A brief explanation of Orthodox worship. What is the liturgy in simple terms? Solemn service

Chapter Three Folk-festive forms and images in Rabelais's novel Time is a playing boy, moving checkers. Domination belongs to the child. Heraclitus At the end of the previous chapter, we touched on the "anatomizing" image of massacres and blows in Rabelais' novel, his

You can pray to God at any place, because God is everywhere. But there are special places where it is more convenient to perform prayers and where the Lord is in a special, grace-filled way.

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

In terms of their external structure, God's churches 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, towards the side where the sun is in the morning. This is how God's temples are arranged with the aim of reminding Orthodox Christians that from the East the Christian faith has spread throughout the entire universe; in the east of us, in the land of Judea, the Lord Jesus Christ lived for our salvation.

Temples end with one or more chapters 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 is one. Three chapters mean we bow down to God united in three persons. Five chapters depict the Savior and four evangelists. Seven chapters are built on temples to signify, in-1, seven saving sacraments, by which Christians are sanctified to receive eternal life, in-2, seven ecumenical councils, at which the rules of Christian doctrine and deanery are approved. There are churches with 13 chapters: in this case, they depict the Savior and His 12 apostles. Christian churches have at the 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 of the 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 internally divided into three parts. Accordingly, our temples, for the most part, are internally divided into three sections. The first part from the entrance is called pretense... In ancient times, catechumens stood here, that is, those preparing to receive baptism, and those who repent, who were excommunicated from communion in sacraments and prayer along with other Christians for grave sins. The second part of the temple occupies the middle of it and is designated for the prayer of all Orthodox Christians, the third section of the temple - the most important thing - is altar.

Altar means heaven, the place of God's special dwelling. It also resembles a paradise in which the first people lived before sin. The altar can only be entered, and even then with great reverence, only by persons who have a holy dignity. Others should not enter the altar unnecessarily, the female sex is not at all included in the altar to remind that for the first sin of the first wife Eve, all people have lost their heavenly bliss.

Altar throne- this is the main shrine of the temple. The sacrament of communion of the body and blood of Christ is performed on it; 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 and kiss the throne. A visible sign that St. the Lord is invisibly present on the throne, the Gospel and the cross on it serve. Looking at these sacred objects, we remember the heavenly Teacher Christ, who came to save people from eternal death by His life, death and resurrection.

Even on St. the throne is antimension... The word is Greek, it means in Russian: instead of the throne. The antimension is a sacred kerchief depicting the burial of the Lord. He is always consecrated by a bishop and relies on the throne as a sign of the bishop's blessing to perform the sacrament of communion on the throne on which he is. In the antimension, when it is consecrated by the bishop, particles of the relics of the holy martyrs are enclosed 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 unfolded only during mass, when the sacrament of the consecration of St. gifts. At the end of the liturgy, it is folded up and wrapped in another scarf called iliton resembling the bandage that was on the head of the Savior when He lay in the tomb.

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

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

For St. the throne, between it and the eastern wall of the altar, the place is called mountainous, or an exalted place, and signifies the seat of the Lord and the sitting of Him 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. By the throne and the royal gates can pass, and then only for the rite of worship, persons consecrated, such as: deacons, priests, bishops. Clergymen, let alone any of the laity, cannot walk there, as a sign of reverence for the path along which they walk in His St. 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 averages are called - royal gates, because through them in St. by gifts the King of glory and the Lord of lords passes. The middle gates are worthy of reverence more than others, because through them St. gifts and through them ordinary people are not allowed to enter, but only the sanctified.

The Annunciation of the Archangel St. To the Virgin Mary, because from the day of the Annunciation, the entrance to paradise, lost by people for their sins, is open to us. Even on the royal doors, St. evangelists, because only thanks to the evangelists, these witnesses of the life of the Savior, we know about the Lord Jesus Christ, about the salvation of His coming for us to inherit the life of paradise. Evangelist Matthew is portrayed with an angelic man. This expresses the distinctive feature 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 lineage of David and Abraham. The Evangelist Mark is depicted with a lion as a sign that he began his Gospel with a story about the life of the Forerunner John in the wilderness, where lions are known to live. The Evangelist Luke is written with a calf to remind also of the beginning of his Gospel, which primarily tells about the priest Zechariah, the parent of St. Forerunners, and the duty of the Old Testament priests was mainly to sacrifice bulls, sheep, etc. The Evangelist John is depicted with an eagle to signify that by the power of the Spirit of God, like an eagle soaring under the heavens, he was exalted in his spirit to depict the Deity of the Son of God, whose life on earth he described vividly and in accordance with the truth.

The side door of the iconostasis on the left side of the royal gates is called the north door, the door on the right side of the same gates is called the south door. Sometimes they depict the holy archdeacons with the instruments of their suffering: Stephen, Lawrence, because through these doors they have an entrance to the altar of the deacon. And sometimes angels and other holy people are depicted on the northern and southern doors, of course, with the same purpose to point us to the prayers of St. the saints of God, through whom we will eventually be rewarded with entrance to the paradise villages.

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

The iconostasis separates the altar from the second part of the temple, where all the worshipers take place. Iconostasis with St. icons must remind Christians of the life of paradise, 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 an example of their lives, the saints of God, depicted in great numbers on the iconostasis, will show us the way to the kingdom of God.

The holy icons, which we bow to, have the oldest origin in the Church. The first image of the Lord, according to legend, came out of His own pure hands. The prince of Edesa Avgar was ill. Hearing the miracles of the Savior and not being able to see Him personally, Abgar wished to have at least His image; at the same time, the prince was sure that from one view of the face of the Savior he would receive healing. The princely painter arrived in Judea and tried in every possible way to write off the divine face of the Savior, but due to the shining 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, unmade face of the Lord was displayed on the canvas. The holiday for the sake of this icon was established on August 16.

On all the icons of the Savior, three letters are written in His crowns: w, Oh, H. These letters are Greek, meaning that he- existent, eternal. From the time the faith of Christ was brought from Greece to Russia, Christian antiquity did not change these letters to Slavic, of course, out of respect and memory for the country from which we are 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 comforting words: with this image the grace and strength of my Son and mine be... Several icons of the Mother of God are attributed to the Evangelist Luke, of which the more famous are: Smolensk 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 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, Blessed. Theotokos and St. pleasers. The honor of the icons passes to the one whom she portrays; who worships the image worships that depicted on it. As a sign of special reverence for God, the Mother of God and St. the saints of God, depicted in St. icons, they are decorated with metal vestments, pure wax candles are placed in front of them, oil is kindled and incense is burnt. A burning candle and a kindled oil in front of the icon mean our love for the Lord, Most Holy. Mother of God and St. to the saints of God depicted on the icons. Censing before icons, in addition to reverence, serves as a sign of the offering of our prayers to God and St. to His saints. May my prayer be corrected, like a censer before You! This is how a Christian prays to God together with the whole Church.

The place raised by several steps between the kliros is called salt. Pulpit on the salt, he settles down opposite the royal doors for the offering of litanies and the reading of St. the gospel; here are the teachings. The ambo resembles the stone of the Holy Sepulcher and an angel sitting on the stone with a sermon on the resurrection of Christ. On the pulpit, no one stands except for those ordained to the priesthood.

Banners are erected near the kliros, which signify the victory of Christianity over idolatry. They have become the property 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 are of greater importance: chalice and paten... The one and the other are used during the liturgy when performing the sacrament of communion. From the chalice, we are rewarded by means of a liar to receive the body and blood of Christ in the form of bread and wine. The chalice resembles that of St. the cup from which the Lord communed His disciples at the Last Supper.

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

The chalice and diskos were once covered with covers made of brocade or silk. So that the patron, which relies on the diskos during the liturgy, does not touch the lamb and other parts of the prosphora, is placed on the diskos starlet, resembling 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 a liar.

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

Sponge(walnut) is used to wipe off diskos and chalice after eating St. gifts. It resembles a sponge with which Jesus Christ was drunk on the cross.

The divine service of the Orthodox Church in ancient times was performed throughout the day nine times, which is why there were all nine church services: the ninth hour, Vespers, Compline, Midnight Office, Matins, the first hour, the third and sixth hours, and Mass. At present, for the convenience of Orthodox Christians, who are not able to visit the temples of God so often on the occasion of homework, these nine services are combined into three church services: Vespers, Matins and Mass... Each separately divine service includes three church services: to vespers entered the ninth hour, Vespers and Compline; matins consists of midnight office, matins and first hour; mass begins at the third and sixth hours and then the Liturgy itself is performed. For hours such short prayers are called, followed by psalms and other prayers that are decent for these times of the day for mercy on us sinners.

The divine service day begins with the evening on the basis that at the creation of the world there was evening, and then morning. For vespers usually, the service in the temple is sent to a holiday or to a saint, whom the remembrance is performed on the next day according to the location in the calendar. On every day of the year, either an event from the earthly life of the Savior and the Mother of God or one of St. saints of God. In addition, every 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 there is a service in honor of the life-giving cross of the Lord, on Thursday - in honor of St. Apostles and Saint Nicholas, on Saturday - in honor of all saints and in memory of all departed Orthodox Christians.

The evening service is sent to thank God for the past day and 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 time count 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 worship, and it is accompanied by Compline, or a series of prayers, which Christians recite after the evening, at nightfall.

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

Lunch begins by reading the 3rd and 6th hours. Service third hour reminds us how the Lord at the third hour of the day, according to the Jewish reckoning of time, and according to our account, at the ninth hour of the morning, was led to judgment to 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 exploit of preaching about Christ. Service of the sixth The hour is called so because it reminds us of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary, which was, according to Jewish time, at 6 o'clock in the afternoon, and according to our account at 12 o'clock in the afternoon. Mass is celebrated after hours, or liturgy.

Divine services are performed in this order on weekdays; but on some days of the year this order changes, for example: on the days of the Nativity of Christ, the Baptism of the Lord, on Great 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 feasts of the Nativity of Christ, the Baptism of the Lord, on Great Thursday and on Great Saturday, Mass begins with Vespers and therefore takes place from 12 noon. Morning on the holidays of Christmas and Epiphany is 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, at which the priest reads affectionate prayers to the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Holy Trinity. And on Good Friday, according to the charter of the Orthodox Church, mass is not supposed to strengthen the fast, but after hours, separately performed, Vespers is sent out at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, after which the funeral service is carried out from the altar to the middle of the church. shroud Christ, in remembrance of the removal of the body of the Lord from the cross by the righteous Joseph and Nicodemus.

During Great Lent, on all days except Saturday and Sunday, the arrangement of church services is different than on weekdays throughout the year. In the evening goes great Compline, on which, on the first four days of the first week, the touching canon of St. Andrew of Crete (mephimon). Served in the morning matins, according to its charter, similar to an ordinary, everyday matine; in the middle of the day reads the 3rd, 6th and 9th watch, and they are joined by vespers... This service is usually called for hours.

Most often, we hear litanies delivered by a deacon or priest during services. The litany is a drawn-out zealous prayer to the Lord God for our needs. Litany four: great, small, austere and pleading.

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

The Great Litany begins with the words: peace to the Lord let us pray... 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: for the heavenly peace and the salvation of our souls let us pray to the Lord, i.e. about peace with God, which we have lost as a result of our grave sins, with which we offend Him, our Benefactor and our Father.

For the peace of the whole world, for the welfare of the holy churches of God and the unification of all to the Lord let us pray; With these words, we ask God to send us harmony, friendship with each other, so that we remove quarrels and enmities that are contrary to God, so that no one offends the churches of God, and that all non-Orthodox Christians who have separated from the Orthodox Church unite with her.

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

About the Most Holy Governing Synod, and about the Most Reverend(name), let us honor the presbytery, in Christ deaconism, for all the clergy and people let us pray to the Lord. The Holy Synod is a collection of archpastors who are entrusted with the care of the Orthodox Greek-Russian Church. The priesthood is called the priesthood - the priests; deaconism - deacons; The clergy clergy is the churchmen who sing and read in the kliros.

Then we pray for the Sovereign Emperor and His Wife, the Empress
Empress, and oh to all the Reigning House, that the Lord should subdue to our Sovereign all our enemies, scolding those who want.

Man's sin not only removed him from God, destroying all the abilities of his soul, but also left its dark traces in the whole surrounding nature. We pray in the Great Litany for the blissfulness of the air, for the abundance of earthly fruits, for peaceful times, for those who float, who travel, who are sick, who suffer, and who are captives, for deliverance from our anger and every need.

When listing our needs, we call on the Mother of God and all the saints for help and express our devotion to God in these words : the most holy, most pure, most blessed, glorious mistress of our Mother of God and the Ever-Virgin Mary, having remembered all the saints, themselves and each other, and our whole belly ( life) We will give over to Christ God!

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

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

The Augmented Litany begins with the words: rtz all, that is, let's say everything from all my soul and from all our thoughts... What we will say, this is complemented by singers, namely: Lord have mercy!

This litany is named augmented because after the petition of the priest or deacon, it is sung three times: Lord have mercy! Only after the first two petitions Lord have mercy! sung once. This litany begins once after Vespers and once after Matins with the third petition: have mercy on us god! The last petition in the augmented litany reads like this: we still pray for those who bear fruit and those who are good in this holy and all-honorable temple, who work, sing and come people who expect great and rich mercy from You. In the early days of Christianity, pilgrims brought various assistance to the church of God for church services and divided them among the poor people, they also took care of the temple of God: this was fruiting and good-natured. Now zealous Christians can do no less good through brotherhoods, trusteeships, shelters, in many places set up at the temples of God. Toiling, singing…. these are people who care about the splendor of the church by their labor, as well as by intelligible reading and singing.

