Personal Prayers

• Morning and Evening Prayers – Rites for keeping the Morning and Evening Prayers, as they are commonly read.
• Lenten Prayers – Special prayers employed during Great Lent, and during other lenten periods.

Reception of Holy Communion

• Before receiving Holy Communion, every Orthodox Christian is obliged to read the following preparatory rite:
  • The Order of Preparation for Holy Communion
• As is possible for those who are able, the following may also be read for a yet fuller preparation (these being read prior to the Order of Preparation; some read these one the eve of receiving the Mysteries, and the Order in the morning):
  • The Canons for Holy Communion (being the Supplicatory Canon to Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Canon to the Theotokos and the Canon to the Guardian Angel), preceded by the customary opening prayers and Psalm.
  • Into the Canons, between Odes 6 and 7, we insert one of the following Akathist hymns:
    • Akathist to the Sweetest Lord Jesus Christ, or
    • Akathist to the Theotokos, or
    • Or another Akathist Hymn, either to the saint of the day, or feast, etc.
• After receiving Holy Communion, all Christians read the following:
  • Prayers of Thanksgiving After Receiving Holy Communion

Akathist Hymns

• Akathist to the Sweetest Lord Jesus Christ
• Akathist to the Theotokos
• Akathist to the Theotokos ‘Joy of All Who Sorrow’
• Akathist to the Kursk-root Icon of the Theotokos (and a moleben; also in bilingual editions)