An Invitation to Pray the Hours with Us

[Light of the East]

One of the lovely things about my parish is the dedication our priest, Fr. David, has to prayer. We are blessed to have Vespers on Wednesday, Great Vespers on Saturday night, and during the week, from Monday to Friday, we pray the 3rd and 6th hours online.

Would you like to start your day with prayers of the 3rd and 6th hours. Here is the link for our stream of the hours:

Subscribe to St. Mary Orthodox Church St Mary Orthodox Church

and you will get notification every morning before we begin.

The time for the hours is 7:30 AM EST.

 

[All4Christ]

Wonderful idea. I’m struggling with life now (not to go into details). Listening to the Psalter is a wonderful help. The hours will also be a healing balm, a guide and prayer, and a way to keep in step with what we are called to do.

 

[ArmyMatt]

awesome thing to add for Lent

 

[Moses Medina]

Just in time for Lent!

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

That’s 4:30am for me

 

[Light of the East]

That’s 4:30am for me

Yes. When I thought about posting this, I did realize that it would be problematic for those on the West Coast.

HOWEVER - We do archive each day's prayers, so if you wish to pray the hours with us on a particular day, subscribe to St. Mary's at YouTube and then you can go in and find the video and pray the hours with us.

Blessed Lent!!

 

[The Liturgist]

One of the lovely things about my parish is the dedication our priest, Fr. David, has to prayer. We are blessed to have Vespers on Wednesday, Great Vespers on Saturday night, and during the week, from Monday to Friday, we pray the 3rd and 6th hours online.

Would you like to start your day with prayers of the 3rd and 6th hours. Here is the link for our stream of the hours:

Subscribe to St. Mary Orthodox Church St Mary Orthodox Church

and you will get notification every morning before we begin.

The time for the hours is 7:30 AM EST.

Oh you go to that church? That’s amazing! I love that parish! I’ve literally been subscribed to them since 2022 (I try to surround myself with the divine services at all times, and your church has a good choir and good quality recordings, which is rare among Romanian Orthodox parishes in the US).

I also love that you bother to put effort into the Third and Sixth Hours rather than reading through them in the rushed manner that one sees in some parishes where they exist mainly to pass the time while the priest hears confessions of people who were unable to attend vigils.

I had actually been listening to these reader services without realizing it was you, and I had your Presanctified liturgy from yesterday on my agenda to listen to today (the Presanctified Liturgies are one of my favorite parts of Lent, because I believe they are a powerful confession of the Eucharistic change in the Epiclesis.

Your parish is one of my three favorite predominantly English language parishes to listen to, along with Holy Trinity OCA in San Francisco and St. John Chrysostom Albanian Orthodox. St. Nicholas Serbian Orthodox was on the list but lately they’ve been having microphone problems, and also the mic at St. John Chrysostom is failing.

My favorite streaming parishes overall are Holy Virgin Cathedral in San Francisco, the Synodal Cathedral of the Sign in New York (despite technical problems, also, lately they have been frustratingly irregular about streaming, but they started in 2019 before the pandemic), Holy Resurrection OCA (Russian Orthodox in a mix of Slavonic and English on the Julian Calendar) in Vancouver, Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church (MP) on the East Coast, also a mix of Slavonic and English, of course one also hears English at the first two but its mostly Slavonic, and St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Paris, which is a mix of French and Russian, and St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church in Vienna, which does some services in German but most in Russian with a bit of German, and has, as befits a church in Vienna, exceptionally high musical standards, and finally the Lavra in St. Petersburg, which is the only really good quality stream from Russia I have found that is consistent with my liturgical preferences, although I am always looking for more, but the problem is that most Russian churches can’t afford the best recording equipment.

As should be evident, I really like Slavonic music, but I also really like Greek, Romanian and Antiochian four-part harmony and Georgian three-part harmony, but unfortunately as far as I can tell there are no streaming Georgian parishes online (if anyone is aware of one please let me know; I have looked, and looked, as much as I could stand)

I also love Byzantine Chant but I prefer to hear it in person, with the exception of some recordings of Capella Romana and a recording from a monastery in Meteora (I think the one from which the monks who revitalized Simonpetra came from, to escape the tourists), which had an elderly cantor with a beautiful voice of the kind some elderly men have.

 

[The Liturgist]

That’s 4:30am for me

I’m usually up at 4:30 PM writhing in pain, and I fall back asleep at 7 AM, which is why i go to a small parish which meets in a borrowed church at noon. But that said, you could do what I do very frequently and pray them after the fact.

