How to pray at home, in church, in front of an icon, relics, so that God hears and helps us: Orthodox church rules. Is it possible and how to pray in your own words? What are the main prayers that an Orthodox Christian needs to know and read: a list, words

In everything that concerns prayer and a pious life, the Lord Jesus Christ, the apostles and saints can serve as an example for us. It is written in the Gospel that Christ prayed in solitude for several hours and even during the whole night. The Apostle Paul urged to pray without ceasing, that is, all the time. Is there a limit to the length of the prayer?

You can turn to God in prayer almost everywhere:

in the temple
where they eat
at work
and even on the way

At home, they read home prayers (morning, evening, before or after eating food). With the blessing of the priest, morning prayers can be read on the way to work. In the office, you can pray before the start and at the end of the working day.

During worship services in the temple, believers together perform a public (otherwise - church) prayer.

To pray alone in the temple, you need to come outside of worship, purchase and light candles. It is not necessary to light them: the ministers will light them before the start of the service. Then you need to venerate the icon of the day or holiday - it lies on a lectern (a special inclined table) in the middle of the temple - as well as to the shrines that may be in the temple: revered icons, relics of saints. After that, you can find a place to read to yourself (in a whisper) any prayer that you know by heart, or pray in your own words.

How many times a day should the Orthodox pray?

Prayer is a time dedicated to God. This time should be every day.

in the morning,
in the evening,
before meals and after
before and after the completion of any business (for example, work or study)
in order to first ask God for blessings, and in the end to thank Him.

In addition, it is important in the temple to perform church prayer and acceptance. If necessary, in case of special needs or life circumstances, you can turn to private prayer (at home in front of the icons or in the church between services) to the saints or heavenly forces so that they intercede for the one who is praying before the Lord.

Time for reading Orthodox prayers in church and at home

In ancient monasteries, nine long services were performed per day, and between them the monks alone read psalms or recited. Night was considered a particularly fertile time for solitary prayer.

Modern lay people perform at home in the morning, in the evening, upon returning home -. If a person is weak or has little time, then instead of the morning and evening rules, he can read St. Seraphim of Sarov during the day.

It is advisable to discuss the duration of morning and evening prayers with the priest, with whom the parishioner confesses constantly.

On Saturday evening and on the eve of church holidays, you should attend the all-night vigil in the church, and on Sunday mornings and on holidays - the Liturgy.

During they go to church more often to pray: in the first four days they try not to miss evening services- they serve Great Compline with the Canon of Andrew of Crete. You should also try to attend as many services as possible during the Holy Week preceding the Easter holiday. During Holy Week Liturgy is served daily, and believers strive to visit it in order to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ not only on Sunday, but also on a weekday.

Morning prayer time

Morning prayers are read at home, immediately upon awakening. Waking up, you need to stand in front of the icons and start reading prayers by heart or according to the prayer book.

Evening Prayer Time

Evening prayers are read at home at the end of the day or before bed. The evening rule is not recommended to be postponed until later, because the later, the stronger the fatigue and the more difficult it is to concentrate.

Just before going to bed, already lying in bed, they say: “In Your hands, Lord my God, I betray my spirit, You save me, You have mercy on me and grant me eternal life.”

Prayer all day long

The Orthodox Church does not set a strict time for prayers. We must strive to pray constantly. First of all, this means constantly remembering God and from time to time, if possible, turning to Him during the day with short prayers (for example, the Jesus Prayer “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner” or a short thanksgiving prayer “Glory To Thee, our God, glory to Thee!”).

Continuous prayer

You can read short prayers continuously throughout the day, repeating the same prayer many times in a row and counting the number of repetitions with a rosary. This is usually how the Jesus Prayer is read. However, for such a prayer it is necessary to take the blessing of the priest, And the number of repetitions is strictly regulated.

There are many restrictions on continuous prayer, it cannot be read uncontrollably.

St. Ambrose of Optina ordered his spiritual children to read the Jesus Prayer only aloud, because reading to oneself can cause strong emotional sensations and lead to falling into delusion. Charm means self-deception, up to mental insanity.

How long should a prayer be?

Durationprayers are not governed by rules.

The most important thing is the focus on prayer, not its duration or number of prayers.
You need to pray slowly, thinking about every word.
The number of prayers should correspond to the time that we can devote to them.

The Lord said, “I want mercy, not sacrifice” (Mt. 9:13), therefore, with a lack of time or severe fatigue, it is permissible to shorten the prayer rule in order to read it with concentration.

A detailed description from several sources: "what time is the prayer" - in our non-profit weekly religious magazine.

Where can you pray to God?

You can turn to God in prayer almost everywhere:

During worship services in the temple, believers together perform a public (otherwise - church) prayer.

How many times a day should the Orthodox pray?

Prayer is a time dedicated to God. This time should be every day.

in the morning,
in the evening,
before meals and after
before and after the completion of any business (for example, work or study)
in order to first ask God for blessings, and in the end to thank Him.

In addition, it is important to attend the Liturgy in the church weekly to perform church prayer and receive Holy Communion. If necessary, in case of special needs or life circumstances, you can turn to private prayer (at home in front of icons or in church between services) to saints or heavenly powers so that they intercede for the one who is praying before the Lord.

Time for reading Orthodox prayers in church and at home

In ancient monasteries, nine long services were performed per day, and between them the monks alone read psalms or said the Jesus Prayer. Night was considered a particularly fertile time for solitary prayer.

Modern laity in the morning at home perform the morning prayer rule, in the evening, upon returning home, the evening rule. If a person is weak or has little time, then instead of the morning and evening rules, he can read a short rule of St. Seraphim of Sarov during the day.

It is advisable to discuss the duration of morning and evening prayers with the priest, with whom the parishioner confesses constantly.

On Saturday evening and on the eve of church holidays, you should attend the all-night vigil in the church, and on Sunday mornings and on holidays - the Liturgy.

During Great Lent they go to church more often to pray: in the first four days they try not to miss evening services- they serve Great Compline with the Canon of Andrew of Crete. You should also try to attend as many services as possible during the Holy Week preceding the Easter holiday. During Holy Week Liturgy is served daily, and believers strive to visit it in order to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ not only on Sunday, but also on a weekday.

Morning prayer time

Morning prayers are read at home, immediately upon awakening. Waking up, you need to stand in front of the icons and start reading prayers by heart or according to the prayer book.

Evening Prayer Time

Just before going to bed, already lying in bed, they say: “In Your hands, Lord my God, I betray my spirit, You save me, You have mercy on me and grant me eternal life.”

Prayer all day long

Continuous prayer

There are many restrictions on continuous prayer, it cannot be read uncontrollably.

St. Ambrose of Optina ordered his spiritual children to read the Jesus Prayer only aloud, because reading to oneself can cause strong emotional sensations and lead to delusion. Charm means self-deception, up to mental insanity.

How long should a prayer be?

Duration prayers are not governed by rules.

The most important thing is the focus on prayer, not its duration or number of prayers.
You need to pray slowly, thinking about every word.
The number of prayers should correspond to the time that we can devote to them.

The Lord said, “I want mercy, not sacrifice” (Mt. 9:13), therefore, with a lack of time or severe fatigue, it is permissible to shorten the prayer rule in order to read it with concentration.

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Prayer rule.

What is a prayer rule? These are prayers that a person reads regularly, daily. Everyone's prayer rule is different. For some, the morning or evening rule takes several hours, for others it takes several minutes. Everything depends on a person's spiritual disposition, on the degree of his rootedness in prayer, and on what time he has at his disposal.

It is very important that a person fulfill the prayer rule, even the shortest one, so that there is regularity and constancy in prayer. But the rule should not turn into a formality. The experience of many believers shows that with constant reading of the same prayers, their words become discolored, lose their freshness, and a person, getting used to them, stops focusing on them. This danger must be avoided by all means.

