St. John Chrysostom answers this question briefly when he writes:

They say:

‘We can pray at home.’ You are deceiving yourself, O man! Of course, one can pray at home. But it is impossible to pray there as in church, where such a multitude of hearts are uplifted to God, merging into one unanimous cry. You will not be so quickly heard while praying to the Master by yourself, as when praying together with your brethren, for here in church there is something greater than in your room: Agreement, unanimity, the bond of love, and finally here are the prayers of the priests.

The priests stand before us, then, so that the prayers of the people, being weak, would be united to their more powerful prayers and together with them ascend to heaven. The Apostle Peter was freed from prison, thanks to the common prayers offered for him…. (Act 12:5-17). If the Church’s prayer was so beneficial for the Apostle Peter and delivered such a pillar of the faith from prison, why, tell me, do you disdain its power and what kind of justification can you have for this. Listen to God Himself, Who says that the multitude of people who pray to him with fervor moves Him to have mercy. He says to the Prophet Jonah: ‘Shall I not spare Nineveh, that great city, in which dwell more than 120 thousand people.’ He did not simply mention the multitude of people but that you might know that prayer together has great power.

St. John of Kronstadt adds:

Here in church is the one thing needful; here is a refuge from vanity and the storms of life; here is the calm harbor for souls seeking salvation; here is incorrupt food and drink for souls; here is the light, which enlightens every man who comes into the world; here is pure spiritual air; here is the well of living water springing up into everlasting life (John 4:14); here the gifts of the Holy Spirit are distributed; here is the cleansing of souls. The reading and singing in church are performed in a sacred language; all Christians must learn it, in order to comprehend the sweet sayings of their mother, who is preparing her children for heaven, for eternal life…. Here in church, a man will come to know the true nobility of his soul, the value of life and its aim or his assigned path; here he dispels the fascination of worldly vanity and worldly passions by acquiring sobriety in his soul; here he comes to know his destiny, both temporal and eternal; here he comes to know his bitter, profound fall and seduction by sin; here the Savior is to be found, ;particularly in His holy and life, creating Mysteries, and His salvation; here a man comes to know his true relationship with God and his neighbor or with his family and the society in which he lives. The church is an earthly heaven, the place where the closest union with the Divinity occurs; it is a heavenly school which prepares Christians for heavenly citizenship, teaching them about the ways of heaven, about the dwellings of heaven; it is the threshold of heaven; it is the place for common prayer, for thanksgiving, for glorifying the Triune God, Who created and preserves everything; it is unity with the angels. What is more precious and more honorable that the church? Nothing. During the divine service, as on a chart, the whole destiny of the human race is depicted, from beginning to end. The divine service is the alpha and omega of the destiny of the world and of men.

EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT LENT BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK:
The Great Fast or Lent – there are three others on the Byzantine calendar: before Christmas, before the Dormition (August 15) and before Ss. Peter and Paul (June 29) – is the seven week period of preparation before the celebration of Pascha (Easter). It is like a retreat held by the whole Church: a time of spiritual renewal, a time of repentance.

ISN’T LENT KIND OF MORBID AND NEGATIVE?
Repentance is not “giving up”: it is a turning back to God whom we realize is the very source and goal of our life. He is our life. By repentance we realize we aren’t where we should be; we are far from our Father. Our happiness, our wholeness, our sense of identity, wellbeing and joy flow from being close to God as the very center of our lives. So Lent, the time for repentance, is the time to rediscover this truth, to be convinced of it and make it more of a conscious reality in our everyday lives. In Pascha, the Easter mystery, Christ gives us a chance to be “born again” as children of God: as complete
men and women posessing the life, grace and joy of God which completes and heals our nature as human beings.

WHERE DID LENT COME FROM?
The early Christians kept vigil during the last few days of Holy Week. As time went on, the vigil was extended to approximately forty days. It was a period in which the catechumens (candidates to become Christians) were given a last, intensive preparation for baptism, chrismation and the Eucharist. It was a also the time when the penitents (“big time” sinners, such as lapsed Christians) did penance, relearning the basic and beautiful lesson of the mystery and dignity of being a Christian and our way of life in the Lord. They were reconciled with the rest of the faithful at the end of Lent.

Since the season was a type of “boot-camp in Christianity” for the catechumens and penitents, all the faithful entered into preparation with them. Lent became a type of renewal and “refresher course” for all believers intent on living of the new life in Christ given to us at Pascha.

