Morning and evening prayer rule. Prayer rule morning and evening. Prayer rule of Seraphim of Sarov for the laity

Each new day brings new difficulties, ups and downs. Without God's protection, disappointment, despondency, and troubles overtake us faster. Praying in the morning is very important in order to enlist the support of the Almighty at the very beginning of the day.

Our Father

This prayer is not just universal, but mandatory for any believing Christian. It is read not only before meals or in difficult moments of life, but also in the morning. After opening your eyes and waking up from a dream, take one minute to read this prayer to pay tribute to heaven, because they have awakened you and given you another day of life. The text of the prayer is familiar to everyone and everyone:

Our Father, Who art in heaven! Hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, as in heaven and on earth. Give us our daily bread today; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

Prayers for material well-being

Much has been said about prayers that have the power to make our lives better. But it is also important to go to meet God ourselves. After all, only with inner readiness and awareness of the true path comes the help of Heaven.

If you are facing financial problems, you too can turn to Heaven for help. It is only important to do it right, not with greed in the soul, but by asking God for what is necessary. Learn about prayers for deliverance from poverty on the website of an Orthodox monastery.

Prayer to the Holy Trinity

To begin with, the text of the prayer itself is read:

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

Then you can repeat three times: "Lord have mercy", and complete the morning prayer with the words “Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and forever and ever. Amen».

The Holy Trinity is the three incarnations of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Each of these components is our assistants in earthly affairs. Collectively, the Trinity is God, therefore, by reading this prayer, you are asking our Creator to give you mercy and forgive you all your sins - those that were committed intentionally, and those that you have not yet managed to cope with.

Publican's Prayer

"God, be merciful to me, a sinner", - this is the simplest of all protective prayers. It is good to read it not only in the morning, but also before any undertaking, before leaving the house and before a difficult task.

Do not underestimate these words and think that prayer is the better, the more difficult and longer. This is absolutely not true, because the most important thing is your spiritual attitude and your faith, and not your ability to remember.

Prayer to the Holy Spirit

“King of Heaven, Comforter, Soul of Truth, Who is everywhere and fills everything, Treasury of the good and Giver of life, come and dwell in us, and cleanse us from all filth, and save, O Blessed One, our souls.”

This is a simple prayer - quite rare, difficult to understand, but very effective and ancient. It can be read before meals and in the morning.

Another simple prayer known to almost every Christian:

“Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and forever and ever. Amen."

the first part to "...have mercy on us" it is better to read it three times - as it is read in the church according to the rules. This is a very light prayer text, and it is precisely this that most believers read in the morning and before bedtime.

Remember that attitude matters. Do not say prayers when in a bad mood or if your thoughts are busy with something else. You need total concentration, because you are communicating with God. Even simple prayer words for help will be heard if they are spoken from a pure heart. Good luck and don't forget to press the buttons and

25.04.2016 00:20

Everyone wants to cleanse their house of negativity and protect themselves from illnesses and troubles in order to say with confidence: “my house is mine ...

"Short rule" (mandatory daily prayers) for any layman:

in the morning:
- "King of Heaven",
- "Trisagion",
- "Our Father",
- “Rising from sleep”,
- "Have mercy on me, God"
- "Symbol of faith",
- "God, cleanse"
- "To you, Lord",
- "Holy Angele"
- "Blessed Lady",
- invocation of saints,
- prayer for the living and the dead;
in the evening:
- "King of Heaven",
- "Trisagion",
- "Our Father",
- "Have mercy on us, Lord"
- "Eternal God"
- "Good for the King"
- Angel of Christ
- from "Vozbranny Voivode" to "It is worthy to eat."

In the morning we pray to thank God for keeping us last night, to ask for His Fatherly blessing and help for the day that has begun.

In the evening, before going to bed, we thank the Lord for the day and ask to keep us during the night.

In order for the work to be done successfully, we must first of all ask God for blessings and help for the work ahead, and at the end, thank God. To express our feelings for God and for His saints, the Church has given various prayers.

Initial prayer

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

It is said before all prayers. In it, we ask God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, that is, the Most Holy Trinity, to invisibly bless us for the upcoming work in His name.

God bless!

We say this prayer at the beginning of each business.

Lord have mercy!

This prayer is the most ancient and common among all Christians. Even a child can easily remember it. We say it when we remember our sins. To the glory of the Holy Trinity - we must say it three times. And also 12 times, asking God for a blessing for every hour of the day and night. And 40 times - for the consecration of our whole life.

Praise to the Lord God

Glory to Thee, our God, glory to Thee.

In this prayer, we do not ask God for anything, but only praise Him. It can be said in short: "Thank God." It is pronounced at the end of the case as a sign of our gratitude to God for His mercy to us.

Publican's Prayer

God, have mercy on me a sinner.

This is the prayer of the publican (tax collector), who repented of his sins and received forgiveness. It is taken from a parable that the Savior once told people for their admonition.
Here is the parable. Two people entered the temple to pray. One of them was a Pharisee, and the other was a publican. The Pharisee stood in front of everyone and prayed to God like this: I thank You, God, that I am not such a sinner as that publican. I give a tenth of my property to the poor, I fast twice a week. And the publican, realizing himself a sinner, stood at the entrance to the temple and did not dare to raise his eyes to heaven. He hit himself in the chest and said: “God, be merciful to me a sinner!” The prayer of a humble publican was more pleasing and pleasing to God than that of a proud Pharisee.

Prayer to Lord Jesus

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, prayers for the sake of Your Most Pure Mother and all the saints, have mercy on us. Amen.

Jesus Christ is the Son of God - the second Person of the Holy Trinity. As the Son of God, He is our true God, as are God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. We call Him Jesus, that is savior because He saved us from sin and eternal death. For this, He, being the Son of God, dwelt in the immaculate Virgin Mary and, with the influx of the Holy Spirit, incarnated and made human by Her, that is, he took on a human body and soul - was born from the Blessed Virgin Mary, became the same person as we are, but only he was sinless - became a God-man. And, instead of us suffering and being tormented for our sins, He, out of love for us sinners, suffered for us, died on the cross and rose again on the third day, conquered sin and death and gave us eternal life.
Recognizing our sinfulness and not relying on the power of our prayers, in this prayer we ask to pray for us sinners, before the Savior, all the saints and the Mother of God, who has special grace to save us sinners by His intercession before His Son.
The Savior is called the Anointed One (Christ) because He fully possessed those gifts of the Holy Spirit which, in the Old Testament, kings, prophets, and high priests received through anointing.

Prayer to the Holy Spirit

Heavenly King, Comforter, Soul of Truth, Who is everywhere and fills everything, the treasure of the good and the Giver of life, come and dwell in us, and cleanse us from all filth, and save, O Blessed, our souls.

Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of truth, who is everywhere and fills everything, the source of all goodness and the Giver of life, come and dwell in us, and cleanse us from all sin, and save our souls, Good One.

In this prayer we pray to the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Holy Trinity.
We call it the Holy Spirit King of Heaven because He, as true God, equal to God the Father and God the Son, reigns invisibly over us, owns us and the whole world. Call Him Comforter because He comforts us in our sorrows and misfortunes, just as He comforted the apostles on the 10th day after the ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven.
Call Him Spirit of truth(as the Savior Himself called Him) because He, as the Holy Spirit, teaches everyone the same truth and serves our salvation.
He is God, and He is everywhere and fills everything with Himself: Izhe, everywhere present and fulfilling everything. He, as the manager of the whole world, sees everything and, where necessary, gives. He is treasure of the good, that is, the Guardian of all good deeds, the Source of all good things that only we need to have.
We call the Holy Spirit life giver because everything in the world lives and moves by the Holy Spirit, that is, everything receives life from Him, and especially people receive from Him spiritual, holy and eternal life after the grave, being cleansed from their sins through Him.
If the Holy Spirit has such marvelous properties: He is everywhere, fills everything with His grace and gives life to everyone, then we turn to Him with the following requests: Come and settle in us, that is, constantly abide in us, as in your temple; cleanse us from all filth that is, from sin, make us holy, worthy of Your presence in us, and save, Kind, our souls from sins and those punishments that are for sins, and through this grant us the Kingdom of Heaven.

