eucharist in terms of matter and “transformations” (the Western doctrine of transsubstance-transformation, unfortunately, sometimes passed off as Orthodox) or in terms of time (“the exact moment of transubstantiation”) are insufficient and futile precisely because that they apply the categories of “this world” to the Eucharist, while the very essence of the Eucharist is outside these categories, but introduces us to dimensions and concepts new century. Transubstantiation occurs not because of some miraculous power left by Christ to some people (priests), who can therefore perform a miracle, but because we are in Christ, i.e. in His Sacrifice of Love, Ascension throughout His entire path to the deification and transubstantiation of His Humanity by His Divine nature. In other words, because we are in His Eucharist and offer Him as our Eucharist to God. And when we So we do as He commanded us, we are accepted where He entered. And when we are accepted, “may you eat and drink at the table in My Kingdom” (). Since the Kingdom of Heaven is Himself, the Divine Life given to us at this heavenly meal, we accept His as new food for our new life. Therefore, the mystery of the Eucharistic Transubstantiation is the mystery of the Church itself, which belongs to the new life and new age in the Holy Spirit. For this world, for which the Kingdom of God is yet to come, for its “objective categories” bread remains bread, and wine remains wine. But in a wonderful, transformed reality Kingdom - open and revealed in the Church - they truly and absolutely the true Body and true Blood of Christ.

Intercessory Prayers

Now we stand before the Gifts in the complete joy of God's presence and prepare for the last act of the Divine Liturgy - the reception of the Gifts in communion. Them However, the last and necessary remains - petition. Christ eternally intercedes for the whole world. He Himself Intercession and Petition. By communing with Him, we, therefore, are also filled with the same love and, just as we accept Him, His service is intercession. It embraces all creation. Standing before the Lamb of God, Who takes upon Himself the sins of the whole world, we first of all remember the Mother of God, St. John the Baptist, apostles, martyrs and saints - countless witnesses new life in Christ. We intercede for them, not because they are in need, but because Christ, to whom we pray, is their Life, their Priest, and their Glory. is not divided into earthly and heavenly, she is one Body, and everything she does, she does on behalf of all Churches and For the whole Church. So prayer is not only an act of atonement, but also of glorifying God, “Wonderful in His Saints,” and of communion with the saints. We begin our prayer by remembering the Mother of God and the saints, because the presence of Christ is also their presence, and the Eucharist is the highest revelation of communion with the saints, of the unity and mutual dependence of all members of the Body of Christ.

Then we pray for the departed members of the Church, “for every righteous soul who has died in the faith.” How far from the true Orthodox spirit are those who consider it necessary to serve “private funeral liturgies” for the repose of individuals as often as possible, as if there could be anything private in the all-embracing Eucharist! It is time for us to realize that the Church should be included in the Eucharist for the dead, and not the other way around: subordinating the Eucharist to the personal needs of individuals. We want our own liturgy for our own needs... What a deep and tragic misunderstanding of the liturgy, as well as the real needs of those for whom we want to pray! Him or her in their current in the state of death, separation and sadness, they especially need to be accepted again and again into that one Eucharist of the Church, into the unity of love, which is the basis of their participation, their belonging to the true life of the Church. And this is achievable in the Eucharist, which reveals. in a new century, in a new life. The Eucharist crosses the hopeless line between the living and the dead, because it is higher than the line between the present age and the age to come. For all “have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (); on the other hand, we are all we live, because the life of Christ is given to us in the Church. Deceased members of the Church are not only the “objects” of our prayers, but by virtue of their membership in the Church they live in the Eucharist, they pray, they participate in the liturgy. Finally, no one can “order” (or buy!) the Liturgy, since the only One who commands is Christ, and he ordered To the Church to offer the Eucharist as an offering of the Whole Body and always “for everyone and everything.” So, although we need liturgy to remember “everyone and everything,” its only real purpose is to unite “everyone and everything” in the love of God.

“About the Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church... about our God-protected country, its authorities and army...”: for all people, about all needs and circumstances. Read in the liturgy of St. Basil the Great prayer of petition, and you will understand the meaning of intercession: the gift of Divine love, which makes us understand, at least for a few minutes, the prayer of Christ, the love of Christ. We understand that real sin and the root of all sin is selfishness, and the liturgy, capturing us in its movement of sacrificial love, reveals to us that true religion, among other things, gives this new amazing opportunity to intercede and pray for others, behind everyone. In this sense, the Eucharist is truly a sacrifice offered for everyone and everything and intercessions are its logical and necessary conclusion.

“First, draw forth, O Lord, the great Master... the right of those who rule, the Word of Thy truth.”

“The Church is in the bishop and the bishop is in the Church,” according to the words of St. Cyprian of Carthage, and when we pray for the bishop for the real welfare of the Church, for its standing in divine truth, for the Church to be the Church of the presence of God, His healing Power, His Love, His Truth. And it would not, as often happens, be a selfish, self-centered community, protecting its human interests instead of the divine purpose for which it exists. The Church so easily becomes an institution, a bureaucracy, a fund for collecting money, a nationality, a public association, and these are all temptations, deviations, perversions of that Truth, which alone should be the criterion, measure, authority for the Church. How often do people who “hunger and thirst for righteousness” do not see Christ in the Church, but see in it only human pride, arrogance, self-love and the “spirit of this world.” All this is the Eucharist judges and condemns. We cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, we cannot stand before the Throne of His presence, sacrifice our lives, praise and worship to God, we cannot be if we have not condemned the spirit of the “prince of this world” in ourselves. Otherwise, what we accept will not lead to our salvation, but to our condemnation. There is no magic in Christianity, and what saves is not belonging to the Church, but the acceptance of the Spirit of Christ, and this Spirit will condemn not only individuals, but congregations, parishes, dioceses. A parish as a human institution can easily replace Christ with something else - the spirit of worldly success, human pride and the "achievements" of the human mind. Temptation is always there; it tempts. And then the one whose sacred duty is always to preach the Word of Truth is obliged to remind the parish of temptations, must condemn in the name of Christ everything that is incompatible with the Spirit of Christ. It is for the clergy to be given courage, wisdom, love and faithfulness that we pray in this prayer.

“And grant us with one mouth and one heart to glorify and glorify Your most honorable and magnificent Name...” One mouth, one heart, one redeemed humanity restored to the love and knowledge of God - this is the ultimate goal of the liturgy, fetus Eucharist: “And may the mercies of the Great God and our Savior Jesus Christ be with you all...” This ends the “second movement”, when He gives Himself to us in Yours incomprehensible mercy. The Eucharistic is over, and we now come to execution everything that the Eucharist has revealed to us, for Communion, that is, for our communion in real.

Communion

Actually, communion includes (1) a preparatory, secret prayer, (2) the Lord’s Prayer, (3) the offering of the Holy Gifts, (4) the crushing of the Holy Bread, (5) the infusion of “warmth” (i.e. hot water) into Cup, (6) communion of the clergy, (7) communion of the laity.

(1) Preparatory secret prayer: “We offer you our entire life and hope.” In both liturgies – St. John Chrysostom and St. Basil the Great - this prayer emphasizes that the communion of the Body and Blood of Christ is the goal of our life and hope; on the other hand, it expresses the fear that we may receive communion unworthily; communion will be “to condemnation” for us. We pray that the sacrament “The imams of Christ are living in our hearts and we will be the Temple of Your Holy Spirit.” This expresses the main idea of ​​the entire liturgy, again confronting us with the meaning of this Sacrament, this time paying special attention to private the nature of the perception of the Mystery, on responsibility, which she imposes on those who partake of her.

We, as the Church of God, were given and commanded to “do” all this, to accomplish the sacrament of Christ’s Presence and the Kingdom of God. Although, as people who form the Church, as individuals and as a human community, we are sinful, earthly, limited, unworthy people. We knew this before the Eucharist (see prayers of the synaxis and prayers of the faithful), and we remember this now when we stand before the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. More than ever we recognize the need for our redemption, healing, cleansing, by being in the glory of Christ's presence.

The Church has always emphasized the importance of personal preparation for communion (see prayers before communion), since each communicant needs to see and evaluate himself, his entire life, when approaching the Sacrament. This preparation should not be neglected; The prayer before communion reminds us of this: “may the communion of Your Holy Mysteries not be for judgment or condemnation, but for the healing of soul and body.”

(2) The Lord's“Our Father” is a preparation for Communion in the deepest sense of the word. Whatever human efforts we make, whatever the degree of our personal preparation and purification, nothing, absolutely nothing can make us worthy Communion, that is, truly ready to receive the Holy Gifts. Anyone who approaches Communion with the consciousness of being right does not understand the spirit of the liturgy and the entire church life. No one can destroy the gap between the Creator and creation, between the absolute perfection of God and the created life of man, nothing and no one except the One who, being God, became Man and united two natures in Himself. The prayer that He gave to His disciples is both the expression and the fruit of this unique and saving action of Christ. This His prayer, for He is the Only Begotten Son of the Father. And He gave it to us because He gave Himself to us. And in No His Father became sewn by the Father, and we can address Him in the words of His Son. Therefore we pray: “And grant us, O Master, with boldness and without condemnation to dare to call upon You, the Heavenly God of the Father, and say the words...” The Lord's Prayer is for the Church and people of God, redeemed by Him. In the early Church it was never communicated to the unbaptized, and even its text was kept secret. This prayer is a new gift prayers in Christ, the expression of our own relationship with God. This gift is our only door to Communion, the only basis for our participation in the holy, and therefore our main preparation for Communion. To the extent that we accepted this prayer, we made it his, we are ready for Communion. This is the measure of our unity with Christ, our being in Him.

“Hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done...” To comprehend everything that is affirmed in these solemn words, to realize the absolute concentration of our entire life in God, expressed in them, to accept the will of Christ as my - this is the purpose of our life in Christ and the life of Christ in us, the condition of our participation in His Cup. Personal preparation leads us to understand this final preparation, and the Lord's Prayer is the conclusion of the Eucharistic Prayer, transforming us into communicants Daily bread.

(3) “Peace to all,” - says the clergyman and then: “Bow your heads to the Lord.” Communion, like the whole life of the Church, is the fruit peace, achieved by Christ. Bowing the head is the simplest, although significant act of worship, the expression of the very obedience. We receive communion in obedience and by obedience. We have no right to Communion. It exceeds all our desires and possibilities. It is a free gift from God and we must receive command Accept him. False piety is very common, because of which people refuse Communion due to their unworthiness. There are priests who openly teach that the laity should not receive communion “too often,” at least “once a year.” This is even sometimes considered an Orthodox tradition. But this is false piety and false humility. In reality this is - human pride. For when a person decides how often he should partake of the Body and Blood of Christ, he sets himself as a measure of both the Divine Gifts and his dignity. This is a crafty interpretation of the words of the Apostle Paul: “Let man test himself” (). The Apostle Paul did not say: “Let him examine himself, and if he is dissatisfied with himself, let him abstain from Communion.” He meant just the opposite: Communion has become our food, and we must live worthy of it so that it does not become a condemnation for us. But we are not free from this condemnation, therefore the only correct, traditional and truly Orthodox approach to Communion is obedience, and this is so well and simply expressed in our preparatory prayers: “I am not worthy, Lord Lord, to come under the roof of my soul, but because You want, as the Lover of Mankind, to live in me, I boldly approach: You command...”. Here is obedience to God in the Church, and commands the celebration of the Eucharist, and will be a great step forward in our understanding of the Church when we understand that the “Eucharistic individualism” that has turned ninety percent of our liturgies into a Eucharist without communicants is the result of perverted piety and false humility.

