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Greek Orthodox Catechism
Constantine Callinicos, London, 1926
Part III. Ceremonial, 37. Public Prayer
And what is public prayer?
Public prayer is the most elaborate form of prayer, whether we consider the number of participants or the power of their united petition; for in it, not merely one individual or a few members of the same family, but hundreds and thousands of those, who profess the same Creed, are gathered together in order to manifest by words, psalms, sermons and magnificent Service their dependence on one Common Father in Heaven, and to offer up supplications, thanksgivings and blessings to Him. Here prayer assumes both as regards the number of worshippers and as regards essential quality, its most imposing expression, and becomes synonymous with the divine Worship in the fullest meaning of those words.;
Enumerate the advantages of public prayer.
Leaving aside the general advantages, which are the fruits of prayer in general, public prayer, taken as public prayer, promotes humanity, brotherhood and moral equality; it stirs up souls that are sluggish by communion with actively pious people; it constructs a proper environment, even the smallest detail in which raises the mind to higher spheres; it gathers together the faithful to hear the divine Word expounded by tried and regular interpreters; it sanctifies the members of the congregation by the impressive celebration of the Holy Sacraments; it connects the living with those who have departed, the Church Militant with the Church Triumphant; it affords us a picture of the body of Christ; and, finally, it widens our views and enlarges our hearts as does no other earthly institution.
What about the words of Christ:-“Thou, when thou prayest, enter into thine inner chamber, and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret.” (Matt. vi. 6.) Are they not opposed to public prayer?
No; they are not opposed to public prayer. Our Lord in the above mentioned words does not prohibit public prayer and worship, as if private prayer were alone sufficient; but He strikes at the hypocritical behaviour of some of His contemporaries, who, seeking in an ostentatious manner the praises of men, used to recite their private prayers at the corners of the streets and at the entrances to the Synagogues,“that they may be seen of men.” There is nothing, then, in this recommendation of Christ against public prayer, except a condemnation of petty motives which degraded private prayer into a theatrical act. But, that Christ always considered public prayer as obligatory and most useful, He proved it throughout the whole of His earthly life of thirty-three years: during which He never neglected any great festival of His nation, frequently undertaking a long journey to Jerusalem, in order to pray publicly with His fellow countrymen, having begun such pilgrimages from the time when He was twelve years old. And if He travelled for days, and at such a tender age, from one end of Palestine to the other, in order to take part in the public worship of the metropolis, how much more shall we not follow His example, for whom the place of worship is only a few steps away?