Angelic song of the Most Holy Trinity or "Trisagion"

Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us.

This prayer must be read three times in honor of the three Persons of the Holy Trinity.
Angel song it is called because the holy angels sing it, surrounding the throne of God in heaven.
Believers in Christ began to use it 400 years after the birth of Christ. There was a strong earthquake in Constantinople, from which houses and villages were destroyed. Frightened, Tsar Theodosius II and the people turned to God with a prayer. During this common prayer, one pious youth (boy), in front of everyone, was lifted up to heaven by an invisible force, and then unharmed lowered to earth. He said that he heard in heaven how the holy angels sang: "Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal." The moved people, repeating this prayer, added: "Have mercy on us," and the earthquake stopped.
In this prayer God we call the first Person of the Holy Trinity - God the Father; Strong– God the Son, because He is just as omnipotent as God the Father, although according to humanity He suffered and died; Immortal- The Holy Spirit, because He is not only eternal Himself, like the Father and the Son, but also gives life to all creatures and immortal life to people.
Since in this prayer the word " saint” is repeated three times, then it is called “ Trisagion».

Doxology to the Holy Trinity

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and forever, and forever and ever. Amen.

In this prayer, we do not ask God for anything, but only praise Him, Who appeared to people in three Persons: the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, to whom now and forever belongs the same honor of glorification.

Prayer to the Holy Trinity

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

This prayer is pleading. In it, we first turn to all three Persons together, and then to each Person of the Trinity separately: to God the Father, so that He cleanses our sins; to God the Son, that He may forgive our iniquities; to God the Holy Spirit to visit and heal our infirmities.
And the words: for your name refer again to all three Persons of the Holy Trinity together, and since God is One, then His name is one, and therefore we say “Thy name”, and not “Thy names”.

Lord's Prayer

Our Father, Who art in heaven!
1. Hallowed be thy name.
2. Thy kingdom come.
3. Thy will be done, as in heaven and on earth.
4. Give us our daily bread today.
5. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
6. And lead us not into temptation.
7. But deliver us from the evil one.
For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory of the Father and the Son and
Holy Spirit, now and forever, and forever and ever. Amen.

This prayer is called the Lord's, because the Lord Jesus Christ Himself gave it to His disciples when they asked Him to teach them how to pray. Therefore, this prayer is the most important prayer of all.
In this prayer we turn to God the Father, the first Person of the Holy Trinity.
It is divided into: invocation, seven petitions, or 7 requests, and doxology.
Summoning:

Our Father, Who art in heaven!

With these words, we turn to God and, calling Him the Heavenly Father, we call to listen to our requests or petitions.
When we say that He is in heaven, we must understand spiritual, invisible the sky, not that visible blue dome we call "sky."
Petition 1?e:

Hallowed be thy name,

that is, help us to live righteously, holyly, and glorify Your name with our holy deeds.
2?e:

Let your kingdom come

that is, make us worthy even here on earth of Your kingdom of heaven, which is righteousness, love, and peace; reign in us and rule over us.
3?e:

May Thy will be done, as in heaven and on earth

That is, let everything not be as we want, but as You please, and help us to obey this Your will and fulfill it on earth as unquestioningly, without grumbling, as it is fulfilled, with love and joy, by the holy angels in heaven. Because only You know what is useful and necessary for us, and You wish us well more than we ourselves.
4th:

Give us our daily bread today

That is, give us for this day, for today, our daily bread. Bread here means everything necessary for our life on earth: food, clothing, housing, but most importantly - pure body and pure blood in the sacrament of Holy Communion, without which there is no salvation, no eternal life.
The Lord commanded us to ask ourselves not for wealth, not for luxury, but only for the most necessary things, and to rely on God in everything, remembering that He, as a Father, always takes care of us.
5th:

And leave us our debts, just as we leave our debtors

That is, forgive us our sins just as we ourselves forgive those who offended or offended us.
In this petition, our sins are called “our debts”, because the Lord gave us strength, abilities and everything else in order to do good deeds, and we often turn all this towards sin and evil and become “debtors” before God. And so, if we ourselves do not sincerely forgive our "debtors", that is, people who have sins against us, then God will not forgive us. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself told us about this.
6th:

And lead us not into temptation

Temptation is such a state when something or someone draws us to sin, tempts us to do something lawless and bad. So we ask: do not allow us to temptation, which we cannot endure; help us overcome temptations when they come.
7th:

But deliver us from the evil one

That is, deliver us from all evil in this world and from the culprit (chief) of evil - from the devil (evil spirit), who is always ready to destroy us. Deliver us from this cunning, crafty power and its deceptions, which is nothing before You.
Doxology:

For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and forever, and forever and ever. Amen.

For to you, our God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, belongs the kingdom and the power and the eternal glory. All this is true, truly so.

Angelic greeting to the Mother of God

Virgin Mary, rejoice, blessed Mary, the Lord is with you, blessed are you in women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, as if the Savior gave birth to our souls.

This prayer is to the Most Holy Theotokos, whom we call grace-filled, that is, full of the grace of the Holy Spirit, and blessed of all women, because our Savior Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was pleased or desired to be born from Her.
This prayer is also called an angelic greeting, since it contains the words of an angel (Archangel Gabriel): rejoice, blessed Mary, the Lord is with you, blessed are you among women- which he said to the Virgin Mary when he appeared to Her in the city of Nazareth, to announce to Her great joy that the Savior of the world would be born from Her. Also - Blessed are You among women and blessed is the Fruit of Your womb, said the Virgin Mary, at a meeting with Her, the righteous Elizabeth, the mother of St. John the Baptist.
Mother of God The Virgin Mary is called because Jesus Christ, who was born of Her, is our true God.
Virgin It is called because She was a Virgin before the birth of Christ, and in Christmas and after Christmas she remained the same, since she made a vow (promise) to God not to marry, and remaining forever a Virgin, she gave birth to Her Son from the Holy Spirit in a miraculous way.

Praise to the Mother of God

It is worthy to eat as if truly bless Theotokos, blessed and immaculate and the Mother of our God. The most honest cherubim and the most glorious seraphim without comparison, without the corruption of God the Word, who gave birth to the real Mother of God, we magnify Thee.

It is truly worthy to glorify You, Mother of God, always blessed and completely blameless and the Mother of our God. You are worthy of veneration more than the cherubim and by Your glory incomparably higher than the seraphim, You gave birth to God the Word (Son of God) without illness, and as the true Mother of God we glorify You.

In this prayer, we praise the Mother of God as the Mother of our God, always blessed and completely blameless, and magnify Her, saying that She, with Her honor (most honest) and glory (most glorious), surpasses the highest angels: cherubim and seraphim, that is, the Mother of God in her perfection stands above all - not only people, but also holy angels. Without illness, she miraculously gave birth to Jesus Christ from the Holy Spirit, Who, having become a man from Her, is at the same time the Son of God, descended from heaven, and therefore She is the true Mother of God.

The shortest prayer to the Mother of God

Holy Mother of God, save us!

