How and at what time to pray according to the Book of Hours?

Archpriest Andrei Tkachev answers questions from radio listeners.

Listen:

— Are there any minimum and maximum requirements for fulfilling the commandments? When John the Baptist preached, he did not have very difficult demands. It was simply necessary for God’s sake to honestly fulfill universal human norms. The Baptist did not demand self-sacrifice from everyone. And now what happens? Some people say: you must fast strictly, others: at least don’t eat people! On the one hand, we must strive for perfection, on the other hand, we must at least confess mortal sins before the end .

-The day of the feast of the Myrrh-Bearing Women has passed, and I experienced deep disappointment, because on March 8th they tell us: sit, this is the day of unbelievers, your holiday is the Myrrh-Bearing Women. And then they say that you are not the Myrrh-Bearing Wife, and there is no point in congratulating you. And so we are left without gifts. It hurts.

-On the first question, I will express my personal opinion. I am confident that ascetic, maximally intense work is useful and possible for a person who is morally healthy and integral by nature. In terms of thinking, verbal activity and everyday practice. That is, he thinks, does and says approximately the same thing. This is the kind of person who can be an ascetic. If a person is broken into pieces from him, asceticism is not required, because he will become a freak, a monster. These are facts proven by many examples. He is required to first become a man. That is, to show philanthropy, respect for elders, respect for other people's wisdom, compassion for other people's misfortune, to help people in misfortunes, in various everyday needs. These are the main occupations of people who would like to, but cannot, carry out ascetic labor. Some kind of strong fasting, frequent fasting and communion. I am in favor of talking about people and minimizing the demands of asceticism on those who are crippled by heredity, life lived, or a painful condition. Direct the energy of such people not into asceticism, but into philanthropy. Well, whoever is healthy in soul, body, mind and heart - let him strive. We need to think pastorally about the degree of human health.

As for March 8 and the Myrrh-Bearing Women, I feel sorry for you, because I don’t know such a problem. I believe that you can congratulate women on March 8, as Eve’s daughters, and there is nothing wrong with that. Forget about Clara Zetkin, who needs her? Who today connects May 1 with the shooting of workers in Chicago? These are things that have already budded off, living independently. Therefore, on March 8, you can calmly congratulate you, kiss you on the cheek and give you some kind of mimosa. And Myrrh-Bearing Women - of course, you can humiliate us all, declare that you are not an apostle and you are not a Myrrh-Bearing Woman. But is it necessary to say so? I'll tell you about our practice. We have been practicing this thing for many years in the churches where I served and serve: we give women on the day of the Myrrh-Bearing Women to read the Six Psalms and prayers after communion. Women stand with the cloth at communion; at the procession everything is carried by women. We saturate the celebration of the Liturgy with liturgical signs and the presence of women as much as possible. We show that everything up to the altar can be done by women. We just don’t let them into the altar. We are pleased with this, perhaps even more than the women themselves. Because good women deserve great praise. Bad women deserve a big whip. It is very nice to honor good women on this day and say good words to them. And there is even such a tradition: to give every girl, girl, woman, and grandmother in church a flower on this day. I grew up on this.

It seems to me that women need to be cheered up with affection several times a year. Such a good, sinless, churchly caress. A woman in church already bears a lot on herself, and if she does this, she will bear even more. Our sisters need to be shown legitimate gratitude.

-When you attend a service in a monastery, there is a prayerful mood during the singing, but in the parish it’s somehow not the same.

-There is John Tolkien, the writer who wrote The Lord of the Rings. He was a good friend of Clive Lewis, who wrote wonderful gospel stories. “Letters of a troublemaker”, and others. They were friends and enriched each other with ideas. Once they brought me a letter from Tolkien to his son. And there are these words: “Son, you can be seduced in Divine services by beautiful singing, a beautiful organ, a bright preacher, beautiful architecture, well-dressed, beautiful people - everything can seduce you. Or you can choose a temple where there are many beautiful, rich people. But understand that the sign that you love Christ will be if you sit in some poor run-down church.” Catholics sit for most of the service. The priest will be in vestments that have not been washed for a long time, this will be noticeable, he will have a red nose, hinting that he is not a very great ascetic. And his sermon will be boring, there will be 2-3 people at the service with you, and the temple will be old and not renovated. But you, son, if you sit and understand Who you have come to, if Christ occupies your consciousness and you pray to Him, then know, dear son, that you have faith.

