The Living Tradition An Orthodox Archive of the Church Fathers and Early Church

Study path

Orthodox worship and spiritual life

The daily cycle, the year, the Psalter, spiritual fatherhood and the shape of Christian conduct.

  • Liturgical witnessAttested in the Church's worship — in a hymn, a prayer, a rite or a commemoration. Liturgical language is theological rather than casual, but a hymn is not a canon.
  • Pastoral applicationHow a teaching is ordinarily applied in practice, under the guidance of a priest and bishop. Never a substitute for that guidance.
  • Jurisdiction-specific practicePractice varies legitimately between canonical Orthodox jurisdictions. Variation in practice is not variation in faith.

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Doctrine and worship are not separate subjects in Orthodoxy. Basil argued for the divinity of the Holy Spirit from the way the Church prays, and the councils legislated about posture at prayer as seriously as about anything else.

This path covers the cycles of services, the shape of the year including the calendar question, the Psalter and a personal rule, the relationship with a spiritual father, and the moral teaching of the earliest sources.

Lessons

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  1. The daily cycle of prayer Vespers, Compline, Midnight Office, Matins and the Hours, and why the Church's day begins in the evening. 7 min — Not yet read
  2. The liturgical year Pascha at the centre, the fasts and feasts around it, and why Orthodox Pascha is often on a different Sunday. 7 min — Not yet read
  3. The Psalms and a rule of prayer The book the Church prays most, and how a personal rule is actually arrived at. 6 min — Not yet read
  4. Spiritual fatherhood and obedience What a spiritual father is, what obedience means, and the failure modes the tradition names. 6 min — Not yet read
  5. The moral life Wealth, forgiveness, honesty and the shape of Christian conduct in the earliest sources. 7 min — Not yet read

Sources for this page

  1. Tier C The Seven Ecumenical Councils of the Undivided Church Henry R. Percival (ed.); Philip Schaff and Henry Wace (series eds.) The Seven Ecumenical Councils annotated edition of conciliar texts The principal primary source behind this path; individual lessons cite more specifically. Source record

Tiers are explained in the methodology. No page on this site has been reviewed or approved by any bishop, priest, synod or seminary.