(under the auspices of the Commission for the Laity of the Chicago Eparchy of St. Nicholas)
The church is the place where God meets with his people, Christ with his Bride – the Church; it is the image of the union in Christ of “heaven” and “earth”. Recognizing this reality, a Christian, as he or she approaches the church, must already internally prepare for this meeting with proper composed behavior. This inner state is also manifested through external signs, symbols that are inherent in human nature, which is a combination of the spiritual and bodily: our bodily postures and gestures express and nurture our spiritual mind-set.
I. Entering the church
At entering the church, the faithful make the sign of the cross three times. Men remove their head covering. Then, when the service has not yet begun, we calmly approach the tetrapod to venerate by bows and a kiss the church’s patronage icon (or icon of the respective feast) and the holy cross, crossing ourselves twice before and once after kissing. We then depart to our place in order to greet the Lord in private prayer and to give Him first our due respect and honor.
Afterwards, we may greet our fellow worshippers near us with a slight bow of our head or (unless it prevents others from praying) quietly addressing them with our traditional Christian greetings.
II. During the Divine Service
The Divine Liturgy is the foundation and summit of Christian life. It must be remembered that participating in the Liturgy every Sunday and on Feast days is our Christian duty. The voluntary and deliberate omission of this sacrament without good reason on our part is a violation of the Third Commandment of God – a grave offense.
Also, without good reason, we cannot be late for the Divine Liturgy. For proper preparation, we come to church in advance to go to confession, if need be, to make our private requests for prayers, to light votive candles, and so on. During the celebration of the Liturgy, we should not walk around in church, in order not to distract the faithful. If there is a need to light a candle during the service, we try to do so in a manner, so as not to disturb others at prayer.
• How to dress?
Our attire should be decent and festive in order to pay due respect to our Lord, and at the same time it should be simple so as not to distract other believers.
• How to pray?
The Divine Liturgy is the summit of the liturgical life of the Church and in Greek means “common cause”. In the Liturgy, the Church on earth is united with the heavenly Church in glorifying its Lord. Therefore, the faithful must, above all, “with one heart and one voice,” actively participate in all the prayers and chants that take place in church, responding, together with others, to the celebrants’ prayer invocations. These prayers and chants are a true “school of prayer” that encourages, shapes, and supports our personal prayer which accompanies them.
We set aside time for our individual, private prayers before and after the Liturgy, as well as before and after Communion.
• When should we cross ourselves?
We make the sign of the Holy Cross on ourselves at designated times, for example, at the mention in prayers of the Holy Trinity (“Glory be to the Father…”), and when the celebrant blesses us with his hand (“Peace be to all”), or with the Gospel, the chalice, the cross, an icon, or any other holy object.
• Stand, sit or kneel?
According to the tradition of our Eastern rite, our usual posture in church is standing: this posture expresses our spiritual attention and readiness to do God’s will. We may sit during the litanies, the reading of the Epistle and Psalms, preaching, and announcements. We pay special attention to the time of the Eucharistic Prayer (especially from the words, “Let us lift up our hearts” to the singing of “It is truly right to bless you … “), also to the time of Communion (from: “The holy Things to the holy” to “Stand aright! Having received…”).
In our Eastern rite, kneeling (as well as prostrations) is an expression of a penitential stance of the penitent before the Lord, so it is usually limited to the special services of Lent.
• How do we approach Holy Communion?
Communion of the Body and Blood of the Lord completes and crowns our participation in the Divine Liturgy. It is very important to remember that only those believers can approach Holy Communion who are not in a state of grave sin (a conscious and serious violation of any of the Ten Commandments of the Lord).
It is also important to know that a thoughtless and improper receiving of Holy Eucharist is another grave sin, a sacrilege. For this, the Lord has established the mystery of Holy Confession and the Church recommends to the faithful frequent confession (preferably once a month). If we are in a state of sanctifying grace, we can receive Communion even daily (but not more than once a day).
Standing in line to Holy Communion, and after receiving it, we do not approach the tetrapod or other places in the church and do not kiss icons.
It should be noted that in our rite it is not customary to beat our breast during certain prayers. Namely, before Holy Communion, in the prayer “I believe, O Lord, and confess…”, at the words: “Remember me …” and “God, be merciful …”, we do not beat out breast like the Old Testament publican, but we cross ourselves as a sign that in repentance we accept the cross by which Christ accomplished our salvation.
As we approach to receive Holy Communion, we make the sign of the cross and a slight bow before the Holy Cup with the Holy Gifts beforehand and carefully, so as not to risk bumping the Holy Cup; then we fold our arms across our breasts, pronounce our baptismal name, and open our mouths wide without sticking out our tongue or touching the spoon with our lips.
Having received Holy Communion, we take a step to the side, make the sign of the cross again, bow lightly and depart to our place, and there we stand, silently praying, thanking Christ for the grace of his entering our heart. This is an opportunity for private prayers if time permits, as other believers continue to receive Holy Communion.
If, during the communion of the faithful, the priest passes us on his way to another part of the church with the Eucharistic Cup, then we should cross ourselves and bow our head before the Holy Gifts.
Remember that Communion is the most important moment of the Holy Liturgy, so in the time of receiving the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, it is important for all believers (whether or not they participate in it) to maintain a proper attitude and peace. To this end, all believers must, in deep reverence for the Lord and respect for their neighbors, standing, without conversing, in deep reflection, and with due reverence, wait for the completion of this great Mystery.
At the conclusion of the Divine Service and our private prayer, we again approach the tetrapod and kiss the icon and the cross, with the threefold sign of the cross, as mentioned, and leave the church in peace.