There is also supplicatory litany, so named because in it most of the petitions end with the words: we ask the Lord... The chorus replies: give me lord! In this litany we ask: at the bottom of everything is perfect, holy, peaceful and sinless, - the angel is peaceful ( not formidable, giving peace to our souls), faithful mentor ( leading us to salvation), guardian of our souls and bodies, - forgiveness and forgiveness of sins and sins ( falls, admitted by our carelessness and absent-mindedness) ours - good and useful to our souls and the world of the world, - the rest of our life in peace and repentance to die, - Christian demise(bring true repentance and communion of the holy mysteries ) are painless ( without severe suffering, while maintaining a sense of self-awareness and memory), not ashamed(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, addressing the people with a blessing, says: peace to all! That is, Let there be peace and harmony among all people. The chorus responds to him with mutual benevolence, saying: and perfume yours, that is, we wish the same to your soul.

Deacon's cry: bow down your heads to the Lord reminds us that all believers pledge to bow their heads in submission to God. The priest at this time by prayer, secretly read, brings down the blessing of God from the throne of grace on those who are to come; therefore, whoever does not bow his head before God is deprived of His grace.

If the supplicatory litany is read at the end of Vespers, then its beginning is with the words: Let's fulfill our Lord's evening prayer, and if it is pronounced at the end of Matins, then it begins with the words: Let's fulfill our Lord's morning prayer.

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 on Lord I have cried or stichera on the verse, sung at the evening after the supplicatory litany, if there is no litiya; more stichera are called praiseworthy; which are usually sung before great praise.

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

Kondak has the same content as the troparion; read after song 6 and on the clock after the Lord's prayer: Our Father…

Prokemen... This is the name of a short verse from the psalm, which is sung on the kliros several times alternately, for example: Lord reign, clothe yourself in petting(i.e., dressed in splendor). Prokemen sung after Quiet light and at matins before the gospel, and at mass before reading from the books of the apostles.

On Sundays and holidays, in the evening (and in other places and in the morning) a special service to God is performed, 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 the believers in the church for prayer. And now there are such St. monastery, where the all-night vigil lasts about six hours from the beginning of this.

The Christian custom 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 night time for prayer, partly out of fear of their enemies, had prayer meetings at night. The first Christians, fearing the persecution of idolaters and Jews, prayed at night on holidays and days of commemoration of the martyrs in country caves, or the so-called catacombs.

The Vigil depicts the story of the salvation of the human race through the coming to earth of the Son of God and consists of three parts, or divisions: Vespers, Matins and First Hour.

The beginning of the all-night vigil is celebrated as follows: the royal gates are opened, the priest with a censer and the deacon with a candle incense St. altar; then the deacon says in the ambo: rebuild, Lord bless! The priest says: glory to the saints, consubstantial, life-giving and indivisible Trinity always, now and ever, and forever and ever. Then the priest calls upon the believers to worship Christ our King and our God; The singers sing selected passages from Psalm 103: Bless, my soul, the Lord ... Lord my God, thou art greatly exalted ( i.e. very) ... On the mountains there will be waters ... Wondrous are Thy works, O Lord! Thou art created all wisdom! ... Glory to Thee, O Lord, who created everything. Meanwhile, the priest and the deacon, having turned the altar, go around the whole church with a censer and incense St. icons and worshipers; after this, towards the end of the singing of psalm 103, they enter the altar, and the royal gates are closed.

This singing and actions of the priest with the deacon before entering 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 gates depicts the expulsion of the first people from paradise for the sin of disobedience to God; The litany, which the deacon says after the royal gates are closed, recalls the bleak 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 like him (who) does not go to the counsel of the wicked, and the way of the wicked will perish, work(serve) Be the Lord with fear, and rejoice in Him with trembling; blessed all, hoping nan ( on him) ... Resurrect Lord, save me, my God; The Lord is salvation, and on Thy people Thy blessing... 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 posterity with the words of King David. Each verse from this psalm is separated by angelic praises hallelujah what does it mean from the Hebrew language praise god.

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

May my prayer be corrected, like a censer before You, raising my hand is an evening sacrifice. Hear me, Lord!

May my prayer come as incense before you; the raising of my hands, let it be an evening sacrifice. Hear me, Lord!

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

When the followers of the chant are sung Lord I have cried prayers called stichera, occurs evening entrance.

It is accomplished as follows: during the last stichera in honor of the Mother of God, the royal gates are opened, first the candle bearer with a burning candle, then the deacon with a censer and the priest, leave the altar by the northern door. Deacon censes St. icons of the iconostasis, and the priest stands on the pulpit. After the singing of the Virgin's song, 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 Athenogen, who lived in the 2nd century A.D. Christ:

Quiet light of holy glory, Immortal Heavenly Father, Holy, Blessed, Jesus Christ! Having come to the west of the sun, having seen the evening light, we sing the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit of God. You are worthy at all times to sing to be the voices of the saints, Son of God, give your belly: with the same the world glorifies Thee.

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

What does the evening entrance mark? Carrying out a candle means the appearance of St. John the Baptist, whom the Lord Himself named lamp... The priest, during the evening entrance, depicts the Savior, who came into the world to atone for the guilt of a person before the Lord. Deacon's words: forgive wisdom! They inspire us that we should with special attention, standing up observe sacred actions, praying to the Lord, may he forgive us all our sins.

While singing Quiet light the priest enters the altar, kisses St. the throne and takes a high place, facing the people. By this action, he depicts the ascension of Jesus Christ to heaven and His reign in all glory over the world, therefore, the singers after the singing Quiet light sing: Lord reign in sweetheart clothed, that is, that Jesus Christ, after His ascension, reigned over the world and dressed with beauty. This verse is taken from the psalms of King David and is called the prokeem; it is always sung on Sunday. On other days of the week, other prokimna are sung, also taken from the psalms of David.

After the prokimn, on the twelve and the Mother of God feasts and on feasts in honor of the saints of God, especially those who are revered by us, are read paremia, or small three readings from the books of the Old and New Testaments, decent for the holidays. Before each paremia, the exclamation of the deacon wisdom indicates the important content of what is being read, and by the deacon's proclamation let us see! It is suggested that we be careful while reading and not mentally entertain ourselves with foreign objects.

Lithia and the blessing of the loaves

For augmented and supplicatory litanies, sometimes on more solemn feasts, the lithium and the blessing of the loaves are performed.

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

Over the lithium after the stichera sung on verse, after the death song of Simeon the God-Receiver, and when the troparion of the feast is sung three times, the blessing of the loaves is performed. In the early days of Christianity, when the all-night vigil lasted until dawn, to strengthen the strength of the worshipers, the priest blessed bread, wine and oil and distributed them to those present. As a reminder of this time and for the consecration of the faithful, and at the present time, the priest prays over 5 loaves of bread, wheat, wine and oil and asks God to multiply them and so that the Lord would sanctify the faithful who eat of these breads and wine. The oil (oil), consecrated at this time, is used to anoint those praying during the all-night vigil, and wheat is used as food. The five loaves of bread, consecrated in this case, recall 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 on you, that grace and philanthropy always, now and forever, and forever and ever, amen.

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

The second part of the all-night vigil is Matins, following the Vespers. It begins with a joyful song of angels on the occasion of the birth of Christ: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill in men.

Behind it is read the Six Psalms, which contains six psalms of King David, in which this pious king prays to God for the cleansing of people from sins with which we insult God every minute, despite His constant providence for us. During the reading of the Six Psalms, the priest, first at the altar, and then at the ambo, prays to God to send God's mercy to people. The priest's humble exit from the altar to the pulpit indicates the quiet, secluded life of the Lord Jesus in Nazareth, from which He only came to Jerusalem from time to time to pray during the holidays. The Six Psalms ends with a proclamation in honor of the Triune God: Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, glory to Thee, God!

After the Great Litany, pronounced after the Six Psalms, a verse from King David's psalms is sung four times: God the Lord and appear 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 recited.

Kathisma- these are the sections of the psalms of the king and the prophet David, which sections are in Psalter 20. These sections of the psalms are called kathisma, because during their reading it is allowed for those praying in the church to sit. Word kathisma from Greek means seat... Different kathisma are read every day, so that the entire Psalter is read throughout the week.

After each kathisma, a small litany is recited by the priest. Then the most solemn part of the all-night vigil begins, called polyeleus much mercy, or a lot of oil... The Royal Doors are opened, large candles in front of St. icons, extinguished during the reading of the six psalms and kathisma, are kindled again, and a song of praise to God from psalms 134 and 135 is sung on the kliros: Praise the name of the Lord, praise the servant of the Lord, hallelujah! Blessed be the Lord from Zion(where in ancient times there was a tabernacle and a temple) Alive in Jerusalem, Hallelujah! Confess the Lord ( confess your sins), as good ( because He is kind) as in the age of His mercy, Hallelujah! Confess to the God of heaven, as good, as His mercy in the age, Alleluia! The priest and the deacon burn incense throughout the church. The opened royal gates signify for us the removal of the stone by the angel from the Holy Sepulcher, from where a new eternal life, full of spiritual joy and joy, has shone for us. The walking of priests 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 the joyful news from the angel about the resurrection of Christ.

On Sundays, after the singing of the praising verses 134 and 135 of Psalms, in order to better imprint the thought of Christ's resurrection in those praying, the troparia are sung, in which the reason for our joy in the resurrection of Christ is expressed. Each troparion begins with words glorifying the Lord: blessed art thou, Lord, teach me thy justification(i.e. Thy commandments). The Sunday polyeleos ends with the reading of St. gospel about one of the appearances of the risen Savior. The Holy Gospel is worn out in the middle of the church, and the believers kiss St. The gospel, having (at the same time) in thought all the benefits of the risen Lord. The choir at this time sings an inviting song 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 Thy Cross, Christ, and we sing and praise Thy holy resurrection: Thou art our God; is it(except) We do not know anything else for you, we call your name. Come, all faithful, let us worship the Holy Resurrection of Christ. Behold(here) for having come by the cross, the joy of the whole world, always blessing the Lord, we sing His resurrection: having endured the crucifixion, destroy death with death.

Polyeleos on the twelve days and feast days of the holy saints of God differs from the Sunday polyeleos in that after the praiseworthy verses 134 and 135 of psalms, the clergy go out to the middle of the church, where the analogue icon of the holiday is relied on, and the magnificence is sung, while the verses in honor of St. Myrrh-bearing wives are not sung. The gospel is read, having application to the day of the feast; worshipers in the temple kiss St. icon on a lectern and anointed with oil consecrated during the litiya, but not St. the world, as some ignorantly call this oil.

After reading the Gospel and praying to the Lord God for mercy on us sinners, usually read by the deacon before the icon of the Savior, it is sung canon, or a rule for the glorification of God and the saints and for asking for God's mercy through the prayers of God's 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 father of the Forerunner John, the priest Zachariah. Every song is sung at the beginning irmos(in Russian - communication), and at the end confusion(in Russian - convergence). The song's title catavasia accepted because for her singing it is necessary for both choirs to come together according to the charter. The content of the irmos and katavasia is taken from those songs, which are modeled on the entire canon.

Canto 1 is modeled on the song sung by the prophet Moses after the miraculous passage of the Jewish people across the Red Sea.

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

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

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

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

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

Cantos 7 and 8 are modeled on the song sung by three Hebrew youths after the miraculous deliverance from the kindled Babylonian furnace.

After the 8th canon of the canon, the song of the Mother of God is sung, divided into several verses, after which the song is sung: The most honest cherub and the most glorious seraphim without comparison, without corruption(illness) God the Word, the mother of God, the Mother of God, we magnify Thee.

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

In ancient times, Matins ended with the onset of the day, and now after 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 Thee who showed us the light, says the priest, turning to the throne of God. The choir sings great praise to the Lord, beginning and ending with the song of St. angels.

Matins, the second part of the all-night vigil, ends with a fervent and supplicating litany and dismissal, usually uttered 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 thanks in honor of the Mother of God, composed by the inhabitants of Constantinople for their deliverance by the intercession of the Mother of God from the Persians and Avars who attacked Greece in the seventh century.

To the chosen Voevoda, victorious, as if we will get rid of the evil, we will write down Thy Rabbi, the Mother of God. But as if it had an invincible power, freedom from all our troubles, let us call Ty: rejoice, unmarried bride.

To You, who prevails in battle (or war), we, Your servants, to the Mother of God, bring songs of victory (solemn), and as those delivered by You from evil - songs of thanksgiving. And you, as one who has invincible power, deliver us from all troubles, so that we cry out to You: Rejoice, Bride who does not have a human groom.

Liturgy, or Mass, is such a service, followed by the sacrament of St. communion and a bloodless sacrifice is offered to the Lord God for the living and dead people.

The sacrament of communion was established by the Lord Jesus Christ. On the eve of His suffering and death on the Cross, the Lord pleased to celebrate the Passover supper with His 12 disciples in Jerusalem, in memory of the miraculous exit of the Jews from Egypt. When this Passover was completed, the Lord Jesus Christ took the sour bread of wheat, blessed it and, distributing it to the disciples, said: take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you for the remission of sins. Then he took a cup of red wine and, handing it to the disciples, said: drink from her all: this is my blood of the new covenant, even for you and for many, which is shed for the remission of sins. After that the Lord added : do this in remembrance of me.

