St. Spyridon year of Prayer

Prayer is the heartbeat of the Church. It is how we learn to stand before God, how our hearts are softened, healed, and slowly conformed to the life of Christ. This year, our parish will be entering into a focused, year-long initiative on prayer—not as a program to master, but as a way of life to be received.

In the Orthodox Church, prayer is not primarily about saying the right words, achieving certain feelings, or getting quick results. Prayer is communion. It is a relationship. It is the long, patient work of turning our attention back to God again and again, in the Church, in our homes, and in the ordinary moments of daily life.

Over the coming year, we will explore prayer as the Church has lived it: liturgical prayer, personal prayer, the Psalms, the Jesus Prayer, and the wisdom of the saints. Through sermons, classes, small groups, and practical guidance, we will seek not simply to talk about prayer, but to grow in it together.

My hope is simple: that each of us, wherever we are starting, will take one step closer to Christ—and learn, a little more deeply, what it means to pray without ceasing. (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

-Fr. Evan Armatas on the Year of Prayer