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Greek Orthodox Catechism

Constantine Callinicos, London, 1926

Part III. Ceremonial, 36. Family Prayer

What is the form of prayer which, presupposing more than a single worshipper, ranks next above private prayer?

Family prayer, so called, because every morning and evening it unites the members of the family, that they may pray for each other, and ask from Heaven the divine blessing upon their home. To this little gathering are applicable the words of the Saviour:—“Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matt. xviii. 20); for, truly, Christ is present under the roof of every house, in which the dwellers invoke Him.

Does family prayer bear the sanction of Holy Scriptures?

Certainly it does. Noah, according to the Holy Scriptures, offered up a family thanksgiving for his salvation from the flood. Job called to him every morning his sons and daughters, and invoked on their behalf the mercy of God. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, surrounded by their children, and the children of their children, and by their servants, and the families of their servants, raised altars during their wandering life, and offered sacrifices. Tobias and Sarah prayed in their nuptial chamber. The Passover of the Old Testament was especially a festival of family worship. And the Christian Churches of the Apostolic age were “Churches at home,” i.e., family praying-places.

What are the advantages to be derived from family prayer?

Family prayer renews and spiritualises before God the love of husband and wife. It gives strength to parents to bear in patience the fatigue of bringing up their families. It cultivates in the plastic hearts of children the religious feeling, which is most easily encouraged in the home. It creates an atmosphere of moral fragrance, and, those who breathe it, less readily fail into bad words and acts. Finally, it prepares the members of the family for the fuller participation in public prayer.