This book is compiled on the basis of many works of Orthodox theologians and educators, based on the patristic works, and does not contain anything “new” in relation to the interpretations, explanations and teachings accepted by the Church. Its purpose is to help the reader understand the prayers he prays at home: morning, evening, and throughout the day prayers, canons and prayers for Holy Communion, prayers of thanksgiving for Holy Communion, Sunday, afternoon, and holiday troparia. It is intended for those who pray, or at least are about to start praying, and are not looking for abstract knowledge. Therefore, it not only explains the words and expressions of prayer and the theological concepts behind them, but also offers some basic teaching on how to build your prayer life.
The combination of two goals - to explain prayers and help to pray - occurred in full for the first time, so the book differs in many ways from its predecessors.
For the first time in a book addressed to a wide circle of Orthodox readers, all the prayers of ordinary cell use are explained in full. Even the most complete pre-revolutionary manuals were guided by the shortest version of the morning and evening rules and a rather narrow range of other prayers. But we are required to say all our prayers meaningfully and consciously. It was the duty of the book’s compilers to help the novice (and non-beginner) prayer book with this.
For the first time, a book explaining prayers is, as far as possible, adapted for the active development of the prayer rule, and not just rational analysis. When we pray, we do not read the explanations of the words we encounter that we do not understand (and if we rush to read, our prayer will be destroyed); we read explanations outside the rules. But we read them so that the knowledge gleaned from the book enters the flesh, the soul of our prayer. How to achieve this? The path to this was found by the great prayer books of antiquity; it is proposed on the first pages of the book, and its entire composition, its entire structure are aimed at allowing unhindered movement along this path.
Therefore, for the first time, a “book on prayer” and an extensive collection of interpretations of specific prayers are combined under one cover.
For the first time, an attempt has also been made in explaining prayers to help the reader, who has not specifically studied and is not studying the Church Slavonic language, to move forward in its development - to notice, understand and remember some of its main features, forms, and means of expression.
And one more thing: this book does not replace either a prayer book (although it contains the texts of all the prayers explained), or a catechism, that is, an explanation of the truths of Orthodox dogma. And, of course, it does not oblige the reader to anything: for those who consider themselves far from the world of prayer, the book can serve as a good reference book or teaching aid. But it is still better to learn swimming in the water, and learning to fly in the air.
This book is the first of its kind, and imperfections are inevitable. Therefore, we ask the God-loving reader to fill our incompleteness: the most skilled in book learning and work - with advice, and everyone who reads - with a prayerful sigh for all those who worked on this book.