“O Lord, I Have Loved The Beauty of Thy House”, 2

St. Paul teaches us that in the context of the worship of the Church, all things should “be done decently and in order” (1 Cor. 14:40). This is not because the Church delights in heaping meaningless rules upon us, but because our love for each other requires that we all help each other as we work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12). Every Orthodox custom and practice has a purpose: some guard us from causing others to stumble, some guard us from stumbling ourselves, and some simply provide tangible ways for us to express our love for God. Our willingness to submit to the Tradition and discipline of the Church is an essential part of being an Orthodox Christian. We know from reading the Scriptures that we should be humble, and obedient… but we often bristle when it comes to actually exercising those virtues. We must understand that this unwillingness to submit to the Church or to each other is a sign of that we have more work to do, if indeed we wish to follow Him who submitted to spitting, scourging, thorns, the nails, the spear, and to death upon the Cross.

Entering the Church

When we enter into a church, we should first of all make the sign of the Cross three times with bows from the waist (not full prostrations). The prayers that one says while doing this vary a little. Some simply say the prayer of the Publican, “God be merciful to me a sinner” with each bow. A more elaborate form is given in the Prayer Book:

“Thou hast created me, O Lord, have mercy.”
“God be merciful to me a sinner.”
“Countless times have I sinned, O Lord, forgive me.”

The Prayer Book further admonishes us: “Then, having bowed to the right and the left (to the people on both sides of the Church), one stands in one’s place and listens to the psalms and prayers read in church….”**

It is also customary to venerate the icons and light candles after entering the Church, and to venerate them again before leaving. One should not linger near the entrance of the church, because this makes it difficult for others to enter. Also, visitors often feel a certain sense of discomfort when they enter an unfamiliar church, and so tend to stay close to the back of the Church or near the walls. Those who are regular parishioners (who do not need to sit along the walls due to some infirmity) should be mindful of this, and move forward and to the centre of the church to make room.

Arriving Late, or Leaving Early

We should be at church on time for all services, but this is especially important for the Divine Liturgy, and all the more so if we are planning on receiving Communion. For the Vigil, one should try to be on time, but if work or other duties make that impossible, it is better to attend some of the Vigil rather than none of it. Likewise, if such duties make it impossible to stay until the end of the Vigil, there are several points at which one may leave that are least disruptive:

Immediately after Vespers, but before the Six Psalms of Matins.
After the Six Psalms.
After the kissing of the Gospel and / or the anointing with blessed oil.
After the end of Matins, as the first hour is beginning.

For the Liturgy, we should make every effort to stay until the end – and if we have communed, leaving early is particularly to be avoided except in cases of extreme necessity.

Wandering in and out of the church during the Divine Services is totally inappropriate. If we must leave due to an emergency, we should do so with as little commotion as possible. It is a good idea to make sure your children have gone to the lavatory before entering the church. When reentering the church, we should be careful to not do so during the more important moments of the service, such as during the entrances, the Epistle and Gospel readings, the Creed, the Anaphora, the Lord’s Prayer or the Communion Prayer. At such times it is best to stay in the narthex, and wait for a less solemn moment to return to our place.