Eastern Orthodox Worship
Eastern Orthodox worship in this article is distinguished from Eastern Orthodox Prayer in that 'worship' refers to the activity of the Church as a body offering up prayers to God while 'prayer' refers to the individual devotional traditions of the Orthodox.
The worship of the Orthodox Church is viewed as the Church's fundamental activity because the worship of God is the joining of man to God in prayer and that is the essential function of Christ's Church. The Orthodox view their Church as being the living embodiment of Christ, through the grace of His Holy Spirit, in the people, clergy, monks and all other members of the Church. Thus the Church is viewed as the Body of Christ on earth which is perpetually unified with the Body of Christ in heaven through a common act of worship to God.
This article will deal first with the various characteristics of Orthodox worship, aside from its theological foundations as laid forth above, and will then continue to give the services of worship themselves and their structure.
Read more about Eastern Orthodox Worship: Structure of Orthodox Worship Services, The Divine Liturgy, Other Kinds of Orthodox Services
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