What does it mean to order a prayer service to a saint. Prayer for health or prayer for the sick. Remember that when ordering a short prayer for such people, we ask not only for them. The Mother of God, after our prayers, will protect our homes and families from various misfortunes in the future

The Orthodox Church can be compared to a living complex organism. Every day, divine services and rituals are held in it, prayers and psalms are read. Meanwhile, church rules and canons have been developed over many centuries, and their language can be difficult to understand for people who are just beginning their communion with the sacraments of the Faith. For example, a church prayer service - what is it? For those who are not strong in this matter, we suggest that you read this article to the end in order to fill the gap in your knowledge.

When and why prayers are read in the church

Every morning in an Orthodox church begins with the celebration of the Divine Liturgy, followed by the petition of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Saints for the daily needs of the parishioners. Such pleading prayer chants can be performed on a variety of occasions.

A prayer for health is ordered when we want to receive God's help in overcoming an illness, a blessing for some important matter. This may be a request for help in studies or a special prayer service to a saint on a name day.

In addition to such "private" petitions, in Orthodox churches it is customary to offer to the Lord also general, on behalf of all parishioners, prayer-chants. They are: water consecrated and New Year's; read during some natural disaster (severe drought, flood, etc.) to get rid of it; about those suffering from drunkenness and from unclean spirits; solemn rites on and on the first Sunday of Great Lent, etc.

Prayer requests for health

Prayer for health is read in churches daily. Any Christian can submit a note before the start of the service, in which the names of the people for whose health he asks the priests of the temple and all parishioners present to pray will be entered. Church employees submit notes to the priest, and no matter how many names they contain, they will all be mentioned in the petition for health.

It is believed that such a common church prayer has tremendous healing power and through it a person can receive real help from the heavenly powers. Moreover, a prayer for health is not necessarily ordered for a sick person, usually everyone and friends who want to wish health and well-being are mentioned in the notes.

Prayers for repose

People often ask: "A funeral service - what is it?" There are also prayers for the repose of the dead. In separate notes, which are also transferred to the priest conducting the church service, the names of the dead people are indicated. In this case, the church and all parishioners earnestly pray for the repose of souls and the granting of the Kingdom of Heaven to them.

During the performance of prayers for health and repose, the serving priest, when pronouncing each name, takes out a small piece from the holy prosphora and puts it on the paten. At the end of the prayers, all the removed particles are immersed in a special vessel with "holy gifts", from which believers will partake of the "blood and body of Christ."

Sorokoust

A special prayer for health or repose, read for 40 days, is called Sorokoust. This is an enhanced seriously ill person or the repose of a dead child of the Church of Christ. It is believed that if Sorokoust is read in three churches at the same time, then the effect of the prayer service is further enhanced.

Sometimes this prayer service is called "church magic." Orthodox believe that this type of prayer is the best way to cope with various misfortunes. Including Sorokoust helps from the evil eye and damage. If there is any person who wishes you harm, then if you order a 40-day prayer service for his health, then the evil will definitely return back to him without harming you at all. Only priests warn that it is imperative to forgive this person.

Prayer to the Mother of God

In all sorrows and sorrows, one can turn to the great intercessor of all Orthodox Christians - the Most Pure Mother of God the Virgin Mary. A prayer service to the Mother of God can be performed in front of different icons. In some churches, special prayers are performed in front of the icon, which depicts the Virgin Mary with the baby Jesus. It is believed that prayer in front of this icon for a person suffering from the vice of drunkenness can cure him of this misfortune.

Women who are expecting the birth of a child can pray in front of the "Fedorovskaya" icon of the Mother of God. Such a prayer, uttered with faith and hope, helps to endure pregnancy and easily give birth to a healthy baby. It is best to order prayers for the blessing of water, after which you can take holy water home.

Holy water prayer - what is it

Every believer can always come to any Orthodox church and take a certain amount for their needs. They say that its power is so great that if you add only one drop of it to a vessel with plain water, it will instantly acquire healing properties. In order to always have enough holy water in the churches, priests regularly hold special small water-blessing prayers. A large prayer service for water is read once a year, on the feast of Epiphany.