As we stand with our heads bowed, the priest reads a prayer in which he asks God to grant fruit Communion to each according to his need (in the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom). “Bless, sanctify, keep, establish, bowing your head to You”(liturgy of St. Basil the Great). Each communion is both the end of our movement towards God and the beginning of our renewed life, the beginning of a new path in time, in which we need Christ’s presence for guidance and sanctification of this path. In another prayer he asks Christ: “Look, Lord Jesus Christ. .. stay here invisibly for us. And grant us, by Your sovereign hand, Your Most Pure Body and Honest Blood, and by us, to all people...” The priest takes the Divine bread into his hands and, lifting it, says: "Holy of Holies." This ancient rite is the original form of the call to Communion; it accurately and concisely expresses the antinomy, the supernatural nature of Communion. It forbids anyone who is not holy to partake of Divine Holiness. But no one is holy except the Saint, and the choir answers: "One is Holy, One is Lord." And yet come and receive, because He He sanctified us with His holiness, made us His holy people. Time and time again, the mystery of the Eucharist is revealed as the mystery of the Church - the mystery of the Body of Christ, in which we eternally become what we are called to be.

(4) In the first centuries, she called the entire Eucharistic service “the breaking of bread,” because this rite was central to the liturgical service. The meaning is clear: the same bread, which is given to many, is the One Christ, who became the life of many, uniting them in Himself. “But unite us all, who partake of the one Bread and Cup, to one another in one communion of the Holy Spirit.”(liturgy of St. Basil the Great, prayer for the transubstantiation of the Holy Gifts). Then the priest, breaking the bread, says: “The Lamb of God is broken and divided, broken and undivided, always eaten and never consumed, but sanctifying those who partake.” This is the only source of life that leads everyone to it and proclaims the unity of all people with one Head - Christ.

(5) Taking one particle of the Holy Bread, the priest lowers it into the Holy Chalice, which means our communion of the Body and Blood of the Risen Christ, and pours “warmth” into the Chalice, i.e. hot water. This rite of the Byzantine liturgy is the same symbol life.

(6) Now everything is ready for the last act of the Eucharist - Communion. Let us emphasize again that in the early Church this act was truly the performance of the entire service, the sealing of the Eucharist, our offering, sacrifice and thanksgiving through the participation of the community in it. Therefore, only those who were excommunicated did not receive communion and had to leave the Eucharistic Assembly with the catechumens. Everyone received the Holy Gifts. They transformed her into the Body of Christ. We cannot go into here an explanation of why and when the church-wide liturgical understanding of Communion was replaced by an individualistic understanding, how and when the community of believers became a “non-communicant” community, and why the idea participation, central to the teaching of the Church Fathers, was replaced by the idea presence. This would require a separate study. But one thing is clear: wherever and whenever spiritual revival arose, it was always born and led to a “thirst and hunger” for real participation in the Mystery of Christ’s Presence. We can only pray that in the current crisis, which has deeply affected both the world and the world, Orthodox Christians will see in this the true center of all Christian life, the source and condition for the revival of the Church.

“For the remission of sins and eternal life...” - says the priest, teaching the Gifts to himself and the faithful. Here we find two main aspects, two actions of this Communion: forgiveness, acceptance again into communion with God, admission of fallen man into Divine love - and then the gift of eternal life, the kingdom, the fullness of the “new age”. These two basic needs of man are fulfilled without measure, satisfied by God. Christ brings my life into His and His life into mine, filling me with His love for the Father and for all His brothers.

In this short essay it is impossible even to summarize what the Church Fathers and saints said about their Communion experience, even to mention all the wonderful fruits of this communion with Christ. At the very least, we will point out the most important areas of reflection about the sacrament and efforts to follow the teachings of the Church. The sacrament is given, first, for the remission of sins, and that's why it sacrament of reconciliation, accomplished by Christ through His Sacrifice and given forever to those who believe in Him. Thus, Communion is main food a Christian, strengthening his spiritual life, healing his illness, affirming his faith, making him able to lead a true Christian life in this world. Finally, Communion is a “sign of eternal life”, an expectation of joy, peace and the fullness of the Kingdom, anticipation his Light. Communion is at the same time participation in the suffering of Christ, an expression of our readiness to accept His “way of life,” and participation in His victory and triumph. It is a sacrificial meal and a joyful feast. His Body is broken and Blood is shed, and by communing with Them, we accept His Cross. But “through the Cross joy came into the world,” and this joy is ours when we eat at His table. Communion is given to me personally in order to make me a “member of Christ,” to unite me with all who accept Him, to reveal to me the Church as a unity of love. It unites me with Christ, and through Him I am in communion with all. This is the sacrament of forgiveness, unity and love, the sacrament of the Kingdom.

The clergy receive communion first, then the laity. In modern practice, the clergy - bishops, priests and deacons - receive Holy Communion separately from the Body and Blood at the altar. The laity receive the Holy Gifts at the royal doors from a spoon after the priest has put the Particles of the Lamb into the Chalice. The priest calls the faithful, saying: “Draw near with the fear of God and faith,” and the communicants approach the Divine Table one after another, crossing their arms over their chests. And again procession – response to Divine command and invitation.

After Communion, the last part of the liturgy begins, the meaning of which can be defined as return Churches from heaven to earth, from the Kingdom of God through time, space and history. But we return completely different than we were when we began the path to the Eucharist. We have changed: “By seeing the true Light, by receiving the Heavenly Spirit, I have acquired true faith...” We sing this chant after the priest places the Chalice on the Throne and blesses us: “Save Thy people and bless Thy inheritance.” We came as his people, but we were wounded, tired, earthly, sinful. Over the past week we have experienced the hardships of temptation, we have learned how weak we are, how hopelessly tied to the life of “this world.” But we came with love, and hope, and faith in the mercy of God. We came thirsty and hungry, poor and miserable, and Christ received us, accepted the offering of our miserable life and introduced us into His Divine Glory and made us participants in His Divine Life. “I see the true Light...” We put aside for a while "all cares of this life" and allowed Christ to introduce us in His Ascension to His Kingdom in His Eucharist. Nothing was required of us except the desire to join Him in His Ascension and the humble acceptance of His redeeming love. And He encouraged and comforted us, He made us witnesses of what He had in store for us, He changed our vision so that we saw heaven and earth full of His Glory. He filled us with the food of immortality, we were at the eternal feast of His Kingdom, we tasted joy and peace in the Holy Spirit: “We have received the Heavenly Spirit...” And now time is returning. The time of this world has not yet ended. The hour of our transition to the Father of all life has not yet come. And Christ sends us back as witnesses of what we have seen, to proclaim His Kingdom and continue His work. We must not fear: we are His people and His inheritance; He is in us and we are in Him. We will return to the world knowing that He is near.

The priest raises the Chalice and proclaims: “Blessed are we always, now and ever and unto ages of ages.” He blesses us with the Cup, signifying and assuring us that the risen Lord is with us now, always and forever.

“Let our lips be filled with Your praise, O Lord,” answers - “Keep us in Your Holiness.” Preserve us in the days to come in this wonderful state of holiness and sanctification. Now as we return to daily life, grant us the power to change it.

There follows a short litany and thanks for the Gifts received: “Straighten our path, establish everything in Your fear, guard our belly, establish our feet...” The return is accomplished when the priest leaves the altar with the words: “We will depart in peace!” joins those praying and reads the prayer behind the pulpit. Like at the beginning of the liturgy entrance the priest to the altar and the ascent to the Holy See (high place) expressed the Eucharistic movement up, so now the return to the believers expresses care, return of the Church to the world. This also means that the priest's eucharistic movement is over. Fulfilling the Priesthood of Christ, the priest led us to the heavenly Throne, and from this Throne he made us partakers of the Kingdom. He was to fulfill and realize the eternal mediation of Christ.

Through His humanity we rise to heaven, and through His Divinity God comes to us. Now all this is accomplished. Having accepted the Body and Blood of Christ, seeing the Light of Truth and becoming partakers of the Holy Spirit, we are truly His people and His property. The priest at the Throne has nothing more to do, because she herself has become the Throne of God and the Ark of His Glory. Therefore, the priest joins the people and leads them as shepherd and teacher back into the world to fulfill the Christian mission.

When we're ready depart in peace, that is, in Christ and with Christ, we ask in our last prayer that fullness of the Church, so that the Eucharist, brought by us and of which we partook and which again revealed the fullness of Christ's presence and life in the Church, will be observed and preserved intact until we come together again and, in obedience to the Lord of the Church, again begin our ascent into His Kingdom, which will reach its fulfillment at the Coming of Christ in Glory.

There is no better conclusion to this brief study of the Divine Liturgy than the prayer of St. Basil the Great, read by the priest during the consumption of the Holy Gifts: “The mystery of Thy divine vision has been fulfilled and perfected, according to our strength, O Christ our God; For I have the memory of Your death, having seen the image of Your Resurrection, I am filled with Your endless food, so that in the future I will be honored with the grace of Your beginningless Father, and Your Holy, and Good, and Life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen".

And when we leave the church and re-enter our daily life, the Eucharist remains with us as our secret joy and confidence, a source of inspiration and growth, victory overcoming evil, Presence, which makes our whole life life in Christ.

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

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

In their external structure, the temples of God differ from other ordinary buildings. The main entrance to the temple is always from the west, that is, from the side where the sun sets; and the most important part of the temple, the altar, always faces east, to the side where the sun is in the morning. This is how God’s churches are built for the purpose of reminding Orthodox Christians that from the east the Christian faith spread throughout the universe; to the east of us, in the land of Judea, the Lord Jesus Christ lived for our salvation.

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

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

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

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

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

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

On the left side of St. The throne is usually located in the altar of St. altar, less important than St. throne. It is intended for preparing bread and wine for the sacrament of communion and is reminiscent of the Bethlehem cave, the deposit of the Savior and the Holy Sepulcher.

For St. the throne, between it and the eastern wall of the altar, the place is called the mountain, or an exalted place, and means the seat of the Lord and His sitting at the right hand of God the Father. In the middle of it no one can sit or stand except the bishop, depicting Christ Himself. Between St. the throne and the royal doors can pass through, and then only for sacred rites, persons consecrated, such as deacons, priests, bishops. Clergymen, much less any of the laity, cannot walk there, as a sign of respect for the path along which His saints pass. gifts King of glory, Lord.

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

The Annunciation of the Archangel St. is depicted on the royal doors. Virgin Mary, because from the day of the Annunciation the entrance to paradise, lost by people for their sins, is open to us. St. is also depicted on the royal doors. evangelists, because only thanks to the evangelists, these witnesses of the Savior’s life, we know about the Lord Jesus Christ, about the salvation of His coming for us to inherit heavenly life. The Evangelist Matthew is depicted with an angelic man. This expresses the distinctive property of his Gospel, namely, that the Evangelist Matthew preaches in his Gospel primarily about the incarnation and humanity of Jesus Christ by descent from the line of David and Abraham. The Evangelist Mark is depicted with a lion as a sign that he began his Gospel with a narrative about the life of the Baptist John in the desert, where, as is known, lions live. The Evangelist Luke is written with a calf to also remind us of the beginning of his Gospel, which first of all tells about the priest Zechariah, the parent of St. Forerunners, and the duty of the Old Testament priests mainly consisted of sacrificing calves, sheep, etc. The Evangelist John is depicted with an eagle to mean that by the power of the Spirit of God, like an eagle soaring under heaven, he was exalted in his spirit to depict the Divinity of the Son of God, whose life on earth he described visually and in accordance with the truth.

The side door of the iconostasis on the left side of the royal gates is called the northern door, the door on the right side of the same gate is called the southern door. Sometimes the holy archdeacons are depicted on them with the instruments of their suffering: Stephen, Lawrence, because through these doors the deacons have entrance to the altar. And sometimes angels and other holy people are depicted on the northern and southern doors, of course, for the purpose of pointing us to the prayers of St. saints of God, through whom we will eventually be awarded entry into heavenly villages.

