A divine service is not a pleasant concert, it is a prayerful effort. After the Fall, everything good is difficult for a person, and the divine service is no exception to this general rule.
– When people say that a physically fit person nowadays can’t stand for two hours, as they used to in Byzantium where people ostensibly were more robust, we can look at it differently. If we are so feeble, it makes sense to pay attention to our physical condition, rather than justify our godlessness with it.
– It is difficult even for a healthy person to stand through the entire service if he does not understand much. Print out or buy a book with the text and explanation of the divine service, and you will see how much easier it becomes to follow the divine service.
– There are also spiritual reasons for feeling bad during worship, e. g., unconfessed sins and disorderly spiritual life.
– Try to find a church in your neighborhood, as close to your house as possible. It may not be difficult to travel to a remote church sometimes, but doing so regularly can be problematic.
– It may be difficult for a sick or elderly person to stand upright in the purely physical sense, especially if that person is a newcomer. There are benches or pews in churches for such persons. If there are no benches, ask the church staff to bring a chair. As a last resort, bring your own folding stool. St. Philaret of Moscow put it well about our physical weakness: “It is better to be sitting and thinking about God than to be standing and thinking about your aching feet.”
