Bows are earthly - when the worshiper kneels and touches the ground with his head, and the waist bows, bend so that the head is at the level of the belt.
Archbishop Averky (Taushev) writes about the types of bows:
"The charter and primordial customs of our Eastern Orthodox Church generally do not know such "kneeling", as they are now practiced with us in most cases, but only - bows, great and small, or otherwise - earthly and waist. Bowing to the ground is not kneeling with your head up, but “falling down” with your head touching the ground. Such prostrations are completely canceled by the canonical rules of our Holy Orthodox Church on Sundays, the Lord's feasts, in the period between the Nativity of Christ and Theophany and from the feast of Easter to Pentecost, and when entering the temple and venerating holy things, they are also canceled in all other holidays, when there is an all-night vigil, polyeleos or at least one great doxology at Matins, on the days of forefeasts, and are replaced by belt ones.
Bows to the earth at the Divine Liturgy, when they are allowed according to the charter, are laid: at the end of the singing “We sing to You” (at the moment of the transubstantiation of the Holy Gifts), at the end of the singing “It is worthy to eat”, at the very beginning of the singing of “Our Father”, during the appearance of St. Gifts at the exclamation "Come with the fear of God and faith" and during the secondary appearance of the Holy Gifts before taking them to the altar at the exclamation "Always, now and forever and forever and ever."
There is also a custom (which is not accepted by everyone) to bow to the ground at the beginning of the Eucharistic canon - immediately after the exclamation "We thank the Lord" and with the exclamation "Holy to the Holy."
Any other bows, and even more so unusual for the spirit of Holy Orthodoxy, kneeling during Divine Liturgy is an arbitrariness that has no basis for itself in the tradition and sacred institutions of our Holy. Churches".
The church service is performed with many great and small prostrations. Bows should be made with inner reverence and with outward pomp, slowly and slowly, and, if you are in the temple, at the same time as other worshipers. Before making a bow, you need to overshadow yourself with the sign of the cross, and then bow.
Bows in the temple should be performed when it is indicated by the Church Charter. Unauthorized and untimely prostrations in church denounce our spiritual inexperience, interfere with those praying near us, and serve our vanity. And on the contrary, bows, created by us according to the rules wisely established by the Church, inspire our prayer.
St. Philaret, Met. Moscow on this he says:
“If, standing in church, you bow when the Church Charter commands it, then you try to restrain yourself from bowing when it is not required by the charter, so as not to attract the attention of those who pray, or you hold back sighs that are ready to burst from your heart, or tears ready to pour out of your eyes - in such a disposition, and among a large congregation, you secretly stand before your Father in Heaven, Who in secret, fulfilling the commandment of the Savior (Matt. 6, 6).
The Charter of the Church does not require prostration on Sundays, on the days of the great twelve feasts, from the Nativity of Christ to Epiphany, from Pascha to Pentecost.
Archbishop Averky (Taushev) writes that Christians should observe the Rules of the Holy Church:
“Unfortunately, nowadays very few people really know about church rules relating to kneeling, as well as the fact that on Sundays (as well as on the days of the great Lord's feasts and throughout Pentecost - from the feast of St. Pascha to the day of the Holy Trinity) - kneeling is canceled. About this abolition of kneeling speaks whole line ecclesiastical canonical rules. So Canon 20 of the First Ecumenical Council reads:
“Because there are some who bow their knees on the day of the Lord (i.e., Sunday), and on the days of Pentecost, then so that everything is the same in all the dioceses, it is pleasing to the Holy Council, but it is worthwhile to offer prayers to God.”
The Sixth Ecumenical Council in its 90th Canon found it necessary to once again resolutely reaffirm this prohibition to kneel on Sundays, and justified this prohibition by the fact that this is required by the “honor of the resurrection of Christ”, that is, that bows, as an expression of a feeling of repentant sorrow, are incompatible with the festive celebration in honor of such joyful event like the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. Here is the rule:
“From the God-bearing Fathers, our Fathers are canonically devoted to us, do not bow your knees on Sundays, for the sake of the honor of the Resurrection of Christ. Therefore, let us not remain in ignorance of how to observe this, we will clearly show the faithful, as on Saturday, at the evening entrance of the clergy to the altar, according to the accepted custom, no one kneels until the next evening on Sunday, in which, after entering the luminary time, bowing our knees, in this way we send up prayers to the Lord. For on Saturday night, accepting the forerunner of the Resurrection of our Savior, from here we spiritually begin songs, and bring the feast from darkness into light, so that from now on we celebrate the Resurrection all night and day.
