How to bow down correctly. When are prostrations to the ground, when are prostrations done? How to bow down properly

Bows are symbolic actions that express feelings of reverence for the Supreme Being - God. They have been used in the Christian Church since ancient times. Bows should be performed slowly, in accordance with the specific words of the prayer.

What is bow, varieties

A bow is a symbolic act that is characterized by tilting the body and head, which show humility and submission before the Lord.

There are several types of bows:

Great or earthly. With them, the worshiper kneels down and touches the ground with his head.
Small or waist. When performing it, only the head and body are tilted.

There are certain cases where bows are not required. Many also confuse concepts such as bowing and the non-Orthodox practice of kneeling. When we bow down to earth, we show our humility and reverence for the Creator of the universe. After bowing, we stand up, thereby showing that the Lord has given us everything we need to be saved.

What do the scriptures say?

The custom of bowing to the ground dates back to ancient biblical times. So Solomon prayed during the consecration of the Jerusalem temple (see: 1 Kings 8: 54), Daniel in captivity in Babylon (see: Dan. 6: 10) and other Old Testament righteous. This custom was sanctified by our Lord Jesus Christ (see: Luke 22:41) and entered the practice of the Christian Church (see: Acts 12: 60; Eph. 3:14). Here it is not out of place to recall the verses of the psalms ...

31:9:"Do not be like a horse, like a foolish mule, whose jaws must be bridled with a bridle and bridle, so that they obey you."

108:24:"My knees have grown weak from fasting, and my body has lost its fat."

We see that the holy prophet and King David to the point of exhaustion made prostrations to the ground in order to be cleansed from sins and fasts with a fast that is pleasing and pleasing to God.

Our Lord Jesus Christ also prayed on his knees: "And he himself departed from them to cast a stone, and, kneeling down, prayed ..."(Luke 22:41).

Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov) wrote about bowing to the ground: “The Lord knelt down during His prayer - and you should not neglect kneeling if you have enough strength to do it. Worship to the face of the earth, according to the explanation of the fathers, depicts our fall, and an uprising from the earth - our redemption ... "

To be baptized with an earthly bow should be:

In fasting at the entrance to the temple and at the exit from it - three times.
In fasting at Matins after each refrain to the song of the Mother of God "My soul will magnify the Lord" after the words "We magnify thee."
At the liturgy at the beginning of the singing "It is worthy and righteous ...".
At the end of the singing "We sing to you ...".
After "It is worthy to eat ..." or backward.
With the exclamation "Holy to the saints."
With the exclamation "And vouch for us, Master ..." before singing "Our Father".
When carrying out the Holy Gifts, with the words "With the fear of God and faith, approach," and the second time - with the words "Always, now and ever ...".
In Great Lent, at Great Compline, while singing "Most Holy Lady ..." - at each verse; while singing "Virgin Mary, rejoice ..." and so on. three obeisances are performed at Lenten Vespers.
During Great Lent, while reading the prayer "Lord and Master of my belly ...".
In Great Lent, during the concluding singing "Remember us, Lord, when you come in Thy Kingdom," three prostrations are made on the ground.

Important notes

Bowing to the ground on Sunday causes a lot of controversy. First of all, this consists in the fact that according to the Church Charter it is forbidden to bow down to the ground on Sundays and holidays. But many liturgists say that it is always necessary to bow down before the throne, regardless of the day of the week or holiday. In addition, there is a certain practice when prostrations to the ground are replaced by waist bows. There is such a thing as Liturgy. Even John of Kronstadt spoke about bowing to the ground during the Liturgy. He said that obeisances must be performed regardless of the time of the Liturgy. It is worth doing three bows during it:

At the entrance to the throne.
In the position of the Gifts.
Just before communion.

But again, if you do not know when to bow to the ground at the Liturgy, you can consult with the clergy or simply observe their behavior. Since it is quite difficult to comprehend all the subtleties of performing all the rituals and ceremonies, you should not hesitate to ask for help, as well as consult with knowledgeable people. This will allow you to avoid unpleasant and awkward situations in the temple. Remember that any action should not be done out of necessity or under duress. All actions should come from a pure heart and only with good intentions. After all, our appeal to the Lord will be heard and gifted with grace only if we have pure thoughts and sincere faith.

It all depends only on you, because with what desires we come to God, we will receive in return. It is necessary not only to ask, but also to thank. Prayers of thanksgiving are best suited for this. And be very careful that the proverb “Make the fool pray, he will break his forehead” could not be applied to you.

