The average Orthodox Christian does not actually pray the services of the church at home, the continuing cycle of prayers that Christians have been praying since the early days of the church, but rather prays the morning and evening prayers prescribed in prayer books. This has created a disconnect between the individualized and privatized prayer life that we experience at home and the communal prayer we experience in the church.
In this new series, Fr Geoffrey and Fr Yuri plan to confront this disconnect and encourage us to renew our participation in the cycle of prayer that is already present and ongoing within the church. The liturgy of the hours is a beautiful collection of hymnody and psalmody, containing a narrative deeply connected to the scriptures and the wider story of God, comprised of seven services within the day - but wait! Before you say, "Seven services a day?! Nope! Sorry!", the purpose of this series is NOT to insist on adherence to overwhelmingly impossible standards, but to equip our listeners with the tools to flexibly and joyfully immerse themselves into the various cycles (daily, weekly, eight-weekly, annual and festal).
Enjoy it. Connect with it. It will be transformative!
View/download the PDF document that Fr Yuri prepared for catechumens interested in starting small with these services, which he wanted to share with our patrons. We hope that you will find it useful as you follow along through this series.