Above the royal doors, for the most part, there is an icon of the Last Supper to remind of that Zion upper room great And covered, where the Lord established the sacrament of communion, which continues to this day in St. altars of our churches.

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

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

On all icons of the Savior, three letters are written in His crowns: w, O, H. These letters are Greek, meaning that He- existing, eternal. Since the time the faith of Christ was brought from Greece to Russia, Christian antiquity has not changed these letters to Slavic ones, of course, out of respect and memory for the country from which we were enlightened by the faith of Christ. There is a legend that the icons of the Mother of God and the apostle. Peter and Paul were written by the evangelist Luke. When her first icon was brought to the Mother of God, the Queen of Heaven and Earth was pleased to say the following consoling words: with this image may the grace and power of My Son and Mine be. Several icons of the Mother of God are attributed to Evangelist Luke, of which the best known are: Smolenskaya, located in the Smolensk Cathedral, and Vladimirskaya, located in the Moscow Assumption Cathedral. On each icon of the Mother of God four letters are written under the titles: m r. Oh. These are again the Greek words in abbreviation: Mithir Feu, And they mean in Russian: Mother of God. We bow to icons not as God, but as St. images of Christ, Most Rev. Mother of God and St. pleasers. The honor of icons goes to the one whom it depicts; whoever worships an image worships what is depicted on it. As a sign of special reverence for God, the Mother of God and St. saints of God, depicted on St. icons, they are decorated with metal vestments, pure wax candles are placed in front of them, oil is burned and incense is burned. A burning candle and lighted oil in front of the icon mean our love for the Lord, Most Holy. Theotokos and St. saints of God depicted on icons. Venting before icons, in addition to reverence, serves as a sign of offering our prayers to God and St. His saints. May my prayer be corrected, like incense before You! This is how a Christian prays to God together with the entire Church.

The place elevated by several steps between the choirs is called salty. Pulpit on the solea it is arranged opposite the royal doors for the offering of litanies and the reading of St. gospel; This is also where teachings are given. The pulpit resembles the stone of the Holy Sepulcher and an angel sitting on the stone preaching about the resurrection of Christ. No one stands on the pulpit except those ordained to the priesthood.

Banners are erected near the choirs, which signify the victory of Christianity over idolatry. They have become part of every Orthodox church since the time of the Roman Tsar, Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine, when the Christian faith was declared free from persecution.

Of the sacred vessels, the following are of greater significance: chalice And paten. Both are used during the liturgy during the celebration of the sacrament of communion. From the chalice we are honored by means of a spoon to receive the body and blood of Christ under the guise of bread and wine. The chalice resembles that St. the cup from which the Lord communed with His disciples at the Last Supper.

The paten, usually visible to us on the head of the deacon during the liturgy, when the saints are transferred. gifts from the altar to St. throne. Since part of the prosphora, or a lamb, is placed on the paten, in remembrance of the Lord Jesus Christ, the paten depicts either the manger in which the born Savior was laid, or the Holy Sepulcher, in which the most pure body of our Lord lay after death.

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

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

Copy, by which St. the lamb and parts are taken out from other prosphoras, resembles the spear with which the body of our Savior was pierced on the cross.

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

Divine services of the Orthodox Church in ancient times were performed throughout the day nine times, that’s why there were all nine church services: ninth hour, vespers, compline, midnight office, matins, first hour, third and sixth hours, and mass. Currently, for the convenience of Orthodox Christians, who do not have the opportunity to visit the temples of God so often due to home activities, these nine services are combined into three church services: Vespers, Matins and Mass. Each individual service includes three church services: at vespers the ninth hour, vespers and compline entered; Matins consists of Midnight Office, Matins and the first hour; mass begins at the third and sixth hours and then the liturgy itself is celebrated. For hours These are short prayers, during which psalms and other prayers appropriate for these times of the day are read for mercy on us sinners.

The liturgical day begins in the evening on the basis that at the creation of the world there was first evening, and then morning. After vespers Usually the service in the church is dedicated to a holiday or saint, whose remembrance is performed on the next day according to the arrangement in the calendar. On every day of the year, either some event from the earthly life of the Savior and the Mother of God or one of the saints is remembered. saints of God. In addition, each day of the week is dedicated to a special memory. On Sunday a service is held in honor of the risen Savior; on Monday we pray to St. angels, on Tuesday is remembered in the prayers of St. John, the Forerunner of the Lord, on Wednesday and Friday a service is held in honor of the life-giving cross of the Lord, on Thursday - in honor of St. Apostles and St. Nicholas, on Saturday - in honor of all saints and in memory of all departed Orthodox Christians.

The evening service is held to thank God for the past day and to ask for God's blessing for the coming night. Vespers consists of three services. Read first ninth hour in memory of the death of Jesus Christ, which the Lord accepted according to our reckoning of time at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, and according to the Jewish reckoning of time at 9 o’clock in the afternoon. Then the most evening service, and is accompanied by Compline, or a series of prayers that Christians read after the evening, at nightfall.

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

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

In this order, divine services are performed on weekdays; but on some days of the year this order changes, for example: on the days of the Nativity of Christ, Epiphany, on Maundy Thursday, on Good Friday and Great Saturday and on Trinity Day. On Christmas and Epiphany Eve watch(1st, 3rd and 9th) are performed separately from mass and are called royal in memory of the fact that our pious kings are in the habit of coming to this service. On the eve of the holidays of the Nativity of Christ, the Epiphany of the Lord, on Maundy Thursday and on Holy Saturday, mass begins with Vespers and is therefore celebrated from 12 noon. Matins on the feasts of Christmas and Epiphany are preceded by Great Compline. This is evidence that the ancient Christians continued their prayers and singing throughout the night on these great holidays. On Trinity Day, after mass, Vespers is immediately celebrated, during which the priest reads touching prayers to the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Holy Trinity. And on Good Friday, according to the charter of the Orthodox Church, to strengthen the fast, there is no mass, but after hours, performed separately, at 2 o’clock in the afternoon, vespers is served, after which the funeral service is carried out from the altar to the middle of the church shroud Christ, in remembrance of the taking down of the body of the Lord from the cross by the righteous Joseph and Nicodemus.

During Lent, on all days except Saturday and Sunday, the location of church services is different than on weekdays throughout the year. Departs in the evening Great Compline, on which in the first four days of the first week the touching canon of St. Andrei Kritsky (mephimons). Served in the morning Matins, according to its rules, similar to ordinary, everyday matins; in the middle of the day the 3rd, 6th and 9th are read watch, and joins them vespers. This service is usually called for hours.

Most often during worship we hear litanies pronounced by a deacon or priest. A litany is a drawn-out, fervent prayer to the Lord God for our needs. Litany four: great, small, severe and supplicant.

The litany is called great by the number of petitions with which we turn to the Lord God; Each petition ends with singing on the choir: Lord have mercy!

The Great Litany begins with the words: let us pray to the Lord in peace. With these words, the priest invites believers to pray to the Lord, making peace with everyone, as the Lord commands.

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

Let us pray to the Lord for the peace of the whole world, for the welfare of God’s holy churches and the unity of all; With these words we ask God to send us harmony, friendship among ourselves, so that we avoid quarrels and enmities that are contrary to God, so that no one offends the churches of God, and so that all non-Orthodox Christians who have separated from the Orthodox Church unite with it.

About this holy temple, and those who enter it with faith, reverence and fear of God(in that) Let's pray to the Lord. Here we pray for the temple in which the service is performed; It must be remembered that the Holy Church deprives of its prayers those who immodestly and inattentively enter and stand in the temple of God.

About the Most Holy Governing Synod, and about His Eminence(Name), Let us pray to the Lord for honorable presbytery, deaconship in Christ, for all the clergy and people. The Holy Synod is a meeting of archpastors who are entrusted with the care of the Orthodox Greek-Russian Church. Presbytery is the name of the priesthood - priests; diaconate - deacons; The church clergy are the clergy who sing and read in the choir.

Then we pray for the Sovereign Emperor and His Consort, the Empress
Empress, and about to all the Royal House, that the Lord subdue all our enemies to our Sovereign, scold those who want.

Man's sin not only removed him from God, destroying all the faculties of his soul, but also left its dark traces in all surrounding nature. We pray in the Great Litany for the blessing of the air, for the abundance of the fruits of the earth, for times of peace, for those floating, traveling, sick, suffering, captives, for delivering us from anger and from all needs.

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

The litany ends with the exclamation of the priest: for all glory is due to You and so on.

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

The special litany begins with the words: everyone smiles, i.e. Let's say everything, with all our hearts and with all our thoughts. What we will say is complemented by the singers, namely: Lord have mercy!

The name “pure” was given to this litany because after the petition of the priest or deacon it is sung three times: Lord have mercy! Only after the first two requests Lord have mercy! sung once at a time. This litany begins once after Vespers and once before Matins with the third petition: have mercy on us, God! The last petition in the special litany reads like this: We also pray for those who are fruitful and virtuous in this holy and all-honorable temple, those who work, sing and stand before us, expecting great and rich mercy from You. In the first times of Christianity, pilgrims brought various aids to the Church of God for church services and divided them among the poor people; they also took care of the temple of God: these were fruit bearing And virtuous. Now zealous Christians can do no less good through brotherhoods, guardianships, and shelters, established in many places at the churches of God. The toiling, the singing…. These are people who care about the splendor of the church through their work, as well as through intelligible reading and singing.

There is also Litany of Petition, so called because most of the petitions in it end with the words: we ask the Lord. The chorus answers: give it, Lord! In this litany we ask: day of all things perfect, holy, peaceful and sinless - the angel is peaceful ( not formidable, giving peace to our souls), faithful mentor ( guiding us to salvation), guardian of our souls and bodies - forgiveness and forgiveness of sins and transgressions ( falls caused by our inattention and absent-mindedness) ours, - kind and useful to our souls and the world, - the rest of our life in peace and repentance, - Christian death(bring true repentance and receive Holy Communion ) painless ( without severe suffering, with preservation of a sense of self-awareness and memory), not shameful(not shameful) peaceful(characteristic of pious people who part with this life with a peaceful conscience and a calm spirit) and a good answer at the terrible judgment of Christ. After the exclamation, the priest, turning to the people with a blessing, says: peace to all! That is, let there be peace and harmony between all people. The choir responds with mutual goodwill, saying: and to your spirit, i.e. We wish the same for your soul.

Deacon's exclamation: bow your heads to the Lord reminds us that all believers are committed to bowing their heads in submission to God. At this time, the priest, through prayer read secretly, brings down the blessing of God from the throne of grace to those who are coming; therefore, whoever does not bow his head before God is deprived of His grace.

If the litany of petition is read at the end of Vespers, then it begins with the words: let us fulfill our evening prayer to the Lord, and if it is said at the end of Matins, then it begins with the words: Let us fulfill our morning prayer to the Lord.

At Vespers and Matins various sacred songs are sung, called stichera. Depending on the time of the service the stichera are sung, they are called stichera I cried to the Lord or stichera on a poem, sung at Vespers after the litany of petition, if there is no litia; also called stichera laudable; which are usually sung before great doxology.

Troparion there is a sacred song, in brief but powerful terms, reminding us of either the history of the holiday or the life and deeds of the saint; sung at vespers after Now you let go, after the morning after God the Lord and appear to us... and reads on the clock after the psalms.

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

Prokeimenon. This is the name of a short verse from a psalm, which is sung in the choir several times alternately, for example: The Lord reigns, clothed in beauty(i.e. Dressed in splendor). Prokeimenon sung after The light is quiet and at Matins before the Gospel, and at Mass before readings from the books of the Apostles.

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

This service is called so because in ancient times it began in the evening and ended in the morning, therefore, the entire pre-holiday night was spent by believers in church in prayer. And nowadays there are such saints. monastery, where the all-night vigil continues for about six hours from its beginning.