When you can't do prostrations

You cannot do great obeisances:

in the days from Christmas to Epiphany,
on Sundays,
on the days of great holidays,
from Easter to Pentecost,
on the feast of the Transfiguration, · it is forbidden for the communicants on the day of the first communion and subsequent ones.

There is also such a view as the great fast obeisances. These are called threefold prostrations to the earth, which are accompanied by the imposition of the Orthodox sign of the cross and the reading of the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian, which is divided into three verses.

How to bow down correctly?

The priests say that the Church Rule speaks of unhurried, timely, orderly, unhurried and earnest fulfillment. Bows and knees should be performed after each repeated petition of litany or prayer. Do not do this while reading or singing. It is also not allowed to bow with the sign of the cross.

What is the right way to bow down? Before committing, you must impose the sign of the cross on yourself. After that, kneel down and bow with your hands and head touching the floor. Before you venerate the icon or crucifix, you must cross yourself twice again, bow, venerate, and then cross again and bow.

Bowing down to earth in Islam

Sajda (bowing to the ground) is one of the obligatory elements of prayer. A person performing namaz, after straightening from a bow, makes a bow to the ground, touching the ground with his forehead and nose, thereby expressing his respect to Allah. In each rak'ah prayer, two sajdahs are performed, one after the other. If during sajdah you touch the ground only with your forehead, without touching your nose, then such sajdah is permitted, but in the absence of a valid reason, such sajdah is makruh.

If during sajdah a person touches the ground only with his nose and does not touch his forehead, then, according to Imam Abu Hanifa, such sajdah is permissible, whereas, according to Imam Muhammad and Abu Yusuf, such sajdah is not allowed without a good reason. You cannot touch the ground with your chin or cheek during sajdah.

If a person cannot touch the ground with his forehead and nose, then he performs sajdah with a nod of his head. According to the scholars of the Hanafi madhhab, touching the ground with palms and knees during sajdah is Sunnah, while, according to Imam Zufar, Shafi'i and Ahmad, it is fard. It is unacceptable to perform Sajdah without touching the ground with your toes.

If the place of sajdah is half an arshin (twelve fingers) higher than the place where the feet are, then sajdah will be allowed, but if this place is much higher, then in this case, performing sajdah will be unacceptable.

Due to the large number of people, it is possible to perform Sajdah on your knees or on your back in front of the prayer. If Sajdah is performed on something soft, on wool, hay or on snow, if there is a hard surface underneath, then in this case Sajdah will be permitted.

If the face is drowning in this, and there is no firmness, then sajdah will be unlawful. Sajda can be performed on everything that is laid on the ground, provided that it is clean. The presence of impurities in this place will not harm, provided that the impurities have no smell and volume.

Sajda is the most important element of prayer and the most vivid expression of humility before Allah and His exaltation. It is reported that the Messenger of Allah (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) said: “A person is closest to his Lord during sajdah. During sajdah make many dua ”(Muslim, Salat, 215).

Bowing down how to do it right in Orthodoxy?

Bowing down how to do it right in Orthodoxy? When to do obeisances during the liturgy? When is it forbidden to bow down? Can you bow after the sacrament?

Any person who at least once crossed the threshold of a church, temple or monastery, at the same moment there was a feeling of a certain majesty and serenity, the impression as if a person goes to heaven, being at the bottom of the Earth. Any person who visits a temple with a certain frequency knows that it can carry a certain deep meaning, general severity and harmony, as well as majestic spiritual beauty. No one can say that there are any attributes or objects in the temple that are located in chaos - this is completely wrong. After all, it is the church paraphernalia that occupies a certain order in the church and carries its rank. The ascension of a prayer or prayer service in front of the altar of this or that Saint Face has been performed for many centuries, according to the same ancient order. That is why a person who steps on the threshold of a church knows that there will not be any surprises for him, because everything happens in the same sequence.
Sometimes people who enter the temple for the first time wonder how to bow to the earth correctly? A person on his own cannot answer this question in monosyllables, so you need to turn to church canons or clergy who are in the church all the time and advise believers about observing certain traditions.

Bowing down - how to do it?

Bowing is a kind of symbolic act that has been performed from ancient times and is reflected in biblical legends. From time immemorial, every Orthodox believer has known that bowing expresses special and great reverence before the Creator, that is, the Almighty. Therefore, the priests of the temple recommend that parishioners, making a bow, do not rush and at the same time offer prayers of thanks directed to God. In order to figure out how to bow correctly, you need to find out about the existence of various types of this action. The ministers of the church explain that there are great bows, earthly and small bows, and there is also a simple bowing of the head before the Almighty.

