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Worship is the main activity which unites us in the church every Sunday and on holidays. Common prayer for one another and participation in the Sacrament of Holy Communion are vital for every believer. We have come to understand this especially in times of current quarantine, when access to temples is restricted and not everyone is able to attend the liturgy. This period of interruption in our involvement in worship served very well to explain how important these services are for Christians, and to show how sometimes we have neglected to worship in the temple. That is why we think it is very appropriate to talk about not a very pleasant topic right now, namely what mistakes we make in the Church during the Divine service.
In order to understand this, among these examples, we have selected the five most common cases. Among them there are:
1. Purchase everything you need at a church shop
2. Wander through the temple to put candles
3. Mobile phone is not switched off
4. Conversations after Our Father at the Liturgy
5. "The Battle for the Prosphors"
Now let's move on to each specific example and try to understand what is wrong with it and how to avoid such behavior.
Purchase everything you need at a church shop
Unfortunately, it is a common situation when, during worship, the church shop becomes a hive. The Liturgy of the Word is an important moment of service when we are obliged to pray during the litany, listening to the choir and reading the Word of God, often passing us by, although in its importance this moment is not inferior to Communion. At the moment, we are busy submitting or writing notes to the altar, ordering prosphors or buying candles. These things are really important, but they should not be done during worship. To avoid this, we advise everyone to come to the temple in advance, 15-20 minutes before the beginning of the service, so you can safely buy everything you need. You can write your notes at home so you don't waste your time, or buy a synodic, a name book for prayer, and submit it to every liturgy. Also, let's not forget that women who work in church shops also want to pray at the service, and that desire is also worthy of respect.
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Wander through the temple to put candles
We think each of us felt "brotherly" or "sisterly" thrusting into our backs during a big holiday in a completely filled temple. It distracts from prayer, distracts attention, and is simply outrageous. But for a certain category of people, putting a candle in a church is like getting check-in in an institution - a certain ritual that must prove to a friend and to himself, first of all, that the worship was attended in vain. Therefore, sometimes, in a crowded temple, this candlelight walk in search of candlesticks turns into a quest that shows a careless attitude to both worship and fellow worshipers. How not to make this mistake? The answer is simple: come to church early. This works both with candlelight or icon worship.
Mobile phone is not turned off
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Not switching off your cellphone in the temple is also a common mistake. And for some reason, that phone starts to ring at the most unfortunate moment - reading of the Gospel or blessing the Holy Gifts. To say how inappropriate it is makes no sense: just imagine that as you read the Scriptures and the silence covered the whole temple, a strange sound or another hit about love, crying and blooming violets begins to sound. So take the rule for yourself and your loved ones to turn off the phone before entering the church or to mute the phone. We do this during an important meeting or in the cinema. The temple is the place of our meeting with God and it worth no less.
Conversations after Our Father at the liturgy
Let us not deceive our souls why some part of the liturgy between our Father and the beginning of the Communion of the laity is considered by most of us to be a kind of "advertismental break" when we can rest. The doors to the altar are closed, the choir is silent, and the chatting, conversations, social network checks, moves outside, or the fight for a place in the queue for Communion begin immediately. All this creates a great noise, so that even the voice of the reader who reads the prayers before the Communion sinks in it. But in reality, the worship has not stopped, it is ongoing, and at the time of our conversations the clergy are receivimg the Communion in the altar. And the same prayers before the Holy Communion were introduced by the Fathers of the Church to prepare laity to the Communion as they await it. Therefore, inaccurate behavior at this time is a manifestation of disregard for the Holy Gifts, which is unacceptable. So, let us keep an eye on ourselves so that our behavior will not offset all our preparation for Communion.
The Battle for the Prosphors
“The battle for the prosphors" usually begins at the end of the liturgy: during the preaching or the kissing of the cross and the recitation of the prayers after the Communion. At this time, the prosphors that were being brought to the altar are taken back to the temple. Immediately, a crowd of believers rushes to the poor clergyman to take their prosphors back home. The pressure quickly forms, the pushing, the noise and the like begin. This behavior prevents both the reader from reading the prayers and other parishioners who are quietly listening to them. Remember - picking up prophors is not the main purpose of your coming to church. So we advise you to sew or just buy a cotton pouch for your prosphors so you don't worry that you will be left without these delicious sanctified church breads.
In this review, we briefly touched on only the five most common parishioners' errors during worship. In fact, there are many more, so don't be lazy to learn church etiquette. Special books that you can buy at the Axios online store can help you with this. This can be easily done online and with the most convenient shipping option. We are waiting for you!