After the Lord's ascension, His disciples and followers did His will exactly. They spent their time in prayer, reading divine scripture and communion of St. the body and blood of the Lord, or what is the same, celebrated the Liturgy. The oldest 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 celebrated unwritten by anyone, but the rite of its celebration was passed on from bishop to bishop and from them to elders, or priests. In the fourth century St. Basil, Archbishop of Caesarea of ​​Cappadocia for his spiritual wisdom and labors for the benefit of St. Church of Christ, nicknamed Great, wrote down the rite of the liturgy, as it came from the apostles. Since the prayers in the liturgy of Basil the Great, usually read secretly in the altar by the performer of it, are prolonged, and as a result of this, the singing was slow, then St. John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, named Chrysostom for his eloquence, noting that many Christians do not stand up to 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 faithful, decreed that the Liturgy of Zlatoust be celebrated throughout the year, and the Liturgy of Basil the Great is celebrated in those days when an intensified prayer is needed on our part for mercy on us. So, this last liturgy is celebrated on 5 Sundays of Great Lent, except Palm Sunday, on Thursday and Saturday of Holy Week, on Christmas and Epiphany Eve and in commemoration of St. Basil the Great, January 1, when entering the new year of life.

The Liturgy of Zlatoust consists of three parts, which have different names, although this division is after mass and is invisible to the person praying. 1) Proskomedia, 2) the liturgy of the catechumens, and 3) the liturgy of the faithful - these are parts of the Mass. Bread and wine are prepared for the sacrament during the proskomidia. During the liturgy of the catechumens, the faithful with their prayers and the clergy prepare themselves to participate in the sacrament of communion; during the liturgy of the faithful, the sacrament itself is performed.

Proskomidia is a Greek word that means bringing... The first part of the liturgy is called so from the custom of ancient Christians to bring bread and wine to the church to perform the sacrament. For the same reason this bread is called prosphora which means from Greek offering... Five prosphora are used on proskomedia in memory of the Lord's miraculous feeding of 5 loaves of bread for 5000 people. Prosphora, by their appearance, are made two-part in memory of two natures in Jesus Christ, divine and human. At the top of the prosphora, St. a cross with the following words inscribed in the corners: Ic. Xp. ni. ka. These words mean Jesus Christ, the Conqueror of death and the devil; ni. ka. Greek word.

Proskomedia is performed as follows. The priest and the deacon, after praying before the royal doors for cleansing them from sins and for giving them strength for the upcoming service, enter the altar and put on all the sacred garments. The vestment ends with the washing of hands as a sign of mental and bodily purity with which they begin to serve the Liturgy.

The proskomedia is performed on the altar. The priest selects with a copy from the prosphora the cubic part required for the sacrament, with the remembrance of the 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 in the same way as before the Nativity of Christ represented His Passover lamb, which the Jews, at the command of God, killed and ate in memory of deliverance from destruction in Egypt. The Holy Lamb is placed by the priest on a diskos in memory of the saving death of Jesus Christ and is cut from below into four equal parts. Then the priest plunges a spear into the right side of the Lamb and pours wine combined with water into the chalice in remembrance of the fact that when the Lord was on the cross, one of the soldiers pierced His rib with a spear, and blood and water flowed out of the pierced rib.

The Lamb is laid on the diskos in the image of the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of heaven and earth. Church song sings: where the King comes, tamo and His order. Therefore, the Lamb is surrounded by many particles taken from other prosphora in honor and glory of the Most Holy Theotokos and God's holy people, and in memory of all people, both living and dead.

The Queen of Heaven, the Most Holy Mother of God is closest to all the saints 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 part in memory of the Most Holy Theotokos and places it on the right side of the Lamb.

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

Parts are removed from the fourth prosphora for all Orthodox Christians, starting with the sovereign.

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

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

Church history presents us with many examples, from which we see that Christians who ate prosphora with reverence received sanctification from God and help in mental and physical illnesses. The Monk Sergius, being dull in the sciences in his youth, through partaking of the prosphora given to him by one pious old man, became a very clever boy, so that he outstripped all his comrades in the sciences. In the history of the Solovetsky monks, it is said that when a prosphora, lying by chance on the road, was wanted to be swallowed by a dog, then fire came out of the earth and thus saved the prosphora from the beast. This is how God protects His holy things and by this shows that we should treat it with great reverence. Prosphora should be eaten before any other food.

It is very useful for them to remember the proskomedia of the living and deceased members of the Church of Christ. The particles removed from the prosphora at the divine proskomedia for the remembered souls are immersed in the life-giving blood of Christ, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all evil and is strong to beg God the Father for everything we need for us. To the blessed memory of Saint Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow, one day before he was preparing to serve the Liturgy, another time, just before the very beginning of the Liturgy, they asked to pray for some sick people. At the liturgy, he took out parts from the prosphora for those who were sick, and they, despite the doctors' death sentence, recovered ("Spiritual. Thu." 1869 Jan. Section 7, p. 90). St. Gregory Dvoeslov tells how a pious priest, well-known in his time, appeared one deceased and asked to commemorate him during mass. To this request, the one who appeared added that if the sacred sacrifice facilitated his fate, then he would no longer appear to him as a sign of this. The priest fulfilled the demand, and there was no new appearance.

During the proskomedia, 3 and 6 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 performed, the proskomidia ends with a star being placed on the diskos, and he and the chalice are covered with patches of a common shroud, called by air... At this there is an incense of the altar and a prayer is read by the priest that the Lord would remember all those who brought their gifts of bread and wine to the proskomedia and those for whom they were brought.

Proskomedia reminds us of two major events in the life of the Savior: Nativity of Christ and death of Christ.

Therefore, all the actions of the priest and the things used at the proskomedia resemble both the Nativity of Christ and the death of Christ. The altar resembles both the Bethlehem cave and the Calvary burial cave. The diskos marks both the manger of the born Savior and the tomb of the Lord. Protectors, 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 signifies 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 the liturgy of the catechumens... This part of the liturgy has been given such a name because, in addition to those who are baptized and admitted to communion, the catechumens are also admitted to hearing it, that is, those preparing for baptism and those who repent, who are not admitted to 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 forever and ever, amen.

This is followed by the great litany. After her, on ordinary days, two pictorial psalms 142 and 145 are sung, separated by a little litany. These psalms are called pictorial because they very clearly depict the mercies of God, shown to us by the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ. On the twelve Great 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, which are sung alternately on both kliros. Antiphonic, that is, anti-voice, 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 the angelic faces alternately singing 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 twelveth Lord's feasts after the second antiphon, a touching song to the Lord Jesus is sung: The only begotten Son and the Word of God, who is immortal, and who delighted our salvation for the sake of incarnation from the Holy Theotokos, and the Ever-Virgin Mary, is immutable ( verily ) incarnate, crucified, Christ God, trampling death by death, one of the Holy Trinity, glorified by the Father and the Holy Spirit, save us. This song was compiled in the fifth century after the birth of Christ by the Greek emperor Justinian to refute the heresy of Nestorius, who impiously taught that Jesus Christ was born as an ordinary person, and the deity was united with Him during baptism, and that therefore the Most Holy Mother of God is not, according to his false teaching, Mother of God, but only the Mother of God.

When the 3rd antiphon is sung, and on ordinary days - when the teaching of the Savior about the beatitudes is read, or blessed, v. for the first time during the liturgy, the royal gates are opened. In the presentation of a burning candle, the deacon carries through the northern door from the altar to the pulpit of St. The Gospel and, asking the priest standing on the pulpit for a blessing to enter the altar, says in the royal gates: wisdom, forgive! This is how the small entrance is made. He reminds us of Jesus Christ, who appeared with the sermon of St. the gospel. Candle worn in front of St. the gospel, St. John the Baptist, who prepared the people for a worthy acceptance of the God-man Christ, and whom the Lord Himself called: a lamp burning and shining... The open royal gates mean the gates of the heavenly kingdom, which opened before us together with the appearance of the Savior in the world. Deacon's words: wisdom, forgive, mean to point out to us the profound wisdom contained in St. Gospels. Word sorry invites believers to reverent standing and worship of the Savior of the world, the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, immediately after the exclamation of the deacon and the choir of singers, he persuades everyone to worship the Performer of the salvation of the world. Come let's bow, the choir sings, and let us fall to Christ, save us, Son of God, singing Ti alleluia. He would have acted frivolously if he had responded to the call of St. The church would not have responded with low worship of their great benefactor, the Lord Jesus Christ. Our pious ancestors, while singing this verse, all threw themselves to the ground, even our God-crowned All-Russian Sovereigns.

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

For 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 godly exclamation: as holy art our God and to you we give glory to the Father, and to the Son and the Holy Spirit now and ever. The deacon's address to the people at this time indicates to all those praying at the time of the singing of the Trisagion Song, which should 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; the believers performed prayer services in the open air. Suddenly one boy from the folk tops was raised by a storm into the sky, and there he heard the singing of St. angels who, glorifying the Holy Trinity, sang: holy God, holy Mighty(strong, almighty), holy Immortal! Descending 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 on, the Trisagion Song was introduced into all divine services of the Orthodox Church.

On some days, such as on Saturday to Lazarev, on Great Saturday, on the days of Bright Week, on Trinity Day and on Christmas Eve and the Epiphany, instead of the Trisagion, the words of the Apostle Paul are sung: Elitsy were baptized into Christ, put on Christ, Alleluia! This singing reminds us of the time of the primordial Church, when in these days the baptism of the catechumens was performed, who from paganism and Judaism passed into the Orthodox faith of Christ. It was a long time ago, and this song is sung to this day, then, in order to remind us of the vows that we made to the Lord with St. baptism, whether we sacredly fulfill them and observe. On the day of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross and Great Lent on Sunday of the 4th week, the worship of the Cross, instead of the Trisagion it is sung: We worship Thy Cross, O Lord, and we glorify Thy holy resurrection.

For the Trisagion Song; after the prokimna, the reading of the apostolic letters follows, with which they enlightened the world, when they went around the whole universe in order to teach it the true faith in St. Trinity. At the same time, censing shows that the apostolic preaching of the word of God filled the whole universe with the fragrance of Christ's teaching and changed the air, infected and spoiled by idolatry. The priest sits at a high place, meaning Jesus Christ, who sent the apostles before Him to preach. There is no reason for other people to sit at this time, except for great weakness.

The reading of the divine deeds of Christ is offered to us from His Gospel following the Epistles of the Apostles, so that we learn to imitate Him and love our Savior for His unspeakable love, like children of our father. The Holy Gospel must be listened to with such great attention and reverence, as we would see and listen 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 augmented litany to an intensified prayer to the God of his fathers.

The time is approaching the celebration of the most holy sacrament of communion. Those announced as imperfect cannot be with 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 at the litany says about the catechumens: proclamation, bow your heads to the Lord then the faithful are not obligated to bow their heads. This address of the deacon directly refers to the catechumens, if they stand in the church, as a sign that the Lord is blessing them. During the litany of the catechumens it develops on St. the throne of the antimension, required for the performance of the sacrament.

The command to 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 pay and eat(food ) are correct. What a clear conscience everyone who prays at this time needs to have! May all human flesh be silent and may it stand with fear and trembling Such a great prayer mood should be in those who are praying.

After two brief litanies, the royal gates are opened, the Church inspires us to become like St. angels in awe of the shrine;

Like the Cherubims secretly forming, and the Life-giving Trinity the Trisagion song is humming, we will postpone all everyday care, Yako and the Tsar of all we will rise, invisibly angelic Dorinos, Alleluia!

Mysteriously depicting cherubim and singing the Trisagion Song of the Life-giving Trinity, let us put aside any concern for the world in order to raise the King of all, whom invisibly angelic ranks wear, as if on spears (dori) with a song: Alleluia!

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

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

The Great Entrance reminds the Christian of the march 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 wear sacred objects reminiscent of the instruments of Christ's suffering, for example: an altar cross, a spear, a sponge.

The Cherubic Hymn was introduced into the liturgy from the year 573 BC. Chr., Under Emperor Justinian and Patriarch John Scholastic. At the liturgy of Basil the Great on Maundy Thursday, when the Church remembers the Last Supper of the Savior, instead of the Cherubim song, a prayer is sung, usually read before the reception of St. Christ's Mysteries:

Your supper is my secret day(now) , Son of God, accept me a partaker: do not tell your secret as your enemy(I will say) no kiss(kissing) I will give you, like Judas, like a robber, I will confess Thee: remember me, Lord, in Thy kingdom. On Great Saturday, instead of the Cherubic one, 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 Tsar of those who reign and the Lord of lords comes to slay and give food to the faithful; The faces of angels come to this with all beginning and power, many readings by cherubs, and six-letter seraphims, covering their faces, and a crying song: Alleluia. Angels have neither eyes nor wings by their nature, but the name of some of the angelic ranks readable and six-winged indicates that they can see far and have the ability to quickly transfer from one place to another. Beginnings and powers- these are the angels, appointed by God to protect persons invested with authority - chiefs.

Holy gifts, after bringing them from the pulpit to St. altar, delivered to St. throne. The Royal Doors are closed and covered with a veil. These actions remind believers of the Lord's burial in a garden good-looking Joseph, closing the burial cave with a stone and placing guards at the tomb of the Lord. According to this, the priest and deacon in this case depict the righteous Joseph and Nicodemus, who served the Lord at His burial.

After the supplicatory litany, the faithful are invited by the deacon to unite in brotherly love: let us love each other, but with like-mindedness we confess, that is, as if by one thought we all express our faith. The choir, complementing what the deacon said, sings: Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit, Trinity consubstantial and inseparable... In ancient times of Christianity, when people really lived like brothers, when their thoughts were pure, and their feelings were holy and pure, - in these good times, when the proclamation was pronounced love each other, the worshipers standing in the temple kissed each other - men with men, and women with women. Then there was no more modesty among the people, and St. The church has abolished this custom. Nowadays, if several priests are serving mass, then they kiss the chalice, the diskos and each other's shoulder and hand in the altar, they do this as a sign of unanimity and love.

