The Services

Monk Reading In the Cliros A number of people have asked me “how can you be in services for that long?”. Long services are certainly not easy but they are never boring.  An Orthodox service of any type is not a passive endeavor. Most people tend to associate church services with a Protestant type of worship: sermons, congregational singing, preaching, etc. Monastic services, like those in every Orthodox Church, are liturgical in nature.  That is, they have a proscribed ritual and ceremony. Most of the services are comprised entirely of singing and chanting. In the case of the services we took part in, there were either readings chanted or "singing" in the Byzantine chant style at all times with very little silence.  Examples of Byzantine Chant in English

View During A Service A typical service would start in the exo-narthex (the area just inside the entrance) of the church in almost total darkness with only a few oil lamps lit. Services such as Compline, the Hours, or Midnight Office were done in this way.  Once that service was finished everyone would move into the main church for Matins and the Divine Liturgy.  In every church there are two areas on opposite sides near front where the chanters stand called the "cliros". Most services are chanted antiphonally, one group of monks chants a part then the other chants going back and forth. There is never congregational or “choral” singing with western type harmony.

During these services there is an ebb and flow of activity.  Censing (with incense) of the church and people is done numerous times.  The priest or deacon is contributing their respective parts as well. Candles and lamps are being lit and extinguished according to the rubrics of services. At certain high points the church can be ablaze with candle light and the next minute dark again. Everything that is done from censing of the faithful, to lighting of candles, to chanting has meaning and is purposeful, nothing is ad-libbed.  Orthodox worship is governed by cycles that determine the nature of services for every day of the year.  One cycle is based on Pascha or Easter, these are often thought of as “movable” since the services are effected by their

Monk Tending the Candlesrelationship to the date of Easter ( Pentecost always comes 40 days after Easter for example). The other is the day of the week. The third is the day of the year. Services celebrated on each day take into account these three variables, it is very complex.  Here is a good explanation

The “congregation” (pilgrims and monks) of course listen to what is being chanted but also engage in their own private prayers. I had a mental list that I would go through numerous times during the long services: family, my God parents, my God children, friends, co-workers, fellow parishoners , people who are ill I know, and so on. In addition, I would work my prayer rope. A prayer rope is a circular rope with varying number of knots tied in (usually 100 or 33). The rope is used to say the Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ Have Mercy On Me A Sinner”. This is said internally repeatedly with the idea that at some point when one is spiritually advanced it becomes part of one’s consciousness.  Part of a monk’s prayer rule is to say the prayer a certain number of cycles of the rope a day. Layman can say the prayer as well. During the services you can see everyone praying their rope. I’m not very good at it, a few knots then I’m thinking about something else.  I’ve got a long way to go!  More info on the Jesus Prayer

Note: The images used here are not from my trip but taken from the Decani Monastery in Serbia website.  No photos are allowed of the services on Mt Athos without permission. 
Decani Monastery. Decani Monastery. 02 Feb. 2005 (http://www.kosovo.com/main.html).

1. I have been to Decani, and attended matins there. It was visually one of the most stunning experiences I have ever had—the entire church was in darkness, except for the candelabra shown in your bottom photo, which must be more than 10 feet in diameter. Once the candles were lit, a monk would set the candelabra in motion, so that it rotated very very slowly, first in a clockwise direction, and then reversed in a counter clockwise direction. With the chanting in the background, it was mesmerizing.

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