Liturgy & Worship
Our liturgical tradition and forms of worship.
"We have seen the true Light, we have received the heavenly Spirit; we have found the true Faith, worshiping the undivided Trinity: for He has saved us."
The Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom
The Meaning of the Liturgy
When Moses led the people of Israel out of Egypt, he was given a very explicit set of instructions on how they were to worship the God who freed them. These instructions were revealed by God on Mount Sinai and are found in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy in the Old Testament. From this beginning arose the complex liturgical Temple worship of ancient Israel.
In the New Testament, we find that Jesus' disciples, who were all Jewish, at first continued to worship in the Temple and afterwards gathered at a private home to celebrate the particularly Christian "breaking of bread," the Holy Eucharist.
Early Christian Worship
Christian life at that time is described in the Book of Acts as continuing "steadfastly in the apostle's doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers." Christians would "break bread" on the first day of the week, the day the Lord had risen from the dead.
Christians came to see their worship as the legitimate maturation of the worship given to Moses, supplanting the cult of the Temple in Jerusalem. Inasmuch as Christ had established a better covenant between God and the fallen world, He obtained for us "a more excellent liturgy": "For if [Jesus] were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law (i.e., the Jewish priests in Jerusalem); who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, 'See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.' But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry (leitourgias, or "liturgy" in English), inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises."
Heavenly Worship
Like the worship given to Moses, which as we read above was "a copy and shadow of the heavenly things," Christians also saw their liturgical worship as mirroring the worship of the heavenly hosts. As Saint Germanus, the eighth century Patriarch of Constantinople, would later put it, "The church is an earthly heaven in which the super-celestial God dwells and walks about."
The Etymology of Liturgy
The word "liturgy" is a contraction of two Greek words, the word lakos meaning "common," as in "belonging to the people," and the word ergon, meaning "work." Thus "liturgy" refers to the work of the common people in praising God. In this work, the bishop or priest presides as an image, or icon, of Jesus Christ, conducting the worship along with the Faithful. In the words of Saint Ignatius, the third bishop of Antioch who was martyred around A.D. 110, "Wherever the bishop appears let the congregation also be present; just as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the catholic (Greek: the "whole") Church."
Biblical Foundation
The word "liturgy" is routinely used in the New Testament, and is used as well in the Greek translation of the Old Testament known as the Septuagint (made in Alexandria).
Key Elements of Orthodox Liturgy
Holy Qurbana
The Divine Liturgy - the central act of worship
Liturgical Music
Traditional Syriac chant and hymns
Feast and Festivals
Celebration of saints and holy days
Liturgical Seasons
The Church calendar and liturgical year
Sacraments
The seven holy mysteries of the Church
West Syrian Worship
Traditional Antiochian liturgical practices
The Purpose of Liturgy
The Orthodox liturgy is not merely a ceremony or ritual, but a participation in the eternal worship of heaven. Through the liturgy, we join with the angels and saints in praising God, and we receive the grace and blessings of the Holy Spirit. The liturgy transforms us and brings us closer to God, making us partakers of the divine nature.