“A psalm is a city of refuge from the demons, a means of inducing help from the angels, a weapon in fears by night, a rest from toils by day, a safeguard for infants, an adornment for those at the height of their vigor, a consolation for the elders, a most fitting ornament for women.” -St. Basil the Great

It’s that time again! Time to start organizing our beloved Psalter Groups--yaaaaay!!

For those of you not familiar with these groups, here’s a brief rundown: 

The Psalter is the book of Psalms divided into twenty sections called kathisma (singular) or kathismata (plural).

Groups are comprised of twenty people, each being assigned a different kathisma. For example, on Day 1 of 40, I’ll read kathisma 1, you’ll read 2, Maria will read 3, and so on. The entire Psalter gets read each day by each group! By the end of the 40 days, we’ll each have read the entire thing twice personally as well! How awesome is that?! 

Many of our saints, including the greats like St. John Chrysostom and St. Basil have written extensively on the importance of daily Psalter reading. (There are several excerpts in Songs of Praise.) These groups are a wonderful way to make praying the psalms part of our daily routine, not just during fasting periods, but year round. It’s such an incredible feeling knowing you’re praying along with other Orthodox faithful all over the world.

So if you’re interested in joining us, please leave YOUR BAPTISMAL NAME and EMAIL ADDRESS in the comments. Leaving both helps me differentiate between others with the same name. In the world your name might not be common but in Orthodoxy there are a hundred different Xenia’s and Magdalene’s lol, so having an email to tell you apart is extremely important. 

This means, don’t just enter your email when signing in to comment, but actually type it into the body of the comment. 

I CANNOT KEEP GOING BACK TO FIGURE OUT WHO IS WHO IF EMAILS ARE NOT LEFT IN THE PROPER PLACE. Doing that takes me HOURS because I have to click on each post, go into the actual admin section to verify email addresses and figure out who was who. It may not seem like a big deal on your end, but it makes organizing so many names extremely difficult on my end. SO, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, make sure you leave your email address (or last name, nickname, or something to differentiate who is who) with your Baptismal name in the body of the comment section.

I’ll have everyone’s assigned readings up sometime on Monday. If you come across this post late, not to worry, just go to the Psalter Group Assignments {Great Lent 2022} and add your info and I’ll get you into a group! It’s never too late to join in!

If you haven’t seen the book I published with Ancient Faith Publishing, SONGS OF PRAISE: A Psalter Devotional for Orthodox Women, click here. 

SONGS OF PRAISE is a 384-page devotional that includes the entire Psalter with extra-wide margins for journaling and notetaking.

Inside you’ll find:

• Writings from various saints on the benefits of Psalter reading.

• Prayers before reading.

• A reflection on each of the twenty kathismata on topics relating to Orthodox women today, along with some of my favorite quotes from some of my favorite saints.

• Extra journaling pages after each reflection.

• An index on how the psalms can be prayed for various needs as used by St. Athanasios.

Click for a Songs of Praise Flip Thru.

My hope and prayer for this book is that it will become a place women look forward to spending time in each and every day and that instead of seeking comfort in the things offered by the world, we’ll find it in the sweet words of the Prophet David. Because, even though my name is on the cover of the book, it’s not really mine. It’s his. 

NOTE: You don’t need SONGS OF PRAISE to participate in the Psalter Groups! Any version of the Psalter or book of Psalms in your Bible are all you need. 

You may also want to check out this video to learn more about the groups, how they work, and why they're so important!