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When can you bow to the ground? How to prostrate according to the rules

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Question: Tell me when they are done during the liturgy prostrations, when are waist belts? And how to bow to the ground correctly (we touch the ground with our palms and forehead or with our elbows and forehead)?

Answer: The church service is performed with many great bows to the ground and small bows.

The Holy Church requires bowing with inner reverence and outer decorum, slowly, and, if possible, at the same time as other worshipers in the church.

Before bowing, you need to overshadow yourself sign of the cross and then make a bow - if it’s small, then you need to tilt your head so that you can reach the ground with your hand, but if it’s big, you need to bend both knees and touch the ground with your head. The Church Charter strictly requires that we bow in the temple of God not only earnestly, decorously and all at the same time, but also unhurriedly (“without struggling”) and in a timely manner, that is, exactly when it is indicated. Bowing and kneeling should be done at the end of each short petition or prayer, and not during its execution.

The Church Charter pronounces strict judgment on those who bow improperly (Typikon, Monday of the first week of Holy Great Lent).

Before the start of any divine service, three bows must be made from the waist. Then, during all services, at each “Come, let us worship”, at “Holy God”, at the threefold “Alleluia” and at “Be the Name of the Lord” three bows from the waist are relied upon, only on the “Alleluia” among the six psalms, for the sake of deep silence, According to the Charter, no bows are required, but the sign of the cross is performed. On “Voucher, O Lord,” both at Vespers and at Matins (in the great doxology, sung or read), three bows from the waist are required. At all litanies of church services, listen carefully to each petition, mentally raising a prayer to God and, making the sign of the cross while shouting: “Lord, have mercy” or “Give, Lord,” make a bow from the waist. When singing and reading stichera and other prayers, then only bow when the words of the prayers encourage this; for example: “let’s fall down,” “bow,” “pray.”

After “To the Most Honorable Cherub” and before “Bless the Name of the Lord, Father” (or: Master), a deep bow from the waist is always given.

When reading akathists on each kontakion and ikos, a bow from the waist is required; when pronouncing or singing the thirteenth kontakion three times, bows to the ground or waist (according to the day) are due; the same bows are due after reading the akathist prayer.

The memorial is read with bows after each article (and in some monasteries bows are given to the ground or from the waist, according to the day, in others - always from the waist).

According to “It is worthy...” at Compline and Matins, also while singing “Most Honest...” at the 9th song of the canon, bow for the day; after the verse “We praise, we bless,” a bow from the waist is required.

Before and after reading the Gospel (at “Glory to Thee, Lord”) one bow is always given; on the polyeleos, after each magnification - one bow from the waist.

When starting to read or sing the Creed, when pronouncing the words: “By the Power of the Honest and Life-Giving Cross,” when starting to read the Apostle, Gospel and Parimia (Parimia is a reading from the Holy Scriptures of the Old (sometimes New) Testament), one is supposed to sign oneself with the sign of the cross without bowing.

When a clergyman, teaching peace, says: “Peace to all” or proclaims: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love (love) of God and the Father, and the communion (communion) of the Holy Spirit be with you all,” and the choir, responding , sings: “And to your spirit” or: “And with your spirit,” you should bow from the waist without the sign of the cross. A bow is required during any blessing by the clergyman of all those praying, as well as during dismissal, if it is performed without the Cross. When the dismissal is pronounced by the clergyman with the Cross, with which he overshadows those praying, then the bow should be made with the sign of the cross. Unpious self-indulgence is when the laity, with the general blessing of the clergyman, fold their palms, and then sometimes also kiss them. When proclaiming “Bow your head to the Lord,” you should bow your head and stand until the end of the prayer said by the priest: at this time the priest prays to God for all who have bowed their heads.

When the church overshadows the people with the Cross, the Holy Gospel, an image or the Holy Cup, then everyone should be baptized, bowing their heads. And when they overshadow with candles, or bless with their hands, or burn incense to the people, then they should not be baptized, but only bow. Only on Bright Week of Holy Easter, when the priest censes with the Cross in his hand, does everyone cross themselves and, responding to his greeting “Christ is Risen,” they say: “Truly He is Risen.”