During the prostration, you need to kneel down on your knees so that your forehead touches the floor of the temple. It was such a bow throughout his life that Solomon offered up, who constantly performed prayers and illuminated various temples, which to this day bear the names of the Most High. It is worth noting that it is known from historical records that many of the righteous of the Old Testament made the same obeisances, as well as Daniel during that period of his life, when he was in Babylonian captivity. It is believed in the Orthodox faith that it was the bowing of the earth that was consecrated by Jesus Christ, and subsequently entered the history and practice of the Orthodox Christian Church.

Kneeling

Almost every Orthodox believer knows that most of the kneeling is done during the Great Christian Lent. Since it is known that St. Basil the Great argued that kneeling is supposedly a kind of symbol of the fall of a person during sin, and at the moment when a person gets out of him, then the forgiveness of his sins comes in accordance with the will of the Almighty.

From this follows the question that many Orthodox believers ask themselves, how to correctly perform 40 bows to the earth? The ministers of the temple explain that such prostrations are performed at any time of the day or day, with the exception of special days, which will be discussed below. Therefore, the parishioners should never be lazy. Therefore, it is necessary to voluntarily perform 40 bows to the earth, which for the Almighty will mean falling into the abyss of repentance and hope, therefore, the Almighty will accept your atonement and bless such labors.

Also, the ministers of the church claim that no matter how many days and how many bows an Orthodox believer will make, if there are bad thoughts or sinful desires in his soul and heart, and also if he dreams of inflicting some kind of punishment on another person. Thus, having such sinful thoughts, the number of bows will not make any difference. However, if a Christian sincerely and from a pure heart believes in the help of the Almighty, respects and loves him, then God will lend him a helping hand and will certainly help in any endeavors and forgive all sinful deeds.

The experience of Bishop Afanasy Sakharov

From time immemorial, such a question: how to properly bow to the earth? It arose in almost every century, especially in Orthodoxy. However, according to various beliefs, there is a well-known zealot of the church charter, which is the confessor Afanasy Sakharov, who almost always has an answer to the question posed.

Initially, you need to find out for yourself at what moments in life situations you can bow down, and when you shouldn't. During the service in the temple, bows and bows are obligatory made by every person who is in the temple, be it a parishioner or just a believer. Sometimes church laws can change depending on the territory of residence of the believer or the location of the temple.

The rules of the Ecumenical Council say that on Sundays, in no case should you kneel in order to preserve the honor of Jesus Christ, that is, Christ's Sunday. But at the same time, you can make small bows, but at the same time do not forget to offer prayer, which will carry a certain meaning, both for the person himself and for the Almighty.

Bows and bows to the ground

It is supposed to make three small bows while reading and singing, such as come, let us bow, holy God and three times Hallelujah.

Also, during the service, Psalm 118 is recited during its pronunciation, it is also necessary to perform three small bows for each verse.

Also, the ministers of the church claim that during the reading of various litanies and during the singing, Lord have mercy, and the Most High falls, it is necessary to make small bows and the Sign of the Cross.

During the recitation of the Gospel, a small bow is also performed before the reading or after.

At the moment when the minister of the temple pronounces the akathist, it is necessary to make a small bow during each kontakion and ikos. It is important to note that while pronouncing the 13th kontakion, it is necessary to bow in the waist.

A small bow is performed each time at the time of the blessing by the hand of a clergyman. However, during the period of Great Easter, it is necessary to be baptized and respond. Truly resurrected, but at the same time it is still necessary to make small obeisances.

Special bowing rules

Since we are clarifying the various nuances associated with bowing to the ground, it should be noted that in a temple, church or monastery, often during the service, not only parishioners, but also nun sisters are present. In no case should an Orthodox believer who does not know the rules of conduct in the church and church canons should imitate such women and make the same obeisances as they do.

Since the nuns' sisters have their own special charter, which sometimes can differ from the general church canons. Therefore, Orthodox believers need to adhere to the well-known charter of the Fathers of All Saints, which is intended for churches and temples, thus, a person can eventually learn and reveal the meaning of the service.

