Practical Handbook for Divine Services

The services and prayer texts of the Orthodox Church are ancient and inspirational, and this invaluable reference guides priests, deacons, servers, readers, and singers in the customs and practices of the church. Including serving the altar and offering worship services, the handbook explains to all laity who desire a further understanding of the church’s Typicon—the rule that governs how divine worship is offered—touching upon a variety of topics, including the Hours, Vespers, Vigil, Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, and the Presanctified Liturgy. Drawn from Russian resources, this guide also explores the differences found in Greek usage.

Gregory W. Woolfenden was a noted liturgical scholar who taught at Ripon College, Oxford, and at the Yale Theological Seminary in New Haven, Connecticut. Originally a priest of the Roman Catholic Church, he left that Church to join the Orthodox Church, where he served as a priest, first in the Russian Orthodox Diocese of Sourozh in the U.K. and later in the Ukranian Orthodox Church in the USA. At the time of his death in 2008, he was the parish priest of the Nativity of the Mother of God, Ukranian Orthodox Church in New Britain, Connecticut. He is the author of several books, including Daily Liturgical Prayer: Origins and Theology and Joyful Light.