This rule is especially characteristic of the expression: "Let us not be ignorant." Obviously, our God-bearing Fathers did not consider the question of bowing or non-bending the knee on Sunday to be insignificant or unimportant, as many, unfortunately, now consider, ignoring this rule: they considered it necessary to indicate exactly from what moment of worship it is unacceptable kneeling and from what it is again allowed. According to this rule, kneeling is canceled from the so-called "evening entrance" at Vespers on Saturday until the evening entrance at Vespers on Sunday. That is why there is nothing surprising in the fact that at Vespers on the first day of the Holy Trinity, although it always happens on Sunday, the three prayers of St. Basil the Great are read with kneeling. These prayers are read just after the evening entry at Vespers, which is in full accordance with the requirement of the above 90th canon of the VI Ecumenical Council.
St. Peter, Archbishop of Alexandria and a martyr who suffered for Christ in 311 A.D., whose rules are included in the universally binding for all believers church canon and are contained in the "Book of Rules", along with other rules of St. Fathers, in his 15th canon, explaining why Christians fast on Wednesday and Friday, concludes by saying:
“We spend Sunday, like a day of joy, for the sake of the Risen One on it: on this day we have not even bowed to the knee.”
And the great universal teacher and Saint Basil, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, who lived in the 4th century A.D., whose rules in the amount of 92 are also included in the Book of Rules and always enjoyed special authority and respect, in the 91st rule, borrowed from the 27th chapter of his book on the Holy Spirit, “To Amphilechius” very deeply and, one might say, exhaustively explains the full significance of the abolition of kneeling on the days when we celebrate the resurrection of Christ. Here is his fully edifying explanation of this ancient church custom:
“Standing prayers we do in one from Saturdays (that is, on Sunday), but not everyone knows the reason for this. For not only, as if we have risen with Christ and are supposed to seek the things above, by standing during prayer, on the day of resurrection, we remind ourselves of the grace bestowed on us, but also because we do this, as if this day seems to be some kind of a longed-for age. Why is it like the beginning of days, and Moses called him not the first, but one. And there was, he says, evening, and there was morning, one day (Genesis 1:5): as if one and the same day turned around many times. And so the one, which is rich and osmous, means that essentially one and true eighth day, which the Psalmist mentions in some writings of the psalms, will mark the coming state in this age, a day that does not stop, non-evening, without succession, never-ending, this and ageless age. . So, the Church thoroughly teaches her pupils to pray standing on that day, so that, with frequent reminders of an endless life, we do not neglect parting words to this repose. But the entire Pentecost is a reminder of the Resurrection, expected in the next century. For the one and the first day, being sevenfold sevenfold, is the seven weeks of Holy Pentecost. Pentecost, beginning on the first day of the week, ends with it. Turning fifty times through similar intermediate days, it imitates the century in this likeness, as if in a circular motion, starting from the same signs, and ending on the same ones. Church statutes teach us to prefer in these days straight position bodies during prayer, a clear reminder, as if moving our thoughts from the present to the future. With every kneeling and rising, we will show by action both that by sin we have fallen to the earth, and that, as if by the love of God who created us, we are again called to heaven. But I won’t have enough time to tell about the unwritten Sacraments of the Church.”
One must delve into the meaning of this ecclesiastical decree in order to understand how much deepest meaning and edification, which in our time many do not want to use, preferring their own wisdom to the voice of the Holy Church. The general decline of religious and church consciousness in our days has led to the fact that modern Christians have somehow ceased, for the most part, to feel Sunday as a day of joy, like Easter, which we celebrate weekly, and therefore do not feel what incongruity, what a dissonance with the jubilant chants of this day is kneeling.”
To the question: “Are prostrations to the earth not established by the Charter permissible?” Archbishop Averky answers:
“Unacceptable. One cannot put one's own wisdom above the mind of the Church, above the authority of the Holy Fathers. ... What right do we have to act contrary to the voice Universal Church? Or do we want to be more pious than the Church herself and her great Fathers?”