In this prayer, we ask the Mother of God to save us sinners with her holy prayers before her Son and our God.

Prayer to the Life-Giving Cross

Save, O Lord, Thy people and bless Thy inheritance; giving victory to the Orthodox Christian against the opposition, and keeping Your residence by Your Cross.

Save, O Lord, your people and bless all that belongs to you. Give victory to the enemies of Orthodox Christians and preserve by the power of Your Cross those among whom You are.

In this prayer, we ask God to save us, His people, and bless the Orthodox country - our fatherland - with great mercies; gave victory to Orthodox Christians over their enemies and, in general, preserved us by the power of His Cross.

Prayer to the Guardian Angel

Angel of God, my holy guardian, given to me from God from heaven, I diligently pray to you: enlighten me today, and save me from all evil, guide me to a good deed and direct me to the path of salvation. Amen.

Angel of God, my holy guardian, given to me from heaven from God for preservation, I earnestly pray to you: enlighten me now, and save me from all evil, guide me to a good deed and direct me to the path of salvation. Amen.

At baptism, God gives every Christian a Guardian Angel who invisibly protects a person from all evil. Therefore, we must ask the angel every day to keep and have mercy on us.

Prayer to a saint

Pray to God for me, holy [holy] (name), as I diligently resort to you, an early helper and prayer book [an emergency helper and prayer book] for my soul.

In addition to praying to the Guardian Angel, we must also pray to the saint whose name we are called, because he also always prays to God for us.
Every Christian, as soon as he is born into the light of God, at holy baptism, is given a saint as helpers and patrons by the holy Church. He takes care of the newborn, like the most loving mother, and saves him from all the troubles and misfortunes that a person encounters on earth.
You need to know the day of memory in the year of your saint (the day of your name day), to know the life (description of life) of this saint. On the day of the name day, we must glorify him with a prayer in the temple and accept St. communion, and if for some reason we cannot be in the church that day, then we should pray fervently at home.

Prayer for the Living

We must think not only about ourselves, but also about other people, love them and pray to God for them, because we are all children of one Heavenly Father. Such prayers are useful not only for those for whom we pray, but also for ourselves, since by this we show love for them. And the Lord told us that without love no one can be children of God.
“Do not renounce prayer for others under the pretext of fear that you cannot plead for yourself - beware that you will not plead for yourself if you do not pray for others” (St. Philaret the Merciful).
Home prayer for relatives and friends is distinguished by special energy, as we see before our inner gaze that dear person to us, for the salvation of the soul and for whose bodily health we pray. Father Men said in one of his sermons: “Daily prayer for each other should not be just a list of names. This is us (priests. -

) in the church we list your names, we don’t know for whom you are praying here. And when you yourself pray for your loved ones, friends, relatives, for those who are in need - pray truly, with perseverance ... Pray for them so that their path is blessed, so that the Lord supports and meets them - and then we all , as if holding hands with this prayer and love, we will rise higher and higher to the Lord. This is the main thing, this is the most essential thing in our life.
We must pray for our Fatherland - Russia, for the country in which we live, for our spiritual father, parents, relatives, benefactors, Orthodox Christians and all people, both for the living and for the dead, because with God everyone is alive (Lk. 20, 38).

Save, Lord, and have mercy on my spiritual father (his name), my parents (their names), relatives, mentors and benefactors, and all Orthodox Christians.

Prayer for the Dead

Rest, Lord, the souls of the departed Thy servants (names) and all the departed relatives and benefactors of mine, and forgive them all sins, voluntary and involuntary, and grant them the kingdom of heaven.

This is how we call the dead, because people are not destroyed after death, but their souls are separated from the body and migrate from this life to another, heavenly one. There they remain until the time of the general resurrection, which will be at the second coming of the Son of God, when, according to His word, the souls of the dead will again unite with the body - people will come to life, rise again. And then everyone will receive what they deserve: the righteous - the Kingdom of Heaven, blessed, eternal life, and sinners - eternal punishment.

Prayer before teaching

Good Lord, send us the grace of Your Holy Spirit, giving meaning and strengthening our spiritual strength, so that, listening to the teachings taught to us, we may grow up to You, our Creator, to the glory, our parent for consolation, the Church and the fatherland for the benefit.

This prayer is to God the Father, Whom we call the Creator, that is, the Creator. In it, we ask Him to send the Holy Spirit so that by His grace He will strengthen our spiritual strength (mind, heart and will), and that we, listening with attention to the teaching taught, grow up as devoted sons of the Church and faithful servants of our fatherland and to comfort our parents.
Instead of this prayer before the teaching, you can read the prayer to the Holy Spirit "King of Heaven."

Prayer after teaching

We thank Thee, the Creator, as if Thou hast vouchsafed us Thy grace, in the hedgehog's attention to teaching. Bless our bosses, parents and teachers who lead us to the knowledge of the good, and give us strength and strength to continue this teaching.

This prayer is to God the Father. In it, we first thank God that He has sent help to understand the doctrine being taught. Then we ask Him to send mercy to our parents and teachers, who give us the opportunity to learn all that is good and useful; and in conclusion, we ask you to give us health and the desire to continue our studies with success.
Instead of this prayer, after the teaching, you can read the prayer of the Mother of God "It is worthy to eat."

Prayer before eating

The eyes of all in Thee, O Lord, hope, and You give them food in good time: You open Your generous hand and fulfill every kind of animal goodwill.

(Psalm 144, 15 and 16).

The eyes of all, O Lord, look at You with hope, because You give food to everyone in due time, You open Your generous hand in order to endow all the living with graces.

In this prayer, we express confidence that God will send us food in due time, since He not only gives people, but also all living creatures everything necessary for life.
Instead of this prayer, you can read "Our Father".

Prayer after eating

We thank Thee, Christ our God, for Thou hast satisfied us with Thy earthly blessings; do not deprive us of Your Heavenly Kingdom.

In this prayer, we thank God that He has nourished us with food, and we ask Him not to deprive us of eternal bliss after our death, which we must always remember when receiving earthly blessings.

morning prayer

To Thee, O Lord, loving man, having risen from sleep, I run, and I strive for Thy works by Thy mercy, and I pray to Thee: help me at all times in every thing, and deliver me from every evil worldly thing and the devil's haste, and save me, and enter into your eternal kingdom. Thou art my Creator and Provider and Giver of every good, all my hope is in Thee, and I send glory to Thee, now and forever, and forever and ever. Amen.

To Thee, Lord Lover of mankind, having risen from sleep, I run and, by Thy mercy, hasten to Thy deeds. I pray to You: help me at all times in every matter, and deliver me from every worldly evil deed and devilish temptation, and save me, and lead me into Your eternal kingdom. For You are my Creator and Provider, and Giver of all good. All my hope is in You. And I give you glory, now, and always, and forever and ever. Amen.

Evening prayer

Lord our God, if I have sinned in these days in word, deed and thought, as good and philanthropist, forgive me; peaceful sleep and serene grant me; Send Thy guardian angel covering and keeping me from all evil; as you are the guardian of our souls and our bodies, and we send glory to you to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and forever, and forever and ever. Amen.

Lord our God! Everything in which I have sinned this day in word, deed and thought, You, as the Merciful and Humanitarian, forgive me. Grant me a peaceful and restful sleep. Send me Your guardian angel, who would cover and protect me from all evil. For You are the guardian of our souls and bodies, and we give glory to You, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and always, and forever and ever. Amen.