I remember when I took monastic vows (I was twenty years old then), I turned to an experienced confessor for advice and asked him what my prayer rule should be. He said: “You must read the morning and evening prayers daily, three canons and one akathist. Whatever happens, even if you are very tired, you must read them. And even if you subtract them hastily and inattentively, it doesn’t matter, the main thing is that the rule be subtracted.” I tried. Things didn't work out. Daily reading of the same prayers led to the fact that these texts quickly got bored. In addition, every day I spent many hours in the temple at services that spiritually nourished me, nourished me, inspired me. And the reading of three canons and an akathist turned into some kind of unnecessary “appendage”. I started looking for other advice, more suitable for me. And I found it in the works of St. Theophan the Recluse, a remarkable ascetic of the 19th century. He advised the prayer rule to be calculated not by the number of prayers, but by the time that we are ready to devote to God. For example, we can make it a rule to pray in the morning and in the evening for half an hour, but this half hour must be completely given to God. And it is not so important whether we read all the prayers during these minutes or only one, or maybe we will devote one evening entirely to reading the Psalter, the Gospel or prayer in our own words. The main thing is that we should be focused on God, so that our attention does not slip away and that every word reaches our hearts. This advice worked for me. However, I do not rule out that for others the advice of the confessor I received will be more suitable. Much here depends on the personality of the person.

It seems to me that for a person living in the world, not only fifteen, but even five minutes of morning and evening prayer, if, of course, it is pronounced with attention and with feeling, is enough to be a real Christian. It is only important that the thought always correspond to the words, the heart responds to the words of the prayer, and the whole life corresponds to the prayer.

Try, following the advice of St. Theophan the Recluse, to allocate some time for prayer during the day and for the daily fulfillment of the prayer rule. And you will see that it will bear fruit very soon.

The basis of the life of an Orthodox Christian is fasting and prayer. Prayer is the conversation of the soul with God. And just as in a conversation it is impossible to listen to one side all the time, so in prayer it is useful sometimes to stop and listen to the Lord's answer to our prayer.

The Church, praying daily "for everyone and everything", has established a personal, individual prayer rule for everyone. The composition of this rule depends on the spiritual age, living conditions, human capabilities. The Prayer Book offers us morning and evening prayers available to everyone. They are addressed to the Lord, the Mother of God, the Guardian Angel. With the blessing of the confessor, prayers to selected saints can be included in the cell rule. If it is not possible to read the morning prayers in front of the icons in a calm atmosphere, then it is better to read them on the way than to omit them altogether. In any case, you should not have breakfast before the prayer "Our Father" is read.

If a person is sick or very tired, then the evening rule can be performed not before going to bed, but shortly before that. And before going to bed, one should only read the prayer of St. John of Damascus: “Vladyka Lover of mankind, will this coffin be for me. ' and those following it.

A very important component of morning prayers is the recitation of remembrance. It is imperative to pray for the peace and health of His Holiness the Patriarch, the ruling bishop, spiritual father, parents, relatives, godparents and godchildren, and all people who are connected with us in one way or another. If someone cannot make peace with others, even if not through his own fault, he is obliged to remember the “hating” and sincerely wish him well.

The personal ("cell") rule of many Orthodox includes the reading of the Gospel and the Psalter. Thus, the Optina monks blessed many to read during the day one chapter from the Gospel, in order, and two chapters from the Apostolic Epistles. At the same time, the last seven chapters of the Apocalypse were read one a day. Then the reading of the Gospel and the Apostle ended simultaneously, and a new circle of readings began.

The prayer rule for a person is established by his spiritual father, it is up to him to change it - to reduce or increase it. Once established, the rule should become the law of life, and each violation should be considered as an exceptional case, tell the confessor about it and accept admonition from him.

When and how long should you pray? The apostle Paul says, "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17). St. Gregory the Theologian writes: “It is necessary to remember God more often than to breathe.” Ideally, the whole life of a Christian should be permeated with prayer.

Many misfortunes, sorrows and misfortunes occur precisely because people forget about God. After all, there are believers among criminals, but at the moment of committing a crime they do not think about God. It is difficult to imagine a person who would commit murder or theft with the thought of an all-seeing God, from Whom no evil can be hidden. And every sin is committed by a person precisely when he does not remember God.

Most people are unable to pray throughout the day, so you need to find some time, even a short one, to remember God.

You wake up in the morning with the thought of what you have to do that day. Before you get to work and plunge into the inevitable bustle, dedicate at least a few minutes to God. Stand before God and say: “Lord, You gave me this day, help me to spend the era without sin, without vice, save me from all evil and misfortune.” And call on the blessing of God on the day that begins.

Throughout the day, try to remember God more often. If you feel bad, turn to Him with a prayer: "Lord, I feel bad, help me." If you feel good, say to God: "Lord, glory to You, I thank You for this joy." If you're worried about someone, tell God, "Lord, I'm worried about him, I'm hurting for him, help him." And so throughout the day - whatever happens to you, turn it into a prayer.

When the day comes to an end and you are getting ready for bed, remember the past day, thank God for all the good things that happened, and repent for all those unworthy deeds and sins that you committed that day. Ask God for help and blessings for the coming night. If you learn to pray this way every day, you will soon notice how much more fulfilling your whole life will be.

Often people justify their unwillingness to pray by saying that they are too busy, overloaded with things. Yes, many of us live in a rhythm in which people of antiquity did not live. Sometimes we have to do a lot of things during the day. But there are always pauses in life. For example, we stand at the bus stop and wait for the tram - three to five minutes. We go to the subway - twenty to thirty minutes, dial a phone number and hear beeps - "busy" - a few more minutes. Let us at least use these pauses for prayer, let them not be wasted time.

How to pray when you're short on time

Many of the elder's visitors blamed him for not praying enough, not even reading the prescribed morning and evening prayers. St. Seraphim established the following rule for such people:

“Rising from sleep, every Christian, standing before the holy icons, let him read the prayer “Our Father” three times, in honor of the Most Holy Trinity. Then the song to the Mother of God "Virgin Mary, rejoice" also three times. In conclusion, the Creed "I believe in one God" - once. Having made such a rule, every Orthodox is engaged in his own business, to which he was appointed or called. While working at home or on the way somewhere, he quietly reads “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner (or a sinner)”, and if others surround him, then, minding his own business, let him only say with his mind “Lord, have mercy” - and so until noon. Just before dinner, let him repeat the morning rule.

After dinner, while doing his work, let every Christian read just as quietly: “Most Holy Theotokos, save me a sinner.” Going to bed, let every Christian read the morning rule again, that is, “Our Father” three times, “Theotokos” three times, and the “Symbol of Faith” once.

St. Seraphim explained that by adhering to that small “rule”, one can achieve a measure of Christian perfection, for these three prayers are the foundation of Christianity. The first, as a prayer given by the Lord Himself, is the model of all prayers. The second was brought from heaven by the Archangel in greeting to the Mother of God. The Creed, however, contains all the saving dogmas of the Christian faith.

1. The Lord's Prayer "Our Father" (Matthew 6:9-13; Luke 11:2-4).

2. Basic commandments of the Old Testament (Deut. 6:5; Lev. 19:18).

3. Basic gospel commandments (Matthew 5:3-12; Matt. 5:21-48; Matt. 6:1; Matt. 6:3; Matt. 6:6; Matt. 6:14-21; Matt. 6:24-25; Matthew 7:1-5; Matthew 23:8-12; John 13:34).

5. Morning and evening prayers for a short prayer book.

6. The number and meaning of the sacraments.

The fear of our times has not passed over even the Orthodox. How to protect yourself and loved ones? - believers often ask. Our main defense is the Lord Himself, without His Holy Will, as it is said in the Scripture, no hair will fall from our head (Luke 21:18). This does not mean that we, in a reckless hope in God, can behave defiantly towards the underworld. The words “do not tempt the Lord your God” (Matt. 4:7) we need to remember firmly.

God has given us the greatest shrines to protect us from visible enemies. This is, first of all, a Christian shield - a pectoral cross that cannot be removed under any circumstances. Secondly, holy water and arthos, eaten every morning.

We also keep the Christian in prayer. Many churches sell belts on which the text of the 90th psalm “Alive in the help of the Most High. ” and a prayer to the Holy Cross “Let God rise again.” It is worn on the body, under clothing.

