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1. On Prayer

What does it mean to pray to God?To pray to God means to glorify, thank and ask Him for your needs.Why do we need to pray to God?God is our Creator and Father. He cares for all of us more than any loving father and gives us all the blessings in life, in Him we live, move and have our being; how do we pray?We sometimes pray inwardly, with our minds and hearts; but since each of us consists of soul and body, for the most part we accompany prayer with some visible signs and bodily actions: the sign of the cross, bowing to the waist, and sometimes, for the strongest expression of our reverent feelings for God and deep humility before Him, we kneel and make prostrations to the ground. unceasingly (1 Thessalonians 5:17) [Here and further references to the corresponding passages of the Holy Bible are given in the modern generally accepted abbreviation. Here: 1 Thessalonians, chapter 5, verse 17]. At the beginning of the work, to ask for God's help. At the end of the work, to thank God for help and success in the matter. Before dinner, so that God would bless us with food for health. After lunch, to thank God who nourishes us. In the evening, before going to bed, in order to thank God for the day spent and ask for His protection at night.For all these cases, the Orthodox Church prescribes special prayers.Where should one pray?In any place; but a special place of prayer for us is God's temple, which we must visit at the appointed times of the Divine service, and especially on feast days and Sundays and fasts.Besides God, whom do we honor and call upon in our prayers?Besides God, we venerate and invoke in our prayers the Mother of God, the Most Holy Virgin Mary, the angels and all holy people.Are our prayers always pleasing to God?Not always. If we pray absent-mindedly, without love or fear of God, if we pronounce prayers with our tongue alone, and at the same time turn our minds and hearts to something extraneous, then such a prayer not only does not attract God's mercy to us, on the contrary, it angers God. What are icons?Images or images of the Lord God Jesus Christ, His Most Pure Mother, the Virgin Mary, holy angels and holy men.What can be said about someone who makes the sign of the cross during prayer incorrectly and carelessly, or is ashamed to be baptized?Such a person does not want to confess his faith in God, Jesus Christ Himself will be ashamed of him at His Last Judgment (Mark 8:11). To make the sign of the cross, put the first three fingers of the right hand - thumb, index and middle - together; The last two fingers, the ring finger and the little finger, bend to the palm. By putting the first three fingers together, we express the belief that God is one in essence, but threefold in persons. Two bent fingers show our faith that in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, there are two natures, Divine and human. By depicting the cross on ourselves with folded fingers, we show that we are saved by faith in Jesus Christ, Who was crucified on the cross.

2. Initial prayers

In Russian:

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. [1]

In the name - in honor, in glory. Amen - truly, truly.Who is meant by the words: the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit? We believe that God is one, but in Him there are three persons: the 1st person of the Holy Spirit. The Trinity is God the Father, the 2nd person is God the Son, the 3rd person is God the Holy Spirit. To these three persons of the Holy Spirit. To the Trinity belongs the same authority, honor and worship.Why is it said here: in the name, and not in the name?As a sign that God, although there are three persons in Him, in His essence is only one.Why is the word Amen added?As a sign that everything that we read in prayer is true.When should this prayer be pronounced?Before every good deed, because we must do everything in honor and glory of the three persons of the Holy Trinity.Rising from sleep, before any other occupation, reverently presenting yourself before the Most High God and making the sign of the cross, say: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Wherefore hesitate a little, so that all thy senses may fall into silence and all earthly thoughts may forsake all earthly things, and then pronounce thy prayers without haste, with heartfelt attention. ^

The Publican's Prayer