Dying

The servants of the church know the tradition when, during the censing of the church rector, Orthodox believers begin to be distracted from the performance of the liturgical prayer service. As a result, people move from one side to the other, at the same time, riveting all the attention to themselves or to the priest, who at that moment approaches them. Also, some parishioners of the temple can create noise, and also stand with their backs to the nearest altar, but you should know that such behavior in the temple is simply unacceptable. Since at the time of the censing, Orthodox believers must step aside, making a kind of narrow path for the priest, letting him pass, and after that it is necessary to quietly rise to the previous place and resume the ascension of the prayer service.

In the event that the minister of the temple begins to incense every parishioner, therefore, the priest must bow, and then return to the implementation of the service. It is important to note that at this moment, in no case should you look through the eyes of a minister of the temple throughout the entire action of censing. Having studied such simple and understandable rules, one can not only get closer to the Almighty, but also learn the basic nuances of the service.

Is it possible to do earthly obeisances at the Liturgy

According to the church canons in the Proskomedia and the Liturgy of the catechumens, bows are performed in accordance with ordinary divine services. And during the Liturgy of the faithful, it is necessary to combine prostrations with bows.

At that moment, when the Servant of the temple at the Great Entrance goes to the pulpit, and at that moment holds a cup and a diskos in his hands. The church choir at this moment washed down the cherubic song.

It is necessary to make a small bow before the end of the first half of the song, the priest at this moment is on the pulpit.

At the moment when the commemoration of the priests sounds, you must bow your head.

At the time of the triple Hallelujah, make three small bows.

At that moment, when the minister of the church says, we thank the Lord, a Great bow is made.

Many Orthodox believers are interested in: Can you bow down after partaking of the sacrament? The ministers of the temple, in turn, answer, to the Orthodox believers, that in no case should they kneel after communion, since such an act is performed for the sake of the shrine that is located inside each person. Therefore, so that the Orthodox believer does not vomit, it is not worth doing such an act.

Conclusion

It is important to note that various types of bows are not the most important thing in life for every Orthodox Christian believer, however, they contribute to strengthening common faith, enlightening the heart and the correct spiritual attitude. Almost every parishioner knows that in order to comprehend the meaning of conducting a divine service, it is necessary to bow. If, while in the temple, you have forgotten what kind of bow you need to perform, go to the temple minister in advance and ask him in more detail, since it is he who will be able to indicate what deeds should be performed at the time of a particular service.

Man is a being of a double nature: spiritual and bodily. Therefore, the Holy Church gives a person saving means, both for his soul and for his body.

Soul and body are linked to death into a single whole. Therefore, the gracious means of the Church are aimed at healing and correcting both souls and bodies. An example of this is the Sacraments. Many of them have a material substance that is sanctified by the Holy Spirit in the rite of the Sacrament and has a beneficial effect on a person. In the Sacrament of Baptism, it is water. In the Sacrament of Confirmation - myrrh. In the Sacrament of the Sacrament - the Body and Blood of Christ under the guise of water, wine and bread. And even in the Sacrament of Confession, we must materially (verbally) speak our sins before the priest.

Let us also recall the dogma of the Universal Resurrection. After all, each of us will rise bodily and appear in conjunction with the soul at the judgment of God.

Therefore, the Church has always shown special concern for the human body, considering it the temple of the Living God. And a person who does not pay attention to all the means that are supposed in Orthodoxy for healing and correcting not only the soul, but also the body, is deeply mistaken. After all, it is in the body that the embryos of passions often nest, and if you close your eyes and do not fight them, over time they will grow from snakes into dragons and begin to eat the soul.

Here it is not out of place to recall the verses of the psalms ...

31:9:
"Do not be like a horse, like a foolish mule, whose jaws must be bridled with a bridle and bridle, so that they obey you."
Indeed, often our body is just like a horse and a foolish mule, which must be bridled by the bridle of prayer, the Sacraments, bows, fasting, so that in its earthly passionate race it does not fly into the abyss.

"My knees have grown weak from fasting, and my body has lost its fat."

We see that the holy prophet and King David to the point of exhaustion made prostrations to the ground in order to be cleansed from sins and fasts with a fast that is pleasing and pleasing to God.

Our Lord Jesus Christ also prayed on his knees: "And he himself departed from them to cast a stone, and kneeling down, prayed ..." (Luke 22:41).
And if God did this, then should we refuse to bow down to the ground?

Moreover, quite often in the Holy Scriptures, the prophets and the Savior called people proud and disgusted with God rigid-footed (translated from the Church Slavonic language - with stiff necks, unable to worship God).