Thus, one must distinguish between worship before a shrine and before people, even sacred ones. When accepting the blessing of a priest or bishop, Christians fold their palms crosswise, placing the right on the left, and kiss the right hand of the blessing, but do not cross themselves before doing this.

From Holy Easter to the Feast of the Holy Trinity, from the Feast of the Nativity of Christ to the Feast of the Epiphany (Svyatka), and in general on all great feasts of the Lord, prostrations to the ground during church services are canceled.

God bless you!

(O. Pavel)

Man is a being of dual nature: spiritual and physical. Therefore, the Holy Church gives man saving means, both for his soul and for his body.

Soul and body are bound into one until death. Therefore, the grace-filled means of the Church are aimed at healing and correction of both soul and body. An example of this is the Sacraments. Many of them have a material substance that is sanctified by the Holy Spirit in the rites of the Sacrament and has a beneficial effect on a person. In the Sacrament of Baptism it is water. In the Sacrament of Confirmation - myrrh. In the Sacrament of Communion - the Body and Blood of Christ under the guise of water, wine and bread. And even in the Sacrament of Confession, we must materially (verbally) speak out our sins before the priest.

Let us also remember the dogma of the General Resurrection. After all, each of us will rise bodily and appear united with the soul at the Judgment of God.

Therefore, the Church has always shown special care for the human body, considering it the temple of the Living God. And a person who does not pay attention to all those means that are proposed in Orthodoxy for the healing and correction of not only the soul, but also the body, is deeply mistaken. After all, it is in the body that the germs of passions often nest, and if you close your eyes to them and do not fight them, over time they will grow from baby snakes into dragons and begin to eat the soul.

Here it is useful to recall the verses of the psalms...

31:9:
“Do not be like a horse, like a foolish mule, whose jaws must be bridled with a bridle and bit so that they obey you.”
After all, our body is often just like a horse and a senseless mule, which must be bridled with the bridle of prayer, the Sacraments, bows, and fasting, so that in its earthly passionate race it does not fly into the abyss.

“My knees have grown weak from fasting, and my body has lost fat.”

We see that the holy prophet and king David, to the point of exhaustion, bowed to the ground in order to be cleansed of sins and fast with a fast that was pleasant and pleasing to God.

Our Lord Jesus Christ also prayed on his knees: “And He Himself went away from them about a stone’s throw, and kneeled down and prayed...” (Luke 22:41).
And if God did this, then should we refuse to bow to the ground?

Moreover, quite often in Holy Scripture the prophets and the Savior called people who were proud and turned away from God stiff-necked (translated from Church Slavonic - with stiff necks, unable to worship God).

Quite often you notice this in the temple. A believer, a churchgoer, comes: he bought a candle, crossed himself, bowed before the holy icons, and reverently took the blessing from the priest. A person of little faith enters the temple: he is ashamed not only to cross himself, but even to bend his head slightly towards the icon or crucifix. Because I’m not used to bowing my “I” before anyone, even God. This is what stiff-neckedness is all about.

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, we will hasten to bow to the ground. They are a manifestation of our humility and contrition of heart before the Lord God. They are a sacrifice pleasing and pleasing to God.

The prodigal son, covered in sores, rags and scabs, returns home to his father and falls on his knees before him with the words: “Father! I have sinned against heaven and before you and am no longer worthy to be called your son.” This is what prostration is. Destruction of personal Tower of Babel, awareness of one’s own sin and the fact that one cannot rise without the Lord. And, of course, our Heavenly Father will hasten to meet us in order to restore us and accept us into his love. Only for this you need to put aside your “ego”, conceit and vanity and understand that without God it is impossible to take a step correctly. As long as you are filled with yourself and not with the Lord, you will be unhappy. But as soon as you understand that you are on the edge of an abyss filled with sins and passions, and that you don’t have the strength to rise on your own, that another minute means death, then your feet will bow before the Almighty and you will beg Him not to leave you.
This is what prostration is. Ideally, this is the prayer of the publican, the prayer of the prodigal son. Pride prevents you from bowing to the ground. Only a humble person can do it.

Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov) wrote about prostrations to the ground: “The Lord knelt down during His prayer - and you should not neglect kneeling if you have enough strength to perform them. By worship to the face of the earth, according to the explanation of the fathers, our fall is depicted, and by uprising from the earth our redemption ... "

You also need to understand that you cannot reduce the number of prostrations to some kind of mechanical gymnastic exercise and do not strive to perform the immoderate feat of kneeling. Less is better, but better quality. Let us remember that prostration is not an end in itself. He is a means for acquiring lost communion with God and the grace-filled gifts of the Holy Spirit. Prostration is a prayer of repentance that cannot be offered carelessly, inattentively or in a hurry. Stand up, cross yourself correctly and slowly. Get on your knees, place your palms on the floor in front of you and touch your forehead to the floor, then get up from your knees and straighten up to your full height. This will be a real prostration. While performing it, you need to read something to yourself a short prayer, for example, Jesus or “Lord have mercy.” You can also turn to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints.

IN Lent according to established tradition, three prostrations are made after entering the temple in front of Golgotha: that is, they made two prostrations, kissed the Crucifix and made another one. The same is true when leaving the temple. During the evening service or Liturgy, prostrations to the ground are also appropriate. At Matins, for example, when singing “The Most Honest Cherub and the Most Glorious Without Comparison Seraphim...” after the eighth song of the canon. At the Liturgy - after singing “We sing to you, we bless you...”, since at this time the culmination of the service takes place in the altar - the transubstantiation of the Holy Gifts. You can also kneel down while the priest comes out with the Chalice with the words “With the fear of God” to give communion to the people. During Great Lent, kneeling is also done at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts in certain places, indicated by the ringing of a bell, during the priest's verse reading of the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian, and in some other places of the services of the Holy Pentecost.

Prostrations are not made on Sundays, on the twelve feasts, on Christmastide (from the Nativity of Christ to the Baptism of the Lord), from Easter to Pentecost. This is forbidden by the holy apostles, as well as I and VI Ecumenical Councils, since on these holy days the reconciliation of God with man takes place, when man is no longer a slave, but a son.

During the rest of the time, dear brothers and sisters, let us not be lazy in bowing to the ground, voluntarily plunging ourselves by bowing and falling into the abyss of repentance, in which the merciful God will certainly extend His fatherly right hand to us and resurrect and raise us sinners with ineffable love for this and the future life.

Priest Andrey Chizhenko

This question, despite its apparent simplicity and formality, in my opinion, is quite complex, since most people (and there is nothing reprehensible in this!) come to church only on Sundays and twelve or greater holidays (except for the services of Lent).

This, of course, due to work and family commitments, is understandable and normal. Thank God that a modern Christian, with the speed and technology of the modern world, fulfills this basic necessary minimum.

It is known that on Sundays, the time from Easter to Vespers of Pentecost, from the Nativity of Christ to the Epiphany of the Lord (Yuletide) and on the twelve feasts, bowing to the ground is prohibited by the Charter. Saint Basil the Great testifies to this in his letter to Blessed Amphilochius. He writes that the holy apostles completely forbade kneeling and prostration on the above-mentioned days. The same was approved by the rules of the First and Sixth Ecumenical Councils. That is, we see that the highest church authority - the apostolic decrees and conciliar reason - bows to the ground are not accepted on these days.

Why is this?

The holy supreme apostle Paul answers this question: “Carry the slave already. But a son” (Gal. 4:7). That is, bowing to the ground symbolizes a slave - a person who committed the fall and is on his knees begging forgiveness for himself, repenting of his sins in deep humble and repentant feelings.

And the Resurrection of Christ, the entire period of the Colored Triodion, the small Easters of ordinary Sundays, Christmastide and the Twelfth Feasts - this is the time when “Already bear the slave. But the son,” that is, our Lord Jesus Christ restores and heals in Himself the image of fallen man and restores him to filial dignity, again introducing him into the Kingdom of Heaven, establishing the New Testament-union between God and man. Therefore, prostrations to the ground during the periods of the above-mentioned holidays are an insult to God and seem to be a person’s rejection of this restoration in sonship. A person making a prostration on a holiday seems to be saying to God the words opposite to the verses of the Divine Paul: “I don’t want to be a son. I want to remain a slave." In addition, such a person directly violates the canons of the Church, established by the grace of the Holy Spirit by the apostolic canons and Ecumenical Councils.

