He is everywhere and you can offer prayers to Him anywhere. Temples, cathedrals, churches are heaven on earth, where the Lord dwells in a special way, giving His gracious help in various matters, consoles the mourning, accepts gratitude from a person. Divine services are performed strictly according to the rules. To find out what time the church service starts, you need to call or go to the temple of interest.

As a rule, general prayers are performed in the morning, evening, and sometimes during the day. On fasting, holidays or ordinary days, the schedule of services changes. In monasteries they live under a special regime, they work for God more often and longer. During special periods, such as Easter and Christmas, the liturgy takes place at night. All services are divided into:

• daily allowance;
• weekly;
• annual

All services are held in full in monasteries. In urban cathedrals and large churches, services are held daily. Small urban and rural parishes schedule services based on the existing demands of the laity and the capabilities of the clergy.

Liturgical church year starts on September 1, old style, and all services of the year are built depending on the main holiday of Easter. The daily service begins in the evening, based on the biblical creation of the Universe: first there was evening, and then morning. Vespers is celebrated in honor of a holiday or saint remembered on the next day according to the calendar. Every day the church commemorates some event from the earthly life of the Lord, the Queen of Heaven or the Saints.

Each day of the liturgical week is dedicated to an important event:

• Sunday is a special day, little Easter, the remembrance of the resurrection of Christ;
• Monday they pray to the Angels;
• Tuesday - to the Holy Prophet John the Baptist;
• Wednesday - the betrayal of the Lord by Judas and the memory of the Cross are remembered, the day of fasting;
• Thursday is the day of the Apostles and St. Nicholas;
• Friday - service in honor of the Lord's suffering on the cross and Life-giving Cross, day of fasting;
• Saturday - revered Mother of God, memory of saints and all deceased Orthodox Christians.

Modern evening worship consists of:

• vespers;
• matins;
• 1st hour.

The evening service commemorates the events of Old Testament: about God’s creation of the world, the fall of the first people, the law of Moses, the activities of the prophets. Orthodox Christians thank God for the sorrows and joys of the day and ask for blessings for the coming night and morning.

Many people are interested in the question: what time does the evening service in church begin? Different parish churches have their own tradition of holding common prayers, but on average the beginning of Vespers usually falls between 15:00 and 18:00 local time. If you want to take part in a service, it would be a good idea to inquire in advance about the exact time in a particular church.

How long does a church service last and what does its duration depend on?

Worship has the goal of tearing a person away from earthly vanity and touching eternity. It instructs in faith and prayer, and encourages repentance and thanksgiving. Believers communicate with the Lord through common prayer, sacraments In church services there is not a single action or word spoken for beauty or inappropriately, everything has deep meaning and symbolism. How long the service lasts in the church will depend on such parameters as:

• parish church or monastery;
• type of service (holiday, regular Lenten, all-night vigil, liturgy, etc.);
• choir singing;
• speed of service by the clergy;
• number of confessors and communicants;
• duration of the sermon.

In parish churches, services are greatly reduced due to the numerous earthly concerns of lay believers; in monasteries they are held in full. During Lent, especially in Great Lent, services are long, with readings of the psalter and prayers of repentance. Church holidays are celebrated with special grandeur and solemnity, with numerous clergy and people. How large quantity confessors and communicants, the longer the conciliar prayer. The style of conducting the service also matters: in some churches the choir sings more protractedly and the prayers are pronounced slowly and clearly, but in others, on the contrary, the tempo is faster. After the liturgy, the priest, for the edification of the believers, delivers a sermon about important events of a given day or on the topic of an excerpt from readable Gospel. One priest speaks at length, instructively, with examples from life, the other briefly, to the point.

Taking into account all these points, a church service can last from 1.5 to 8 hours. On average, in parish churches on ordinary days, prayer lasts 1.5–3 hours, and on Holy Mount Athos and in other monasteries it reaches 6–8 hours. Before major holidays and Sundays, an all-night vigil is always held, combining Vespers, Matins and the 1st hour. In ordinary parish churches it lasts about 2–4 hours, in monasteries - 3–6.

What time does morning service start in church?

In modern church practice morning service consists of:

• 3rd hour (memory of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles);
• 6th hour (in memory of the crucifixion of the Lord);
• Divine Liturgy (proskomedia, liturgy of the catechumens and the faithful).

