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How We Live59 entries

Prayer, fasting, confession, the ascetic tradition, monasticism, and the everyday rhythms of an Orthodox life.

Personal Prayer

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The Jesus Prayer“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me” — its words, use, and historyThe Prayer RuleWhat a daily prayer rule is, how one is set with a priest, and kept realisticallyMorning and Evening PrayersThe standard daily prayers from the prayer book and how to beginThe Prayer Rope (Komboskini / Chotki)What the knotted rope is, how it is used, and where it comes fromThe Icon CornerSetting up a home prayer space: which icons, lampada, orientation, daily useThe Trisagion PrayersThe “usual beginning” sequence that opens nearly every Orthodox prayerPrayers Before and After MealsBlessing food at home and the customary mealtime prayersIntercession and Commemoration ListsPraying for the living and departed by name; keeping commemoration booksPraying for the DeadWhy and how Orthodox pray for departed loved ones at home and in churchAsking the Saints to PrayWhat intercession of the saints means in practice, distinct from worshipPrayers to the TheotokosEveryday Marian prayer: “O Theotokos and Virgin,” the ParaklesisPraying with the BodyStanding, bowing, prostrating, kissing — why Orthodox prayer is physicalSet Prayers vs. Your Own WordsWhy Orthodoxy prizes written prayers, and where spontaneous prayer fits

Fasting

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Why Orthodox Christians FastThe purpose of fasting: freedom and preparation — not dieting or meritWednesday and Friday FastingThe weekly fast days, what they commemorate, and how they are keptThe Nativity Fast also called the Philip's FastThe forty days before Christmas and how strictness variesOrthodox Fasting RulesWhat “fasting” means concretely: meat, dairy, fish, wine, and oil categoriesEconomia and the FastHow rules adapt for illness, pregnancy, travel, and beginners — with one's priestThe Eucharistic FastFasting from midnight (or as directed) before receiving Holy CommunionFasting Beyond FoodFasting of the eyes, tongue, and entertainment; joined to prayer and almsgivingFasting Without Pride or JudgmentThe spiritual dangers of fasting: vainglory, comparison, legalism

Hesychasm & the Ascetic Tradition

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Asceticism (Askesis)Spiritual training as the athlete's discipline of the whole Christian lifeThe PassionsThe eight classical passions as spiritual diseases to be healedSpiritual WarfareThe unseen struggle against temptation and the demons in daily lifeThe VirtuesHumility, love, patience, and the acquired virtues as the passions' cureHumility in Orthodox PracticeWhy humility is the foundation of every other virtue and discipline

Repentance & Confession in Practice

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Metanoia: What Repentance MeansRepentance as continual reorientation, not one-time remorseGoing to ConfessionWhat actually happens: preparation, the prayers, the priest's role, absolutionPreparing for ConfessionSelf-examination, examination lists, and what (and what not) to confessThe Spiritual FatherHaving a confessor/spiritual guide: what the relationship is and is notHow Often to Confess and CommuneConfession-communion rhythms across Orthodox jurisdictionsForgiveness Sunday and Mutual ForgivenessThe rite of forgiveness before Lent and asking forgiveness in daily life

Monasticism

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What a Monastery IsMonastic life explained: why it exists and its place in OrthodoxyVisiting a MonasteryPilgrim etiquette: dress, services, meals, trapeza, speaking with monasticsMonasticism and the LaypersonHow monastic spirituality translates (and doesn't) into life in the world

Life-Cycle Practices

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Infant Baptism and ChurchingWhy infants are baptized and communed; the 40th-day churchingGodparentsChoosing sponsors, their lifelong duties, and who may serveThe Orthodox FuneralThe funeral service, the open casket, the last kiss, and burial customsPanikhida (Memorial Service)The short service for the departed and when it is servedThe Third, Ninth, and Fortieth DaysThe traditional memorial days after death and their meaningKolivaThe boiled-wheat memorial food: symbolism, preparation, and use

Home & Daily Life

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The House BlessingThe annual Theophany-season blessing of homes by the priestKeeping Icons at HomeWhich icons to have, where to place them, and how to care for themBlessed ObjectsCrosses, oil, palms, basil, prosphora — how blessed things are treated and retiredWearing a CrossThe baptismal cross worn on the body and its meaningName DaysCelebrating the feast of one's patron saint — often above one's birthdayPatron Saints as a PracticeLiving with a patron: icon, feast, akathist, asking their prayersThe Home as Little ChurchFamily prayer, feasts, and fasting rhythms in the domestic churchRaising Children in the FaithCommuning infants, children in services, and household catechesis

The Church Visit

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Your First Visit to an Orthodox ChurchWhat a newcomer will see, hear, and can expect to do (and not do)Lighting CandlesWhere, when, and why candles are offered for the living and departedChurch EtiquetteArriving on time, standing, movement, silence, dress, children in church

Almsgiving, Hospitality & Pilgrimage

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Almsgiving (Eleemosyne)Mercy to the poor as the third pillar with prayer and fastingTithing and StewardshipSupporting the Church: Orthodox approaches to giving and parish stewardshipPilgrimageJourneying to monasteries, relics, and holy places as a spiritual discipline

Reading Practices

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Reading the PsalterThe kathisma system and using the Psalms as personal prayerReading Scripture as an Orthodox ChristianDaily lectionary reading; reading with the Church and the FathersSpiritual ReadingChoosing and pacing spiritual books; classics for beginners vs. advancedLives of the Saints as DevotionDaily synaxarion reading and why hagiography forms the soul