Prayer Life in an Orthodox Home
by Archpriest Roman Lukianov, Holy Epiphany Church, Boston, MA
Hundreds of thousands of Orthodox Christians live in the United States
of America. In many places, ethnic communities of Orthodox Christians may be found,
usually centered around a church serving in their own liturgical language. Other Orthodox
Christian immigrants and their children are scattered throughout the country and live
where there are no Orthodox churches, no right-believing Orthodox churches, or even
Orthodox friends. Recently, many converts to Orthodoxy have been added from life-long
Americans, whose eyes have been opened to the immorality and spiritual vacuum of the
materialist, secular culture in which we all live. Perhaps it is incorrect to call it a
spiritual vacuum; rather, the Spirit of God is being driven out of our society, replaced
by the spirits of darkness, by the powers of the prince of this world. Russian immigrants
were perhaps among the earliest to recognize this development, having lived through a
similar experience in their homeland. Now this transformation is becoming more and more
evident to others in America.
In times of trouble, people turn (or return) to God. This homecoming
may be seen in many souls who seek refuge in God's only Church, the Orthodox Church. But
Baptism and an occasional visit to a distant parish or monastery are insufficient for an
active spiritual life; that is, for the life of prayer, the prerequisite for true
repentance and salvation. A soul needs Christian nourishment any day of the week and in
every hour of the day.
The late Archbishop Andrew of Rockland (of blessed memory) taught his
spiritual children what the holy Fathers of the Church established long ago: to be, as the
Apostle commands, in a state of constant prayer, one must have regular prayers at
intervals of no more than four hours. Indeed, if one places the daily cycle of church
services in its proper, ancient order, one will see that the interval between services is
always three hours or less:
6:00 p.m. Vespers
9:00 p.m. Compline and Evening prayers
The Midnight Office
3:00 a.m. Morning prayers and Matins
7:00 a.m. First Hour
9:00 a.m. Third Hour
12 noon Sixth Hour
3:00 p.m. Ninth Hour
The Divine Liturgy is set within this cycle, usually between the first
and sixth hour, except in some monasteries and on the eves of certain feasts.
While such an order of services is ideal, in recent memory it has been
observed only in the monasteries of the "Unsleeping Ones"—where services
are conducted uninterruptedly by shifts of monks and priestmonks. But it is important for
us to be aware of the original schedule of the services, that we may humble ourselves as
we realize how far we are from fulfilling the apostolic command, "Pray
unceasingly."
However, we should not despair if we cannot attain this ideal. Our Lord
Jesus Christ and His Church do not demand from us anything more than what is within our
capacities. We are expected to do what we can, within our circumstances; as is reflected
by the grouping of the daily cycle of worship into morning, evening and midnight services
in our monasteries, and into vigils and liturgies only on Sundays and feast days -in our
parishes.
Those who live far away from an Orthodox church can participate in
prayer with the whole Church by celebrating its feasts in their own homes. Others may have
the time and the desire to add the reading of the weekday or the services to the saints to
their usual morning and evening prayers. This practice is encouraged by the Church,
especially for those who cannot come to church regularly. The Aleuts and Eskimos of Alaska
kept the Orthodox faith alive for over 100 years despite the virtual absence of the
clergy.
In 1950, when the resettlement of Russian refugees from the Second
World War was at its height, Fr. Sergei Shukin, with the blessing of Metropolitan Seraphim
of Berlin and Germany, wrote a short Typicon to guide
Orthodox Christian refugees how to conduct prayer services if an Orthodox priest were
unavailable where they relocated. Today, when many American-born Orthodox Christians find
themselves as spiritual refugees from their own society and may soon find themselves
subject to persecution, a translation of this Typicon is timely, with a revised list of
prayer and service books available in English. Besides its immediate value from a deeper
immersion in the Church's daily life of prayer, an Orthodox Christian, who begins reading
church services privately, will find that when he goes to church, the services and chants
will become more understandable and enjoyable to him and his family, and thus more
profitable for their souls.
From Orthodox Life, Vol. 33, No. 1 (Jan-Feb 1983), pp.
39-40.
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