The question of whether it is possible to pray during menstruation and how to do it interests many women. However, you shouldn’t even think about such obvious things. After all, prayer as an appeal to God can be said in absolutely any state if it comes from the heart and is sincere.
Since ancient times, any bleeding among the weaker sex was not considered a sin at all. We have received beliefs that some women who approached Christ himself, as well as took hold of the hem of his robe, were in a state of natural bleeding at the time of repentance. This was not considered a sin, since the Creator himself decided so. In this way, the woman’s monthly cleansing took place.
So why is the modern church and many clergy simply convinced that a woman during her period should not even enter the threshold of a church? If you follow the teachings of the Lord, then you can and even need to pray, provided that the prayer comes from the heart.
When a woman’s health does not allow her to attend church, she can pray at home, standing in front of an icon. If a person’s faith is unshakable, then the Lord will definitely hear his prayer, no matter where and in what condition he is.
However, even now, according to the beliefs of many peoples, a woman during menstruation is forbidden not only to cross the threshold into a church, but also to show herself to people in general. But in many civilized, developed countries, menstruation is not considered such a sin that because of it one cannot turn to God and visit Holy places.
About critical days in the Old Testament
The Old Testament expresses the only opinion that during menstruation a woman is considered unclean and should not enter church. This was due to three simple reasons. The most primitive is hygiene standards. The other two are of a philosophical and spiritual nature.
According to the Old Testament, it is believed that Adam and Eve, having sinned, lost their immortality. Since then, a woman’s menstruation appeared as a constant reminder of the sin committed. According to some beliefs, a woman these days is considered unclean, since a dead egg is released with the blood, that is, the death of the embryo itself occurs.
What is prayer
Prayer is a call to the Almighty, in mental or verbal expression, in which the person praying asks for help with advice or guidance on the true path. A prayer message carries a special energy charge, which makes it different from a regular message. The peculiarity of prayer is its sincerity. It comes from the soul and does not contain any material background.
Prayers that are memorized and spoken without inner awareness lack the proper power and become like a beautiful poem.
What does God's Commandments say about menstruation?
The Commandments of God say that praying at home during menstruation cannot in any way be considered a sin, therefore, without leaving the threshold, you can pray at any time, even when a woman is sick. In this way, she can beg for healing for herself if her appeal is truly sincere.
The New Testament says that a person who turned to the Lord of his own free will and with a pure soul will be resurrected with him. At the same time, no illnesses or even death can dominate him.
So a woman who believes with all her soul cannot be considered a sinner because of the most natural processes occurring in her body, over which she has no control.
Thus, women should not be prohibited from attending church even while menstruating. The only thing that some priests can advise ladies is not to stand for the entire service from beginning to end. But this is done only to preserve the strength and health of women.
Today, there are several opinions about the arrival of a woman. It all depends on the beliefs of the priest himself. However, every lady herself should have common sense. After all, if during menstruation she also feels unwell, then it would be better for her to stay and pray at home.
Is it possible to pray during menstruation - the opinion of the church
All Christians are required to read prayers daily. After all, when a person prays, he communicates with the Almighty. Communication with God helps people not to stray from the righteous path and to always be under God's protection and patronage. It is recommended to turn to Christ the Savior with the words of prayers from the Holy Prayer Book. During your period, you can and even need to pray.
True, on critical days it is advisable to refrain from visiting church. It is better to stay at home and pray in front of the holy icon. It is recommended to postpone the visit to the church to a more favorable period.
In Orthodoxy there are no prohibitions on visiting church. A woman who is menstruating has the right to come to church and attend services. However, on critical days it is forbidden to venerate church shrines and receive communion. But you can light a candle, order a memorial service or prayer service.
It is better to stay at home during your period and say the text of the most holy prayer in front of the most holy images of Christ the Savior, the Immaculate Virgin and the icon of the Great Martyr. On critical days, you are allowed to read a prayer book, the Bible, and books about the lives of saints. Menstruation is not a reason to refuse communication with the Lord God. On the contrary, during a period of female weakness, you can turn to Christ the Savior and ask him to ease suffering.
Social beliefs
The female population, who are not too aware of the rules for visiting holy places, may still be wondering whether it is even possible to pray during menstrual periods, be it at home or in a temple. They only need to understand that sincere prayer will never be a sin before the Lord. It is very important that a woman always maintains her faith, so prayer is not only possible, but also absolutely necessary.
For a long time it was believed that a woman during menstruation could smear the floor of the sanctuary with her unclean blood. But then there were no such good hygiene products that the modern generation can use. This is probably why it was believed that a woman these days is unclean. Now everything has changed a little.