BUT WHY THE BIG INTEREST IN 40 DAYS?
The number calls up memories from our past as a people of God. It reminds us of the forty years Israel wandered in the desert. As they were led by God to the Promised Land, they were tested, their faith was strengthened and they learned to know the Lord as the very center of their lives. In the same way during Lent we are tested, our faith is deepened and we move toward the fulness of the heavenly Kingdom which is our inheritance.

The number also speaks to us of the forty days Jesus spent in the desert after His baptism, when He resisted temptation, giving Himself to a close communion with His Father, the source of His life. As He embraced His mission as His Father’s servant and our redeemer during that time, so we try to take our own mission as Christians more seriously during Lent.

Finally, the forty days call to mind Moses and Elijah, who spent that amount of time preparing for important encounters with God. We too will encounter Him in His paschal mysteries where He reveals to us who He is, how He loves us, who we are and the real meaning of life.

SO WHAT SHOULD I DO DURING LENT?
Don’t “do”: rather “be” a lenten Christian. Live a lenten style of life. Remember the basics: you are trying to turn more fully to God (repentance) and taste more fully the beauty and dignity that are yours as a child of God. You must think about that – which means eliminating some distractions – and seriously turn to Him. The Church has three traditional helps for this: fasting, prayer and almsgiving.

WHY THIS THREE (FASTING, PRAYER AND ALMSGIVING)?
They are recommended by the Scriptures and Tradition. They get to the very root of repentance, which is turning back to God. They help strip away the glitter of a false self, a false view of the world and others (secularism) and aid in discovering our true identity, our relation to God, others, the world and ourselves. Fasting helps us discover our true hunger for God at the root of our being and our total dependence on Him as the source of our life and strength. Serious prayer puts us in communion with Him. Almsgiving helps us share God, His gifts and ourselves with others, establishing a true communion with them in the Lord.

WHAT’S THIS ABOUT FASTING?
The reason for giving up something is that something better may take its place: especially the things of God. We fast so that we may “lay aside all earthly cares, that we may receive the King of all”. Does your life depend on food? You must eat to live, but no matter how much you eat, you are going to die. Life depends, not on food, but on God, the Giver of life. We fast to experience that on a deep level. Fasting has been prescribed by Christ Himself (“And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.” Matthew 6:16.) The Church can and should remove from the realm of obligation this or that exercise of fasting, but the Church cannot dispense us from Christ’s command to fast. We must each comply with that command as best we can. And, of course, the abstaining from food should lead to an abstaining from sin and evil intentions.

THEN WHAT DOES FASTING MEAN IN PRACTICE?
In practice, fasting is expressed through abstaining from certain foods for certain times. To follow our full Eastern program of fasting would mean:
Abstaining from all food and drink from midnight until noon on all weekdays; and Not eating any meat or dairy products during the whole time of Lent.

The minimum asked by our Church for Lent is that we keep this fast on at least the following days: the first day of Great Lent and Great and Holy Friday (abstinence from meat applies to all Fridays of the year). As an intermediate step, some people are accustomed to observe the entire first week, the whole of Great Week and every Wednesday and Friday.

Each family or individual should understand why we fast (the spiritual purpose), pray over it, speak to their pastor or spiritual father, and then decide what is to be done in this regard during the holy season.

AND THE ALMSGIVING?
Material gifts were given us by God as gifts over which we are to be responsible stewards. You are to use those gifts – and the gifts that you are – sacramentally. All things are potentially sacramental, since they are intended for communion with God and with each other. When we share the goods of the earth in love, we are “in communion”, in fellowship in and with the Lord.

How are you handling your material possessions? They are not ends in themselves, but they are to produce that communion. Are they? Look around you, and the Lord will show you how to give alms, and exactly what you should share. One idea is to save the money gained by fasting and use it for charitable purposes.

THAT SOUNDS GREAT· WHEN DO WE START?
We already have started: you have been thinking about it for quite a while. And the Church too has a time of preparation for Lent, when it “primes the pump”, giving us ideas, motivation and direction for Lent. For four Sundays before Lent starts we think about our need for God, about repentance and fasting, God’s judgement and our need to forgive one another. Lent actually begins on Clean Monday, the day after the last of these pre-Lenten Sundays, Cheese-Fare Sunday. And since the Church day always begins at sunset, our first lenten service is on Sunday evening. We have the beautiful Forgiveness Vespers, at which we are reconciled with each other before beginning the lenten journey and usually have the opportunity for the sacrament of penance.