Then the priest removes the veil from the royal doors, and the deacon says: doors, doors, let us behold 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, having heard the words: doors, doors, let us behold wisdom! No one should have been allowed into the church or let out of it, so that during these holy moments one of the infidels would not enter the church and that there would be no noise and disorder from the entrance and exit of the worshipers in the temple of God. Recalling this wonderful custom, St. The Church teaches us that, hearing these words, we firmly hold the doors of our mind and heart, so that something empty, sinful does not come to our thoughts, and something evil, unclean does not sink into our hearts. Let us behold 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, reading, raises and lowers (shakes) air(shroud) over St. cup and diskos as a sign of the grace-filled presence of the Spirit of God over St. gifts.

When the creed is sung in the kliros, the deacon addresses the praying people with the following words: let us become good, let us stand with fear, let us behold, bring the holy offering in 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 bring the holy offering to the Lord.

What is the exaltation of St. Does the church advise us to bring us with fear and reverence? The choir singers respond to this with the words: the mercy of the world, the sacrifice of praise. The Lord needs to bring gifts of friendship and love and the everlasting praise, glorification of His name.

For 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 love of God and the Father and the sacrament(presence) Wake the Holy Spirit with you all! At this time, the priest blesses the faithful 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, as it were, say to the priest: we also wish the same blessings from God for your soul!

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

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

At this time there is a gospel to the so-called worthy then, so that every Christian who for some reason cannot be in church, in the service of God, hearing the sound of the bell, cross himself and, if possible, put down a few bows (whether at home, on the field, on the road - it does not matter), remembering that in in the temple of God at these moments a great, holy action is being performed.

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. Angelic song in heaven sung, chanted, invoked and spoken... These words designate the image of the singing of angels surrounding the throne of God, and an indication is given of the vision of the prophet Ezekiel, described by him in the 1st chapter of his book. The Prophet saw the Lord sitting on the throne, supported by angels who looked like four animals: a lion, a calf, an eagle, and a man. By the singing here we mean the eagle, by the crying - by the calf, by the crying - by the lion, by the speaker - by the man.

To the exclamation of the priest: song of victory singing, blatantly, crying and verbally, the choir responds for all praying by pointing out the words of the song of the angels: holy, holy, holy, the Lord of hosts, fill heaven and earth with Thy glory. The prophet Isaiah heard the angels singing in this way when he saw the Lord on the throne high and exalted(Chapter 6 of the prop. Isa.). By the triple utterance of the word holy angels point to the trinity of persons in God: Lord of hosts- this is one of the names of God and means the Master of powers, or heavenly armies. Fill heaven and earth with Thy glory, that is heaven and earth are full of the glory of the Lord. To the song of the angels, these heavenly singers of the glory of God, is joined by the human song of praise - the song that the Jews met and accompanied the Lord with when He had a solemn entry into Jerusalem: Hosanna in the highest(save us living in heaven) blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord, hosanna in the highest!

After this, the priest pronounces the words of the Lord, spoken by him at the Last Supper: accept, eat, this is my body, which is broken for you(suffering) for the remission of sins. Drink from her all, this is my blood of the new covenant, even for you and for many, shed for the remission of sins... Twice pronouncing of the word by the prayers 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 takes place in the last (3) part of the liturgy. In the altar, the priest takes a diskos in his right hand, in his left chalice and, raising the holy gifts, proclaims: Yours from Yours, You bringing about everyone and for everything. These words of the priest have the following meaning: To you, the Lord God, we bring Yours gifts, that is, bread and wine, by thee, thee gave us 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, bless you, thank you, Lord, and pray to 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) 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 create for this bread the honest body of Thy Christ; blessing St. bowl, says : and in this cup the honest blood of Thy Christ: blessing the bread and wine together, he says: having given by thy Holy Spirit, amen, three times. From this moment on, bread and wine cease to be an ordinary substance and are made, by the inspiration of the S. Spirit, 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 the believer. At this time, according to St. Chrysostom, angels descend from heaven and serve God before St. by his throne. If the angels, the purest spirits, stand in reverence for the throne of God, then the people standing in the temple, every minute offending God with their sins, should intensify their prayers at these moments so that the Holy Spirit will dwell in them and cleanse them of all sinful defilement.

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

By the end of this prayer, the tender song of the clergy We sing to you ends, the priest says aloud to all those praying: pretty much about the Most Holy, Most Pure, Most Blessed, Glorious Lady of our Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary... With these words, the priest calls on those praying to glorify the everlasting prayer book for us before the throne of God - the Queen of Heaven, Most Holy. Mother of God. The choir sings: It is worthy to be as truly blessed Theotokos, ever blessed and most blameless, and the Mother of our God, the most honest cherub and the most glorious seraphim without comparison, without corruption of the Word of God, the Mother of God, we magnify Thee. In this song, the Queen of Heaven and Earth is called blessed, since She, having been rewarded to be the Mother of the Lord, became for Christians a constant subject of praise and glorification. We magnify the Mother of God most blameless for Her spiritual purity from all sinful filth. Further in this song we call the Mother of God the most honest cherub and the most glorious seraphim without comparison, because in the quality of the Mother of God She surpasses the closeness to God of the highest angels - cherubim and seraphim. The Holy Virgin Mary is glorified for having given birth to God the Word without decay in the sense that She, both before birth, and 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, gracious,(creation), angelic cathedral, and the human race and so on. The creator of this song is St. John Damascene, presbyter of the monastery of St. Sava the Sanctified, who lived in the 8th century. On the twelve eternal holidays and on the days of Great Four and Great Saturday, to the exclamation of the priest: pretty much 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, commemorate their dead relatives and acquaintances, so that the Lord would rest their souls and forgive them their voluntary and involuntary sins; but the living members of the Church are remembered by us at the exclamation of the priest: First, remember, Lord, the Most Holy Governing Synod and so on, that is, pastors who govern the Orthodox Christian Church. The clergy responds to these words of the priest by singing: and everyone and everything, that is, remember, Lord, all Orthodox Christians, husbands and wives.

Our prayer for the living and the dead has the highest power and significance 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 aloud prayer of the priest for the Lord to help us all praise God with one mouth, and the good will of the priest, so that the mercy of the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ never stopped for us - the deacon pronounces a supplicatory litany. We pray to God together with the priest that the Lord would accept the offered and sanctified gifts, like the smell of incense into His heavenly altar, and send us His divine grace and the gift of the Holy Spirit. This prayer is joined by other petitions to God for the granting of everything necessary for our temporary and eternal life.

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

After the exclamation of the priest, there are moments of remembrance of the Last Supper of the Savior with His disciples, suffering, death and burial. The Royal Doors are closed with a veil. The deacon, arousing the worshipers to reverence, says: let us see! And the priest in the altar, raising St. The Lamb over the Diskos says: holy to holy! 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 himself as pure from sin, the singers answer to the priest's exclamation: one holy, one Lord Jesus Christ for the glory of God the Father, amen. The Lord Jesus Christ alone is sinless; He, by His mercy, can make us worthy of the communion of St. Tain.

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

After the communion of the clergy, the deacon puts into the chalice all the particles taken for health and repose, and at the same time says: Wash away, Lord, the sins of those who were remembered here by Your honest blood, by the prayers of Your saints... Thus, all the parts removed from the prosphora enter 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.

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

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

Believers, conscious of their unworthiness and in a sense of gratitude to the Savior, approach St. mysteries, kissing the edge of the chalice, like the very rib of the Savior, which exuded His life-giving blood for our sanctification. And those who are not prepared for union with the Lord in the sacrament of communion should at least bow before St. gifts, as if to the footsteps 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 to heaven and sat down at the right hand of God the Father. These dear events in the life of the Savior are remembered during the liturgy, when the priest from the altar will wear out St. cup into the royal gates and says, turning to the people: always, now and ever and forever and ever... This action shows us that the Lord always abides in His Church and is ready to help those who believe in Him, if only their petitions are pure and useful to their souls. After the Lesser Litany, the priest reads a prayer, named after the place of its pronunciation. beyond the ambon... After her, there is a release, pronounced by the priest always from the royal doors. The Liturgy of Saints Basil the Great or John Chrysostom ends with a wish for longevity to all Orthodox Christians.

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

This liturgy is celebrated during Great Lent on Wednesdays and Fridays, in the 5th week - on Thursday, and during Holy Week - on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. However, the liturgy of the pre-consecrated gifts on the occasion of temple holidays or feasts 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 early days of Christianity and was celebrated by St. the apostles; but she got her real appearance from St. Gregory Dvoeslov, a Roman bishop who lived in the VI century A.D.

The need for its establishment by the apostles arose from the fact that Christians were not deprived of St. Christ's Mysteries also during the days of Great Lent, when, at the request of the fast time, the liturgy is not supposed to be celebrated in a solemn manner. The reverence and purity of the life of the ancient Christians were so great that for them to go to church for the liturgy meant without fail and to receive St. secrets. Nowadays piety in Christians has weakened so much that even during Great Lent, when there is a great opportunity for Christians to lead a good life, there are no people who want to start St. a meal at the Liturgies of the Presanctified Gifts. There is even, especially among the common people, a strange opinion that, as if during the Presanctified Mass, the laity cannot commune with St. Christ's Mysteries is an opinion not based on anything. True, infants do not partake of St. Mystery at this Liturgy, because St. the blood, which babies only partake of, is in conjunction with the body of Christ. But the laity, after proper preparation, after confession, are rewarded with St. Christ's Mysteries and during the Liturgies of the Presanctified Gifts.

The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts consists of Lenten 3, 6, and 9 hours, Vespers and the Liturgy itself. Lent hours of worship differ from ordinary hours in that, in addition to the prescribed three psalms, one kathisma is read at each hour; the distinctive troparion of each hour is read by the priest before the royal doors and is sung three times on the kliros with prostrations to the ground; at the end of each hour, the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian: Lord and Master of my belly! Do not give me the spirit of idleness, despondency, love of command and idle talk; But the spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love, grant me to Thy servant. To her, Lord, King, grant me to see my sins and not to condemn my brother, as you are blessed forever and ever. Amen.

Before the Presanctified Liturgy itself, an ordinary Vespers is celebrated, at which, after the stichera sung in Lord have cried, occurs entrance with censer, and on holidays with the Gospel, from the altar to the royal doors. At the end of the evening entrance, two paremias are read: one from the book of Genesis, the other from the book of Proverbs. At the end of the first paremia, the priest in the open gates addresses the people, making the 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 for the fulfillment of Christ's commandments. Singing may my prayer be corrected the second part of the Presanctified Liturgy ends, and liturgy of the presanctified gifts.

Instead of the usual cherubic song, the following touching song is sung: Now the powers of heaven are invisibly serving with us: behold, the King of glory enters, this secret sacrifice is perfect before it. Let us approach by faith and love, that we may be partakers of eternal life. Alleluia(3-waits).

Among this song is performed great entrance... Discos with St. Lamb from the altar, through the royal doors, to St. the throne is carried by the priest at his head, it is preceded by a deacon with a censer and a candle bearer with a burning candle. Those who are to come fall on the ground in awe 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. Zlatoust. During the Presanctified Liturgy at this time, already consecrated gifts, the body and blood of the Lord, a sacrifice are transferred perfect, Himself the King of glory, therefore the consecration of St. there are no gifts; and after the supplicatory litany pronounced by the deacon, it is sung prayer of the lord and partake of St. gifts to clergy and laity.

For this, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts bears a resemblance to the Liturgy of Chrysostom; only the prayer outside the ambo is read, a special one applied to the time of fasting and repentance.

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

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

The consecration of a person is impossible without the sacraments, just as the operation of the telegraph is impossible without the 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, anointing, communion, repentance, priesthood, marriage, blessing of oil.

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

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

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

White clothes worn on a baptized person signify the purity of the soul from sins received by him through holy baptism.

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

The three-fold circumambulation of the baptized person with lighted candles around the font is done as a sign of spiritual joy, felt by him from the union 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 became a slave of Christ. This custom is taken from the custom in ancient times to cut slaves as a sign of their slavery.

If baptism is performed on an infant, then the recipients are entrusted for his faith; instead of him, they pronounce the creed 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, char. Faith) once and is not repeated even if it was committed by a non-Orthodox Christian. In this latter case, it is required of the performer of the baptism to be performed through three immersion with the exact pronunciation of the name. God the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

The ecclesiastical historian Socrates tells about one extraordinary case, by which the Providence of God miraculously testified to the unrepeatability of the sacrament of St. baptism. One of the Jews, outwardly converted to the Christian faith, was vouchsafed the grace of St. baptism. After moving to another city, he completely abandoned Christianity and lived according to Jewish tradition. But whether he wanted to laugh at the faith of Christ or, perhaps, seduced by the benefits that the Christian emperors assimilated to the Jews who turned to Christ, he again dared to ask for baptism from some bishop. This latter, not knowing anything about the guile of the Jew, after being instructed in the dogmas of Christ's faith, proceeded to perform the sacrament of St. baptism and ordered to fill with baptismal water. But at the same time, as he, having completed preliminary prayers over the font, was already 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 before the bishop in fear and confessed to him and the whole Church of his craftiness and his guilt (Abbr. History, Ch. XVIII; Resurrection Th. 1851, p. 440 ).

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

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

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

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

It takes place without fail in the church, on St. throne, at the liturgy, or mass: but the body and blood of Christ, in the form of spare St. gifts can be brought into homes for the communion of the sick.

In view of the importance and salvation of this sacrament, St. The Church invites Christians to partake of the body and blood of Christ as often as possible. Every Christian, at least once a year, must necessarily sanctify himself with this most holy sacrament. Jesus Christ Himself says about this: poison my flesh and drink my blood and have an eternal belly, that is, it has eternal life or the guarantee of eternal bliss (Hebrew John 6, 54).