If a woman has completed all the required hygienic measures, she can still visit the cathedral to turn to the Lord. And this is even more true for prayer in front of home icons. After all, a woman cannot be forbidden to believe in God and talk to him, no matter what state she is in. However, much depends on the beliefs of the parishioner herself. After all, some are still convinced that the appearance of a woman in church while on her period is considered a great sin.
It is only worth remembering that any appeal to the Almighty, uttered from a pure heart, will be heard.
If faith is sincere, the Lord will help a woman endure any situation, therefore, even without attending church, you can always turn to God with prayer in front of a home icon.
Happy holiday to you, Father Alexey! Thank you for the detailed answers to the questions. Sorry again if the questions seemed stupid to you. Unfortunately, such questions accumulate more and more as I begin to read books on Orthodox topics. Again I am asking you a question, sorry. Currently I am praying in front of the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. This icon is the only thing that my grandmother took with her when she came to live with us (she sold her house in the village). I remember this icon from childhood, when I came to visit her on vacation. I loved to watch in the evenings how my grandmother prayed in front of the icons, and then, so that no one would see, she crossed me at night (I pretended to be sleeping). My father and mother were party members, so my grandmother did everything in secret from them. The image itself is small: in the center is the half-length figure of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, above his right shoulder in a cloud is Jesus Christ, above his left shoulder in the cloud is an image of the Most Holy Theotokos holding a veil in her hands. They both look at the figure of the Saint. But the icon case in which the icon is placed is very large - 3 times larger in size than the icons that I have. After my grandmother’s death, my mother put the icon on her closet along with a homemade lamp that burned in front of the icon back in my grandmother’s house (it is made from a small glass cup with a metal lid, into the hole of which a wick is inserted). There is no place next to the icon to place other icons. The icons that I bought later are in the hall (that’s where I sleep). The place is passable. It is not very convenient to pray here. After the death of my mother, the icon remained in the same place. The question of where to pray did not confront me at that moment - of course, in my mother’s room in front of the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. And now I doubt it - am I doing the right thing by not praying in front of the icons of Christ and the Mother of God? At the same time, I feel very comfortable and calm in front of this icon. I heard that there are icons “prayed” by several generations - maybe this is what it is? It is impossible to move it to where the other icons are located - it will not fit in height (the icons are on one of the shelves of the sideboard). What to do in this case? The homemade lamp that I light in front of this icon is very old, but I can’t bring myself to throw it away and replace it with a real one. It seems to me that it doesn’t matter where the lamp oil is poured, right? The main thing is that the light glows during. Thank you for reading this letter. I really needed to tell you about this, seek advice, and take the weight off my heart. Thank you again for the time you spend with us.
Taking communion during menstruation is a question that causes controversy among priests and worries every Christian woman.
Without knowing a clear answer, during menstruation the parishioners remain to listen to the service in the vestibule.
How to choose and use a tampon correctly when swimming?
You need to prepare in advance for water procedures during menstrual bleeding. The size of the tampon should correspond to the individual characteristics of the woman; it is better to use those tampons that are already known and comfortable to use. The tampon should have maximum absorbency. If you have not previously used such hygienic devices, it is better to choose small tampons.
It is more convenient to use products with an applicator: they are easier to insert into the vagina, and there is no discomfort during movement. You can test the tampon in the bath. If it quickly begins to swell, then this option is not suitable for swimming in a pond.
When using tampons, you must follow certain rules:
- change more often than usual;
- follow the instructions indicated on the packaging;
- Wash your hands thoroughly before use;
- immediately after bathing, it is necessary to replace the hygiene product, preventing the proliferation of pathogenic microorganisms;
- Use a new tampon for your next bath.
Staying in water with a tampon is limited to a time interval of 20 minutes. With longer use, it may become soaked and the penetration of harmful microorganisms. If there are gynecological pathologies, swimming with a tampon during menstruation is strictly prohibited.
Where do the roots of the ban come from? We look for the answer in the Old Testament
The church vestibule is located in the western part of the temple; it is a corridor between the temple entrance and the courtyard. The narthex has long served as a hearing place for unbaptized people, catechumens, and those who were prohibited from entering the temple for a certain time.
Is there anything offensive for a Christian to be outside of church service, participation in confession, and communion for a while?
Menstrual days are not a disease or a sin, but a natural state of a healthy woman, emphasizing her ability to give children to the world.
Why then does the question arise: is it possible to confess during menstruation?
The Old Testament places a lot of emphasis on the concept of purity in coming before God.