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

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

The beginning of the all-night vigil takes place like this: the royal doors open, the priest with a censer and the deacon with a candle cense the St. altar; then the deacon speaks from the pulpit: arise, God bless! The priest says: glory to the holy, consubstantial, life-giving and indivisible Trinity always, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Then the priest calls on the faithful to worship Christ the King and our God; The singers sing selected passages from Psalm 103: Bless the Lord, my soul... Lord my God, you are greatly exalted ( i.e. Very) ... There will be waters on the mountains... Wonderful are Your works, O Lord! With wisdom you have created all things!...Glory to Thee, O Lord, who created all things. Meanwhile, the priest and the deacon, having censed the altar, go around the entire church with a censer and cense St. icons and worshipers; after this, towards the end of the singing of Psalm 103, they enter the altar, and the royal doors are closed.

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

After the litany, we hear the singing of the first psalm of King David: Blessed is the man who does not follow the counsel of the wicked, and the way of the wicked will perish, work(serve) Fear the Lord and rejoice in Him with trembling; Blessed are all who hope nan ( on him) . Arise, Lord, save me, my God; Salvation is the Lord's, and Your blessing is upon Your people.. Selected passages from this psalm are sung in order to depict both the sorrowful thoughts of our forefather Adam on the occasion of his fall, and the advice and admonitions with which our forefather Adam addresses his descendants in the words of King David. Each verse from this psalm is separated by an angelic doxology hallelujah what does it mean from Hebrew praise God.

After the small litany, two touching prayers are sung to the Lord God: Lord, I called to You, hear me. Hear me, Lord, Lord, I have cried to You, hear me; Hear the voice of my prayer, always cry to You, hear me, Lord! ( Psalm. 140)

May my prayer be corrected as incense before You, the lifting of my hand as an evening sacrifice. Hear me, Lord!

May my prayer come like incense before You; the raising of my hands shall be the evening sacrifice. Hear me, Lord!

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

When those who follow the singing sing Lord I cried prayers called stichera, is accomplished evening entrance.

It is performed as follows: during the last stichera in honor of the Mother of God, the royal doors are opened, first the candle-bearer with a burning candle leaves the altar with a burning candle, then the deacon with a censer and the priest. The deacon censes St. icons of the iconostasis, and the priest stands on the pulpit. After singing the Theotokos hymn, the deacon stands at the royal doors and, depicting the cross as a censer, proclaims: wisdom, forgive me! The singers respond with the following touching song of the holy martyr Athenogenes, who lived in the 2nd century after Christ:

Quiet light of holy glory, Immortal Father in heaven, Holy, Blessed, Jesus Christ! Having come to the west of the sun, having seen the evening light, we sing of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit of God. Thou art worthy at all times to sing the voices of reverends, O Son of God, giving life: with the same the world glorifies Thee.

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

What does the evening entrance signify? Taking out the candle means the appearance before the coming of Christ by St. John the Baptist, whom the Lord Himself called lamp. The priest, during the evening entrance, depicts the Savior who came into the world to atone for the guilt of man before the Lord. Deacon's words: wisdom forgive me! They instill in us that we must, with special attention, standing observe sacred actions, praying to the Lord to forgive us all our sins.

While singing The light is quiet the priest enters the altar, kisses St. throne and stands on a high place, turning his face to the people. With this action he depicts the ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven and His enthronement in all glory over the world, therefore the singers follow the singing The light is quiet sing: The Lord reigned and clothed himself with beauty, i.e. That Jesus Christ, after His ascension, reigned over the world and was clothed in beauty. This verse is taken from the psalms of King David and is called the prokeemne; it is always sung on Sunday. On other days of the week, other prokeimnas are sung, also taken from the psalms of David.

After the prokemna, on the twelfth and Mother of God holidays and on holidays in honor of the holy saints of God, especially those revered by us, we read proverbs, or small three readings from the books of the Old and New Testaments appropriate for the holidays. Before each proverb the exclamation of the deacon wisdom indicates the important content of what is being read, and with the deacon’s exclamation let's remember! It is suggested that we should be attentive while reading and not be mentally entertained by foreign objects.

Litiya and blessing of the loaves

Following the strict and petitionary litanies, sometimes on more solemn holidays a litany and blessing of the loaves are performed.

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

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

The first part of the all-night vigil ends with the words of the priest: The blessing of the Lord be upon you, by grace and love for mankind always, now and ever and unto ages of ages, amen.

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

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

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

After the great litany, pronounced during the Six Psalms, a verse from the psalms of King David is sung four times: God is the Lord and has appeared to us, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, indicating the appearance of the Savior to people as a Teacher and Wonderworker.

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

Kathismas- these are the sections of the psalms of the king and the prophet David, which are the sections in Psalter 20. These sections of the psalms are called kathisma, because while reading them, those praying in the church are allowed to sit. Word kathisma from Greek it means seat. Each day a different kathisma is read, so that over the course of a week the entire psalter is read.

After each kathisma, a small litany is pronounced by the clergyman. Then the most solemn part of the all-night vigil begins, called polyeleos much mercy, or a lot of oil. The royal doors open, large candles in front of St. The icons that were extinguished during the reading of the sixth psalm and kathisma are rekindled, and a song of praise to God from Psalms 134 and 135 is sung on the choir: Praise the name of the Lord, praise the servants of the Lord, hallelujah! Blessed be the Lord from Zion(where in ancient times there was a tabernacle and a temple) alive in Jerusalem, hallelujah! Confess to the Lord ( confess your sins) as good ( because He is good) for His mercy endures forever, hallelujah! Confess to the God of heaven that He is good, that His mercy endures forever, hallelujah! The priest and the deacon perform censing throughout the church. The opened royal gates signify to us that an angel has rolled away the stone from the Holy Sepulcher, from where a new eternal life has shone for us, full of spiritual joy and joy. The clergy walking around the church with a censer reminds us of St. the myrrh-bearers who went to the tomb of the Lord on the night of the resurrection of Christ to anoint the body of the Lord, but received joyful news from an angel about the resurrection of Christ.

On Sundays, after singing the laudatory verses of Psalms 134 and 135, in order to better impress upon those praying the thought of the resurrection of Christ, troparia are sung, in which the reason for our joy about the resurrection of Christ is expressed. Each troparion begins with words glorifying the Lord: blessed art thou, Lord, teach me by thy justification(i.e., Your Commandments). The Sunday polyeleos ends with the reading of St. Gospel about one of the appearances of the risen Savior. The Holy Gospel is carried into the middle of the church, and the believers kiss the Holy Gospel. the Gospel, having (at the same time) in mind all the benefits of the risen Lord. At this time, the choir sings a song of invitation to worship the resurrection of Christ:

Having seen the Resurrection of Christ, let us worship the Holy Lord Jesus, the only sinless one. We worship Your Cross, O Christ, and we sing and glorify Your holy resurrection: for You are our God; isn't it(except) We don’t know anything else for You, we call Your name. Come, all the faithful, let us worship the Holy Resurrection of Christ. Xie(Here) For joy has come to the whole world through the cross, always blessing the Lord, we sing His resurrection: having endured crucifixion, destroy death through death.

The polyeleos on the twelfth feasts and feast days of the holy saints of God differs from the Sunday polyeleos in that after the laudatory verses of Psalms 134 and 135, the clergy go to the middle of the temple, where the icon of the holiday is placed on a lectern, and a magnification is sung, with verses in honor of St. the myrrh-bearing women are not sung. The Gospel is read, having application to the day of the holiday; worshipers in the temple kiss St. the icon on the analogue and are anointed with the oil consecrated during the litia, but not St. peace, as some in ignorance call this oil.

After reading the Gospel and a prayer to the Lord God for mercy on us sinners, usually read by a deacon before the icon of the Savior, we sing canon, or a rule for glorifying God and the saints and for asking for God’s mercy through the prayers of God’s holy saints. The canon consists of 9 sacred songs, modeled after those Old Testament songs that were sung by righteous people, starting with the prophet Moses and ending with the parent of the Baptist John, the priest Zechariah. Every song is sung at the beginning irmos(in Russian - connection), and at the end confusion(in Russian - convergence). Name of the song chaos accepted because, according to the regulations, both choirs come together to sing it. The content of irmos and katavasia is taken from those songs on the model of which the entire canon is compiled.

Song 1 is modeled after the song that the prophet Moses sang after the miraculous passage of the Jewish people through the Red Sea.

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

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

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

Song 5 of the canon contains thoughts taken from the song of the prophet Isaiah.

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

The 7th and 8th songs are modeled after the song sung by the three Jewish youths after their miraculous deliverance from the kindled Babylonian furnace.

After the 8th song of the canon, the song of the Mother of God is sung, divided into several verses, after which the song is chanted: The most honorable cherub and the most glorious seraphim without comparison, without corruption(disease) Who gave birth to God the Word, the real Mother of God, we magnify You.

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

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

Matins, the second part of the all-night vigil, ends with a deep and petitionary litany and dismissal, usually pronounced by the priest from the open royal doors.

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

To the chosen victorious Voivode, for having been delivered from the evil ones, let us sing thanksgiving to Thy servants, the Mother of God. But as you have an invincible power, free us from all troubles, and let us call to You: Rejoice, unmarried Bride.

To You, who prevails in battle (or war), we, Your servants, the Mother of God, offer songs of victory (solemnity), and as those delivered by You from evil, songs of gratitude. And you, as having invincible power, deliver us from all troubles, so that we cry to you: Rejoice, Bride, who has no groom among men.

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

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

After the Lord’s ascension, His disciples and followers carried out His will exactly. They spent time in prayer, reading divine scriptures and receiving Holy Communion. the body and blood of the Lord, or something similar, performed the liturgy. The most ancient and original order of the liturgy is attributed to St. to the Apostle James, the first bishop of Jerusalem. Until the fourth century after the Nativity of Christ, the liturgy was performed without being written down by anyone, but the order of its celebration was passed on from bishop to bishop and from them to the presbyters, or priests. In the fourth century St. Basil, Archbishop of Caesarea of ​​Cappadocia for his spiritual wisdom and works for the benefit of St. Church of Christ nicknamed Great, wrote down the order of the liturgy as it came down from the apostles. Since the prayers in the Liturgy of Basil the Great, usually read secretly in the altar by the performer, are long, and as a result of this the singing was slow, then St. John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, called Chrysostom for his eloquence, noticing that many Christians did not stand through the entire liturgy, shortened these prayers, which made the liturgy shorter. But the liturgy of Basil the Great and the liturgy of John Chrysostom in their essence do not differ from one another. The Holy Church, condescending to the weaknesses of the believers, decided to celebrate the Liturgy of Chrysostom throughout the year, and the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great is celebrated on those days when we need intense prayer on our part for mercy on us. So, this last liturgy is celebrated on 5 Sundays of Great Lent, except for Palm Sunday, on Thursday and Saturday of Holy Week, on Christmas Eve and Epiphany Eve and in memory of St. Basil the Great, January 1, upon entering the new year of life.

Chrysostom's Liturgy consists of three parts that have different names, although this division is during mass and is invisible to the person praying. 1) Proskomedia, 2) Liturgy of the Catechumens and 3) Liturgy of the Faithful - these are the parts of the mass. During the proskomedia, bread and wine are prepared for the sacrament. During the Liturgy of the Catechumens, the faithful, through their prayers and the clergy, prepare to participate in the sacrament of communion; During the Liturgy of the Faithful, the sacrament itself is celebrated.

Proskomedia is a Greek word, what does it mean? bringing. The first part of the liturgy is called so from the custom of ancient Christians to bring bread and wine to church to perform the sacrament. For the same reason this bread is called prosphora, which means from Greek offering. Five prosphoras are consumed at proskomedia in memory of the Lord’s miraculous feeding of 5,000 people with 5 loaves. Prosphoras are made in two parts in appearance in memory of the two natures in Jesus Christ, divine and human. At the top of the prosphora there is a depiction of St. a cross with the following words inscribed in its corners: Ic. Xp. neither. ka. These words mean Jesus Christ, the Conqueror of death and the devil; neither. ka. The word is Greek.