HOW TO READ THE MORNING AND EVENING PRAYERS CORRECTLY

Prayer there is a conversation or our conversation with God. It is as essential to us as air and food. We have everything from God and nothing of our own: life, abilities, health, food, and everything is given to us by God. Therefore, in joy, and in sorrow, and when we need something, we must turn to God with prayer.

The main thing in prayer is faith, attention, reverence, contrition of the heart and a promise to God not to sin. Reading technique should not obscure the meaning of what is being read. Prayers are usually read evenly and calmly, without any exaggerated intonation.

St. Theophan the Recluse in the article "How to Pray" wrote: The work of prayer is the first work in the life of a Christian. If in relation to the ordinary course of affairs the proverb is true: “Live for a century, learn for a century,” then it applies all the more to prayer, the action of which should not have a break and the degrees of which have no limit.

The ancient holy fathers, greeting each other at a meeting, usually asked not about health or anything else, but about prayer: how, they say, prayer goes or how it works. The effect of prayer was for them a sign of spiritual life, and they called it the breath of the spirit.

There is breath in the body - and the body lives; breath stops, life stops. So it is in the spirit: there is a prayer - the spirit lives; if there is no prayer, there is no life in the spirit.

But not every performance of prayer, or prayerfulness, is prayer. To stand in front of an icon in a church or at home and bow down is not yet prayer, but only an attribute of prayer.

Prayer itself is the emergence in our heart of one after another reverent feelings for God: self-abasement, devotion, thanksgiving, praise, forgiveness, zealous falling, contrition, submission to the will of God and others.

Our whole concern should be that during our prayers these and similar feelings fill our soul so that when the tongue reads prayers or the ear listens and the body makes obeisances, the heart does not remain empty, but that there is some kind of feeling towards God.

When these feelings are present, our prayerfulness is prayer, but when they are absent, then it is not yet prayer.

It seems that what would be simpler and more natural for us, like prayer, or the aspiration of the heart to God? And meanwhile it not at all and not always happens. It must be aroused and then strengthened, or, what is the same, cultivate a prayerful spirit in oneself.

The first way to do this is through reading or listening prayer. Do it properly, and you will certainly arouse and strengthen the ascent in your heart to God, you will enter into the spirit of prayer.

Our prayer books contain the prayers of the holy fathers Ephraim the Syrian, Macarius of Egypt, Basil the Great, John Chrysostom and other great prayer books. Being filled with a spirit of prayer, they set forth what was inspired by this spirit in a word and handed it over to us.

A great prayer power moves in their prayers, and whoever peers (peers. - Ed.) into them with all diligence and attention, he, by virtue of the law of interaction, will certainly taste the power of prayer, as his mood approaches the content of the prayer.

In order for our prayer to become a valid means for us to cultivate prayer in ourselves, we must perform it in such a way that both thought and heart perceive the content of the prayers that make it up. Here are the three easiest ways to do it:

- do not start praying without preliminary, although brief, preparation;

- do not do it somehow, but with attention and feeling;

— not immediately after the end of the prayers, go on to ordinary activities.

Prayer rule - daily morning and evening prayers that Christians do. Their texts can be found in the prayer book.

The rule can be general - obligatory for all or individual, selected for the believer by the confessor, taking into account his spiritual state, strength and employment.

Consists of morning and evening prayers, which are performed daily. This vital rhythm is necessary, because otherwise the soul easily falls out of the life of prayer, as if waking up only from time to time. In prayer, as in any big and difficult task, "inspiration", "mood" and improvisation alone are not enough.

Reading prayers connects a person with their creators: psalmists and ascetics. This helps to find a spiritual mood akin to their burning heart. In praying in other people's words, our example is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. His prayer exclamations during the suffering on the Cross are lines from psalms (Ps. 21:2; 30:6).

There are three basic prayer rules:
1) a complete prayer rule, designed for spiritually experienced laity, which is published in the "Orthodox Prayer Book";

2) a short prayer rule; in the morning: “King of Heaven”, Trisagion, “Our Father”, “Virgin Mother of God”, “Rising from sleep”, “God have mercy on me”, “I believe”, “God, cleanse”, “To You, Master”, “Holy Angela”, “Most Holy Lady”, invocation of the saints, prayer for the living and the dead; in the evening: “King of Heaven”, Trisagion, “Our Father”, “Have mercy on us, Lord”, “Eternal God”, “Good King”, “Angel of Christ”, from “Choose Governor” to “It is worthy to eat”;

3) a short prayer rule of St. Seraphim of Sarov: three times “Our Father”, three times “Virgin Mother of God” and once “I believe” - for those days and circumstances when a person is extremely tired or very limited in time.

It is undesirable to completely omit the prayer rule. Even if the prayer rule is read without due attention, the words of the prayers, penetrating into the soul, have their cleansing effect.

The main prayers should be known by heart (with regular reading, they are gradually remembered by a person even with a very poor memory), so that they penetrate deeper into the heart and so that they can be repeated in any circumstances.

It is advisable to study the text of the translation of prayers from the Church Slavonic language into Russian (see "Explanatory Prayer Book") in order to understand the meaning of each word and not pronounce a single word meaninglessly or without accurate understanding.

It is very important that the person approaching prayer banish resentment, irritation, and bitterness from the heart. Without efforts aimed at serving people, at fighting sin, at establishing control over the body and the spiritual sphere, prayer cannot become the inner core of life..

In the conditions of modern life, given the workload and accelerated pace, it is not easy for the laity to set aside a certain time for prayer. The enemy of morning prayer is haste, and evening prayer is fatigue.

morning prayers it is best to read before starting any business (and before breakfast). In extreme cases, they are pronounced on the way from home. Late in the evening it is often difficult to concentrate due to fatigue, so it can be recommended to read the evening prayer rule in free minutes before dinner or even earlier.

During prayer, it is recommended to retire, light a lamp or a candle and stand in front of the icon. Depending on the nature of intra-family relationships, one can recommend reading the prayer rule together, with the whole family, or for each family member separately.

Common prayer is recommended before eating food, on solemn days, before a festive meal, and on other similar occasions. Family prayer is a kind of church, public prayer (the family is a kind of “home church”) and therefore does not replace individual prayer, but only complements it.

Before the beginning of prayer, one should make the sign of the cross and make several bows, half-length or earthly, and try to tune in to an inner conversation with God. The difficulty of prayer is often a sign of its true effectiveness.

Prayer for other people (see commemoration book) is an integral part of prayer. Standing before God does not alienate a person from his neighbors, but binds him to them with even closer ties. We should not be limited only to prayer for those close and dear to us. Praying for those who have caused us grief brings peace to the soul, affects these people and makes our prayer sacrificial.

It is good to end the prayer with thanksgiving to God for the gift of fellowship and contrition for one's inattention. Getting down to business, you must first think about what you have to say, do, see during the day and ask God for blessings and strength to follow His will. In the midst of a busy day, you need to say a short prayer (see the Jesus Prayer), which will help you find the Lord in everyday affairs.

Morning and evening rules– this is just a necessary spiritual hygiene. We are commanded to pray without ceasing (see the Jesus Prayer). The holy fathers said: if you churn milk, you will get butter, and in prayer, it turns from quantity into quality. God bless you!

.
A special collection of prayers is read by those preparing for Communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, and is called the "Rule for Holy Communion."

These prayers were composed by the holy fathers who lived in the Holy Spirit; they are God-inspired, living words coming from the depths of the believing heart, and reading them helps us learn how to pray correctly.

St. Theophan the Recluse explains:

“And one must learn to pray, one must acquire the habit of prayerful turns of thought and movements of feelings, from the prayers of others, just as one learns foreign languages from printed conversations.

