Orthodox Articles


Basic Etiquette in Orthodox Temples

When it comes to showing respect to God and your brothers, there is no difference between an adult and a child. A child should be trained from his earliest years to be respectful towards other people and especially God. If we shouldn’t begin a conversation with our brother during a service, neither should a child. If we shouldn’t be facing the back of the temple during the service, neither should a child. 

We need to understand our place when we come to church and pass that on to our children. Our place is one of coming to the temple to worship God, to repent of our sins, and to reconnect with God’s rhythm, reinvigorating our souls by receiving the sacraments.  If we do not teach this to the children they will likely not stay in the Church as they come of age. 

  • Worshipping is a continuous struggle to hear the words of the services, and taking them into yourself. To engage in venerating what is holy- the icons, relics, and everything blessed.
  • Repentance requires a contrite heart, self reflection, and humility
  • Reconnecting is bringing our whole being into a heavenly rhythm. We slow our minds down from the speed of the world and dwell on the hymnography and the repeated “Lord have mercy” said throughout the services. When we enter the temple, we are entering an icon of Heaven. The purpose in coming to church is to participate in this icon. From the earliest age, it is of the utmost importance to accustom ourselves to Heaven.


This is the purpose of our coming to church. 

Therefore:

  1. Do not let your children talk during services. If they have something they feel they must say to you, listen, but encourage silence in them. 
  1. Be sure they always face the altar. Whether sitting or standing, our backs should never be to the altar.
  1. Do not allow them to run at any time, and do not allow them to walk freely. If you want to start training your children to resist their passions, give them a strong sense of barriers. What is allowed and what is not. If you allow too much freedom, this will carry into each year forward. They will develop a sense of looseness and will not gain a sense of what is holy, what is meek and humble. Bring your child’s focus to what your focus should be on: worship. Worship for a child early on does not include comprehending the words in the prayers, but it does include standing respectfully, looking forward towards the altar, bowing to the bishop when he blesses, bowing to the censer when censed. Simply being quiet. Teach your child to worship in these bodily ways to start. And as they develop intellectually, to listen to the words being sung and read.
  1. Do not allow continuous noise. If the child is acting up, take him out of church to deal with him and bring him back when he’s calmed down. It doesn’t do you or him and especially anyone else any good to deal with a child who is being loud or making noises that distract from the point.
  1. There should be no toys in general, but perhaps something for very young children if it is simply for them to hold onto (a doll or stuffed animal). Sometimes children see their favorite doll as their friend- so its not quite a toy at this point. Books for children do not be belong in the temple or anything else that distracts them from participation in the service.
  1. No laying down whatsoever (besides a sleeping baby).
  1. Don’t let children take bread or wine after their post communion bread and wine. It is not the time right after communion to stuff our bellies. The bread and wine following communion are there to help wash the Body and Blood down only. Then what follows are more petitions of prayer and before we depart, particular prayers of giving thanks to the Lord for allowing us to take His Body into us.
  1. Let us not allow our children to act like pigs. I mean that in a spiritual sense as well as physically. Spiritually, a pig is one who doesn’t reverence or regard what is before him. We need to teach our children the discipline of commanding our bellies. First prayer, then food. After receiving the Body and Blood of Christ, thanksgiving. Teach them that what they just received is holy.

Always stand and have your children stand during the gospel reading, the cherubic hymn and great entrance, the creed, the consecration, and the Our Father. Unless a health reason makes this too difficult.

In the course of teaching a child, it is necessary to take him out of church at times that he crosses certain lines. It is for you to enforce the rules mentioned. If a child will not quiet himself and be respectful after a reasonable amount of time, then he will need to be taken out. One way to make the child see this as something less desirable than staying in church is to take the child somewhere (could be the car if its not scorching hot) or a room where the child is forced to sit on your lap and not play with anything. If the child has been acting up, likely he won’t want to calmly sit on your lap to relax. If he is willing to sit calmly, then that can be done in the service. If he is acting up, force the child to sit this way outside church until he calms down and then bring him back to church. If he picks it back up, its back to the lap outside church. This has been an effective tool for my wife to enforce the rules.

