How to pray using the service books without a priest, while traveling or at home…
When
Orthodox people have no opportunity to attend Orthodox divine services,
especially in non-Orthodox countries, then the Church allows and encourages
individuals and groups of Orthodox to read the service books privately, for the
preservation of their faith. Such readings have long been customary in monastic
establishments, hospitals, schools, on shipboard and, in recent times, by
Orthodox in the USSR and in the diaspora. Reading prayer books or service books
may, at least to some extent, replace church services.
1. It teaches us, even in non-Orthodox lands,
to remember and honor Orthodox feasts and saints' days.
2. It acquaints us with the order of church
services and with the profound content of our service books.
3. It safeguards us from the danger of
sectarian and heterodox influence
4. It helps parents and teachers raise their
children and young adults in the spirit of Orthodoxy.
5. It unites dispersed Orthodox people in our
faith and love for the Orthodox Church.
Orthodox Divine Services
The daily ecclesiastical office consists of a
cycle of services that covers the entire 24-hour period. Since the church day
begins with the evening, the order of daily services is: 1) Vespers, 2) Small Compline, 3) Midnight Office, 4) Matins, 5) First Hour, 6) Third and Sixth Hours, 7)
the Liturgy and 8) Ninth Hour. Orthodox laymen may read or
chant some portion of all of these, except the Divine Liturgy, which is
replaced by the Typica.
In addition, it is permissible to read canons and akathists, either separately
or as part of another service.
A canon is a collection of hymns in nine odes
that honors the Savior, the Mother of God, a saint, a holy day. or a spiritual
theme.
An akathist is a song of praise in twelve
parts that glorifies the Savior, the Mother of God, a saint.... An akathist may
be read or sung, or read with the refrains sung.
How Laymen Read Service Books
The
reading of service books should be conducted according to the following rules:
1. All
[reader's] services are to begin with the exclamation: "Through the
prayers of our holy fathers, O Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us.
Amen.
2. All
the priest's prayers and exclamations are omitted.
3. In
place of the Great and Augmented Ectenias and the Ectenia of Supplication,
"Lord, have mercy" is said twelve times; in place of the Small
Ectenia, three times.
4. The Gospel is not intoned, but read in an
ordinary voice.
Note: Every Orthodox Christian is obliged to read the Gospel
privately, according to the ecclesiastical lectionary found in church
calendars.
5. All other hymns, psalms and prayers are
read or sung as when a priest serves.
6. The Typica (in place of the liturgy) may
be read as indicated in Appendix 1.
The Order of Services on Feast Days
Since laymen are often involved with work and
may not have time to read services in the ordinary week days, we shall give
directions only for the festal services.
On weekdays, the daily morning and evening
prayers could be combined with Small Compline and Midnight Office, as desired.
On feast days, it is important to devote more
time to God and to observe the feast with the appropriate reading and hymns. On
the eve of the feast one may read Vespers, Matins and the First Hour, in the
place of the All-Night Vigil. In the morning, one may read the Midnight Office,
the Third and Sixth Hours, if desired, and the Typica. The evening of the feast,
one should read the Small Compline with the proper canon or akathist of the
feast.
The order and content of the services depend
on the free time available and on the service books at hand. Here are more
detailed instructions for three kinds of feasts: 1) Sundays, 2) the Twelve
Great Feasts and other holidays of the Lord and of the Mother of God, 3)
saints' days, our name-saints or ones we especially venerate.
1)
Sundays
On Saturday evenings we read Vespers,
including the stichera and troparia according to the tone indicated in the
calendar. In the morning (or on the eve), we read Matins and the First Hour. At
Matins we may read the Resurrection canon for the appropriate tone, or, if not
available, the Canon to Our Sweetest Lord Jesus (in the prayers of preparation
for Holy Communion) may be substituted. 'Me stichera for the aposticha, the
troparia and the theotokia are according to the tone of the Sunday.
If Vespers and Matins are unavailable, then
on Saturday night one may read Small Compline with the Canon and Akathist to
our Sweetest Lord Jesus.
On Sunday morning we should read: the
Midnight Office for Sunday, with the morning prayers and the Typica (the order
for Typica is given in Appendix I).
Finally, on Sunday evening. we may read Small
Compline with a canon to the Mother of God (either to one of her wonder-working
icons or any other available).
2)
Feasts of the Lord and of the Theotokos
On these feasts, including all of the Twelve
Great Feasts, it is customary to read the proper service from the Festal
Menaion. Vespers and Matins according to the Vigil are read, while the
stichera, troparia, etc., come from the Festal Menaion. The canon of Matins is
to the Lord or to the Theotokos, depending on the feast.
If the Festal Menaion is unavailable, then
one may read Vespers (or perhaps Small Compline) with the canon or
corresponding akathist, and one may take the stichera from the General Menaion,
using the "General Service for the Feasts of the Lord" or "of
the Mother of God."
In the morning: the Third and Sixth Hours and
the Typica, with the troparia and kontakia of the feast sung in the proper
places.
In the evening: Small Compline with the Canon
of Repentance to Our Lord Jesus Christ, or the Supplicatory Canon to the Most
Holy Theotokos (Paraclesis).
3)
Saints' days
If neither the Horologion nor the Menaion is
available, then we may read Small Compline with the canon or akathist to the
saint, if available. (A church dedicated to that saint might allow us to copy
the proper canon or akathist, so that we might read it on a nameday or other
feast days.)
In the morning, we read the Midnight Office,
the Hours and the Typica, with the troparia and kontakia to the saint at the
Hours, and the kontakia of the temple, and of the saint or the day of the week,
at the Typica.
In the evening, we read the canon to the
saint; but if there is none, then the canon for Saturday to all the saints.
An article by Archpriest Sergei Shukin
Source: http://orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/services_nopriest.aspx