When applied to the Holy Gospel, the Cross, holy relics and icons one should approach in due order, slowly and without crowding, put two bows before kissing and one after kissing the shrine, bows must be made in the day - earthly or deep waist, touching the ground with your hand. When kissing the icons of the Savior, we kiss the foot, and with a half-length image - the hand, or riza, to the icons Mother of God and saints - a hand or a robe; to the icon of the Image of the Savior Not Made by Hands and to the icon of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist - we kiss the hair.
Several sacred persons can be depicted on the icon, but when there are congregations of worshipers, it is supposed to kiss the icon once, so as not to detain others and thereby violate the decorum in the temple.
Before the image of the Savior, you can say the Jesus Prayer to yourself: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner (sinner)”, or: “I have sinned without a number, Lord, have mercy on me.”
Before the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, you can say the following prayer: “Most Holy Theotokos, save us.”
Before Honest Life-Giving Cross To Christ they read the prayer “We worship Thy Cross, Master, and glorify Thy Holy Resurrection” with a subsequent bow.
This question, despite its seeming simplicity and formality, is, in my opinion, rather complicated, since most people (and there is nothing reprehensible in this!) Come to church only on Sundays and the Twelfth or Great Feasts (except for the services of Great Lent).
This, of course, due to work and family employment is quite understandable and normal. Thank God that modern christian at the speeds and technologies of the current world, it fulfills this main necessary minimum.
It is known that on Sundays, the time from Easter to Vespers of Pentecost, from the Nativity of Christ to the Baptism of the Lord (Christmas Day) and on the Twelfth Feasts, prostrations to the earth are prohibited by the Charter. This is evidenced by St. Basil the Great in his letter to Blessed Amphilochius. He writes that the holy apostles forbade bending the knee at all and making prostrations on the aforementioned days. The same was approved by the canons of the I and VI Ecumenical Councils. That is, we see that the highest church authority - the apostolic decrees and conciliar reason - bows to the earth on these days are not accepted.
Why is this?
The holy supreme apostle Paul answers this question: “Already carry the servant. But a son” (Gal. 4:7). That is, the prostration of the earth represents a slave - a person who has fallen into sin and on his knees begging for forgiveness, in deep humble and repentant feelings repenting of his sins.
And the Resurrection of Christ, the entire period of the Triodion of Color, the small Easters of ordinary Sundays, Christmas time and the Twelfth Holidays - this is the time when “Already carry the slave. But a son,” that is, our Lord Jesus Christ restores and heals in Himself the image of fallen man and restores him in filial dignity, again introducing him into the Kingdom of Heaven, establishing a New Covenant-union between God and man. Therefore, bowing to the ground during the periods of the aforementioned holidays is an insult to God and, as it were, a rejection by a person of this restoration in sonship. A person making a bow to the ground, on a holiday, seems to say to God words that are opposite to the verses of Divine Paul: “I don’t want to be a son. I want to be a slave." In addition, such a person directly violates the canons of the Church, established by the grace of the Holy Spirit, the apostolic canons and the Ecumenical Councils.
I personally heard the opinion that, they say, often a layman does not go to church for everyday worship, then let him do prostrations at least on Sunday. I cannot agree with this. Since the apostolic decrees and the Ecumenical Councils forbid this, and the Church, with God's help, stands in obedience. In addition, the custom of kneeling in the temple at one's own will is also strictly prohibited.
For people who do not go to church for daily services (I repeat, this is not a sin. You can understand a busy person), I would recommend taking on the feat of prostration in private prayer at home on weekdays. How much someone will bear, so that over time it also does not become an unbearable burden: five, ten, twenty, thirty. And who can - and more. Set a standard with God's help for yourself. Bowing to the ground with a prayer, especially with Jesus: "Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner" - very useful thing. But, as they say, everything has its time.
At the Sunday Liturgy, prostration is done in two places of worship. The priest in the altar in front of the Throne also puts them approximately and semantic. The first moment: at the end of the singing “We sing to Thee”, when the culmination of the Eucharistic canon and the entire Divine Liturgy takes place, the Holy Gifts are transubstantiated on the Altar; bread, wine and water become the Body and Blood of Christ. The second point: when taking out the Chalice for the communion of believers, since the priest before communion in the altar also makes a prostration. In the period from Easter to Pentecost, these earthly prostrations are replaced by waist ones. No more prostrations are made at the Sunday Divine Liturgy or Liturgy in the other period indicated above.