Impurities included:
- diseases in the form of leprosy, scabies, ulcers;
- all sorts of discharges in both women and men;
- touching a dead body.
The Jews were not a single people before leaving Egypt. In addition to worshiping the One God, they borrowed a lot from pagan cultures.
Judaism believed that uncleanness, a dead body, were one concept. Death is the punishment for Adam and Eve for disobedience.
The first Christian women also faced the problem of whether it was possible to receive communion during menstruation; they had to make the decision themselves. Someone, following traditions and canons, did not touch anything sacred. Others believed that nothing could separate them from God's love except sin.
Many believing virgins confessed and received communion during menstruation, finding no prohibition in the words and sermons of Jesus.
The attitude of the Orthodox Church to:
The attitude of the early church and the holy fathers of that time to the issue of menstruation
With the advent of the new belief, there were no clear concepts either in Christianity or in Judaism.
The apostles separated themselves from the teachings of Moses, without denying the inspiration of the Old Testament. At the same time, ritual impurity was practically not an object of discussion.
The holy fathers of the early church, such as Methodius of Olympus, Origen, and the Martyr Justin, treated the issue of purity as a concept of sin. Unclean, according to their concepts, means sinful, this applied to women during menstruation.
Origen considered not only menstruation, but also sexual intercourse to be unclean. He ignored Jesus' words that when two people copulate they become one body. (Matthew 19:5). His stoicism and asceticism were not confirmed in the New Testament.
The Antiochian doctrine of the third century put the teachings of the Levites under prohibition. The Didascalia, on the contrary, denounces Christian women who abandoned the Holy Spirit during menstruation, separating the body from church services. The church fathers of that time considered the same bleeding patient to be the basis for their exhortation.
Clementius of Rome gave an answer to the problem - is it possible to go to church during menstruation, arguing that if a person who stops attending the Liturgy or receiving communion has left the Holy Spirit.
A Christian woman who has not crossed the threshold of the temple during menstruation, who has not touched the Bible, can die without the Holy Spirit, and what then? Saint Clement in the “Apostolic Constitutions” argued that neither the birth of a child, nor critical days, nor wet dreams defile a person and cannot separate him from the Holy Spirit.
Important! Clementius of Rome condemned Christian women for empty speech, but considered childbirth, bleeding, and bodily defects to be natural things. He called prohibitions the invention of stupid people.
Saint Gregory the Dvoeslov also stood on the side of women, arguing that natural, God-created processes in the human body cannot become the reason for the ban on attending church services, confessing, or receiving communion.
Further, the issue of female impurity during menstruation was raised at the Gangra Council. The priests meeting in 341 condemned the Eustathians, who considered not only menstruation unclean but also sexual intercourse, forbidding priests from marrying. In their false teaching, the difference between the sexes was destroyed, or rather, a woman was equal to a man in clothing and behavior. The fathers of the Gangra Council condemned the Eustathian movement, defending the femininity of Christian women, recognizing all processes in their body as natural, created by God.
In the sixth century, Gregory the Great, the Pope of Rome, took the side of the faithful parishioners.
The Pope wrote to St. Augustine of Canterbury, who raised the issue of menstrual days and impurity, that Christian women are not to blame for these days; she should not be prohibited from confessing or receiving communion.
Important! According to Gregory the Great, women who abstain from Communion out of reverence are worthy of praise, but those who accepted it during menstruation out of great love for Christ are not condemned.
The teachings of Gregory the Great lasted until the seventeenth century, when Christian women were again prohibited from entering the church while menstruating.
About the so-called female impurity
Oh, how many times a day does a priest serving in a church have to deal with this topic!.. Parishioners are afraid to enter the church, venerate the cross, they call in panic: “What should I do, I was preparing so much, I was preparing to take communion for the holiday and now...”
From the Diary: One girl calls on the phone: “Father, I could not attend all the holidays in the temple due to uncleanness. And she didn’t pick up the Gospel and holy books. But don't think that I missed the holiday. I read all the texts of the service and the Gospel on the Internet!”
Great invention of the Internet! Even in the days of the so-called ritual impurity can be touched on the computer. And it makes it possible to prayerfully experience the holidays.
- It seems, how can the natural processes of the body separate us from God? And educated girls and women themselves understand this, but there are church canons that prohibit visiting church on certain days...
- How to solve this issue?
- To do this, we need to turn to pre-Christian times, to the Old Testament.
In the Old Testament there are many instructions regarding the purity and impurity of a person. Uncleanness is, first of all, a dead body, some diseases, discharges from the genitals of men and women.
