Liturgy

Liturgyis the customary public ritual ofworshipperformed by a religious group.Liturgycan also be used to refer specifically to public worship byChristians.^[1]As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents acommunalresponse to and participation in thesacredthrough activities reflectingpraise,thanksgiving, remembrance,supplication,orrepentance.It forms a basis for establishing a relationship withGod.

Technically speaking, liturgy forms a subset ofritual.The wordliturgy,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 theLiturgy of the Hours

Etymology

The wordliturgy(/lɪtərdʒi/), derived from the technical term inancient Greek(Greek:λειτουργία),leitourgia,which means "work or service for the people" is a literal translation of the twoaffixesλήϊτος, "leitos", derived from theAtticform 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 thepolisand the state.^[2]Through theleitourgia,the rich carried a financial burden and were correspondingly rewarded with honours and prestige. Specificleitourgiawere assigned by thepolis,the State, and during Rome's domination, the Roman Imperial authorities as "gifts" to the state and the people. Their performance became obligatory in the course of the 3rd century AD, as a form of taxation. The holder of a Hellenicleitourgiawas not taxed a specific sum, but was assigned to subsidise a particular ritual, which could be performed with greater or lesser generosity or magnificence. The chief sphere remained that of civic religion, embodied in the festivals:M.I. Finleynotes "inDemosthenes' day there were at least 97 liturgical appointments in Athens for the festivals, rising to 118 in a (quadrennial)Panathenaic year."^[3]Groups of rich citizens were assigned to subsidise civic amenities and even warships. Eventually, under theRoman Empire,such obligations, known to Romans asmunera,devolved into a competitive and ruinously expensive burden that was avoided when possible.Muneraincluded 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

Buddhist liturgy is a formalized service of veneration and worship performed within aBuddhist Sanghain nearly every traditional denomination and sect in the Buddhist world. It is often done one or more times a day and can vary among theTheravada,Mahayana,andVajrayanasects.

The liturgy mainly consists ofchantingor reciting asutraor passages from asutras,amantra(especially in Vajrayana), and severalgathas.Depending on what practice the practitioner wishes to undertake, it can be done at a temple or at home. The liturgy is almost always performed in front of anobject or objects of venerationand accompanied by offerings of light, incense, water, and food.

Christianity

Frequently inChristianity,a distinction is made between "liturgical" and "non-liturgical" churches based on how elaborate or formal the worship; in this usage, churches whose services are unscripted or improvised are called "non-liturgical". Others object to this distinction, arguing that this terminology obscures the universality of public worship as a religious phenomenon.^[4]Thus, even theopenorwaitingworship ofQuakersis 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 asacramentalservice or a service of publicprayer;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 asacrifice.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. Historically, there was a Christian thought that stresses the idea of the entire liturgy being needed to transform the bread and wine into Eucharistic elements (seeEucharist). This may have been prevalent especially in Egypt.^[7]Usually, 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

Salāt( "prayer",Arabic:صلاةṣalāhorgen:ṣalāt;pl.صلواتṣalawāt) is the practice of physical and compulsory prayer inIslamas opposed todua,which is the Arabic word forsupplication.Its importance forMuslimsis indicated by its status as one of theFive Pillars of Islam.

Salat is preceded byritual ablutionand usually performed five times a day. It consists of the repetition of a unit called arakʿah(pl.rakaʿāt) consisting of prescribed actions and words. The number of obligatory (fard)rakaʿātvaries from two to four according to the time of day or other circumstances (such as Friday congregational worship, which has two rakats). Prayer is obligatory for all Muslims except those who areprepubescent,menstruating,or inpuerperiumstage after childbirth.^[8]

Judaism

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

Traditionally, three prayer services are recited daily:

ShacharitorShaharit(שַחֲרִת), from theHebrewshacharorshahar(שַחָר) "morning light",
MinchaorMinha(מִנְחָה), the afternoon prayers named for the flour offering that accompanied sacrifices at theTemple in Jerusalem,
Arvit(עַרְבִית) orMaariv(מַעֲרִיב), from "nightfall".

Additional prayers:

Musaf(מוּסָף, "additional" ) is traditionally recited onShabbat,majorJewish holidays(includingChol HaMoed), andRosh Chodesh.
A fifth prayer service,Ne'ila(נְעִילָה, "closing" ), is recited only onYom Kippur,the Day of Atonement.

References

^"liturgy".Oxford English Dictionary(Online ed.).Oxford University Press.(Subscription orparticipating institution membershiprequired.)- "2.a. A form of public worship, esp. in the Christian Church; a collection of formularies for the conduct of Divine service."
^N. Lewis, "Leitourgiaand related terms ",Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies3(1960:175–84) and6(1965:226–30).
^Finley,The Ancient Economy2nd ed., 1985:151.
^Underhill, E.,Worship(London: Bradford and Dickens, 1938), pp. 3–19.
^Dandelion, P.,The Liturgies of Quakerism,Liturgy, Worship and Society Series (Aldershot, England and Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2005).
^Catechism of the Catholic Church 1069 (London: Chapman, 1994).
^Zakhary, Beniamin (2024-09-19)."Moment or Process? Eucharistic Consecration and Epiclesis in Egyptian Thought: A Survey of Liturgical, Patristic, and Medieval Sources".The Journal of Theological Studies.doi:10.1093/jts/flae049.ISSN 0022-5185.
^Multicultural Handbook of Food, Nutrition and Dietetics,p. 43, Aruna Thaker, Arlene Barton, 2012

External links

Library resourcesabout
Liturgy

[1] "liturgy".Oxford English Dictionary(Online ed.).Oxford University Press.(Subscription orparticipating institution membershiprequired.)- "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, "Leitourgiaand related terms ",Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies3(1960:175–84) and6(1965:226–30).

[3] Finley,The Ancient Economy2nd 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] Zakhary, Beniamin (2024-09-19)."Moment or Process? Eucharistic Consecration and Epiclesis in Egyptian Thought: A Survey of Liturgical, Patristic, and Medieval Sources".The Journal of Theological Studies.doi:10.1093/jts/flae049.ISSN 0022-5185.

[8] Multicultural Handbook of Food, Nutrition and Dietetics,p. 43, Aruna Thaker, Arlene Barton, 2012

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