WHAT ABOUT ASH WEDNESDAY?
We don’t have Ash Wednesday. The Western Church begins the holy season on Wednesday with their proper services. The Eastern Churches start two days earlier because we
use a different counting system to arrive as the traditional forty days.

The Western lent consists of forty days excluding Sundays – leading up to Easter Sunday. The Eastern Churches keep forty days without interruption leading up to Lazarus Saturday, the first day of Holy Week. This accounts for the different starting dates.

Through greed we were once stripped naked, overcome by the bitter tasting of the forbidden fruit, and we were exiled from God. Let us turn back in repentance, fasting from the food that gives us pleasure. Let us purify our senses on which our Enemy makes war. Let us strengthen our hearts with the hope of grace, and not with foods which brought no benefits to those who trusted in them. Our food shall be the Lamb of God on the holy and radiant night of His Rising. He is the Victim offered for us, given in communion to the Apostles on the evening of the Mysteries, who scatters the darkness of ignorance by the Light of His Resurrection!
(Vespers, Meatfare Sunday)

Source: Eparchy of Newton

Source: St. Peters List
Author: JE Foyer

Listers, one of the most important basis for children’s spiritual formation is a strong foundation of faith made by their parents. This task is a massive long-term undertaking, which requires the parents to approach their vocation with fear and trembling. St. John Chrysostom was not ignorant of this. In fact mingled in his great orations concerning deep theological matters, he often addressed parents on how to raise their children in holiness. Many people suggest that his ideas on parenting appear to antiquated. Although I believe it would foolish not to at least reflect on his words and find way to apply his teachings from a modern standpoint into our families. The following quotes are some interesting exhortations from the golden-mouthed saint about parenting:

1. On the Naming of Children

“So let the name of the saints enter our homes through the naming of our children, to train not only the child but the father, when he reflects that he is the father of John or Elijah or James; for, if the name be given with forethought to pay honor to those that have departed, and we grasp at our kinship with the righteous rather than with our forebears, this too will greatly help us and our children. Do not because it is a small thing regard it as small; its purpose is to succour us.” — An Address on Vainglory and the Right Way for Parents to Bring Up Their Children 50.

2. On Raising Children to Be Courageous

“Let us pass to the despotic part of the soul, spirit. We must not eliminate it utterly from the youth nor yet allow  him to use it all the time. Let us train boys from earliest childhood to be patient when they suffer wrongs themselves, but, if they see another being wronged, to sally forth courageously and aid the sufferer in fitting measure.” –An Address on Vainglory and the Right Way for Parents to Bring Up Their Children, 66.

3. On Teaching Your Children the Scriptures

“Never deem it an unnecessary thing that he should be a diligent hearer of the divine Scriptures. For there the first thing he hears will be this, ‘Honor thy father and thy mother’; so that this makes for thee. Never say, this is the business of monks. Am I making a monk of him? No. There is no need he should become a monk. Why be so afraid of a thing so replete with so much advantage? Make him a Christian.” – Homilies on Ephesisans, Homily 21

4. Raising Children Up in Wisdom is Priority #1

“Let everything take second place to our care of our children, our bringing them up to the discipline and instruction of the Lord. If from the beginning we teach them to love true wisdom, they will have great wealth and glory than riches can provide. If a child learns a trade, or is highly educated for a lucrative profession, all this is nothing compared to the art of detachment from riches; if you want to make your child rich, teach him this. He is truly rich who does not desire great possessions, or surround himself with wealth, but who requires nothing…Don’t think that only monks need to learn the Bible; Children about to go our into the world stand in greater need of Scriptural knowledge.” — Homilies on Ephesians, Homily 21

