Treatise on Prayer by Saint Symeon of Thessaloniki - Christian Life - Book

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Professor Simmons has rendered a valuable service to all those interested in prayer and in the meaning of the various services of the Orthodox Church by translating into English Saint Symeon's Treatise on Prayer. Christians will be particularly interested in Saint Symeon's interpretation and the answers he gives to these two frequently asked questions: "Why do we do this?" and "What does this mean?"

Contents

Preface	p. xi
Introduction	p. 1
1. Prayer and the Angels	p. 9
The Jesus Prayer
2. The Saving Name and Invocation of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God Which is Wholly and Divinely Created Prayer	p. 13
3. Our Blessed Fathers Kallistos and Ignatios Who Wrote on this Holy Prayer	p. 13
4. What Godly and Outstanding Things this Prayer Contains	p. 14
5. All Christians - Clerics, Monastics, and Laics - Should Pray in the Name of the Lord Jesus at Particular Times	p. 16
The Seven Daily Services
6. There Are Seven Daily Services apart from the Liturgy	p. 18
7. The Reason for the Seven Services of Praise	p. 18
8. Why We Begin the Hymns to the Saints and the Holy Festivals in the Evening	p. 20
9. The Divine Liturgy is the Task of the Clergy Alone, According to Our Savior, and not to Be Counted Among the Other Prayers	p. 21
10. The Observance of the so-called Asmatic Service	p. 21
11. The Jerusalem Typikon	p. 22
Midnight Office (Mesonyktion)	p. 22
12. The Midnight Office and the Significance of Sounding the Wooden Gong	p. 23
13. Why “Through the Prayers of Our Holy Fathers…” is Said at the Beginning if no Priest is Present	p. 24
14. The 50th Psalm	p. 24
15. The Psalms of the “Blameless” (Psalm 118)	p. 24
16. Why the Creed is Recited Morning and Evening	p. 24
Matins (Orthros)
17. The Service of Matins: Firstly, the Significance of the Opening of the Sanctuary Doors, the Entrance and the Censing	p. 26
18. The Nine Canticles (Odes Which Are Sung in the Kanons)	p. 31
19. The Kathismata (Session Hymns)	p. 32
20. The Kontakion and Ikos	p. 32
21. The Exaposteilarion, the Lauds Psalms (Ainoi) and the Great Doxology	p. 33
22. The Trisagion Hymn	p. 34
23. The Meaning of the Thrice-Holy: Holy, Holy, Holy, etc.	p. 35
24. The Explanation of the Trisagion: Holy God, and Mighty, Holy Immortal, Have Mercy on Us	p. 35
25. Against Peter the Fuller	p. 36
26. The Trisagion and the Second Interpretation of the Prayer “Our Father”	p. 37
27. The “Glory be to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,” and by Whom it Was Composed	p. 37
28. A Brief Exposition of the Most Holy Prayer “Our Father”	p. 38
29. Why We Request Mercy in the Prayers and Before Each Service	p. 42
30. The Significance of “Wisdom” and “Let Us Attend,” and “Wisdom, Be Upstanding”	p. 43
31. The Prayer of the Dismissal	p. 45
Hours and Typika
32. First Hour (Prime)	p. 45
33. Why at Each Hour and Other Services there Is a Forty-fold “Lord, Have Mercy”	p. 46
34. The Other Hours - Third, Sixth and Ninth - with the First Hour	p. 47
35. The Psalms of the Third, Sixth and Ninth Hours	p. 47
36. We are Well-advised to Complete All the Services at Three Times in Honor of the Holy Trinity and to Avoid Carelessness	p. 49
37. The Service Called the “Typika”	p. 50
38. A Short Explanation of the Beatitudes of the Savior	p. 50
Vespers
39. Three Services Begin at the Sanctuary and End there: Matins, the Holy Liturgy, and Vespers	p. 51
40. The First Three Psalms of the Psalter Refer Primarily to the Lord	p. 52
41. The Significance of the Entrance at Vespers and the Priest’s Bowing, Rising and Going Up into the Sanctuary	p. 58
42. Why the Entrance Is Performed More Solemnly on Saturday Evenings and on Other Feasts of Our Lord and the Saints	p. 59
43. The Significance of the Entrance at Matins	p. 59
44. On Sundays the Matins Entrance is Performed in the Monasteries as a Type of the Resurrection	p. 60
45. The Significance of the Prokeimena Sung Each Day	p. 60
46. The Extended Litany and the Petitions, Which Are Most Necessary	p. 62
47. The Lite in the Narthex and Other Processions	p. 63
48. The Finals Prayers of the Lite	p. 65
49. Why Lights Are Always Carried in Front	p. 65
50. The So-called Artoklasia (Breaking of the Bread)	p. 67
Compline (Apodeipnon)
51. The Service of Compline (Apodeipnon)	p. 68
The Cathedral Rite (Asmatic Service)
52. The General Norms Should Be Maintained	p. 69
53. The Ordinances and Prescriptions of the Church and the Service Called “Asmatic”	p. 71
54. Asmatic Vespers	p. 71
55. The Significance of the Silent Censing Before Vespers and Matins	p. 71
56. The Tree “Small Antiphons” in Asmatic Vespers	p. 76
57. Asmatic Matins	p. 79
58. The Prayers Recited in the Narthex, the Censing there and the Entry: What these Signify	p. 82
59. The 50th Psalm	p. 85
The Liturgy of the Presanctified and Other Lenten Rites
60. Trithekte During the Fasts and the Liturgy of the Presanctified	p. 88
61. Why the Processional Litanies Take Place Outside and the Crosses and Holy Icons Are Carried Around Them	p. 91
62. Why there Are Lights at the Proverbs Lection at Vespers and the Significance of “the Light of Christ Shines Upon All”	p. 93
63. We Must Prostrate Ourselves Completely at the Entrance of the Presanctified	p. 94
64. The Pannychis During the First Week of Holy Lent	p. 94
The Bread of the Panagia
65. The Holy Bread of the Panagia Which Is Elevated	p. 96
66. Orderliness at the Dining of Monks and the Prayers	p. 98
67. The Elevation of the Bread of Our All-Holy Lady (Panagia)	p. 98
Index	p. 103

Product Description

Paperback:	104 Pages
Publisher:	Holy Cross Orthodox Press
ISBN:	978-0-917653-05-6