I personally heard the opinion that, they say, often a layman does not go to church for weekday services, then let him bow to the ground even on Sunday. I can't agree with this. Since the Apostolic Decrees and Ecumenical Councils prohibit this, and the Church with God's help stands on obedience. In addition, the custom of kneeling in the temple of one’s own free will is also strictly prohibited.

For people who do not go to church for daily services (I repeat, this is not a sin. A busy person can be understood), I would recommend taking on the feat of prostration in the cell room home prayer on weekdays. How much will anyone bear so that over time this also does not become an unbearable burden: five, ten, twenty, thirty. And who can - and more. Set a standard for yourself with God's help. Prostration with the prayer, especially the Jesus prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner,” is a very useful thing. But, as they say, everything has its time.

At the Sunday Liturgy, prostration is made in two places of worship. The priest also places them approximately and meaningfully in the altar in front of the Throne. The first moment: at the end of singing “We sing to you,” when the culmination of the Eucharistic canon and the entire Divine Liturgy, – the Holy Gifts are transubstantiated on the Throne; bread, wine and water become the Body and Blood of Christ. The second point: when bringing out the Chalice for the communion of believers, since the priest also bows to the ground before communion at the altar. During the period from Easter to Pentecost, these prostrations are replaced by bows. At the Sunday Divine Liturgy or Liturgy during another period indicated above, prostrations are no longer made.

If you, dear brothers and sisters, are at the Liturgy of a weekday, then prostrations are permitted by the Rule in the two cases already mentioned, as well as at the beginning of the singing “Worthy and Righteous”; the end of the prayer “It is worthy to eat,” or the worthy; at the end of the Liturgy, when the priest proclaims “Always, now and ever,” when the priest last time at the Liturgy he appears with the Chalice with the Body and Blood of Christ in his hands at the Royal Doors and transfers it from the throne to the altar (symbol of the Ascension of the Lord). At the evening service, prostration is allowed (at matins), when the priest or deacon comes out of the altar with a censer after the eighth song of the ordinary canon and exclaims in front of the icon of the Virgin Mary on the iconostasis, “Let us exalt the Theotokos and Mother of Light in song.” Next, the song of St. Cosmas of Maium is sung, “The Most Honest Cherub,” during which it is also customary to stand on one’s knees out of love and reverence for Holy Mother of God, since it is believed that She is in the temple at this time and visits all those praying in it.

Let us, dear brothers and sisters, try to observe the Church Rules. He is our golden fairway in muddy water outside world and the inner heart with its emotions and sensuality. On the one hand, he does not allow us to deviate into laziness and negligence, on the other hand, into delusion and spiritual delusion of “lifetime holiness.” And along this fairway the church ship sails to the Kingdom of Heaven. Our task on board it is grace-filled obedience. After all, all the holy fathers valued him and valued him very highly. After all, through disobedience the first people fell away from God, but through obedience we are united with Him, seeing the example, of course, of the God-man Jesus, who was obedient to death and even death on the cross.

Priest Andrey Chizhenko

Man is a being of dual nature: spiritual and physical. Therefore, the Holy Church gives man saving means, both for his soul and for his body.

Let us also remember the dogma of the General Resurrection. After all, each of us will rise bodily and appear united with the soul at the Judgment of God.

Here it is useful to recall the verses of the psalms...

“My knees have grown weak from fasting, and my body has lost fat.”

We see that the holy prophet and king David, to the point of exhaustion, bowed to the ground in order to be cleansed of sins and fast with a fast that was pleasant and pleasing to God.

Moreover, quite often in the Holy Scriptures the prophets and the Savior called people who are proud and turn away from God stiff-necked (translated from Church Slavonic - with stiff necks, unable to worship God).

