LITURGY

—In ancient Athens 2 jtourgza was a service rendered to the state; word came to be used in Chris- ’ tian Church of service rendered to God fa public worship, and particularly of ” the Hucharist, which it signifies in the fast. In present Eng. usage it means i any written or prescribed form of prayer ‘or worship, as distinct from that which is extempore. The different forms of the Eucharist, specially called l’s, are ih of considerable importance in the history _ of Christian worship. The main division as that into Eastern and ‘Western. ~The Rom. Rite is now used almost universally in the R.C. Church in the West, though it only gradually super- 'seded various local rites, (e.g.) the Jozarabic in Spain and the Gallican jn | France; the Ambrosian is still used in Milan. The main Eastern Rites are the Syrian, Egyptian, Persian, and Byzantine, which exist both in obsolete and in still current forms.: In Britain there were various 1’s used in the ancient Celtic Church. In Norman times certain features were introduced from the Gallican 1., and the Sarum Mi al became regularly used in England. The Book of Common Prayer was composed of various elements, The Scot., Irish, and Amer. _ Churches are the Anglican }. with certain “modifications. L’s are used by Calvinists and Luther ans, but not by Presby_ terians nor the majority of Eng. Noncon- | ists,