Words of Prayer

Graciously grant or be willing to give.

In prayer, it asks God to give something in His kindness.

Fitting or right, as in it is meet to give thanks.

To.

This older word often appears when a prayer names the person addressed or the goal sought.

Help in trouble or need.

As a verb, it means to come to someone's help.

Forever, or always.

Ask earnestly, with a deep sense of need.

Be willing, in kindness, to do something for someone of lower standing.

In these prayers it speaks of God's care for us.

Look at, see, or pay attention to.

Beheld means saw.

Look or take notice.

It draws attention to what follows.

Near.

To draw nigh is to come near.

From which place, or from where.

For that reason, or therefore.

In a question it can mean why.

Honored as holy.

In the Lord's Prayer, it asks that God's name be held in reverence.

Sins or unjust actions.

Weaknesses or illnesses.

In prayer the word can include weakness of body or soul.

Forgiveness, when the prayer speaks of sins.

Rest.

In prayers for the departed, it asks for their rest in God.

Help to move forward or grow in something good.

The Church's service centered on Scripture, prayer, and Holy Communion.

A hymn-prayer praising Christ, the Mother of God, or a saint.

Its name points to the custom of standing to pray it.

The prayer beginning Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal.

Trisagion means thrice-holy.

A series of short petitions, with a response from the people after each one.

A group of verses or a hymn sung with responses.

The opening antiphons of the Liturgy vary with the day and local practice.

A short hymn about a feast, saint, or other holy theme.

Troparia is the plural.

A short hymn that expresses the meaning of a feast or saint's commemoration.

In an Akathist, the name is used for its shorter stanzas.

A short Scripture refrain with verses, usually from a psalm, sung before a reading or at another appointed place.

The evening service of psalms and prayer, at the beginning of the Church's liturgical day.

The Church's morning service of psalms, readings, and hymns.

It is also called Orthros.

An extended time of prayer.

The All-Night Vigil commonly joins Vespers and Matins, with other appointed prayers.

Here, a set of hymns arranged in sections called odes.

In other church writing, canon can mean a rule or the recognized books of Scripture.

A section of a hymn canon, connected with a biblical song.

The opening hymn of an ode, linking it to a biblical song and setting a pattern for the hymns that follow.

Hymns sung with psalm verses, especially at Vespers and Matins.

One is called a sticheron.

A group of hymns sung with selected Scripture verses near the end of Vespers or some forms of Matins.

One of the twenty sections of the Psalter used in worship.

The same word can also refer to a sessional hymn.

A joyful psalm refrain at festive Matins, praising God's enduring mercy.

A short hymn after the canon at Matins, often about the Resurrection Gospel or the feast.

A prayer praising God's glory.

The Great Doxology is the longer hymn near the end of Matins.

Mary's song of praise in Luke 1:46–55, beginning with her soul magnifying the Lord.

The Book of Psalms, or a service book containing the psalms arranged for prayer.

Christ's sayings about those who are blessed, from the Sermon on the Mount.

A statement of the Church's faith.

In the Liturgy this means the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed.

A letter.

The service's Epistle reading comes from the New Testament letters or the Acts of the Apostles.

The good news of Jesus Christ.

In service directions, it may mean the reading from Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John, or the book containing those readings.

The hymn sung around the Great Entrance, calling the faithful to lay aside earthly cares and join the angels' worship.

The central Eucharistic prayer of thanksgiving and offering in the Divine Liturgy.

Holy Gifts consecrated at an earlier Liturgy.

The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts joins evening prayer to receiving them in Communion.

The main part of the church where the congregation gathers.

The entrance area of the church, before the nave.

The screen of icons between the nave and the sanctuary.

The holy table where the Eucharist is celebrated.

In some Orthodox usage, altar also means the whole sanctuary around it.

The holy area beyond the iconostasis, containing the altar table.

The altar table at the center of the sanctuary.

The central doors in the iconostasis, used at appointed moments in the services.

Also called the Holy Doors.

The side doors of the iconostasis used by those serving in the sanctuary.

A raised place used for readings or speaking to the people.

In many churches it is the projecting area before the iconostasis.

The table where the bread and wine are prepared before the Liturgy.

Also known as the Prothesis.

A Greek title for Mary meaning the one who gives birth to God.

It tells us that her Son, Jesus Christ, is truly God.

Ruler of all, a title of Christ.

It also names the familiar icon of Christ blessing and holding the Gospel.

Someone preparing to enter the Church and being taught the faith.

An ordained minister who serves under a bishop, leads worship, teaches, and cares for a parish.

An ordained minister who assists the bishop or priest in worship and in serving people.

The ordained shepherd responsible for a diocese and its unity in the Church's faith and worship.

A person appointed to read Scripture and other service texts.

A reader can also be tonsured to this ministry by a bishop, or by a priest the bishop blesses to do it.

The singers who lead the congregation's hymns and responses.

Those set apart for the Church's ordained ministries, especially bishops, priests, and deacons.

The members of the Church who are not clergy.

They share in the Church's prayer and work.

A holy person.

The Church especially uses this title for people whose life in Christ it recognizes and honors.

A title of John the Baptist, who prepared the way for Christ.

Angelic beings spoken of in Scripture as close to God's throne.

Cherub is the singular.

The six-winged angelic beings in Isaiah's vision, praising God's holiness.

An angel of high rank, such as Michael or Gabriel.

Bread offered for the Eucharist, from which the Lamb and commemorative pieces are taken.

Blessed bread distributed in connection with the Liturgy.

It is not the consecrated Body of Christ received in Holy Communion.

The cup used for the wine that becomes Christ's Blood in the Eucharist.

The plate holding the Eucharistic bread.

Paten is the word often used in the older English service text.

The main piece cut from the offered bread, to be consecrated as Christ's Body.

Its name points to Christ, the Lamb of God.

The small liturgical knife used to cut the offered bread.

A folding metal support placed over the diskos to keep its cover from touching the bread.

The vessel in which incense is burned during worship.

An oil lamp burning before an icon.

Here, the vessel on the altar that holds the reserved Holy Gifts.

A fragrant substance burned during worship.

Its rising smoke accompanies prayer.

Holy Communion, the Church's thanksgiving in which the faithful receive Christ's Body and Blood.

Sharing in life with God and with one another in the Church.

Holy Communion especially means receiving Christ's Body and Blood.

The Church's sacraments, through which God shares His life with us.

In Communion prayers, the phrase especially means Christ's Body and Blood.

A regular pattern of prayer, chosen with your priest's guidance and suited to a person's circumstances.

The feast of Christ's Resurrection.

The name comes from the word for Passover.

The feast of the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles, celebrated fifty days after Pascha.

A revealing of God.

As a feast name, it celebrates Christ's Baptism and the revelation of the Holy Trinity. Also called Epiphany.

Birth.

The Nativity of Christ is Christmas; the Church also celebrates the births of Mary and John the Baptist.

The main season of fasting and repentance before Pascha.

Holy Week follows the forty days of Great Lent, though everyday speech sometimes groups them together.

Show reverent love and honor, for example toward a saint or an icon.

Worship belongs to God alone.

Prayer to God for someone else.

Turning away from sin and turning toward God.

It includes a change in how we live, not only feeling sorry.

Being made holy through the Holy Spirit and growing in life with Christ.

People who have died.

The Church continues to pray for them and entrust them to God's mercy.