The ninetieth psalm has great power. Spiritually experienced people recommend reading it before each exit to the street, no matter how many times we leave the house. Saint Ignatius Bryanchaninov gives advice when leaving the house to make the sign of the cross and read the prayer: “I deny you, Satan, your pride and service to you, and combine with you, Christ, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen".

Orthodox parents must certainly baptize their child if he goes out into the street alone.

Once in a dangerous situation, one must pray: “May God rise again,” or “Victorious Chosen Governor” (the first kontakion from the Akathist to the Theotokos), or simply “Lord, have mercy,” repeatedly. It is necessary to resort to prayer even when another person is being threatened before our eyes, but we do not have enough strength and courage to rush to help him.

The prayer is very strong to the saints of God, who became famous for the art of war during their lifetime: Saints George the Victorious, Theodore Stratilat, Dimitry Donskoy. Let's not forget about the Archangel Michael, about our guardian angel. All of them have a special power with God to give strength to the weak to overcome their enemies.

“If the Lord does not guard the city, the watchman watches in vain” (Ps. 126:1). The house of a Christian must certainly be consecrated. Grace will keep the dwelling from all evil. If it is not possible to invite a priest to the house, you yourself need to sprinkle all the walls, windows and doors with holy water, reading “Let God rise again” or “Save, Lord, Thy people” (troparion to the Cross). From the danger of arson, a fire, it is customary to pray to the Mother of God in front of the icon of Her "Burning Bush".

Of course, no means will help if we lead a sinful life and do not repent for a long time. Often the Lord allows extraordinary circumstances to admonish unrepentant sinners.

You can pray in different ways, for example, in your own words. Such a prayer should constantly accompany a person. In the morning and evening, day and night, a person can turn to God with the simplest words coming from the depths of the heart.

But there are also prayer books that were composed by saints in ancient times, they need to be read in order to learn how to pray. These prayers are contained in the "Orthodox Prayer Book". There you will find morning, evening, penitential, thanksgiving prayers, you will find various canons, akathists and much more. Having bought the "Orthodox Prayer Book", do not be afraid that there are so many prayers in it. You don't have to read all of them.

If the morning prayers are read quickly, it will take about twenty minutes. But if you read them thoughtfully, attentively, responding with your heart to every word, then reading can take up to an hour. Therefore, if you do not have time, do not try to read all the morning prayers, it is better to read one or two, but so that each of their words reaches your heart.

Before the Morning Prayers section, it says: “Before you begin to pray, stand a little while until your feelings subside, and then say with attention and reverence; “In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen". Stay a little longer and only then start praying.” This pause, the “minute of silence” before the beginning of the prayer, is very important. Prayer must grow out of the silence of our heart. People who “read” morning and evening prayers daily are constantly tempted to read the “rule” as soon as possible in order to get down to daily business. Often, with such a reading, the main thing slips away - the content of the prayer.

In the prayer book there are many petitions addressed to God, which are repeated several times. For example, you may come across a recommendation to read “Lord have mercy” twelve or forty times. Some perceive this as some kind of formality and proofread this prayer at high speed. By the way, in Greek “Lord, have mercy” sounds like “Kyrie, eleison”. In Russian there is a verb “to play tricks”, which came precisely from the fact that the psalm-readers on the kliros very quickly repeated many times: “Kyrie, eleison”, that is, they did not pray, but “played tricks”. So, there is no need to play tricks in prayer. No matter how many times you read this prayer, it must be said with attention, reverence and love, with full dedication.

No need to try to subtract all the prayers. It is better to devote twenty minutes to one prayer “Our Father”, repeating it several times, pondering over each word. It is not so easy for a person who is not accustomed to praying for a long time to read a large number of prayers at once, but one should not strive for this. It is important to be imbued with the spirit that the prayers of the Fathers of the Church breathe. This is the main benefit that can be derived from the prayers contained in the "Orthodox Prayer Book".

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A special collection of prayers is read by those preparing for Communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, and is called the "Rule for Holy Communion."

These prayers were composed by the holy fathers who lived in the Holy Spirit; they are God-inspired, living words coming from the depths of the believing heart, and reading them helps us learn how to pray correctly.

St. Theophan the Recluse explains:

“And one must learn to pray, one must acquire the habit of prayerful turns of thought and movements of feelings, from other people's prayers, just as one learns foreign languages from printed conversations.

My idea is that the novice must first be taught to pray properly with ready-made prayers, so that they learn for themselves thoughts and feelings and words of prayer. For to God the word must be turned to God.

The rule of prayer is a safe fence of prayer.”

"In our prayer books are the prayers of the holy fathers - Ephraim the Syrian, Macarius of Egypt, Basil the Great, John Chrysostom and other great prayer books. Being filled with the spirit of prayer, they set forth what was inspired by this spirit in a word and passed it on to us. In their prayers, a great power of prayer moves, and whoever penetrates into them with all his attention and zeal, by virtue of the law of interaction, will certainly taste the power of prayer, as his mood approaches the content of prayer.

St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov) writes:

“The soul, beginning the path of God, is immersed in deep ignorance of everything divine and spiritual, even if it is rich in the wisdom of this world. Because of this ignorance, she does not know how and how much she should pray. To help the infant soul, the Holy Church has established rules of prayer. A prayer rule is a collection of several prayers composed by God-inspired holy fathers, adapted to a certain circumstance and time. The purpose of the rule is to deliver to the soul the amount of prayerful thoughts and feelings that it lacks, moreover, thoughts and feelings that are correct, holy, as if pleasing to God. The grace-filled prayers of the holy fathers are filled with such thoughts and feelings.”

"The rule! What an exact name, borrowed from the very action produced on a person by prayers called the rule! The prayer rule directs the soul correctly and holily, teaches it to worship God in Spirit and itself, could not follow the path of prayer correctly, because of its damage and clouding by sin, it would be continually deviated to the sides, often into an abyss: now into absent-mindedness, now into daydreaming, now into various empty and deceptive phantoms of high prayerful states composed by its vanity and self-love. The prayer rules keep the worshiper in a saving disposition of humility and repentance, teaching him unceasing self-condemnation, nourishing him with compunction, strengthening him with hope in the all-good and all-merciful God, amusing with the peace of Christ, love for God and neighbor.

In morning prayers we thank God for the past night and ask His grace-filled help for the coming day.

St. Theophan the Recluse writes about the purpose of morning prayers:

“The Lord arranges everything; it is necessary to accept from Him a blessing for deeds, the necessary admonition and the necessary reinforcement. And hurry early, while nothing prevents you, alone, ascend to the Lord with your mind and heart, and confess your needs, your intentions to Him and ask for His help. Having tuned in with prayer and contemplation from the first minutes of the day, you will then spend the whole day in reverence and fear of God, with collected thoughts. Hence - prudence, degree and harmony in business and mutual relations. This is the reward for the work you force yourself to do in your morning solitude. This is also for everyday people, therefore, a measure of prudence, and not something alien to their goals.

“As regards inner prayer, there is one rule: to pray without ceasing.
What does it mean to pray without ceasing? Be constantly in a prayerful mood. A prayerful mood is a thought about God and a feeling for God together. ... Feeling for God is the fear of God, love for God, a zealous desire to please everyone to Him alone, with the same desire to avoid everything that is objectionable to Him, and most importantly - surrendering oneself to His holy will unquestioningly and accepting everything that happens, as from His hand directly. ... It's about these two - about the thought and feeling for God - that you need to have all the care. ... Morning prayers are appointed for that, in order to hoist these two things in the mind and heart ... And then go out with them to your work and to doing. If you raise this in your soul in the morning, then you have prayed properly…”

Rev. John of the Ladder:

There is a demon among the evil spirits, called the preliminary, which immediately upon awakening appears to tempt us and defiles our first thoughts. Dedicate the beginning of your day to the Lord, for to whom you give them first, they will be. One most skillful worker said to me this noteworthy word: “At the beginning of the morning,” he said, “I will foresee all the course of my day.”

“Morning prayers,” writes St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov)- so they breathe cheerfulness, freshness of the morning: he who sees the light of the sensual sun and the light of the earthly day learns to desire the sight of the higher, spiritual Light and the endless day, produced by the Sun of truth - Christ.