Quite often you notice this in the temple. A believer comes to the church: he bought candles, made the sign of the cross, bowed before the holy icons, reverently took the priest's blessing. A person of little faith enters the church: he is ashamed not only to cross himself, but even to bend his head a little towards the icon or crucifix. Because I’m not used to bowing my “I” to anyone, even God. This is what the cruelty is about.

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, let us hasten to bow down to earth. They are a manifestation of our humility and contrition of heart before the Lord God. They are a sacrifice pleasing and pleasing to God.

The prodigal son, covered in sores, rags and scabs, returns home to his father and falls on his knees before him with the words: “Father! I have sinned against heaven and before you and am no longer worthy to be called your son. " This is what bowing down is. The destruction of the personal tower of Babel, the realization of one's own sin and the fact that without the Lord one cannot rise. And, of course, our Heavenly Father will hasten to meet us in order to restore us and accept us in his love. Only for this you need to cast aside your "ego", self-conceit and vanity and understand that without God you cannot even take a step right. As long as you are filled with yourself and not with the Lord, you will be unhappy. But as soon as you realize that you are on the edge of an abyss filled with sins and passions, and that you will not have enough strength to rise on your own, that another minute and death, then your feet will bow before the Almighty and beg Him not to leave you.
This is what bowing down is. Ideally, this is the prayer of the publican, the prayer of the prodigal son. Pride prevents you from bowing to the ground. It can only be done by a humble person.

Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov) wrote about prostrations to the ground: “The Lord knelt down during His prayer - and you should not neglect kneeling if you have enough strength to perform them. Worship to the face of the earth, according to the explanation of the fathers, depicts our fall, and an uprising from the earth - our redemption ... "

You also need to understand that you cannot reduce the number of prostrations to some kind of mechanical gymnastic exercise and not strive to perform an immoderate feat of kneeling. Better less, but better quality. Let us remember that bowing to the ground is not an end in itself. He is a means for gaining lost communion with God and the grace-filled gifts of the Holy Spirit. Bowing down is a prayer of repentance that should not be offered carelessly, inattentively, and in a hurry. Get up, cross yourself correctly and slowly. Get on your knees, put your palms in front of you and touch your forehead to the floor, then get up off your knees and straighten up to your full height. This will be a real bow to the ground. During its performance, you need to read to yourself some kind of short prayer, for example, Jesus' prayer or "Lord have mercy." You can also turn to the Most Holy Theotokos and the saints.

In Great Lent, according to the established tradition, three prostrations are made after entering the temple in front of Calvary: that is, they made two prostrations, kissed the Crucifixion and made another one. So it is when leaving the temple. During the evening service or Liturgy, prostrations to earth are also appropriate. At matins, for example, when singing "The Most Honest Cherub and the Most Glorious without Comparison Seraphim ..." after the eighth canon of the canon. At the Liturgy - after singing "We sing to you, we bless you ...", because at this time the culmination of the divine service takes place in the altar - the transubstantiation of the Holy Gifts. You can also kneel down and while the priest comes out with the Chalice with the words "With the fear of God" to commune the people. On Great Lent, kneeling is also done at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts in certain places, indicated by the ringing of a bell, during the priest's poetry of the prayer of the Monk Ephraim the Syrian, in some other places of the services of the Holy Forty-day.

Proceedings are not made on Sundays, on the twelveth feast days, on Christmastide (from the Nativity of Christ to the Baptism of the Lord), from Easter to Pentecost. This is forbidden by the holy apostles, as well as by the I and VI Ecumenical Councils, since on these holy days there is a reconciliation between God and man, when a man is no longer a slave, but a son.

For the rest of the time, dear brothers and sisters, we will not be lazy to do earthly obeisances, voluntarily plunging ourselves into the abyss of repentance by bowing and falling into the abyss of repentance, in which the merciful God will certainly stretch out His fatherly right hand to us and resurrect us with unspeakable love, sinners, for this and future life.

Priest Andrey Chizhenko

This question, with its seeming simplicity and formality, in my opinion, is rather complicated, since most people (and there is nothing reprehensible in this!) Come to church only on Sundays and twelve or major holidays (except for the services of Great Lent).

This, of course, due to work and family employment, is understandable and normal. Thank God that the modern Christian, with the speeds and technologies of the modern world, fulfills this main necessary minimum.