Another tool is spanking. Often, it can be enough to tell the child if he must be taken out, he will receive a spank. The effectiveness can vary with the particular child.

One tool is to give the child a break outside church where you take him on a short walk or allow him to get energy out some other way. The key with this tool is that it is short and under your control. It is a pastoral decision on the parents part whether the child just needs some time to have a break from the work of worshipping. But don’t make it a playing break. It should be like giving a little something before a meal to a little child that doesn’t spoil his appetite, but just gets him by when he is very hungry. Giving the child a playing break is like giving him a bag of candy before or during the meal. This just makes it more difficult to come back to the meal (the service).

You may need to give up a lot of your own attention to the service in order to teach your children, but God will bless you abundantly for this good work and it is only for a time. It is necessary at this stage in life to make that sacrifice. God willing, all that work will show fruit as the child grows into a more beautiful person and you will also have grown from the exercise of teaching and guiding your children. By striving to help your child understand life, you will come into a better understanding as well.

The earlier you start teaching this discipline to your child, the easier it will be later on. Over time, the child grows accustomed to the discipline of prayer and worship and it will be just a matter of habit to be mindful of the service, and respectful. Your child will with God’s grace engage on his own because engaging is now just his habit in church. 

A tool to engage older children is spending time teaching about the symbology in the services. Discussing where various hymns we sing come from. What are the epistles? What are the gospels? These things can be learned in Sunday school or at home. What are the seasons of the Church? The rhythm of passing from fasting periods to feasts. And reading lives of saints should absolutely not be neglected. By hearing about the life of a saint, we hear how someone who was oriented towards Heaven lived. The more examples we hear, the better understanding we have for how our own life should be ordered.

Modesty – Some basics

No pants for girls or women.

Skirts/ dresses should never be above knee length. Slits also should never go above knee.

No sleeveless blouses or dresses, no low fronts or backs.

It should not be possible to see underclothing

After all these other things, make sure you wear a head covering, including little girls.

Don’t wear clothing with wording or logos. Do not distract your brothers. Wear clothing that shows you revere the Lord as your king and want to pay him honor. 

Men should always wear pants and they should be moderately loose, not tight against the skin. The shirts should be collared and also not tight against the skin.

NO LIPSTICK

50th Celebration

October 11, 2020

Very Reverend and Reverend Fathers, Matushki, guests and my dear people;
good afternoon and welcome to the celebration of my first 50 years!

Glory be to Jesus Christ!

Last Tuesday, the 6th of October, 2013, seven years ago was the blessing of our first chapel we rented on Mojave and three and a half years later we were in our own place, where will we be in three and a half more years? God will bless what is needed we just have to show we are worthy and work for it and that means really hard.

Read More

Newsletter – Feb 27, 2018

Dear Faithful,

Greetings during the Great Fast!

Attached is an opportunity for all of us to participate in getting our building in compliance for ADA and permanent occupancy.

We all have houses or cars that have to be maintained and so it is with our church property. The difference being that there are many of you who are able to make this happen more readily than in our personal lives.

This is the first step of many to update our building per code. Everyone will have the opportunity to participate, whether it is purchasing a toilet, a towel bar, or even donating a few dollars toward the labor for accomplishing this task.

We are blessed that Howard, Claudia’s husband whom we all know, is willing to take on this project himself. He has been a plumbing contractor for many years and is looking to hire a couple qualified helpers, but taking nothing for himself.

In addition the needs list will be posted on our web site, in order to reach others outside of our parish for help if they are so moved.

Someone in the parish has fronted the $5565.00 so that this work can begin ASAP. This is a loan and will need to be repaid.

Recently we had to replace the hot water tank. There is a leak in the roof that will have to be addressed in the very near future, but for right now this is our Lenten goal.

May your hearts be softened, to make an extra effort to contribute for this project.

Love and blessings.

+Vladyka NIKOLAI

Дорогие верующие,

Приветствия вам в Великом Посту!

Смотрите в приложении возможность для всех нас поучаствовать в перестроечном проекте для соответствия стандартам ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) (закон, обязывающий общественные места строить с учетом доступа и удобства для инвалидов) и постоянного посещения людьми.

