When a person enters the temple of God, he immediatelyhe feels that he has fallen into some special, majestic and at the same time very peaceful atmosphere - to heaven, which, however, is on earth. Here everything bears in itself slimness, deep washing away and great spiritual beauty. Each church paraphernalia and utensils keeps its rank and order. Sacred action and prayer in front of the altar is performed according to strict ancient canons. All this is quite logical and understandable, but there is something that requires careful explanation.
For example, many clerics oftenfaced with the question: bow - how to do? It is impossible to answer it simply and unequivocally, but it is not so complicated if you carefully study it.
Bow - how to do?
Immediately I must say that the bow isa symbolic action performed since the most ancient biblical times and expressing great reverence to the Creator of all earthly and heavenly things - the Lord God. Therefore, any bowing should be done very slowly and with words of prayer. To find out for yourself how to properly bow, you need to decide what kind of bows are. It turns out that there are great ones - bows of the earth, and there are small ones - belt ones. And there is a simple worship of the head.
When bowing down, you must fall on your knees andtouch your forehead to the floor. When the belt bow bows down his head so that his fingers touched the floor. Thus did Solomon pray at the consecration of the Temple of the Lord, Daniel, when he was a captive of Babylon, and other righteous people of the Old Testament. This custom was consecrated by Christ Himself and entered into the practice of the Holy Church of Christ.
Knee bending
The largest part of the kneeling is done inGreat Lent time. According to St. Basil the Great, the kneeling symbolizes the fall of man in sin, and then the rebellion — his forgiveness by the great mercy of the Lord.
And again the question arises:40 bows - how to do? Bows are made at any time, except for special days, we will talk about them below. For the rest of the time, one should not be lazy, but rather voluntarily plunge oneself into a bow, signifying one’s own fall into the abyss of repentance in the hope that God will accept and bless these modest works.
Nothing depends on the number of bows and fasting,if the heart and soul will not be cleared of evil thoughts and change for the better. And if a person sincerely repent, at least a little, the loving Father will surely extend His holy hand to him.
The experience of Bishop Afanasy Sakharov
It is not always possible to find the right answer to how to make a prostration in Orthodoxy. But let us try to turn to the well-known zealot of the Church Statute –confantiator Athanasius (Sakharov).
First of all, let's deal with when it is impossibledo prostrations and when possible. During worship, prostrations, as in principle and half-length, are not performed at will. They are made on everyday and fast penitentiary days. On Sundays and, of course, on great holidays, according to the decree of the Holy Fathers, they are canceled.
During the period of Easter to the Trinity, and also from Christmasand before Baptism, bows of the earth also do not rely. In the 90th rule of the VI Ecumenical Council it is written that on Sundays one should not bend the knees for the honor of Christ’s Resurrection. But small bows must be made at certain times in accordance with the meaning of the prayers.
Zone and bows
So, on any divine service it is supposed:
- Three small bows in reading and singing: "Holy God," "Come, we will worship," "Bless the Lord's name," and three-time "Hallelujah."
- Three small bows to verse from 118 psalm.
- A small bow and a sign of the cross on all litigies (priest's exclamations), while singing "Lord, have mercy" and "Give, Lord."
- A small bow on prayers and stichera, only after the words "we shall fall down", "we pray," and "we will worship."
- A small bow is always before and after reading the Gospel "Glory to Thee, O Lord".
- A small bow when reading an akaphist, on each condac and ikose, on 13 condocks, three times read - a lap bow or prostration, depending on the day.
- A small bow at the end of the service after the song "Honestly Cherub" and the words of the prayer "In the name of the Lord bless, Father."
- A small bow with the consecration of himself with the sign of the cross after the words of the priest: "Peace to all" and the answer of the choir: "And to thy spirit."
- Small bow with the obligatory sign of the cross when overshadowing with the Gospel, the Cross or the icon.
- Small bow without a crossblessing by the hand of the priest, dawning with candles or when passing through. Only now, when censing at Easter for the greeting “Christ is Risen”, being baptized, answer: “Truly Risen”.
- Small bow without performing the sign of the cross on the holidays with the blessing of the priest with a hand and waist bow with the fulfillment of the sign of the cross with the blessing of the cross.