5. Raise Them to Know Psalms and Hymns

“Teach him to sing those psalms which are so full of love of wisdom; as at once concerning chastity or rather, before all, of not companying with the wicked, immediately with the very beginning of the book; (for therefore also it was that that prophet began on this wise, ‘Blessed is the man that hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly”; Ps. i. I, and again, ‘I have not say in the council of vanity’; Ps. xxvi. 4, Sept., and again, ‘in his sight a wicked doer is contemned, but he honoreth those that fear the Lord,’ Ps. xv. 4, Sept.,) of companying the good, (and these subjects thou wilt find there in abundance,) of restraining the belly, of restraining the hand, of refraining from excess, of not overreaching; that money is nothing nor glory, and other things such like[...]When in these thou hast led him on from childhood, by little and little thou wilt lead him forward even to the higher things. The Psalms contain things, but the Hymns again have nothing human. When he has been instructed out of the Psalms, he will then know hymns also , as a diviner thing.” — Homilies on Colossians, Homily 9

6. Teaching Them about Eternal Judgment

“Wherefore, I exhort you, when we receive children from the nurse, let us not accustom to old wives’ stories, but let them learn from their first youth that there is a Judgment, that there is a punishment; let it be infixed in their minds. This fear being rooted in them produces great good effects. For a soul that that has learnt from its first youth to be subdued by this expectation, will not soon shake off this fear. But like a horse obedient to the bridle, having the thought of hell seated upon it, walking orderly, it will both speak and utter things profitable; and neither youth nor riches, not an orphan state, not any other thing, will be able to injure it, having its reason so firm and able to hold out against everything.” – Homilies on 2 Thessalonians, Homily 2.

7. Raise Them to Be Chaste

“Youth is wild, and requires many governors, teachers, directors, attendants, and tutors; and after all these , it is a happiness if it be restrained. For as a horse not broken in, or a wild beast untamed, such is youth. But if from the beginning, from the earliest age, we fix it in good rules, much pains will not be required afterwards; for good habits formed will be to them as a law. Let us not suffer them to do anything which is agreeable, but injurious; nor let us indulge them, as forsooth but children. Especially let us train them in chastity, for there is the very bane of youth. For this many struggles, much attention will be necessary. Let us take wives for them early, so that their brides may receive their bodies pure and unpolluted, so their loves will be more ardent. He that is chaste before marriage, much more will be chaste after it; and he that practiced fornication before, will practice it after marriage. ‘All bread,’ it is said, ‘is sweet to the fornicator.’ Garland are wont to be worn on the heads of bridegrooms, as a symbol of victory, betokening that they approach the marriage bed unconquered by pleasure. But it captivated by pleasure he has given himself up to harlots, why does he wear the garland, since he has been subdued? — Homilies on 1 Timothy, Homily 9

8. Raising Your Child Properly Is a Greater Inheritance than Riches

In children we have a great charge committed to us. Let us bestow great care upon them, and do everything that the Evil One may not rob us of them. But now our practice is the reverse of this. We take all care indeed to have our farm in good order, and to commit it to faithful manager, we look out for it an ass-driver, and muleteer, and bailiff, and a clever accomptant. But we do not look out for what is much more important, for a person to whom we may commit our son as the guardian of his morals, though this is a possession much more valuable than all others. It is for him indeed that we take such care of our estate. We take care of our possessions for our children, but of the children themselves we take no care at all. Form the soul of thy son aright, and all the rest will be added hereafter.” –Homilies on 1 Timothy, Homily 9.

According to the age-old tradition of the Byzantine Churches, both Catholic and Orthodox, the home is a kind of church, because it houses an assembly of believers. When people occupy a new house, the priest performs a consecration, anointing the four walls with holy oil and sanctifying the house with holy water and incense. Psalms are chanted and the Gospel story of Jesus’ visit to the house of Zacchaeus (cf. Luke 19:1-1O) is proclaimed. At the conclusion the traditional prayer for “Many Years” is sung by the priest for the family members.

When the family moves into a new dwelling, they choose an eastern wall, preferable in the living room, for the icon corner. This corner is furnished with icons of Christ, the Theotokos, the holy cross and the patron saints of the family members. Some families preserve heirloom icons, handed down for generations, or icons of special clan or family patrons. The icon corner usually includes a
lectern or small table upon which are placed a cross, a small incense burner, the Holy Scriptures and prayer books.

Since icons are considered to be sacraments of the special presence of the holy ones depicted in them, oil lamps are burned before them. At the door of the house one often finds a special icon of the Theotokos, known as the Doorkeeper, guarding the dwelling from all harm.

People entering a Byzantine home may often go directly to the icon corner and greet the holy icons with a bow or a kiss, sometimes before greeting the people, just as one does when entering church.