Where did these ideas come from among the Jews? The easiest way to draw parallels is with pagan cultures, which also had similar regulations about uncleanness, but the biblical understanding of uncleanness is much deeper than it seems at first glance.
Of course, there was the influence of pagan culture, but for a person of the Old Testament Jewish culture, the idea of external impurity was rethought; it symbolized some deep theological truths.
Which? In the Old Testament, uncleanness is associated with the theme of death, which took hold of humanity after the fall of Adam and Eve.
It is not difficult to see that death, and illness, and the flow of blood and semen as the destruction of the germs of life - all this reminds of human mortality, of some deep-seated damage to human nature.
A person, in moments of manifestation, discovery of this mortality and sinfulness, must tactfully stand aside from God, Who is Life Itself!
This is how the Old Testament treated uncleanness of this kind.
But in the New Testament the Savior radically rethinks this topic. The past has passed, now everyone who is with Him, even if he dies, will come to life, especially since all the other impurities have no meaning. Christ is the incarnate Life itself (John 14:6).
The apostles taught the same. “I know and am confident in the Lord Jesus,” says St. Paul - that there is nothing unclean in itself; Only to him who regards anything as unclean, it is unclean to him” (Rom. 14:14). He: “For every creation of God is good, and nothing is blameworthy if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer” (1 Tim. 4:4).
In a very real sense, the apostle speaks of food uncleanness. The Jews considered a number of products unclean, but the apostle says that everything created by God is holy and pure. But ap. Paul does not say anything about the impurity of physiological processes.
We do not find specific instructions on whether a woman during her period should be considered unclean, either from him or from the other apostles. If we proceed from the logic of the sermon of St.
Paul, then menstruation - as natural processes of our body - cannot separate a person from God and grace.
We can assume that in the first centuries of Christianity, believers made their own choices. Someone followed tradition, acted like mothers and grandmothers, perhaps “just in case,” or, based on theological convictions or other reasons, defended the point of view that on “critical” days it is better not to touch shrines and not take communion.
Others always received communion, even during menstruation. and no one excommunicated them from Communion.
In any case, we have no information about this, on the contrary. We know that ancient Christians gathered weekly in their homes, even under the threat of death, served the Liturgy and received communion. If there were exceptions to this rule, for example for women in a certain period, then ancient church monuments would have mentioned this. They don't say anything about it.
“If anyone observes and performs Jewish rites regarding the ejaculation of semen, the flow of semen, legal intercourse, let them tell us whether they stop praying, or touching the Bible, or partaking of the Eucharist in those hours and days when they are exposed to something like this? If they say that they stop, then it is obvious that they do not have in themselves the Holy Spirit, Who always abides with believers... In fact, if you, a woman, think that during the seven days when you have your period, you do not have in you Holy Spirit;
then it follows that if you die suddenly, you will leave without the Holy Spirit and boldness and hope in God. But the Holy Spirit, of course, is inherent in you... For neither legal copulation, nor childbirth, nor the flow of blood, nor the flow of semen in a dream can defile the nature of man or separate the Holy Spirit from him; only wickedness and lawless activity separate him from [the Spirit].
So, woman, if, as you say, during the days of menstruation you do not have the Holy Spirit in you, then you must be filled with an unclean spirit. For when you don’t pray and don’t read the Bible, you unwittingly call him to you...
Therefore, woman, refrain from empty speech and always remember the One who created you, and pray to him... without observing anything - neither natural cleansing, nor legal copulation, nor childbirth, nor miscarriages, nor physical defects. These observations are empty and meaningless inventions of stupid people.
...Marriage is honorable and honest, and the birth of children is pure... and natural cleansing is not abominable before God, Who wisely arranged for it to happen to women... But even according to the Gospel, when the bleeding woman touched the saving edge of the Lord’s robe in order to get well, the Lord did not reproach her but he said, “Your faith has saved you.”
“A woman should not be prohibited from entering church during her menstruation, for she cannot be blamed for what is given by nature, and from which a woman suffers against her will.
After all, we know that a woman suffering from bleeding came up to the Lord from behind and touched the hem of His garment, and immediately the illness left her.
Why, if she, while bleeding, could touch the Lord’s garment and receive healing, a woman during her period cannot enter the Church of the Lord?..
It is impossible at such a time to forbid a woman to receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion. If she does not dare to accept it out of great respect, this is commendable, but by accepting it, she will not commit a sin... And menstruation in women is not sinful, for it comes from their nature...