 

[The Liturgist]

Wonderful idea. I’m struggling with life now (not to go into details). Listening to the Psalter is a wonderful help. The hours will also be a healing balm, a guide and prayer, and a way to keep in step with what we are called to do.

If you want to hear the maximum amount of content and don’t care about the musical style, the Church of the Nativity in Erie, PA, is a good choice, since being a canonical Russian Old Rite parish in ROCOR, aside from some slight differences in how they make the Sign of the Cross and vesture, they do everything in English, since their use of Church Slavonic died out in the decades following their decision to join ROCOR and cease to be a priestless Old Believer parish in the 1970s (there are still too many priestless Old Believer chapels, including some members of their congregation, who set up a different group, and numerous Priestless Old Believers in Woodburn, Oregon). So basically they’re an English language Edinovertsy parish.

In terms of the services themselves, there are no significant differences, but the Old Believer version of the Typikon does not permit the abbreviations of the Western churches, so you hear parts of the services which are normally always abbreviated during normal parish practice. Thus their Vigils is about 5 hours and their Sunday liturgy is 3-4 hours.

And they do all this while standing still in a specific posture.

I do not have the physical strength for Old Rite worship. Indeed one bishop from the church in Antioch who visited in the 16th century said “At the end of Holy Week, we were in agony. As for the Russians, their feet must surely be made of iron.”

 

[All4Christ]

If you want to hear the maximum amount of content and don’t care about the musical style, the Church of the Nativity in Erie, PA, is a good choice, since being a canonical Russian Old Rite parish in ROCOR, aside from some slight differences in how they make the Sign of the Cross and vesture, they do everything in English, since their use of Church Slavonic died out in the decades following their decision to join ROCOR and cease to be a priestless Old Believer parish in the 1970s (there are still too many priestless Old Believer chapels, including some members of their congregation, who set up a different group, and numerous Priestless Old Believers in Woodburn, Oregon). So basically they’re an English language Edinovertsy parish.

In terms of the services themselves, there are no significant differences, but the Old Believer version of the Typikon does not permit the abbreviations of the Western churches, so you hear parts of the services which are normally always abbreviated during normal parish practice. Thus their Vigils is about 5 hours and their Sunday liturgy is 3-4 hours.

And they do all this while standing still in a specific posture.

I do not have the physical strength for Old Rite worship. Indeed one bishop from the church in Antioch who visited in the 16th century said “At the end of Holy Week, we were in agony. As for the Russians, their feet must surely be made of iron.”

I have an audible book of the Psalter that I typically use for the Psalter - its great for car rides or other times when you can't look at a screen. I'll check that parish out though for times when I am able to watch it!

 

[Light of the East]

Oh you go to that church? That’s amazing! I love that parish! I’ve literally been subscribed to them since 2022 (I try to surround myself with the divine services at all times, and your church has a good choir and good quality recordings, which is rare among Romanian Orthodox parishes in the US).

I also love that you bother to put effort into the Third and Sixth Hours rather than reading through them in the rushed manner that one sees in some parishes where they exist mainly to pass the time while the priest hears confessions of people who were unable to attend vigils.

I had actually been listening to these reader services without realizing it was you, and I had your Presanctified liturgy from yesterday on my agenda to listen to today (the Presanctified Liturgies are one of my favorite parts of Lent, because I believe they are a powerful confession of the Eucharistic change in the Epiclesis.

Your parish is one of my three favorite predominantly English language parishes to listen to, along with Holy Trinity OCA in San Francisco and St. John Chrysostom Albanian Orthodox. St. Nicholas Serbian Orthodox was on the list but lately they’ve been having microphone problems, and also the mic at St. John Chrysostom is failing.

My favorite streaming parishes overall are Holy Virgin Cathedral in San Francisco, the Synodal Cathedral of the Sign in New York (despite technical problems, also, lately they have been frustratingly irregular about streaming, but they started in 2019 before the pandemic), Holy Resurrection OCA (Russian Orthodox in a mix of Slavonic and English on the Julian Calendar) in Vancouver, Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church (MP) on the East Coast, also a mix of Slavonic and English, of course one also hears English at the first two but its mostly Slavonic, and St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Paris, which is a mix of French and Russian, and St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church in Vienna, which does some services in German but most in Russian with a bit of German, and has, as befits a church in Vienna, exceptionally high musical standards, and finally the Lavra in St. Petersburg, which is the only really good quality stream from Russia I have found that is consistent with my liturgical preferences, although I am always looking for more, but the problem is that most Russian churches can’t afford the best recording equipment.