If you, dear brothers and sisters, are at the Liturgy of a weekday, then bowing to the ground is permitted by the Charter in the two cases already mentioned, as well as at the beginning of singing “Worthy and Righteous”; the end of the prayer "It is worthy to eat", or the meritor; at the end of the Liturgy, when the priest proclaims “Always, now and forever”, when the priest appears for the last time at the Liturgy with the Chalice with the Body and Blood of Christ in his hands in the Royal Doors and transfers it from the throne to the altar (the symbol of the Ascension of the Lord). At the evening divine service, prostration to the earth is allowed (at matins), when the priest or deacon leaves the altar with a censer after the eighth ode of the ordinary canon and proclaims in front of the icon of the Virgin Mary on the iconostasis, “Let us exalt the Theotokos and Mother of Light in song.” Next, the song of the Monk Cosmas of Maium “The Most Honorable Cherub” is sung, during which it is also customary to kneel because of love and reverence for Holy Mother of God, since it is believed that at this time She resides in the temple and visits all those who pray in it.
Let us, dear brothers and sisters, strive to observe the Rule of the Church. He is our golden fairway in muddy water the outer world and the inner heart with its emotions and sensuality. On the one hand, he does not allow us to deviate into laziness and negligence, on the other hand, into the delusion and spiritual delusion of "vital holiness." And along this fairway, the church ship sails to the Kingdom of Heaven. Our work on board is grace-filled obedience. After all, all the holy fathers placed it and valued it very highly. After all, by disobedience the first people fell away from God, and by obedience we are united with Him, seeing the example, of course, of the God-man Jesus, Who was obedient to death and even death on the cross.
Priest Andrei Chizhenko
An attempt to understand the meaning of temple worship for the majority of believers ends with the assimilation of a symbolic-pictorial interpretation of the service. Unfortunately, it was precisely this, being the least meaningful, that turned out to be the most popular and widespread in the Orthodox environment.
The assimilation of such a perception of worship finally confirms many in the mystical nature of the Christian service. This actually leads to a total passive contemplative attitude towards worship and the life of the Church in general.
One can be endlessly surprised that people who know by heart the sequence of the All-Night Vigil and the Liturgy (there are many such people) often do not understand the content and meaning of what is happening in the altar. But no one ever explained it to them!
What kind of common ministry, what catholicity can we talk about if the people of God are not able to participate in what is happening? If participation is only superficial and formal? If the believer never hears the main semantic and prayerful part of the divine service at all in his life (!), since the main thing is expressed in the so-called "secret" prayers? Can there be a perception of the service other than the mystery?
Of course, to myself, otherwise the mumbling will begin in the temple. For this, there is a primate in the Church (bishop or priest), who aloud voices the common prayer. But while he is "silent", and the people even more so. The priest performs the function of language in a single body.
Contemporary church obeisances
In theory, it cannot be that the tongue says one thing, the heart feels another, and the head does not understand at all what it was thinking about. But as we see in the church, everything is possible. It is interesting for me to ask a question to experienced parishioners (I will note experienced ones): when the deacon proclaims “Let us pray to the Lord for the honorable gifts brought and consecrated”, what are you praying for at that moment. After all, they are still baptized, bowing. The answers are not encouraging.
We have no (almost no) unanimous, let me say intelligent, liturgy. What a treasure is hidden there, but it is here, on the surface, and few people are interested in it. All attention is focused on the external side of the liturgy, which in itself says practically nothing about the essence of the Eucharist.
If priests shared this treasure with people, it would be much better. but what to do if the priest himself does not see this treasure or perceives himself as a shaman or priest, for only they can be initiated into “mysterious and inaccessible” prayers. In relation to the Liturgy, we have a passive-contemplative attitude
Saint Theophan said well:
Quote: The truth was brought to earth by the Lord and the Holy Spirit, who fulfilled the apostles on the day of Pentecost - and she walks the earth. Her guides are the mouths of the priests of God. Who among them shuts his mouth, he blocks the way to the truth, asking for the souls of believers.
That is why the souls of believers languish in not receiving the truth, and the priests themselves must feel languor from the truth, which, without receiving an outcome, torments them. Relieve yourself, priest of God, from this burden, emit streams of Divine words, to your own joy and to the revival of the souls entrusted to you. When you see that you yourself do not have the truth, take it: it is in the holy writings; and, being filled with it, forward it to your spiritual children: just do not be silent.
Preach, for this is what you were called to. End of quote. Bishop Feofan. Thoughts for every day of the year according to church readings from the word of God, Edition of the Moscow Patriarchate, Moscow, 1991, p. 139.