Proskomedia is performed as follows. The priest and the deacon, after praying in front of the royal doors for cleansing them from sins and for giving them strength for the upcoming service, enter the altar and put on all sacred clothes. The vesting ends with the washing of the hands as a sign of the spiritual and physical purity with which they begin to serve the liturgy.

Proskomedia is performed on the altar. The priest uses a copy of the prosphora to highlight the cubic portion required to perform the sacrament, with the recollection of prophecies relating to the Nativity of Christ and the suffering of Jesus Christ. This part of the prosphora is called the Lamb, because it represents the image of the suffering Jesus Christ, just as before the Nativity of Christ He was represented by the Passover lamb, which the Jews, by the command of God, slaughtered and ate in memory of deliverance from destruction in Egypt. The Holy Lamb is placed by the priest on the paten in memory of the saving death of Jesus Christ and is cut from below into four equal parts. Then the priest thrusts a spear into the right side of the Lamb and pours wine combined with water into the chalice in memory of the fact that when the Lord was on the cross, one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and blood and water flowed out of the pierced side.

A Lamb is placed on the paten in the image of the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of heaven and earth. The church hymn sings: Where the King comes, there is His order. Therefore, the Lamb is surrounded by many particles taken from other prosphoras in honor and glory of the Most Holy Theotokos and the holy people of God, and in memory of all people, both living and dead.

The Queen of Heaven, the Most Holy Mother of God, is closest to the throne of God and constantly prays for us sinners; as a sign of this, from the second prosphora prepared for the proskomedia, the priest takes out a portion in memory of the Most Holy Theotokos and places it on the right side of the Lamb.

After this, on the left side of the Lamb are placed 9 parts taken from the 3rd prosphora in memory of 9 ranks of saints: a) John the Forerunner of the Lord, b) prophets, c) apostles, d) saints who served God in the rank of bishop, e) martyrs, f) saints who achieved holiness through life in St. monasteries and deserts, g) those without money who received from God the power to heal the illnesses of people, and for this they did not take a reward from anyone, h) the daily saints according to the calendar, and the saint whose liturgy is celebrated, Basil the Great or John Chrysostom. At the same time, the priest prays that the Lord, through the prayers of all the saints, will visit people.

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

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

The prosphoras, from which parts were taken out to be placed on the paten, in memory of saints and Orthodox Christians, living and dead, are worthy of a reverent attitude on our part.

Church history presents us with many examples from which we see that Christians who reverently ate prosphora received sanctification and help from God in illnesses of soul and body. The Monk Sergius, being incomprehensible in the sciences as a child, through eating part of the prosphora given to him by one pious elder, became a very smart boy, so that he was ahead of all his comrades in the sciences. The history of the Solovetsky monks tells that when a dog wanted to swallow a prosphora lying accidentally on the road, fire came out of the ground and thereby saved the prosphora from the beast. This is how God protects His shrine and thereby shows that we should treat it with great reverence. You need to eat prosphora before other food.

It is very useful for them to remember the living and dead members of the Church of Christ during the proskomedia. The particles taken from the prosphora at the divine proskomedia for the commemorated souls are immersed in the life-giving blood of Christ, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all evil and is powerful to beg from God the Father for everything we need. Saint Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow, of blessed memory, once before he was preparing to serve the Liturgy, another time, just before the start of the Liturgy, they asked him to pray for some sick people. At the liturgy, he took out parts from the prosphora for these sick people, and they, despite the doctors’ sentence to death, recovered (“Soul Floor. Read.” 1869 Jan. Dept. 7, p. 90). St. Gregory the Dvoeslov tells how a deceased person appeared to a pious priest well-known in his time and asked to remember him at mass. To this request, the one who appeared added that if the sacred sacrifice alleviated his fate, then as a sign of this he would no longer appear to him. The priest fulfilled the demand, and no new appearance followed.

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

When the commemoration is completed, the proskomedia ends with a star placed on the paten, and it and the chalice are covered with covers of a common veil, called air. At this time, the altar is censed and a prayer is read by the priest, so that the Lord will remember all those who brought their gifts of bread and wine to the proskomedia and those for whom they were offered.

Proskomedia reminds us of two main events in the life of the Savior: The Nativity of Christ and the Death of Christ.

Therefore, all the actions of the priest and the things used at the proskomedia recall both the Nativity of Christ and the death of Christ. The altar resembles both the Bethlehem cave and the Golgotha ​​burial cave. The paten marks both the manger of the born Savior and the Holy Sepulcher. The coverings and the air serve as a reminder of the swaddling clothes of both infants and those in which the deceased Savior was buried. The censing marks the incense brought by the Magi to the born Savior, and the aromas that were used were at the burial of the Lord by Joseph and Nicodemus. The star symbolizes the star that appeared at the birth of the Savior.

Believers prepare for the sacrament of communion during the second part of the liturgy, which is called Liturgy of the Catechumens. This part of the liturgy received this name because, in addition to those who are baptized and admitted to communion, catechumens are also allowed to listen to it, i.e. those preparing for baptism and repentants who are not allowed to receive communion.

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

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

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

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

When the 3rd antiphon is sung, and on ordinary days - when the Savior’s teaching on the beatitudes is read, or blessed, V. The royal doors open for the first time during the liturgy. Presenting a burning candle, the deacon carries through the northern door from the altar to the pulpit of St. Gospel and, asking the priest standing on the pulpit for a blessing to enter the altar, he says in the royal doors: wisdom, forgive me! This is how the small entrance is made. He reminds us of Jesus Christ, who appeared with the sermon of St. gospel. A candle carried before St. Gospel, marks St. John the Baptist, who prepared the people for the worthy acceptance of the God-man Christ, and whom the Lord Himself called: a lamp burning and shining. The open royal doors mean the gates of the heavenly kingdom, which opened before us along with the appearance of the Savior into the world. Deacon's words: wisdom, forgive me, mean to point us to the deep wisdom contained in St. Gospels. Word sorry invites believers to reverent standing and worship of the Savior of the world, the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, immediately after the deacon’s exclamation, the choir of singers convinces everyone to worship the Accomplisher of the salvation of the world. Come let's worship, the choir sings, and let us fall to Christ, save us, Son of God, singing Ti Alleluia. Anyone who responded to the call of St. would act frivolously. The Church would not respond with low worship of its great benefactor, the Lord Jesus Christ. Our pious ancestors, when singing this verse, all threw themselves to the ground, even our God-crowned All-Russian Sovereigns themselves.

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

After this, the deacon stands at the royal doors and, turning to the people, says: and forever and ever. These words of the deacon complement the exclamation of the priest, who, blessing the deacon to give praise to God by singing the Trisagion, speaks before the words Lord save the pious exclamation: For Thou art holy, our God, and to Thee we send glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever. The deacon’s address to the people at this time indicates to all those praying for the time of singing the Trisagion hymn, which must be sung with silent lips and forever and ever!

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

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

On some days, such as Lazarus Saturday, Holy Saturday, Holy Week, Trinity Day, and the eves of Christmas and Epiphany, instead of the Trisagion, the words of the Apostle Paul are sung: Elites were baptized into Christ, put on Christ, hallelujah! This singing reminds us of the time of the primacy of the Church, when in these days the baptism of catechumens was performed, who converted from paganism and Judaism to the Orthodox faith of Christ. This was a long time ago, and this song is sung to this day, to remind us of the vows that we made to the Lord under St. baptism, do we fulfill them holyly and observe them. On the day of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord and during Great Lent on Sunday of the 4th week, the veneration of the cross, instead of the Trisagion, the following is sung: We bow to Your Cross, Master, and we glorify Your holy resurrection.

For the Trisagion Song; after the prokeme, there follows the reading of the apostolic epistles, with which they enlightened the world when they went around the entire universe to teach it the true faith in St. Trinity. Each of these shows that the apostolic preaching of the word of God filled the entire universe with the fragrance of Christ’s teaching and changed the air, infected and spoiled by idolatry. The priest sits at the high place, signifying Jesus Christ, who sent the apostles before Him to preach. Other people have no reason to sit at this time, except due to great weakness.

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

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

The time is approaching for the celebration of the most holy sacrament of communion. The catechumens, as imperfect, cannot be present at this sacrament, and that is why they must soon leave the assembly of the faithful; but first the faithful pray for them, so that the Lord enlightened them with the word of truth and united them with His Church. When the deacon speaks about the catechumens during the litany: announcement, bow your heads to the Lord, then the faithful are not obliged to bow their heads. This address of the deacon directly applies to the catechumens, if they are standing in the church, as a sign that the Lord is blessing them. During the litany of the catechumens, it develops into St. on the throne there is an antimension necessary for the performance of the sacrament.

The command for the catechumens to leave the church ends the second part of the liturgy, or the liturgy of the catechumens.

The most important part of the mass begins - Liturgy of the Faithful when the King of kings and Lord of lords comes to sacrifice and eat food(food ) true. What a clear conscience everyone who prays needs to have at this time! Let all human flesh remain silent and stand with fear and trembling Such a great mood of prayer should be present in those praying.

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

Even as the Cherubim secretly form, and the Life-giving Trinity sings the Trisagion, let us now put aside all worldly cares, so that we will raise up the King of all, invisibly delivered by the angels, alleluia!

Mysteriously depicting cherubim and chanting the Trisagion hymn to the Life-giving Trinity, let us put aside all concern for everyday things in order to raise the King of all, whom the angelic ranks invisibly carry, as if on spears (dori) with the song: Hallelujah!

This song is called the Cherubic song, both from its first initial words and because it ends with the song of the cherubim: allilia. Word Dorinoshima depicts a man who is guarded and accompanied by bodyguards-spearmen. Just as the kings of the earth are surrounded by warrior bodyguards in solemn processions, so the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Heaven, is served by ranks of angels, heavenly warriors.

In the midst of the Cherubic song, the so-called great entrance, or transferring those prepared at the proskomedia of St. gifts - bread and wine, from the altar to St. throne. The deacon carries the paten with St. on his head through the northern door. A lamb, and the priest a chalice of wine. At the same time, they remember in turn all Orthodox Christians, starting with the Sovereign Emperor. This commemoration is performed on the pulpit. Those standing in the temple, as a sign of respect to St. gifts that have been transformed into the true body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, bow their heads, praying to the Lord God that He will remember them and those close to them in His kingdom. This is done in imitation of the prudent thief, who, looking at the innocent suffering of Jesus Christ and, recognizing his sins before God, said: remember me, Lord, when you come into Your kingdom.

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

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

Your Last Supper is today(now) O Son of God, accept me as a partaker; for I will not tell the secret to Thy enemies.(I'll say) no kissing(kissing) I will give you, like Judas, like a thief, I will confess to you: remember me, Lord, in your kingdom. On Holy Saturday, instead of the Cherubim, a very touching and touching song is sung: Let all human flesh be silent, and let it stand with fear and trembling, and let nothing earthly in itself think: the King of kings and Lord of lords comes to sacrifice and be given as food (food) to the faithful; And before this came the faces of angels with all principality and power, many-eyed cherubs, and six-faced seraphim, covering their faces, and crying out the song: Alleluia. Angels by nature do not have either eyes or wings, but the name of some of the ranks of angels, many-eyed and six-winged, indicates that they can see far and have the ability to quickly move from one place to another. Beginnings and powers- these are angels appointed by God to protect those in authority - the leaders.

