Liturgy
Liturgy is the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions. The word, sometimes rendered by its English translation "service", may refer to an elaborate formal ritual such as the Eastern Orthodox Divine Liturgy and Catholic Mass, or a daily activity such as the Muslim salat and Jewish services. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy is a communal response to the sacred through activity reflecting praise, thanksgiving, supplication, or repentance. Ritualization may be associated with life events such as birth, coming of age, marriage and death. It thus forms the basis for establishing a relationship with a divine agency, as well as with other participants in the liturgy. Methods of dress, preparation of food, application of cosmetics or other hygienic practices are all considered liturgical activities. The word liturgy, derived from the technical term in ancient Greek,
leitourgia, signifies the often expensive offers of service to the people, and thus to the
polis and the state. Through the
leitourgia the rich carried a financial burden and were correspondingly rewarded with honours.