When the time comes for the reception of St. Christ's Mysteries, a Christian must respectfully approach the holy chalice, bow once to the ground Christ, who is truly inherent in the mysteries under the guise of bread and wine, fold his hands crosswise on his chest, open his mouth wide so that he can freely accept the gifts and so that a particle of the most holy body and a drop of the purest blood of the Lord do not fall. Upon the reception of St. The Mysterious Church commands the communion to kiss the edge of the holy cup, like the very rib of Christ, from which bleed and water... For these sacraments, bows to the ground are not allowed for the protection and honor received by St. The sacrament is not yet accepted by St. antidor, or part of a consecrated prosphora, and grateful prayers to the Lord are heard.

Poison Me, and that one will live for Me, 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 customary for the priests and people of St. gifts to teach children who were taught in schools to read and write. For this they were called from the schools to the church, in which the priest taught them the remains of the body and blood of Christ. Once, among these youths, the son of a Jew who was engaged in glass-making appeared, and, due to the unknown of his origin, St. Tain with other children. His father, noticing that he had delayed in school more than usual, asked him about the reason for this slowdown, and when the simple-minded youth revealed the whole truth to him, the wicked Jew became furious to the point that in the heat of rage he grabbed his son and threw him into a kindled oven, into which melted glass. The mother, not knowing this, awaited her son for a long time and in vain; not finding him, she walked around crying 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 by the name of her son. Suddenly she hears his voice answering to her from the midst of the hot oven. Delighted, she rushes to her, opens her mouth and sees her son standing on hot coals, but not in the least damaged by the fire. Amazed, she asks him how he could remain intact amid the scorching fire. Then the lad 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 extinguish the fire. When the news of this reached the attention of the emperor Justinian, he, at the request of the mother and son, commanded St. baptism, and the wicked father, as if fulfilling the words of the prophet about the bitterness of the Jews, turned white in heart and did not want to imitate the example of his wife and his son, which is why, at the behest of the emperor, he was executed as a son-killer (Evagr. Ist. Cer., Book IV, Ch. 36. Sunday Thu. 1841, p. 436).

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

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

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

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

God Won't Let the Repenting Sinner Perish

During the cruel Decian persecution of Christians in Alexandria, one Christian elder, by the name of Serapion, could not resist the temptation of fear and the deception of the persecutors: having renounced Jesus Christ, he sacrificed to idols. Before the persecution, he lived irreproachably, and after his fall, he soon repented and asked for forgiveness of his sin; but zealous Christians, out of contempt for Serapion's deed, turned away from him. The troubles of persecution and schisms of the Novatians who said that they should not accept fallen Christians into the Church prevented the pastors of the Alexandrian Church from experiencing Serapion's repentance in good time and granting him forgiveness. Serapion became ill and for three days in a row had neither tongue nor feeling; Having recovered a little on the fourth day, he, addressing his grandson, said: "Child, how long will you keep me? Hurry, I beg 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 one; Knowing that the penitent has long been asking for forgiveness of sins, and wishing to let the dying man go with good hope for eternity, he gave the child a particle of the Eucharist (as was the case in the preeminent Church) and ordered to put it in the mouth of the dying old man. Before the returning boy entered the room, Serapion again became more alive and said: “Have you come, my child? The boy did it according to the order of the presbyter, and as soon as the elder swallowed a particle of the Eucharist (the body and blood of the Lord), he immediately gave up his ghost. “Isn't it obvious,” St. Dionysius of Alexandria remarks to this in reproach to the Novatians, “that the penitent was preserved and held in life until the moment of his permission?” (Church. Ist. Eusebius, book 6, ch. 44, Sunday Thu. 1852, p. 87).

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

Those who perform 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 hierarchy and priesthood has the grace and power of the apostolic, which, without the slightest interruption, originates from the apostles themselves. And that bishopric, which in the succession had a break, a gap, as it were, emptiness, is false, arbitrary, graceless. And such is the pseudo-hierarchy among those who are called Old Believers.

The deacon does not perform the sacraments, but helps the priest in the divine services; 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 supplies priests and deacons.

The eldest of the bishops are called archbishops and metropolitans; but the grace that they have because of the abundance of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is the same with the bishops. The elders of the bishops are the first among equals. The same concept of dignity applies to priests, some of whom are called archpriests, that is, the First Priests. Archdeacons and protodeacons, found in 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 the bishop; they are the elders among the hieromonks, and they are entrusted by the bishop with the management of the monasteries.

Among other sacred acts of bishops and priests, it matters for every Orthodox Christian. blessing by hand... In this case, the bishop and priest fold their blessing hand so that their fingers represent 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 relegated to one who reverently accepts the blessing of a bishop or priest. Since ancient times, the people irresistibly strived for the holy persons, in order to sign the sign of the cross at their hands. Kings and princes, St. Ambrose of Mediolansky, bowed their necks (necks) before the priests and kissed their hands, in the hope of protecting themselves with their prayers (O worthy of the Priesthood, ch. 2)

Sacred robes of the deacon: a) surplice, b) orarion worn on the left shoulder, and c) charge, or arm ruffles. Orarem the deacon awakens people to prayer.

The sacred robes of the priest: podriznik, stole(collar in Russian) and felon... Epitrachelus for the priest serves as a sign of the grace he received from the Lord. Without epitrachilos, no service is performed by a priest. The phelonion, or robe, is worn over all garments. Honored priests receive the bishop's blessing to use during divine services legguard hanging on a ribbon on the right side, under the felonne. As a contrast, the priests wear the award on their heads skoofi, kamilavki... Unlike deacons, priests use thimble crosses over their own clothes and church vestments, installed by the Sovereign Emperor Nikolai Alexandrovich in 1896.

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

In addition to the clothes we have indicated, the bishop during the divine service wears club, which is visible on the icons of the saints from the right side in the form of a scarf, with a cross in the middle. The club is a spiritual sword, it depicts the power and duty of the bishop to act on people with the word of God, which is called in St. writing with the spiritual sword. 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. The interpreters of church worship assign to 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, that is, the oval image of the Mother of God, and a cross on a chain. This is a sign of hierarchical dignity.

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

The accessories of the bishop's ministry include: wand(cane), as a sign of pastoral authority, dikiry and trikiry, or two-candlestick and three-candlestick; with dikiry and trikiry, the bishop overshadows the people, expressing the sacrament of the Holy Trinity in one God and two natures in Jesus Christ, the source of spiritual light. Ripids used in bishop service in the form of metal cherubs in circles on handles in the image of concelebrating with cherubim people. Round carpets, on the basis of the eagles embroidered on them, are called eagles, depict in the bishop the power of the bishopric over the city and the sign of its pure and right doctrine of God.

In the sacrament of marriage, the bride and groom, in the likeness of the spiritual union of Christ with the Church (the society of believers in Him), are blessed by the priest for mutual cohabitation, the birth and upbringing 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 and are encircled by the holy cross and the Gospel (laid down by analogy), as a sign of mutual, everlasting and indissoluble 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, the princes of the future generation.

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

Marriage should be entered into as much by mutual agreement of the bride and groom, as much 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 salvific, according to the teaching 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. For those who cannot lead such a life, a blessed marriage has been 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 without His grace-filled care those who were possessed by grave bodily illnesses.

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

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

The prayers recited during the sevenfold arousal of oil instill in a person the strength of the spirit, courage against death and the firm hope of eternal salvation. The very grains of wheat, usually supplied during the blessing of oil, inspire the sick with hope in God, who has the power and means to bestow health, just as He, by His omnipotence, is able to give life to a dry, seemingly lifeless grain of wheat.

This sacrament can be repeated many times, but many modern Christians have the opinion that sanctification is a parting word to the future afterlife, and that after the completion of this sacrament, one cannot even marry, and therefore rarely anyone uses this holy, multifaceted 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 blessing of oil, not all sick people recover, then this happens either because of a lack of faith in the sick person, or by the will of God, since not all sick people were healed during the life of the Savior, not all the dead were resurrected. Whoever of the singularized Christians dies, he, according to the teaching of the Orthodox Church, receives forgiveness for those sins of which the patient did not repent in confession to the priest due to oblivion and the weakness of the body.

We should be grateful to the all-good and all-generous God, Who has deigned to build in His Church so many life-giving springs that abundantly pour out His saving grace on us. Let us resort as often as possible to saving ordinances, which provide us with the many different Divine help we need. Without seven sacraments committed over us in the Orthodox Church by the legal 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, caring for her living members, does not leave our departed fathers and brothers without her care. According to the teachings of the word of God, we believe that the souls of the dead will again unite with their bodies, which will be spiritual and immortal. Therefore, the bodies of the dead are also under the special protection of the Orthodox Church. The deceased is covered cover to mean that he, as a Christian, and in the afterlife is under the oversight of St. angels and the protection of Christ. On his forehead is entrusted 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 for his exploits 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. In the hand of the deceased, a prayer of permission is enclosed in commemoration of the forgiveness of all his sins. Saint Alexander Nevsky, at his burial, accepted the prayer of permission as if he were 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 a priest, we betray ourselves and our deceased brother into the hands of the providence of God, who pronounced the final judgment on the sinned forefather of all mankind, Adam: Thou earth and drive away to the earth(Genesis 3:19).

The state of 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 destiny of the bliss that they will fully receive after the general judgment, and the souls of unrepentant sinners are in a tormenting state.

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

For the dead, the service of memorial services and lithium is performed, in which we pray for the forgiveness of their sins.

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

On the third day we pray that Christ, who was resurrected on the third day after His burial, would resurrect our deceased neighbor for a blessed life.

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

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

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

For the commemoration of the dead, everyone in general, the Orthodox Church has established special times - saturday known as parenting. There are three such Saturdays: Meat in the meat-eating, otherwise colorful 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. Troitskaya- before Trinity Day; after the triumph of the Savior's victory over sin and death, it is proper to pray for those who have fallen asleep in faith in Christ, but in sins, so that the dead might also be worthy of resurrection to be blessed with Christ in heaven. Dmitrovskaya- before the day of St. Great Martyr Demetrius of Selunsky, i.e. Before October 26. The Moscow prince Dimitri Donskoy, having defeated the Tatars, this Saturday commemorated the soldiers who fell in battle; from that time on, a commemoration was established on this Saturday. In addition to these Saturdays, we also have commemorations: on Saturdays of the second, third and fourth weeks of Lent... The reason for this is as follows: since at ordinary times the commemoration of the departed is performed daily, but during Great Lent this does not happen, because the full Liturgy, with the celebration of which it is always combined, does not happen every day during Great Lent, St. The Church, in order not to deprive the dead of their saving intercession, established, instead of daily commemorations, to perform three times universal commemoration on the indicated Saturdays, and it is 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 to the resurrection of the righteous Lazarus.

On Monday or Tuesday of St.Thomas week (2 weeks after the Bright Resurrection of Christ), the commemoration of the departed is performed with that pious intention to share the great joy of the Bright Resurrection of Christ and with the dead in the hope of their blessed resurrection, the joy of which 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 there. From this joy - the name Radonitsa that is given to this time of remembrance. On August 29, on the day of commemoration of the beheading of John the Baptist, the soldiers are commemorated as having laid down their lives for their 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 teaching of Christ, will not be forgiven neither in this century nor in the future(Matt. 12, 31-32).

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

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

Prayers recited daily:

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

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

God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

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

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, prayers for the sake of Thy Most Pure Mother and all 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.

To the Heavenly King, the Comforter, the Soul of truth, who is everywhere and fulfill everything, the treasure of the good, and the giver of life, come and dwell in us, and cleanse us from all defilement, and save our souls, bless you.

Three prayers to the Holy Trinity:

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

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

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

Lord have mercy(three times).

A 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 in heaven and on earth. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also leave our debtors: and do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Thine is the kingdom and power and 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 yourself, and separate the first hour, or at least the first quarter of the hour given to you, and sacrifice it to God in grateful and supportive prayer. The harder you do this, the more you will protect yourself from temptations that you meet every day (words of Filaret, Metropolitan of Moscow).

Prayer read in the morning after sleep.

To you, Vladyka, philanthropic, I have risen from sleep, I run, and I strive for Your works by Your mercy, and I pray to You: help me at all times in every thing, and deliver me from all worldly evil things and devilish haste, and save me, and lead you into your eternal kingdom. Thou art my creator, and a providential and giver to every good, but in Thee all my hope, and to Thee I give glory now and ever and forever and ever. Amen.

Prayer to the Mother of God.

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

2. Magnification of the Mother of God. It is worthy to eat as truly blessed Thee, the Mother of God, ever blessed and most blameless, and the Mother of our God. The most honest cherub, and the most glorious without comparison, the seraphim, who gave birth to the Mother of God without corrupting the word 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 incorporeal spirits, to whom the Lord entrusts us from the day of our baptism, and, secondly, the saint of God from the holy men of God, also called 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.

To the angel of God, my holy guardian, given to me from God from heaven to keep! I earnestly pray to you: you enlighten me this day, and save me from all evil, instruct me to a good deed and direct me to the path of salvation. Amen.

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

Pray to God for me, holy pleaser of God(say name) or saint to the saint of God(say name) as I am diligently running to you, an ambulance and a prayer book for my soul, or an ambulance and a prayer book for my soul.

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

Prayer for the Tsar and the Fatherland.

Save, O Lord, your people, and bless your heritage: victories to our Blessed Emperor Nicholas ALEXANDROVICH by giving to those who resist, and yours keeping your residence with your cross.

Prayer for the relatives of the living.

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

Prayer for the dead.