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

After the litany of petition, the believers are invited by the deacon to unite in brotherly love: let us love one another, that we may be of one mind, i.e. Let us all express our faith with one thought. The choir, complementing what the deacon said, sings: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Trinity consubstantial and indivisible. In the ancient times of Christianity, when people really lived like brothers, when their thoughts were pure, and their feelings were holy and immaculate - in these good times, when the proclamation was pronounced let's love each other, the pilgrims standing in the temple kissed each other - men with men, and women with women. Then people lost their modesty, and St. The Church abolished this custom. Nowadays, if several priests serve mass, then in the altar at this time they kiss the chalice, paten and each other’s shoulder and hand, doing this as a sign of unanimity and love.

Then the priest takes away the curtain from the royal gates, and the deacon says: doors, doors, let us sing of wisdom! What do these words mean?

In the ancient Christian Church, during the divine liturgy, deacons and subdeacons (church ministers) stood at the doors of the Church of the Lord, who, upon hearing the words: doors, doors, let us sing of wisdom! No one should have been allowed into or out of the church, so that during these holy moments any of the infidels would not enter the church and so that there would be no noise or disorder from the entry and exit of worshipers in the temple of God. Recalling this wonderful custom, St. The Church teaches us that, hearing these words, we hold tightly the doors of our minds and hearts, so that nothing empty or sinful comes to mind, and something evil and unclean does not sink into our hearts. Let us reek of wisdom! these words are intended to arouse the attention of Christians to a meaningful reading of the creed, which is pronounced after this exclamation.

While singing the creed, the priest himself reads it quietly in the altar and, while reading, raises and lowers it (oscillates) air(veil) over St. cup and paten as a sign of the gracious presence of the Spirit of God over St. gifts.

When the creed is sung in the choir, the deacon addresses the praying people with the following words: Let us become kind, let us become fearful, let us bring holy offerings to the world, that is, we will stand decorously, we will stand with fear and we will be attentive, so that with a calm soul we offer the Lord a holy offering.

What an exaltation of St. Does the Church advise us to bring it with fear and reverence? The singers on the choir respond to this with the words: mercy of the world, sacrifice of praise. We must offer the Lord gifts of friendship and love and constant praise and glorification of His name.

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

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

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

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

The song of the angels is called victorious as a sign of the Savior’s defeat of evil spirits, these ancient enemies of the human race. Angel song in heaven sung, chanted, invoked and spoken. These words denote the image of the singing of angels surrounding the throne of God, and indicate the vision of the prophet Ezekiel, described by him in the 1st chapter of his book. The Prophet saw the Lord sitting on a throne, which was supported by angels in the form of four animals: a lion, a calf, an eagle, a man. The one who sings here means the eagle, the one who cries - the calf, the one who calls - the lion, the one who speaks - the man.

To the exclamation of the priest: singing a song of victory, crying out, calling out and saying, the choir responds for all those praying by pointing to the words of the angels’ song itself: Holy, holy, holy, Lord of hosts, heaven and earth are filled with Your glory. The prophet Isaiah heard angels singing in this way when he saw the Lord on a throne high and exalted(6th chapter of the prophet Isa.). Pronouncing a word three times holy angels indicate the trinity of persons in God: Lord of Hosts- this is one of the names of God and means the Lord of the forces, or heavenly armies. Heaven and earth are filled with Your glory, that is heaven and earth are full of the glory of the Lord. The song of the angels, these heavenly singers of the glory of God, is joined by a human song of praise - the song with which the Jews met and accompanied the Lord when He had a solemn entry into Jerusalem: Hosanna in the highest(save us, you who live in heaven), blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, hosanna in the highest!

Following this, the priest pronounces the words of the Lord spoken to him at the Last Supper: take, eat, this is my body, which is broken for you(suffering) for the remission of sins. Drink of it, all of you, this is My blood of the new testament, which is shed for you and for many for the remission of sins.. By pronouncing the word twice by those praying Amen we express before the Lord that indeed at the Last Supper the bread and wine given by the Lord were the true body of Christ and the true blood of the Lord.

The most important action begins in the last (3) part of the liturgy. At the altar, the priest takes the paten in his right hand, the chalice in his left and, raising the holy gifts, proclaims: Yours from Yours offering to You for everyone and for everything. These words of the priest have the following meaning: To you, the Lord God, we offer Yours gifts, that is, bread and wine, given to us by You about all people living and dead and for all good deeds. In response to this proclamation, the choir sings to the Holy Trinity: We sing to You, we bless You, we thank You, O Lord, and we pray to You, our God. At this time, the priest, with the raising of his hands, prays that the Lord God the Father (the first person of the Holy Trinity) would send down the Holy Spirit (the third person of the Holy Trinity) on himself and on St. our gifts, bread and wine. Then, blessing St. bread, says to God the Father: and make therefore this bread the venerable body of Thy Christ; blessing St. cup, he says : And in this cup is the precious blood of Thy Christ: blessing the bread and wine together, he says: changed by Your Holy Spirit, Amen, three times. From this moment, bread and wine cease to be ordinary substances and, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, become the true body and true blood of the Savior; only types of bread and wine remain. Consecration of St. gifts are accompanied by a great miracle for a believer. At this time, according to St. Chrysostom, angels descend from heaven and serve God before St. His throne. If the angels, the purest spirits, reverently stand before the throne of God, then the people standing in the temple, every minute offending God with their sins, at these moments must intensify their prayers so that the Holy Spirit will dwell in them and cleanse them from all sinful filth.

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

At the end of this prayer, the touching song of the clergy I'll eat for you ends, the priest says out loud to all those praying: a lot about our Most Holy, Most Pure, Most Blessed, Most Glorious Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary. With these words, the priest calls on those praying to glorify the ever-present prayer book for us before the throne of God - the Queen of Heaven, Most Holy. Mother of God. The choir sings: It is worthy that we truly bless Thee, the Mother of God, ever-blessed and most immaculate, and the Mother of our God, the most honorable cherub and the most glorious seraphim without comparison, who gave birth to God the Word without corruption, the real Mother of God, we magnify Thee. In this song the Queen of heaven and earth is called blessed, since She, having been honored to be the Mother of the Lord, became a constant subject of praise and glorification for Christians. We magnify the Mother of God immaculate for Her spiritual purity from all sinful defilement. Further in this song we call the Mother of God the most honest cherub and the most glorious without comparison seraphim, because in terms of the quality of the Mother of God She surpasses the highest angels - cherubim and seraphim - in closeness to God. The Holy Virgin Mary is glorified as having given birth to God the Word without decay in the sense that She, both before birth, during birth and after birth, remained forever virgin, which is why it is called Ever-Virgin.

During the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great instead worthy another song is sung in honor of the Mother of God: Every creature rejoices in You, O full of grace.(creation), angelic council, and the human race and so on. The creator of this song is St. John of Damascus, presbyter of the monastery of St. Savva the Sanctified, who lived in the 8th century. On the twelve feasts and on the days of Holy Thursday and Holy Saturday, to the exclamation of the priest: a lot about the Most Holy, Irmos 9 songs of the festive canon are sung.

While singing these songs in honor of the Mother of God, believers, together with the clergyman, remember deceased relatives and friends, so that the Lord may rest their souls and forgive them their voluntary and involuntary sins; and the living members of the Church are remembered by us when the priest exclaims: first remember, Lord, the Holy Governing Synod and so on, that is, the shepherds who govern the Orthodox Christian Church. The clergy responds to these words of the priest by singing: and everyone and everything, that is, remember, Lord, all Orthodox Christians, husbands and wives.

Our prayer for the living and the dead has the highest power and meaning during the liturgy at this time, because we ask the Lord to accept it for the sake of the bloodless sacrifice that has just been performed.

After the priest said aloud the prayer that the Lord would help us all glorify God with one mouth, and the good wishes of the priest, so that the mercy of the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ has never ceased for us, - the deacon pronounces a litany of petition. We pray to God together with the priest, that the Lord would accept the offered and consecrated gifts, like the smell of incense on His heavenly altar, and send down to us His divine grace and the gift of the Holy Spirit. This prayer is joined by other petitions to God for the gift of everything necessary for our temporary and eternal life.

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

After the exclamation of the priest, there come minutes of remembrance of the Last Supper of the Savior with His disciples, suffering, death and burial. The royal doors are closed with a curtain. The deacon, awakening the worshipers to reverence, says: let's remember! And the priest in the altar, lifting St. The lamb over the paten says: holy of holies! These words inspire us that only those who have been cleansed of all sins are worthy of receiving the Holy Mysteries. But since none of the people can recognize themselves as pure from sin, the singers answer the priest’s exclamation: there is one holy, one Lord Jesus Christ to the glory of God the Father, amen. The Lord Jesus Christ alone is sinless; He, by His mercy, can make us worthy of receiving Holy Communion. Tain.

The singers sing either whole psalms or parts of them, and the clergy receive St. secrets, eating the body of Christ separately from the Divine blood, as was the case at the Last Supper. It must be said that the laity received communion in the same way until the end of the 4th century. But St. Chrysostom, when he noticed that one woman, having taken the body of Christ in her hands, took it to her house and there used it for sorcery, he commanded that the Holy Spirit be taught in all churches. the body and blood of Christ together from a spoon, or spoon, directly into the mouths of those receiving communion.

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

This last action ends the communion of the clergy. By breaking the Lamb into parts for communion, by inserting part of the St. body into the blood of the Lord, the suffering on the cross and death of Jesus Christ are remembered. Communion of St. the blood from the chalice is the flow of the Lord's blood from His most pure ribs after His death. Closing the curtain at this time is like rolling a stone on the hump of the Lord.

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

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

The Savior did not live long on earth after His glorious resurrection. The Holy Gospel tells us that on the 40th day after the resurrection He ascended into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God the Father. These events from the life of the Savior, dear to us, are remembered during the liturgy, when the priest carries St. from the altar. cup into the royal doors and says, turning to the people: always, now and ever and unto ages of ages. This action shows us that the Lord always abides in His Church and is ready to help those who believe in Him, as long as their petitions are pure and useful to their souls. After the small litany, the priest reads a prayer, named after the place where it was said behind the pulpit. After it there is a dismissal, pronounced by the priest always from the royal doors. The liturgy of Saints Basil the Great or John Chrysostom ends with the wish for long life to all Orthodox Christians.

The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, or simply the Presanctified Mass, is a service during which the sacrament of transmuting bread and wine into the body and blood of the Lord is not performed, but the faithful partake of the Holy Communion. gifts previously sanctified at the liturgy of Basil the Great or St. John Chrysostom.

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

The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts was established in the first times of Christianity and was celebrated by St. the apostles; but she received her real appearance from St. Gregory Dvoeslov, a Roman bishop who lived in the 6th century AD.

The need for its establishment by the apostles arose in order not to deprive Christians of St. The Mysteries of Christ and during the days of Great Lent, when, according to the requirements of fasting time, there is no liturgy celebrated in a solemn manner. The reverence and purity of life of the ancient Christians was so great that for them going to church for the liturgy certainly meant receiving St. secrets. Nowadays, piety among Christians has weakened so much that even during Great Lent, when there is a great opportunity for Christians to lead a good life, no one is visible who wants to begin the holy day. meal at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. There is even, especially among the common people, a strange opinion that the laity cannot partake of St. The Mysteries of Christ is an opinion not based on anything. True, infants do not receive Holy Communion. The mystery behind this liturgy is because St. the blood, which only infants partake of, is in connection with the body of Christ. But the laity, after proper preparation, after confession, are awarded St. The Mysteries of Christ and during the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts.