It is known that on Sundays, from Easter to Vespers of Pentecost, from the Nativity of Christ to the Baptism of the Lord (Christmastide), and on twelve feast days, bowing to earth is prohibited by the Rite. Saint Basil the Great testifies to this in his Epistle to Blessed Amphilochius. He writes that the holy apostles forbade kneeling at all and bowing down to earth on the aforementioned days. The same was confirmed by the rules of the I and VI Ecumenical Councils. That is, we see that the highest ecclesiastical authority - the apostolic decrees and the conciliar reason - have not accepted prostrations on these days.

Why is this?

This question is answered by the holy supreme apostle Paul: “Bring the slave already. But a son ”(Gal. 4: 7). That is, bowing to the ground represents a slave - a person who has fallen into sin and begs for forgiveness on his knees, repenting of his sins in deep humble and repentant feelings.

And the Resurrection of Christ, the entire period of the Colored Triodion, small Easter of ordinary Sundays, Christmastide and twelve feasts - this is the time when “Bring the slave already. But the son, ”that is, our Lord Jesus Christ restores and heals in Himself the image of a fallen man and restores him in filial dignity, again introducing him into the Kingdom of Heaven, establishing a New Testament-union between God and man. Therefore, bowing to the ground during the periods of the aforementioned holidays is an insult to God and, as it were, a man's rejection of this restoration in sonship. A person who bows down to the ground on a holiday seems to be saying to God the words opposite to the verses of the Divine Paul: “I don’t want to be a son. I want to remain a slave. " Moreover, such a person directly violates the canons of the Church, established by the grace of the Holy Spirit by the apostolic rules and the Ecumenical Councils.

I personally heard the opinion that, they say, a layman often does not go to church for everyday services, then let him do prostrations even on Sunday. I cannot agree with this. Since the apostolic decrees and the Ecumenical Councils prohibit this, and the Church, with God's help, stands on obedience. In addition, the custom of kneeling down in the temple of one's own free will is also strictly prohibited.

For people who do not go to church for daily services (I repeat that this is not a sin. A busy person can be understood), I would recommend taking on the feat of bowing to the ground in private home prayer on weekdays. How many who will bear, so that over time it also does not become an unbearable burden: five, ten, twenty, thirty. And who can - and more. Set a standard with God's help for yourself. Bowing to the ground with prayer, especially with Jesus: “Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner,” is a very useful thing. But, as they say, everything has its time.

At the Sunday Liturgy, bowing to the earth is done in two places of worship. Also, approximately and meaningfully, the priest places them in the altar in front of the Altar. The first moment: at the end of the singing "We sing to Thee," when the culmination of the Eucharistic canon and the entire Divine Liturgy takes place, the Holy Gifts are transubstantiated on the Throne; bread, wine and water become the Body and Blood of Christ. The second point: when taking out the Chalice for the sacrament of the faithful, since the priest bows to the earth before communion in the altar. In the period from Easter to Pentecost, these prostrations are replaced by prostrations. More on Sunday Divine Liturgy or Liturgy in another of the above-mentioned period, prostrations to earth are not done.

If you, dear brothers and sisters, are attending the Liturgy of a weekday, then prostrations are permitted by the Rite in the two above-mentioned cases, as well as at the beginning of the singing "worthy and righteous"; the end of the prayer "It is worthy to eat," or the beggar; at the end of the Liturgy, when the priest proclaims "Always, now and forever", when the priest for the last time at the Liturgy appears with the Chalice with the Body and Blood of Christ in his hands at the Royal Doors and transfers it from the throne to the altar (symbol of the Ascension of the Lord). At the evening service, bowing to the ground is allowed (at matins), when a priest or deacon leaves the altar with a censer after the eighth canon of the ordinary canon and proclaims before the icon of the Virgin Mary on the iconostasis "We will magnify the Mother of God and the Mother of Light in a song." Further, the song of the Monk Cosmas of Mium is sung "The Most Honorable Cherubim", during which it is also customary to kneel because of love and reverence for the Most Holy Theotokos, since it is believed that She is at this time in the temple and visits all those praying in it.

Let us, dear brothers and sisters, try to observe the Church Rite. He is our golden channel in the murky waters of the outer world and the inner heart with its emotions and sensuality. On the one hand, it does not allow us to deviate into laziness and negligence, on the other hand, into the delusion and spiritual delusion of “in vivo holiness”. And along this fairway the church ship is sailing to the Kingdom of Heaven. Our business on board is gracious obedience. After all, all the holy fathers put him and valued him very highly. After all, by disobedience the first people fell away from God, and by obedience we unite with Him, seeing the example, of course, of the God-man Jesus, Who was obedient to death and even the death of the cross.

