cbradley wrote:
I was wondering if anyone had any prayer advice or talk about their practices, prayer books, icon corners, etc. I am still fairly new and not Orthodox yet, but I have been praying with the Orthodox Prayer Book, and recently have been using the prayer beads. When praying morning and evening prayers, do all Orthodox use the same prayers found in the Orthodox Prayer Book, or are there a variety of morning and evening prayers? What prayer books to some of you use? In general, I know we stand before the icons, but is ist ever appropriate to kneel during private prayer?
Thanks,
Chris
Kneeling is for repentance so if you're praying why not kneel if you're able? I would suggest not doing it between Pascha and Pentecost as this is a time for celebration.
I can't imagine not praying in front of Icons now(convert). They help keep my focus on God, and that's important right now as i take heavy painkillers; concentration is not my friend, and i'm often dazed and confused. There's a ton of sites where you can either d/l Icons to your PC, or order them on-line. You can never have too many Icons in my honest opinion!
Prayer books rarely differ in Orthodox circles in my experience. My family has several including an Ethiopian set, and there isn't much change; a few added in theirs, and that's about it.
We use a prayer book our parish made as a fundraiser; we were attending St. Herman of Alaska at the time. It has 2 akathists, one to our Lord, and one to our Theotokos, pre/post Communion prayers, and several others. Not sure if it's still available, but if you do purchase one try to get one made by a parish, or monastery, for fundraising; they need our help.
I hope this helps, and God bless you on your life's journey.
Your unworthy servant,
Chuck
