As explained above, the Orthodox draw no distinction between the Body of Christ in heaven and that on earth, viewing both parts of the church as inseparable and in continuous worship together of God.
These are many and varied, always conveying in the most striking colors and shapes possible the various phases and moods of the church both as they change throughout the year and in individual services.
Here all the laity and choir stand (there are often few or no seats in the building) during worship; it is shaped rectangularly in the back, opening into two wings forming a cross towards the front.
Their most fundamental purpose however is, as everything in Orthodox worship, to aid in the edification and salvation of the worshippers by giving glory to God.
Processions are always led by a number of altar servers bearing candles, fans (ornamented discs with angelic visages represented), crosses, banners or other processional implements relative to the occasion.
(see Dikri and Trikri) The Eastern Orthodox Church traditionally does not use any instruments in the liturgy, instead relying entirely on choral music and chanting.
Essentially all the words of Orthodox services, except sermons and such, are either chanted or sung by readers and choirs and when possible the congregations.
The notes and rhythms used vary according to what the occasion is, but generally chanting is relatively low-toned and steadily rhythmic creating a calming sound.
Chanting not only is conducive to a calm and elevated state of mind but also allows chanters to read through large portions of texts (particularly Psalms) more clearly and quickly than possible with normal speech while also conveying the poetry in the words.
Singing is as varied and multi-faceted in its forms as chanting and vestments, it changes with the church 'seasons' of commemoration thus singing during Great Lent is always somber and during Holy Week nearly becomes a sorrowful dirge while during Pascha (Easter) and the Paschal season the notes are high and quick and as joyful as they were sad during Lent.
They are not used as musical instruments in the strict sense, that is, they are not used in conjunction with a choir and are not a part of the worship itself and are always positioned outside the church building.
This is done primarily through the use of incense, but it is not uncommon at certain times of the year to decorate the interior of Orthodox temples with aromatic flowers and herbs.
Incense in the Eastern Orthodox Church is burned at essentially every worship service usually multiple times.
This is done by swinging the censer forward and bringing it back sending a cloud of aromatic smoke towards the object being censed.
For instance, on the Great Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos there is a special "Blessing of Fragrant Herbage" which takes place after the Divine Liturgy.
For instance, at the Lenten presanctified liturgy during the Lord's Prayer all people, clergy and laity, prostrate or kneel.
In contrast, on Sundays and from Pascha to Pentecost, kneeling is prohibited in accordance with the First Council of Nicaea's decree "that prayer be made to God standing".
A prostration in the Orthodox tradition is the action in which a person makes the sign of the cross and, going to his knees, touches the floor with his head.
Even as Orthodox venerate and do reverence to icons and the church building as being physical objects filled with divine grace so too they greet one another.
Greetings between lay people of equal rank are done by the parties grasping one another's right hand and then kissing each other on both cheeks, the right first, then left and right again.
Blessings like this are also used during services to signify the approval of Christ and the Eastern Orthodox Church for some action a lower order person is going to do.
This Artos (capitalized because it symbolizes the Resurrected Jesus) is venerated by the faithful when they enter or leave the church during Bright Week.
Though it does not hold nearly as central a place theologically or in use, it is seen as a symbol of resurrection and rebirth because a grain of wheat must be buried in the earth, 'die' and then be 'born again' with new growth and life.
Because of this it is often seen in prayers for the dead; in the Greek and Russian tradition Koliva is a boiled wheat dish eaten at the end of a service for a deceased person.
Besides its use in Baptism, holy water, specially blessed by a priest, is used extensively for many sanctification purposes and is usually sprinkled on objects.
Also, as the rite evolved in sundry places, different customs arose; an essay on some of these has been written by Archbishop Basil Krivoshein and is posted on the web.
The sundry Canonical Hours are, in practice, grouped together into aggregates[note 16] so that there are three major times of prayer a day: Evening, Morning and Midday.
The Liturgy of the Faithful follows with the Cherubic Hymn which is sometimes done kneeling then there is the Great Entrance of the Eucharistic Gifts and procession.
After this prayer, the climax of the liturgy, the priest asks the Holy Spirit to consecrate the gifts and turn them into the Body and Blood of Christ.
In the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom the Axion Estin follows as: "It is truly meet to bless you, O Theotokos, ever-blessed and most pure, and the Mother of our God.