Liturgy

Liturgy is the customary public worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activity reflecting praise, thanksgiving, supplication or repentance. It forms a basis for establishing a relationship with a divine agency, as well as with other participants in the liturgy. Technically speaking, liturgy forms a subset of ritual. The word liturgy, sometimes equated in English as "service", refers to a formal ritual, which may or may not be elaborate, enacted by those who understand themselves to be participating in an action with the divine; examples include the Eastern Orthodox Divine Liturgy (Greek: Θεία Λειτουργία), and the Catholic Mass. Not every religious ritual is a liturgy; a proper liturgy is a service to God and God's service to the performers of it, a mutual ministry (service) and a duty incumbent on the worshippers. A daily activity such as the Muslim salah and Jewish synagogue services would be ritual but not liturgy.