A brief restful sleep during the night is an image of a long sleep in the darkness of the grave. And they remember our prayers for sleep in the future, our transmigration to eternity, they survey all our activities during the day, they teach us to bring confession to God of our sins and repentance for them.

Hegumen Varsonofy (Verevkin) writes about the meaning of morning and evening prayers:

“There are rules that are obligatory for everyone: morning and evening, consisting of appropriate prayers.

Morning prayers, or rule, are of great importance to a Christian. Thanks to them, he has the opportunity to tune in spiritually for the coming day.

The ascetics of the "Philokalia" by Saints Callistus and Ignatius, Saint Nile and Saint Simeon, Archbishop of Thessalonica, call morning prayers "first thought, sacrificed to God." According to St. Nilus, those who always create morning prayers reach the point that their prayers become effective and heard at every turn to God. “He makes his prayer heard, who always brings his first thought, like a ripe fruit, to God,” he says, and he calls these prayers the main thing of a Christian.

Saint Theodore the Studite writes about the importance of organizing prayers, pointing to them as one of the means for reaching the measure of Christ's age. “Whoever wants to achieve this,” he says, “must spend every day in zealous doing what is due and, having risen from sleep, hasten to prayer.”

Just as important are the morning prayers, so are the evening prayers. They are especially important because, preceding sleep, they set a person’s thoughts in a certain direction, preventing him from being idle, these prayers protect him from thoughts harmful to the human soul… The Monk Abba Philemon points out a remedy against “vain dreams” during sleep. “Do not be lazy and do not be cowardly,” he says, “but before you fall asleep, pray many in your heart and resist the thoughts and attempts of the devil to lead you according to his will, may God accept you.”

Rev. Ephraim Sirin teaches daily repentance during the fulfillment of the rule:

“... and you, beloved, every day, both in the evening and in the morning, think carefully ... And in the evening, entering the temple of your heart, think over everything and ask yourself: “Have I not angered God with something? Did he say an idle word? Was he careless? Have you upset my brother? Did he slander anyone? And when I sang psalms with my lips, then didn’t my mind dream of something worldly? Did not the carnal desire revive in me, and did I not enjoy it? Have I not succumbed to earthly concerns?” If you have suffered damage from this, then try to gain what you have lost; sigh, cry, so as not to fall into the same again. And in the morning, take care of yourself again and ask: “How was this night? Did I make any profit in the night from my purchase? Was my mind awake with my body? Have tears flowed from my eyes? Was I not weighed down with sleep while kneeling? Did not evil thoughts come into my mind, and did I not deal with them with pleasantness? If you were defeated by this, then try to heal yourself, put a guard to your heart, so as not to suffer damage again. If you are so careful, you will keep your purchase intact, and in this way you will become pleasing to your Lord and benefit yourself.
Be attentive to yourself so that you never fall into laziness, because the predominance of laziness is the beginning of destruction.

How to make a prayer rule

Before reading the rule, Christians usually light lamps in front of the icons, women cover their heads as a sign of humility and reverence.

The Holy Fathers say that it is better to know the prayers by heart, then it is easier to unite the mind and heart in prayer, and those who read prayers according to the Prayer Book constantly memorize them quickly and easily. St. Theophan the Recluse also advises reading the translation of prayers into Russian in order to correctly understand their meaning, what we ask God for in prayer.

“Enter into your cell, and having shut your doors, pray to your Father, who is in secret: and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you with truth” (Matthew 6:6).

Before you start praying, you need to set yourself up for the most important thing that happens in our life: to talk with God.

St. Theophan the Recluse:

"... when starting to pray, in the morning or in the evening, stand a little, or sit, or walk around, and take the trouble at this time to sober up the thought, diverting it from all earthly affairs and objects. Then think about Who is the One to whom you will turn in prayer , and who are you, now having to begin this prayerful appeal to Him - and correspondingly arouse in your soul the mood of self-abasing and reverent fear imbued with standing before God in your heart. This is the whole preparation - to stand reverently before God,- small, but significant. Here is the beginning of prayer; a good start is half the battle.

Having thus established yourself internally, then stand in front of the icon and, having bowed a little, begin the usual prayer... Read slowly, delve into every word and bring the thought of every word to the heart, accompanying it with bows. This is the whole point of reading a prayer that is pleasing and fruitful to God. Delve into every word and bring the thought of the word to the heart, otherwise: understand what you read, and feel what you understand. No other rules are required. These two - understand and feel - performed properly, adorn any prayer with full dignity and communicate to it all fruitful action.

Prot. Alexey Uminsky writes about this:

“When a person rises to pray, he must prepare himself for it inwardly. Prayer should be preceded by a state of inner silence, the idea that the main thing in your life will now begin - a conversation with God.
“When we open the prayer book, there are amazing, correct and simple words: “Before you start to pray, stay a little, be silent, make sure that all your spiritual feelings calm down, reconcile, and then only from silence say:“ God, be merciful me a sinner, "- imagining oneself now standing before God. "It is not God who needs to be imagined, because no one has seen God and it is never possible to imagine Him - this is an erroneous and dangerous phenomenon, when a person, in order to set himself up for prayer, begins to imagine You can only present yourself before God, and this is what you need to do - to appear before the Invisible and Living God, in whose presence you are, and from this depth begin to say something.

St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov) advises:

“Before starting the evening rule, it is especially useful to make a feasible number of bows: from them the body will get a little tired and warm, and a feeling of pious sadness will be communicated to the heart; diligent and attentive reading of the rule will be prepared for both.

“When making the rule and prostrations, one should not rush in any way; should make both rules and bows with possible slowness and attention. It is better to read less prayers and bow less, but with attention, rather than a lot without attention.

St. Theophan the Recluse also instructs:

“... it is necessary that both church and home prayers be performed with attention and from the heart.”
“Never hurriedly pronounce prayers, and slowly, with thoughts and feelings that are expressed in read prayers. Before the beginning of prayer, always prepare a little, collecting thoughts and trying with your attention to stand before the Lord, Whom you are about to pray. The main disposition of prayer is to be repentant, for we all sin a lot... The spirit is contrite, God will not despise a contrite and humble heart... On every rule, pray for your sins, in which you sin...
What should one strive to achieve through prayer? So that the heart is warmed with love for God and the feeling for God does not depart ... We must raise faith that God sees and hears everything, and knows all our secrets.

St. Theophan the Recluse advises to “cultivate a prayerful spirit” in this way:

“Every prayer should come from the heart, and any other prayer is not a prayer.”
“... the main thing is, with any spiritual need, turn to the Savior. Restore the faith that He is near and hears ... "
“... always try to pray from the heart; for the heart, this is the law: "God will not despise a contrite and humble heart." The correctness of your prayer is violated by thoughts. Have you noticed?! Now try to fix it. The first step to this is - when you start praying, arouse in yourself: the fear of God and reverence; then become attention in the heart, and from there cry out to the Lord.
And third-party thoughts will climb; as you can see, drive away. They will climb again, drive again ... And that's all. Do not allow your tongue to read a prayer, and your thoughts not to know where they staggered ... always drive them away and pray.
You need to work hard and pray to the Lord to help you cope with your thoughts. Do you have a collection of fatherly lessons on prayer? Read and understand, apply to yourself. Work unceasingly on this... and God, seeing your work, will give you what you are looking for... Work diligently, but do not think yourself to succeed in anything without God's special help.
Call on her more often."
“Fulfilling your rule, keep in mind not only to subtract everything that is necessary, but to arouse and strengthen the movement of prayer in your soul; in order to achieve this, the first thing is never to read in a hurry, but read as if in a chant ... close to that. In ancient times, all prayers read were taken from the psalms. But nowhere do I find the word: read, and sing everywhere ... Second. Delve into every word and not only reproduce the thought of what you read in your mind, but also arouse a corresponding feeling. Third. In order to strike the urge for hasty reading, do not subtract this and that, but stand on the reading prayer for a quarter of an hour, half an hour, an hour ... how long you usually stand ... and then do not worry about how many prayers you read - but how the time has come, if no desire to stand further, stop reading ... Fourth. Having put this on the clock, however, do not look, but stand like that in order to stand endlessly: the thought will not run ahead ... Fifth. In order to help the movement of prayerful feelings, in your free time, reread and rethink all the prayers that are included in your rule - and re-feel them, so that when you begin to read them on the rule, you will know in advance what feeling should be aroused in your heart. Sixth. Never read prayers without interruption ... but always interrupt them with your own prayer with bows, whether in the middle of the prayers you have to do this, or at the end. As soon as something falls into your heart, immediately stop reading and bow down... This is the last rule - the most necessary and most necessary for cultivating the spirit of prayer... drop it ... until the very end of the allotted time.
“On the rule of prayer, one must exert oneself. ... You just need to bother yourself, at least in moderation. And then a small benefit will lead to a big one, and everything can be ruined. When you become a rule, and the head is distracted, so that you can’t manage it, you need to force it to order ... until the mind gathers itself. When he is in line, then start bowing. He who bows with a distracted head is a reed shaken by the wind.

