The word liturgy is of Greek origin and is translated as a common cause or public service. In ancient Athens, a liturgy was called a monetary service, which at first was voluntary, and then forcibly carried by the wealthy citizens of the city. Money was collected to equip warships, to maintain the choir in productions of Greek tragedies and to educational institutions (gymnasiums). Starting from the 2nd century AD, the liturgy loses its original meaning and becomes the main element of Christian worship.
In the Orthodox Church, the Divine Liturgy (otherwise called Mass) is the most important worship of the daily circle. If Vespers and Matins are prayers with chants, then the liturgy is the culmination of church service. It is always performed in the afternoon and is accompanied by reading chapters from the Bible, prayers and singing of psalms. And it ends with the main Christian sacrament - communion (Eucharist). According to church tradition, the procedure for the liturgy was established by Jesus Christ himself at the Last Supper. Now it is a ritual action that symbolically reflects the earthly life of Christ and enables believers to become participants in the New Testament events, to feel the sacrifice of Christ at Calvary and his Resurrection, which is perceived as the cleansing and rebirth of their own souls. Starting from the 4th century AD, two types of liturgy were strengthened in the Orthodox Church: the daily St. John Chrysostom and St. Basil the Great, which is performed only 10 times a year. Between themselves, they differ only in length. In the liturgy of St. Basil the Great, an expanded version of prayers and chants is used, so it is longer in time. The liturgy always begins with a proskomedia or symbolic preparation of the Holy Gifts (bread - prosphora - red wine) and traditionally takes place behind closed doors in the altar. The priest changes his clothes and washes his hands, then on the altar he cuts out parts of the five prosphora and fills the cup with wine. After that, he goes to the believers gathered in the church and the second stage of the action begins - the liturgy of the catechumens (or those who are ready to be baptized). This part is accompanied by the choral singing of psalms, the reading of the Gospel and the Apostle and the recitation of litanies (prayer petitions). The liturgy of the faithful follows, which is the illumination of the Holy Gifts (the transubstantiation of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ) and ends with the communion of clergy and all believers. During the liturgy of the faithful, prayer petitions are also read and choral chants are performed. Until the 17th century, liturgical music was based on various chants, and from the end of the 17th century polyphony was used. Many famous Russian composers turned to church music in their work and created cycles of liturgical chants. The most famous liturgies of St. John Chrysostom P.I. Tchaikovsky and S.V. Rachmaninov. In the Catholic and Protestant churches of the Orthodox liturgy, there is a mass. And since the 16th century, in Catholic theology literature, the term "liturgy" refers to all church services and ceremonies.
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