Yes, that is how it is printed in the watch book now. However, it should still be noted that these instructions are not some kind of dogma, but are purely advisory in nature. These rules have changed in the history of the Church. In particular, they do not correspond to the statute on bows that existed in Rus' 300-400 years ago.
Prostration in Orthodoxy
Prostration in Orthodoxy
Our great saints Sergius of Radonezh, Joseph Volotsky, St. Philip and others adhered to other, more ancient rules about prostrations. The current rules on bowing are of a later origin, which arose during the synodal period, when the Russian Church in the ritual side was subjected to strong Western influence.
In particular, this includes the abolition of prostrations on Sundays and holidays; this abolition did not exist in the Ancient Church. And kneeling, which often occurs in our churches, is already a pure borrowing from Catholicism; in Orthodoxy, only bows to the ground and the position of “fallen prostrate” were accepted, but not standing with a straightened body.
The local council of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1971 removed all prohibitions from the ancient rites that the Old Believers, including our brothers of the same faith, preserved. Now in the Church there are very good trend studying their experience and returning to a number of ancient forms - for example, in icon painting (canonical icon), in singing (znamenny chant), etc.
I think that is why it is also interesting to study their charter on prostrations, preserved from the time of Holy Rus', which reflects a deeply pious attitude to worship. I think it will be interesting for everyone to familiarize themselves with this charter, here are excerpts from it:
First of all, it is necessary to say that all bows, waist and earthly, praying together, according to the instructions of the Church Charter, and not when anyone pleases. Bows must be done earnestly and sedately, without excessive fussiness, or deliberate slowdown in movements.
If, according to the Charter, the bow is made with the sign of the cross, you should first cross yourself, so that for the body of the person praying, and not only for his clothes, it was noticeable, and then bow, into the belt or into the ground, according to the specific moment of the service.
Prostrations rely on a handkerchief, a deliberately stitched rug, to keep the hands clean. Bowing to the ground, you should first put the hand rest in front of you, then cross yourself and bow: put the outstretched palms of both hands on the hand rest, both side by side, at the same time bending your knees and tilting your head to the ground so much that your forehead touches the hands on the hand rest.
Prostrations at the Liturgy
Prostrations at the Liturgy
You should not spread your elbows and knees to the sides or make any knock when bowing. In passing, we note that in the ancient Orthodox Church there was no custom to pray on your knees, there is no such custom in the Old Believers. This custom came to the New Believers from the Catholic West.
It cannot be called good in any way, for the Lord Jesus Christ, before His voluntary suffering for the human race, showed us in the Garden of Gethsemane an image of prayer: “Fall on your face, praying” (Gospel of Matthew, credit 108.).
Warriors, "swearing" i.e. mocking the Lord during His Passion, they made a mockery “bowing down on the knee before Him” (Gospel of Matthew, part 112). It is clear which of the gospel examples corresponds to the Orthodox custom, and to which, the Catholic one.
Now let us present in full the Charter on prostrations, according to patristic church tradition.
At the prayer to the Holy Spirit “King of Heaven”, when it is read (or sung) at the beginning of any following, without bowing, we protect ourselves with the sign of the cross, and in Great Lent at the end of it, we bow to the ground, with the sign of the cross.
On the "Trisagion": "Holy God, Holy Strong, Holy Immortals, have mercy on us" (three times), three bows. Only when this prayer is sung at the end of the Great Doxology at the All-Night Vigil, as well as at the Liturgy before the reading of the Apostle, (or when it is sung in other cases according to the Rule), there are no bows.
At the Lord's Prayer "Our Father", a bow from the waist at the end of it, when it is sung at the Liturgy and before dinner; in all other cases there is no bow.
On "Come, let's bow", three bows. And besides this, when in psalms, sticheras and troparia there are words: “I bow”, “worship”, “we bow”, “worship”, “worship”, “worshiping”, “worshiping” and “worshiping”, they always bow in the belt . On “Hallelujah”, when she happens to be “glory” behind any psalm, like this: “Hallelujah, Hallelujah, glory to You, God”, three times, three bows to the belt, except for “Hallelujah” among the “ex-psalms” without bows.
At the prayers “Vouchee, Lord, in this evening we will be preserved without sin” at Vespers and “Glory to God in the highest” (at the beginning) at Vechernitsa and Matins, three bows from the waist.
