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The first and direct task of any divine service is public prayer, the performance of the sacraments and, finally, sacrifice, which in the Christian Church has the image of a bloodless Eucharistic sacrifice. And this general task of every divine service is fulfilled artistically and divinely inspired by the Orthodox service. His innumerable prayers and prayer sequences accumulated in the church treasury throughout all the centuries of the Church’s existence, in particular, the order of the sacraments with the wondrous and ancient order of the Eastern liturgy of St. Basil the Great, St. John Chrysostom and St. Gregory, Pope of Rome (Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts). Orthodoxy has an extensive and very complex divine service for each day of the seventh and annual cycle, as well as for special times of the year, in particular fasting and, first of all, Lent, then the Great (the so-called Twelve) and other holidays, etc. However, before these particulars, it is necessary to indicate the general features of Orthodox worship. It represents something unique in the entire Christian world in its beauty and diversity. It combines with the highest Christian inspiration the most precious heritage of antiquity, perceived through Byzantium, the vision of spiritual beauty is intertwined with the vision of the beauty of this world. To this we should also add in relation to Russian worship - this sacred heritage of Byzantium was also infused with a fresh wave of Russian talent in art, making the Russian Church the successor of Byzantium. Each of the historical branches of universal Christianity was given its own special gift, which primarily distinguishes it: Catholicism - the organizational gift of power and organization, Protestantism - the ethical gift of everyday and intellectual honesty, while the Orthodox peoples, and above all Byzantium and Russia, were given a vision of the intelligent beauty of the spiritual world. And this vision, this spiritual and artistic contemplation, from the inside determines the character of both Orthodox piety and Orthodox worship. The latter is “heaven on earth,” the revealed beauty of the spiritual world. In Orthodox worship, the element of beauty, like the Glory of God filling the church, takes its independent place, along with prayer and edification; it is, at least in its aspiration, intelligent art, which, in itself, gives “church sweetness.” Naturally, under certain conditions it is capable of causing jealousy, sometimes one-sided and excessive, which absolutizes the ritual in its inviolability (which is what happened in the Russian schism of the Old Believers in the 17th century). The second feature of Orthodox worship is its religious realism. Not only according to the assignment, but also according to the perception corresponding to it, it contains not only the memory of the Gospel and, in general, church events, clothed in artistic images, but also their very accomplishment, as if their new formation on earth. In the Christmas service, not only is the birth of Christ remembered, but Christ is actually mysteriously born, just as He is resurrected on Holy Pascha - and the same can be said about His transfiguration, entry into Jerusalem, and the performance of the Last Supper, and about the passion and burial and ascension; as well as about all the events in the life of the Most Holy Theotokos from Her Nativity to Her Dormition. The life of the Church in worship is a mysteriously accomplished incarnation: the Lord continues to live in the Church in the image of His earthly appearance, which, having once taken place, continues to exist at all times, and the Church is given the power to revive sacred memories, to bring them into force, so that we become their new witnesses and participants. In particular, the Gospel readings, as part of the divine service, receive similar power. This can be said about all Gospel readings in general, but this is especially true regarding the most important Gospel events, which are not just remembered, but, as it were, taken place anew in the Church. All worship in general, therefore, acquires the meaning of the life of God, and the church - a place for it. In the very architecture of the Orthodox church - in the dome of the Byzantine Sophia, which so marvelously depicts the sky of the Wisdom of God looking into the earth, as in the wooden or stone dome of Russian churches with their affectionate warmth, this feature is expressed: not the intense desire of the Gothic for the transcendental with an unnatural stretching itself upward and yet a remaining feeling of the insurmountability of this distance, but staying in the house Father after the completed theanthropic union of Divinity and humanity. This is the basic feeling of Orthodoxy, which is directly reflected in its cult. All of it is both evidence and implementation of this understanding of life, the true knowledge of God-manhood, completed in the resurrection. And because of this feeling, Orthodoxy actually contains within itself the knowledge of early Christianity and its joy. Of course, it does not have the historical simplicity of early Christianity, because it carries with it the burden of the richness and complexity of centuries. However, under this sometimes heavy, golden