Liturgy or Eucharist (Thanksgiving) is the central service in the church, at which the main Sacrament takes place - the Communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. This sacred rite was approved by the Lord Himself at the Last Supper, on the eve of the suffering of the cross, and He commanded this to be done in His memory.

In the 4th century, St. Basil the Great compiled and recorded the rite of the Liturgy, and later St. John Chrysostom proposed a shortened version of the service. These two rites are still used in the modern church. The Liturgy of St. Basil the Great is served 10 times a year: on Sundays of Great Lent, except Palm Day, on Maundy Thursday and Saturday Holy Week, January 14 (on the day of memory of St. Basil) and on the holidays of the Nativity of Christ and the Epiphany.

IN Lent on Wednesdays and Fridays they serve the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. The remaining days of the year the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom is celebrated.

At the Liturgy, the earthly life and teaching of the Savior from birth to ascension are remembered. In ancient times, such a service was called the breaking of bread. IN Holy Scripture called the Lord's meal or supper (1 Cor. 10:21; 11:20).

The answer to the question “What time does the morning service in the church begin?” will depend on the tradition that has developed in a particular parish, the number of communicants and altars in the church, but we can definitely say that the liturgy is always celebrated before noon. In large churches with a large parish there may be three services, starting at 6 a.m. Small churches with one altar cannot celebrate more than one liturgy per day. On average, the beginning of morning worship ranges from 06:00 to 10:00. The specific time can always be found in the temple itself.

You can pray to God everywhere, but the temple is a special place of God’s presence. Any person, even those far from the church, entering the house of the Lord, will feel the special grace that dwells there. As in any public place, in the temple there are important rules behavior.

Approaching the house of God, you must cross yourself three times short prayer: “Lord, have mercy” or learn a special one that is read at the entrance to the church. It is better for women to wear a skirt or dress below the knees and scarves, and their shoulders should be covered. Men are supposed to enter the temple without a headdress and in decent clothing. It is not allowed to talk, much less laugh, especially during the service.

It is better to come to the service in advance in order to:

• buy and put candles;
• write notes for peace and health;
• order a prayer service, magpie, memorial service (optional);
• venerate icons, relics, crucifixes.

It is imperative to place a candle for the holiday on the central lectern with the icon of the day or saint, opposite the iconostasis. The repose is placed in a separate place (kanun), usually near the crucifix. The remaining candlesticks are all for health, as a rule, near the icon of the Most Pure Mother of God, saints or church holidays. There is no hard and fast rule about where and how many candles should be placed or donations should be placed: it all depends on the desire and capabilities of the person.

When the service begins, you need to stand on free place, listen carefully to the readings and chants, try to delve into and pray with everyone. Everything will be unclear the first time, but if you wish, you can read a special educational literature and gradually study the liturgical structure in the Orthodox Church. Good rule will monitor the actions of the clergy and laity, cross themselves and bow together with everyone. Only seriously ill people are allowed to sit during the service. They listen to the Gospel with their heads bowed, with special reverence. At the Divine Liturgy, the prayers “Creed” and “Our Father” are read aloud by all those present; they must be learned by heart.

It is impossible to cover the topic “How the service is held” within the framework of one article, because many different services take place throughout the year, and they all differ from each other in chants and prayers. There are also special services in the form of prayers and memorial services, which follow a special rite. Lenten services very heartfelt, lengthy, with many kneeling prayers: at this time they read a lot and sing a little. Festive services are held under the bright lighting of the temple, the Lord, the Mother of God, and the Saints are glorified majestically and magnificently, and a person receives consolation, joy, and is sanctified by grace.

Schedule of public services in churches.

What time does the early and late morning service in church begin and end?

Important: each temple creates its own schedule of public services! There is no general schedule for all temples!

Two liturgies, early and late, are served at large Christian holidays And Sundays in churches with large parishes.

The early service is held at 6-7 am, the late service at 9-10 am. In some churches, the time is shifted to 7-8 a.m. for early services and 10-11 a.m. for late ones.

The duration of public worship is 1.5-2 hours. In some cases, the duration of the morning liturgy can be 3 hours.

What time does the evening and night service in the church begin and end?

Evening public worship is served no earlier than 16:00 and no later than 18:00. Each temple has its own schedule.

The duration of the service is 2-4 hours and depends on the significance of the upcoming holiday. According to the Rule, Vespers can be daily, small and great.