St. John Chrysostom teaches the art of prayer:

“It is always necessary to remember that we need not only to just pray, but to pray in such a way that we will be heard.”

Prot. Alexy Uminsky:

“Prayer, as a gift from God, is given only to those who make efforts. In Holy Scripture there are such words: giving prayer to those who pray (see: 1 Sam. 2, 9). Only when you use effort in prayer, only then is prayer given to you. But if you don't do that, don't force yourself to pray, don't make any effort, and expect it to be born on its own without real shedding of sweat and blood, you'll never get prayer. This is not a gift that is given randomly and suddenly, due to some circumstance.

Rule Reasoning

The prayer rule for a person is established by his spiritual father, it is up to him to change it - to reduce or increase it. Once established, a rule should become the law of life, and every violation should be considered as an exceptional case.

There is a complete prayer rule, designed for monks and spiritually experienced laity, which is printed in the Orthodox Prayer Book. However, for those who are just starting to get used to prayer, it is difficult to immediately begin to read it all in its entirety. Usually confessors advise to start with several prayers, and then, every 7-10 days, add one prayer to the rule, so that the ability to read the entire rule is developed gradually and naturally.

St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov) writes about how important it is to correctly establish the scope of the prayer rule:

“The holy fathers, praising the rule of prayer and confessing its necessity, instruct to have it moderate, commensurate with the forces, with the state of spiritual prosperity and with the circumstances in which a person is placed by the Providence of God. The essence of the fulfillment of the rule of prayer lies in the fact that it is fulfilled with attention. From attention our spirit comes to humility: from humility repentance is born. In order to be able to make a rule slowly, the rule must be moderate. The Holy Fathers, while highly praising the moderate rule, advise to fulfill it recklessly.
Choose for yourself a rule corresponding to the forces. What the Lord said about the Sabbath, that it is for a man, and not a man for her (Mark 2:27), can and should be attributed to all the ascetics of the pious, and between them to the rule of prayer. A prayer rule for a person, and not a person for a rule: it should help a person to achieve spiritual success, and not serve as an unbearable burden, crushing bodily strength and embarrassing the soul. Moreover, it should not serve as a pretext for proud and pernicious conceit, pernicious condemnation and humiliation of one's neighbors.
Having chosen for yourself a prayer rule commensurate with your strength and spiritual need, try to fulfill it carefully and unreservedly: this is necessary to maintain the moral strength of your soul, just as it is necessary to maintain bodily strength daily at certain hours of sufficient consumption of healthy food.
A prudently chosen rule of prayer, according to the forces and the nature of life, serves as a great help for the one striving for his salvation.

Rev. Matoj:

"I prefer," said some great father, "not a lasting rule, but constantly executed, to a lasting one, but soon abandoned."

Prot. Alexy Uminsky:

“In order for a rule to become not an obstacle, but a real mover of a person to God, it is necessary that it be in proportion to his spiritual strength, correspond to his spiritual age and state of mind. Many people, not wanting to burden themselves, consciously choose prayer rules that are too light, which because of this become formal and do not bear fruit. But sometimes a great rule, chosen out of unreasonable jealousy, also becomes a shackle, plunging into despondency and preventing one from growing spiritually.
The rule is not a frozen form, during the course of life it must necessarily change both qualitatively and externally.

Hegumen Pakhomiy (Bruskov):

“The rule of a layman may include quite a variety of prayers and rites. These can be various canons, akathists, reading of the Holy Scriptures or the Psalter, bows, the Jesus Prayer. In addition, the rule should include a brief or more detailed commemoration of the health and repose of loved ones. In monastic practice, there is a custom to include in the rule the reading of patristic literature. But before you add something to your prayer rule, you need to think carefully, consult with the priest, evaluate your strengths. After all, the rule is read regardless of mood, fatigue, other heart movements. And if a person has promised something to God, it must be fulfilled. The Holy Fathers say: let the rule be small, but constant. At the same time, you need to pray with all your heart.”

If a person is sick or very tired, then the evening rule can be performed not immediately before going to bed, but shortly before that. And before going to bed, you should read the last part of the rule, starting with the prayer of St. John of Damascus " Vladyka Lover of mankind, will this coffin be for me..." and following it to the end.

Reducing the rule

In addition to the complete prayer rule that is mandatory for Christians, there is also. Lay people sometimes have situations when there is little time and energy left for prayer, and in this case it is better to read a short rule with attention and reverence than hastily and superficially, without a prayerful mood - the whole rule. The holy fathers teach to treat their prayer rule with reason, on the one hand, not giving indulgences to their passions, laziness, self-pity and others that can destroy a correct spiritual dispensation, and on the other hand, to learn to shorten or even slightly change the rule without temptation and embarrassment when there is a real need for it.

Reverend Nikon of Optina:

“No matter how busy a person is even with the most soul-saving deeds, even for obedience, he must still have a constant cell (or home) prayer rule that is possible for him in his usual position. Breaking a rule is already seen as a weakness. A blessed violation of the rule is when a person, for reasons beyond his control, leaves the usual order for some urgent need or unexpected obedience. Need for the sake of changing the law happens (Compare: Heb. 7, 12).

St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov):

“Regarding the rule, know that it is for you, and you are not for it, but for the Lord. Therefore, have freedom of reasoning.”

St. Theophan the Recluse:

“When things do not allow you to complete the rule of prayer, then do it in an abridged way. And you should never rush. God is everywhere. Say thanks to Him in the morning and ask for a blessing in your own words, a few bows and enough! Never turn to God in any way. And always with great reverence. He does not need our obeisances, nor our long-winded prayers... A cry from the heart is short and strong, that's what is profitable! Take care of this and direct everything here. … The rule must be in your free will. Don't be his slave."

“Pull, as brought and used to. If sometimes you can’t reach something (from the rule) due to senile infirmity, scold yourself a little, complain to the Lord and calm down. If again - do the same, and so always. ... As for the rule, I think about it this way: whatever rule someone chooses for himself, everything is good - as long as he keeps his soul in reverence before God.

“When I wrote to you not to shorten the time of prayer, I wrote because, as I thought, you began to be lazy in praying. This is the main thing to avoid. Illness means the weakening or suppression of spiritual movements: which is very deplorable. But as I see that your zeal for the matter of prayer is alive, I think that you should leave the time and the rule of prayer to your arbitrariness, arrange both, as you find the best and most convenient for yourself. Keep only one thing urgent, so that when you stand in prayer, prayer comes from the heart and with feelings for God, laudatory, grateful and pleading with hope, and so that no extraneous matter is mixed in with this.
“We must use months ... and show constancy and patience in this work. - But here I will add - do not knit yourself. If you bind with anything, hold on to it: for by this the fruitfulness of such sowing is determined.

“Bless, Lord, and continue to pray according to your rule. But never bind yourself to a rule and think that there is anything of value in having such a rule or always making it. The whole price is in the heart before God falling down. ... and do it with consciousness and feeling, and not somehow. In case you need to be able to shorten the rule. Are there any accidents in family life?.. You can, for example, in the morning and in the evening, when there is no time, to read only the morning prayers and for the coming sleep. You can even not read all of them, but several. You can read nothing at all, but make a few bows, but with true heartfelt prayer. The rule must be handled with complete freedom. Be the mistress of the rule, not a slave. A servant only of God, obliged to devote all the minutes of her life to please Him.