Of course, I have now translated all this into my own language, but I really liked the idea itself.

Be that as it may, you feel that Christ is here. And you feel good because you are with Him. This is what faith is. When all cultural supports are removed, and only faith remains.

Of course, you can go with love to monastery churches, where monks will roar! Well, it is clear that the soul asks to come out with tears. The man is crying. Beautiful. But in another church, where there is nothing at all, in such churches the presence of God is felt with a greater degree of obviousness. This is where your efforts are needed.

-I’m from a village myself, and we lived very hard. But my grandmother said that under the Tsar life was much worse. And the Tsar was only concerned with his family. And now I live under Putin, I don’t have a dacha, I don’t have a car, but it seems that I live better than everyone else. Calm down, it’s good, really, life is over, I’m already 88.

-I also think that we live better under Putin than under many others. Your experience, your life - it is with you. Of course, not everything was smooth in the Russian Empire. If everything had been smooth, there would have been no revolution. But the fact that you praised today’s leadership is already worth something.

Live long and pray to God. You know, I think that there is a world behind the scenes, there are big powers, there are big markets, there are cash flows, in general - there are things that affect the lives of millions of people. And at the same time, there is such a proverb: “do not be afraid of a strong thunderstorm, but be afraid of a weak tear.” That is, when a weak little person prays to God, cries, complains to God about someone, about something, then the Lord, the Judge of the orphans, the Judge of widows, will listen to this. Here you are, people of the older generation, if you have faith, everything remains in your memory - both the life you lived, the sadness, and the joy. Ahead is only the Kingdom of Heaven, you pray to God, please, old men, old women. Because your help to us, young, or relatively young, is priceless. We are all different young people. Some people are 50 years old and young. But a person grows up to 24 years old. Then the development processes end. And here you are, old people who have lived life and have faith - please pray to God for the Patriarch, for the President, for all good people, for all young people who are looking for God, cannot find it or are not looking, but they need Him. The strength of the elderly is prayer, and the strength of the people is the praying old people, including.

-Now our Patriarch and our president are on Mount Athos. That is, both heads of the two-headed eagle are in Greece today, and Holy Mount Athos will receive them. Let's pray that the air will be favorable for flight, the sea - for landing on land, Mount Athos with the prayers of the Mother of God - for visiting the elders, talking with them, praying, communion with them and all these spiritual things. So that His Holiness’s visit with the President takes place favorably, for the benefit of the world. What can we do about the fact that Russia is intertwined with the destinies of the world? Arseny Tarkovsky, the same one who is the father of the famous film director Andrei Arsenyevich, has a poem: “I am a man, I am in the middle of the world, behind me are myriads of thunderstorms. There are myriads of stars in front of me, I lay down between them at my own height. Two shores connecting the sea, two shores connected by a bridge. I am Nestor, the chronicler of the Mesozoic, and I am Jeremiah of the coming days, holding a clock and a calendar in my hands, I am tied into the future, like Russia, and I curse the past, like a beggar king.”