My idea is that the novice must first be taught to pray properly with ready-made prayers, so that they learn for themselves thoughts and feelings and words of prayer. For to God the word must be turned to God.

The rule of prayer is a safe fence of prayer.”

“In our prayer books are the prayers of the holy fathers - Ephraim the Syrian, Macarius of Egypt, Basil the Great, John Chrysostom and other great prayer books. Being filled with the spirit of prayer, they set forth what was inspired by this spirit in a word and passed it on to us. In their prayers, a great power of prayer moves, and whoever diligently penetrates into them, by virtue of the law of interaction, will certainly taste the power of prayer, as his mood approaches the content of prayer.

St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov) writes:

“The soul, beginning the path of God, is immersed in deep ignorance of everything divine and spiritual, even if it is rich in the wisdom of this world. Because of this ignorance, she does not know how and how much she should pray. To help the infant soul, the Holy Church has established rules of prayer. A prayer rule is a collection of several prayers composed by God-inspired holy fathers, adapted to a certain circumstance and time. The purpose of the rule is to deliver to the soul the amount of prayerful thoughts and feelings that it lacks, moreover, thoughts and feelings that are correct, holy, as if pleasing to God. The grace-filled prayers of the holy fathers are filled with such thoughts and feelings.”

"The rule! What an exact name, borrowed from the very action produced on a person by prayers called the rule! The prayer rule directs the soul correctly and holily, teaches it to worship God in Spirit and itself, could not follow the path of prayer correctly, because of its damage and clouding by sin, it would be continually deviated to the sides, often into an abyss: now into absent-mindedness, now into daydreaming, now into various empty and deceptive phantoms of high prayerful states composed by its vanity and self-love. The prayer rules keep the worshiper in a saving disposition of humility and repentance, teaching him unceasing self-condemnation, nourishing him with compunction, strengthening him with hope in the all-good and all-merciful God, amusing with the peace of Christ, love for God and neighbor.

In morning prayers we thank God for the past night and ask His grace-filled help for the coming day.

St. Theophan the Recluse writes about the purpose of morning prayers:

“The Lord arranges everything; it is necessary to accept from Him a blessing for deeds, the necessary admonition and the necessary reinforcement. And hurry early, while nothing prevents you, alone, ascend to the Lord with your mind and heart, and confess your needs, your intentions to Him and ask for His help. Having tuned in with prayer and contemplation from the first minutes of the day, you will then spend the whole day in reverence and fear of God, with collected thoughts. Hence - prudence, degree and harmony in business and mutual relations. This is the reward for the work you force yourself to do in your morning solitude. This is also for everyday people, therefore, a measure of prudence, and not something alien to their goals.

“As regards inner prayer, there is one rule: to pray without ceasing.
What does it mean to pray without ceasing? Be constantly in a prayerful mood. A prayerful mood is a thought about God and a feeling for God together. ... Feeling for God is the fear of God, love for God, a zealous desire to please everyone to Him alone, with the same desire to avoid everything that is objectionable to Him, and most importantly - surrendering oneself to His holy will unquestioningly and accepting everything that happens, as from His hand directly. ... It's about these two - about the thought and feeling for God - that you need to have all the care. ... Morning prayers are appointed for that, in order to hoist these two things in the mind and heart ... And then go out with them to your work and to doing. If you raise this in your soul in the morning, then you have prayed properly…”

Rev. John of the Ladder:

There is a demon among the evil spirits, called the preliminary, which immediately upon awakening appears to tempt us and defiles our first thoughts. Dedicate the beginning of your day to the Lord, for to whom you give them first, they will be. One most skillful worker said to me this noteworthy word: “At the beginning of the morning,” he said, “I will foresee all the course of my day.”

“Morning prayers,” writes St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov)- so they breathe cheerfulness, freshness of the morning: he who sees the light of the sensual sun and the light of the earthly day learns to desire the sight of the higher, spiritual Light and the endless day, produced by the Sun of truth - Christ.

A brief restful sleep during the night is an image of a long sleep in the darkness of the grave. And they remember our prayers for sleep in the future, our transmigration to eternity, they survey all our activities during the day, they teach us to bring confession to God of our sins and repentance for them.

Hegumen Varsonofy (Verevkin) writes about the meaning of morning and evening prayers:

“There are rules that are obligatory for everyone: morning and evening, consisting of appropriate prayers.

Morning prayers, or rule, are of great importance to a Christian. Thanks to them, he has the opportunity to tune in spiritually for the coming day.

The ascetics of the "Philokalia" Saints Callistus and Ignatius, Saint Nil and Saint Simeon, Archbishop of Thessalonica, call morning prayers "first thought, sacrificed to God." According to St. Nilus, those who always create morning prayers reach the point that their prayers become effective and heard at every turn to God. “He makes his prayer heard, who always brings his first thought, like a ripe fruit, to God,” he says, and he calls these prayers the main thing of a Christian.

Saint Theodore the Studite writes about the importance of organizing prayers, pointing to them as one of the means for reaching the measure of Christ's age. “Whoever wants to achieve this,” he says, “must spend every day in zealous doing what is due and, having risen from sleep, hasten to prayer.”

Just as important are the morning prayers, so are the evening prayers. They are especially important because, preceding sleep, they set a person’s thoughts in a certain direction, preventing him from being idle, these prayers protect him from thoughts harmful to the human soul… The Monk Abba Philemon points out a remedy against “vain dreams” during sleep. “Don’t be lazy and don’t be cowardly,” he says, “but before you fall asleep, say many prayers in your heart and resist the thoughts and attempts of the devil to lead you according to his will, may God accept you.”

Rev. Ephraim Sirin teaches daily repentance during the fulfillment of the rule:

“... and you, beloved, every day, both in the evening and in the morning, think carefully ... And in the evening, entering the temple of your heart, think over everything and ask yourself: “Have I not angered God with something? Did he say an idle word? Was he careless? Have you upset my brother? Did he slander anyone? And when I sang psalms with my lips, then didn’t my mind dream of something worldly? Was my carnal desire revived in me, and was it not with pleasure that I pursued it? Have I not succumbed to earthly concerns?” If you have suffered damage from this, then try to gain what you have lost; sigh, cry, so as not to fall into the same again. And in the morning, take care of yourself again and ask: “How was this night? Did I make any profit in the night from my purchase? Was my mind awake with my body? Have tears flowed from my eyes? Was I not weighed down with sleep while kneeling? Did not evil thoughts come into my mind, and did I not deal with them with pleasantness? If you were defeated by this, then try to heal, put a guard to your heart, so as not to suffer damage again. If you are so careful, you will keep your purchase intact, and in this way you will become pleasing to your Lord and benefit yourself.
Be attentive to yourself so that you never fall into laziness, because the predominance of laziness is the beginning of destruction.

How to make a prayer rule

Before reading the rule, Christians usually light lamps in front of the icons, women cover their heads as a sign of humility and reverence.

The Holy Fathers say that it is better to know prayers by heart, then it is easier to unite the mind and heart in prayer, and those who read prayers according to the Prayer Book constantly memorize them quickly and easily. St. Theophan the Recluse also advises reading the translation of prayers into Russian in order to correctly understand their meaning, what we ask God for in prayer.

“Enter into your cell, and having shut your doors, pray to your Father, who is in secret: and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you with truth” (Matthew 6:6).

Before you start praying, you need to set yourself up for the most important thing that happens in our life: to talk with God.