Priest Andrey Chizhenko

An attempt to understand the meaning of temple worship for the majority of believers ends with the assimilation of a symbolic-pictorial interpretation of the service. Unfortunately, it is precisely this, being the least informative, that turned out to be the most popular and widespread in the Orthodox environment.

The assimilation of this perception of worship finally confirms many in the mystery nature of Christian service. This leads, in fact, to a universal passive-contemplative attitude to worship and to the life of the Church in general.

One can be endlessly surprised that people who know by heart the sequence of the all-night vigil and the liturgy (there are many such people) often do not understand the content and meaning of what is happening in the altar. But no one ever explained this to them!

What kind of common ministry, what kind of conciliarity can we talk about if the people of God are not able to participate in what is happening? If participation is only superficial and formal? If the believer never hears the main semantic and prayer part of the divine service at all in his life (!), Since the main thing is expressed in the so-called "secret" prayers? Could there be a different perception of the service, except for the mystery? "

Of course, to myself, otherwise the mumbling will begin in the temple. For this, there is a primate in the Church (bishop or priest) who aloud voices a common prayer. But while he is "silent", and the people even more so. The priest performs the function of language in a single body.

Contemporary church obeisances

In theory, this cannot be that the language says one thing, the heart feels different, and the head does not understand what it was thinking at all. But as we see in the church, everything is possible. It is interesting for me to ask a question to experienced parishioners (I will note experienced ones): when the deacon proclaims “We will pray to the Lord for the gifts brought and sanctified to the Lord,” what are you praying for at that moment. After all, they are baptized and bowed down. The answers are not encouraging.

We do not have (almost none) edible, let me say an intelligent liturgy. What kind of treasure is hidden there, but it is here, on the surface, and few people are interested in it. All attention is focused on the outer side of the liturgy, which by itself says practically nothing about the essence of the Eucharist.

If the priests shared this treasure with people, it would be much better. but what to do if the priest himself does not see this treasure or perceives himself as a shaman or priest, for only they can be initiated into "mysterious and inaccessible" prayers. With regard to the Liturgy, we have a passively contemplative attitude

Saint Theophan said well:
Quote: Truth was brought to earth by the Lord and the Holy Spirit, who fulfilled the apostles on the day of Pentecost - and it walks on the earth. Her guides are the lips of the priests of God. Whoever of them closes his mouth, he blocks the path of the truth that asks in the souls of believers.

That is why the souls of believers languish without receiving the truth, and the priests themselves must feel the anguish of the truth, which, without receiving an outcome, wears them. Relieve yourself, priest of God, from this burden, let out streams of Divine words, to delight yourself and to revive the souls entrusted to you. When you see that you yourself do not have the truth, take it: it is in the holy scriptures; and, being filled with it, convey it to your spiritual children: just do not be silent.

Preach, for this is what you are called to. End of quote. Bishop Theophanes. Thoughts for every day of the year according to church readings from the word of God, Edition of the Moscow Patriarchate, Moscow, 1991, p. 139.

Yes, this is how it is now printed in the Book of Hours. However, it is worth noting that these instructions are not some kind of dogma, but are purely advisory in nature. These rules have changed in the history of the Church. In particular, they do not correspond to the statute of bows that existed in Russia 300-400 years ago.

Bow to earth in Orthodoxy

Our great saints Sergius of Radonezh, Joseph Volotsky, St. Philip and others adhered to other, more ancient rules about bowing. The current rules on bowing are of a later origin, which arose during the synodal period, when the Russian Church, on the ritual side, came under strong Western influence.

In particular, this includes the abolition of prostrations on Sundays and holidays; in the Ancient Church, this abolition did not exist. And the kneeling, which is common in our churches, is already a pure borrowing from Catholicism; in Orthodoxy, only bows to the ground and the position of "prostrate" were accepted, but not standing with a straightened body.

The local council of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1971 removed all prohibitions from the ancient rituals that were preserved by the Old Believers, including our fellow believers. Now in the Church there is a very good tendency to study their experience and return to a number of ancient forms - for example, in icon painting (canonical icon), in singing (znamenny chant), etc.