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

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

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

Here are the prayers that every Orthodox Christian needs to know. It will take a little time to read them without haste, standing in front of the holy icon: Let God's blessing for 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 first fruits from your time and rest and dedicate it to God with a pure and humble prayer. Its fragrance will bring an angel closer to you to preserve peace. (Words by Philar. Metropolitan of Moscow.).

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

Lord, our God, who have sinned in this day, in word, deed, and thought, as good and lover of mankind, forgive me; peaceful sleep and serene grant me; send your guardian angel, covering and keeping me from all evil; as you are the keeper of our souls and our bodies, and we give glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever, and forever Amen.

Prayer before eating.

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

Prayer after eating.

We thank Thee, Christ our God, for you have filled us with your earthly blessings: do not deprive us of your heavenly kingdom.

Prayer before teaching.

Good Lord, bestow upon us the grace of Thy Holy Spirit, giving and strengthening our spiritual strength, so that, listening to the teachings taught to us, we may grow up to You, our Creator, for glory, as our parents for consolation, for the benefit of the Church and our fatherland.

After teaching.

We thank Thee, the Creator, for thou hast vouchsafed us Thy grace, in hedgehog to heed the teaching. Bless our leaders, parents and teachers who lead us to the knowledge of the good, and give us strength and strength to continue this teaching.

Students of the arts and sciences should turn to the Lord with particular zeal, for He gives wisdom, and on behalf of Him knowledge and understanding(proverbs 2, 6). Most of all, they should keep the purity and integrity of their hearts, so that the light of God would enter the soul without being darkened: As if wisdom does not enter into evil, the soul does not enter, below it dwells in the body, we will be guilty of sin(Prem. 1, 4). Blessedness of purity in heart: as tii not only the wisdom of God, but God Himself will be seen(Matthew 5, 8).

What is Orthodox worship? What attributes accompany it? What is the symbolism and meaning of the liturgy?

Due to the close connection between spirit and body, a person cannot but express outside the movements of his spirit. Just as the body acts on the soul, imparting certain impressions to it through the organs of external senses, so the spirit also produces certain movements in the body. A person's religious feeling, like all his other thoughts, feelings and experiences, cannot remain without external detection. The totality of all external forms and actions expressing the inner religious mood of the soul, and forms what is called "worship," or "cult." Worship, or cult, in one form or another, is therefore an inevitable belonging to every religion: in it it manifests itself and expresses itself, just as it reveals its life through the body. Thus, worship - it is an outward expression of religious belief in sacrifices and rites.

Origin of worship

Worship, as an external expression of a person's inner striving for, dates back to the time that a person first learned about God. He learned about God when, after the creation of man, God appeared to him in paradise and gave him the first commandments about not eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:17), about keeping rest on the seventh day (Gen. 2: 3) and blessed his marriage union (Gen. 1:28).

This primitive divine service of the first people in paradise consisted not in any specific church rites, as at present, but in the free outpouring of reverent feelings before God as their Creator and Provider. At the same time, the commandment about the seventh day and about abstaining from the forbidden tree was considered the beginning of certain liturgical institutions. They are the beginning of our and. In God's blessing of the marriage union of Adam and Eve, we cannot but see the establishment of the sacrament.

After the fall of the first people and their expulsion from paradise, primitive worship receives its further development in the institution of the rite of sacrifice. These sacrifices were of two kinds: they were performed on all solemn and joyful occasions, as an expression of gratitude to God for the benefits received from Him, and then, when it was necessary to ask God for help or to beg for forgiveness for the sins committed.

The sacrifice was supposed to constantly remind people of their guilt before God, of the original sin gravitating on them, and that God can hear and accept their prayers only in the name of the sacrifice that the seed of the wife, promised by God in Paradise, would later bring in atonement for sins. , that is, having to come into the world and make the redemption of mankind, the Savior of the world, Messiah-Christ. Thus, the divine service for the chosen people had a propitious power, not in itself, but because it was a prototype of the great sacrifice that the God-man, our Lord Jesus Christ, was crucified on the cross for the sins of the whole world. During the time of the patriarchs, from Adam to Moses, worship was performed in the families of these patriarchs by their heads by the patriarchs themselves, in places and times at their discretion. Since the time of Moses, when the chosen people of God, the Old Testament Israel, who preserved the true faith in the One God, multiplied in their number, worship began to be performed on behalf of the whole people by specially appointed persons who were called high priests and Levites, as the book of EXODUS tells about this. and, then, the book LEVIT. The rite of Old Testament worship among the people of God was determined with all the details in the ritual law given through Moses. At the command of God Himself, the prophet Moses established a certain place ("the tabernacle of the covenant"), and the time (holidays and), and sacred persons, and its very forms for the performance of worship. Under King Solomon, instead of a portable temple-tabernacle, a permanent majestic and beautiful Old Testament was erected in Jerusalem, which was the only place in the Old Testament where worship was performed to the true God.

The Old Testament worship, as defined by law, before the coming of the Savior, was divided into two types: a temple service and a synagogue service. The first was sent to the temple and consisted of the reading of the decathology and some other selected passages of the Old Testament Scripture, of offerings and sacrifices, and, finally, of hymns. But, in addition to the temple from the time of Ezra, they began to build synagogues, in which the Jews felt a special need, who were deprived of the participation of temple worship and did not want to be left without public religious edification. The Jews gathered in synagogues on Saturdays for prayer, singing, reading the Holy Scriptures, as well as for translating and explaining the services for those who were born in captivity and did not know the sacred language well.

With the coming into the world of the Messiah, Christ the Savior, who sacrificed Himself for the sins of the whole world, the ritual Old Testament worship has lost all meaning and it is replaced by the New Testament, which is based on the greatest Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ, established at the Last Supper by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself and bearing the name of the Holy Eucharist, or the Sacraments of Thanksgiving. This is the Bloodless Sacrifice, Which replaced the Old Testament bloody sacrifices of bulls and lambs, who only typified the One Great Sacrifice of the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself commanded His followers to perform the ordinances established by Him (Luke 22:19; Matt. 28:19), to perform private and public prayer (Matt. 6: 5-13; Matt. 18: 19-20), to preach everywhere in the world His Divine Gospel teaching (Matt. 28: 19-20; Mark 16:15).

From this celebration of the sacraments, prayers and the preaching of the Gospel, the New Testament Christian worship was composed. Its composition and character were more fully defined by St. Apostles. As can be seen from the book of Acts of the Apostles, special places for prayer meetings of believers, called in Greek ???????? - “churches,” because the members of the Church gathered in them. So the Church, the assembly of believers, united into a single organism of the Body of Christ, gave its name to the place where these meetings took place. As in the Old Testament, starting from the time of Moses, divine services were performed by certain, established persons: the high priest, priests and Levites, so in the New Testament, worship began to be performed by special priests appointed through the laying on of hands by the Apostles: bishops, elders and deacons. In the book. Acts and Epistles of the Apostles, we find clear indications that all of these three basic degrees of priesthood in the New Testament Church have their origin from the Apostles themselves.

After the holy Apostles, the divine service continued to develop, replenishing with more and more prayers and sacred hymns, profoundly edifying in their content. The final establishment of a definite order and uniformity in Christian worship was accomplished by the apostolic successors according to the commandment given to them: "All things are good and according to your order, let them be unto you" (1 Cor. 14:40).

Thus, at the present time, the divine service of the Orthodox Church is made up of all those prayers and sacred rites with which Orthodox Christians express to God their feelings of faith, hope and love, and through which they enter into mysterious communion with Him and receive from Him grace-filled powers for the holy and God-pleasing worthy of a true Christian life.

Development of Orthodox worship

The New Testament Christian religion, due to its close historical connection with the Old Testament, retained some forms and very much of the content of the Old Testament worship. The Old Testament Jerusalem temple, where Christ the Savior Himself and Sts. The Apostles was originally a sacred place for the early Christians. The Old Testament sacred books were accepted into the Christian public worship, and the first sacred hymns of the Christian Church were the same prayer psalms that were so widely used in Old Testament worship. Despite all the increasing purely Christian songwriting, these psalms have not lost their significance in Christian worship and in all subsequent times, up to the present time. Prayer hours and holidays of the Old Testament remained sacred for Christians in the New Testament. But only everything accepted by Christians from the Old Testament Church received a new meaning and a special sign according to the spirit of the new Christian teaching in full, however, in full agreement with the words of Christ the Savior, that He came “not to break the law, but to fulfill,” that is, “to make up,” to put into all new, higher and deeper understanding (Matt. 5: 17-19). Simultaneously with the visit to the Jerusalem temple, the Apostles themselves, and with them the first Christians, began to gather separately in their homes for the “breaking of bread,” that is, for a purely Christian divine service, in the center of which was the Eucharist. Historical circumstances, however, forced the first Christians to separate completely and completely from the Old Testament temple and synagogue relatively early. The temple in 70 was destroyed by the Romans, and the Old Testament service with its sacrifices ceased altogether after that. The synagogues, which were not places of worship among the Jews, in the true sense of the word (the service could be performed only in one place in the Jerusalem temple), but only places of prayer and teaching meetings, soon became so hostile to Christianity that even the Christians from the Jews stopped attending them. And this is understandable. Christianity, as a new religion, purely spiritual and perfect, and at the same time universal in the sense of time and nationality, naturally, had to develop, according to its spirit, new forms of worship, could not be limited to the Old Testament holy books and psalms.

“The beginning and foundation of public Christian worship, as Archimandrite Gabriel points out well and in detail, was laid by Jesus Christ Himself, part of His example, part of His commandments. Performing His Divine ministry on earth, He builds up the New Testament Church (Matt.16: 18-19; 18: 17-20; 28:20), elects for her the Apostles, and in their person, the successors of their ministry as pastors and teachers (John. 15:16; 20:21; Eph. 4: 11-14; 1 Cor. 4: 1). Teaching believers to worship God in spirit and in truth, in accordance with this, Himself, first of all, represents Himself an example of organized worship. He promises to be with believers where “two or three are gathered in His name” (Matt. 18:20), “and to be with them all the days until the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20). He Himself prays, and sometimes the whole night (Luke 6:12; Matt. 14323), prays with the aid of external visible signs, such as: raising His eyes to heaven (John 17: 1), bowing to the knees (Luke 22 : 41-45), and chapters (Matt. 26:39). He arouses others to prayer, indicating in it a gracious means (Matt. 21:22; Luke 22:40; John 14:13; 15: 7), divides it into a public one (Matt. 18: 19-20) and home (Matt. 6: 6), teaches His disciples about prayer itself (Matt. 4: 9-10), warns His followers against abuse in prayer and worship (John 4: 23-24; 2 Cor. 3:17; Matt. . 4:10). Further, He proclaims His new teaching of the Gospel through the living word, through preaching and commands His disciples to preach it “in all the tongues” (Matt. 28:19; Mark. 16:15), and teaches blessing (Luke 24:51; Mark. 8 : 7), lays on hands (Matt. 19, 13-15) and finally defends the holiness and dignity of the house of God (Matt. 21, 13; Mark 11:15). And in order to impart divine grace to people who believe in Him, He establishes the sacraments, commanding to baptize those who come to His church (Matt. 28:19); in the name of the authority given to them entrusts them with the right to knit and resolve the sins of people (John 20: 22-23); especially between the sacraments, he commands that the sacrament of the Eucharist be celebrated in His remembrance, as an image of the sacrifice of Calvary on the cross (Luke 22:19). The Apostles, having learned from their Divine Teacher the New Testament service, despite their predominant preoccupation with the gospel of the word of God (1 Cor. 1:27), quite clearly and in detail defined the very rite of external worship. Thus, we find indications of some of the paraphernalia of external worship in their writings (1 Cor. 11:23; 14:40); but most of it remained in the practice of the Church. The successors of the Apostles, pastors and teachers of the church, preserved the Apostolic decrees regarding worship and, on the basis of them, during times of calm after terrible persecution, at the Ecumenical and local councils, they determined in writing the entire, almost in detail, constant and monotonous rite of worship, preserved by the church to this day. "(" Guide to the Liturgy, "archim. Gabriel, pp. 41-42, Tver, 1886).

According to the decree of the Apostolic Council in Jerusalem (chapter 15 of the book of Acts), the ritual Mosaic law in the New Testament is canceled: there can be no bloody sacrifices, because the Great Sacrifice has already been brought to atone for the sins of the whole world, there is no tribe of Levi for the priesthood, because in In the New Testament, all people redeemed by the Blood of Christ became equal to one another: the priesthood is equally accessible to all, there is no one chosen people of God, for all nations are equally called into the Kingdom of the Messiah, which was revealed by the sufferings of Christ. The place to serve God is not only in Jerusalem, but everywhere. The time of serving God is always and unceasing. At the center of Christian worship is Christ the Redeemer and all of His earthly life, saving mankind. Therefore, everything borrowed from the Old Testament divine service is imbued with a new purely Christian spirit. Such are all prayers, chants, readings and rituals of Christian worship. The main idea is their salvation in Christ. Therefore, the central point of Christian worship has become the Eucharist, the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving for the Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross.

Too little information has been preserved about exactly how Christian worship was performed in the first three centuries during the era of fierce persecution by the pagans. There could be no permanent temples. To perform divine services, Christians gathered in private houses and in burial caves under the ground of the catacombs. It is known that the first Christians performed prayer vigils in the catacombs throughout the night from evening to morning, especially on the eve of Sundays and great holidays, as well as on the days of memory of the martyrs who suffered for Christ, and these vigils usually took place on the graves of the martyrs and ended The Eucharist. Already in this ancient period, there were definitely liturgical orders. Eusebius and Jerome mention Justin's book "Psalter" - "The Singer," which contained church hymns. Hippolytus, bishop Ostia, who died around 250, left behind a book in which he sets out the apostolic tradition regarding the order of the appointment of a reader, subdeacon, deacon, presbyter, bishop, and regarding prayers or a short rite of worship and commemoration of the dead. It is said about prayers that they must be performed in the morning, at the third, sixth, ninth hour, in the evening and at the petition. If the congregation cannot be, let everyone at home sing, read and pray. This, of course, presupposed the existence of corresponding liturgical books.

