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Glory to Jesus Christ!

I know - at least I think I know - that the tradition of standing during prayer is older than kneeling and now that I gotten used to it I certainly feel no less reverent doing so.

However, the question lurking in the back of my mind is why standing during prayer ever got started when there are numerous references to kneeling if not outright prostration during prayer in Sacred Scripture.

Didn't our Lord Jesus Christ kneel in prayer before the Father in Gethsemane ?

Awaiting words of wisdom on this subject.

Glory to Him Forever !

Sam

Dear Byzantine Dad,
Christ is among us!

Standing is the ultimate sign of respect for God in prayer. It is also the sign of Resurrection in the Byzantine Church, which why it is used for Pascha, the 50 days, and every Sunday, for these are days of Resurrection!

Bowing and Prostrations are signs of abject penance. That is why they are most appropriate during the Great Fast and other Lenten Services and their Penantential expressions.

I hope this helps.
Fr. Vladimir

Tertulillian mentions this - "We consider it unlawful to fast, or to pray kneeling, upon the Lord's day [Sunday]; we enjoy the same liberty from Easter day to that of Pentecost."

Canon 20 of the Council of Nicea also applauded standing on Sundays as the preferred posture of prayer. Since the Fathers thought it efficacious to speak specifically about prayer posture, it must have certainly had significance.

Similarly that is why we stand for the Gospel, as we rise in the presence of our Lord, as we would in the presence of a king, an elder--any person of significance. We stand also for the Gospel as the Word is right before us, and because we consider ourselves to be entering into conversation with Jesus, who speaks to us as brothers and sharers with him in the Kingdom of his Father.

Christ has risen, and has the victory, and we greet Him accordingly, as the crowds lining the streets of Jerusalem for the Triumphant Entry. Every aspect of Byzantine worship has significance, and the physical rising of our bodies to stand is acknowledgement not only of the Rising of our Lord, but of our own faith that one day we too will rise with Him.

Tertulillian mentions this - "We consider it unlawful to fast, or to pray kneeling, upon the Lord's day [Sunday]; we enjoy the same liberty from Easter day to that of Pentecost."

Canon 20 of the Council of Nicea also applauded standing on Sundays as the preferred posture of prayer. Since the Fathers thought it efficacious to speak specifically about prayer posture, it must have certainly had significance.

Similarly that is why we stand for the Gospel, as we rise in the presence of our Lord, as we would in the presence of a king, an elder--any person of significance. We stand also for the Gospel as the Word is right before us, and because we consider ourselves to be entering into conversation with Jesus, who speaks to us as brothers and sharers with him in the Kingdom of his Father.

Christ has risen, and has the victory, and we greet Him accordingly, as the crowds lining the streets of Jerusalem for the Triumphant Entry. Every aspect of Byzantine worship has significance, and the physical rising of our bodies to stand in prayer is acknowledgement not only of the Rising of our Lord, but of our own faith that one day we too will rise with Him.

Dear Friend,

The Old Believers of Russia do not kneel at all, even during private prayer, but prefer to stand always in token of the Resurrection and our own in Christ.

They do make prostrations, both to the waist and to the floor, many, many times - so many times that they soon developed a common rule of prostrations during the Divine Liturgy and public prayer to avoid "prostration competitions" in public. They also fixed a rule about not "banging one's head to the floor" when making prostrations, so as to call other people's attention to oneself . . .

However, there is a tradition of kneeling in private prayer in the East and St Seraphim of Sarov is usually portrayed praying on his knees etc.

Also, on Pentecost Sunday, there are the "kneeling prayers" that are said in that position.

The Western practice of kneeling, even on Sundays, evolved from the secular practice of genuflecting before the king or other sovereign during the taking of the oath of allegiance.

This was a way to indicate one's submission to another's higher rank or absolute, royal rank.

The tradition evolved that one knelt on the left knee before a human sovereign, or a bishop, but on the right knee before God ie. before the Altar in Church.

The Western practice of bringing together of one's hands flat against each other was also derived from the secular act of formal submission.

Alex

Sam, If I may interject a thought to those most excellent answers?

Standing is the preferred posture even in out private prayer, but many of our prayer books intended for home use have the rubrics attached...they will state "Prostration" at appropriate places. If you are going to be following a set rule of prayer and are not certain what the rubrics should be, consult your spiritual father on this, and he will tell you whether any of the prayers in your daily rule of prayer are accompanied by prostrations. (One such example would be the Lenten Prayer of St. Ephraim, which calls for a prostration after each verse).

Gaudior, with humble bow