How do Orthodox people pray?

Do you know the Orthodox Church? Did you know that they have a different concept of prayer? What place or importance does it give to prayer?

We are captivated by the subject and have conducted research in order to provide you with more clarification and satisfy your curiosity. Moreover, in view of our initial research we can retain this:

In this way prayer is not a set of magic words, but our spiritual impulse, to live communion with God. However, prayer with its words should not replace the reading of already existing prayers, which are necessary to guide us in the manner and content of prayer to God. The word of the Father. The sign of the Cross can impose itself arbitrarily, when we want, for example after each prayer. 🙏

By reading this article, you will discover:

• The literal meaning of prayer

• The different forms or ways of praying

• Prayer to the saints and to all

• How to professionalize faith?

A prayer in general

Blessed be our God , always, now and forever and ever. Amen.

Glory to the Holy Trinity, Consubstantial, Life-giving and Undivided, always, now and forever and ever. Amen.

Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth, that you are present in every place and in everything that you fill, treasure of good things that give life, come and dwell in us and purify us from all stain and save, O Good One, our souls.

God, the creator of heaven and earth, have mercy on us .

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

The profession of faith

I believe in one God, the Father almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible . I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, born of the Father before all ages; Light from Light, true God from true God; begotten, not made; of the same substance with the Father; by him all things were created.

For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven; and by the power of the Holy Spirit he was incarnate in the womb of the Virgin Mary and became man. He was also crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and he died and was buried, and on the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

Possible morning prayers

Awakened from sleep, we fall down before Thee, O God of goodness, and we sing to Thee the hymn of the Angels, O mighty God: Holy, Holy, Holy Thou art, O God.

Through the intercession of your Mother, have mercy on me.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and for ever and ever. Amen.

Prayer of Saint Macarius

Lord, friend of men, I have recourse to You upon my awakening, beginning the task assigned to me in Your mercy: assist me at all times and in all things; preserve me from all worldly seduction, from all influence of the devil; save me and introduce me into Your eternal Kingdom.

For you are my Creator, the source and dispenser of all good: in you rests all my hope, and to you I give glory now and forever .

My God, cleanse me, a sinner, who has never done good before You; deliver me from evil and let Your will be done in me, so that, without fear of being condemned, I may open my unworthy lips and celebrate Your Holy Name: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, now and forever and ever. Amen.

Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy on us, deprived of all justification, we sinners, we turn to you, O our Sovereign, this request: have mercy on us.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Prayer to the Virgin

Most Holy Sovereign, O Mother of God, by your holy and powerful prayers, turn away from me, your humble and miserable servant, all discouragement, lukewarmness, laziness, error and every impure, bad and impious thought coming from my miserable heart and my obscure intelligence.

Extinguish the flame of my passions, for I am poor and miserable.

Deliver me from my many bad memories and actions and preserve me from every evil movement.

Holy Angel, charged with the care of my miserable soul and my life of passions, do not abandon me a sinner and do not turn away from me because of my intemperance, do not yield to the evil one who tries to seize me with the seduction of this mortal body. Strengthen my weak arm and lead me on the path of salvation.

Yes, O holy angel of God, guardian of my soul and of my miserable body, forgive me all that I have offended you all the days of my life; if I have sinned in the past, protect me from it this night, and preserve me from all temptation, so that I do not attract the anger of my God by sinning; pray for me to the Lord , that he may keep me in his holy fear and make me a servant worthy of his mercy.

Prayer for the Church

Remember, Lord, first of all, your One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic and Orthodox Church, which is yours because you created it with your precious blood and guide it with your Holy Spirit, confirm it, strengthen it, extend it, multiply it, pacify it and save it throughout the centuries from the gates of hell; dissolve the dissensions between the churches, stifle the errors of the pagans, destroy and quickly eradicate the heresies that manifest themselves and convert each of us by the power of your Holy Spirit.

Prayer for Bishops and Priests

Save, Lord, and have mercy on all the bishops, our bishop N., the priests, deacons, monks and all the clergy whom You have established to feed the flock with Your Word of Truth.

Prayer for Leaders and All

Remember, Lord, those who govern us, make their hearts understand the good counsels concerning your Holy Church and all your people, preserve them from evil and corruption, so that we too, in the peace they have given us, may live a quiet and peaceful life, in all piety and holiness.

For all

Save, Lord, and have mercy on the elderly, the young, the poor, the orphans and widows, the maladjusted, the suffering, the sick, those in pain, in difficulty, in affliction, those locked up in prisons and places of detention, and especially those who are persecuted for your name and your faith.

Becoming an Orthodox Christian

Over the years, I think I have been asked this question in every possible way. It can be understood as “why are you an Orthodox Christian,” since I am neither Greek nor Russian; or someone may ask why I remain an Orthodox Christian despite this or that conflict issue. But beyond that, most people simply want to know why I am specifically an Orthodox Christian and not a Roman Catholic, an Eastern Rite Catholic, or a Protestant in its various denominations.

While studying abroad, my Muslim friends were curious as to how I could know so much about Islam and not choose their faith. Rather than simply making an intellectual apologia for the Orthodox faith , I would like to offer my personal reflections not only on why I chose to become Orthodox, but also on why I remained Orthodox and choose to be so today.