Every day happens in weekdays, unless a holiday with polyeleos or vigil falls on them.

Malaya is part of the All-Night Vigil. The Great Service is served on major holidays and can be performed separately or combined with Matins.

The world is changing, and these changes affect, among other things, the Church Charter. Night or all-night vigils rarely last from three to six hours (for monasteries). In ordinary churches, the duration of the night service is 2-4 hours.

The night service begins at 17:00-18:00 depending on the parish Charter.

What time does church service begin and end today: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday?

Daily circle church services consists of nine different services. This includes:

• Vespers - from 18:00 - the beginning of the circle,
• Compline,
• Midnight Office - from 00:00,
• Matins,
• 1st hour - from 7:00,
• 3rd hour - from 9:00,
• 6th hour - from 12:00,
• 9th hour - from 15:00,
• Divine Liturgy - from 6:00-9:00 until 12:00 - is not included in the daily cycle of services.

Ideally in every active temple These services should be held daily, however, in practice, the daily cycle is performed only in large churches, cathedrals or monasteries. In small parishes it is impossible to ensure constant worship in such a rhythm. Therefore, each parish determines its own pace, coordinating it with its real capabilities.

It follows from this that you need to find out the exact schedule of services in the temple you are going to visit.

Approximate times for morning and evening services are given at the beginning of the article.

What time does Saturday church service begin and end?

Having carefully read the previous part of the article, you most likely noticed the fact that the beginning of the liturgical day corresponds not to 00:00 (as is customary in secular life), but to 18:00 (the previous calendar day).

What does it mean?

This means that the first Saturday service begins on Friday after 18:00, and the last one ends on Saturday before 18:00. The most important Saturday service is the full Divine Liturgy.

As a rule, Saturday services are dedicated to the venerable fathers and mothers, as well as to all the saints, to whom they turn with appropriate prayers. On the same day, the commemoration of all the dead takes place.

What time does church service start and end on Sunday?

The first Sunday service begins on Saturday after 18:00, and the last service ends on Sunday before 18:00. Sunday services are filled with the theme of the Resurrection of the Lord. That is why Sunday services, especially the Divine Liturgy, are the most significant in the weekly cycle of services.

Check with the temple you are planning to visit for the exact schedule of services.

What time does the festive service in the church begin and end: schedule

You can find approximate times for morning and evening services at the beginning of the article.

Each temple draws up its own schedule of public services, including holiday ones. There is no general schedule for all temples!

As a rule, the Charter prescribes the so-called “all-night vigil” to be served on holidays - a particularly solemn service, which in modern interpretation has retained the division into Vespers and Matins.

Moreover, in the days of the twelfths and others big holidays The Liturgy necessarily takes place, during which the believers receive communion.

At the same time, each holiday service has accompanying texts and rituals unique to it, which cannot but affect the duration of the service.

What time does the Christmas service in church begin and end?

• 1st hour service. Time - from 7:00. Stichera are read about the fulfillment of the prophecy about the birth of the Messiah.
• 3rd hour service. Time - from 9:00. The stichera about the Incarnation are read.
• 6th hour service. Time - from 12:00. The stichera with the call to meet Christ are read, and the Gospel is read.
• 9 o'clock service. Time - from 15:00. Stichera are read. At the end they read figuratively.

• Depending on the day on which Christmas Eve falls, one of the evening Liturgies is celebrated: St. Basil the Great or St. John Chrysostom. Time: depending on the temple from 17:00.
• Commitment Great Vespers Nativity of Christ.
• Celebration of the All-Night Vigil of the Nativity of Christ. Time: depending on the temple - from 17:00 to 23:00.

There is no strict sequence in conducting the festive service. In large churches and monasteries, Christmas services (evening, the most solemn part) last 6-8 hours, in small ones - 1.5-2 hours.

Find out about the exact time of the service at the temple you are going to visit.

ABOUT folk traditions Christmas celebrations can be read.

What time does the service in the church on Epiphany Eve begin and end?

Services on Epiphany Eve are very similar to Christmas services.

On this day, the hours are read in the morning, and in the evening the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great is celebrated. After the Liturgy, as a rule, the first blessing of water occurs.

Depending on the day on which Epiphany falls, the order of services may differ.

On January 19, morning and evening services are held with the obligatory subsequent blessing of water.

The exact time of the services will be told to you directly in the temple.