cover it conceals this living water - the inner immediacy of the knowledge of faith, the knowledge of Christ and the light of His resurrection. The mystery of Orthodox worship reaches its greatest height and power in the services of Holy Week and Holy Easter. The beauty, richness and power of these services irresistibly seize the soul, carrying it in its mystical stream. The sacred memories of her first days, ending with the anointing of the feet of the Lord by the sinner wife (Great Wednesday), lead to Maundy Thursday, to the establishment of the Last Supper. Further, the service of the Great Heel reproduces in all its might the passion, death and burial of the Lord. The “Sequence of the Passions,” containing 12 Gospel readings about these passions and accompanied by corresponding chants, forces the worshipers to be present at the cross. According to pious custom, lighted candles, which everyone holds in their hands during the Gospel reading, are brought into their homes, and the entire church with burning lights moves in the darkness of the night, like a light “that shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” The evening (more precisely, daytime) service of Good Friday is accompanied by the carrying into the middle of the church of the image of the body of the deceased Christ (the shroud), which is placed on a raised platform, like a coffin, and the believers worship it with reverent feeling and with tears, kissing it 30 . The next service, in connection with this, Matins of Great Saturday, is generally the pinnacle of the liturgical creativity of Orthodoxy, this is the rite of burial of Christ the Savior. It consists of special “praises” alternating antiphonally with verses of Psalm 119: the image of the Old Testament righteousness inscribed in it is wonderfully united here with the New Testament image of Christ descending to the earth and even to hell, but also in heaven. The image of Christ is taken out of the church and circled around it three times, as if at a burial. This is followed by the wonderful liturgy of Great Saturday, during which - after reading 15 Old Testament proverbs, the clergy change from dark to light vestments and the message of resurrection is heard, first in sacred hymns, and then in the reading of the Gospel about the resurrection. These services, of course, of Byzantine origin, found a new form for themselves on Russian soil, which, having loved them, clothed them in a new way with this love and its beauty. Passionate services had to be seen and experienced in Russia, in Moscow or in the countryside, in the capital or province, in order to know the higher, heavenly reality that is revealed in them. Holy Week represents the heart of Orthodox worship. We can say that they are expecting it and preparing for it throughout the whole year; it, so to speak, sets the tone for it, gives it its own coloring. Great is the beauty and joy of divine services and great holidays, together with those that prepare them and those that follow them (pre-celebration and post-celebration), the Annunciation, and the Nativity of Christ, and Baptism, and Pentecost, and the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, etc., but all this recedes before the grandeur of the divine services in general throughout Great Lent and Holy Week. However, these luminaries also go out like night stars in the light of the rising sun, in the light and joy of the Easter night of Christ’s Resurrection. The Resurrection of Christ is a holiday for the entire Christian world, but nowhere is it so bright and so heavenly as in Orthodoxy, and nowhere, I add, is it celebrated as in Russia, on Russian soil, along with the tender and transparent, bright and triumphant spring. Easter night with its jubilant joy takes us into the life of the next century, into a new joy, joy of joy forever. Before midnight, believers gather in the church to say goodbye to the shroud, which is carried away from the middle of the church before Easter Matins. At midnight, at the sound of the bell, the main gates of the altar open, and the clergy with candles move among the sea of ​​lights - both in the hands of believers and in front of all the icons - singing: “Thy Resurrection, O Christ the Savior, the angels sing in heaven, and grant us on earth with a pure heart to glorify Thee.” Everyone leaves the church in procession to the sound of bells; After going around the church, the procession stops in front of the locked doors of the church, which is likened to a sealed tomb, from which the holy angel will roll away the stone. Finally, the church opens and the clergy enter it, singing jubilantly: “Christ is risen from the dead.” The stone falls away from the souls; they saw the resurrection of Christ. And Easter Matins begins, all consisting of the singing of the Easter canon, jubilant, galloping, filled with divine joy, and when it flies by, the clergy come out to greet the people to give and receive the Easter kiss, to make Christ. Everyone kisses each other, with the greeting words: “Christ is risen – truly risen.” This is truly the primal Church itself, that primitive Christianity, which the sages and scribes of this age are now seeking to comprehend. Come and see! This custom of Easter greeting with a kiss is preserved throughout the entire Easter week, not only in worship, where the