St. Theophan the Recluse:

"... when starting to pray, in the morning or in the evening, stand a little, or sit, or walk around, and take the trouble at this time to sober up the thought, diverting it from all earthly affairs and objects. Then think about Who is the One to whom you will turn in prayer , and who are you, now having to begin this prayerful appeal to Him - and correspondingly arouse in your soul the mood of self-abasing and reverent fear imbued with standing before God in your heart. This is the whole preparation - to stand reverently before God,- small, but significant. Here is the beginning of prayer; a good start is half the battle.

Having thus established yourself internally, then stand in front of the icon and, having bowed a little, begin the usual prayer... Read slowly, delve into every word and bring the thought of every word to the heart, accompanying it with bows. This is the whole point of reading a prayer that is pleasing and fruitful to God. Delve into every word and bring the thought of the word to the heart, otherwise: understand what you read, and feel what you understand. No other rules are required. These two - understand and feel - performed properly, adorn any prayer with full dignity and communicate to it all fruitful action.

Prot. Alexey Uminsky writes about this:

“When a person rises to pray, he must prepare himself for it inwardly. Prayer should be preceded by a state of inner silence, the idea that the main thing in your life will now begin - a conversation with God.
“When we open the prayer book, there are amazing, correct and simple words: “Before you start to pray, stay a little, be silent, make sure that all your spiritual feelings calm down, reconcile, and then only from silence say:“ God, be merciful me a sinner, "- imagining oneself now standing before God. "It is not God who needs to be imagined, because no one has seen God and it is never possible to imagine Him - this is an erroneous and dangerous phenomenon, when a person, in order to set himself up for prayer, begins to imagine You can only present yourself before God, and this is what you need to do - to appear before the Invisible and Living God, in whose presence you are, and from this depth begin to say something.

St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov) advises:

“Before starting the evening rule, it is especially useful to make a feasible number of bows: from them the body will get a little tired and warm, and a feeling of pious sadness will be communicated to the heart; diligent and attentive reading of the rule will be prepared for both.

“When making the rule and prostrations, one should not rush in any way; should make both rules and bows with possible slowness and attention. It is better to read less prayers and bow less, but with attention, rather than a lot without attention.

St. Theophan the Recluse also instructs:

“... it is necessary that both church and home prayers be performed with attention and from the heart.”
“Never hurriedly pronounce prayers, and slowly, with thoughts and feelings that are expressed in read prayers. Before the beginning of prayer, always prepare a little, collecting thoughts and trying with your attention to stand before the Lord, Whom you are about to pray. The main disposition of prayer is to be repentant, for we all sin a lot... The spirit is contrite, God will not despise a contrite and humble heart... On every rule, pray for your sins, in which you sin...
What should one strive to achieve through prayer? So that the heart is warmed by love for God and the feeling for God does not depart ... We must raise the faith that God sees and hears everything, and knows all our secrets.

St. Theophan the Recluse advises to “cultivate a prayerful spirit” in this way:

“Every prayer should come from the heart, and any other prayer is not a prayer.”
“... the main thing is, with any spiritual need, turn to the Savior. Restore the faith that He is near and hears ... "
“... always try to pray from the heart; for the heart, this is the law: "God will not despise a contrite and humble heart." The correctness of your prayer is violated by thoughts. Have you noticed?! Now try to fix it. The first step to this is - when you start praying, arouse in yourself: the fear of God and reverence; then become attention in the heart, and from there cry out to the Lord.
And third-party thoughts will climb; as you can see, drive away. They will climb again, drive again ... And that's all. Do not allow your tongue to read a prayer, and your thoughts not to know where they staggered ... always drive them away and pray.
You need to work hard and pray to the Lord to help you cope with your thoughts. Do you have a collection of fatherly lessons on prayer? Read and understand, apply to yourself. Work unceasingly on this... and God, seeing your work, will give you what you are looking for... Work diligently, but do not think yourself to succeed in anything without God's special help.
Call on her more often."
“Fulfilling your rule, keep in mind not only to subtract everything that is necessary, but to arouse and strengthen the movement of prayer in your soul; in order to achieve this, the first thing is never to read in a hurry, but read as if in a chant ... close to that. In ancient times, all prayers read were taken from the psalms. But nowhere do I find the word: read, and sing everywhere ... Second. Delve into every word and not only reproduce the thought of what you read in your mind, but also arouse a corresponding feeling. Third. In order to strike the urge for hasty reading, do not subtract this and that, but stand on the reading prayer for a quarter of an hour, half an hour, an hour ... how long you usually stand ... and then do not worry about how many prayers you read - but how the time has come, if no desire to stand further, stop reading ... Fourth. Having put this on the clock, however, do not look, but stand like that in order to stand endlessly: the thought will not run ahead ... Fifth. In order to help the movement of prayerful feelings, in your free time, reread and rethink all the prayers that are included in your rule - and re-feel them, so that when you begin to read them on the rule, you will know in advance what feeling should be aroused in your heart. Sixth. Never read prayers without interruption ... but always interrupt them with your own prayer with bows, whether in the middle of the prayers you have to do this, or at the end. As soon as something falls into your heart, immediately stop reading and bow down... This is the last rule - the most necessary and most necessary for cultivating the spirit of prayer... drop it ... until the very end of the allotted time.
“On the rule of prayer, one must exert oneself. ... You just need to bother yourself, at least in moderation. And then a small benefit will lead to a big one, and everything can be ruined. When you become a rule, and the head is distracted, so that you can’t manage it, you need to force it to order ... until the mind gathers itself. When he is in line, then start bowing. He who bows with a distracted head is a reed shaken by the wind.

St. John Chrysostom teaches the art of prayer:

“It is always necessary to remember that we need not only to just pray, but to pray in such a way that we will be heard.”

Prot. Alexy Uminsky:

“Prayer, as a gift from God, is given only to those who make efforts. In Holy Scripture there are such words: giving prayer to those who pray (see: 1 Sam. 2, 9). Only when you use effort in prayer, only then is prayer given to you. But if you don't do that, don't force yourself to pray, don't make any effort, and expect it to be born on its own without real shedding of sweat and blood, you'll never get prayer. This is not a gift that is given randomly and suddenly, due to some circumstance.

Rule Reasoning

The prayer rule for a person is established by his spiritual father, it is up to him to change it - to reduce or increase it. Once established, a rule should become the law of life, and every violation should be considered as an exceptional case.

There is a complete prayer rule, designed for monks and spiritually experienced laity, which is printed in the Orthodox Prayer Book. However, for those who are just starting to get used to prayer, it is difficult to immediately begin to read it all in its entirety. Usually confessors advise to start with several prayers, and then, every 7-10 days, add one prayer to the rule, so that the ability to read the entire rule is developed gradually and naturally.

St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov) writes about how important it is to correctly establish the scope of the prayer rule:

“The holy fathers, praising the rule of prayer and confessing its necessity, instruct to have it moderate, commensurate with the forces, with the state of spiritual prosperity and with the circumstances in which a person is placed by the Providence of God. The essence of the fulfillment of the rule of prayer lies in the fact that it is fulfilled with attention. From attention our spirit comes to humility: from humility repentance is born. In order to be able to make a rule slowly, the rule must be moderate. The Holy Fathers, while highly praising the moderate rule, advise to fulfill it recklessly.
Choose for yourself a rule corresponding to the forces. What the Lord said about the Sabbath, that it is for a man, and not a man for her (Mark 2:27), can and should be attributed to all the ascetics of the pious, and between them to the rule of prayer. A prayer rule for a person, and not a person for a rule: it should help a person to achieve spiritual success, and not serve as an unbearable burden, crushing bodily strength and embarrassing the soul. Moreover, it should not serve as a pretext for proud and pernicious conceit, pernicious condemnation and humiliation of one's neighbors.
Having chosen for yourself a prayer rule commensurate with your strength and spiritual need, try to fulfill it carefully and unreservedly: this is necessary to maintain the moral strength of your soul, just as it is necessary to maintain bodily strength daily at certain hours of sufficient consumption of healthy food.
A prudently chosen rule of prayer, according to the forces and the nature of life, serves as a great help for the one striving for his salvation.