The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts consists of Lenten 3, 6, and 9 hours, vespers and the liturgy itself. Lenten liturgical hours differ from ordinary ones in that, in addition to the prescribed three psalms, one kathisma is read at each hour; a distinctive troparion of each hour is read by the priest in front of the royal doors and sung three times in the choir with prostrations to the ground; At the end of each hour the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian: Lord and Master of my life! Do not give me the spirit of idleness, despondency, covetousness and idle talk; Grant me the spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love to Your servant. O Lord, O King, grant me to see my sins and not condemn my brother, for blessed art thou unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Before the presanctified liturgy itself, an ordinary vespers is celebrated, at which, after the stichera sung on Lord I cried, is being done entrance with censer, and on holidays with the Gospel, from the altar to the royal doors. At the end of the evening entrance, two proverbs are read: one from the book of Genesis, the other from the book of Proverbs. At the end of the first paremia, the priest turns to the people at the open gate, making a cross with a censer and a burning candle, and says: the light of Christ enlightens everyone! At the same time, believers fall on their faces, as if before the Lord Himself, praying to Him to enlighten them with the light of Christ’s teaching in order to fulfill the commandments of Christ. Singing may my prayer be corrected the second part of the presanctified liturgy ends, and the actual litany begins Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts.

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

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

Beyond this, the liturgy of the presanctified gifts has similarities with the liturgy of Chrysostom; Only the prayer behind the pulpit is read in a special way, applied to the time of fasting and repentance.

In order to take part at the royal table, you need decent clothing for this; so in order to participate in the joys of the heavenly kingdom, sanctification is necessary for every Orthodox Christian, imparted, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, by Orthodox bishops and priests, as immediate successors to the ministry of the apostles.

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

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

So, whoever wants to be in communion with the Lord in His eternal kingdom must be sanctified in the sacraments... There are seven sacraments accepted by the Orthodox Church: baptism, confirmation, communion, repentance, priesthood, marriage, consecration of oil.

Baptism is performed by a priest, in which the person being baptized is immersed three times in consecrated water, and the priest says at this time: a servant of God or a servant of God is baptized(name is said ), in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. An infant enlightened by baptism is cleansed of the sin communicated to him by his parents, and an adult who receives baptism, in addition to original sin, is also freed from his voluntary sins committed before baptism. Through this sacrament, a Christian is reconciled with God and from a child of wrath is made a son of God and receives the right to inherit the kingdom of God. From this baptism by the holy fathers of the Church is called door to the kingdom of God. Baptism, by the grace of God, is sometimes accompanied by healing from illnesses of the body: this is how St. Apostle Paul and Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir.

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

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

The white robe worn by the baptized person signifies the purity of his soul from sins received through holy baptism.

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

Circling the baptized person three times with lighted candles around the font is done as a sign of the spiritual joy he feels from being united with Christ for eternal life in the kingdom of heaven.

Cutting the hair of a newly baptized person means that from the time of baptism he has become a servant of Christ. This custom was taken from the custom in ancient times of cutting the hair of slaves as a sign of their slavery.

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

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

The church historian Socrates tells about one extraordinary case, in which the Providence of God miraculously testified to the uniqueness of the sacrament of St. baptism. One of the Jews, having converted in appearance to the Christian faith, was granted the grace of St. baptism. Having later moved to another city, he completely abandoned Christianity and lived according to Jewish custom. But, wanting to laugh at the faith of Christ or, perhaps, seduced by the benefits that the Christian emperors acquired for the Jews who turned to Christ, he again dared to ask for baptism from a certain bishop. This latter, not knowing anything about the wickedness of the Jew, after instructing him in the dogmas of the Christian faith, began to perform the sacrament of St. on him. baptism and ordered the baptismal basin to be filled with water. But at the same time, as he, having performed preliminary prayers over the font, was ready to immerse the Jew in it, the water in the baptismal chamber instantly disappeared. Then the Jew, convicted by Heaven itself of his sacrilegious intention, prostrated himself in fear before the bishop and confessed before him and the whole Church of his wickedness and his guilt (Abbr. Histor., ch. XVIII; Resurrection. Thu. 1851, p. 440 ).

This sacrament is performed immediately after baptism. It consists of anointing the forehead (forehead), chest, eyes, ears, mouth, hands and feet with the consecrated myrrh. At the same time, the priest says the words: seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit. The grace of the Holy Spirit, imparted in the sacrament of anointing, gives a Christian strength to perform good deeds and Christian deeds.

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

This sacrament is not repeated over Christians. During coronation, Russian kings and queens are anointed with St. the world, not in the sense of repeating this sacrament, but in order to impart to them the deep grace of the Holy Spirit, necessary for carrying out the extremely important royal service to the fatherland and the Orthodox Church.

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

It certainly takes place in the church, on St. altar, at the liturgy, or mass: but the body and blood of Christ, in the form of spare saints. gifts can be brought into homes for the communion of the sick.

In view of the importance and saving power of this sacrament, St. The Church invites Christians to partake of the body and blood of Christ as often as possible. Every Christian, at least once a year, must sanctify himself with this most holy sacrament. Jesus Christ himself speaks about this: eat My flesh and drink My blood to have an eternal life, i.e. It has in itself eternal life or a guarantee of eternal bliss (Ev. John 6:54).

When the time comes for the reception of St. of the Mysteries of Christ, a Christian must approach the holy chalice decorously and bow one day to the ground Christ, who is truly present in the mysteries under the guise of bread and wine, fold his hands crosswise on his chest, open his mouth expansively so as to freely receive the gifts and so that a particle of the most holy body and a drop of the purest blood of the Lord does not fall. Upon acceptance of St. The Mystery Church commands the communicant to kiss the edge of the holy cup, like the very rib of Christ, from which blood and water leaked. After this, the communicants are not allowed to bow to the ground for the sake of protection and honor accepted by the saint. The Mystery will not be received by St. antidor, or part of the consecrated prosphora, and grateful prayers to the Lord are heard.

He who eats Me, and he will live for My sake, said our Lord Jesus Christ (John VI, 57). The truth of this saying was most strikingly justified in one case, which Evagrius narrates in his church history. According to him, in the Church of Constantinople it was the custom for the remaining communion of the clergy and people of St. gifts to teach children who were taught reading and writing in schools. For this purpose, they were called from schools to church, in which the clergyman taught them the remains of the body and blood of Christ. One day, among these youths, the son of a Jew who was engaged in making glass appeared, and, due to the unknown of his origin, St. Tain with other children. His father, noticing that he had delayed more than usual in school, asked him about the reason for this delay, and when the simple-minded youth revealed to him the whole truth, the wicked Jew became furious to the point that in the heat of rage he grabbed his son and threw him into a fiery furnace, which melted glass. The mother, not knowing this, waited for her son for a long time and in vain; Not finding him, she walked around crying through all the streets of Constantinople. Finally, after searching in vain on the third day, she sat at the door of her husband's workshop, sobbing loudly and calling on her son's name. Suddenly she hears his voice speaking to her from the hot stove. Delighted, she rushes to it, opens its mouth and sees her son standing on hot coals, but not at all damaged by the fire. Amazed, she asks him how he could remain unharmed in the midst of the scorching fire. Then the boy told his mother everything and added that a majestic wife, dressed in purple, had descended into the cave, breathed coolness on him and gave him water to put out the fire. When the news of this came to the attention of Emperor Justinian, he, at the request of mother and son, ordered St. to enlighten them. baptism, and the wicked father, as if fulfilling the words of the prophet about the bitterness of the Jews, became dumb in heart and did not want to imitate the example of his wife and son, which is why, by order of the emperor, he was executed as a son-killer (Evagr. Ist. Tser., book IV, ch. 36. Sunday Thu. 1841, p. 436).

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

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

Confess before receiving St. The Mysteries of the Body and Blood of Christ are prescribed by the statutes of the Orthodox Church from the age of seven, when we develop consciousness and with it responsibility for our deeds before God. To help a Christian wean himself from a sinful life, sometimes, according to the reasoning of his spiritual father, penance, or such a feat, the fulfillment of which would remind one of his sin and contribute to the correction of life.

The cross and the Gospel during confession signify the invisible presence of the Savior Himself. The placing of the epitrachelion on the penitent by the priest is the return of God's mercy to the penitent. He is accepted under the grace-filled protection of the Church and joins the faithful children of Christ.

God will not allow a repentant sinner to perish

During the cruel Decian persecution of Christians in Alexandria, one Christian elder named Serapion could not resist the temptation of fear and the seduction of the persecutors: having renounced Jesus Christ, he sacrificed to idols. Before the persecution, he lived impeccably, and after his fall, he soon repented and asked to be forgiven his sin; but zealous Christians, out of contempt for Serapion’s act, turned away from him. The turmoil of persecution and schisms of the Novatians, who said that fallen Christians should not be accepted into the Church, prevented the shepherds of the Alexandrian Church from experiencing Serapion’s repentance in a timely manner and granting him forgiveness. Serapion became ill and for three days in a row had neither language nor feeling; Having recovered somewhat on the fourth day, he, turning to his grandson, said: “Child, how long will you keep me? Hurry, I ask you, give me permission, quickly call one of the elders to me.” Having said this, he again lost his tongue. The boy ran to the presbyter; but since it was night, and the presbyter himself was sick, he could not come to the sick man; Knowing that the penitent had long been asking for remission of sins, and wishing to release the dying man into eternity with good hope, he gave the child a particle of the Eucharist (as happened in the primal Church) and ordered it to be placed in the mouth of the dying elder. Before the returning boy entered the room, Serapion again became more lively and said: “Have you come, my child? The presbyter could not come himself, so quickly do what you were ordered and let me go.” The boy did as the presbyter ordered, and as soon as the elder swallowed a particle of the Eucharist (the body and blood of the Lord), he immediately gave up the ghost. “Isn’t it obvious,” St. Dionysius of Alexandria remarks in response to this in a reproach to the Novatians, “that the penitent was preserved and kept in life until the moment of resolution?” (Church. East. Eusebius, book 6, chapter 44, Resurrection Thurs. 1852, p. 87).

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

Persons performing divine services in the Orthodox Church are: bishops, or bishops, priests, or priests, and deacons.

Bishops are the successors of the holy apostles; they ordain priests and deacons by the laying on of hands. Only that bishopric and priesthood has grace and apostolic power, which, without the slightest interruption, originates from the apostles themselves. And that bishopric, which had a break in its succession, an interval, as if emptiness, is false, arbitrary, graceless. And this is the false bishopric of those who call themselves Old Believers.

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

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

In monasteries, monastic priests are called archimandrites, abbots. But neither the archimandrite nor the abbot have the grace of a bishop; they are the eldest among the hieromonks, and the bishop entrusts them with the management of the monasteries.

Among other sacred rites of bishops and priests, their hand blessing. In this case, the bishop and priest fold their blessing hand so that the fingers depict the initial letters of the name of Jesus Christ: Ič. 35;č. This shows that our shepherds teach blessing in the name of Jesus Christ Himself. God's blessing is bestowed upon the one who reverently accepts the blessing of a bishop or priest. Since ancient times, people have irresistibly strived for sacred persons in order to be blessed with the sign of the cross at their hands. Kings and princes, St. testifies. Ambrose of Milan, bowed their necks before the priests and kissed their hands, in the hope of protecting themselves with their prayers (On the Dignity of the Priesthood, Chapter 2)

Sacred vestments of a deacon: a) surplice, b) orari, worn on the left shoulder, and c) instruct, or sleeves. Orarem deacon excites people to prayer.

Sacred Robes of a Priest: sacristan, stole(in Russian nashanik) and felonion. The epitrachelion for the priest serves as a sign of the grace he received from the Lord. Without the epitrachelion, no service is performed by the priest. The phelonion, or chasuble, is worn over all clothing. Honored priests receive the bishop's blessing to use during divine services legguard, hanging on a ribbon on the right side, under the felonion. As a difference, the priests wear the award on their heads skufji, kamilavki. Unlike deacons, priests use pectoral crosses, installed by the Sovereign Emperor Nikolai Alexandrovich in 1896, over their own clothes and church vestments.