Here are very important lines - “holding a clock and a calendar in your hands,” that is, time-time-time. We all worry about time. Last times or not last times? “I am tied into the future like Russia, and I curse the past like a beggar tsar.” That is, we complain about the past, like a beggar tsar who was driven from the throne, but we are tied into the future, like Russia. And Russia is involved in the future. That is, the future will not be decided without Russia. Today Russia, in the person of both heads of the two-headed eagle - His Holiness and the President on Holy Mount Athos at the Mother of God under the omophorion - let us pray for this. May the Queen of Heaven protect His Holiness the Patriarch and President of the Russian Federation, the servant of God Vladimir, for many years to come, and may the Queen of Heaven admonish them to do the right thing. Because from the time of the appearance of the icon of the Mother of God Sovereign, we understand that Russia has come under the omophorion of the Queen of Heaven, and She is the mistress of our land, as she was before. But before there were also kings, it was possible to write off the kings as the king - the father, the king - the breadwinner, the king - the guardian. And today the Mother of God took everything. And today on Mount Athos, as a hostess, She receives the Patriarch and the President. Let us pray that there will be no open hot phase of World War III. Let us pray that our people will multiply, and be formed, and become divine. Do you know that in 4 years, from 2011 to 2015, the number of abortions in the Russian Federation decreased by 25%? Can you imagine how many children were not killed? This is a great breakthrough! 32% of women voluntarily refused to have abortions after talking to them about this topic. It's not final, but it's a victory. That is, there is a war going on! For the future, for the past, for the present. And we are involved in it. There is something to pray about, there is someone to pray for, pray a lot, dear friends. Pray especially for those who today cannot do anything but pray, because their hands are weak, their eyes see poorly, and they are already advanced in age. Because most of life has been lived. You have faith and grace on the threshold of eternity. Pray for the young, because they still have time to live, and they have temptations that even your difficult youth did not know.

-Tell me how and at what time to pray according to the book of hours and could you write a book like this?

-I once wrote an article called: “A Day with a Book of Hours”, it is available on the Orthodoxy resource. RU. The essence there is the following: we dance from the clock. 3rd and 6th hour. The 6th hour according to our account is 12 o'clock, the 3rd hour is 9 o'clock in the morning according to our account. The first is 6 o'clock in the morning. Matins can be read at 5 o'clock in the morning. Then 1st hour. Then at 9 o'clock in the morning the 3rd hour, 6th 12 o'clock at noon and lunch no later than 12, then at 15 o'clock you can read Vespers. Compline can be read at 8-9 pm. Midnight Office - at midnight. Here is the entire cycle, which can be read during the day if you have the time and desire to do so. That is, you can live the whole day with the Book of Hours. Muslims who pray 5 times a day according to the movement of the sun. They took their fifth prayer from the Byzantine monks, that is, also 5, 9, 12, 15, 18 hours. And then we have 9, 12, hours. So that's a good question, but it requires going on vacation. Specially for a month and for the whole month, practice with the Book of Hours. This is a good topic, very beautiful. We received the Divine Service in a different form, but its meaning was precisely such that there were many prayers throughout the day - short, but many. That is, there are several principles, one principle says: pray rarely, but for a long time. And the second principle is more serious, vital, says: pray as often as possible, but shorter. This is healthier than praying once a week for three hours. It is better to pray every day every two hours for five minutes. Better shorter, but constant, this principle is laid down in the Book of Hours.

God's help, my friends!

The oldest prayer book

Formally, the Old Testament Psalter can be considered the very first prayer book compiled. Every psalm is a prayer. Some psalms (for example, the 50th “Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your great mercy...”) are still included in current prayer books.

The Psalter is, in fact, the earliest prayer book - compiled before the Nativity of Christ.

But if we talk specifically about prayer books designed specifically for the laity to pray at home, then their distribution is associated with the development of printing. And before that, handwritten prayer books were available either only in monasteries (for cell reading by monks) or among the wealthiest residents. And, of course, kings.

While books were handwritten, prayer books remained a rarity. Only monasteries, churches, rich laypeople and, of course, the king had the opportunity to keep them.

For home (cell) reading

Through the prayers of the saints, our fathers, Lord Jesus Christ, our God, have mercy on us. Amen.

Glory to Thee, our God, glory to Thee.

Heavenly King, Comforter, Soul of truth, Who is everywhere and fulfills everything, Treasure of good things and Giver of life, come and dwell in us, and cleanse us from all filth, and save, O Good One, souls ours.

Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. (Thrice.)

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

Most Holy Trinity, have mercy on us; Lord, cleanse our sins; Master, forgive our iniquities; Holy One, visit and heal our infirmities, for Thy name's sake.

