“God is Spirit”! The most important innovation that Christianity introduced into worship was to transform it and elevate it to its perfection, to “worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). But this does not mean that it is rational worship, separate from the body, without external signs and conditions. The spirit here does not mean the spirit of the person himself, but the Holy Spirit. Man worships with his whole being, spirit, soul and body (1 Thessalonians 5:23). When faith engulfs man, it moves his whole being. This is shown in external movements and relationships. There is no true worship without the body participating in the expression in one way or another.

The body, in Christianity, is not a prison for the soul, in which it moves and wants to be freed, so it is not a burden on the soul. The body is the tool of spiritual life. It plays an important role in all human relationships, apart from worship. In all aspects of life, the movements and postures of the body take the most important and apparent part of the spiritual and psychological expression of the human being. Bowing the head, raising the hand, or standing... all have their spiritual connotations. And these connotations are not only social or local expressions, but are the natural form of the spiritual and psychological life of the human being in its manifestations through the body. The human being is one indivisible entity. And the human being worships in spirit and truth through his body and soul, that is, with his entire being. Of course, external movements and appearances without the participation of the heart and mind appear invalid, and this is what Jesus called “mirror,” which is an absolutely rejected form of worship. But the existence of such a possibility does not negate the necessity of physical expressions and their ability to assist the heart in worship and their reality as a living existential expression.

“Come, let us worship and kneel before Christ our King and God,” is a phrase that is repeated at the openings of our rituals and during them. This is one of the forms of the body’s participation in worship, or in other words, it is one of the forms of expressing worship in spirit and truth.

“Prostration” is a way of expressing either worship of God or veneration of the saints. It is a human custom followed even outside of Christianity and religions in general. A person prostrates before those stronger than him out of mercy, or prostrates in thanks and gratitude. Slaves prostrate before their kings. Prostration is a profound expression of humility and respect, and the Bible is full of examples in both the Old and New Testaments. The sons of Jacob prostrated before their brother Joseph in Egypt. Jacob prostrated before his brother Esau seven times to the ground. This is why Paul proclaims Jesus Christ the crucified Lord, “at whose name every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth” (Philippians 2:9-11). The disciples prostrated before Christ when he appeared to them after his resurrection from the dead (Matthew 28:9 and 17; Luke 14:5). The Magi worshipped Jesus as a child (Matthew 2:2 and 11), offering Him the right to worship. The Book of Revelation tells us about that worship of the living God, the Almighty, who was, is and is to come, “Then the twenty-four elders fell down before him who sat on the throne and worshiped him who lives forever and ever. And they cast their crowns before the throne, saying, ‘You are worthy, O Lord, to receive honor and glory. ’” This is what the Apostle John did in his vision when he was about to worship the angel, “So I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, ‘See that you do not do it… worship God’” (Revelation 19:10).

““Every time we prostrate ourselves to the ground, we point out how sin brought us down to earth, and when we stand up, we acknowledge the mercy of God that raised us up and made for us a portion in heaven” (Saint Basil the Great). “Prostrate yourself in prayer and ask God with contrition to give you patience and control of thought.” “If thoughts cloud our thoughts during prayer and we feel bored, let us fall to the ground with our prayer book in our hands and implore while prostrating that God may give us the energy to complete our prayer.” “The virtues that are acquired by rest (without the participation of the body) ultimately become the share of the devil.” “The smell of the sweat of toil in prayer is sweeter to the Lord than the smell of incense,” says St. Isaac the Syrian.

Before every moment that requires special attention in prayer, the priest announces: Peace be upon you all, let us bow our heads to the Lord. Most prayers and supplications are said by the priest and the people with their necks bent. Many of the collective prayers are done with “bowed knees.” We have a special service on the day of Pentecost called the “Prostration” prayer. The position of supplication with bent knees is the position of supplication with intensity and fervor. We see this in the Apostle Peter: “He put them all out, and kneeling down, he prayed” (Acts 9:40). Likewise, when Paul said farewell to the Ephesians, “he kneeled down with them all and prayed.” And in his letters he says: “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ… that he may grant you to be strengthened with might through his Spirit in the inner man” (Ephesians 3:15). Man raises his hands to God in his fervent supplications, as the psalm says, “Unto you I stretch out my hands,” and this is often accompanied by kneeling and bowing the knees.

All these physical positions in worship are auxiliary practices that make the entire human being a participant in it. They add to the atmosphere of worship the most important condition in it, which is humility, and they gather the mind more and help it to comprehend the meanings of worship. Thus, worship becomes knowledgeable and moves away from the atmosphere of habit.

Saint Gregory the Theologian says about his holy sister: “Her knees became stiff from so much kneeling.” The book “The Garden of Monks” narrates that when one of the monks died, they entered his room and found the wooden floor in front of the icon carved from the many prostrations he performed.

That is why some of us sometimes find it strange to see some worshippers in church sitting throughout the prayers and rituals. Even stranger is the sight of a gentleman crossing his legs, or a lady in the summer shaking a hand fan. These scenes mean that these gentlemen and ladies are not “worshippers” but rather “spectators” of the ritual play. “Following it” as they follow a television screen.

When do we stand in Mass or prayers, and when do we sit? There is no general rule on this. But the concept is that we always stand in awe and reverence, bow our heads and prostrate ourselves, even if only by bowing in public worship, and perhaps to the ground in our individual worship. We sit only when we are tired. So when our prayers are long, we try to sit when reciting some prayers and stand most of the time, especially when reading the Bible or offering fervent supplications with the priest.

The basic criterion in worship is that it should be genuine, that is, with all the heart, soul and mind, and this also means with all our physical ability. A person sits in prayers when he is tired. He stands and prostrates with all his strength. The prevalence of the habit of sitting all the time in churches makes the mental aspect dominate prayer and makes us closer to attending a theater than to offering worship in the temple. The body longs for God in the language of the prophet David: “O God, my God… my soul thirsts for you, and my flesh longs for you greatly.”

From the perspective of this spiritual enthusiasm, there is a special sweet and warm impact to the words and calls of the priest or deacon in the church when he announces: “Let us bow our heads to the Lord,” or when the reader begins with: “Come, let us worship and kneel before Christ our King and God.” These bows and prostrations make our whole being pray and express its honor and worship of God in spirit and in truth—that is, deeply and from the whole being.

Amen