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How to Light Candles in Church
Read more: How to Light Candles in ChurchThe custom of lighting lamps began a very long time ago, in the earliest centuries of Christianity. Christians, being persecuted for confessing their faith, gathered secretly at night to pray. At first, candles were lit simply to illuminate the place of prayer. But very soon, they came to be lit not only for light, but…
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The Cherubic Hymn and Its Meaning
Read more: The Cherubic Hymn and Its MeaningThe Cherubic Hymn is an important part of the Divine Liturgy. It is sung by both choirs of cantors as they descend to the center of the church. The rest of the faithful stand with bowed heads. It is forbidden to move about the church during the singing of the Cherubic Hymn. The text of…
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On Commemoration Slips at the Liturgy
Read more: On Commemoration Slips at the LiturgyHow should names be written on slips submitted to the church, and how should names be mentioned in private prayer for the living and the departed? In church, names of non-Old Believers are entered into a separate list for the litany, but should their names also be mentioned separately in private prayer? At every liturgy,…
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About the Morning Office. (Matins)
Read more: About the Morning Office. (Matins)Vespers depicts the beginning of human history, the first days of the Fall — the evening (the end) of the creation of the world, which for man after the Fall was replaced by a dark night, deprived of the vision of the bright Face of God. Morning Office depicts the joyful and radiant morning —…
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The Midnight Office
Read more: The Midnight OfficeThe Midnight Office (Полуно́щница) is one of the services in the daily liturgical cycle, dedicated to the coming Second Advent of Jesus Christ and the Last Judgment. It is performed at midnight or at any hour of the night before morning, and only once per day. Depending on the day, it may be a daily, Saturday, Sunday,…
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About the Service of the Pavechernitsa (Compline)
Read more: About the Service of the Pavechernitsa (Compline)One of the daily services that every Christian should strive to observe is Pavechernitsa, or Compline. The name Pavechernitsa (also known as Povecherie in Slavonic usage) derives from the phrase “after supper” — that is, the time following the evening meal. According to the typikon (liturgical rule), this service is performed after Vespers. The order of Pavechernitsa began to take shape in the…
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Order of Sunday Vespers Without a Priest
Read more: Order of Sunday Vespers Without a PriestGod, be merciful unto me, a sinner. (Bow) O Lord, who created me, have mercy on me. (Bow) I have sinned without number, O Lord, have mercy on me, and forgive me, a sinner. (Bow) It is worthy, for in truth to bless thee, O God-bearer, ever blessed and most unblemished, and the mother of our God. More…
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About Vespers
Read more: About VespersThe All-Night Vigil consists of three parts: Vespers, Matins, and the First Hour. Vespers is the first service of the daily church cycle. The cycle begins with Vespers because in ancient times the day was considered to begin in the evening: “And the evening and the morning were the first day” (Genesis 1:5). Vespers may…
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Canon to the Venerable Serapion of Cheremshan
Read more: Canon to the Venerable Serapion of CheremshanTropar to the Venerable One, Tone 1, in the melody “In birthgiving thou didst preserve thy virginity…” Thou wast on earth an angel and in heaven a man, O wise Serapion, a rule of virtues; with love thou didst ascend unto the True Life, and by thy prayers do thou deliver our souls from death….
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Canon to the Holy Hieromartyr and Confessor Pavel, Bishop of Kolomna
Read more: Canon to the Holy Hieromartyr and Confessor Pavel, Bishop of KolomnaTropar, Tone 8: O Hierarch Pavel, confessor and bishop of Kolomna, who didst denounce delusion and wast slain by the savage Nikon: thou art a firm hope unto the oppressed. Do thou deliver and save us who faithfully celebrate thy radiant memory. (Twice) Glory, both now and ever. Bogorodichen: O Thou who for our sake wast born of…