Ad orientem, meaning "to the east" in Ecclesiastical Latin, is a phrase used to describe the eastward orientation of Christian prayer and Christian worship, comprising the preposition ad (toward) and oriens, participle of orior.
A 15th-century bishop celebrates Mass ad orientem, facing in the same direction as the people
Tridentine Mass, celebrated regularly ad orientem
A Christian cross hanging on the eastern wall of a modern house, indicating the eastward direction towards which prayer is focused
Eastern Orthodox Christian pilgrims making prostrations at Golgotha in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem
Christian prayer is an important activity in Christianity, and there are several different forms used for this practice.
A prie-dieu, which is used for private Christian prayer, situated in the room of a historic house.
Many devout Christians have a home altar at which they (and their family members) pray and read Christian devotional literature, sometimes while kneeling at a prie-dieu.
A page of Matthew, from Papyrus 1, c. 250
Priest reading from Holy Scripture in preparation for meditation and contemplative prayer