What time does the festive service in the church for Candlemas begin and end?

Meeting completes the Christmas circle Orthodox holidays. The date of celebration is February 15.

After the solemn morning liturgy, the rite of consecration of water and candles is performed.

Be sure to check the time of the liturgy in the church.

What time does the festive service in the church for the Annunciation begin and end?

The Annunciation is celebrated on April 7. However, believers should attend the evening service on April 6. In some churches, all-night vigils are held from April 6 to 7.

On April 7, early and/or late liturgies are served with mandatory confession and communion for the laity.

What time does the festive service in church on Palm Sunday begin and end?

The date of Palm Sunday celebration depends on the date of Easter celebration and is determined according to the lunisolar calendar.

Festive services begin with the evening service and subsequent all-night vigils on Lazarus Saturday. Lazarus Saturday is the day before Palm Sunday. During the evening service, palm branches are necessarily blessed.

IN Palm Sunday Early and/or late liturgies are performed, followed by the consecration of the willow.

The time of services depends on the internal regulations of the temple.

What time does the festive service in church on Easter begin and end?

Everything depends on the internal regulations of the temple. Be sure to check the time of services!

As a rule, holiday services begin on Saturday with an evening service (16:00-18:00). In some churches, after the evening service, a blessing of Easter cakes is held.

Then all-night vigils begin with obligatory procession at 24:00.

After vigils and matins, the Divine Liturgy is served, followed by the blessing of Easter cakes. As a rule, the blessing occurs at the first rays of the sun.

Evening in Svetloye Christ's Resurrection The evening service is also corrected. However, Easter cakes are no longer blessed.

Beautiful Easter greetings can be found.

What time does the festive service in the church on Radonitsa begin and end?

Radonitsa is a special holiday that connects the past and the future. On this day it is customary to remember deceased relatives and friends.

Radonitsa is celebrated on the ninth day after Easter Sunday.

The evening before, an evening service is held, and in the morning there is an early and/or late liturgy. A full memorial service is served either after the evening service or after the morning services - it all depends on the internal rules of the temple.

In addition, the charters of many churches require that Easter funeral services be held in city cemeteries.

More information about Radonitsa.

What time does the festive service in the church for Trinity begin and end?

The date of the celebration of Trinity or Pentecost depends on the date of Bright Resurrection.

Important: on the eve of the holiday of Trinity, Trinity Parents' Saturday is always held, the peculiarity of which is a special funeral service. This is a special Funeral Liturgy, after which you can and should visit the cemetery and remember the deceased.

Evening Parents' Saturday marked by a festive All-Night Vigil.

On Sunday, early and/or late holiday liturgies are celebrated. In many temples, bouquets of twigs and medicinal herbs are blessed.

Be sure to check the time of services directly with the temple you want to visit!

Tips on how to talk to children about the Trinity.

Goda will help you not to miss significant services.

Video: How to behave in the Temple?

15.05.2013

Public worship in the parish church is usually held on Sundays and holidays. It is important to know that the liturgical (liturgical) day begins the evening before. For example, Sunday service starts on Saturday evening.

The beginning of evening services in Moscow and St. Petersburg churches, as a rule, occurs at 17 or 18 (less often at 16) hours, depending on the schedule of a particular church. It lasts differently in different temples, but in general it lasts from 2 to 4 hours.

Morning worship begins, also depending on the schedule of temple services, at 9 or 10 o’clock (less often at 8), and lasts about 2-3 hours. Moreover, in many temples, if religious holiday falls on a weekday, morning services begin earlier so that parishioners have time to attend before the start of the working day.

The schedule of services can usually be found on the doors of the temple or in the candle shop. Many churches and monasteries have websites on which, among other things, they publish schedules of services.

It is better to come to the temple at the beginning of the service and leave after its completion. However, there is not always enough energy and time for this. Many holy ascetics and theologians said that here, to put it modern language, “quality is more important than quantity.” Therefore, if time constraints do not allow you to attend the service from beginning to end, it’s okay, you can come and leave at any time.

For various services, we will get to know in more detail what kind of service is performed at what time. And accordingly, which moments of the service are most important to attend.

The liturgical charter (Typikon in Greek), which had developed in its current form by the 16th-17th centuries, measures the time of services by the hours of the day. But it also contains more subtle regulations and recommendations regarding the time of services.

