Great Compline Prayer One

The final service our Daily Lenten Journey will review is unique to Great Lent. Although the Small Compline is ‘part’ of our regular evening prayers as individuals, the Great Compline is ONLY offered during Great Lent, and it is offered normally in the Church. The term ‘compline’ is a translation of the Greek word meaning…

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Vespers Entrance Prayer

Vespers is the “Twelfth Hour” and therefore the service that straddles the gap between day and night. Behind us are the hours of the day. Ahead are the watches of the night. Today’s Daily Lenten Journey will feature the prayer during which we ‘enter’ into the night. In the evening, at dawn, and at midday,…

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Lamplighting Prayer Seven

Did you know we offer God more than just words during Church? Some people think the tradition of offering God sacrifices ended with the Old Testament. Every day in the Church we offer God more than just our thoughts and prayers. The Old Testament mandatory sacrifices included animal sacrifices for all sorts of reasons. You…

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Orthros Prayer Twelve

We have been reviewing the silent Orthros prayers. Some prayers ‘just say it all’ when it comes to our faith in God.  Other prayers are more direct and specific. Today’s prayer is an all-encompassing prayer that finalizes the twelve prayers offered during the Six Psalms of Orthros. We praise You, we sing to You, we…

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Orthros Prayer Six

No matter what we may think, God is never the source of bad things in our lives. Questions like, “Why is God punishing me?” only reveal our temptation instead of God’s actions. Everything God does for us and to us is for our benefit. If we think otherwise, we need to change our minds. We…

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Orthros Prayer Four

As we make our way through the Orthros Prayers, we can’t ever forget the purpose of prayer in the first place. We pray to ‘talk’ to God and share our heart with Him. Morning, noon or night, our prayers remain for the same purpose. We are talking to God and He is listening. When we…

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Orthros Prayer Two

Yesterday we prayed for God to always have compassion on us because we can’t do with without Him. In our Orthros Prayer series, we now turn our attention to the commandments of God. His commandments light the way through the darkness to heaven. The problem is we fail to follow His commandments and have been…

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Orthros Prayer One

We are two weeks into our Daily Lenten Journey and we have discussed our personal prayers throughout the day. As Orthodox Christians our prayers are not only personal. We also gather as a family in Church for Church services. These communal prayers are our next series. Even if you attend the Orthros service, which admittedly…

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Prayer of the First Hour

Our Daily Lenten Journey this year is focused on prayer. Yesterday we finished our series on morning prayers. Did you know the Church has ‘services’ dedicated to the different hours of the day? Now we will turn our attention to communal prayers offered during the day. For centuries the People of God have gathered throughout…

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