Church statute
Bows in services (vespers, matins, all-night vigil):
- The bows of the earth cease after the prayer, “Suit God,” to the vespers of the festive or Sunday vigil until the vespers of the next day.
- A small bow is made after each glorification on matins, while singing glorification.
- A small bow in singing "Praise, bless, bow and extol Thee."
- Small or earthly bow while singing “The Honest Cherubim” (depending on the day), after the exclamation “Mother of God and Mother of Light”.
- Prostration on the non-festive matins after the prayer of prayer "It is fittingly to eat."
Special bowing rules
So, we consider what is the bow of the earth.How to do it right? It is worth considering that the services may be attended by nuns. Many parishioners, not knowing the rules, begin to imitate them and, like them, make bows. Or, on the contrary, they look at them and are confused.
The thing is that the monks obey theirspecial regulations, and parishioners must adhere to the regulations of the Fathers of the Saints, intended for the whole Church, so that the whole meaning of the divine service is gradually revealed and cognized.
Inducing
There is an established tradition whenthe priesthood priesthood church parishioners are distracted from the prayer of worship, begin to move from one side to another, riveting all their attention to the approaching priest, creating a noise, stand back to the altar, which is unacceptable. During censing, parishioners should part and miss the priest, after which they should quietly step back and return to prayer.
Если священник начинает кадить людей, то it is necessary to worship and return to worship, and not to look through the eyes of a priest throughout this priesthood. It may seem that this entire list is too complicated and tedious to remember, but it can help every believer to get comfortable with the worship services.
Is it possible to make prostrations during the Liturgy
Liturgy - a special service, which consists of threeparts: Proscomidia, Liturgy of the public and Liturgy of the faithful. In the first two parts, bows are made according to the rules of the above-described ordinary services, while the third part — the most important — will be described in more detail. When and how are small and great bows made? Let's see when to make prostrations at the Liturgy, and when the belt bow.
The priest on the Great Course goes to the pulpit in his hands, holds the Chalice and the disqos, and the choir sings the Cherubic Hymn at that time:
- Small bow at the end of the first half of the "Cherubim", at this time the priest is on the pulpit.
- Stand with your head bowed during the commemoration of the priests.
- Three small bows with triple "Hallelujah."
- Great bow by the day (if not on a holiday) at the cry of the priest "We thank the Lord."
When the Eucharistic canon is performed, the Most Holy Mystery must be kept completely silent and the mind kept in attention.
- A small bow is made at the exclamations "Receive, eat, drink from Nei Vse."
- A small bow by the day is made at the end of "We sing to you" and "And we pray Tis I, our God." This is a very important moment for a person praying.
- A small bow by the day is made after "It is worthy to eat."
- Small bow at the words "And all, and all."
- Small bow by the day at the beginning of the nationwide prayer "Our Father".
- Great bow (if not a holiday) when the priest exclaimed "Holy-holy".
- A small bow on the day of the gifts to be given before the communion with the words “Start with the fear of God and faith.”
- Put a bow to the earth and fold the arms crosswise on the chest after the prayer of the priest before communion. (Do not baptize or bow before the bowl, so as not to push it under any circumstances).
- Communion until the evening do not do bows. Belt bow for the parishioners when the Holy Gifts appear when the cry "Always, now and ever."
- The head bows when the prayer sounds beyond the ambo, and the priest, ending the liturgy, leaves the altar and stands before the ambo.
Many believers are interested in the question of whetherafter communion do prostrations. The priests warn that you should not do kneeling after the communion, this is done for the sake of the shrine, which is inside the person who accepted the Holy Communion, and so that it doesn’t vomit.
Conclusion
I would very much like believers to understand thatbows, it seems, are not the main ones in the life of an Orthodox Christian, but they help strengthen the faith, enlighten the heart, tune in to the correct spiritual mood and understanding of the whole meaning of the service, being its participant. With a small start, you can achieve more. Not at all from idleness, the Holy Fathers created the statutes. Perhaps now, at least a little, it became clear what a bow was. How to do and when - also described above is quite clear and detailed. But in order to better assimilate all these rules, one must go to the temple more often.