For example, worship holidays, which lasted all night, should have started “as soon as the sun goes down,” that is, at sunset. At the same time, the clergyman in charge of the service had to ensure that the solemn exclamation “Glory to Thee, who showed us the light” and the chants that followed it sounded strictly at the moment when the sun began to rise. Based on this, time was allocated for all elements of the service.

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Let's look at what is most often done All-night vigil- Sunday. It is served on the eve of Sunday, on Saturday evening. The All-Night Vigil of most holidays is structurally very similar to Sunday, with rare exceptions...

An important question is the “measure” of the discrepancy between liturgical and spoken language, the possibility and necessity of making the language of worship more understandable. This is a matter of serious and very lengthy church discussion...

Having described the structure of services, it is worth asking one extremely important question - perhaps central to this book. The question was formulated by one of the readers of the first version of this book before its publication...

Church services or in popular words, church services- the main events for which temples are intended. According to Orthodox tradition, daytime, morning and evening rituals are performed daily there. And each of these services consists of 3 types of services, which are collectively combined into a daily circle:

• vespers - from Vespers, Compline and the ninth hour;
• morning - from Matins, the first hour and midnight;
• daytime - from the Divine Liturgy and the third and sixth hours.

Thus, the daily circle includes nine services.

Service Features

In Orthodox services, much is borrowed from Old Testament times. For example, the beginning of a new day is considered to be not midnight, but 6 pm, which is the reason for holding vespers - the first service of the daily circle. It recalls the main events of the Sacred History of the Old Testament; we're talking about about the creation of the world, the fall of the first parents, the ministry of the prophets and the Mosaic legislation, and Christians give thanks to the Lord for a new day lived.

After this, according to the Church Charter, it is necessary to serve Compline - public prayers for the coming sleep, which speak of the descent of Christ into hell and the liberation of the righteous from it.

At midnight, the 3rd service is supposed to be performed - the midnight service. This service is held to remind Last Judgment and the Second Coming of the Savior.

The morning service in the Orthodox Church (Matins) is one of the longest services. It is dedicated to the events and circumstances of the Savior’s earthly life and consists of many prayers of repentance and gratitude.

The first hour is performed around 7 o'clock in the morning. This is a short service about Jesus' presence at the trial of the high priest Caiaphas.

The third hour takes place at 9 am. At this time, the events that took place in the Upper Room of Zion are remembered, when the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles, and in Pilate’s praetorium the Savior received a death sentence.

The sixth hour is held at noon. This service is about the time of the Lord's crucifixion. The ninth hour should not be confused with it - the service about His death on the cross, which takes place at three o'clock in the afternoon.

The main divine service and the peculiar center of this daily circle is considered to be the Divine Liturgy or mass, distinctive feature which from other services is the opportunity, in addition to memories of God and the earthly life of our Savior, to unite with Him in reality, participating in the sacrament of Communion. The time of this liturgy is from 6 to 9 o’clock until noon before lunch, which is why it was given its second name.

Changes in the conduct of services

Modern practice of worship has brought some changes to the instructions of the Charter. And today Compline is held only during Lent, and Midnight - once a year, on the eve of Easter. Even less frequently, the ninth hour passes, and the remaining 6 services of the daily circle are combined into 2 groups of 3 services.

The evening service in the church takes place in a special sequence: Christians serve Vespers, Matins and the first hour. Before holidays and Sundays, these services are combined into one, which is called the all-night vigil, that is, it involves long night prayers until dawn, carried out in ancient times. This service lasts 2-4 hours in parishes and from 3 to 6 hours in monasteries.

Morning worship in the church differs from past times with successive services of the third, sixth hours and mass.

It is also important to note the holding of early and late liturgies in churches where there is a larger congregation of Christians. Such services are usually performed on holidays and on Sundays. Both liturgies are preceded by the reading of the hours.

There are days when there is no morning church service or liturgy. For example, on Friday of Holy Week. In the morning of this day, a short sequence of visual arts is performed. This service consists of several chants and seems to depict the liturgy; However, this service has not received the status of independent service.

Divine services also include various sacraments, rituals, reading akathists in churches, community readings of evening and morning prayers and rules for Holy Communion.

In addition, services are held in churches according to the needs of parishioners - demands. For example: Wedding, Baptism, funeral services, prayer services and others.

