Daily Prayers for Orthodox Christians

[D+C]

My copy of this book arrived today, and I am a little intimidated! Morning prayers are 20 pages long. There are of course many prayers that make up these morning prayers (Prayer to the Most Holy Mother of God, Prayer to the Guardian Angel of Human Life, two prayers to St Basil the Great, five prayers to St Macarius the Great etc), but am I right in thinking that these are all said together?

The Prayer Rule of St Seraphim of Sarov seems a little more achievable at this stage.

 

[Shiranui117]

The best prayer rule is the one you do every day without exception.

 

[Kristos]

Only 20 pages? Is Outrage!

But seriously, like already, start with what seems achievable and go from there. For most of us that's probably around 10 minutes tops in the morning

 

[ArmyMatt]

do what you can. quality is better than quantity. remember the prayer that justified the Publican was only one small sentence.

 

[Nickolai]

St. John Chrysostom says "Whether or not our prayer is heard depends not on the number of our words, but on the fervor of our souls." Pick the prayers that you can really pray, and be consistent with them. That is much better for you than trying to read all of them halfheartedly and failing because of difficulty.

 

[Knee V]

It all depends on where you are and what your priest recommends. My family uses the HTM prayer book at our SF's direction, and the morning prayers in that one take less than 10 minutes. But my own rule doesn't precisely follow the exact flow of any particular book. Books are just ink on paper. No matter how much or how little a book may have, it is following our priest's advice that is important, as well as keeping him informed with how we're doing.

And no matter how it may seem sometimes, our priests are usually not clairvoyant. As a result, they may not know exactly what rule is going to work the best at first. So they'll often start us with something to see how we do. If it is too much, we shouldn't despair, but instead confess that it is too difficult to bear. And if it is too little, we shouldn't be prideful thinking that we have achieved something great, but instead confess that the prayers are very easy. So prayer rules often go through periods of fine tuning, regardless of what our priest may give us at first.

 

[Trying_to_be_Orthodox]

@DC

20 pages long - around 15-20minutes. But for me, its hard to read it everyday due my lazy nature.

 

[Gxg (G²)]

St. John Chrysostom says "Whether or not our prayer is heard depends not on the number of our words, but on the fervor of our souls." Pick the prayers that you can really pray, and be consistent with them. That is much better for you than trying to read all of them halfheartedly and failing because of difficulty.

So true....

I had this for awhile when I was trying to pray without having things such as an Orthodox Prayer Book and only having access to books with select prayers from the Desert Fathers as well as tracts/pamphlets I had from going to Orthodox Parishes - with me feeling inferior due to how it seemed that the prayers from the pamphlets that were given in introduction for daily practice were ones I could practice daily and that I appreciated.....and yet it didn't seem in-depth enough. And after coming across in-depth material, I felt pressure to pray that daily - yet I realized that my heart was judging things based more on quantity than on quality .....with the desire to challenge myself taking the place of desire to simply pray and know that the Lord is concerned with the heart (Luke 18)

 

[Gxg (G²)]

do what you can. quality is better than quantity. remember the prayer that justified the Publican was only one small sentence.

Sometimes it seems the focus on quality is equated with "How long?" as a barometer for effectiveness...

 

[ArmyMatt]

Sometimes it seems the focus on quality is equated with "How long?" as a barometer for effectiveness...

haha, yeah that be true unfortunately

 

[GreekOrthodox]

Only 20 pages? Is Outrage!

But seriously, like already, start with what seems achievable and go from there. For most of us that's probably around 10 minutes tops in the morning

Well 20 pages in English, followed by 20 pages in Greek, followed by 20 pages in Slavonic, is acceptable in 19th century Russia. Only barely!

For the OP, one thing you can do is record them and play the recording on your daily commute. Also remember that start with what you can. Some days all I have the energy for is the Trisagion Prayers followed by the Prayer of the Optina Elders.

Brian

 

[D+C]

Well 20 pages in English, followed by 20 pages in Greek, followed by 20 pages in Slavonic, is acceptable in 19th century Russia. Only barely!

For the OP, one thing you can do is record them and play the recording on your daily commute. Also remember that start with what you can. Some days all I have the energy for is the Trisagion Prayers followed by the Prayer of the Optina Elders.

Brian

Really like that idea.

Thank you everyone, you gave been most helpful. I am adopting the Prayer Rule of St Seraphim of Sarov and the prayers at meals as written in my book, and using the morning prayers on Sundays when there is no Holy Communion (which is once a month at my church).

<- me

 

[HalupkiMonster]

OP, I own that prayer book and a tiny library of 5-10 others. I have used them and put them down over the past five years.

I use one prayer book daily, and that is the little red book published by the Antiochians. Prayers in morning and evening are no more than five minutes, however they are something I can achieve every day, so I stick to them.

It also helps to have a little phrase to say as one gets into bed, wakes up, and need prayer without access to a book. I say "Lord have mercy on me, save me, protect me and help me." It's just a little something I thought up a few years ago. This helps me to stay in prayer.

 

[D+C]

OP, I own that prayer book and a tiny library of 5-10 others. I have used them and put them down over the past five years.

I use one prayer book daily, and that is the little red book published by the Antiochians. Prayers in morning and evening are no more than five minutes, however they are something I can achieve every day, so I stick to them.

It also helps to have a little phrase to say as one gets into bed, wakes up, and need prayer without access to a book. I say "Lord have mercy on me, save me, protect me and help me." It's just a little something I thought up a few years ago. This helps me to stay in prayer.

Thank you for sharing that, really interesting. Do you have a link to the red book?

 

[HalupkiMonster]

Thank you for sharing that, really interesting. Do you have a link to the red book?

A Pocket Prayer Book for Orthodox Christians - Vinyl Cover - Ancient Faith Publishing

 

[All4Christ]

This podcast helps me focus: OrthoAdoration by Fr. Anthony Perkins https://itun.es/us/auFiA.c

It has recorded daily prayers