www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology When do you make a metania?

Sundays mornings (not Lent), at what points during the liturgy do you make a metania? What is your personal practice or the practice of your parish?

In many of the Greek Orthodox churches I attend, metanoies are made by the individual right before receiving the Eucharist.

Also at Vespers, one metanoia after each:

Come, let us worship and fall down before the King, our God.
Come, let us worship and fall down before Christ the King, our God.
Come, let us worship and fall down before Christ himself, the King and our God.

Metanoies are also made in my tradition before venerating an icon.

Father, I am not sure if the tradition of the Orthodox and Eastern Catholics match in this respect but this is the Orthodox way.

Waist Bows. On Sundays (and Saturdays) only Waist Bows (poyasni poklon) are permitted. This means a bow from the waist with the back of the right hand touching the floor as a sign of humility. (Many people settle for the fingertips touching the floor and even this is not always possible for elderly folk.)

Full Bows. Known as Earth Bows or Prostrations (zemnoi poklon.) Much as you see in mosques. These are permitted on all days but NOT on Saturdays and Sundays. They involve knees on the floor and the forehead gently banging on the floor.

Whether daily liturgies use zemnoi poklon varies... but I've never seen them on Sundays.

Thank you for your responses.

At the back of the Jordanville Prayer Book, there is a chapter titled "How One Should Pray in Church [stmaryofegypt.org]." It includes a section titled "The Sign of the Cross with Bows From the Waist." May I presume that this signifies the little prostration (waist bow touching the ground)? On Sundays, would one substitute a little prostration for the full prostrations that are "prescribed" (or recommended)?

Yes. On Saturdays and Sundays. Saturday is the Sabbath, a holy day. Sunday is the day of the Resurrection. Full prostrations are forbidden on both days (by one of the Ecumenical Councils.)

On the Melkite tradition, as far as I know, little metanias are done during all the liturgy, and after the epiclesis is done a big one, even on Sunday (that isn't done in the period from Pascha to Pentecost).

A few weeks ago I was speaking to an Antiochian priest and long-time acquaintance. He shared that it had recently been brought to his attention that on Sundays his congregation was doing full prostrations at the Epiclesis. Apparently the congregation, without any instruction from him, started doing this sometime during the past two years. "How could you not know that they were prostrating themselves at the Epiclesis?" I asked. "Because I'm not looking at them during the Anaphora!"

In my parish, the congregation kneels during the epiclesis, except for the forty day period after Pascha.

Every Sunday being Pascha, we should stand to greet the Risen Lord.

In the local Bulgarian parish here in Roanoke, metanias are commonly made in the Divine Liturgy at the following points:

1) Trisagion
2) "Glory to Thee, O Lord, glory to Thee" (before before and after the gospel)
3) "This is my Body"
4) "This is my Blood of the New Testament"
5) "In the fear of the Lord"

Some also make a metania at:

6) "Holy things for the holy"

The Epiclesis is offered quietly, with the congregation singing the "We praise thee"; hence this moment of the consecration is not ritually marked by the congregation.

Are there other moments in the liturgy where a metania or full prostration is commonly offered?

AWESOME!

Fr. threatened some that if they didn't quit sitting in the very back, all the pews were coming out except for about six rows in the front. So they would either stand or sit up front.

Watching the video of the Divine Liturgy HB the Patriarch Gregorios III celebrated in the Basilica of St. Paulo Outside the Walls on a Thursday, I think, in Rome during his first visit to HH the Pope Benedict XVI, on May 2008 (Paschaltide, I think), it seems our Patriarch makes a prostration after epiclesis (about 3'20'': http://www.oltv.tv/id655.html ).

In my Ukrainian parish in England, almost no one performs the metania; I suspect this is partly because the building is a former Anglican church with pews, and so movement is thereby restricted. I have noticed at the Cathedral in London, however - where there is a higher number of recent immigrants - it is much more common, and performed when people enter church and head over to the icons to venerate them.

In Ukraine, on the other hand, in the non-Basilian parishes at least, I saw people doing the same thing as at the Cathedral in London as well as at the 'Amen' after the words of Institution and before approaching to receive the Body and Blood.

Yes, we are all aware of that, dear Stuart.

As has been discussed here through the years, ad nauseum, kneeling has been culturally adapted from the Western tradition in many Eastern places of worship in this country as a sign of great reverence, similar to the metanoia.

Regards,
Alice