Lord, have mercy (three times). Glory, and now:

Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, as it is in Heaven and on earth. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, just as we forgive our debtors; and do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

Also, Lord, have mercy, (12), Glory, and now:

Come, let us worship the King our God.

Come, let us worship and fall down before Christ, our King God.

Come, let us bow and fall down to Christ Himself, the King and our God.

Psalm 5:

Inspire my words, Lord, understand my calling. Listen to the voice of my prayer, my King and my God, as I pray to You, Lord. Tomorrow hear my voice, tomorrow I will appear to You and see me. For God does not will iniquity, Thou art: the wicked shall not dwell in Thee; the wicked shall abide below Thy eyes: Thou hast hated all those who practice iniquity. Destroy all those who speak lies: the Lord abhors a man of blood and flattery. But through the multitude of Thy mercy, I will go into Thy house and worship Thy holy temple, in Thy fear. Lord, guide me in Your righteousness, my enemy, for my sake, straighten my path before You. For there is no truth in their mouth, their heart is vain, their grave is opened, their throat is open: their tongues are flattering. Judge for them, O God, that they may fall away from their thoughts; because of the multitude of their wickedness, forgive me, for I have grieved Thee, O Lord. And let all who trust in Thee rejoice, may they rejoice forever, and dwell in them, and let those who love Thy name boast in Thee. For you have blessed the righteous, O Lord, for you have crowned us with weapons of favor.

Psalm 89:

Lord, you have been our refuge forever and ever. Before even the mountains existed and the earth and the universe were created, and from eternity to eternity You are. Do not turn man away into humility, and you say: turn, sons of humanity. Like a thousand years are before Your eyes, O Lord, like yesterday, like the past, and the watch of the night. The humiliations of their summer will be. The morning will pass by like grass; the morning will flourish and pass away; in the evening it will fall away and become hard and wither. For I have been consumed by Your wrath, and have been troubled by Your wrath. Thou hast laid down our iniquities before Thee: our age is for the illumination of Thy face. As all our days have become impoverished, and through Your wrath has disappeared, our summer has become like a spider. The days of our years are, at the bottom, seventy years, and yet we are able, eighty years, and we multiply their labor and sickness: for meekness will come upon us, and we will be punished. Who will tell the power of Your wrath, and out of Your fear, will consume Your wrath? Tell me Thy right hand, and those who are bound in heart in wisdom. Turn back, Lord, how long? And beg for Thy servants. In the morning we were filled with Thy mercy, O Lord, and we rejoiced and rejoiced, all our days we rejoiced, for the days in this day you humbled us, in the summer in this day we saw evil. And look upon Thy servants, and upon Thy works, and instruct their sons. And may the Lord our God be upon us, and restore the work of our hands upon us, and restore the work of our hands.

Psalm 100:

I will sing mercy and judgment to You, Lord. I sing and understand on the path without blame, when will you come to me? I walked in the gentleness of my heart in the midst of my house. I did not present before my eyes a thing that was unlawful: I hated those who committed the crime. Do not my obstinate heart cling to me; I have not known the evil one who turns away from me. He who slanders his sincere secret, I drive him out: with a proud eye and an unsatisfied heart, I do not eat with this. My eyes are on the faithful lands, plant them with me: walk on the blameless path that serves me. If you do not live in the midst of my house, you create pride, you say unrighteousness, and you do not correct yourself in my sight. In the morning, all the sinners of the earth were slaughtered, and all those who practice iniquity consumed from the city of the Lord.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, glory to you God. Three times.

Lord, have mercy, three times.

Glory, troparion for the day.

And now: Theotokos :

What shall we call You, O Blessed One? / Heaven, as if you have risen as the Sun of Truth. / Paradise, as if you have vegetated, the color of incorruptibility. / Virgin, for you remain incorruptible. / Pure Mother, as you had in your holy embrace the Son, all God. / Pray to him for the salvation of our souls.

