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Alpo
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« on: October 05, 2012, 01:49:11 AM » |
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Are we to pray our morning, evening and pre-communion prayers together with our Orthodox boyfriends, girlfriends, brothers, wives etc. or should we just stick with individual prayer rules?
I like the former idea more but I don't remember encountering any encouragement to it from Orthodox sources. Still, I've done it occasionally and it feels rather different to praying alone. It's rather like the place of prayer turning into a little church.
Let's make a poll about this. Do you pray together with your family and/or friends?
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OrthoNoob
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« Reply #1 on: October 05, 2012, 02:13:12 AM » |
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I've never heard anything against praying with your (Orthodox) family. In fact, I thought it was the typical practice for families living together to pray together.  |
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Alpo
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« Reply #2 on: October 05, 2012, 02:31:12 AM » |
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I've never heard anything against praying with your (Orthodox) family. In fact, I thought it was the typical practice for families living together to pray together. That's how I always assumed but it occurred to me that I've never encountered any Orthodox source that encouraged to it whereas I've read and heard a lot of encouragement to stick with one's individual prayer rule. Which is of course not proof of anything. It could be that I've just missed the talk about families. |
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JamesR
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« Reply #3 on: October 05, 2012, 03:29:34 AM » |
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I would think that in general we are supposed to pray with our presumably Orthodox families since prayer is always a collective thing with us. However, given the fact that many of us are converts with heterodox families, I think it is better for us to pray individually.
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"'Blessed are the peacemakers' For those are peacemakers in themselves who, in conquering and subjecting to reason all the motions of their souls and having their carnal desires tamed, have become in themselves a Kingdom of God."-St. Augustine of Hippo
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Tikhon.of.Colorado
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« Reply #4 on: October 05, 2012, 08:46:58 AM » |
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When my father converted to Orthodoxy, we never prayed together. He didn't really have an established prayer rule, and praying, for me, is always a very personal thing.
I pray with other Christian friends at school (from other denominations, gasp!).
Mostly, I like to pray alone.
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quietmorning
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« Reply #5 on: October 05, 2012, 01:39:53 PM » |
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The desire to pray with my family is there - but at the moment, not possible.
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age234
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« Reply #6 on: October 05, 2012, 01:44:52 PM » |
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I have no Orthodox family, but when staying with Orthodox friends we always pray as a group. I think it's a lot easier to stay on-task that way and it's ideal IMO.
If I did have Orthodox family members, my ideal would be saying Little Compline as a group at night, and have individual prayers in the morning.
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Dominika
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St. Luke, pray for us!
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« Reply #7 on: October 05, 2012, 02:10:27 PM » |
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Unfortunately, in my family we pray together only a few times per year: Pascha, Christmas, Slava, Epiphany.
However, I hope that one day when I start my own family, I pray with my husband (and if I have children,with them too) the Morning and Evening prayers every day and for festal days something special. I've read that praying together integrates family and prevents divorces.
I probably would make just one exception: prayers before Eucharists, because not always the whole family stands in line for it and I think it's very personal.
As for friends, I pray with them together only during pilgrimages.
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Pray for persecuted Christians, especially in Serbian Kosovo and Raška, Egypt and Syria
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