I think that is why it is interesting to study their statute on bowing, preserved from the time of Holy Russia, which reflects a deeply pious attitude towards worship. I think everyone will be interested in reading this charter, here are excerpts from it:

First of all, it is necessary to say that all bows, waist and earth, are performed by the worshipers together, according to the instructions of the Church Statutes, and not when anyone wants to. Bows must be done earnestly and decorously, without excessive fussiness, or deliberate slowdown in movements.

If, according to the Rule, bow is performed with the sign of the cross, one should first cross, so that for the body of the praying person, and not for his clothes only, it would be felt, and then bow, in the belt or in the ground, according to the specific moment of the service.

Bows to the ground rely on a handyman, a deliberately sewn rug, to keep the hands clean. Bowing to the ground, you should first put the handcuff in front of you, then cross and bow: put the outstretched palms of both hands on the handcuff, both side by side, at the same time bending your knees and tilting your head to the ground so that your forehead touches the hands on the handcuff.

Bows to the ground at the liturgy

You should not spread your elbows and knees to the sides or make any knock when bowing. We note in passing that in the ancient Orthodox Church there was no custom of kneeling praying; there is no such custom in the Old Believers either. This custom came to the new believers from the Catholic West..

It cannot be called good in any way, for the Lord Jesus Christ, before His voluntary suffering for the human race, showed us in the Garden of Gethsemane the image of a prayer: “Fall on your faces, praying” (Gospel of Matthew, cred. 108).

The warriors, "cursing" ie who mocked the Lord during His Passion, they mocked “bow down on your knee before Him” (Gospel of Matthew, nos. 112). It is clear which of the Gospel examples corresponds to the Orthodox custom, and to which - the Catholic.
Now let us give you the complete Rule of bows, according to patristic church tradition.

At the prayer to the Holy Spirit "Heavenly King", when it is read (or chanted) at the beginning of any succession, without bowing, we guard ourselves with the sign of the cross, and on Great Lent at the end of it, we bow to the ground, with the sign of the cross.

On the "Trisagion": "Holy God, Holy Strong, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us" (three times), three bows. Only when this prayer is sung at the end of the Great Doxology during the All-Night Vigil, as well as at the Liturgy before the reading of the Apostle, (or when in other cases, according to the Rite, it is sung), there is no bow.

At the Lord's Prayer "Our Father", a bow at the end of it, when it is sung at the Liturgy and before dinner; in all other cases, there is no bow.

On "Come, let us bow," three bows. And besides this, when in psalms, stichera and troparions there are the words: "bow down", "worship", "bow down", "worship", "bow down", "worshipers", "worshipers" and "worshipers", they always bow to the belt ... On "Hallelujah", when she happens to "glory" behind any psalm, like this: "Hallelujah, Hallelujah, glory to You, God," three times, three bows in the belt, except for "Hallelujah" among the "ex-psalms" bows.

At the prayers "Grant, O Lord, this evening we shall be saved without sin" at Vespers and "Glory to God in the highest" (at the beginning) at Pavechernitsa and Matins, - three bows in the bow.

Sunday obeisances

When a priest or a deyakon recites an augmented litany, at one of the petitions ending with the words "rtz vsi," three bows are made (at the beginning of the singing "Lord, have mercy," 12 times; in other cases, it happens 40 and 50 times); when the service is performed without a priest, instead of augmented litany, forty times “Lord, have mercy” is sung, and also instead of “diligent prayers” for lithium (coming to the vestibule for All-night vigil, Sunday and some other services), the same prayer is sung 40, 30, and 50 times. In all these cases, three obeisances are preserved, also at the beginning of the chanting "Lord, have mercy."

Before the prayer of dismissal, at Vespers and Matins, and at the Moleben, beginning with "The Most Honorable Cherubim", and at the Liturgy and the Liturgy, with "It is Worthy to Eat", "Glory", "and now", "Lord have mercy" twice, "Lord bless ”, always four bows, at Vespers, Matins and Moleben, all in half, and at Liturgy and Obednitsa, the first bow is always down to earth.

To the "Most Honest Cherub", when this prayer happens in the middle of some research (for example, when praying for dinner), there is always a bow in the waist.
At the beginning of the Midnight Office, during the prayer "Glory to Thee, our God, Glory to Thee for all sake," they are protected by the sign of the cross without bowing once; and at the next prayer “God, cleanse me of a sinner”, three bows in the belt.

After the first and last glorification of the holiday, during the festive Matins (usually performed in the evening), bow is always earthly.

The kissing of the icon of the holiday after the magnificence, the Gospel on Sunday Matins and the Honest Cross on the holy days have a special order.