Liturgy

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
"Liturgist" redirects here. For the academic discipline, see Liturgics.
For other uses, see Liturgy (disambiguation).
Liturgy in the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
Liturgy in the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

Liturgy is the customary public ritual of

sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembrance, supplication, or repentance. It forms a basis for establishing a relationship with God
.

Technically speaking, liturgy forms a subset of ritual. The word liturgy, sometimes equated in English as "service", refers to a formal ritual enacted by those who understand themselves to be participating in an action with the divine.

Benedictine Monks praying the Liturgy of the Hours

Etymology

The word liturgy (/lɪtərdʒi/), derived from the technical term in ancient Greek (Greek: λειτουργία), leitourgia, which means "work or service for the people" is a literal translation of the two affixes λήϊτος, "leitos", derived from the Attic form of λαός ("people, public"), and ἔργον, "ergon", meaning "work, service".

In origin, it signified the often expensive offerings wealthy Greeks made in service to the people, and thus to the

Panathenaic year."[3] Groups of rich citizens were assigned to subsidise civic amenities and even warships. Eventually, under the Roman Empire, such obligations, known to Romans as munera
, devolved into a competitive and ruinously expensive burden that was avoided when possible. Munera included a wide range of expenses having to do with civic infrastructure and amenities; festivals and games (ludi) and imperial obligations such as highway, bridge and aqueduct repair, supply of various raw materials, and feeding troops in transit.

Buddhism

Main article: Buddhist liturgy
Buddhist Liturgy
Buddhist liturgy

Buddhist liturgy is a formalized service of veneration and worship performed within a

Sangha in nearly every traditional denomination and sect in the Buddhist world. It is often done one or more times a day and can vary among the Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana
sects.

The liturgy mainly consists of

object or objects of veneration
and accompanied by offerings of light, incense, water, and food.

Christianity

Main article: Christian liturgy
Eastern Catholic Church in Prešov, Slovakia
Wedding ceremony inside the Kiuruvesi Church in Kiuruvesi, Finland

Frequently in

Quakers is liturgical, since the waiting itself until the Holy Spirit moves individuals to speak is a prescribed form of Quaker worship, sometimes referred to as "the liturgy of silence".[5] Typically in Christianity, however, the term "the liturgy" normally refers to a standardised order of events observed during a religious service, be it a sacramental service or a service of public prayer; usually the former is the referent. In the ancient tradition, sacramental liturgy especially is the participation of the people in the work of God, which is primarily the saving work of Jesus Christ; in this liturgy, Christ continues the work of redemption.[6]

The term "liturgy" in Greek literally means to "work for the people", but a better translation is "public service" or "public work", as made clear from the origin of the term as described above. The early Christians adopted the word to describe their principal act of worship, the Sunday service (referred to by various terms, including Holy Eucharist, Holy Communion, Mass or Divine Liturgy), which they considered to be a sacrifice. This service, liturgy, or ministry (from the Latin "ministerium") is a duty for Christians as a priestly people by their baptism into Christ and participation in His high priestly ministry. It is also God's ministry or service to the worshippers. It is a reciprocal service. As such, many Christian churches designate one person who participates in the worship service as the liturgist. The liturgist may read announcements, scriptures, and calls to worship, while the minister preaches the sermon, offers prayers, and blesses sacraments. The liturgist may be either an ordained minister or a lay person. The entire congregation participates in and offers the liturgy to God.

Islam

Main articles:
ṣalawāt, mawlid, and dhikr

Salāt ("prayer",

Arabic: صلاة ṣalāh or gen: ṣalāt; pl. صلوات ṣalawāt) is the practice of physical and compulsory prayer in Islam as opposed to dua, which is the Arabic word for supplication. Its importance for Muslims is indicated by its status as one of the Five Pillars of Islam
.

Salat is preceded by

puerperium stage after childbirth.[7]

Judaism

Main article:
Jewish liturgy

Jewish liturgy is the prayer recitations that form part of the observance of Rabbinic Judaism. These prayers, often with instructions and commentary, are found in the siddur, the traditional Jewish prayer book. In general, Jewish men are obligated to pray three times a day within specific time ranges (zmanim). while, according most modern Orthodox authorities, women are only required to pray once daily, as they are generally exempted from obligations that are time dependent. All public prayer requires a minyan, a quorum of 10 adults, to be present.

Traditionally, three prayer services are recited daily:

  1. Hebrew
    shachar or shahar (שַחָר) "morning light",
  2. Mincha or Minha (מִנְחָה), the afternoon prayers named for the flour offering that accompanied sacrifices at the Temple in Jerusalem,
  3. Arvit (עַרְבִית) or Maariv (מַעֲרִיב), from "nightfall".

Additional prayers:

See also

References

  1. ^ "liturgy". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.) - "2.a. A form of public worship, esp. in the Christian Church; a collection of formularies for the conduct of Divine service."
  2. ^ N. Lewis, "Leitourgia and related terms", Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies 3 (1960:175–84) and 6 (1965:226–30).
  3. ^ Finley, The Ancient Economy 2nd ed., 1985:151.
  4. ^ Underhill, E., Worship (London: Bradford and Dickens, 1938), pp. 3–19.
  5. ^ Dandelion, P., The Liturgies of Quakerism, Liturgy, Worship and Society Series (Aldershot, England and Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2005).
  6. ^ Catechism of the Catholic Church 1069 (London: Chapman, 1994).
  7. ^ Multicultural Handbook of Food, Nutrition and Dietetics, p. 43, Aruna Thaker, Arlene Barton, 2012

Further reading

External links

Library resources about
Liturgy
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