“You have a home prayer rule for the whole family. This holy cause should not be changed or cancelled. But then you can keep a special one - only a rule for yourself ... if you like.

Prot. Alexy Uminsky advises:

“A person can increase or decrease the rule depending on the circumstances of life, for example, when traveling or sick. The holy righteous John of Kronstadt writes in his diary that sometimes, when a person is sick, he cannot pray, and there is no need to. On this occasion, one should not lose heart, but pray as best one can, or occupy oneself with other activities, such as reading, there is no sin in this.

Why do we need a prayer rule?

Rev. Isaac Sirin:

“Not for the abandonment of the psalms will God condemn us on the day of His judgment, not for the abandonment of prayer, but for the subsequent abandonment of them, the entry of demons into us. The demons, when they find a place, will enter and shut the doors of our eyes: then they will fulfill with us, their tools, forcibly and uncleanly, with the most cruel vengeance, everything forbidden by God. And because of the abandonment of the small (rule), for which the intercession of Christ is worthy, we become subject (to demons), as it is written by some wise ones: "He who disobeys his will to God, will submit to his rival." These (rules), which seem small to you, will become walls for you against those who try to captivate us. The fulfillment of these (rules) inside the cell was wisely established by the founders of the church charter, by revelation from above, for the preservation of our stomach.

The purpose of the prayer rule is that the desire to pray in a person does not fade, so that prayer is always present in him, in any form, even when it is not expressed in words, but, according to the word St. Theophan the Recluse, is “in an unceasing prayerful mood. A prayerful mood is a thought about God and a feeling for God together,” which is the essence of unceasing prayer commanded to us by the word of God.

St. Theophan the Recluse instructs:

“It is necessary to have a rule of prayer for the sake of our weakness, so that, on the one hand, laziness does not give way, and on the other, jealousy is kept in its measure.”

Rev. Abba Isaiah:

“Do not leave the rule of prayer, so as not to fall into the hands of your enemies.
Follow your prayer rule carefully. Beware! don't let yourself neglect it. From the careful execution of the rule, the soul is enlightened and strengthened.

Rev. John of the Ladder:

Saint Ignatius (Bryanchaninov) says that as long as a person does not have a prayer rule, it is impossible for him to build his spiritual life. It is a special way of building your inner man. It can be said that the construction of the temple of God within oneself begins with the rule of prayer. He's writing:

“Rule! What an exact name, borrowed from the very action produced on a person by prayers, called the rule! The rule of prayer directs the soul correctly and holily, teaches it to worship God in Spirit and Truth (John 4:23), while the soul, being left to itself, could not follow the right path of prayer. Because of her damage and bewilderment by sin, she would incessantly turn sideways, often into an abyss: now into absent-mindedness, now into daydreaming, now into various empty and deceptive phantoms of high prayerful states composed by her vanity and self-love.

Prayer rules keep the worshiper in a saving disposition of humility and repentance, teaching him unceasing self-condemnation, nourishing him with tenderness, strengthening him with hope in the all-good and all-merciful God, amusing with the peace of Christ, love for God and neighbor ... They clean and decorate the house of the soul with wonderful thoughts and feelings, so much pleasing to the Lord."

“The prayer rules keep the prayer in a saving disposition of humility and repentance, teaching him unceasing self-condemnation, nourishing him with compunction, strengthening him with hope in the All-Good and All-Merciful God.

It is necessary to learn the right prayer in order to succeed in it and through it to work out your salvation.

The fruits of true prayer: a bright peace of the soul, combined with a quiet, silent joy, alien to daydreaming, conceit and heated impulses and movements; love for one's neighbor, not separating the good from the bad for love... but interceding for all before God as for oneself."

Reverend Nikon of Optina speaks of the usefulness of the rule:

Not only a monk, but also a layman who is coming to monasticism and therefore has become close, as it were, kindred in spirit to monasticism, will see from experience how expensive it is to fulfill a prayer rule at home.

Rev. Nile of Sinai:

The mother of all virtues is prayer: it can not only purify and nourish, but also enlighten and is able to make those who sincerely pray like the sun.

St. John Chrysostom:

"Prayer is the foundation of all good and contributes to the attainment of salvation and eternal life.
Into a soul that is not familiar with prayer and petition, nothing that promotes piety can enter.

Prayer is a sacred messenger; it gladdens the heart, calms the soul, excites the fear of punishment and the desire for the Kingdom of Heaven; teaches humility, brings knowledge of sin."

Saint Gregory of Nyssa:

The fruits of sincere prayer are simplicity, love, humility, patience, gentleness, and the like. All this, even before eternal fruit, bears fruit here in the life of the diligent. Such are the fruits that adorn prayer; if they do not exist, then her labor is in vain.

Prot. Alexy Uminsky writes about the grace of the Orthodox prayer rule:

“The rule of prayer is a science, a constant exercise, a school of spiritual life, that which teaches us to pray, and that which eventually becomes prayer.
We have the blessed opportunity to speak in the words that Basil the Great spoke to God. …
Prayer is known by its fruits. If for some time we pray, and prayer does not bear fruit, we need to think about how we relate to prayer. …
Prayer builds the whole human life. Because in the Kingdom of Heaven there is nothing but prayer, which fills life and unites everything and everything.

For those who reject following the holy fathers in prayer, Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov rather harshly wrote that a person should not pray on his own. He warns about the dangers of such a prayer: “Do not dare to pronounce to God the many-verb and eloquent prayers that you have composed, no matter how strong and touching they may seem to you. They are the product of a fallen mind and, being a defiled sacrifice, cannot be accepted on the spiritual altar of God. And you, admiring the graceful expressions of the prayers composed by you and recognizing the refined action of vanity and voluptuousness as a consolation of conscience and even grace, will be carried away far from prayer at the very time when it will seem to you that you are praying and have already reached a certain degree of pleasing God.

The rector of the Holy Trinity Cathedral of Saratov, Abbot Pakhomiy, answers questions on the personal prayer rule of a Christian (Bruskov)

Prayer is the free appeal of the human soul to God. How to correlate this freedom with the obligation to read the rule even when you clearly do not want to do this?

Freedom is not permissiveness. A person is so arranged that if he allows himself an indulgence, it can be very difficult to return to the previous state. There are many examples in hagiographic literature when ascetics abandoned their prayer rule in order to show love to the brothers who came. Thus, they placed the commandment of love above their prayer rule. But it should be remembered that these people reached extraordinary heights of spiritual life, they were unceasingly in prayer. When we feel that we do not want to pray, this is a banal temptation, not a manifestation of freedom.

The rule keeps a person in a spiritually developed state; it should not depend on a momentary mood. If a person leaves the prayer rule, he very quickly comes to relaxation.

In addition, it should be remembered that when a person communicates with God, an enemy of our salvation always strives to stand between them. And not allowing him to do this is not a restriction on the freedom of the individual.

This is clearly and clearly written in any Orthodox prayer book: “Awakening from sleep, before any other work, stand reverently before the All-Seeing God and, making the sign of the cross, say ...”. In addition, the very meaning of prayers tells us that morning prayers are read at the very beginning of the day, when a person’s mind is not yet occupied with any thoughts. And evening prayers should be read for a dream to come, after any deeds. In these prayers, sleep is compared with death, the bed with a deathbed. And it is strange, after talking about death, to go to watch TV or communicate with relatives.

Any prayer rule is based on the experience of the Church, to which we must listen. These rules do not violate human freedom, but help to get the maximum spiritual benefit. Of course, there can be exceptions to any rule based on some unforeseen circumstances.

What else, besides morning and evening prayers, can be included in the prayer rule of a layman?

The rule of a layman may include quite a variety of prayers and rites. These can be various canons, akathists, reading of the Holy Scriptures or the Psalter, bows, the Jesus Prayer. In addition, the rule should include a brief or more detailed commemoration of the health and repose of loved ones. In monastic practice, there is a custom to include in the rule the reading of patristic literature. But before you add something to your prayer rule, you need to think carefully, consult with the priest, evaluate your strengths. After all, the rule is read regardless of mood, fatigue, other heart movements. And if a person has promised something to God, it must be fulfilled. The Holy Fathers say: let the rule be small, but constant. At the same time, you need to pray with all your heart.

