Eastern Orthodox worship in this article is distinguished from Eastern Orthodox prayer in that 'worship' refers to the activity of the Christian Church as a body offering up prayers to God while 'prayer' refers to the individual devotional traditions of the Orthodox. The worship of the Eastern Orthodox Church is viewed as the church's fundamental activity because the worship of God is the joining of man to God in prayer and that is the essential function of Christ's Church. The Eastern Orthodox view their church as being the living embodiment of Christ, through the grace of His Holy Spirit, in the people, clergy, monks and all other members of the church. Thus the church is viewed as the Body of Christ on earth which is perpetually unified with the Body of Christ in heaven through a common act of worship to God. This article deals first with the various characteristics of Orthodox worship, aside from its theological foundations as laid forth above, and then continues to give the services of worship themselves and their structure. Characteristics of Eastern Orthodox worship Physical 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. Orthodox worship therefore expresses this unity of earth and heaven in every possible way so that the earthly worshippers are continually reminded through all their senses of the heavenly state of the church. The particular methods for doing this are very far from arbitrary but have been passed down from the earliest periods in Christian history through what the Orthodox call "Holy Tradition". Sights Probably the most striking aspect of Orthodox worship is its visual characteristics. 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. Icons Icons are used to bring the worshippers into the presence of those who are in heaven, that is, Christ, the Saints, the Theotokos and the angels. The Orthodox believe these icons do more than visually remind the viewer of the fact that there are saints in heaven, they believe that these icons act as 'windows' into heaven through which we see those saints, Christ and the Theotokos. It is for this reason that God