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

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

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

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

During bishop's service it is used mantle, a long robe worn by a bishop over his cassock as a sign of his monasticism.

The accessories of the bishop's ministry include: rod(cane), as a sign of pastoral authority, dikiriy And trikirium, or two-candlestick and three-candlestick; The bishop overshadows the people with dikiriy and trikyriy, expressing the mystery of the Holy Trinity in one God and two natures in Jesus Christ, the source of spiritual light. Ripidy used during hierarchal service in the form of metal cherubs in circles on the handles in the image of concelebration with the people of the cherubs. Round carpets, called after the eagles embroidered on them eagles, depict in the bishop the power of the bishopric over the city and a sign of his pure and right teaching about God.

In the sacrament of marriage, the bride and groom, in the likeness of the spiritual union of Christ with the Church (the community of believers in Him), are blessed by the priest for mutual cohabitation, the birth and raising of children.

This sacrament is certainly performed in the temple of God. At the same time, the newlyweds are betrothed to each other three times with rings and are surrounded by the saints of the cross and the Gospel (based on analogies), as a sign of mutual, everlasting and inextricable love for each other.

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

A common cup of red grape wine is served to the newlyweds as a sign that from the day of their blessing by St. They should have a common life as a church, the same desires, joys and sorrows.

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

This sacrament is not obligatory for everyone; It is much more salutary, according to the teachings of the word of God, to lead a celibate life, but a pure, immaculate life, following the example of John the Baptist, the Blessed Virgin Mary and other holy virgins. Those who cannot lead such a life have a blessed marriage established by God.

Divorce between husband and wife is condemned by the teachings of the Savior.

Christ the Savior, the physician of our souls, did not leave those obsessed with serious bodily illnesses without His gracious care.

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

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

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

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

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

The Holy Orthodox Church, which cares for its living members, does not leave our departed fathers and brothers without its care. According to the teaching of the word of God, we believe that the souls of the dead will again be united with their bodies, which will be spiritual and immortal. Therefore, the bodies of the dead are under the special protection of the Orthodox Church. The deceased is covered cover meaning that he, as a Christian, is under the shadow of St. in the afterlife. angels and the protection of Christ. placed on his forehead crown with the image of the Savior, the Mother of God and John the Baptist and the signature: Holy God, holy Mighty, holy Immortal, have mercy on us. This shows that he who has completed his earthly career hopes to receive crown of truth by the mercy of the Triune God and by the intercession of the Mother of God and St. John the Baptist. A prayer of permission is placed in the hand of the deceased to commemorate the forgiveness of all his sins. Saint Alexander Nevsky, during his burial, accepted the prayer of permission as if alive, straightening his right hand, thereby showing that such prayer is also needed by righteous people. The deceased is covered earth. By this action of the clergyman, we surrender ourselves and our deceased brother into the hands of God’s providence, who pronounced the final verdict on the sinful forefather of all mankind, Adam: You are earth and you will go back to earth(Genesis 3:19).

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

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

For the dead, memorial services and lithiums are held, in which we pray for the forgiveness of their sins.

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

On the third day we pray that Christ, resurrected on the third day after His burial, will raise our deceased neighbor to a blessed life.

On the ninth day, we pray to God that He, through the prayers and intercession of the nine ranks of angels (Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominions, Powers, Authorities, Principalities, Archangels and Angels), would forgive the sins of the deceased and canonize him among the saints.

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

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

To commemorate the dead, everyone in general, the Orthodox Church has established special times - Saturday, known as the parent ones. There are three such Saturdays: Meat-eating in the meat-eating, otherwise motley week before Lent; since on Sunday after this Saturday the Last Judgment is remembered, then on this Saturday, as if before the most terrible judgment, the church prays before the Judge - God for mercy on her dead children. Trinity- before Trinity Day; after the triumph of the Savior’s victory over sin and death, it is fitting to pray for those who have fallen asleep in faith in Christ, but in sins, so that the dead may also be rewarded with resurrection for bliss with Christ in heaven. Dmitrovskaya- before St. Day Great Martyr Demetrius of Selun, i.e. Before October 26. The Moscow prince Dimitri Donskoy, having defeated the Tatars, this Saturday commemorated the soldiers who died in battle; Since that time, commemoration has been established on this Saturday. In addition to these Saturdays, we have other commemorations: on Saturdays of the second, third and fourth weeks of Lent. The reason for this is the following: since in ordinary times the commemoration of the dead is performed daily, but during Great Lent this does not happen, because the full liturgy, with which it is always connected, does not occur daily during Great Lent, then St. The Church, in order not to deprive the dead of their saving intercession, established, instead of daily commemorations, to perform three general commemorations on the indicated Saturdays, and precisely on these Saturdays because other Saturdays are dedicated to special celebrations: the Saturday of the first week - to Theodore Tyrone, the fifth - to the Mother of God, and the sixth is the resurrection of the righteous Lazarus.

On Monday or Tuesday of St. Thomas Week (2 weeks after the Bright Resurrection of Christ), the remembrance of the dead is performed with the pious intention of sharing the great joy of the Bright Resurrection of Christ with the dead in the hope of their blessed resurrection, the joy of which was announced to the dead by the Savior Himself when He descended to hell to preach victory over death and brought out the souls of the Old Testament righteous. From this joy - the name Radonitsa, which is given to this time of remembrance. On August 29, on the day of remembrance of the beheading of John the Baptist, the soldiers are commemorated as having laid down their lives for the faith and fatherland, like John the Baptist - for the truth.

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

Not only the temple of God can be a place for our prayer, and it is not through the mediation of the priest alone that God’s blessing can be brought down on our deeds; every home, every family can still become home church, when the head of the family, by his example, guides his children and household members in prayer, when family members, all together, or each separately, offer their prayers of petition and gratitude to the Lord.

Not content with the general prayers offered for us in churches, and knowing that we will not all rush there, the Church offers each of us, like a mother to a child, special ready-made food home, - offers prayers designated for our home use.

Prayers read daily:

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

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

God, be merciful to me, a sinner.

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

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

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

Glory to Thee, our God, glory to Thee.

Heavenly King, Comforter, Soul of truth, who is everywhere and fulfills everything, treasure of good things, and giver of life, come and dwell in us, and cleanse us from all filth, and save, O blessed One, our souls.

Three prayers to the Holy Trinity:

1. Trisagion. Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us(three times).

2. Doxology. Glory to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

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

Lord have mercy(three times).

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

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

When you wake up from sleep in the morning, think that God is giving you a day that you could not give to yourself, and set aside the first hour, or at least the first quarter of an hour, of the day given to you, and sacrifice it to God in grateful and benevolent prayer. The more diligently you do this, the more firmly you will protect yourself from the temptations that you encounter every day (words of Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow).

A prayer read in the morning, after sleep.

To You, Master who loves mankind, having risen from sleep, I come running, and I strive for Your works with Your mercy, and I pray to You: help me at all times in every thing, and deliver me from all worldly evil things and the devil’s haste, and save me, and bring us into Your eternal kingdom. For you are my creator, and the provider and giver of every good thing, in You are all my hope, and I send glory to You now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Prayer to Our Lady.

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

2. The glorification of the Mother of God. It is worthy to eat as you truly bless Thee, the ever-blessed and immaculate Mother of God and the Mother of our God. The most honorable cherub, and the most glorious seraphim without comparison, who gave birth to the word of God without corruption, the real Mother of God, we magnify Thee.

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

Prayer to the angel, the disembodied guardian of human life.

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

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

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

The Sovereign Emperor is the father of our fatherland; His service is the most difficult of all the services that people undergo, and therefore it is the duty of every loyal subject to pray for his Sovereign and for the fatherland, that is, the country in which our fathers were born and lived. The Apostle Paul speaks in his letter to Bishop Timothy, ch. 2, art. 1, 2, 3: I beg you, first of all, to make prayers, supplications, petitions, thanksgivings for all people, for the Tsar and for everyone who is in power... This is good and pleasant before our Savior God.

Prayer for the Emperor and the Fatherland.

Save, Lord, your people, and bless your inheritance: granting victories to our Blessed EMPEROR NIKOLAI ALEXANDROVICH against resistance, and preserving your residence through your cross.

Prayer for living relatives.

Save, Lord, and have mercy(therefore briefly offer a prayer for the health and salvation of the entire Royal House, the priesthood, your spiritual father, your parents, relatives, leaders, benefactors, all Christians and all servants of God, and then add): And remember, visit, strengthen, comfort, and with your power grant them health and salvation, for you are good and a lover of mankind. Amen.

Prayer for the dead.

Remember, Lord, the souls of your departed servants(their names), and all my relatives, and all my departed brethren, and forgive them all their sins, voluntary and involuntary, giving them the kingdom of heaven and the communion of your eternal good things and your endless and blissful life of pleasure, and create for them eternal memory.

A short prayer said before the honest and life-giving cross of the Lord:

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

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

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

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

Lord our God, who have sinned in these days, in word, deed, and thought, as he is good and a lover of mankind, forgive me; grant me peaceful sleep and serenity; Send Your guardian angel, covering and keeping me from all evil; for You are the guardian of our souls and bodies, and to You we send glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and forever and ever, Amen.

Prayer before eating.

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

Prayer after eating.

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

Prayer before teaching.

Most gracious Lord, bestow upon us the grace of Your Holy Spirit, bestowing and strengthening our spiritual strength, so that, by heeding the teaching taught to us, we may grow to You, our Creator, for glory, as our parent for consolation, for the benefit of the Church and the Fatherland.

After the lesson.

We thank You, Creator, for You have made us worthy of Your grace to listen to the teaching. Bless our leaders, parents and teachers, who lead us to the knowledge of good, and give us strength and strength to continue this teaching.

Students of the sciences and arts should turn to the Lord with special zeal, for He gives wisdom, and from His presence knowledge and understanding(proverbs 2, 6). Most of all, they must preserve the purity and integrity of their hearts, so that the light of God may enter the soul without being obscured: For wisdom does not enter into the soul of evil, but dwells in the body guilty of sin(Prem. 1, 4). Blessedness of purity of heart: like this not only the wisdom of God, but they will also see God Himself(Matt. 5:8).

Liturgy and Communion - what is the difference?

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

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

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

-You need to prepare for a coupledays.

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

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

We arrive at church around 7-20 (but better check the schedule).
Until then you need to:
- be strictly on an empty stomach, incl. no smoking. You can only brush your teeth, and then try not to swallow anything.
– read the morning rule (min 15-20)

In the church itself? when the Liturgy and Communion take place:

—writing notes for health and peace (simple ones are possible)
— we come up and kiss the central icon.
— light candles whoever we want (I usually put 3 candles: on the main candlestick, for the saint at will and for the repose).

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

— We take our place in line for confession. It usually starts at 7:30 (again, check the schedule of services in your church). Let's confess.
— we take a place: men on the right side of the temple, women on the left.
— The liturgy lasts about 2 hours. All this time we listen to prayers, think “about life, what we did wrong where” and all the time we repeat “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.”

Time usually passesquickly when Liturgy and Communion are going on.

Liturgy takeaway

When everyone began to read the “Creed”, it means that the communion itself will soon take place.
— When everyone began to read the “Our Father,” it means that communion will be held very soon.
— When the priest brings out 2 large bowls for the first time, we simply bow our heads.
- When the priest brings out small cup (it contains the sacrament) - then we bow, kneeling down.
— They can carry alms trays around the church. Donate as much money as you like there.

3.What to do during the communion itself?

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

4.What to do after receiving Holy Communion?

— we no longer kneel anywhere: neither in front of icons, nor during the rest of the service
— we wait for the end of the service and kiss the priest’s cross.
— read prayers of thanksgiving for Holy Communion
- you can go home. Immediately after communion, do not immediately smoke or drink alcohol (at least eat normally first). Do not desecrate the Sacrament.