The meaning of Orthodox worship

This value is extremely high. Our Orthodox divine service teaches believers, edifies and spiritually educates them, giving them the richest spiritual food, both for the mind and for the heart. The annual circle of our worship expounds to us in living images and teachings almost the entire history, both the Old Testament and, especially, the New Testament, as well as the history of the Church, both universal and, in particular, Russian; here the dogmatic teaching of the Church is revealed, striking the soul with reverence for the greatness of the Creator, and the cleansing and uplifting moral lessons of a truly Christian life are taught in living images and examples of Sts. the saints of God, whose memory is glorified by the holy Church almost daily.
Just as the entire internal appearance and structure of our Orthodox church in itself, and the services performed in it, vividly remind those praying of that “heavenly world,” to which all Christians are destined. Our worship is a true "school of piety," which completely takes the soul away from this sinful world and transfers it to the kingdom of the Spirit. “Truly the temple is earthly,” says the greatest shepherd of our time, saint Fr. John of Kronstadt, "for where the throne of God is, where the terrible sacraments are performed, where they serve with people, where the ceaseless praise of the Almighty is, there is truly heaven and heaven of heaven." He who attentively listens to the divine service, who consciously participates in it with his mind and heart, cannot but feel the full power of the Church's powerful call to holiness, which, according to the word of the Lord Himself, is the ideal of Christian life. Through his divine service, St. The Church is trying to tear us all away from all earthly attachments and addictions and make us those “earthly angels” and “heavenly people” whom she sings in her troparions, kontakiones, stichera and canons.

Worship has a great regenerating power, and this is its irreplaceable significance. Certain types of worship, called "sacraments," have a special, special meaning for the person who accepts them, for they give him a special grace-filled power.

The most important service is the Divine Liturgy. The great Sacrament is performed on it - the laying of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of the Lord and the Communion of the faithful. Liturgy translated from Greek means joint work. Believers gather in church in order to glorify God and partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ together with “one mouth and one heart”. So they follow the example of the holy apostles and the Lord Himself, who, having gathered for the Last Supper on the eve of the Savior's betrayal and suffering on the Cross, drank from the Chalice and ate the Bread that He gave them, reverently listening to His words: “This is My Body ...” and “This is there is my blood ... ”.

Christ commanded His apostles to perform this Sacrament, and the apostles taught this to their successors - bishops and elders, priests. The original name of this Sacrament of Thanksgiving is the Eucharist (Greek). The public service at which the Eucharist is celebrated is called the liturgy (from the Greek lithos - public and ergon - service, business). Liturgy is sometimes called mass, since it is usually supposed to be celebrated from dawn to noon, that is, in the time before lunch.

The order of the liturgy is as follows: first, the items for the Sacrament (the Offered Gifts) are prepared, then the believers prepare for the Sacrament, and finally, the Sacrament itself and the Communion of the believers are performed. Thus, the liturgy is divided into three parts, which are called:

• Proskomidia
• Liturgy of the catechumens
• Liturgy of the faithful.

Proskomidia

The Greek word for proskomidia means offering. This is the name of the first part of the liturgy in memory of the custom of the first Christians to bring bread, wine and everything needed for the service with them. Therefore, the very bread used for the celebration of the Liturgy is called prosphora, that is, an offering.

The prosphora should be round, and it consists of two parts, as an image of two natures in Christ - the Divine and the human. Prosphora is baked from wheat leavened bread without any additions, except for salt.

A cross is imprinted on the upper part of the prosphora, and at its corners the initial letters of the Savior's name: "IC XC" and the Greek word "NI KA", which together means: Jesus Christ conquers. For the celebration of the Sacrament, red grape wine is used, pure, without any additives. Wine is mixed with water in remembrance that blood and water were poured out of the Savior's wound on the Cross. For proskomedia, five prosphora are used in remembrance that Christ fed five thousand people with five loaves, but the prosphora that is prepared for Communion is one of these five, because there is one Christ, Savior and God. After the priest and the deacon perform the entrance prayers in front of the closed Royal Doors and put on the sacred garments in the altar, they approach the altar. The priest takes the first (lamb) prosphora and makes a copy of the cross three times on it, saying: "In remembrance of the Lord and God and our Savior Jesus Christ." From this prosphora, the priest carves the middle in the shape of a cube. This cubic part of the prosphora is called the Lamb. It is placed on the diskos. The priest then cuts the Lamb in a cruciform manner on the lower side and pierces its right side with a spear.

After that, wine mixed with water is poured into the bowl.

The second prosphora is called the Mother of God; a particle in honor of the Mother of God is removed from it. The third is called nine-fold, because nine particles are taken out of it in honor of John the Baptist, prophets, apostles, saints, martyrs, saints, unmercenaries, Joachim and Anna - the parents of the Mother of God and the saints of the temple, day saints, and also in honor of the saint whose name the liturgy is celebrated.

From the fourth and fifth prosphora, particles are removed for the living and the dead.

On the proskomedia, particles are also removed from the prosphora, which are served by believers about the repose and health of relatives and friends.

All these particles are laid out in a special order on the diskos next to the Lamb. Having finished all the steps to prepare for the celebration of the Liturgy, the priest places a star on the diskos, covering it and the bowl with two small covers, and then all together covers it with a large veil, which is called air, and censes the Offered Gifts, asking the Lord to bless them, to remember those who brought these Gifts and those for whom they are brought. During the performance of the proskomedia in the temple, the 3rd and 6th hours are read.

Liturgy of the catechumens

The second part of the liturgy is called the liturgy of the "catechumens", because during its celebration not only the baptized, but also those preparing to receive this sacrament, that is, the "catechumens", may be present.

The deacon, having received a blessing from the priest, leaves the altar on the pulpit and loudly proclaims: “Bless, Master,” that is, bless the assembled believers to begin the service and participate in the liturgy.

The priest in his first exclamation glorifies the Holy Trinity: "Blessed is the kingdom of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and forever and ever." The singers sing "Amen" and the deacon pronounces the Great Litany.

The choir sings antiphons, that is, psalms that are supposed to be sung alternately by the right and left chorus.

Blessed art thou, Lord
Bless, my soul, the Lord and all my inner, His holy name. Bless, my soul, the Lord
And do not forget all His recompenses: He who cleanses all your iniquities, who heals all your ailments,
delivering your belly from decay, crowning you with mercy and generosity, fulfilling your desire for good: your youth will be renewed like an eagle. Generous and merciful, Lord. Long-suffering and merciful. Bless, my soul, the Lord and all my inner name is His holy. Blessed are you, Lord

and "Praise, my soul, the Lord ...".
Praise, my soul, the Lord. I will praise the Lord in my belly, I sing to my God, as long as I am.
Do not rely on the princes, on the sons of man, there is no salvation in them. His spirit will go out and return to his land: and on that day all his thoughts will perish. Blessed is his God Jacob his helper, his hope is in the Lord his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them; keeping the truth in the age, doing judgment to the offended, giving food to the hungry. The Lord will decide the fettered; The Lord makes the blind men wise; The Lord raises the overthrown; The Lord loves the righteous;
The Lord protects the strangers, he will receive the sire and the widow, and he will destroy the path of sinners.

At the end of the second antiphon, the song "Only Begotten Son ..." is sung. This song expounds the entire teaching of the Church about Jesus Christ.

Only begotten son and to the Word of God, He is immortal, and who delighted our salvation for the sake of incarnate
from the Holy Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, immutably incarnate, but crucified for us, Christ God, trampling on death, the One of the Holy Trinity, glorified to the Father and the Holy Spirit,
save us.

In Russian, it sounds like this: “Save us, the Only Begotten Son and the Word of God, the Immortal, who has deigned for the sake of our salvation to incarnate from the Holy Mother of God and the Ever-Virgin Mary, who has become a man and has not changed, crucified and corrected death by death, Christ God, one of the Holy Faces Trinity, glorified together with the Father and the Holy Spirit ”. After the Lesser Litany, the choir sings the third antiphon - the Gospel "Beatitudes". The Royal Doors open for the Small Entrance.

In Thy Kingdom, remember us, Lord, when you come in Thy Kingdom.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for those are the Kingdom of Heaven.
The blessedness of crying, for they will be comforted.
The blessedness of crotzia, for they will inherit the earth.
The blessedness of hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
Blessedness of mercy, as there will be mercy.
Blessed are those who are pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the sons of God.
Be blessed to drive out the truth for the sake of those who are the Kingdom of Heaven.
Blessed naturally, when they revile you, and wear out, and rekut every evil verb against you, lying for Me's sake.
Rejoice and rejoice, for your wages are many in heaven.

At the end of the singing, the priest with the deacon, who carries the altar Gospel, goes to the pulpit. Having received the blessing from the priest, the deacon stops at the Royal Doors and, holding up the Gospel, proclaims: “Wisdom, forgive me,” that is, reminds believers that they will soon hear the Gospel reading, therefore they must stand upright and attentively (forgive means straight ahead).

The entrance to the altar of the clergy with the Gospel is called the Lesser Entrance, in contrast to the Great Entrance, which is performed later at the liturgy of the faithful. The Little Entrance reminds believers of the first appearance to preach Jesus Christ. The choir sings “Come, let us worship and fall to Christ. Save us, Son of God, risen from the dead, singing Ti: Alleluia. " After this, the troparion (Sunday, holiday, or saint) and other hymns are sung. Then the Trisagion is sung: Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us (thrice).

The Apostle and the Gospel are read. When reading the Gospel, believers stand with their heads bowed, listening in reverence to the holy gospel. After the reading of the Gospel at the Augmented Litany and Litany of the dead, the relatives and friends of the believers praying in the church are commemorated from notes.

They are followed by the litany of the catechumens. With the words “Proclamation, go out,” the liturgy of the catechumens ends.

Liturgy of the faithful

This is the name of the third part of the liturgy. It can be attended only by the faithful, that is, baptized and not prohibited by a priest or bishop. At the liturgy of the faithful:

1) the Gifts are transferred from the altar to the throne;
2) believers are preparing for the consecration of the Gifts;
3) the Gifts are sanctified;
4) believers prepare for Communion and receive Communion;
5) then thanksgiving is performed for Communion and dismissal.

After the recitation of two short litanies, the Cherubic Hymn is sung “Like the cherubim, secretly forming the Life-giving Trinity, the Trisagion song is humming, we will postpone all everyday care. Let us raise the King of all, with angelic invisibly monstrous rites. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia "... In Russian it reads as follows: “We, mysteriously portraying the Cherubims and singing the trisagion song to the Trinity, which gives life, will now leave our concern for all life, so that we glorify the King of all, Whom invisibly angelic ranks solemnly glorify. Alleluia ".

Before the Cherubic song, the Royal Gates are opened and the deacon performs incense. The priest at this time secretly prays that the Lord would cleanse his soul and heart and deign to perform the Sacrament. Then the priest, raising his hands up, in an undertone three times recites the first part of the Cherubim song, and the deacon also finishes it in an undertone. Both of them go to the altar to transfer the prepared Gifts to the throne. The deacon has air on his left shoulder, he carries a diskos with both hands, placing it on his head. The priest carries the Holy Cup in front of him. They leave the altar with the northern side doors, stop at the pulpit and, turning their faces to the believers, say a prayer for the Patriarch, bishops, and all Orthodox Christians.

Deacon: Our Great Lord and Father Alexy, His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, and our Lord His Eminence (the name of the rivers of the diocesan bishop), the Metropolitan (or: the archbishop, or: the bishop) (title of the diocesan bishop, Lord God in the everlasting reign , now and ever, and forever and ever.

Priest: May the Lord God remember all of you, Orthodox Christians, in His Kingdom always, now and ever, and forever and ever.

Then the priest and deacon enter the altar through the Royal Doors. This is how the Great Entrance is made.

The Gifts brought are placed on the throne and covered with air (a large shroud), the Royal Doors are closed and the curtain is pulled back. The singers end the Cherubic Canto. During the transfer of the Gifts from the altar to the throne, believers remember how the Lord voluntarily went to suffer and die on the cross. They stand with their heads bowed and pray to the Savior for themselves and their loved ones.

After the Great Entrance, the deacon pronounces the Supplicatory Litany, the priest blesses those present with the words: "Peace to all." Then it proclaims: "Let us love one another, that we confess with one mind," and the chorus continues: "The Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the Trinity, Consubstantial and Inseparable."

Following this, usually the entire temple, the Creed is sung. On behalf of the Church, he briefly expresses the whole essence of our faith, and therefore must be pronounced in joint love and like-mindedness.

Symbol of faith

I believe in the One God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, visible to all and invisible. And in the One Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only Begotten, Who was born of the Father before all ages. Light from light, God true from God true, born not created, consubstantial with the Father, Who was all. For us, man, and ours for the sake of salvation descended from heaven, and incarnate from the Holy Spirit and Mary the Virgin, and incarnate. Crucified for us under the Pontic Pilate, And suffered, and was buried. And he rose again on the third day according to the scriptures. And he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. And packs coming with glory to judge the living and the dead, His Kingdom will have no end. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord Life-giving, Who is from the Father who proceeds, Who is with the Father and the Son is worshiped with glory, the verb-step of the prophets. Into one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the remission of sins. I tea the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the century to come. Amen.