clergy continually, along with censing, greet the people with the exclamation “Christ is Risen” and receive the counter greeting “Truly He is Risen,” but also in homes, even during meetings. At the end of Matins, Easter dishes are blessed - red eggs, specially prepared cottage cheese and cookies, for eating at home, after the harsh and long Great Lent and, especially, Holy Week. Immediately after Matins, the liturgy is celebrated, also with Easter chants. Its peculiarity, by the way, is the reading of the Gospel (Prologue of the Gospel of John) in different languages, in the image of Pentecost and ancient glossology. The Easter holiday constitutes the heart of Orthodoxy, and at the same time a living testimony to its fullness and truth. He is the tangible action of the Holy Spirit, the appearance of Pentecost, and at the same time, and precisely because of this, the appearance of the risen Christ on earth, although invisible, for after the Ascension. If in anything we can see confirmation of the general thought that in Orthodox worship not only is remembered, but also what is remembered is performed, then Easter night, which is directly connected with Holy Week and closes it, is inseparable from it, like darkness and light, sadness and joy, torment and bliss, but in the light of the next century, in the light of the resurrection of Christ, it goes out and dissolves, becoming only the memory of what no longer exists, as it is sung in one of the Easter hymns: “yesterday I was buried with You, Christ, today I will rise with you.” In Orthodox worship, as in all Christianity, the central place belongs to the liturgy, which is performed according to the ancient rite of St. Basil the Great and St. John Chrysostom (in addition, St. Gregory, Pope of Rome, the presanctified gifts). Compared to the later Western liturgy, Orthodox liturgies are distinguished by their longer duration and, although they have certain common parts (the apostolic and gospel reading, the Eucharistic canon), they have parts that are completely absent in the Catholic Mass, namely the proskomedia, the preparation of St. gifts, with prayerful commemoration of the saints, as well as the living and the dead (which is accompanied by the removal of special particles in their name). The general content of the Eucharist is determined not only by the fact that the consecration of the holy gifts takes place in it, but also by the reproduction of the entire sacrament of the incarnation of God, from the Bethlehem Cave to the Mount of Olives, from the Nativity of Christ to His Ascension. This is expressed through symbolic actions, readings and prayers. The consecration of the holy gifts, which in Western theology is timed to coincide with the utterance by the priest of the establishing words of Christ (“this is my body,” “this is my blood”), according to the Orthodox understanding, occurs throughout the entire liturgy, starting with proskomedia, but it is performed and ends through the utterance of the words of the Lord and the subsequent invocation of the Holy Spirit (έπίκλησις). Communion, as is known, is performed under both forms, the body and blood of Christ, for both priests and laity - Orthodoxy has retained this ancient practice, lost by Catholicism, in direct violation of the will of the Lord (“drink from it, all of you”). Those present at the liturgy, but not receiving communion, in addition to their spiritual participation in the Eucharistic meal, partake of the consecrated Eucharistic bread (prosphora). In Orthodoxy there is no custom of daily communion for the laity, now practiced in Catholicism and, partly, in Anglicanism, although more frequent communion has recently become a custom in Orthodoxy. For the communion of the sick and dying at home, spare holy gifts are left, preserved in a special tabernacle on the holy altar, but for special worship outside the liturgy they are not displayed, as has become the custom in Catholicism. In addition to the liturgy, Orthodoxy has a number of daily services (matins, hours, vespers, midnight office and compline) and extraordinary (holiday and special). Orthodox worship is an extremely complex whole, consisting of constant parts (prescribed readings, prayers and chants) and variable ones, consisting mainly of a holiday service or a daily saint, or even a combination of several services. The rules of worship are determined by a special charter (typikon), which is a combination of the Jerusalem charter of the monastery of St. Sava and the Byzantine monastery of St. Theodora Studite. However, the exact implementation of this monastic charter is impossible, and it is simplified in application to modern times. In its composition, Orthodox worship has parts that belong to ancient times: in addition to the liturgies, the octochos, according to which daily services are performed, goes back to St. John of Damascus (8th century), although there are services of later, even modern origin, so that the service reflects the history of the Church, it is a historical conglomerate. The ancient Byzantine origin of many church hymns is also reflected in their character: they are characterized by the verbal pomp and solemn floridity of late Byzantium, which sometimes makes them difficult to understand. But in the services of great holidays we have unattainable examples of religious