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The Divine Liturgy

"Thou shalt worship 
the Lord, thy God,
and Him only 
shalt thou serve." (Deut 6:13 & Matt. 4:10)

"Christianity is a liturgical religion. 
The Church is first of all 
a worshipping community." Fr. Georges Florovsky
(One Church, vol. XIII, p. 24) Volodymyr, Prince of Rus, sent out emissaries to find true religion.  They went east and west, north and south and found no faith until they arrived in Constantinople.  They returned to Kiev and reported to the Prince what they saw in the great Cathedral of Holy Wisdom. 

"They took us where they worshipped their God.  There we knew not whether we were in heaven or on earth, for surely there is no such beauty anywhere on earth.  We cannot describe it to you.

This much we do know, 
that there, God lives among men,
and we can never forget that
beauty..."

"Those who wish to know about Orthodoxy should not so much read books as follow the example of Volodymyr's retinue and attend the Liturgy.  As Christ said to Andrew, 'Come and see' (Jn. 1:39)." Abp. Kallistos of  Diokleia

The Eucharistic Service in our Tradition is called:

" The Divine Liturgy "

In our Church, there are 4 Divine Services of Holy Communion, named after the Saint to whom the Anaphora (or Eucharistic Prayer) is attributed.

Three of these are Eucharistic:

1. The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom.

The most common Anaphora, it is used on most Sundays, Feastdays, and week days.

2. The Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great.

This very special Liturgy is served 10 times per year:  during the Sundays of the Great Fast and on the Vigils of such as Pascha and Theophany.  St. Basil was the Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia.

3. The Divine Liturgy of St. James the Apostle and Brother of the Lord .

The most primitive of all the Eucharistic Liturgies of our Church, it is therefore the most similar in structure to the Anaphoras and Qurbanas of the ancient Oriental Orthodox Churches [rarely served in these latter days

The non Eucharistic Liturgy:

1. The Presanctified Liturgy of St. Gregory Dialogus.

St. Gregory was a Pope of  older Rome (better known in the Latin Church as St. Gregory the Great or Pope Gregory I ).  This Liturgy is a Communion Service held during the weekdays of the Great Fast, esp. Wednesdays, Fridays, and Monday to Wednesday of  Great Week.   As it is a non Eucharistic Communion service, the Holy Gifts to been distributed were reserved from the previous Sunday, where they had been sanctified at the Eucharistic Liturgy of St.  Basil.

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