Worship

This was last updates 2026.09.20 by Fr. Peter Runyon

How do the Orthodox worship?

We worship together as the Body of Christ at set times and in a specific setting. Our parish is currently in a store front, but we still consider the space that is set aside for worship the “temple” where we pray. Our services are orderly and are the result of two thousand years of worship. We worship according to a cycle of daily services that is followed by the entire Orthodox Church.

How is the worship space organized?

Each Orthodox temple or worship space is organized into three parts. The first part is called the narthex. This space represents “the world” and isn’t technically part of the worshiping area. The faithful shouldn’t be in the narthex during the service unless they need to step out briefly. We at Archangel Gabriel don’t have much room, so we often use our narthex as part of our worship space out of necessity.

The main worship space is called the nave. This is the space where the choir is often located, although they can be in a choir loft above the narthex, and where the reading parts of the service are intoned. The faithful gather here as the Body of Christ and direct their attention towards the front of the temple.

The last part is the Sanctuary. This is the area where the clergy officiate the service. There is a partition between the nave and the Sanctuary called an Iconostasis. The iconostasis separates the Sanctuary as a sacred and holy place. Only clergy and those who have a blessing may enter the Sanctuary. This space is only used during the services.

What should I do when I enter an Orthodox temple?

Most Orthodox temples or worship spaces will have icons in the narthex. You will see Orthodox faithful venerate these icons when they prepare to enter the temple. These icons stand in place of those who are depicted in them. The icons in the narthex are usually of the patron saint of the temple and the Theotokos, but they can be of any saint. The saints represented by the icons should be saints who have authority over that parish. It is their parish. The faithful venerate those saints because the person is about to enter their temple.

The practice of honoring the ruler or overseer of a space is something that people have practiced for thousands of years. In the time of Christ, a statue of the Roman Emperor or a pagan god/goddess would be placed outside of a city or temple dedicated to them. The people who entered the city or temple would offer some type of honorarium to the Emperor or pagan deity when entering and leaving the city.

In a similar manner, Orthodox faithful honor the physical representations of the saint or saints to whom the temple is dedicated. We believe that the honor we give to the icon of the saint goes directly to the saint who is alive in Christ.

After venerating the patron saint and the Theotokos, the faithful enter the nave by crossing and bowing towards the Altar Table which is in the sanctuary. They then walk forward and venerate the icon of the saint celebrated on that day, or the Holy Cross, in the same manner they honored the patron saint(s) of the temple. They then venerate and give honor to Christ and then the Theotokos. We do this because Christ is the ruler of the temple and His mother the Theotokos is the queen who leads the Church with her Son. We honor them because the temple, all Orthodox temples, are theirs. The patron saint of the temple is the “governor” of the temple.

The faithful may then venerate and give honor to one or many of the saints who are present in the nave through their icons. In this way, the faithful “greet” the saints when they arrive. It is unusual for a person to randomly venerate icons during a Divine Service. The reason for this is that they’ve already “greeted” the saints upon their arrival.

Then when the services are over, the faithful leaves in a similar form to how they arrived. They venerate the festal icon or Holy Cross, then Christ, then the Theotokos. Then when leaving, they cross and bow towards the sanctuary. Finally, they venerate and give honor to the icon of the patron saint and the icon of the Theotokos in the Narthex. This is a type of saying “farewell” when leaving the space governed by Christ, His Mother, and the saints. We leave their temple.

I see people crossing themselves during the services. Should I do that?

It is customary for the Orthodox faithful to make the sign of the cross over themselves. Christians have done this in some form from the first centuries of Christianity. Tertullian was one of the first to mention it and he lived in the third century. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, we make the sign of the cross from the forehead to the stomach, then from one’s right shoulder to their left. The Eastern Orthodox most often place the thumb, index finger, and middle finger together in an almost triangle pattern, then lay their ring and pinky fingers on their palm. The hand in this form then traces the sign of the cross over the person.

Visitors do not need to do this, especially if they are not Orthodox.