As should be evident, I really like Slavonic music, but I also really like Greek, Romanian and Antiochian four-part harmony and Georgian three-part harmony, but unfortunately as far as I can tell there are no streaming Georgian parishes online (if anyone is aware of one please let me know; I have looked, and looked, as much as I could stand)

I also love Byzantine Chant but I prefer to hear it in person, with the exception of some recordings of Capella Romana and a recording from a monastery in Meteora (I think the one from which the monks who revitalized Simonpetra came from, to escape the tourists), which had an elderly cantor with a beautiful voice of the kind some elderly men have.

I am profoundly blessed to have been led to this parish and to be a part of the choir. Fr. David is a marvelous priest, compassionate and loving, and his homilies are rich. There is a wonderful sense of community within the parish, and we are experiencing nice growth (a bit of a problem since we are running out of room!) I have many wonderful friends at the parish and people who genuinely love me.

It is indeed a blessing!

 

[Light of the East]

Oh you go to that church? That’s amazing! I love that parish! I’ve literally been subscribed to them since 2022 (I try to surround myself with the divine services at all times, and your church has a good choir and good quality recordings, which is rare among Romanian Orthodox parishes in the US).

I also love that you bother to put effort into the Third and Sixth Hours rather than reading through them in the rushed manner that one sees in some parishes where they exist mainly to pass the time while the priest hears confessions of people who were unable to attend vigils.

I had actually been listening to these reader services without realizing it was you, and I had your Presanctified liturgy from yesterday on my agenda to listen to today (the Presanctified Liturgies are one of my favorite parts of Lent, because I believe they are a powerful confession of the Eucharistic change in the Epiclesis.

Your parish is one of my three favorite predominantly English language parishes to listen to, along with Holy Trinity OCA in San Francisco and St. John Chrysostom Albanian Orthodox. St. Nicholas Serbian Orthodox was on the list but lately they’ve been having microphone problems, and also the mic at St. John Chrysostom is failing.

My favorite streaming parishes overall are Holy Virgin Cathedral in San Francisco, the Synodal Cathedral of the Sign in New York (despite technical problems, also, lately they have been frustratingly irregular about streaming, but they started in 2019 before the pandemic), Holy Resurrection OCA (Russian Orthodox in a mix of Slavonic and English on the Julian Calendar) in Vancouver, Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church (MP) on the East Coast, also a mix of Slavonic and English, of course one also hears English at the first two but its mostly Slavonic, and St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Paris, which is a mix of French and Russian, and St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church in Vienna, which does some services in German but most in Russian with a bit of German, and has, as befits a church in Vienna, exceptionally high musical standards, and finally the Lavra in St. Petersburg, which is the only really good quality stream from Russia I have found that is consistent with my liturgical preferences, although I am always looking for more, but the problem is that most Russian churches can’t afford the best recording equipment.

As should be evident, I really like Slavonic music, but I also really like Greek, Romanian and Antiochian four-part harmony and Georgian three-part harmony, but unfortunately as far as I can tell there are no streaming Georgian parishes online (if anyone is aware of one please let me know; I have looked, and looked, as much as I could stand)

I also love Byzantine Chant but I prefer to hear it in person, with the exception of some recordings of Capella Romana and a recording from a monastery in Meteora (I think the one from which the monks who revitalized Simonpetra came from, to escape the tourists), which had an elderly cantor with a beautiful voice of the kind some elderly men have.

Do you live in the DC Metro area or nearby, since you mentioned that you love our parish? Do you ever stop by for Divine Liturgy on a Sunday? If so, please come and introduce yourself to me. I'm the guy in the choir who looks like Santa Claus.

 

[The Liturgist]

Do you live in the DC Metro area or nearby, since you mentioned that you love our parish?

No, I randomly discovered it on YouTube while trying to find a Romanian Orthodox parish that streamed their service that had good quality recordings.

Do you ever stop by for Divine Liturgy on a Sunday? If so, please come and introduce yourself to me. I'm the guy in the choir who looks like Santa Claus.

I am scheduled to go back East later this year and if I get the chance to visit the DC Metro area, I would be happy to greet you.

Lately, despite moments of individual agony, I have had energy that I did not have to sustain me just one year ago, so my goal this week is to be able to attend a presanctified liturgy at a nearby convent. My goal for the next two months is to probe deep the midst of the sweltering San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles in the hopes of attending of only three Georgian Orthodox parishes in the US.