Worship in The Orthodox Church

The Divine Liturgy is a recalling (anamnesis) of the whole mystery of the incarnation of Christ, from his divine birth to his ascension and his sitting at the right hand of the Father.All these things are represented in material and visible signs through the Divine Liturgy to the senses of the children of the Church, so that they may be led to the things which are immaterial and heavenly. The Orthodox have their whole religious experience in the Liturgy. It is the very expression of their faith. It is the Liturgy which has inspired their best poetry, art, and music. Among Orthodox, the Liturgy has never become the preserve of the learned and the clergy, as it tended to be in the medieval west, but it has remained the common possession of the whole Christian people.

The morning service of the Church is called Matins. It opens with the reading of six morning psalms and the intoning of the Great Litany. After this, verses of Psalm 118 are sung: God is the Lord and has revealed himself unto us. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. The Troparion is then sung and, if it be a monastery, various groups of psalms which differ each day are read. Once again there are hymns on the theme of the particular day. On major feast days, special praises and psalms are sung, which on the Lord’s Day sing of Christ’s resurrection from the dead. On major feasts and on Sundays, the Gospel is also read. After the Gospel there is a long intercessory prayer followed by a set of hymns and readings called the Canon. These songs are based on the Old Testamental canticles and conclude with the song of Mary, the so-called Magnificat (Lk 1.46–55). The Great Doxology is chanted followed by the morning litanies. The troparion is also repeated once again before the congregation is dismissed to begin the activities of the day. The Matins service of the Church unites the elements of morning psalmody and prayer with meditation on the Biblical canticles, the Gospel reading, and the particular theme of the day in the given verses and hymns. The themes of God’s revelation and light are also always central to the morning service of the Church.

Vespers in the Orthodox Church the liturgical day begins in the evening with the setting of the sun, following the Biblical account of creation: “And there was evening and there was morning, one day” (Gen 1.5). Vespers is the first service of the Daily Cycle, and it takes place after sunset in the early evening. It is a preparation service for the Divine Liturgy. Vespers begin with the chanting of the evening psalm: “. . . the sun knows its time for setting, Thou makest darkness and it is night . . .” (Ps 104.19–20). Glorifying God’s creation of the world, this psalm is man’s first act of worship, for man first of all meets God as Creator. The service of Vespers takes us through creation, sin, and salvation in Christ. It leads us to the meditation of God’s word and the glorification of his love for men. It instructs us and allows us to praise God for the particular events or persons whose memory is celebrated and made present to us in the Church. It prepares us for the sleep of the night and the dawn of the new day to come. It begins our movement into the most perfect communion with God in the sacramental mysteries.

Holy Monday and Holy Tuesday During the Holy Monday services, the parable of the Ten Virgins is commemorated. Once Jesus entered Jerusalem, he proceeded to give his disciples their final instructions. The services on Holy Monday and Holy Tuesday share similarities because of this. It is during these two days where we remember these teachings. Often, the Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts will also occur during these two days. Holy Wednesday During Holy Wednesday, Orthodox Christians can receive the Sacrament of Holy Unction. However, this wasn’t always the case. The Holy Sacrament has only been part of the Holy Wednesday services for the last two centuries or so. However, receiving this sacrament is fitting because the service honors the moment when Mary Magdalene anointed His feet with oil and myrrh just before His arrest. Holy Thursday In the Bible, this is the day when Jesus and His disciples partook of the Last Supper. It is during this Supper when Jesus gave them bread and wine, which had been mystically changed to His body and blood. This is where our practice of Holy Communion was established. The service itself is the Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great and also represents the last moments of Christ’s life. Good Friday There are typically two services during Good Friday. The earlier service commemorates the last moments of Christ’s life. His body is then removed from the cross and placed in the altar. Flower girls shower His body with rose petals. During the evening service, the Lamentations of Lazarus are sung and Christ’s body is removed from the altar and placed in the tomb. Holy Saturday During the Great and Holy Saturday service, the Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great is performed as well as the vespers. During the evening service, people gather inside and outside the church holding unlit candles while the Liturgy is underway. Just before midnight, the church goes dark. At midnight, the priest lights the first candle and people take turns lighting each other’s candles. This is the moment when we celebrate Christ’s resurrection! The congregation then sings the traditional hymn; Christ is Risen or Christos Anesti. (This post was written by GreekBoston.com/ Copyright © 1998 - 2023 Greek Boston. )

In the Orthodox Church the various prayers for the departed have as their purpose to pray for the repose of the departed, to comfort the living, and to remind those who remain behind of their own mortality, and the brevity of this earthly life. For this reason, memorial services have an air of penitence about them and tend to be served more frequently during the four fasting seasons (Great Lent, Nativity Fast, Apostles' Fast and Dormition Fast). According to the Apostolic Constitutions, memorial services may be held on the 3rd, 9th, and 40th day, and on the completion of a year from the day of death.These prescribed times are still observed in most Orthodox places. The memorial service is most frequently served after the Divine Liturgy, however it may also be served after Vespers, Matins, or as a separate service by itself. For the memorial service, Kollyva, a ritual food of boiled wheat, is often prepared and is placed in front of the "memorial table" or an icon of Christ and is blessed by the priest afterwards.

Take the time at the beginning of your prayer time to quiet your body and to concentrate your energies in your heart. Christ says, “Enter into thy closet and ... shut thy door” (Matt 6:6). Remove all activities that could disrupt your inner descent. Set aside, to the best of your ability, all of your problems of the day and your worries for tomorrow. This is not a time for thinking or worrying. When you are preparing to pray, stand, sit or walk a few minutes and steady your mind to concentrate on God. Reflect on who it is that you will be addressing. Remember, it is God Himself who you are about to talk with. Try to bring about a feeling of humility and reverent awe. Make some prostrations before you begin. You should have a specific rule for both morning and evening. Don’t try and wing it. You are developing a discipline that is beyond what you will feel like doing. This is not a relaxation exercise but a path to be in communion with your God. You will need to have a specific set of guidelines that you follow each time with no excuses for shortcutting them. In your rule, incorporate standing, prostrations, kneeling, making the sign of the cross, reading, and at times singing. Use prayer books and written prayers. The Orthodox prayer books are filled with prayers that have been well tested and used for hundreds of years.