Leave women to their own understanding, and if during their menstruation they do not dare to approach the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of the Lord, they should be praised for their piety. If they... want to accept this Sacrament, they should not, as we said, be prevented from doing so.”
- In the East, there was no consensus on this issue.
- An ancient Syrian Christian document from the 3rd century (Didascalia) says that a Christian woman should not observe any days and can always receive communion.
- St. Dionysius of Alexandria, at the same time, in the middle of the 3rd century, writes something else:
“I don’t think that they [that is, women on certain days], if they are faithful and pious, being in such a state, would dare either to begin the Holy Table, or to touch the Body and Blood of Christ.
For even the woman who had been bleeding for twelve years did not touch Him for healing, but only the hem of her garment. Praying, no matter what state someone is in and no matter how disposed they are, remembering the Lord and asking for His help is not forbidden.
But let him who is not entirely pure in soul and body be prohibited from approaching what is the Holy of Holies.”
100 years later, St. writes on the topic of natural processes of the body. Athanasius of Alexandria. He says that all of God's creation is “good and pure.”
“Tell me, beloved and most reverent, what is sinful or unclean in any natural eruption, as, for example, if someone wanted to blame the discharge of phlegm from the nostrils and saliva from the mouth? We can talk about more, about the eruptions of the womb, which are necessary for the life of a living creature.
If, according to Divine Scripture, we believe that man is the work of God, then how could a bad creation come from pure power? And if we remember that we are the race of God (Acts 17:28), then we have nothing unclean in ourselves. For only then are we defiled when we commit sin, the worst of every stench.”
According to St. Athanasius, thoughts about the pure and the unclean are offered to us by “the tricks of the devil” in order to distract us from spiritual life.
And after another 30 years, the successor of St. Athanasius in the department of St. Timothy of Alexandria spoke differently on the same topic. When asked whether it was possible to baptize or allow a woman to receive Communion if “the usual thing happened to women,” he answered: “It must be postponed until she is cleansed.”
This last opinion, with different variations, existed in the East until recently. Only some fathers and canonists were more rigoristic - a woman should not visit church these days at all, others said that it is possible to pray and visit church, but not to receive communion.
Russian Church of the early period
The Russian Orthodox Church has always been characterized by strict laws regarding women's critical days and all types of discharges. The question is not even raised here: is it possible to go to church while menstruating? The answer is clear and not subject to discussion - no!
Moreover, according to Niphon of Novgorod, if childbirth begins right in the temple and a child is born there, then the entire church is considered desecrated. It is sealed for 3 days and reconsecrated by reading a special prayer, which can be found by reading the “Question of Kirik”.
All those present in the temple were considered unclean and could leave it only after the cleansing prayer of the Trebnik.
If a Christian came to church “clean”, and then had bleeding, she urgently had to leave the church, otherwise she would face a six-month penance.
The cleansing prayers of the Trebnik are still read in churches immediately after the birth of a baby.
This issue causes a lot of controversy. The problem of touching an “unclean” woman in pre-Christian times is understandable. Why today, when a child is born in a sacred marriage and is a gift from God, his birth makes the mother and everyone who touches her defiled?
Contemporary clashes in the Russian Church
Only after 40 days is a Christian woman allowed into the temple, subject to complete “purity”. A ritual of churching or introduction is performed over her.
The modern explanation for this phenomenon is the fatigue of the woman in labor; she supposedly needs to come to her senses. How then can we explain that seriously ill people are recommended to visit church more often, take communion, and be cleansed by the blood of Jesus?
Ministers of the present time understand that the laws of the Trebnik do not always find their confirmation in the Bible and the Holy Scriptures of the Church Fathers.
Marriage, childbearing and impurity are somehow difficult to connect together.
1997 made adjustments on this issue. The Holy Synod of Antioch, His Beatitude Patriarch Ignatius IV, made a decision to change the texts of the Breviary regarding the sanctity of marriage and the purity of Christian women who gave birth to a child in a union sanctified by the church.
Important! When introducing a mother, the church blesses the child’s birthday if the mother is physically strong.
After Crete, Orthodox churches received urgent recommendations to convey to all parishioners that their desire to attend church, confess and take communion is welcomed, regardless of their critical days.
Saint John Chrysostom was critical of the adherents of the canons who claim that visiting the temple on critical days is unacceptable.
Dionysius of Alexandria advocated observance of the canons, however, life has shown that not all laws are observed by modern churches.
The canons should not govern the Church, for they were written for temple services.
Questions about critical days wear the mask of piety based on pre-Christian teachings.