У нас у всех есть жилища или машины, которые нам нужно соответственно содержать и поддерживать в надлежащем состоянии – то же самое касается и церковной собственности. Разница только в том, ЧТО мы с бОльшим рвением готовы сделать, в отличие от нашей личной жизни.

Это наш первый из многих шагов по благоустройству нашего здания для соответствия кодексу. Все будут иметь возможность поучаствовать, будь то или покупкой унитаза, или вешалки для полотенца, или жертвуя несколько долларов в оплату рабочей силы по выполнению этой задачи.

Нам повезло, что Говард, муж Клаудии, которых мы все хорошо знаем, лично взялся за этот проект. Он уже много лет работает подрядчиком сантехником, и собирается нанять несколько квалифицированных помощников, но себе ничего не берет.

В дополнение, на вебсайте будет размещен список нужд, чтобы те, кто находятся за пределами нашего прихода, тоже могли бы поучаствовать в помощи, если они заинтересованы.

Кто-то из прихожан одолжил нам наперед $5565.00, чтобы работы могли начаться незамедлительно. Но это заем, и его нужно будет вернуть.

Недавно мы были вынуждены заменить водонагреватель (бойлер). Также есть течь в крыше, и это тоже надо будет исправить в ближайшем будущем. Но пока что этот проект является нашей целью в этом Посту.

Да умягчатся ваши сердца, чтобы сделать более значимое усилие и вложить в этот проект.

С любовью и благословениями,

+Владыка НИКОЛАЙ

Estimation of costs to bring the Parish into compliance with A.D.A. (Americans with Disabilities Act) standards prior to seeking a Clark County Use Permit.This estimation is predicated upon Howard Powell donating his knowledge, time, tools and labor to complete the necessary remodel, repairs, replacement of doors, plumbing fixtures, handicap ramp and railings.

The Parish will be responsible to pay for all necessary parts, materials, fixtures, toilets, lumber, and concrete to complete the project.

Additionally, the Parish will pay for the (2) qualified plumbing labor/helpers which will be required for approximately 5 days at $20 per hour per man to assist with the project.

Approximate labor charge $800 x 2 = $1,600

Remodel the unisex bathroom adjacent to the Chapel:

Remove the cabinet/vanity
Install a new handicap accessible “wall mount sink” and
Install new handicap approved faucet, mounts, lines, angle-stops and hardware
Cost: sink, faucet, mounts, lines, hardware $341

Remove existing toilet
Install a new Toto handicap 1.6 G.P.F. 17” high toilet, floor seal, new seat and
Install required wall mount handicap bars, soap dispenser, paper holder, towel dispenser
Cost: Toilet, seat, hardware, dispenser, handicap bars

Toto Drake A.D.A. compliant toilet & parts $353

Wall mount handicap bars (2) at $57 each = $114

Dispensers 3 @ $32 = $96

Stud-up and close the existing doorway – install a new A.D.A. door and closer with handicap door handle.
Cost: Lumber, drywall, door, frame, hardware $293

Install handicap ramp A.D.A. compliant 1 in 12 approximately 11.5 ft long from Chapel glass door entrance to the new unisex bathroom

Saw-cut concrete and remove floor tile. Dig out area for new concrete ramp.
Set forms – Lay-out new ramp

Pour concrete ramp with required rough surface $578

Fabricate custom handicap hand rail and mount to new concrete. Custom handrails $462

New ingress / egress door requirements

Install front exterior A.D.A. door, frame, closer, hardware to open–out for A.D.A. ingress $864
Install rear exterior door A.D.A. door, frame closer, hardware to open-out for A.D.A. ingress $864

The total approximate cost being $5,565

Due to the fact that old plumbing, pipes, fixtures, joints and connections can break or leak during disassembly, additional pipes, fixtures, parts or pieces may be required at additional expense during construction.

After review if you wish to proceed with the outlined ADA renovations, please sign and return so that I may place the necessary orders for the fixtures and materials to complete the project. Any changes to this proposal will be in writing with an authorization to proceed so that the Parish will have documentation for accounting purposes.

I have reviewed and authorize the required ADA renovations as described.

___________________________________
Authorized Parish Signature / Date