In churches, schedules of worship are usually posted, so you can find out in advance when the next rite of small blessing of water will be held and submit a note with names in advance. The priest during the prayer service will pray for those who are indicated in it. It is possible to order the so-called nominal prayers (in honor of your saint on his name day or guardian angel on his birthday) with water blessing.

Prayer addressed to the saint

The Church teaches that in certain life circumstances it is best to pray to different saints. For example, a prayer service to the holy prophet Zacharias and Elizabeth must be ordered if a child does not appear in the family for a long time. With the same request for the gift of a child, you can turn to the holy righteous Joachim and Anna.

Blessed Saint Xenia of Petersburg helps in many everyday troubles: from troubles at work to arranging personal life and getting rid of illness and poverty. This saint, revered in Russia, helps girls find a groom, arrange the lives of their children and loved ones, etc.

A prayer service to St. Alexander of Svir helps the spouses conceive an heir - a male child. But to the Holy Great Martyr Nikita, the patron saint of babies, it is recommended to order a prayer service if a small child is sick. helps to heal from the most severe and protracted diseases.

A particularly revered saint is Nicholas the Pleasant. Those who go on a long journey resort to his help, especially by water or people who are desperate and have lost all hope for any other help. It is customary for the saints to order water-blessed prayers, after which holy prayerful water is brought home, you can sprinkle the house with it, add it to food and give a little to drink to all your household.

Thanksgiving prayers

The thanksgiving service is always addressed to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Church gives everyone the opportunity to thank God for the help provided to them on their own behalf, as well as on behalf of other people, for example, their children and other relatives and friends.

The Gospel tells how Jesus Christ once healed 10 lepers and of those ten, only one returned to thank him. And only he was justified before God, and all the rest were condemned. It is in order not to become like those ungrateful evangelicals that people are given the opportunity to raise words of thanksgiving to the Lord.

In addition to personal prayers of thanksgiving, large general thanksgiving hymns are performed annually in the church. So, every year on May 9, a prayer service is performed for sending Russia victory in the Great Patriotic War.

How to order a prayer service

Every Orthodox church has a candle shop. Usually orders for prayers are taken by a candlestick - a woman serving in this shop. If you already know exactly what kind of prayer you want to order, then you can write a note in advance at home or ask for a ready-made form in the shop. There, in the candle shop, you can get detailed advice on how and what to do, but you should not ask the employee such a broad question: “Prayer will distract her from work and create a queue. Better ask the same shop to sell you a book or brochure on this topic.” .

It is impossible to enter in the notes the names of people who have not been baptized, as well as those who have committed the grave sin of suicide. Also, you can not enter non-Orthodox names. For example, such a now common name as Alice is not Orthodox, and when a child with that name is baptized, he is given another one - Orthodox, so it must be indicated in the submitted note.

How to behave in church during a prayer service

If a person ordered a prayer service, this does not mean at all that he can stand indifferently during a church service and wait for the priest to complete the mission assigned to him. His ardent prayerful words are needed, uttered with all my heart and with faith. Such a prayer is always pleasing to God.

No need to be late for the service, talk loudly, push around, interfere with other parishioners. In general, you need to behave in the temple as politely and humbly as possible. You need to be baptized and bow after the priest, try to delve into the prayer service. The text may be incomprehensible and unaccustomed to hearing, but gradually understanding will come.

What is a prayer service? And what is the right way to order it?

Hieromonk Job (Gumerov) answers:

A prayer service is a divine service, the content of which is a special prayer to the Lord God, the Most Holy Theotokos or saints. In its composition, the prayer service is an abbreviated matins. The main parts of the prayer service are: troparia, canon, Gospel, litany, prayer.

There are prayers of thanksgiving and supplication. The latter are performed in connection with the events and needs of public, church or private life (travel, starting a business, illness, blessing of water, natural disasters, invasion of foreigners, epidemic, crop failure, etc.). They can be performed in the temple, at home, in public places and in nature.