In each church, cathedral or temple, service hours are set differently, therefore, to obtain information about the conduct of any service, clergymen recommend finding out the schedule compiled by a specific religious institution.

And to those who doesn't know him, you can adhere to the following time periods:

• from 6 to 8 and from 9 to 11 am - early and late morning services;
• from 16 to 18 hours - evening and all-night services;
• During the day there is a festive service, but it is better to check the time of its holding.

All services are usually performed in a church and only by clergy, and believing parishioners participate in them by singing and praying.

Christian holidays

Christian holidays are divided into two types: transferable and non-transitionable; They are also called the twelve holidays. To avoid missing services regarding them, it is important to know the dates.

Not transferable

Rolling for 2018

1. April 1 - Palm Sunday.
2. April 8 - Easter.
3. May 17 - Ascension of the Lord.
4. May 27 - Pentecost or Holy Trinity.

The duration of church services on holidays differs from each other. This mainly depends on the holiday itself, the performance of the service, the duration of the sermon and the number of communicants and confessors.

If for some reason you are late or do not come to the service, no one will judge you, because it is not so important what time it will start and how long it will last, it is much more important that your arrival and participation are sincere.

Preparation for Sunday ritual

If you decide to come to church on Sunday, you should prepare for this. Morning service on Sunday - the strongest, it is held for the purpose of communion. It happens like this: the priest gives you the body of Christ and his blood in a piece of bread and a sip of wine. Prepare for this The event needs at least 2 days in advance.

1. You should fast on Friday and Saturday: remove fatty foods and alcohol from your diet, exclude marital intimacy, do not swear, do not offend anyone and do not be offended yourself.
2. The day before communion, read 3 canons, namely: the repentant prayer to Jesus Christ, the prayer service to the Most Holy Theotokos and the Guardian Angel, as well as the 35th Follow-up to Holy Communion. This will take about an hour.
3. Read a prayer for the coming sleep.
4. Do not eat, do not smoke, do not drink after midnight.

How to behave during communion

In order not to miss the start of the church service on Sunday, you need to come to the church early, around 7.30. Until this time, you should not eat or smoke. There is a specific procedure for visiting.

After communion, under no circumstances rush to get what you want. e, that is, get high and so on, don’t desecrate the sacrament. It is recommended to know moderation in everything and read grace-filled prayers for several days so as not to desecrate this service.

The need to visit the temple

Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, who came to earth for our sake, founded the Church, where to this day everything we need is present and invisible, which is given to us for eternal life. Where “the invisible Heavenly Powers serve for us,” they say in Orthodox chants, “Where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am among them,” is written in the Gospel (chapter 18, verse 20, Gospel of Matthew), - this is what the Lord said to the apostles and everyone who believes in Him, therefore invisible presence of Christ During services in the temple, people lose if they do not come there.

An even greater sin is committed by parents who do not care about their children serving the Lord. Let us remember the words of our Savior from Scripture: “Let your children go and do not hinder them from coming to Me, for for them is the Kingdom of Heaven.” The Lord also tells us: “Man shall not live by bread, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (chapter 4, verse 4 and chapter 19, verse 14, the same Gospel of Matthew).

Spiritual food is also necessary human soul, as well as bodily to maintain strength. And where will a person hear God’s word, if not in the temple? After all, there, among those who believe in him, the Lord himself dwells. After all, it is there that the teachings of the apostles and prophets are preached, who spoke and predicted by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, there is the teaching of Christ Himself, who is the true Life, Wisdom, Way and Light, which enlightens every parishioner coming into the world. The temple is heaven on our earth.

The services that take place there, according to the Lord, are the works of angels. By being taught in a church, temple, or cathedral, Christians receive God's blessing to help them succeed in good deeds and beginnings.

“You will hear the church bell ringing, calling for prayer, and your conscience will tell you that you need to go to the house of the Lord. Go and put all your business aside, if you can, and hurry to God's Church“- advises Theophan the Recluse, a saint of Orthodoxy, “Know that your guardian angel is calling you under the roof of the house of the Lord; it is he, your celestial being, who reminds you of earthly Heaven so that you can sanctify your soul there by your grace of Christ and delight your heart with heavenly consolation; and - who knows what will happen? “Perhaps he is also calling you there in order to ward off temptation from you, which cannot be avoided in any way, because if you stay at home, there will be no shelter for you under the canopy of the Lord’s house from the great danger...”