Rev. Matoj:

"I prefer," said some great father, "not a lasting rule, but constantly executed, to a lasting one, but soon abandoned."

Prot. Alexy Uminsky:

“In order for a rule to become not an obstacle, but a real mover of a person to God, it is necessary that it be in proportion to his spiritual strength, correspond to his spiritual age and state of mind. Many people, not wanting to burden themselves, consciously choose prayer rules that are too light, which because of this become formal and do not bear fruit. But sometimes a great rule, chosen out of unreasonable jealousy, also becomes a shackle, plunging into despondency and preventing one from growing spiritually.
The rule is not a frozen form, during the course of life it must necessarily change both qualitatively and externally.

Hegumen Pakhomiy (Bruskov):

“The rule of a layman may include quite a variety of prayers and rites. These can be various canons, akathists, reading of the Holy Scriptures or the Psalter, bows, the Jesus Prayer. In addition, the rule should include a brief or more detailed commemoration of the health and repose of loved ones. In monastic practice, there is a custom to include in the rule the reading of patristic literature. But before you add something to your prayer rule, you need to think carefully, consult with the priest, evaluate your strengths. After all, the rule is read regardless of mood, fatigue, other heart movements. And if a person has promised something to God, it must be fulfilled. The Holy Fathers say: let the rule be small, but constant. At the same time, you need to pray with all your heart.”

If a person is sick or very tired, then the evening rule can be performed not immediately before going to bed, but shortly before that. And before going to bed, you should read the last part of the rule, starting with the prayer of St. John of Damascus " Vladyka Lover of mankind, will this coffin be for me..." and following it to the end.

Reducing the rule

In addition to the complete prayer rule that is mandatory for Christians, there is also. Lay people sometimes have situations when there is little time and energy left for prayer, and in this case it is better to read a short rule with attention and reverence than hastily and superficially, without a prayerful mood - the whole rule. The Holy Fathers teach to treat their prayer rule with reason, on the one hand, not giving concessions to their passions, laziness, self-pity and others that can destroy a correct spiritual dispensation, and on the other hand, to learn to shorten or even slightly change the rule without temptation and embarrassment. when there is a real need for it.

Reverend Nikon of Optina:

“No matter how busy a person is even with the most soul-saving deeds, even for obedience, he must still have a constant cell (or home) prayer rule that is possible for him in his usual position. Breaking a rule is already seen as a weakness. A blessed violation of the rule is when a person, for reasons beyond his control, leaves the usual order for some urgent need or unexpected obedience. Need for the sake of changing the law happens (Compare: Heb. 7, 12).

St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov):

“Regarding the rule, know that it is for you, and you are not for it, but for the Lord. Therefore, have freedom of reasoning.”

St. Theophan the Recluse:

“When things do not allow you to complete the rule of prayer, then do it in an abridged way. And you should never rush. God is everywhere. Say thanks to Him in the morning and ask for a blessing in your own words, a few bows and enough! Never turn to God in any way. And always with great reverence. He does not need our obeisances, nor our long-winded prayers... A cry from the heart is short and strong, that's what is profitable! Take care of this and direct everything here. … The rule must be in your free will. Don't be his slave."

“Pull, as brought and used to. If sometimes you can’t reach something (from the rule) due to senile infirmity, scold yourself a little, complain to the Lord and calm down. If again - do the same, and so always. ... As for the rule, I think about this this way: no matter who chooses a rule for himself, everything is good - as long as he keeps his soul in reverence before God.

“When I wrote to you not to shorten the time of prayer, I wrote because, as I thought, you began to be lazy in praying. This is the main thing to avoid. Illness means the weakening or suppression of spiritual movements: which is very deplorable. But as I see that your zeal for the matter of prayer is alive, I think that you should leave the time and the rule of prayer to your arbitrariness, arrange both, as you find the best and most convenient for yourself. Keep only one thing urgent, so that when you stand in prayer, prayer comes from the heart and with feelings for God, laudatory, grateful and pleading with hope, and so that no extraneous matter is mixed in with this.
“We must use months ... and show constancy and patience in this work. - But here I will add - do not knit yourself. If you bind with anything, hold on to it: for by this the fruitfulness of such sowing is determined.

“Bless, Lord, and continue to pray according to your rule. But never bind yourself to a rule and think that there is anything of value in having such a rule or always making it. The whole price is in the heart before God falling down. ... and do it with consciousness and feeling, and not somehow. In case you need to be able to shorten the rule. Are there any accidents in family life?.. You can, for example, in the morning and in the evening, when there is no time, to read only the morning prayers and for the coming sleep. You can even not read all of them, but several. You can read nothing at all, but make a few bows, but with true heartfelt prayer. The rule must be handled with complete freedom. Be the mistress of the rule, not a slave. A servant only of God, obliged to devote all the minutes of her life to please Him.

“You have a home prayer rule for the whole family. This holy cause should not be changed or cancelled. But then you can keep a special one - only a rule for yourself ... if you like.

Prot. Alexy Uminsky advises:

“A person can increase or decrease the rule depending on the circumstances of life, for example, when traveling or sick. The holy righteous John of Kronstadt writes in his diary that sometimes, when a person is sick, he cannot pray, and there is no need to. On this occasion, one should not lose heart, but pray as best one can, or occupy oneself with other activities, such as reading, there is no sin in this.

Why do we need a prayer rule?

Rev. Isaac Sirin:

“Not for the abandonment of the psalms will God condemn us on the day of His judgment, not for the abandonment of prayer, but for the subsequent abandonment of them, the entry of demons into us. The demons, when they find a place, will enter and shut the doors of our eyes: then they will fulfill with us, their tools, violently and uncleanly, with the most cruel vengeance, everything forbidden by God. And because of the abandonment of the small (rule), for which the intercession of Christ is worthy, we become subject (to demons), as it is written by some wise ones: "He who disobeys his will to God, will submit to his rival." These (rules), which seem small to you, will become walls for you against those who try to captivate us. The fulfillment of these (rules) inside the cell was wisely established by the founders of the church charter, by revelation from above, for the preservation of our stomach.

The purpose of the prayer rule is that the desire to pray in a person does not fade, so that prayer is always present in him, in any form, even when it is not expressed in words, but, according to the word St. Theophan the Recluse, is “in an unceasing prayerful mood. A prayerful mood is a thought about God and a feeling for God together,” which is the essence of unceasing prayer commanded to us by the word of God.

St. Theophan the Recluse instructs:

“It is necessary to have a rule of prayer for the sake of our weakness, so that, on the one hand, laziness does not give way, and on the other, jealousy is kept in its measure.”

Rev. Abba Isaiah:

“Do not leave the rule of prayer, so as not to fall into the hands of your enemies.
Follow your prayer rule carefully. Beware! don't let yourself neglect it. From the careful execution of the rule, the soul is enlightened and strengthened.

Rev. John of the Ladder:

Saint Ignatius (Bryanchaninov) says that as long as a person does not have a prayer rule, it is impossible for him to build his spiritual life. It is a special way of building your inner man. It can be said that the construction of the temple of God within oneself begins with the rule of prayer. He's writing:

“Rule! What an exact name, borrowed from the very action produced on a person by prayers, called the rule! The rule of prayer guides the soul correctly and holily, teaches it to worship God in Spirit and Truth (John 4:23), while the soul, being left to itself, could not follow the right path of prayer. Because of her damage and bewilderment by sin, she would incessantly turn aside, often into an abyss: now into absent-mindedness, now into daydreaming, now into various empty and deceptive phantoms of high prayerful states composed by her vanity and self-love.