The rites are contained in a special liturgical book called the Book of Prayer Songs, as well as in the Trebnik.

When submitting a note, you must indicate: the type of prayer service (thanksgiving, for travelers, etc.) and to whom to pray (to the Lord God, the Most Holy Theotokos). If a prayer service is ordered to a saint (one or more), then his name must be indicated. Next, you need to list the names of those for whom the prayer is to be performed.

In ancient times in Russia, believers sanctified every step of life with prayer. On holidays and Sundays, the whole family was at the church service. Weddings, the birth of children, funerals - everything was accompanied by a prayer in the temple. Before starting agricultural work, traveling and even digging a well, prayers were ordered in the church. With God's blessing, any work was argued.

Now good traditions are forgotten. Many people do not know why a prayer service is needed, what it is and how to pray correctly before important life events. One should not wait for insurmountable difficulties or serious illness in order to turn to God. How to order a prayer service and in what cases it should be performed, it is better to find out in advance.

The difference between a prayer service and home prayer

A prayer service is a short service that includes the prayers and petitions of a specific person or group of people for a specific undertaking. In the church, the prayer service is otherwise called “treba”, from the word “need”, “necessity”. Prayer services can only be performed for living people baptized in the Orthodox faith. Prayer for the dead is called Panikhida.

Prayer in the church.

Important! You can order a prayer service only on those days when the Church allows them to be performed. Petitions are not served on the days of Great Lent, except for Saturday and Sunday.

Why make treb in the temple, when God hears sincere prayer anywhere?

How to write notes

To be commemorated at a prayer service, it is necessary to submit a note with the names of health to the candle box (kiosk). On a special form or a neat sheet of paper, the heading “Prayer of supplication (or thanksgiving) for health” is written, then it is indicated to whom the treba is ordered: to the Lord, the Most Holy Theotokos, the saint (name). Below in a column, in legible handwriting, the names of living, baptized Christians are listed. The donation note is passed to the kiosk or directly to the table where the treba is sent.

Notes for a prayer service

Additional requests for prayers

Traditionally, churches serve one water-blessed prayer service for everyone, with the inclusion of individual petitions indicated in the notes. For different cases, you can order the following applications:

about the health of the sick
about going on a trip (trip, business trip)
thanks be to God
about the beginning of every good work

Prayers performed outside the temple

The priest can be invited home to perform the following requirements:

consecration of a house (served in a newly built house or apartment if necessary), office space, enterprise.
consecration of a field or garden
consecration of vehicles
laying the foundation, well (aquifer).

Special prayer services exist at the beginning of the construction of the church, the installation of the cross, the raising of the bells.

Custom prayer service

Annual prayers

The New Year is a special worship that takes place in the church on the civil New Year, on the New Year according to the old style.
Thanksgiving prayer service on Christmas Day - served in memory of the victory in the Patriotic War of 1812
Great consecration of water - the feast of the Epiphany. The main of the water blessing prayers.
Thanksgiving on the first Sunday of Great Lent (the Triumph of Orthodoxy) - in honor of the restoration of the veneration of icons in the 9th century. Christians owe this event many miraculous icons and the opportunity to pray in front of the images of the house.
The consecration of honey (Honey Savior) is a prayer service that takes place on August 14, in memory of the "pronouncement of the Trees of the Cross of the Lord." During epidemics raging in the summer in the 7-8 centuries in Byzantium, it was customary to go around cities with a shrine - particles of the Cross of the Lord, asking the Lord for deliverance from the disease. This event has nothing to do with honey, but since honey harvesting began in Russia by mid-August, the firstfruits of the harvest were brought for blessing and donation to the church. At the prayer service for water, which departs on this day, a prayer is read for the consecration of honey.
Consecration of fruits

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Before considering which prayer services are ordered, you need to understand what this concept means. A prayer service is a special divine service during which they ask the Lord, the Mother of God and the Saints for a message of mercy or give thanks for receiving certain benefits.

