Search results for Liturgy

591. Holy Thursday Morning Vesperal Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil

We all know that in the Orthodox Church the Divine Liturgy is always a celebration, not allowed on the penitential weekdays of the Great Lenten Fast. We also know that Holy Week is...

585. Holy Monday Morning: Vesperal Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts

The Divine Liturgy is always a festival event. Therefore on the penitential weekdays of Lent and also on the ordinary weekdays of Holy Week, there is no celebration of the full Div...

596. Holy Saturday Morning: First Divine Liturgy of the Resurrection

Brothers and sisters, there is a whole lot going on this morning, so pay attention. This Liturgy begins as a celebration of Christ’s victory over Satan and death “down below”, and...

Pope Leo XIV calls the liturgy the “driving force of evangelization” and urges priests to respect liturgical texts and n...

The Pope’s General Audience, May 27, 2026, on Tradition and Reform in the Liturgy The post Pope Leo XIV calls the liturgy the “driving force of evangelization” and urges priests to...

The Liturgical Life of the Garden: Prayerful Wisdom in the Seasons

There is a homily in the garden, if we still ourselves enough to hear it. It is the kind not preached with words, but received in the rhythms of sowing and reaping, in the new grow...

Pope Leo XIV announces that he will speak regularly on the liturgy: and this is his first address

General Audience with the Pope, May 20, 2026, on the first document promulgated by the Second Vatican Council, on the Sacred Liturgy The post Pope Leo XIV announces that he will sp...

Holy Week’s enduring customs and rituals

Greek Orthodox Easter’s liturgical cycle begins with the Great Lent (or “Sarakosti”), a period defined by a 40-day fast and both physical and spiritual preparation for the Resurrec...

597. Holy Saturday Midnight: The Great Paschal Service: Paschal Matins and Divine Liturgy

GREAT AND HOLY PASCHA!   Christ is risen! Truly he is risen! Father Alexander Schmemann called our Orthodox Paschal celebration “an explosion of joy”. I’ll say little: words are in...

Questions about liturgy: On Blessings

Answered by Legionary of Christ Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy and sacramental theology at the Pontifical Regina Apostolorum university. The post Questions about litu...

583. Palm Sunday Divine Liturgy

Introduction Yesterday we celebrated the raising of Lazarus which was, as we sang, the “prefiguring of the General Resurrection”, when all mankind will be raised from death. “Those...

New liturgical handbook illuminates the heart of Orthodox worship: “The Divine Services of the Orthodox Church with Comm...

A groundbreaking new resource for Eastern Orthodox Christians has been published, offering clergy, laity, and inquirers an in-depth yet accessible guide to the Orthodox Church’s di...

ROME 26/3– Day 09: Wednesday in Holy Week

Tonight during Tenebrae we sang: Tuus est dies, et tua est nox: * tu fabricátus es auróram et solem. Tu fecísti omnes términos terræ: * æstátem et ver tu plasmásti ea. The Lord’s S...

581. Lazarus Saturday Morning Divine Liturgy

Orthodox Holy Week Now we begin our twice-daily commentaries on the services and themes of Holy Week and Pascha – based on talks I gave at these services during the twenty-five yea...

Questions about liturgy: Incense Boat in a Procession

Answered by Legionary of Christ Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy and sacramental theology at the Pontifical Regina Apostolorum university. The post Questions about litu...

WDTPRS – 5th Sunday after Easter (V.O.): Liturgical goop. Wherein Fr. Z rants.

I am going to drag you – again – through my standard and sustained rant about liturgy, punctuated by Latin vocabulary and Neoplatonism. Consider this a different sort of “food post...

ROME 26/5– Day 61: initial notes on the encyclical

Liturgically busy day, just as it was in life.  I’m getting behind.  By the end of the day, I’m…. ugh. The Roman sun rose at 5:39. The Roman sun set at 20: 36. In the Curia the Ave...

589. Holy Wednesday Morning Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts

In case you’ve tuned in late to this series: These posts are “repeats” (with a little reworking each year) of my Holy Week posts from past years – which are based on talks I gave f...

594. Holy Friday afternoon: Vespers of Holy Saturday: “Taking down from the Cross”

At last! a Holy Week service that is “in sync” with the time of day and doesn’t go on forever! Beginning with last night’s Procession of the Cross of Christ and continuing through...

595. Holy Friday night: Matins of Holy Saturday: the “Lamentations Service”

    Please get to church tonight. If you cannot, please try to find yourself a way to worship live-stream. This is much too beautiful to miss – my favorite service of the year. Is...

587. Holy Tuesday Morning: Vesperal Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts

Kievan chant, sung by “Archangel Voices” Troparion/Apolytikion of Bridegroom Matins Alleluia. Behold, the Bridegroom comes at midnight, and blessed is that servant whom He shall fi...

Vestment Instruction from The World’s Best Sacristan™

Gathered and sent

Each year we gather in our worshiping communities and exclaim with Christians around the world: “Alleluia! Christ is risen. Christ is risen, indeed. Alleluia!” Many of us set aside...

590. Holy Wednesday Night: 1) Matins for Wednesday Morning. 2) Holy Unction.

Note that we’re still on our Holy Week “topsy-turvy” schedule, always “anticipating” the next appointed service.    Above: This is how they must have been seated. The traditional i...

The liturgical shape of authentic Anglicanism

Original published in The Australian Church Record’s Easter 2026 Journal, Andrew Leslie reflects on authentic Anglicanism – “When you look beyond the Sydney Diocese at national or...