I know I don't owe any of you an explanation but I thought I would tell you why I didn't go to Vespers last night. I worked six days this week, each morning waking up at 2am so on Saturday I was really exhausted and spent the evening home, recouping! There were times when I was tired and went to Vespers anyway and I have always been "extra blessed" during those times but I guess you have to know the difference from being tired and being really worn out. Last night, I was worn out.
I do have a question that I have been meaning to ask about the differences between Metania and prostrations. For my prayer rule, I use the St. Philips prayer manual from Fellowship of St. John the Divine which I learned about from Fr Joseph Hunnycut of Orthodixie fame and during the morning prayers it says:
O come, let us worship and fall down before God our King.
O come let us worship and fall down before Christ, our King and our God.
O come let us worship and fall down before Christ Himself, our King and our God.After each sentence, an instruction is inserted in parenthesis, simply saying metany. Is it proper to do a full prostration instead? Or is that going overboard? I actually like prostrations better than metany because, believe it or not, it is easier to just go full on the ground than to bend down and touch the floor.
I'd love your thoughts and wisdom on this!
In the meantime, I'll stay with the prostrations....
P.S., if you are interested in the prayer manual, go to this website
http://www.stphilipsprayerdiscipline.org/
Normally just metanies.
ReplyDeleteJoseph,
ReplyDeletebut is it improper to do prostrations?
In your private prayer rule, it is best to seek the advice of the priest that gave it to you. That said, I use full prostrations for some parts that you would usually do a metany in Church. A blessing can be obtained to add more prostrations to your prayer rule if you feel you need more. I love prostrations in mine because it helps with focus and is a very humbling position to be in before the Lord. I hope this helps.
ReplyDeleteWarmly in Christ,
John
John,
ReplyDeleteactually, I don't really talk to Fr Gary a whole lot. Usually, right after Vespers, I scoot out of there to pick up my son from work...I guess I should talk to him about it :)
I don't know how computer savvy Father Gary is, but this would be a thing to email him about, as it's a quick question.
ReplyDeleteMimi,
DeleteThat is a great idea but it seems Fr. Gary beat me to it...he commented below :)
Hi, Jim. Have been following your blog over two years. And praying for you and yours.
ReplyDeleteHave you committed to a formal course of study under a priest's guidance? That is, in most cases, becoming a part of the catechumenate. It IS part of a priest's job description to assist converts and inquirers. Father Gary sounds like a great resource. Please use him.
Off2,
DeleteThank you so much for your prayers and for following my SLOW journey....no I have not committed to being a catechum....I know fr Gary is willing and ready anytime I am...:)
Keep those prayers arising and thank you again!
Not improper, generally speaking, unless pride is the motivation.
ReplyDelete-Father Gary
Fr Gary,
Deletethank you.