Modern Patriarch Paul of Serbia also does not consider a woman during her period to be spiritually unclean or sinful. He claims that during menstruation a Christian woman can confess and receive communion.
His Holiness the Patriarch writes: “The monthly cleansing of a woman does not make her ritually, prayerfully unclean. This uncleanness is only physical, bodily, as well as discharge from other organs. In addition, since modern hygienic means can effectively prevent the accidental flow of blood from making the temple unclean... we believe that from this side there is no doubt that a woman during her monthly cleansing, with the necessary caution and taking hygienic measures, can come to church , kiss icons, take antidor and blessed water, as well as participate in singing.”
Important! Jesus Himself cleansed women and men with His blood. Christ became the Flesh of all Orthodox Christians. He trampled upon bodily death, giving people spiritual life, independent of the state of the body.
Watch a video about going to church while on your period.
When I begged for my daughter's life, I promised St. Matrona, I will definitely write about everything that happened to me over these six months. And having started this now, it turned out that it was very difficult and I didn’t want to plunge into this hell again. But... promises must be kept. I am not writing all this to appear to be someone I am not (strong or anything else). I am writing with only one purpose: think about why this was given to you, change, beg, ask, and most importantly, repent...
Read completely…
How to decipher the tests of a pregnant woman? How to properly take tests during pregnancy and learn to decipher their results? Below is a breakdown of the basic tests: - A clinical blood test is the fastest and most effective way to “see” the state of a pregnant woman’s body. Blood is taken from a finger in the morning on an empty stomach. Before the analysis in the evening, do not eat fatty foods, and if possible, refrain from stress. Let's decipher the results of a clinical blood test - The lower limit of normal hemoglobin during pregnancy is 110. If the hemoglobin level is lower, a pregnant woman...
The psalms amaze readers with their power, purity and amazing beauty. It was believed that reading the Psalter attracts angels and drives out the evil spirit. In the old days, the Psalter was a compulsory educational book, from which all adults and children studied. It was interesting to read the Psalter. It was prestigious to know the psalms from the Psalter by heart. There are so many varied reflections, reasonings and consolations in the Psalter that no one has ever been surprised at its popularity. The psalms from this book were repeatedly transcribed by famous poets of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Each verse of the Psalter reflects the thought of the New Testament. The content of the Psalter is connected with the life of the great and wise King David. During the time of King David, musical accompaniment was introduced when reading psalms. In the fourth century, the Psalter was divided into twenty parts for ease of reading. Each often received a name - kathisma (that which is read while sitting).
Not a single divine service is complete without a drawn-out reading of the Psalter and Psalms. At first, the Psalter was read only on Saturdays and holidays. Now you can always read the Psalter. Nowadays there is a custom of reading the Psalter by agreement. A group of believers read the entire Psalter separately from each other. Everyone reads one kathisma privately, mentioning those who pray by agreement. The Psalter is usually read aloud and in a low voice with a lit lamp. The Psalms can be read sitting and monotonously.
If you initially do not understand the meaning of the text you read, then do not be upset. The most important thing is that the Psalter is well understood by demons. As you mature spiritually, a true understanding of the Psalter will come to you. Before reading the kathisma, it is necessary to read the initial prayers, then the kathisma is read, and the names of each “Glory” are mentioned. On the first two “Glory” names for health are used, after the second “Glory” - names for repose. After reading the third “Glory”, troparia and prayers from the next kathisma are read. The prayer “Lord, have mercy” must be read forty times. In this case, you can use a rosary. Between the twentieth and twenty-first prayer, you can say your personal prayer for loved ones.
The everlasting psalter
A believer cannot do without a prayer book. It’s impossible to count how many different prayer books have been published over the past twenty years. There are prayer books in pocket format, and there are full ones, almost a thousand pages long. On the pages of the complete prayer book, in addition to the morning and evening rules, akathists, canons and prayers before communion, the Psalter must be placed. And rightfully so.
From century to century, psalms are chanted loudly at church services and heard in quiet recitatives in the homes of Orthodox Christians. We pray separate psalms, the beloved fiftieth (“Have mercy on me, O God”) and the ninetieth (“Live in Help”). We perform the Six Psalms at Matins, read the seventeenth kathisma for the dead (“Blessed are the immaculate on the way”). We psalmodize small pieces—literally one verse: “What I will repay to the Lord for all who he has repaid me” (Ps. 116:3). Our worship, the entire life of an Orthodox person, is dotted with verses of the Psalter.
The book of psalms definitely deserves the name of the oldest prayer book. Oldest, but not obsolete.
