Liturgy and structured-prayer

[Yosef-Firstborn]

Hello

This is more relevant for some denominations than others, but I've heard of Catholic and Eastern Orthodox liturgy being rather well-structured. In this way, they are more similar to Jewish services than, say, Baptists or Pentecostals, who I sense are wary of strictly-defined liturgy.

Are these prayers the same ones each week? Is there a "schedule", that some are only said at certain times of the day/week/year? In Jewish services, certain prayers are only for the morning, but not the afternoon. Some are for the Sabbath, and some are for the weekday, and some are both. Etc.

Just wondering how structured it can be in practice.

 

[Shiranui117]

Hello

This is more relevant for some denominations than others, but I've heard of Catholic and Eastern Orthodox liturgy being rather well-structured. In this way, they are more similar to Jewish services than, say, Baptists or Pentecostals, who I sense are wary of strictly-defined liturgy.

Are these prayers the same ones each week? Is there a "schedule", that some are only said at certain times of the day/week/year? In Jewish services, certain prayers are only for the morning, but not the afternoon. Some are for the Sabbath, and some are for the weekday, and some are both. Etc.

Just wondering how structured it can be in practice.

Yes, our Liturgies and prayer services are entirely standardized.
-We have set prayers for morning, noon and evening,and each of these times also has their own prayer service if we pray communally.
-We have different prayers and refrains if we have certain services on certain days of the week, kondakion and troparion (two types of hymns) change each day according to what Saints are being commemorated or which holy days are being celebrated.
-The Psalms we use in our prayers change depending on the day and the time of day.
-The blessings we have may change, again depending on whether it's a holy day or not, but they're all written down and standardized.

But there are certain things that always stay the same...
-For example, every single Orthodox prayer service, whether communally in the church or privately in our own homes, begin with the same exact set of prayers every time.
-And most of the various liturgical services and other prayer services remain the same, aside from the things that I mentioned which change with the day. They all retain the same basic format with the same fixed prayers otherwise.

It's nice to hear that we've retained a closeness to the Jewish roots of Christianity in this way!

 

[Glaurung]

This is more relevant for some denominations than others, but I've heard of Catholic and Eastern Orthodox liturgy being rather well-structured. In this way, they are more similar to Jewish services than, say, Baptists or Pentecostals, who I sense are wary of strictly-defined liturgy.

This is true. Catholic, Orthodox and what I'll call 'high church' Protestants all use standardized liturgies. There are also different rites within the church with different liturgies. The two big ones being the Latin and Eastern rites. There are also different forms of the liturgy within certain rites, especially in the Latin or Roman rite.

 

[Yosef-Firstborn]

Yes, our Liturgies and prayer services are entirely standardized.
-We have set prayers for morning, noon and evening,and each of these times also has their own prayer service if we pray communally.
-We have different prayers and refrains if we have certain services on certain days of the week, kondakion and troparion (two types of hymns) change each day according to what Saints are being commemorated or which holy days are being celebrated.
-The Psalms we use in our prayers change depending on the day and the time of day.
-The blessings we have may change, again depending on whether it's a holy day or not, but they're all written down and standardized.

But there are certain things that always stay the same...
-For example, every single Orthodox prayer service, whether communally in the church or privately in our own homes, begin with the same exact set of prayers every time.
-And most of the various liturgical services and other prayer services remain the same, aside from the things that I mentioned which change with the day. They all retain the same basic format with the same fixed prayers otherwise.

It's nice to hear that we've retained a closeness to the Jewish roots of Christianity in this way!

Neat! Yes, that sounds very familiar.