After the chanting of the Creed, the time comes to bring the “Holy Offering” with the fear of God and certainly “in the world”, having no anger or enmity against anyone.

"Let us become good, let us stand with fear, let us behold, bring the holy offering in the world." In response, the choir sings: "Mercy of the world, sacrifice of praise."

The gifts of peace will be a grateful and laudatory sacrifice to God for all His good deeds. The priest blesses the believers with the words: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and love (love) of God and the Father, and the communion (communion) of the Holy Spirit, be with you all." And then he calls: “Woe we have hearts,” that is, we will have hearts directed upward, towards God. To this, the singers, on behalf of the believers, answer: “Imams to the Lord,” that is, we already have hearts aspiring to the Lord.

The priest's words “We thank the Lord” begin the main part of the liturgy. We thank the Lord for all His mercies and bow down to the ground, and the singers sing: "It is worthy and righteous to worship the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the Trinity of Consubstantial Inseparable."

At this time, the priest in prayer, which is called Eucharistic (that is, thanksgiving), glorifies the Lord and His perfection, thanks Him for the creation and redemption of man, and for all His mercies, known to us and even unknown. He thanks the Lord for accepting this bloodless Sacrifice, although He is surrounded by higher spiritual beings - archangels, angels, cherubim, seraphim, "a victory song that sings, crying, crying and speaking." The priest speaks these last words of the secret prayer aloud. The singers add to them an angelic song: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord of hosts, fill (that is, filled with) heaven and earth of Thy glory." This song, which is called “Seraphim”, is complemented by the words with which the people greeted the Lord's entry into Jerusalem: “Hosanna in the highest (that is, he who lives in heaven) Blessed is he who comes (that is, walking) in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest! ”.

The priest utters an exclamation: "The victory song is singing, blatant, crying and verbing." These words are taken from the visions of the prophet Ezekiel and the Apostle John the Theologian, who saw in the revelation God's Throne surrounded by angels having different images: one was in the form of an eagle (the word “singing” refers to it), the other in the form of a calf (“flagrantly”) , the third in the form of a lion (“calling out”) and, finally, the fourth in the form of a man (“verb”). These four angels cried out incessantly: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord of hosts." While singing these words, the priest secretly continues the prayer of thanksgiving, he glorifies the good that God sends to people, His infinite love for His creation, which manifested itself in the coming to earth of the Son of God.

Remembering the Last Supper, at which the Lord established the Sacrament of Holy Communion, the priest loudly pronounces the words spoken by the Savior: “Take, eat, this is My Body, even for you that is broken for the remission of sins”. And also: "Drink all of her, this is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for you and for many for the remission of sins." Finally, the priest, remembering in secret prayer the Savior's commandment to take Communion, glorifies His life, suffering and death, resurrection, ascension to heaven and the second coming in glory, loudly pronounces: "Yours is from Yours, bringing You for everyone and for everything." These words mean: "Your gifts from Your servants we bring to You, Lord, because of everything we have said."

The singers sing: “We sing to you, we bless you, we thank you, Lord. And pray, our God. "

The priest in secret prayer asks the Lord to send His Holy Spirit on the people standing in the church and on the Offering Gifts, so that He would sanctify them. Then the priest reads the troparion three times in an undertone: "Lord, like Thy Most Holy Spirit, at the third hour of Thy Apostle sent Thy goodness, do not take us away from us, but renew us who pray." The deacon recites the twelfth and thirteenth verses of the 50th psalm: "Create a pure heart in me, O God ..." and "Do not reject me from Thy presence ...". Then the priest blesses the Holy Lamb lying on the diskos and says: "And create for this bread the honest body of Thy Christ."

Then he blesses the cup, saying: "And in this cup is the honest Blood of Thy Christ." And finally, he blesses the gifts along with the words: "Having transfused with Thy Holy Spirit." In these great and holy minutes, the Gifts become the true Body and Blood of the Savior, although they remain in appearance the same as before.

The priest with the deacon and the faithful bow down to the earth before the Holy Gifts, as to the Tsar and God himself. After the consecration of the Gifts, the priest, in secret prayer, asks the Lord that those who receive communion be strengthened in all good, that their sins be forgiven, that they commune with the Holy Spirit and reach the Kingdom of Heaven, that the Lord would allow them to turn to Himself with their needs and not condemn them for unworthy communion. The priest remembers the saints and especially the Blessed Virgin Mary and loudly proclaims: "Fairly (that is, especially) about the Most Holy, Most Pure, Most Blessed, Glorious Our Lady of Our Lady and Ever-Virgin Mary," and the choir responds with a song of praise:
It is worthy to be, as truly blessed Thee, Mother of God, Ever-Blessed and Most Immaculate and Mother of our God. The most honest Cherubim and the most glorious without comparison Seraphim, who gave birth to God the Word without corruption, we magnify the Mother of God.

The priest continues to secretly pray for the dead and, moving on to prayer for the living, aloud loudly commemorates the “first” of the Holy Patriarch, the ruling diocesan bishop, the choir replies: “And everyone and everything,” that is, asks the Lord to remember all believers. The prayer for the living ends with the exclamation of the priest: "And grant us with one mouth and one heart (that is, with one heart) to glorify and chant Thy most honorable and glorious name, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and forever and ever."

Finally, the priest blesses all those present: "And may the mercies of the great God and Savior Jesus Christ be with you all."
A supplicatory litany begins: "Remembering all the holy things, packs and packs in peace let us pray to the Lord." That is, having remembered all the saints, let us again pray to the Lord. After the litany, the priest proclaims: "And grant us, O Lord, with boldness (boldly, as children ask a father), dare (dare) call upon Thee Heavenly God the Father and speak".

The prayer "Our Father ..." is sung after this usually by the whole church

With the words “Peace to all,” the priest once again blesses the believers.

The deacon, standing at this time on the pulpit, is girded crosswise with an orarion, so that, firstly, it would be more convenient for him to serve the priest during Communion, and secondly, to express his reverence for the Holy Gifts, in imitation of the seraphim.

At the exclamation of the deacon: “Let us behold,” the curtain of the Royal Doors is pulled back to remind of the stone that was rolled over to the Holy Sepulcher. The priest, raising the Holy Lamb above the diskos, loudly proclaims: "The holy to the saints." In other words, the Holy Gifts can be given only to saints, that is, to believers who have sanctified themselves by prayer, fasting, the Sacrament of Repentance. And, realizing their unworthiness, believers answer: "One is holy, one is Lord, Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father."

First, the priests take communion in the altar. The priest breaks the Lamb into four parts as it was cut on the proskomedium. The part with the inscription “IC” is lowered into the bowl, and warmth, that is, hot water, is poured into the same to remind that believers accept the true Blood of Christ under the guise of wine.

The other part of the Lamb with the inscription “HS” is intended for communion of the clergy, and the part with the inscriptions “NI” and “KA” for the communion of the laity. These two parts are cut with a copy according to the number of those who receive communion into small parts, which are lowered into the Chalice.

While the clergy are taking communion, the choir sings a special verse called “sacramental,” as well as some appropriate chant. Russian church composers wrote many spiritual works that are not included in the canon of divine services, but are performed by the choir at this particular time. Usually a sermon is delivered at the same time.

Finally, the Royal Gates are opened for the communion of the laity, and the deacon with the Holy Chalice in his hands says: "With the fear of God and with faith, draw near."

The priest reads the prayer before Holy Communion, and the believers repeat it to themselves: “I believe, O Lord, and I confess that you are truly the Christ, the Son of the Living God, who came to the world of sinners to save, from them I am the first. I still believe that this is Thy Most Pure Body and this is Thy Most Honest Blood. I pray to You: have mercy on me and forgive me my sins, voluntary and involuntary, even in word, even in deed, even knowledge and ignorance, and grant me uncondemned communion of Thy Most Pure Sacraments, for the remission of sins and for eternal life. Amen. Thy supper is a secret day, Son of God, accept me a partaker, we will not tell you a secret with your enemy, I will not give you a kiss, like Judas, but, like a robber, I confess You: remember me, Lord, in Your Kingdom. May the communion of Your Holy Mysteries, O Lord, be not for judgment or for condemnation, but for the healing of soul and body. "

After communion, they kiss the lower edge of the Holy Chalice and go to the table, where they wash it down with warmth (church wine mixed with hot water) and receive a particle of prosphora. This is done so that not a single smallest particle of the Holy Gifts remains in the mouth and so that you do not immediately start with ordinary daily food. After everyone has received the Holy Communion, the priest brings the chalice to the altar and lowers into it the particles taken from the service and brought prosphora with a prayer that the Lord with His Blood washed away the sins of everyone who was commemorated at the liturgy.

Then he blesses the believers who sing: "By seeing the true light, receiving the Heavenly Spirit, having gained the true faith, we worship the indivisible Trinity: That has saved us."

The deacon transfers the diskos to the altar, and the priest, taking the Holy Cup in his hands, blesses the worshipers with it. This last appearance of the Holy Gifts before being transferred to the altar reminds us of the Lord's Ascension to heaven after His Resurrection. Having bowed to the Holy Gifts for the last time, as to the Lord Himself, the believers thank Him for Communion, and the choir sings a song of thanks: “May our lips of Your praise be filled, O Lord, as let us sing Your glory, as you have granted us to partake of Your Divine Saints, immortal and life-giving Mysteries; observe us about Thy sanctity, all day learn Thy righteousness. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia. ”.

The deacon delivers a short litany in which he thanks the Lord for Communion. The priest, having risen to the Holy See, folds the antimension on which the bowl and the diskos stood, and places the altar Gospel on it.

Shouting loudly “Let us leave in peace,” he shows that the liturgy is ending, and soon the believers can quietly and in peace go home.

Then the priest reads the prayer behind the ambo (because it is read behind the ambo) prayer “Bless the blessed You, Lord, and sanctify those who trust in You, save Your people and bless Your heritage, keep Your Church fulfilling, sanctify the loving splendor of Your house, You will glorify those who are Your Divine strength and do not leave us, who trust in Thee. Grant peace to Thy, Thy Churches, priest and all Thy people. For every gift is good and every gift is perfect from above, come down from You, the Father of lights. And to You glory, and thanksgiving, and worship we offer, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and forever, and forever and ever. "

The choir sings: "Blessed be the name of the Lord from now on and forever."

The priest blesses the worshipers for the last time and pronounces dismissal with a cross in his hand, facing the temple. Then everyone approaches the cross in order, kissing it, to confirm their faithfulness to Christ, in whose remembrance the Divine Liturgy was performed.

Daily worship

The divine service of the Orthodox Church in ancient times was performed throughout the day nine times, which is why there were all nine church services: ninth hour, Vespers, Compline, Midnight Office, Matins, First Hour, Third and Sixth Hours, and Mass... At present, for the convenience of Orthodox Christians, who are not able to visit the temples of God so often on the occasion of homework, these nine services are combined into three church services: Vespers, Matins and Mass... Each separately divine service includes three church services: to vespers entered the ninth hour, Vespers and Compline; matins consists of midnight office, matins and first hour; mass begins at the third and sixth hours and then the Liturgy itself is performed. For hours such short prayers are called, followed by psalms and other prayers that are decent for these times of the day for mercy on us sinners.

Evening service

The divine service day begins with the evening on the basis that at the creation of the world there was evening, and then morning. For vespers usually, the service in the temple is sent to a holiday or to a saint, whom the remembrance is performed on the next day according to the location in the calendar. On every day of the year, either an event from the earthly life of the Savior and the Mother of God or one of St. saints of God. In addition, every 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 there is a service in honor of the life-giving cross of the Lord, on Thursday - in honor of St. Apostles and Saint Nicholas, on Saturday - in honor of all saints and in memory of all departed Orthodox Christians.

The evening service is sent to thank God for the past day and 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 took according to our time count at 3 pm, and according to the Hebrew time at 9 pm. Then the most evening worship, and it is accompanied by Compline, or a series of prayers, which Christians recite after the evening, at nightfall.

Matins

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

Lunch

Lunch begins by reading the 3rd and 6th hours. Service third hour reminds us how the Lord at the third hour of the day, according to the Jewish reckoning of time, and according to our account, at the ninth hour of the morning, was led to judgment to 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 exploit of preaching about Christ. Service of the sixth The hour is called so because it reminds us of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ on Golgotha, which was, according to the Jewish time, at 6 o'clock in the afternoon, and according to our account at 12 o'clock in the afternoon. Mass is celebrated after hours, or liturgy.

Divine services are performed in this order on weekdays; but on some days of the year this order changes, for example: on the days of the Nativity of Christ, the Baptism of the Lord, on Great 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 feasts of the Nativity of Christ, the Baptism of the Lord, on Great Thursday and on Great Saturday, Mass begins with Vespers and therefore takes place from 12 noon. Morning on the holidays of Christmas and Epiphany is 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, at which the priest reads affectionate prayers to the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Holy Trinity. And on Good Friday, according to the charter of the Orthodox Church, mass is not supposed to strengthen the fast, but after hours, separately performed, Vespers is sent out at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, after which the funeral service is carried out from the altar to the middle of the church. shroud Christ, in remembrance of the removal from the cross of the body of the Lord by the righteous Joseph and Nicodemus.

During Great Lent, on all days except Saturday and Sunday, the arrangement of church services is different than on weekdays throughout the year. In the evening leaves great Compline, on which, on the first four days of the first week, the touching canon of St. Andrew of Crete (mephimons). Served in the morning matins, according to its charter, similar to an ordinary, everyday matine; in the middle of the day reads the 3rd, 6th and 9th watch, and they are joined by vespers... This service is usually called for hours.

Details about the service at Pravmir:

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