How good it is that in the entire vast space of the Old Testament there was a special place for a collection of prayers amounting to one hundred and fifty-one psalms. There is no doubt that the Psalter is one of the most visited places in the Bible.
Reading the psalms, one can see their direct historical meaning, a description of what David, Solomon, and other prophets and servants of God experienced in times distant from us. In addition to describing the events of that time, the psalms also contain prophecies about the coming Christ, a thousand years before His Coming. This is extremely important, the Old Testament is a guide to Christ.
Let us add that the psalms are scattered with aphoristic instructive sayings that bring the Psalter closer, for example, to the book of Proverbs.
However, let us emphasize: the psalms were born as personal prayer. The verses were accepted by the people of God as inspired from above, as a revelation from God. And when the time came for the transition from the Old Testament to the New Testament, the psalms served people as spiritual support on holidays and weekdays, on joys and in times of cruel persecution. Let us remember how Christ and the Apostles went out to Gethsemane and sang a psalm (see Mark 14:26). Which one exactly is not said. Why isn't it said? Historians note that by that time there was a strong tradition of psalmody for Easter and point to a specific psalm that was implied in the Gospel (Ps. 118). More cautious researchers point to several “candidate” psalms.
The Psalter served as both a collection of prayers and a school of prayer. The man repeated the holy verses of David, and they quietly became his personal prayer. They guided his soul in a terrible and hopeful confrontation with the Creator. Following David in prayer, he learned the great spiritual art of prayer. The man simultaneously prayed and learned to pray. Now we would call such “learning to pray” asceticism, a spiritual exercise. This exercise was suitable for every person then, and it is also suitable now. Why is this so?
Because, fortunately for us, the Psalter absorbs almost the entire universe of life situations.
Among the psalms we find many praises to God. A striking example of this is Psalm 103. Vespers begins with it: a person contemplates the world around him, how everything is wisely arranged, and gives praise to the Creator.
There are also many psalms of petition: disasters surround a person, one misfortune is followed by another, friends and relatives recoil from him, fierce ill-wishers come to life, gloat and threaten death. He remembers his life, his sins and repents, calls on the mercy of God and asks heaven not to leave him in this hopeless dead end to perish. All his acquaintances had already written him off from among the living people, they laid him “in the pit of the grave” (Ps. 87:6), Lord, help. From a serious illness, a person seeks God’s support, his soul burns, vomits out a fiery psalm, crying out to the Intercessor. And, having received consolation, the joyful person does not forget to thank God. In the rejoicing of his heart, he remembers everything that happened to him, how the Lord supported him and helped His people long before him.
The Old Testament introduces us to psalms of thanksgiving, which were sung in chorus at a gathering of people. Temple psalms were sung with beautiful hymns during festive services in Jerusalem.
Apparently, there is no such occasion in life that some biblical psalm would not be suitable for it. This is a very universal book.
The Psalter is written in simple words. And yet it can be difficult for a person to carefully and respectfully recite even one relatively small psalm. People repeat: “There is no time, there is no strength, my head is not thinking well.” What to do if a person cannot perform a meaningful and lengthy prayer for some reason? In addition to long prayers, from ancient times short prayers were heard among the people of God. From the same psalms, only not all verses are pronounced, but just one.
It was the performance of a short prayer according to the Psalter that formed the basis of a special spiritual exercise, known from the Orthodox hesychast tradition. This means doing the Jesus Prayer. The practice of the Jesus Prayer began with the persistent recitation of a selected psalm verse over and over again. This all dates back to the 4th-5th centuries. Christian era. What happened before?
We will find short prayerful sighs from the Psalter on the pages of the Gospel. During the suffering of the cross, the Lord says: “O God, my God... you have forsaken me.” This is a verse from Psalm 21. Researchers see other cases that are not so obvious. For example, the presence of the well-known psalm: “O Lord, my God, you are greatly exalted... bring forth bread from the ground” (Yahweh Elogi gadoleta meod... legotzi lechem min-haaretz, Ps 104:1, 14). So the Lord Jesus fed the gathered people, “taking the five loaves and two fish and looking up to heaven, blessed them, broke them, and gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people” (Luke 9:16). It is clear that Christ the Savior blessed God, who gives people food. But how exactly did he bless? Probably in words going back to the psalm: Blessed are you, O Lord our God, who bring forth bread from the earth. At that time, the tradition of a short prayer before eating bread was already quite strong. Why not pray before eating? If it were not for the Lord, by whose will the earth, the warmth of the sun and the rain allow the ears of corn to grow, the labors of the tiller would be in vain. Human labor has been put into the bread that lies before us, but God’s blessing has also been put into it. And the latter means no less than the former. Believers remember this and thank the all-generous God.
