Church Practice
This one is longer than the other reflections
It's by no means an extensive study on how we behave in the temple, but looks at some important points.
Our Church is full of movement and action. The Rites and Traditions connected to our prayer life and worship are important, and once we sync the liturgical practices with the meanings, we grow in faith and understanding.
Here are some helpful instructions for those who visit our Church.
1. When entering the temple we cross ourselves three times, praying the prayer of the Publican “God be merciful to me a sinner” Боже будь милостивий до мене грішного (грішної)
2. If we are offering candles, we should proceed to the candle kiosk.
From the point that we enter the church, we should be of the understanding that we are in the presence of God, Conversation should cease. if instructions need to be given to the church warden or somebody else in regards to a matter of importance, they must be given in a low voice, respecting the fact that people are praying.
If we are entering before the liturgy, the Hours are being read on the Kliros, and the Priest is either serving Proskomedia in the Sanctuary or confessing, so talking in the Church is not permitted as the preliminary section of the Divine Liturgy is underway. Our parish is a small church and so conversation travels and is heard throughout.
3. We then process to the middle of the Church where we sign ourselves with the cross twice with two waist bows, We venerate (kiss) the icon in the middle of the temple on the tetrapod; then we cross ourselves a third time and bow to the waist. We are also permitted to kiss the holy icons of Christ and the Theotokos in front of the tetrapod on separate analoi (stands)
Lighting Candles.
a) When lighting Candles for the departed, they can be offered on the left side table (Kanun) and candlestand In front of the left Kliros where we have the icons of St Panteleimon and St Spiridon and where memorial services are served. Some of the faithful offer candles for the departed directly facing the icon of Christ (right side) of the Iconostasis.
b) Prayers for health or intercession should be offered in front of the icon of the Theotokos (left side) of the iconostasis, who is our Heavenly Intercessor to Her Son Our Lord God and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Within the discipline of lighting candles, there are varying practices. It is especially complicated when the faithful who visit our church are used to larger temples where the sections of the church are more defined by size and so easier to determine where certain sections of the church are.
In regards to our Ukrainian Orthodox parishes in Australia everything compared to what we see in Ukraine is in miniature and so allowances need to be made.
4. At this point, it’s important to talk about our intent and motivation during the Divine Liturgy. This is where the believer needs to utilise some of the five senses, those of sight and sound. We need to be aware of what’s going on around us in the Church and importantly, we need to hear and listen intently to the prayers being prayed;
Firstly for our salvation and secondly so that we can adjust our worship to what’s been celebrated. Divine liturgy is by definition work and prayer. It’s the common work of the people when we translate it from the original (Leiturgos) it requires our effort and respect. We get nothing out of the liturgy if we come only with our own personal agenda. The liturgy requires our attention and participation and so there are times where it is prohibited to walk about the church, concerning ourselves with our private devotions and prayers for our loved ones.
5. During the readings, both the Apostolic (Epistle) and Holy Gospel, along with the priests homily, where he reflects on the Gospel and the Word of God, there should be complete attention. During the Small and Great Entrances where the priest and servers process from the sanctuary to the Ambon, we must be attentive to the movement of the Church.
The priest prompts us with the call “Wisdom Let us be attentive! “ When we pray the ode to the Theotokos (Достойно є) the Nicene Creed (Вірую) and the Our Father (Отче Наш) these are not the times to be going about with our private prayers, these are times of common prayer where we need to be praying with our brethren.
Even if we come to church late, we must find our place with the faithful and worship with the faithful. During the litanies that the priest offers, candles can be lit.
So at all times we have to be mindful and this sometimes can be hard because we come to Church bringing with us everything that’s going on in the outside world.  this is when we have to reflect on the words of the Cherubic Hymn “ Let us set aside all earthly cares”
For the Divine Liturgy to do its work in us, we need to show up and do our work, not merely be spectators or pick and choose what modes of worship we wish to participate in.
It is not difficult to understand Orthodox worship. We just need to come with humility and be mindful and present during liturgical prayer.
It’s interesting. We will prepare, buy a ticket, and turn up early to a cinema, sit down, and observe the rules. We then stop conversation when the lights go down, and concentrate on a movie, but much less care is taken when we go to worship the Living God.
We need to as the exclamation to the Theotokos instructs us “ Commend ourselves and one another and all our lives to Christ our God..”
Fr Michael Smolynec