Worship on Sundays
Worship on Sundays
When a priest or deacon pronounces a special litany, on one of the petitions ending with the words “all of you,” three waist bows are relied upon (at the beginning of the singing “Lord, have mercy”, 12 times; in other cases, it happens 40 and 50 times); when the service is performed without a priest, instead of a special litany, “Lord, have mercy” is sung forty times, and also instead of “diligent prayers” for litia (going into the porch for the All-Night Vigil, Sunday and some other services), the same prayer is sung 40, 30, and 50 times. In all these cases, three bows are preserved, also at the beginning of the singing "Lord, have mercy."
Before the prayer, dismissal, at Vespers and Matins, and at the Prayer Service, starting with “The Most Honorable Cherub”, and at the Liturgy and the Mass, with “It is worthy to eat”, “Glory”, “and now”, “Lord have mercy” twice, “Lord bless, ”always four bows, at Vespers, Matins and Molebens all are half-length, and at the Liturgy and the Mass, the first bow is always earthly.
To the “Most Honorable Cherub”, when this prayer happens in the middle of any study (for example, when praying for dinner), there is always a bow from the waist.
At the beginning of the Midnight Office, at the prayer “Glory to Thee, our God, Glory to Thee for all kinds of sake,” they are protected by the sign of the cross without bowing once; and at the next prayer, “God, cleanse me a sinner,” three bows to the waist.
After the first and last magnification of the holiday, during the festive Matins (usually performed in the evening), the bow is always earthly.
Kissing the icon of the feast after magnification, the Gospel on Sunday Matins and the Holy Cross on the feasts of the Cross have a special order.
For the sign of the cross, we fold the fingers of the right hand like this: we put the first three fingers (thumb, index and middle) together with the ends exactly, and bend the last two (ring and little fingers) to the palm.
The first three fingers put together express our faith in God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit as a consubstantial and indivisible Trinity, and the two fingers bent to the palm mean that the Son of God, after His incarnation, being God, became a man, that is, they mean His two natures are divine and human.
It is necessary to make the sign of the cross slowly: put it on the forehead, on the stomach, on the right shoulder and then on the left. And just dropping right hand to make a bow in order to involuntarily prevent blasphemy by breaking the cross laid on oneself.
About those who signify themselves with the whole five, or bow before they have finished the cross, or wave their hand in the air or on their chest, St. John Chrysostom said: “Demons rejoice at this frantic waving.” On the contrary, the sign of the cross, performed correctly and slowly, with faith and reverence, frightens demons, calms sinful passions and attracts Divine grace.
In the temple, the following rules regarding bows and the sign of the cross must be observed.
be baptized no bows follows:
- At the beginning of the Six Psalms, with the words "Glory to God in the Highest ..." three times and in the middle on "Alleluia" three times.
- At the beginning of singing or reading "I believe."
- On vacation "Christ, our true God ...".
- At the beginning of reading Holy Scripture: Gospels, Apostle and proverbs.
- At the entrance to the temple and at the exit from it - three times.
- At each petition of the litany, after the singing of “Lord, have mercy,” “Give, Lord,” “Thee, Lord.”
- At the exclamation of the clergyman, giving glory to the Holy Trinity.
- With exclamations “Take, eat ...”, “Drink everything from her ...”, “Yours from Yours ...”.
- At the words "Honest Cherub ...".
- With each pronouncement of the words “let us bow”, “worship”, “fall down”.
- During the reading or singing of "Alleluia", "Holy God" and "Come, let us worship" and with the exclamation "Glory to Thee, Christ God", before the dismissal - three times.
- During the reading of the canon at Matins while invoking the Lord, the Mother of God and the saints.
- At the end of singing or reading each stichera.
- On the lithium after each of the first two petitions of the litany - three bows, after the other two - one each.
- Fasting at the entrance to the temple and at the exit from it - three times.
- In fasting at Matins, after each chorus to the song of the Theotokos "My soul magnifies the Lord" after the words "We magnify you."
- At the liturgy at the beginning of the singing "It is worthy and righteous to eat ...".
- At the end of the singing "We'll sing to you ...".
- After “It is worthy to eat ...” or a worthy one.
- At the exclamation "Holy to the holy."
- At the exclamation "And vouchsafe us, Lord ..." before singing "Our Father".
- When taking out the Holy Gifts, at the words "Come with the fear of God and faith", and the second time - at the words "Always, now and forever ...".
