Liturgies

Liturgies are organized public rites of worship conducted within a faith tradition. The word liturgy comes from the Greek leitourgia, meaning a public service or the work of the people, and it denotes rites performed with communal participation and guidance by authorized leaders.

Common elements include an opening act or procession, scripture readings, a sermon or homily, responses and prayers, a sacramental rite (such as the Eucharist in Christian churches), and a dismissal or blessing. Much of liturgical practice is governed by rubrics and fixed texts, often contained in liturgical books such as the Roman Missal, the Book of Common Prayer, the Divine Liturgy in Orthodox churches, or the Liturgy of the Hours.

Liturgy varies across traditions. In Christianity, the major families include Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran, and Reformed rites, each with distinctive orders, language, and musical styles. Judaism also employs formal liturgical prayer across daily and festival cycles, summarized in the Siddur. In other faiths, ritual worship can be similarly structured, though the term liturgy is less universally used.

The liturgical year organizes worship around seasons, feasts, and fasts, such as Advent and Christmas, Lent and Easter in Western churches or Lent and Pascha in Eastern churches. Liturgical reform and ecumenical dialogue in the modern era have encouraged vernacular languages, active lay participation, and cross-tradition sharing of texts and melodies.

Purpose and impact: liturgies aim to sanctify time, commemorate sacred events, instruct the community in faith, and reinforce communal identity through shared ritual memory.