Direct my steps according to Thy word / and let not all iniquity possess me. / Deliver me from the slander of men, / and I will keep Your commandments. / Make Thy face shine upon Thy servant / And teach me by Thy justification.

Let my mouth be filled with Your praise, O Lord, / for I will sing of Your glory, / Your splendor all day long.

Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. (Thrice.)

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

Most Holy Trinity, have mercy on us; Lord, cleanse our sins; Master, forgive our iniquities; Holy One, visit and heal our infirmities, for Thy name's sake.

Lord, have mercy (three times). Glory, and now:

Kontakion of the holy, or received, holiday.

Lord have mercy, 40.

And at all times and at every hour, in Heaven and on earth, worshiped and glorified, Christ God, Long-suffering, Much-merciful, Many-compassionate, Who loves the righteous and has mercy on sinners, Who is all call for salvation promises for the sake of future blessings. Himself, Lord, accept our prayer at this hour and straighten our life to Your commandments, sanctify our souls, cleanse our bodies, correct our thoughts, cleanse our thoughts and deliver us from all sorrow and evil. and illnesses, protect us with Your holy Angels, and with a militia By observing and instructing them, we will achieve the unity of faith and the mind of Your unapproachable glory, as blessed are You forever and ever, amen.

Lord have mercy, three times. Glory, and now:

The most honorable Cherub / and the most glorious without comparison Seraphim, / who gave birth to God the Word without corruption, / the real Mother of God, we magnify Thee.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, through the prayers of Thy Most Pure Mother, our reverend and God-bearing fathers and all the saints, have mercy and save us, for He is Good and Lover of Mankind. Amen

And a prayer:

Christ, the True Light, enlighten and sanctify every person coming into the world, may the light of Your countenance appear upon us, so that in it we will see the Unapproachable Light: and straighten our steps to do the commandments. oh, through the prayers of Your Most Pure Mother, and all Your saints, amen .

Kontakion: To the victorious Voivode, / as having got rid of the evil ones, / let us write thanksgiving to Thy servants, O Theotokos, / but as having an invincible power, / free us from all troubles, let us call Ti; / Rejoice, Unbridled Bride.

Source of the article: https://xn—-7sbahbba0chrecjllhdbcuymu3s.xn--p1ai/molitvi/chasoslov/chas_1.html

When did morning and evening rules appear?

There is no exact answer to the question of when and why the familiar Morning Prayers and Prayers for Sleep for the Future appeared. Briefly speaking, we can say that:

The Morning and Evening rules are a distant “echo” from the Midnight Office and Compline - both there and there the same prayers are found.
The first attempts to add prayers for the laity to the book of hours began in Rus' in manuscripts - around the 16th century.
Over time, with the spread of printing, such attempts became more or less commonplace.
At the end of the 19th and the very beginning of the 20th centuries, they had already become practically established. And, probably, it was then that the current composition of prayers was finally formed.
And quite finally, the Morning and Evening Rules, as the only practice for the laity, became in Soviet times - thanks to the same type of prayer books of the Moscow Patriarchate - they were the only prayer books in the USSR.

Previously, did you read books of hours rather than prayer books?

This is the most interesting moment. As such, the morning and evening rules that we are reading now entered Church use relatively recently. And before that, the laity read books of hours, and by prayer books they were understood.

The Book of Hours is a prayer collection that contains the majority (and in fact, almost all) of the services of the daily cycle: Matins, Compline, Midnight Office and, in fact, the Hours.

These services, unlike the Liturgy, are primarily readings. They consist of psalms and prayers compiled in the first centuries of Christianity.

In Rus' (and, say, in Greece to this day), the laity read the Midnight Office in the morning, and Compline in the evening. During the day - if there was an opportunity and desire - a clock. (There was only one restriction - when reading, omit those rare lines that were intended exclusively for the priest).

Reading the Book of Hours by the laity has its advantages. Reading them, a person feels even better his involvement in the Church. It is as if he does not break away from Church life, but continues it - directly at home.

Book of Hours of the 18th century. No longer handwritten, but printed. Although the text of the funeral prayer is inscribed to the left of the hand.