Orthodox Prayer Routine

From the beginning, the people of God in the Hebrew Bible are given His life-giving words in the Hebrew tongue. My Hebrew teacher, the Very Rev. Fr. Paul Nadim Tarazi, calls it a concocted tongue. All the more clever for having two moments (ancient and modern) of concoction! There is nothing like it under the Sun. And yet it came out of a specific milieu which shares some of its context.

Manuscript evidence of the Hebrew Bible comes to us in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Coptic, Syriac, and Ge’ez. Coptic is harder to pin down, but Greek and Latin are Indo-European languages that inherently carry ideological baggage in the form of a movement from abstraction to reality rather than grounded reality to abstraction as do the Semitic tongues Hebrew, Syriac, and Ge’ez. For example, sheol, or the place of the dead, was an actual physical site of burial for the recently departed, that was extended as an analogy for the afterlife. Whereas hades, may conjure the image of this guy in your head:

And yet, I still prefer hades to the ubiquitous and nuance-lacking usage of HELL for: sheol/hades and gehenna and tartarus. I have warned several English language teachers, preachers, and gospel singers. Sometimes my words fall on deaf ears. And some hear with ears that hear.

What is the role of Greek? Is it to transmit Hebraic thought and practice to Greek speakers and readers? Or is it to consider the Greek Philosophers as Equal-to-the-Prophets of the Hebrew Bible? Praytell the former and not the latter.

And yet, the Early Church always had these tensions and differences. It is difficult to preserve the teaching. But not impossible. Biblically speaking, there was the School of Alexandria and the School of Antioch. Both of which are the epicenters and sees of the Afroasiatic Orthodox Christian Communion which still stands today. Alexandria represents the Greeks. Antioch represents the Syriac. Alexandria the Gentile. And Antioch the Jew. How do we reconcile them in Christ Jesus? Read and reread Galatians, aloud.

Some scholars highlight these differences and say they are irreconcilable. Others try to handwave these differences into oblivion. I lean toward the former, but get my feet wet in the latter. Over time, these differences have evolved into Hesychasm and Semitic functionality. Hesychasm is far more dominant in the Greek Orthodox Communion, but Fr. Paul Tarazi is a prolific foil, along with all of his disciples. Here are a couple of American elite theorists you don’t oft see put together, to confirm my hope:

It does not take a majority to prevail ... but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.

-Samuel Adams

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

-Margaret Mead

In our Afroasiatic Orthodox Communion, we have Hesychasm and Semitic Functionality almost at a 50/50 parity throughout our history. It depends where you go. The Greater Syrian Desert is home to Semitic Functionality. Aksum is home to both, but leans heavy on Semitic Functionality. India is included in the Greater Syrian Desert, and to an extent, though Armenian is the only Indo-European language in the crew, so too is Armenia. Egypt is home to Hesychasm, with hints of Semitic functionality.

Some of this debate (hither surrounding theosis/deification) played out in the Arabic theology leaning His Holiness Pope Shenouda of blessed memory vs. the Greek theology leaning Fr. Matthew al-miskeen (The Poor). And still plays out in their spiritual children. One side calls the other Islamified. The other calls the other side foreign, and perhaps undercover Chalcedonians. It is a little silly. But the matter is a grave one. Notice, Arabic is a sister or at least a cousin to Hebrew, Syriac, and Ge’ez.

What is Hesychasm? It is epitomized in an interpretation of St. Paul’s call to:

pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

The interpretation goes that this is to be taken quite literally. And the beginner to advanced recommendation, in Greek circles, is to say the Jesus prayer. Lord Jesus Christ Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner. Or Jesus, have mercy on me a sinner. Or have mercy on me a sinner. Say this in your head, or under your breath, over and over and over again, all day long. Everyday. If you are alone, make the sign of the cross fully. If not, keep a cross in your pocket and repeatedly make the sign of the cross over it with your digits.

There was a time where I did this. An aunt gave me an equal on all sides Jerusalem Cross keychain that I did this on as frequently as I could whilst not actively engaged in school or work. Ethiopians use the Lord’s Prayer combined with Hail Mary in this way. Also, with the Praise of Mary. Also, by chanting the Liturgy of the Hours simultaneously with the Jaredian Hymnal, in different parts of the same parish.

The words of the prayers are correct. But there is a danger of failing to heed the word of the Lord, according to St. Matthew

“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites (pretenders). For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.

“Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. In this manner, therefore, pray:

Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. (6:5-13 NKJV)

These statements are Hebraic thoughts and practices expressed in Greek for a Greek speaking and reading audience. They have been translated into English for the same reason, and not to tickle the ears of the Anglo-Saxon! What is the Semitic Functionality interpretation? What would the School of Antioch do?

The Muslims are commanded to pray five times a day. Not biblically, but canonically, we are commanded to pray seven times a day. If seven times a day, everyday, you remember the Lord, thank Him, and make requests before his invisible throne of grace, I would say you are praying without ceasing. You are praying in every season under the Sun. In sickness and in health. In richness and in poverty. In doubt and in faith.

What should you say? Whilst there is always room for freestyle or informal prayer, your building blocks should always be the Psalms of David and the Lord’s Prayer. The Hail Mary is a beautiful thing used for corporate prayer and private piety, but even our Eucharistic Liturgy chants the Lord’s Prayer alone. Prayerfully reading aloud the Psalms of David allows you to flow seamlessly and spiritually through the full vicissitudes of human emotion. If you can chant them, even better!

At 6am, 9am, noon, 3pm, 6pm, 9pm, and midnight, or something close to it, use the Psalms and the Lord’s Prayer. The Greek liturgical rubric says

Thine own of Thine own, we offer to Thee

Narcissism on us reflects poorly. On God it is superlative beauty. Despotism on us is ugly. Copts and Ethiopians call God their despot. What words can we offer the Lord that he has not already uttered himself through the prophets and the apostles?

Paraphrasing St. Isaac the Syrian, of the East Syriac Communion, don’t bite off more than you can chew. Just pray till you get tired. If one day you read aloud ten psalms

If another you struggle to get through one sentence or even just one word

Keep at it. Keep running, walking, or crawling along the path. Unto eons of eons. Forever and ever. Till He comes again, to judge the quick (living) and the dead.

P.S.

-I still throw some “have mercy on me a sinner” prayers up. The Publican > the Pharisee.

-These are the verses the theosis advocates interpret incorrectly

Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

2 Peter 1:1-4 NKJV

the correct interpretation:

2 Peter builds off of Jude and canonizes Paul. 1-2 need no explanation as we have already encountered them many times before. “Glory and excellence”, I hope this is clear. Again, looking ahead, toward the glory. “partakers of the divine nature”, people make a big deal about that, regarding theosis, but this doesn’t make sense. Remember, the vision of God, blessed are the pure hearts, because they will see God. See means, to be in His presence, facing his countenance, and not His ire. In other words, you go to him, in a situation, beyond the judgement, that you have succeeded. It is like when you say, “I want to make an appointment to see someone.” Meaning, being in his presence. But not His thronal presence of judgement, but His thronal presence of fellowship at the table. And the word here which is partakers is again friends, koinonia. A word, in a certain literature, when it has a connotation, you cannot force it in a different direction. In other words, we would be sitting in the divine council, in the divine room.

-Fr. Paul Tarazi, Orthodox Audio Bible Commentary: The New Testament Audio