This worship service is short. It is held in the morning services. In turn, the prayer is divided into:

thanksgiving
Petition.
Frequent.
National.

Making a petition - those who pray ask God for help, in thanksgiving prayers - they glorify the Saints doing good to me. Private prayers - take place at the request of those praying. Nationwide - these are services carried out by clergy for public and church needs.

The structure of the prayer service consists of troctares, the Gospel, canons, prayers, litanies. You can order prayers in monasteries and churches.

In fact, prayers in a church or temple can be ordered by anyone. Many people wonder in what cases they order a prayer service. Cases can range from requests for healing to help starting a business. And so let's consider what prayers can be ordered in the church and in front of which icons prayers are said:

In various difficult life situations and the presence of torment in the soul, a prayer service is offered to the Vladimir icon,
For incurable, protracted diseases, they turn to,
For ear diseases and hearing problems - the icon "Unexpected joy",
With a request for healing from such ailments as drug addiction, alcoholism - to the icon "Inexhaustible Chalice",
Healing from neurological diseases order a prayer service to,
In case of oncological diseases, they pray to the icon "The Tsaritsa",
In case of despondency and longing, prayers are said to the Hodegetria icon,
In diseases of the musculoskeletal system, they pray to the noble princes Gleb and Boris,
With frequent family troubles - the icon of "Righteous John of Kronstadt",
With everyday needs - blessed Matrona,
From witchcraft power - to the holy martyrs Cyprian and Justina,
About problems with housing and creating a family, prayers are ordered to.

This is not a complete list of the list of all the images of the Virgin and Saints. In fact, there are many more. If you are interested in who to order a prayer service for work, study and other needs, then you just need to contact the nearest church. There they will prompt you and tell you which service, to which image they read.

What prayers are ordered in the church and the correctness of their submission

As mentioned above, absolutely anyone, at any age and of any gender, can order prayers in the church. The main thing is that he was baptized. But before turning to a church or temple for clarification, which prayers can be ordered, and to which image, you need to know how to serve them correctly.

The prayer service is served to the church in the form of a note on the fourth part of sheet A 4 or half of the notebook sheet. A note can be written both at home and in the church itself.
It is also worth noting that a prayer service can be served for health or repose. The appeal can be not only to the saint, the Mother of God, but also to the Lord Jesus Christ.
It can be simple or with water blessing.
All this must be indicated when compiling a note. It must be served before the Liturgy in the evening or early in the morning.
It is better to do this on the eve of the Liturgy, so that the holy father can familiarize himself with the names in advance.
The note should indicate the names of only baptized people, writing them in block letters in the parent case.
One note can contain up to ten people. If you want to write more, then you will need to divide the number of names into several notes.

You also need to know the correct spelling of names. Namely, male names are written first, then female, girls, girls, boys, and at the very end, the names of children under 7 years old are written.

What does the water blessing prayer mean?

- This is a prayer service, which includes the blessing of water. For this, a table is placed in the middle of the temple, on which a bowl of water and a Cross with the Gospel will be placed. After the candles are lit, the psalms are read, the troparia are sung, and the rite of water baptism is performed.

After the end of the water blessing service, the person who ordered such a ceremony takes the water. It often happens that not all the water is taken away, and it remains for other people present at the ceremony.

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It must be said that such prayers have recently been ordered quite often, therefore churches almost always have a container with holy water, which can be easily collected at any convenient time.

What is the difference between a prayer for health and for peace?

Before finishing talking about prayers, I would like to draw attention to what a prayer for health is and what a prayer for the repose is and why they are held.

Notes on a request to hold a health service are submitted if a living person needs help in the fight against any illness, mental trauma, or to repent of sins. Also, in prayers for health, they are asked to offer a prayer for success in study, work, when we go on a long journey or business trip. By the way, a prayer service for health can be ordered for different periods: for 1 day, 40 days, six months, a year. If it concerns travel, then for the entire period of the trip.