and poetic inspiration, which even in the Church Slavonic translation have a worthy artistic reflection. The general content of Orthodox worship consists, firstly, of the biblical readings of the Old Testament (psalms, as a constant part of almost all services, readings from the books of the Old Testament: the Pentateuch of Moses, historical, teaching and prophetic - and from all the books of the New Testament, except the Apocalypse, in the prescribed manner), secondly, from special prayer requests (litany) and prayers, and thirdly, from sacred chants of various types (stichera and canons). Their content is historical, educational and prayerful in nature. In addition, this also includes established teachings, which, however, are read mainly in monasteries. The service also includes a sermon. However, in Orthodoxy it does not have the central importance that it received in Protestantism, for the simple reason that the service itself is replete with teaching elements, it is so edifying in itself that a special sermon is not even necessary, which in Protestantism makes up for the poverty of the liturgical content of the services. However, preaching occupies a prominent place in Orthodox worship, and the preaching of a priest or bishop during the liturgy, after the reading of the Gospel or at the end of it, is a general rule, although not a law. By its nature, Orthodox worship does not allow for such broad participation of the people as in Protestantism. Reading and singing are performed by special persons, readers and singers, and only as an exception is there general singing. But Orthodoxy is free from the use of musical instruments in worship, an organ, or even an entire orchestra, which secularize it, replacing the human voice and word, human praise, with wordless and unreasonable sounds, even if musically beautiful. This does not correspond to the spirit of Orthodox sobriety, which does not tolerate the replacement of spiritual exaltation with aesthetic emotionality (as this, however, is beginning to penetrate into the consciousness of the Western world, where in some places they are beginning to return to ancient Gregorian chant without musical accompaniment). But the beauty of the human voice, namely choral singing, is highly valued in Orthodoxy, and Russian church choral singing is now widely known. The beauty of the ancient church melodies preserved in the so-called everyday life, the circle of church singing. In addition to public worship and in addition to personal, home prayer, which is obligatory for everyone, there are also private services that satisfy the special needs of one person or another. This includes, first of all, the performance of the sacraments, and in addition, prayers or sacred rites caused by private needs. In particular, special prayer services of a certain content are widespread: for the sick, for those traveling, for those imprisoned, for students, thanksgiving services, etc., as well as prayers for certain persons, sometimes addressed primarily to one or another saint. Of particular importance, in this case, are services for the deceased, burial and memorial services, and memorial services. The memory of the deceased is extremely alive in the Orthodox consciousness, and prayers for the deceased that are performed at liturgies, especially the so-called. funerals occupy the most important place in private services. These funeral services (memorial services) are performed at the body of the deceased before his burial, and in the church, and in cemeteries at the grave. There are special days when the Church performs general commemoration, and there are special dates (third, ninth, fortieth, annual day) when individual deceased are commemorated. The Church prays for the peace of the soul and the forgiveness of the sins of the deceased, for it believes in the effectiveness of these prayers, especially the Eucharistic sacrifice, to alleviate the fate of those who have departed from the grave. Although in Orthodoxy there is no teaching about purgatory as a special place or state where the dead must serve the punishment due to them, however, according to the belief of the Orthodox Church, prayers for the departed are powerful to help them and even to remove from hell those who, in their general condition, do not have insurmountable obstacles to this. It is impossible to sufficiently appreciate the significance that prayer for the departed has in Orthodoxy, for the migration from this world to the next world is always and unceasingly taking place, and prayers in which the “eternal memory” of God is asked for the departed are constantly performed by the Church, and the rite of funeral services is distinguished by a very special touching, touching and beauty, and makes an irresistible impression on non-Orthodox (the funeral chant “rest with the saints” has, by the way, entered Anglican usage). Another feature of Orthodox worship deserves special attention, its cosmism. It is addressed not only to the human soul, but to all creation, and it sanctifies this latter too. This sanctification of the elements of nature and its various objects expresses the general idea that the sanctifying action of the Holy Spirit through the Church extends to all of nature, for its destinies are connected with man, and from him the damaged nature awaits its healing. On