I can't speak directly to everyone's personal experiences, of course, but I hope some of you can relate to this reflection of mine.

Prayer is both physical and mystical

The first time I heard an Orthodox prayer , I was 16 years old. I had just entered the foyer of the Church of Saints Constantine and Helen in Richmond, and my first thoughts were, “That sounds like the Muslim call to prayer!” I had nothing else to compare it to. It was completely different from anything I had ever heard, and it was both shrill and captivating…so I kept coming back to it.

As a child, prayer seemed to me to be something intellectual and emotional. Something to repeat in one's mind or a private conversation out loud. Having experienced Orthodox prayer , I believe it has an emotional character. The Church is formed by both the living and the dead.

The Church is the Body of Christ, a community founded by the Holy Spirit, based on a common profession of faith, a shared baptism and a shared Eucharist. The Orthodox Church is united throughout the world and breaks down barriers of nationality, language and politics.

The Orthodox Church also addresses one of the fundamental themes of existence, namely what happens to us when we leave earthly life. What happened to our departed loved ones? Different confessions have pondered the same question, which has led to the most diverse beliefs, such as purgatory in the Roman Catholic Church or the baptism of the dead in the Latter-day Saints movement.

The Orthodox Church: its fundamentals

The Orthodox Church does not view life in a static way as the physical world teaches us. I am not alone in my tribulations in following Christ; I am connected to all the members of His Body, from the holy patriarchs of the Old Testament to the saints and members of the Church today. And these dead in Christ are alive.

The Christian life is about bringing the whole of our lives to Christ, allowing Him to transfigure them. The saints were weak people like you and me who let Jesus work in their lives, allowing Him to take away their sins and give them the strength to trust in Him. The saints were imperfect people who chose Christ more than they chose themselves.

In the Orthodox Church, our hope lies in Christ, to whose Body all the baptized of the Orthodox Christian faith have been united. Even when a Christian has departed this life, he or she remains connected to the Body and is alive in Christ. This constitutes our entire view of the saints and the dead in Christ. We ask the most venerable members of the Body of Christ to pray for us, as we pray for our loved ones who have found rest in Christ.

Why should you pray at home?

We come to the temple to pray to the Lord, the Mother of God and the saints. For a believer, prayer is a natural state and a need to communicate with God . When we are on the street or at work, we are constantly distracted by some business and concerns, but at home - in the morning and evening - you can relax from the hustle and bustle of the day and quietly communicate with God and the saints. How to pray to God correctly?

First of all, it is necessary to follow the rule of morning and evening prayer as much as possible. Secondly, prayer should not be "for the tick." Prayer is not a spell, but a meaningful conversation with God. The prayers themselves should be taken from proven sources, preferably from special prayer books, purchased in church stores.

Prayers can be read aloud as well as to yourself - who is more comfortable. It is better to do this before the icons that every believer has. It is good to have a red corner in the house - the place where the images are hung and the lamp is lit. In any church store or Orthodox bookstore you can buy collections of prayers with Akathists of different saints.

How to pray to the saints?

Knowledge of the lives of the saints allows us to know who did what in life. There is such a concept as the "rule of morning prayer." It can be found in any Orthodox prayer book. However, the vanity of the world does not always leave us enough time for this, so we can limit ourselves to 3-4 prayers , but they must be read consciously and not be distracted by extraneous thoughts.

Of course, this list should include the main prayer of every Christian, “Our Father,” as well as “Virgin Mary, rejoice” and “Symbol of Faith.” It is also very good to learn by heart the prayer of the Optina elders, especially since it is written not in Church Slavonic, but in modern Russian, and each line of this prayer is an instruction for us, modern people, on how to live the coming day with maximum benefit for the soul and body.

Choose for yourself a few of those to which the soul is most devoted, learn them by heart and read them every morning. By analogy with the morning rule, there is an evening rule, which can also be found in any Orthodox prayer . As in the morning, if you do not have the strength to read it in full, you can choose a few prayers that are closer to the heart, the main thing is that they are read attentively.

How to Pray Properly for Healing and Be Effective

There is no direct "professional specialization" for the saints, but it is customary to ask for healing of bodily diseases to those who also participated in healing during their lives. These are the holy great martyr Panteleimon the Healer, Saints Cosmas and Damian, the holy Evangelist Luke, Saint Luke of Crimea and others. It is enough to ask with faith and hope that God will help us . The red corner has always been the most important and revered place in the house.

Of course, it is necessary to know "Our Father" and the prayer of Jesus , besides the psalms have a powerful power.

- It is enough to formulate your wish once, but not to demand that God fulfill it and not to set any conditions.

Prayer as a necessity

As you can see, the Orthodox Church has a constitution that emphasizes prayer in all circumstances. They had a rule to pray all the time, but we, the laity, with our heads immersed in life and care, such grace is rarely attained. It is therefore good for everyone to pray in the morning and evening, as well as before eating or making important decisions.

You know, as a Christian, it is not enough just to pray, but you also have to pray at the right time. We have just the article for you: the best times to pray .