- AT great post at Great Compline while singing “Most Holy Lady...” - on every verse; while singing "Our Lady Virgin, rejoice ..." and so on. on the Lenten Vespers three prostrations are made.
- In Great Lent, when reading the prayer "Lord and Master of my life ...".
- In Great Lent, during the final chant “Remember us, Lord, when you come into Your Kingdom,” three prostrations are due.
- At the words of the priest “Peace be to all”, “God's blessing upon you...”, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ...”, “And may the mercies of the Great God...”.
- With the words of the deacon, “And forever and ever” (after the exclamation of the priest “For thou art holy, our God” before the singing of the Trisagion).
- On Sundays, on the days from the Nativity of Christ to Epiphany, from Easter to Pentecost, on the feast of the Transfiguration.
- At the words “Let us bow our heads to the Lord” or “Bow your heads to the Lord,” all those praying bow their heads (without the sign of the cross), since at this time the priest secretly (that is, to himself), and on the lithia, reads a prayer in which prays for all those present who bow their heads. This prayer ends with an exclamation in which glory is given to the Holy Trinity.
Details Created: 14.09.2015 11:34
Prayer gestures. At what time should a parishioner make the sign of the cross (that is, be baptized), and at what time should he bow? This is what we are talking about today.
Most good advice One thing that can be given to a person who is completely unfamiliar with the Rule of Divine Services and the rules of conduct during Divine Services is to follow how the priest and deacon behave. They cross themselves and bow - and the parishioners should. They kneel - and the parishioners need to kneel. Even one observation of what and how the clergy do, for a short time will allow to assimilate the culture of behavior during worship and will answer many questions. It is strange, but even parishioners with experience sometimes do not know how to properly behave during worship. This suggests that the parishioners do not look and do not think about what and how do the clergy. I mean, what and how do in the service. Because in real life the parishioners follow the priests very carefully – what car he drives, how his wife and children are dressed, and much more.
And you should be careful about what and how the priest does not in his worldly life - only God is the judge of every person, but at the service, because here the priest is not ordinary person but a servant of God.
However, we digress.
Let's talk about our topic: prayer behavior during worship.
bows
There are three types of bows:
1. Simple bowing of the head;
2. Waist bow: we bow at the waist. If we follow strict rules, then during the waist bow we should lean forward so that our fingers touch the floor.
3. Bow to the ground: We kneel and bow our heads to the ground. Then we get up.
In accordance with the rules of the Church Charter, during worship, all three types of bows are used in appropriate cases. At what time - which ones, we will now tell:
head bow
A short bow of the head is never accompanied by the sign of the cross, we simply bow our head or slightly bow our bodies:
BUT. To the words of the priest Peace to all; The blessing of the Lord is on you, that grace and philanthropy ...; The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the Father and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
B. To the words of church hymns: let's fall down, bow down.
AT. Whenever the priest blesses not with the Cross, but with his hand. When the priest blesses with the Cross (for example, after the Liturgy, on vacation, or at other moments, one should cross himself and then make a bow from the waist)
G. Whenever a priest (or bishop) blesses with candles.
D. Every time you get censed. By incense, a deacon (or priest) expresses reverence for a person as the image of God. In response, we bow to the deacon (or priest). The exception is on the night of Holy Easter. Then the priest censes with the Cross in his hand and greets everyone with an exclamation Christ is Risen. Here you need to first cross yourself, and then bow.
Prolonged bowing of the head
With the exclamations of the deacon: Bow your heads to the Lord and Let us bow our heads to the Lord. With these words, you should bow your head and stand like that all the time while the prayer is being read.
E. We bow our heads during the Great Entrance, when the procession of the clergy stops at the pulpit.
AND. While reading the Holy Gospel.
Belt bow
Always before bowing from the waist, we overshadow ourselves with the sign of the cross!
Having made the sign of the cross, we bow in bow:
BUT. After each petition of the diaconal litany, while the choir sings Lord have mercy or Give it, Lord.
B. After each exclamation of the priest, with which he completes the litany.
AT. Always when singing in chorus: Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
G. For each: Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us(during Liturgy).
D. After singing Most Honorable Cherub.
E. When reading akathists - at each kontakion and ikos; when reading the canons at the evening service - before each troparion.
AND. Before and after the reading of the Gospel, with the singing of the choir: Glory to You, Lord, Glory to You.