A Christian in church learns the Heavenly wisdom that the Son of God brings to earth. He learns the details of the life of his Savior, and becomes acquainted with the teachings and lives of the saints of God, and takes part in church prayer. And the congregational prayer - great power! And there are examples of this in history. When the apostles were awaiting the coming of the Holy Spirit, they were in unanimous prayer. Therefore, in the church, in the depths of our souls, we expect that the Holy Spirit will come to us. This happens, but only if we do not create obstacles for this. For example, insufficient openness of heart can prevent parishioners from uniting believers when reading prayers.

In our time, unfortunately, this happens quite often, since believers behave incorrectly, including in church, and the reason for this is ignorance of the truth of the Lord. The Lord knows our thoughts and feelings. He will not leave those who sincerely believe in him, as well as a person in need of communion and repentance, so the doors of God’s house are always open to parishioners.

Public worship, or, as people say, church services, is the main thing for which our churches are intended. Every day the Orthodox Church holds evening, morning and afternoon services in churches. Each of these services consists in turn of three types of services, collectively combined into a daily cycle of services:

vespers - from the 9th hour, vespers and compline;

morning - from midnight office, matins and 1st hour;

daytime - from the 3rd hour, 6th hour and Divine Liturgy.

Thus, the entire daily circle consists of nine services.

IN Orthodox worship much was borrowed from the worship of Old Testament times. For example, the beginning of a new day is considered not midnight, but six o’clock in the evening. That is why the first service of the daily cycle is Vespers.

At Vespers, the Church remembers the main events of the sacred history of the Old Testament: the creation of the world by God, the fall of the first parents, the Mosaic legislation and the ministry of the prophets. Christians give thanks to the Lord for the day they have lived.

After Vespers, according to the Church Rules, Compline is supposed to be served. This is in in a certain sense public prayers for the coming sleep, which remember the descent of Christ into hell and the liberation of the righteous from the power of the devil.

At midnight, the third service of the daily cycle is supposed to be performed - the Midnight Office. This service was established to remind Christians of the Second Coming of the Savior and the Last Judgment.

Before sunrise, Matins is served - one of the longest services. It is dedicated to the events of the earthly life of the Savior and contains many prayers of both repentance and gratitude.

At about seven o'clock in the morning they perform the 1st hour. This is the name of the short service at which the Orthodox Church remembers the presence of Jesus Christ at the trial of the high priest Caiaphas.

The 3rd hour (nine o’clock in the morning) is served in remembrance of the events that took place in the Upper Room of Zion, where the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles, and in Pilate’s Praetorium, where the Savior was sentenced to death.

The 6th hour (noon) is the time of the Lord’s crucifixion, and the 9th hour (three o’clock in the afternoon) is the time of His death on the cross. The above-mentioned services are dedicated to these events.

The main worship service Orthodox Church, a kind of center of the daily circle, is the Divine Liturgy. Unlike other services, the liturgy provides an opportunity not only to remember God and the entire earthly life of the Savior, but also to actually unite with Him in the sacrament of Communion, established by the Lord Himself during the Last Supper. According to the time, the liturgy should be performed between the 6th and 9th hour, before noon, in the pre-dinner time, which is why it is also called mass.

Modern liturgical practice has brought its own changes to the regulations of the Charter. Thus, in parish churches, Compline is celebrated only during Lent, and the Midnight Office is celebrated once a year, on the eve of Easter. The 9th hour is extremely rarely served. The remaining six services of the daily circle are combined into two groups of three services.

In the evening, Vespers, Matins and the 1st hour are performed in succession. On the eve of Sundays and holidays, these services are combined into one service called the all-night vigil. In ancient times, Christians actually often prayed until dawn, that is, they stayed awake throughout the night. Modern all-night vigils last two to four hours in parishes and three to six hours in monasteries.

In the morning, the 3rd hour, the 6th hour and the Divine Liturgy are served successively. In churches with large congregations, there are two liturgies on Sundays and holidays - early and late. Both are preceded by reading the hours.

On those days when there is no liturgy (for example, on Friday of Holy Week), a short sequence of pictorial ones is performed. This service consists of some chants of the liturgy and, as it were, “depicts” it. But visual arts do not have the status of an independent service.

Divine services also include the performance of all sacraments, rituals, reading akathists in church, community readings of morning and evening prayers, ruled for Holy Communion.