A Guide to Studying the Worship of the Orthodox Church

With the blessing of His Grace Job, Bishop of Sumy and Akhtyrsky Worship, serving God, consists of doing the will of God, doing what pleases God - believing in God, hoping in God, loving God. God is spirit. Serving God must be in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). This inner service to God is called reverence. At the same time, worship must also be external. Man consists of soul and body; He must glorify God, thank Him, and ask Him both mentally and physically, internally and externally. This follows because the soul and body are closely connected with each other, mental movements are expressed in the body, and out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Matthew 12:34). The Word of God inspires: “glorify God both in your bodies and in your souls” (1 Cor. 6:20). Church services are twofold - public and private. The social is done for the whole society. It is determined to perform it every day, mainly in church, as directed by the Church Charter (Typikon). The Charter indicates for all days of the year what services, prayers and readings are performed in them, and the time of their performance. Private church services (requirements) are performed at the request, need of one or more persons and occur at such times as indicated, required by circumstances and people's needs. The doctrine of both church services can be divided into the following sections: 1) About the church, its parts and accessories. 2) About the persons performing the service and about their clothes. 3) About the services of public and private worship themselves, how they are performed at one time or another.