The prodigal son, covered in sores, rags and scabs, returns home to his father and falls on his knees before him with the words: “Father! I have sinned against heaven and before you and am no longer worthy to be called your son.” This is what prostration is. The destruction of the personal tower of Babel, the realization of one’s own sin and the fact that without the Lord one cannot rise. And, of course, our Heavenly Father will hasten to meet us in order to restore us and accept us into his love. Only for this you need to put aside your “ego”, conceit and vanity and understand that without God it is impossible to take a step correctly. As long as you are filled with yourself and not with the Lord, you will be unhappy. But as soon as you understand that you are on the edge of an abyss filled with sins and passions, and that you don’t have the strength to rise on your own, that another minute means death, then your feet will bow before the Almighty and you will beg Him not to leave you.
This is what prostration is. Ideally, this is the prayer of the publican, the prayer of the prodigal son. Pride prevents you from bowing to the ground. Only a humble person can do it.

You also need to understand that you cannot reduce the number of prostrations to some kind of mechanical gymnastic exercise and not strive to perform the immoderate feat of kneeling. Less is better, but better quality. Let us remember that prostration is not an end in itself. He is a means for acquiring lost communion with God and the grace-filled gifts of the Holy Spirit. Prostration is a prayer of repentance that cannot be offered carelessly, inattentively or in a hurry. Stand up, cross yourself correctly and slowly. Get on your knees, place your palms on the floor in front of you and touch your forehead to the floor, then get up from your knees and straighten up to your full height. This will be a real prostration. While performing it, you need to read some short prayer to yourself, for example, the Jesus prayer or “Lord have mercy.” You can also turn to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints.

During Lent, according to established tradition, three prostrations are made after entering the temple in front of Golgotha: that is, they made two prostrations, kissed the Crucifix and made another one. The same is true when leaving the temple. During the evening service or Liturgy, prostrations to the ground are also appropriate. At Matins, for example, when singing “The Most Honest Cherub and the Most Glorious Without Comparison Seraphim...” after the eighth song of the canon. At the Liturgy - after singing “We sing to you, we bless you...”, since at this time the culmination of the service takes place in the altar - the transubstantiation of the Holy Gifts. You can also kneel down while the priest comes out with the Chalice with the words “With the fear of God” to give communion to the people. During Great Lent, kneeling is also done at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts in certain places, indicated by the ringing of a bell, during the priest's verse reading of the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian, and in some other places of the services of the Holy Pentecost.

Prostrations are not made on Sundays, on the twelve feasts, on Christmastide (from the Nativity of Christ to the Baptism of the Lord), from Easter to Pentecost. This is prohibited by the holy apostles, as well as by the I and VI Ecumenical Councils, since on these holy days the reconciliation of God with man takes place, when man is no longer a slave, but a son.

Priest Andrey Chizhenko

Man is a being of dual nature: spiritual and physical. Therefore, the Holy Church gives man saving means, both for his soul and for his body.

Let us also remember the dogma of the General Resurrection. After all, each of us will rise bodily and appear united with the soul at the Judgment of God.

Here it is useful to recall the verses of the psalms...

“My knees have grown weak from fasting, and my body has lost fat.”

We see that the holy prophet and king David, to the point of exhaustion, bowed to the ground in order to be cleansed of sins and fast with a fast that was pleasant and pleasing to God.

Our Lord Jesus Christ also prayed on his knees: “And He Himself went away from them about a stone’s throw, and kneeled down and prayed...” (Luke 22:41).

And if God did this, then should we refuse to bow to the ground?

The prodigal son, covered in sores, rags and scabs, returns home to his father and falls on his knees before him with the words: “Father! I have sinned against heaven and before you and am no longer worthy to be called your son.” This is what prostration is. The destruction of the personal tower of Babel, the realization of one’s own sin and the fact that without the Lord one cannot rise. And, of course, our Heavenly Father will hasten to meet us in order to restore us and accept us into his love. Only for this you need to put aside your “ego”, conceit and vanity and understand that without God it is impossible to take a step correctly. As long as you are filled with yourself and not with the Lord, you will be unhappy. But as soon as you understand that you are on the edge of an abyss filled with sins and passions, and that you don’t have the strength to rise on your own, that another minute means death, then your feet will bow before the Almighty and you will beg Him not to leave you.

This is what prostration is. Ideally, this is the prayer of the publican, the prayer of the prodigal son. Pride prevents you from bowing to the ground. Only a humble person can do it.

Priest Andrey Chizhenko
Orthodox Life

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When can you bow to the ground? How to prostrate according to the rules