What is pious behavior in church? Simply, it is to keep watch over oneself in God’s presence. Whenever we visit someone we respect, we try to behave in a dignified way, even if the person isn’t always watching us. Shouldn’t we also behave like this in the house of God, Who not only sees us, but knows our every thought and feeling?
We must try to enter the church in a peaceful state of mind. Above the entrance to one very old church was written: “Peace be to you, whoever you may be, if with peace and a pure heart you enter into the sacred abode of Christ God.”
Our dress should be simple, modest and decent. It is right that we should want to wear our best clothes to church—we are visiting a King! They should also be clothes that befit a Christian. Women and girls wear skirts and dresses in church. The Apostle Paul commanded that men and boys may not have their heads covered with a hat or cap, but women and girls should wear a head-covering as a sign of the bright virtues of humility and chastity.
During the church services you should stand quiedy with your face towards the altar. Talking during the church services is improper. The Holy Fathers of the early Church felt that, unless a person is old or infirm, it is disrespectful to sit during the Divine Services, except during the reading of the Psalms, or other instructional Scriptures or readings.
It isn’t good to come to the service after it has already begun or to leave before it ends. Who of us, if invited to attend a banquet for a well-known person, would dare to arrive late or leave early? This is neither pleasing to God nor good for the soul, for, as St. Paul says, in church, all things should “be done decently and in order.”