Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Sitting in church

Before I began serving in the altar at Holy Trinity, when I was tired, I would sit, usually on the floor, during the Divine Liturgy.  After I began serving, Fr. Vladimir would not let me sit.  He told me something that I've never forgotten, and often heard repeated: "You cannot sit in church unless you are a bishop, or old, or sick, or pregnant."

Then he added "You are not a bishop, you are not old, and you are not pregnant.  If you are too sick to stand, you should not be in church."

2 comments:

  1. http://mississippiorthodox.com/ChurchEtiquette.dsp

    And what is the first entry in Church Etiquette? Standing vs. Sitting!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good advice from Fr. Vladimir. Parishes where the entire congregation plop down on their rear ends ("indian style") for the sermon always freak me out.

    ReplyDelete