PRAYER TO THE EAST
In Eastern Christian tradition, all prayers, both public and private are said facing the East, “for as lightning that comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man” (Matthew 24:27). Thus churches are always built with the apse pointing East, towards the rising sun, symbolic of Jesus Christ, the Sun of Justice. In church the priest, deacon, and people worship standing upright, facing this direction, awaiting the One who will lead them to the heavenly promised land, the New Jerusalem. In their homes, therefore, Eastern Christians unite themselves with their
brothers and sisters throughout the world and pray standing up, facing the East.

The custom of standing at prayer can be traced both to the Old Testament and to pagan antiquity. God commanded His people to eat the Passover meal “standing, with loins girt and staves in their hands” (Exodus 12:11). The pagan Greeks always stood while praying before their idols.

Early Christians imitated the Greeks, reasoning that man, the only animal that walks erect and is created in the image and likeness of God, should pray standing to exemplify his dignity as a child of God.

Kneeling was done only as a sign of repentance for sin. In addition, early Church councils forbade kneeling on Sunday, commanding the faithful to stand as a testimony to their belief in Christ’s resurrection. Consequently Eastern Christians do not regularly kneel at prayer in their homes as Western Christians often do.

DAILY PRAYER IN THE HOME
With icons, crosses, incense and other sacred objects, all imbued with the sense of God’s presence, Byzantine Christian homes can truly be called miniature churches. Those who dwell within are reminded that God lives with and in them, and they recall the words of St. Gregory the Theologian, “It is better to remember God than even to breathe.” On rising in the morning, before and after every meal, in the evening and before going to bed the icon corner stands as an invitation for the family to pray.

The Byzantine liturgical tradition offers a limitless treasury of prayers for every day, every feast, and every season of the year. In addition to the hours of the daily offices, there are numerous akathists and canons which may be recited, as for example, when someone is preparing to receive Holy Communion.

Before Christ left His disciples, He promised that they would one day dwell with Him: “And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:3).

The Eastern Christian home reminds all who enter it of Christ’s promise and the heavenly home which awaits them.

FASTING, ALMSGIVING AND ASCETIISM
In prayer we rise to the throne of God who has given us access to Himself. We also attempt to take the lifestyle of heaven and bring it ‘down’ to reorient our daily activities. Fasting is one such practice. It stands out in contrast to the ways of the world around us, especially in a culture such as ours that endorses continual consumption. When we put aside food, entertainment, pleasure in the spirit of fasting we are saying to the world, “We are not from here.” When we fast we recognize that life is not simply to be found in the enjoyment of material creation, but in the relationship we have with its Creator.

Closely linked to fasting is almsgiving, another denial of the way of this world. Our society promotes consumerism. It says, “Build up for yourselves treasures on earth.” We say, with St. Paul, that material goods are given us not only to satisfy our own needs, but for the doing of good. We say, as Christ did, that our kingdom is not ultimately of this world and imitate His love for mankind by the way we use the resources He has given us.

Finally, while our place is in the heavenly realm, we do not have full possession of it yet. And, so we find ourselves each day engaged in an unseen warfare, “not against human forces but against the principalities and powers, the rulers of this world of darkness” (Ephesians 6:12). Many of our Church’s daily prayers are invocations asking for help and protection against the powers of evil. We recognize that there is more to the world in which we live than what is visible on the physical level.

Living, then, as citizens of the heavenly realm, we surround ourselves at all times with means of access to that kingdom. Icons are found in our homes, like churches, and we gather there for prayer. We bring the values of that realm to bear in our domestic affairs as well. There we fast and we extend hospitality in Christ’s name, deepening our experience of our true homeland. We try to live every day in an atmosphere of the kingdom, to continually remind ourselves that our baptism has made us actual coheirs with Christ of all that the Father has promised.

HYMNS FROM THE BLESSING OF A NEW HOME
TROPARION (TONE 8): As salvation came to the house of Zacchaeus by Your entrance, O Christ, now by the entrance of Your sacred ministers and with them Your holy angels, grant Your peace to this house and mercifully bless it, saving and illumining all who desire to live in it.

STICHERON (TONE 5): Bless this house, O Lord, and fill it with the good things of Your earth, preserving unharmed from every evil circumstance those desiring to live in it with piety. Grant to them all heavenly abundance and Your earthly blessings, and, as You are compassionate, be merciful according to Your great mercy.

Source: Eparchy of Newton