When should I cross myself during the services?

The Orthodox most often cross themselves when we speak of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit during the Divine Services. We often also do it at certain times during the Divine Services. For example, the faithful often cross themselves at moments in the Divine Liturgy when a special event happen. A person does not need to do it then, but it is customary. One should avoid crossing themselves too much during the services and making a distraction.

How should I dress when attending an Orthodox service?

Dress like you are in Church. We used to call that our “Sunday best.” But what constitutes a person’s “Sunday best” depends on the person, their culture, and their finances. We remember the widow with the two mites who gave more than the rich man because she gave what she had. Likewise, when a person attends an Orthodox worship service, they should bring their best no matter what that is.

Should a woman wear a head covering in an Orthodox temple?

It is customary for women to wear a head covering when in an Orthodox temple, but not all women do this. The Fathers speak about women wearing head coverings, so it is an ancient tradition. The Fathers often quote St. Paul’s instruction in 1 Corinthians chapter 11 as the Apostolic foundation for the practice. Paul’s instruction has nothing to do with modesty or preventing men from falling into lust. He writes in verse 10, “That is why a woman ought to have a veil on her head, because of the angels.” This passage is often misunderstood as meaning that women might tempt angels into mating with them if they don’t cover their heads, and this is completely ridiculous.

To understand 1 Corinthians chapter 11, we must understand the Orthodox view of the cosmos. The universe is arranged in a hierarchy. There is the first, second, and third heavens that St. Paul mentions in his letter. We order our temples in a hierarchy: the narthex, then the nave, then the sanctuary. We confess Christ as the head of the Church, that the Bishops and priests are His servants and are the head of their diocese or parish, and that the laypeople are under their authority. We also believe the ranks of angels are arranged in a hierarchy (St. Paul writes about these ranks in Colossians 1:16). The prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel also write about the hierarchy of the angels. St. Paul also identifies a hierarchy in the family with Christ as the head, the man as Christ’s servant and acting on Christ’s behalf (Ephesians 5:25-29, the husband is literally to be an icon of Christ to his family), and then the woman is under the authority of the man. Women wore a veil as an symbol of the authority over them. Paul is saying that angels would be scandalized by seeing a woman without a veil because she was not identified in the human hierarchy. An angel is an inherently hierarchical being who knows humans are also hierarchical by nature with God at the top of both of their hierarchies.

So, a woman can wear a veil which is customary, but she also may not. To paraphrase another of St. Paul’s letters: let not her who wears a veil judge her who does not, and let not her who does not wear a veil judge her who does, but do all things out of love.

Can I bring my children to an Orthodox service?

Absolutely. Christ tells us to let the children come to Him. He also tells us that unless we become like little children, actually infants, we will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

What are some things I should avoid doing when in an Orthodox service?

The most important thing to do in any of the divine services is to pray. And this prayer is not a private prayer, but when we all join together in the prayers that the choir, reader, deacon, or priest are praying. We don’t just listen to the Psalms, we pray allow the words to sink into our hearts and become prayer inside of us. We embody the prayers of the choir or chanter.

We should avoid talking and visiting during the services. There is usually plenty of time for visiting after they are done. I often visit with parishioners during the reading of the hours, but that is the only time I get to visit with them and we try to be very quiet.

Avoid leaving and entering the nave during the divine services. Parents with young children sometimes need to leave to parent their child, but for everyone else, stay in the nave for the duration of the service.

It is very inappropriate to walk around the nave during the service and venerate the icons of the saints. This is distracting and and the wrong time to venerate the icons for the reasons mentioned above.

Please silence or shut off your phone before entering the nave of the Church.

It is also a good idea to brush your teeth or use mouth wash before going to Church. We sometimes stand very close to each other and sing, and no one wants to smell your lunch.

What is the censer for?

We use incense in our worship services. The incense is a physical representation of our prayers to God and our supplications to the saints. The deacon, or the priest in his place, will cense holy things and holy people, and that includes the faithful in the temple.