A prayer for the repose is a prayer for the granting of peace to the soul of the deceased. Remember that the more prayers are read after the death of a person for earthly life, the easier it is for the soul in the other world.

Notes for the dead are submitted according to the rules similar to those for notes on health.

If you are a busy person and you don’t have the opportunity, for whatever reason, to visit a church or temple, then in moments of your weakness, need for help, or just gratitude, read the prayer “Our Father”:

Our Father, Who art in heaven!
May your name be hallowed,
let your kingdom come,
let your will be done
as in heaven and on earth.
Give us our daily bread today;
and leave us our debts,
like we also leave our debtor;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
Amen.

May God protect you!

Watch another video about what prayers can be ordered in the church:

This article for me personally has become a logical continuation of the previous one, in which I wrote about. My college friend read about Sorokoust and told me that she was very skeptical about those ordered in churches prayers. Not in the sense that they are not needed or meaningless at all, but in the sense that personal prayer stronger, because it has a great feeling and desire to be heard.

Like, nothing can be, for example, stronger than prayer mother for a child, no priest will so fervently ask God or the Mother of God for him.

I must say that this argument almost threw me into a stupor. I myself have read and heard more than once that maternal prayers best of all reach Heaven (and I completely agree with this statement). But still, something in the words of a friend, from my point of view, was not entirely true. Even I, by no means a church person, consider the churchprayer , especially created by the mouth of a priest, very strong.

Why? I'll try to explain.

But first I will tell you one incident from the life of my grandmother. She was a very young woman when the Great Patriotic War broke out. My grandfather went to the front and almost immediately disappeared without a trace. From the very beginning of 1942, no letter or line came from him. But his comrade managed to report that his grandfather disappeared after the battle: he was neither among the dead nor among the living. My grandmother with young children was evacuated to Kazakhstan and there she accidentally met a priest who organized something like a temple in an abandoned house. Then Orthodox churches from Stalin came an indulgence, ceased to ban faith. My grandmother used to go to this temple all the time and, together with the priest and other parishioners, prayed that her husband would be found. And in 1945 he returned home! It turned out that he spent several years with the Belarusian partisans, almost died many times, but some special luck saved him every time. Until her death, grandmother remembered that old priest and said that his appeal to the Lord worked a miracle and saved her husband. That's what I thought, and I think it was.

The power of prayer words great

It has been known to mankind since ancient times of its existence. Even before there was a belief in one God and the corresponding religions, people realized the power of the special formulations with which the servants of the temples speak to the gods. The most ancient prayers they were sung (these were hymns to the celestials) or recited in a singsong voice, with cries and repetition of the same sacred words and sounds. Some prayers were known to everyone and could be said in temples on their own or in chorus. Other, secret words, knew and had the right to voice only specially dedicated priests. It was believed that these texts are the most powerful and effective, since they are pronounced by the elect and close to the sacred chambers of the immortals. So it was among the peoples of the Ancient East, and among the Celts, Vikings, ancient Greeks and Romans, among the steppe and northern tribes - and in all civilizations with developed beliefs.

Christianity, from the very beginning of its existence, has never divided prayers into explicit (known to everyone) and secret (intended only for priests). All words to the Lord can come from the lips of any Christian. Fathers churches in the first centuries of its existence, much was written about the power prayers , which is uttered with faith and in focus on it. And they emphasized that everyone and always should pray, because the Bible says: “Push, and it will be opened” (that is, “Knock, and the Lord will open to you”).

But these saints fathers talked a lot about special strength prayers the priest in churches . Their reasoning is rather complex. The easiest way to explain them to me the other day was the husband of a second cousin, who at the age of 35 suddenly turned to God and now studies at the seminary, and at the church works as a bell ringer and sexton. He said this:

“The priest received the Sacrament, so in the temple during his service prayers hear the Lord. In addition, while praying, he performs the holy Mysteries, which increase the effectiveness prayers . When a priest blesses or absolves sins, it is, in fact, not done by him, but by Jesus. And the words of forgiveness or help come through the mouth of the priest from Jesus himself, who, with his Holy Church He prays for all of us to His Father.