Can a person himself, without blessing, begin to read the canons, akathists in addition to the prayer rule?

Of course it can. But if he did not just read a prayer according to the aspiration of his heart, but thereby increases his constant prayer rule, it is better to ask a blessing from the confessor. A priest with a glance from the outside will assess his condition correctly: whether such an increase will be beneficial to him. If a Christian regularly goes to confession, watches over his inner life, such a change in his rule will, in one way or another, be reflected in his spiritual life.

But this is possible when a person has a confessor. If there is no confessor, and he himself decided to add something to his rule, it is still better to consult at the next confession.

On days when the service lasts all night and Christians do not sleep, is it necessary to read evening and morning prayers?

We do not tie the morning and evening rule to a specific time. However, it would be wrong to read evening prayers in the morning, and morning prayers in the evening. We should not be hypocritical about the rule and read it at all costs, ignoring the meaning of the prayers. If you are not going to sleep, why ask God's blessing to sleep? You can replace the morning or evening rule with other prayers or reading the Gospel.

I think that it is better for a woman to make a prayer rule in a headscarf. This brings up humility in her and shows her obedience to the Church. Indeed, from the Holy Scriptures we learn that the wife covers her head not for those around her, but for the Angels (1 Cor. 11:10). This is a matter of personal piety. Of course, God does not care whether you stand up for prayer with or without a headscarf, but this is important for you.

How are the canons and the following to Holy Communion read: on the same day the day before, or can their reading be divided over several days?

It is impossible to approach the fulfillment of the prayer rule formally. A person must build his relationship with God himself, based on prayer preparation, health, free time, and the practice of communicating with a confessor.

Today, a tradition has developed in preparation for Communion to read three canons: to the Lord, the Mother of God and the Guardian Angel, an akathist to the Savior or the Mother of God, the following to Holy Communion. I think it's best to read the whole rule on the same day before Communion. But if it's hard, you can spread it over three days.

Often friends and acquaintances ask how to prepare for Communion, how to read the Psalter? What should they say to us laymen?

You need to answer what you know for sure. You can not take responsibility for something strictly obligatory to prescribe to another or say something that you are not sure of. When answering, one must be guided by the common tradition of church life today. If there is no personal experience, one must resort to the experience of the Church, the holy fathers. And if you were asked a question, the answer to which you do not know, you should be advised to turn to a priest or patristic creations.

I read the translation of some prayers into Russian. It turns out that I used to put a completely different meaning into them. Is it necessary to strive for a common understanding, to read translations, or can one understand prayers as the heart tells?

Prayers should be understood as they are written. An analogy can be drawn with conventional literature. We read the work, we understand it in our own way. But it is always interesting to know what meaning the author himself put into this work. Also the text of the prayer. The author put a special meaning into each of them. After all, we do not read a conspiracy, but turn to God with a certain petition or doxology. One can recall the words of the Apostle Paul that it is better to say five words in an understandable dialect than a thousand in an incomprehensible one (1 Cor. 14:19). In addition, the authors of most Orthodox prayers are holy ascetics glorified by the Church.

How to relate to modern prayers? Is it possible to read everything that is written in the prayer books, or do you prefer the more ancient ones?

Personally, I am more touched by the words of more ancient canons, the stichera. They seem deeper and more penetrating to me. But many people also like modern akathists for their simplicity.

If the Church has accepted prayers, you need to treat them with reverence, reverence and try to find some benefit for yourself. But understand that some modern prayers are not of such high quality in their content as prayers composed by ancient ascetics.

When a person writes a prayer for public use, he must understand what responsibility he takes on. He must have experience in prayer, but also be well educated. All texts that are offered by modern prayer creators must be edited and undergo a strict selection.

Go to service. If a person has gathered in a temple, then in the first place should be public prayer. Although the fathers compared public and domestic prayer with the two wings of a bird. Just as a bird cannot fly with one wing, so can a man. If he does not pray at home, but only goes to the temple, then, most likely, prayer will not go with him in the temple either. After all, he has no experience of personal communion with God. If a person prays only at home, but does not go to church, it means that he does not have an understanding of what the Church is. And without the Church there is no salvation.

How can a layman replace service at home if necessary?

Today, a large number of liturgical literature and various prayer books are published. If a layman cannot be present at the service, he can read the morning and evening services, as well as the mass, according to the canon.

The Apostle Paul writes: “Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is beneficial” (1 Cor. 6:12). Tired or sick - you can sit down in the Church, while reading the house rules. But you should understand what you are guided by: pain that prevents you from praying, or laziness. If the alternative to reading a prayer while sitting is its complete absence, of course, it is better to read sitting. If a person is seriously ill, you can even lie down. But if he is just tired or laziness fights him, you need to overcome yourself and get up. During worship, the Charter regulates when you can stand or sit. For example, we listen to the reading of the Gospel, akathists while standing, and while reading kathismas, sedals, and teachings, we sit down.

Part 1.

Where did morning or evening prayers come from? Can something else be used instead? Is it necessary to pray twice a day? Is it possible to pray according to the rule of St. Seraphim of Sarov?

We talk about the prayer rule with Archpriest Maxim Kozlov, rector of the Church of the Holy Martyr Tatiana at Moscow State University.

– Father Maxim, where did the existing prayer rule come from – morning and evening prayers?

- In the form in which the prayer rule is now printed in our prayer books, other Local Churches do not know it, except for those Slavic Churches that at one time began to focus on the church seal of the Russian Empire and de facto borrowed our liturgical books and corresponding printed texts . In the Greek-speaking Orthodox Churches we will not see this. There, as morning and evening prayers for the laity, the following scheme is recommended: in the evening - an abbreviation of Compline and some elements of Vespers, and as morning prayers - unchanged parts borrowed from the Midnight Office and Matins.

If we look at a tradition that was recorded by historical standards relatively recently - for example, we open Domostroy by Archpriest Sylvester - then we will see an almost fantastically ideal Russian family. The task was to give a certain role model. Such a family, being literate according to Sylvester's idea, reads the sequence of Vespers and Matins at home, standing in front of the icons along with household members and servants.

If we pay attention to the monastic, priestly rule, known to the laity in preparation for the reception of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, then we will see the same three canons that are recited at Small Compline.

The collection of prayers under the numbers arose quite late. The first text known to us is Francysk Skaryna's Book of Travelers, and today liturgists do not have an unambiguous opinion when and why such a meeting was held. My assumption (it cannot be considered a final statement) is as follows: these texts first appeared in southwestern Russia, in volosts, where there was a very strong Uniate influence and contacts with the Uniates. Most likely, there is, if not a direct borrowing from the Uniates, then a certain kind of borrowing of the liturgical and ascetic logic characteristic of the Catholic Church at that time, which clearly divided its composition into two categories: the church of the teaching and the church of the students. For the laity, texts were offered that had to be different from the texts read by the clergy, taking into account the different educational level and the intra-church status of the layman.

By the way, in some prayer books of the 18th-19th centuries we still see a relapse of that consciousness (now it is not reprinted, but it can be found in pre-revolutionary books): say, prayers that a Christian can read at the liturgy during the first antiphon; prayers and feelings that a Christian must read and experience during the Little Entrance... What is this if not a kind of analogue for the layman of those secret prayers that the priest reads during the corresponding parts of the liturgy, but only referred not to the clergyman, but to the layman? I think that the fruit of that period in the history of our Church was the emergence of today's.

Well, the widespread distribution in the form in which it is now, the prayer rule received already in the synodal era in the 18th-19th centuries and gradually established itself as a generally accepted norm for the laity. It is difficult to say in what year, in what decade it happened. If we read the teaching on prayer by our authoritative teachers and fathers of the 19th century, then we will not find any analysis, reasoning about the morning-evening rule either in St. Theophan, or in St. Philaret, or in St. Ignatius.

