Distraction During the Divine Liturgy
Distraction During the Divine Liturgy
Question
I often find my mind distracted while attending the prayers of the Divine Liturgy, to the point that I leave without benefit. I may even refrain from attending the Liturgy, for fear of becoming distracted during it and falling under judgment. I am confused. What are the reasons for this? And please tell me what I should do.
Answer
*You are supposed to attend the Liturgy with your heart, and not with your body only.
If you came to the Liturgy with joy, longing for it, considering it to be the holiest of all the prayers in the Church, you would receive its prayers with responsiveness and rejoice in them…
For this reason, there must be spiritual preparation before the Liturgy.
The Church prepares for this through the Raising of Incense at Vespers and the Raising of Incense at Matins, with all that they contain of Holy Scripture readings, meditations, lifting the mind to God, and the absolution of the believers. The Church also prepares through the Midnight Praise and the Midnight Office before the Raising of Incense at Matins.
It also prepares for the Liturgy of the Faithful, in which Holy Communion is received, by means of the Liturgy of the Catechumens. In it there are readings from the Pauline Epistles, the Catholic Epistles, and the Book of Acts, together with a Psalm and a passage from the Gospel, the commemoration of the saints of the day from the Synaxarium, the Raising of Incense, and a sermon. All this is to prepare the mind and the heart for attending the Liturgy, together with the absolution… So, do you prepare your mind through all of this?!
Also prepare your thoughts spiritually while you are on your way to the church.
Do not occupy your mind on the way with worldly or material conversations with relatives or friends, lest these matters remain in your mind during the Liturgy.
In ancient times, they chanted the Psalms as they went up to the Temple, and these were called the Songs of Ascents. Do you chant these Psalms, or others, on your way to church? Such as: “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go into the house of the Lord” (Psalm 122:1), “Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; they will still be praising You” (Psalm 84:4), or “But as for me, in the multitude of Your mercy I will come into Your house; in fear of You I will worship toward Your holy temple” (Psalm 5:7), or any other prayers.
Beware of entering the house of God while your mind is filled with worldly matters from which you have not yet become free, so that you think about them during the Liturgy!
*It is possible that Satan fears your spiritual benefit during the Liturgy, and therefore fights you with thoughts…
Do not surrender to his thoughts or continue in them. Rather, as the Apostle says: “Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world” (1 Peter 5:9).
You are supposed to overcome Satan’s warfare and not open the doors of your mind to him, but to stop the distraction.
*Be confident that even if you come only for Holy Communion, this is a great blessing.
Therefore, do not refrain from going to church because of distraction, for refraining from it also means refraining from the blessing of Holy Communion and the Holy Mystery, which “is given for our salvation, the forgiveness of sins, and eternal life to those who partake of it” (John 6:54).
*Therefore, we advise you as follows:
1- Make a portion of the prayers of the Divine Liturgy the subject of your meditation each week, so that this meditation accompanies you while attending the Liturgy.
2- If distraction is part of your nature, transform it into a holy distraction, that is, into meditation on what you hear in the prayers.
3- Try to listen to the prayers deeply and concentrate on them.
4- If distraction presses upon you, replace it with personal prayers, especially during the parts that you do not understand. In this way, your mind will remain connected to God, even if in another direction.
Therefore, try to understand, to meditate, to concentrate, and to pray.
When you begin to understand the Liturgy and to participate with the priest, leave your personal prayers and return to participation in the Liturgy, for which the Church has appointed the people’s responses during it.
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