It
is important to know that sitting and the subsequent filling of
church buildings with pews is a Protestant innovation. After the
Protestant Reformation the focus of church service, for Protestants, moved from
being worship orientated to lecture orientated, in the form of long
sermons. Thus, the focus shifted from standing and worshiping to
sitting and listening. Sadly, many Orthodox Churches are packed with
pews, which present the Protestant ethos of observation rather than
the Christian ethos of active participation in worship.
“In
order to express to God our reverence before Him and our worship of
Him, during prayer we stand, and do not sit; only the sick and
elderly are allowed to pray sitting down.
Standing
while at prayer is an ancient and God-ordained tradition. In Old
Testament times, the congregation of Israel stood in the Temple (Neh.
9:4-5; 8:7, II Chron. 20:5,13), the Saints stand in heaven before the
Throne of God (Is. 6:2; I Kings 22:19; Dan. 7:10; Rev. 7:11), and
even Jesus Christ Himself said, When ye stand praying (Mk. 9:25).
Therefore Christians, according to the apostolic teaching, stand
through the Divine Services, where it is often proclaimed: 'Let us
stand aright.'
In
recognizing our sinfulness and unworthiness before God, and as a sign
of our humility, we make bows during our prayers. There are bows from
the waist, when we bow from the waist, and to the ground, when we bow
down on our knees and touch our head to the ground (a prostration).”
From The Law of God.
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