The everlasting psalter
The indefatigable Psalter is read not only about health, but also about peace. Since ancient times, ordering a commemoration on the Everlasting Psalter has been considered a great alms for a departed soul.
It is also good to order the Indestructible Psalter for yourself; you will feel the support. And one more important point, but far from the least important, there is eternal remembrance on the Undying Psalter. It seems expensive, but the result is more than millions of times more than the money spent. If this is still not possible, then you can order for a shorter period. It's also good to read for yourself.
For every believer, the Psalter can become a lived-in part of his prayer book.
Those for whom the psalms have become a school of prayer learn the language of prayer from the divinely inspired psalms. Let us note how often the Psalter is quoted in the New Testament. And what’s more, sometimes a quoted verse from a psalm is more than an ordinary quotation. Sometimes it is clear that the Apostle does not quote the psalmist to support his words, but simply thinks in verses from the psalms, “images” from the psalms. The Apostle wants to tell us something and speaks in the language of the Psalter, to such an extent he has become close to this spirit-bearing wise book.
When thinking about the language of the Psalter, it is impossible to ignore the philological point: how beautiful our Church Slavonic Psalter is - its language is prayerful, lively and expressive, but archaic. And we need to work hard to understand it better.
In these works, special editions will be useful: on the page on the left there is a Slavic psalm (translated from Greek), and on the page on the right there is a Russian psalm (also translated from Greek). What's useful here? The fact that the Russian text of the psalms here is closer to the Slavic Psalter than the psalms according to the Russian Synodal translation of the Bible. Bilingual Slavic-Russian editions of psalms are common in translation.
Having said about overcoming the language barrier, we cannot miss the question of the interpretation of the holy book. Again, despite the simplicity of the Psalter, there are problems with its understanding, not all of them can be solved by means of translation; you need to get acquainted with the interpretations. It is good that the famous deep interpretations of the Psalter are available to us. I would also like to mention one little-known but wonderful book - “A Guide to Understanding the Psalms.” This manual was published by the Orthodox biblical scholar Bishop Irenaeus (Horde), and I always turn to his work with pleasure.
The Orthodox Church willingly resorts to ancient psalms in its daily prayers. Our spiritual mentors have left us the necessary explanations of the psalms. This helps a church person to become closer to our oldest prayer book, it helps to ask and thank God in the language of the Psalter.
The everlasting psalter
The indefatigable Psalter is read not only about health, but also about peace. Since ancient times, ordering a commemoration on the Everlasting Psalter has been considered a great alms for a departed soul.
It is also good to order the Indestructible Psalter for yourself; you will feel the support. And one more important point, but far from the least important, there is eternal remembrance on the Undying Psalter. It seems expensive, but the result is more than millions of times more than the money spent. If this is still not possible, then you can order for a shorter period. It's also good to read for yourself.
It is not surprising that the favorite book of ancient Christians was the Psalter. They accompanied their entire lives with psalmody, inspiring themselves with deeds of piety. The psalm was on the lips of both the martyr going to his death and the hermit who had withdrawn from the world. And in everyday life, Christians did not abandon the Psalter. “The farmer,” writes Blessed Jerome, walking behind the plow and singing “Hallelujah”; the reaper covered with sweat sings psalms, and the vinedresser, cutting off the grape branches with a crooked knife, sings from David.”
In the ancient Church there was a custom of learning all the psalms by heart, so this book was loved and revered. Already in the times of the apostles, the Psalter received particularly wide use in Christian worship. In the modern liturgical charter of the Orthodox Church, it is customary to divide the Psalter into 20 sections - kathisma. Psalms are read in the church daily during every morning and evening service. During the week, the book of Psalms is read in its entirety, and Lent is read twice during the week.
As has already been said, in ancient times, in the Old Testament Church, musical instruments were used during worship and prayer: percussion - cymbals, wind instruments - trumpets and string instruments - psalms. But in the Orthodox Church there is no instrumental music, the voice of man-made instruments is not heard. In an Orthodox church, only the voice of man sounds - this God-created instrument, renewed by the Holy Spirit and bringing to God a “new song.” His vocal cords are the sweetest strings to God's ears, his tongue the best cymbal. When a person sings or reads psalms, he becomes a mysterious harp, the strings of which are touched by the skillful fingers of the Holy Spirit. And this man can, together with King David, exclaim to God: “How sweet is Your word to my throat. More than honey to my lips."
