St. John
Chrysostom answers this question briefly when
he writes:
They say: 'We can pray at home.' Thou art deceiving thyself, 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. Thou wilt not be so quickly heard while praying to the Master by thyself, as when praying together with thy brethren, for here in church there is something greater than in thy 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.
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.
They say: 'We can pray at home.' Thou art deceiving thyself, 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. Thou wilt not be so quickly heard while praying to the Master by thyself, as when praying together with thy brethren, for here in church there is something greater than in thy 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.... 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,
dost thou disdain its power and what kind of
justification canst thou have for this. Hearken
unto 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
thou mightest know that prayer together has
great power.
St. John of Kronstadt adds:
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 Orthodox
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.
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