It seems that I myself knew this before, but after such simple and understandable words of Paul, this thought finally reached me.

And he reminded me that Orthodoxy is the strongest prayer considers the one that is performed conciliarly, that is, by all the parishioners participating in the service. Such a collective appeal is especially pleasing to God and heard by Him. But ordered in churches prayers are performed precisely in a conciliar manner.

How is it necessaryorder prayers?

This is done in a special place, which is in each churches . Usually - at the church (candle) shop, where they buy candles, oil, icons, lamps and other utensils. Special notes are accepted there with the order of prayers and donations for this - at will and possibilities. These notes are then (before the service) passed to the altar, to the priest. During the Holy Liturgy, he reads them and prays for the living and the dead.

The main thing is not to confuse the notes “On repose” and “On health” when writing the names of relatives and friends. In most temples, leaflets are usually given with these words in the headings, so just look carefully. And further: it is not necessary to enter the names of unbaptized people on these sheets, because it is considered a sin. For unbaptized souls. The names of the deceased are entered in the memorial notes, for the repose of whose souls you would like to ask. If one of them died recently (40 days have not passed yet), then they add to the name "newly deceased". Even before the name of the deceased, you can write if desired "warrior", "killed" or "eternal"(if prayer ordered on the day of his name day or death). In a note for health, sometimes they write before the names "baby"(when the child is not yet 7 years old), "traveling", "sick" or "a prisoner".

In addition, it is desirable to take into account the following:

It is best to submit notes for requests in the evening or in the morning in order to be in time before the start of the service.

More than 10 names are not written on one leaflet. If you need to commemorate more people, serve a few leaves.

Write down the names in the genitive case (about the health of whom: Alexy, Sergius, and so on).

Write the names in full and preferably - according to the church spelling (for example, not Oksana, but Xenia).

In memorials for the repose of souls, it is undesirable to write the names of those who committed suicide.

The notes also do not mention those deceased who were canonized saints.

What other prayers can beorder?

There are 2 more types of requirements that ordered in the church.

Thank you. They will be appropriate in cases where you want to thank God for his help in something important to you. It happens that gratitude is turned to the Lord only for the fact that everything is going well in life: health is in order, everything is good with loved ones, everyone has shelter and food, clothes, work.

Pleading - it is, on the contrary, prayers about rendering assistance in any cases or alleviating misfortunes and illnesses. They are also asked to help solve problems, including domestic and social ones. In principle, there are no restrictions here, except perhaps moral ones (for example, you cannot ask for something that will bring misfortune to your neighbor). By ordering such prayer , in a note, explain to whom it should be addressed: to the Lord, the Most Holy Theotokos or a saint. By the way, as far as I understood when talking with my sister’s husband Pavel, before such a prayer service, you need to ask for forgiveness for your sins with the help of a penitent prayers . And offer gratitude for the well-being given by the Lord God. And after already order a request.

When I had almost finished this article of mine, I got a call from the same student friend who told me about the uselessness of church prayers. She told me something that I can't describe here.

A day after our conversation, she suddenly woke up at night and remembered what her late father once told her. This also happened during the war. Her father, even then a three-year-old baby, lived with his mother and brothers in a Smolensk village. When the Germans came to their region, punitive operations began: settlements were burned, after shooting the inhabitants. Another detachment of punishers found their village and began to drive people to execution. But then a local priest suddenly went to the soldiers with an icon in his hands. He read aloud prayers . And suddenly the Germans just ... left. Leave the village and the villagers alone. The little boy remembered all this, and his mother later recalled it more than once. What was it, if not God's miracle, the manifest power of the words addressed to the Lord by his servant?

This is how the dead father taught his daughter. By the way, this is what a friend herself made such a conclusion. And went to church, ordered prayers for repose and in gratitude for their own enlightenment.