So, on the one hand, recognizing the existing prayer rule that has been used within the Russian Church for several centuries now and, in this sense, has become partly unwritten, partly written norm of our spiritual-ascetic and spiritual-prayer life, we should not overestimate the status of today's prayer books and given they contain prayer texts as the only possible norm for arranging the prayer life.

– Is it possible to change the prayer rule? Now such an approach has been established among the laity: you can supplement, but you can not replace and reduce. What do you think about this?

- In the form in which they are, morning and evening prayers are in some inconsistency with the principle of the construction of Orthodox worship, in which, as we all know, the changeable and unchanging parts are combined. At the same time, among the variable parts there are repeatable - daily, weekly, once a year - circles of worship: daily, weekly and annual. This principle of connecting a solid unchanging backbone, a skeleton on which everything builds up, and variable, changeable parts is very wisely arranged and corresponds to the very principle of human psychology: on the one hand, it needs a norm, a charter, and on the other, variability so that the charter does not turn into into formal proofreading, repetition of texts that no longer evoke any internal response. And just here there are problems with the prayer rule, where the same texts are in the morning and in the evening.

In preparing for Communion, the laity have three of the same canons. Even in the priestly preparation, the canons differ in weeks. If you open the missal, it says that on each day of the week their own canons are read. And among the laity, the rule is unchanged. And what, read only him all his life? It is clear that certain kinds of problems will arise.

Saint Theophan gives advice, which at one time made me very happy. I myself and others I know have found much spiritual benefit from this advice. He advises when reading a prayer rule to combat coldness and dryness several times a week, noticing the standard chronological interval that goes to reading the usual rule, try in the same fifteen to twenty minutes, half an hour not to set yourself the task of reading everything without fail, but repeatedly returning to the place from which we have been distracted or gone aside in thought, to achieve the utmost concentration on the words and meaning of prayer. If only in the same twenty minutes we read only the initial prayers, but then we would learn to do it for real. At the same time, the saint does not say that in general it is necessary to switch to such an approach. And he says that you need to connect: on some days, read the whole rule, and on some days, pray in this way.

If we take as a basis the church liturgical principle of building a prayer life, it would be reasonable to either combine or partially replace certain components of the morning and evening rule with, for example, the canons that are in the canon - there are clearly more of them than in the prayer book. There are absolutely marvelous, amazing, beautiful prayers of Octoechos, going back to a large part to the Monk John of Damascus. When preparing for Communion on Sunday, why not read that Theotokos canon or that Sunday canon for the Cross of Christ or the Resurrection, which is in Octoechos? Or take, say, the canon to the Guardian Angel of the corresponding voice from Oktoech, rather than the same one that has been offered to be read to a person for many years.

For many of us, on the day of receiving the Holy Mysteries of Christ, especially for the laity, regardless of the frequency of communion, the soul, and not laziness, prompts a person to seek thanksgiving to God on that day rather than repeat again in the evening the words that “I have sinned, lawless,” and so on. . When everything in us is still full of gratitude to God for accepting the Holy Mysteries of Christ, why not, for example, take this or that akathist singing or, say, an akathist to Jesus the Sweetest, or some other prayer and not make it the center of your prayer rule for this day?

Actually, prayer, I will say such a terrible phrase, needs to be treated creatively. You can’t dry it up to the level of a formally executed scheme: on the one hand, have the burden of having to fulfill this scheme day after day, year after year, and on the other hand, some kind of periodic internal satisfaction from the fact that I’m doing my due , and what else do you want from me in heaven, I already did, not without difficulty, what is supposed to be. Prayer cannot be turned into reading and fulfilling only duties, and counting - I don’t have the gift of prayer, I’m a small person, holy fathers, ascetics, mystics prayed, but we’ll wander through the prayer book like that - and there’s no demand.

– Who should decide what prayer rule should be – is it up to the person to decide, or is it still necessary to go to the confessor, to the priest?

– If a Christian has a confessor, with whom he determines the constants of his inner spiritual structure, then it would be absurd in this case to do without him, and decide for himself, only with his own head, what to do. We initially assume that a confessor is a person at least as experienced in spiritual life as the one who addresses him, and in most cases somewhat more experienced. And in general - one head is good, but two is better. From the side it is more visible that a person, even reasonable in many respects, may not notice. Therefore, it is prudent, when determining something that we are striving to make permanent, to consult with the confessor.

But you can't advise on any movement of the soul. And if today you want to open the Psalter - not in terms of regular reading, but simply open and add to your usual prayer work the psalms of King David - why not call the priest? Another thing is if you want to start reading kathismas along with the prayer rule. Then you need to consult and take a blessing for this, and the priest, based on whether you are ready, will help you with advice. Well, as for the simply natural movements of the soul - here you somehow need to decide on your own.

- I think that it is better not to omit the initial prayers unnecessarily, because they may contain the most concentrated experience of the Church - “To the King of Heaven”, “Most Holy Trinity”, who taught us the prayer “Our Father”, we already know “It is worthy to eat” or “Hail to the Mother of God Virgin” - there are so few of them, and they are so obviously chosen by the prayerful experience of the Church. The Charter sometimes suggests us to abstain from them. "King of Heaven" - we wait 50 days until the feast of Pentecost, on Bright Week we generally have a special prayer rule. I don't understand the logic behind this.

– Why should we pray twice a day – in the morning and in the evening? One of our readers writes: when I am working with children, cooking or cleaning, it is so easy for me to pray, but as soon as I stand in front of the icons, everything is like chopping off.

“There are several themes here. No one calls us to limit ourselves to the morning or evening rule. The Apostle Paul directly says - pray without ceasing. The task of a good dispensation of the prayer life implies that a Christian strives not to forget about God during the day, including not to forget prayerfully. There are many situations in our life when prayer can be developed in oneself in a distinct way. But the unwillingness to stand up and pray just when it is supposed to be duty must be fought, because, as we know, the enemy of the human race especially resists there when our self-will is absent. It is easy to do what is done when I want. But then it becomes a feat that I have to do, regardless of whether I want to or not. Therefore, I would advise you not to give up the effort to put yourself in the morning and evening prayers. Its size is another matter, especially for a mother with children. But it should be, as a kind of constant value of prayer dispensation.

As for prayers during the day: if you stir the porridge, young mother, well, sing a prayer to yourself, or if you can somehow concentrate more, read the Jesus Prayer to yourself.

Now for most of us there is an excellent school of prayer - this is the road. Each of us goes to school, to work in public transport, in a car in the well-known Moscow traffic jams. Pray! Don't waste your time, don't turn on the unnecessary radio. If you don't get the news, you'll survive a few days without it. Do not think that you are so tired in the subway that you want to forget yourself and fall asleep. Well, you can’t read the prayer book in the subway - read “Lord, have mercy” to yourself. And this will be a school of prayer.

- And if you drive and put on a disc with prayers?

- I once treated this very harshly, I thought - well, what are these disks, some kind of hack, and then, from the experience of various clergymen and laity, I saw that this could be a help in the prayer rule.

The only thing I would say is that you don't need to reduce your entire prayer life to disk listening. It would be absurd, having come home in the evening and becoming the evening rule, to turn on the disk instead of yourself, and some reverent Lavra choir and an experienced hierodeacon will begin to lull you to sleep with a familiar voice. Everything should be in moderation.

– How can one relate to the rule given by the great saint? As to the rule given by the great saint. I just want to remind you under what circumstances he gave it: he gave it to those nuns and novices who were on difficult obediences for 14-16 hours a day. He gave them to start and finish the day without being able to fulfill the regular monastic rules, and reminded them that this rule should be combined with inner prayerful doing during the labors that they carry out during the day.

Of course, if a person in a hot workshop or in no less tedious office work comes home so that he can eat dinner made by his beloved wife in haste and read prayers - this is all that he has strength left for, let him read the rule of the Monk Seraphim. But if you still have the strength to slowly sit at the table, make a few unnecessary phone calls, watch a movie or news on TV, read a friend's tape on the Internet, and then - oh, get up for work tomorrow and there is only a few minutes left - then here, perhaps, it would not be the most correct way to limit oneself to the Seraphim rule.

To be continued…