the other hand, the Lord, having assumed true humanity, connected His life with the entire natural world. He walked on this earth, looked at its flowers and herbs, birds, fish and animals, ate from its fruits, was baptized in the waters of the Jordan and walked on the water element, stayed in the bowels of the earth; and nothing in the entire earthly creation (except for sin and evil) remained unaccepted into His humanity, and that would not have received - through man - the descent of the Holy Spirit, hovering over the earth even at the creation of the world. And the Church sanctifies the earthly creation with this power, in various consecrations: flowers, herbs and tree branches that are brought to the church on the feast of the Holy Trinity, fruits and grapes - on the Transfiguration, various dishes - on Easter night, various places and things - as needed. Particularly noteworthy is the solemn consecration of the church, through which it is made a worthy place for worship and the celebration of the Divine Eucharist, as well as various objects of sacred cult: clothes, vessels, bells, etc. This also includes the consecration of the world (for the sacrament of anointing) and oil for various needs, bread at the Eucharist (prosphora) and outside it, as well as wine, etc. Particularly noteworthy is the consecration of water, which is performed on the eve of the day and on the very day of Epiphany, and can always be performed in a special rite, at will (and this generally consecrates the water element), for eating and sprinkling of consecrated things or places. The general meaning and basis of all these consecrations is that in them a new creation, the transformation of the creature, “a new heaven and a new earth” are already anticipated (and together prepared). Spiritualistic rationalism in Protestantism most easily sees in this “magism” or pagan superstition, belittling and limiting the power of Christianity to the spiritual world of man alone. But man is an embodied spirit, a cosmic being; the cosmos lives in it and the cosmos is sanctified with it, for the Lord is the Savior not only of the soul, but also of the body, and in it: of the whole world. Therefore, in the cosmism of Orthodox worship, this fullness of Christianity is manifested, for the Church has in man both cosmic power, and the Lord, who sanctified the land and waters of the Jordan, and now sanctifies them with the Holy Spirit, sent by Him from the Father of His Church. Therefore, natural sanctification is also connected with spiritual sanctification; we ourselves are sanctified through partaking of consecrated nature, for example bread or holy water, in the image of that great sanctification that was given to us by Christ in the bread of life, in the divine Eucharist. In it the substance of the world is sanctified, being transformed into the body and blood of Christ and giving us communion with Him. But this substance of the world is connected with all the substance of the world, and this general sanctification of it through the incarnation, which takes place as if again, includes, as its lower preliminary steps, all possible preliminary sanctifications. The objects consecrated in the cult include its accessories, such as: various sacred objects and, above all, vessels, as well as vestments, which, by their Byzantine origin, retain the features of antiquity. The meaning of these vestments is that a person cannot approach the shrine in his ordinary state. He must undress him and put on sacred vestments that protect him, forming, as it were, an impenetrable layer around the person. (According to ancient custom, one should even avoid taking the holy cup, cross, gospel, and icons with bare, uncovered hands). The use of incense, lighting candles, gold and silver in church decorations, vestments, icons, etc., all this is associated with the mysticism of worship, the feeling of the real presence of the Divine in the church. The natural mystical qualities and symbolic meaning of these substances have given them a place in worship since ancient times - the symbolism and mysticism of incense and candles, one might say, is self-evident and attested in the Revelation of St. John. The mystery of Orthodox worship in its majesty and beauty speaks directly to the mind, feeling and imagination of those present, and, according to an ancient legend, our Russian ancestors, who were seeking faith and came to worship in the Constantinople Church of St. Sophia, testified of themselves that they did not know where they were, on earth or in heaven. It cannot be denied that this path of comprehending Orthodoxy has its difficulties for a Western person: it is hampered not only by the difficulty of understanding, but also by the very duration of the service, together with the lack of usual places to sit, but this path is the most intimate and faithful, for the heart of Orthodoxy is here, in the service. Lovers of “religious-historical parallels” about the resurrecting and dying god see here an echo of the corresponding celebrations of the burial of Dionysus, Osiris, Tammuz, etc. But all these pagan forebodings and prototypes do not detract, but increase the power and meaning of this Christian service, which carries within itself - known and unknown - the heritage of ancient antiquity, freed, however, from pagan limitations.