Z. Before singing Creed(on Liturgy).
AND. Before reading Apostle(on Liturgy).
TO. Whenever the priest blesses with the Cross (for example, after the Liturgy, on vacation, during the singing of Many Years, and in other cases).
L. Every time they bless with the Chalice, the Cross, the Holy Gospel and the icon.
M. At the beginning of the prayer Our Father.
N. Passing by the royal doors inside the temple, we must also cross ourselves and bow.
Earthly bows
Earthly bows are canceled:
BUT. From Easter to the feast of the Holy Trinity;
B. From the feast of the Nativity of Christ to the feast of the Epiphany (during Christmas time);
G. On the days of the twelfth (twelve great) holidays;
D. On Sundays. However, it is important to clarify the following here: although since ancient times Sunday has enjoyed special respect, nevertheless, some Christians, due to their reverent attitude towards the relic of the Body and Blood of Christ, wanted to bow to the ground in front of the shrine on these days. So the custom was fixed to allow two earthly bows even on Sunday:
1) after the words of the priest: Having changed by Your Holy Spirit;
2) and then, when the Chalice with the Body and Blood of Christ is taken out to all believers with the words: Come with the fear of God and faith.
It is at these two moments that prostrations to the earth, even on Sunday, are blessed. At other times, it is not blessed (except for bows before the Cross and the Shroud, if they are in the middle of the temple).
The first of the moments - the end of the consecration of the Holy Gifts - is not easy to track if the royal doors are closed and it is not visible through them how the clergy bow to the ground. In this case, you can bow to the ground with the exclamation of the priest: holy to the holy.
If the day is not Sunday, then one more must be added to these two prostrations during the Liturgy. This bow is done when the Chalice is shown to the believers for the last time. And this happens after Communion. When everyone has received communion, the priest brings the Chalice into the altar, reverently immerses the particles taken from the prosphora into it, and quietly reads the prescribed prayers. After that, the priest turns with the Chalice to the faithful and proclaims: Always, now and ever, and forever and ever! At this time, it is also necessary to make a prostration. If the day is Sunday, then you need to overshadow yourself with the sign of the cross and make a bow.
E. Even prostrations are canceled until the evening for a person who has received communion. But with the beginning of the evening service, a new liturgical day begins, therefore, starting in the evening, even a communicant can make prostrations.
We talked about when prostrations are cancelled. What to say about when they, on the contrary, are laid?
All the cases when prostrations are laid down cannot be cited, there are many of them. The important thing is this: whenever the worshipers are called to bow to the ground, this bow is done by the clergy themselves. There are many such cases in Lent. Watch the priests and you won't go wrong.
kneeling
Let me tell you straight away that Orthodox tradition It is not customary to pray on your knees. Other priests do not know this either. You look, sometimes the Eucharistic canon begins - and everyone in the altar kneels and remains in that position. Friends: Praying on your knees is a custom Catholic Church. In Orthodoxy, they kneel for a short time:
BUT. During the transfer of the shrine.
B. Once a year they listen to kneeling prayers on the Day of the Holy Trinity;
AT. They kneel during prayer (for example, after a prayer service), when the deacon (or priest) called for this: On bended knee let's pray.
G. You can kneel down when a particularly revered shrine is carried past, for example miraculous icon, power.
But just like that, they don’t kneel in the temple and, moreover, they don’t remain in this position for a long time.
We overshadow ourselves with the sign of the cross, but do not bow
BUT. While reading the Six Psalms. It is read during Matins, which can be served in the morning or in the evening. Also, the Six Psalms is always performed during the All-Night Vigil, that is, on Saturday evening and on the eve of holidays.
The Six Psalms consists of six psalms. In the middle, after three psalms, the reader proclaims:
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, glory to Thee, O God.
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, glory to Thee, O God.
Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy.
Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever, and forever and ever. Amen.
The Six Psalms is performed in deep silence and reverence. These six selected psalms speak of humanity's expectation of the Messiah - the Savior. Silence here denotes the state in which ancient humanity on the eve of the Coming of Christ: the concentrated expectation of deliverance from sin.
B. At the beginning of singing Creed;
G. At the beginning of the reading of the Apostle, the Gospel (at the Liturgy, at the All-Night Vigil);
D. At the beginning of the reading of proverbs (on all-night vigil before the big holiday
E. When the priest pronounces the words By the power of the Honorable and Life-Giving Cross(these words are found in some prayers).