The prayer rules keep the one praying in a saving disposition of humility and repentance, teaching him unceasing self-condemnation, nourishing him with tenderness, strengthening him with hope in the all-good and all-merciful God, amusing with the peace of Christ, love for God and neighbor ... They clean and decorate the house of the soul with wonderful thoughts and feelings, so many pleasing to the Lord."

“The prayer rules keep the prayer in a saving disposition of humility and repentance, teaching him unceasing self-condemnation, nourishing him with compunction, strengthening him with hope in the All-Good and All-Merciful God.

It is necessary to learn the right prayer in order to succeed in it and through it to work out your salvation.

The fruits of true prayer: a bright peace of the soul, combined with a quiet, silent joy, alien to daydreaming, conceit and heated impulses and movements; love for one's neighbor, not separating the good from the bad for love... but interceding for all before God as for oneself."

Reverend Nikon of Optina speaks of the usefulness of the rule:

Not only a monk, but also a layman who is coming to monasticism and therefore has become close, as if kindred in spirit to monasticism, will see from experience how expensive it is to fulfill a prayer rule at home.

Rev. Nile of Sinai:

The mother of all virtues is prayer: it can not only purify and nourish, but also enlighten and is able to make those who sincerely pray like the sun.

St. John Chrysostom:

"Prayer is the foundation of all good and contributes to the attainment of salvation and eternal life.
Into a soul that is not familiar with prayer and petition, nothing that promotes piety can enter.

Prayer is a sacred messenger; it gladdens the heart, calms the soul, excites the fear of punishment and the desire for the Kingdom of Heaven; teaches humility, brings knowledge of sin."

Saint Gregory of Nyssa:

The fruits of sincere prayer are simplicity, love, humility, patience, gentleness, and the like. All this, even before eternal fruit, bears fruit here in the life of the diligent. Such are the fruits that adorn prayer; if they do not exist, then her labor is in vain.

Prot. Alexy Uminsky writes about the grace of the Orthodox prayer rule:

“The rule of prayer is a science, a constant exercise, a school of spiritual life, that which teaches us to pray, and that which eventually becomes prayer.
We have the blessed opportunity to speak in the words that Basil the Great spoke to God. …
Prayer is known by its fruits. If for some time we pray, and prayer does not bear fruit, we need to think about how we relate to prayer. …
Prayer builds the whole human life. Because in the Kingdom of Heaven there is nothing but prayer, which fills life and unites everything and everything.

For those who reject following the holy fathers in prayer, Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov rather harshly wrote that a person should not pray on his own. He warns of the dangers of such a prayer: “Do not dare to utter to God the many-verb and eloquent prayers that you have composed, no matter how strong and touching they may seem to you. They are the product of a fallen mind and, being a defiled sacrifice, cannot be accepted on the spiritual altar of God. And you, admiring the graceful expressions of the prayers composed by you and recognizing the refined action of vanity and voluptuousness as a consolation of conscience and even grace, will be carried away far from prayer at the very time when it will seem to you that you are praying and have already reached a certain degree of pleasing God.

In everything that concerns prayer and a pious life, the Lord Jesus Christ, the apostles and saints can serve as an example for us. It is written in the Gospel that Christ prayed in solitude for several hours and even during the whole night. The Apostle Paul urged to pray without ceasing, that is, all the time. Is there a limit to the length of the prayer?

You can turn to God in prayer almost everywhere:

in the temple
where they eat
at work
and even on the way

At home, they read home prayers (morning, evening, before or after eating food). With the blessing of the priest, morning prayers can be read on the way to work. In the office, you can pray before the start and at the end of the working day.

During worship services in the temple, believers together perform a public (otherwise - church) prayer.

To pray alone in the temple, you need to come outside of worship, purchase and light candles. It is not necessary to light them: the ministers will light them before the start of the service. Then you need to venerate the icon of the day or holiday - it lies on a lectern (a special inclined table) in the middle of the temple - as well as to the shrines that may be in the temple: revered icons, relics of saints. After that, you can find a place to read to yourself (in a whisper) any prayer that you know by heart, or pray in your own words.

How many times a day should the Orthodox pray?

Prayer is a time dedicated to God. This time should be every day.

in the morning,
in the evening,
before meals and after
before and after the completion of any business (for example, work or study)
in order to first ask God for blessings, and in the end to thank Him.

In addition, it is important in the temple to perform church prayer and acceptance. If necessary, in case of special needs or life circumstances, you can turn to private prayer (at home in front of the icons or in the church between services) to the saints or heavenly forces so that they intercede for the one who is praying before the Lord.

Time for reading Orthodox prayers in church and at home

In ancient monasteries, nine long services were performed per day, and between them the monks alone read psalms or recited. Night was considered a particularly fertile time for solitary prayer.

Modern lay people perform at home in the morning, in the evening, upon returning home -. If a person is weak or has little time, then instead of the morning and evening rules, he can read St. Seraphim of Sarov during the day.

It is advisable to discuss the duration of morning and evening prayers with the priest, with whom the parishioner confesses constantly.

On Saturday evening and on the eve of church holidays, you should attend the all-night vigil in the church, and on Sunday mornings and on holidays - the Liturgy.

During they go to church more often to pray: in the first four days they try not to miss evening services- they serve Great Compline with the Canon of Andrew of Crete. You should also try to attend as many services as possible during the Holy Week preceding the Easter holiday. During Holy Week Liturgy is served daily, and believers strive to visit it in order to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ not only on Sunday, but also on a weekday.

Morning prayer time

Morning prayers are read at home, immediately upon awakening. Waking up, you need to stand in front of the icons and start reading prayers by heart or according to the prayer book.

Evening Prayer Time

Evening prayers are read at home at the end of the day or before bed. The evening rule is not recommended to be postponed until later, because the later, the stronger the fatigue and the more difficult it is to concentrate.

Just before going to bed, already lying in bed, they say: “In Your hands, Lord my God, I betray my spirit, You save me, You have mercy on me and grant me eternal life.”

Prayer all day long

The Orthodox Church does not set a strict time for prayers. We must strive to pray constantly. First of all, this means constantly remembering God and from time to time, if possible, turning to Him during the day with short prayers (for example, the Jesus Prayer “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner” or a short thanksgiving prayer “Glory To Thee, our God, glory to Thee!”).

Continuous prayer

You can read short prayers continuously throughout the day, repeating the same prayer many times in a row and counting the number of repetitions with a rosary. This is usually how the Jesus Prayer is read. However, for such a prayer it is necessary to take the blessing of the priest, And the number of repetitions is strictly regulated.

There are many restrictions on continuous prayer, it cannot be read uncontrollably.

St. Ambrose of Optina ordered his spiritual children to read the Jesus Prayer only aloud, because reading to oneself can cause strong emotional sensations and lead to delusion. Charm means self-deception, up to mental insanity.

How long should a prayer be?

Durationprayers are not governed by rules.

The most important thing is the focus on prayer, not its duration or number of prayers.
You need to pray slowly, thinking about every word.
The number of prayers should correspond to the time that we can devote to them.

The Lord said, “I want mercy, not sacrifice” (Mt. 9:13), therefore, with a lack of time or severe fatigue, it is permissible to shorten the prayer rule in order to read it with concentration.