It is very important to define for yourself such concepts as the Divine Liturgy, the Sacrament of the Sacrament and the Eucharist. Translated from Greek, the Eucharist means "the sacrament of thanksgiving." But the liturgy is the greatest church service, during which the flesh and blood of Christ is sacrificed in the form of bread and wine. Then comes the Sacrament of Communion itself, when a person, having tasted the consecrated bread and wine, joins God, which implies his purity, both physical and spiritual. Therefore, it is imperative to confess before Communion.
Church services are daily, weekly, and annual. In turn, the daily circle includes those services that the Orthodox Church performs during the day. There are nine of them. The main and main part of the church service is the Divine Liturgy.
Daily circle
Moses described the creation of the world by God, starting the “day” in the evening. This happened in the Christian Church, where the “day” also began to begin in the evening and was called Vespers. This service takes place at the end of the day, when believers thank God for the past day. The following service is called "supper", and it consists of a series of prayers that are read in order to ask God for forgiveness of all our sins and to protect the body and soul during sleep from the evil wiles of the devil. Then comes the midnight office, urging all believers to be always prepared for the day when the Last Judgment comes.
In the morning service, Orthodox parishioners thank the Lord for the past night and ask him for mercy. The first hour corresponds to our seven o'clock in the morning and serves as the time of consecration by the prayer of the onset of a new day. At the third hour (nine o'clock in the morning), the descent into the apostles of the Holy Spirit is recalled . At the sixth hour (twelve o'clock in the afternoon) the crucifixion of Christ is remembered. At the ninth hour (third hour of the afternoon), the cross death of the Savior Christ is recalled. After comes the Divine Liturgy.
Orthodox liturgy
In church services, the Divine Liturgy is the main and main part of the ministry, which is held before lunch, or rather in the morning. At these moments, the whole life of the Lord is recalled from the moment of His Birth to the Ascension. In such an amazing way, the Sacrament of Holy Communion takes place.
The main thing is to understand that the liturgy is the Great Sacrament of the Lord God’s Love for man, established by himself on the last Supper day , which he ordered his apostles to create. After the Lord ascended to Heaven, the apostles began to perform the Sacrament of Communion every day, while reading prayers, psalms, and Holy Scripture. The first rite of the liturgy was compiled by the apostle James.
All church services in the most ancient times took place in monasteries and at hermits in due time for them. But then, for the convenience of believers themselves, these services were combined into three parts of worship: evening, morning and afternoon.
In general, the liturgy is, first of all, the thanksgiving of the Son of God for His good deeds, visible and invisible, which He sends through people or all sorts of circumstances, for His death on the cross and saving suffering, for His resurrection and ascension, for mercy and the opportunity to turn to Him for help at any moment. People go to the liturgy to transform their consciousness and change their perception of reality so that a mysterious meeting takes place with God and with himself, such as the Lord wants to see and expects to Himself.
The liturgy is also a prayer to God for all his relatives, close ones, for himself, for the country and for the whole world, so that he would protect and console in difficult times. At the end of the week, a special thanksgiving service and Sunday liturgy are usually held.
During the liturgy, the most important Church Sacrament takes place - the Eucharist (“thanksgiving”). Every believing Christian can be prepared and receive Holy Communion by this time.
The Orthodox liturgy is divided into three types, which bear the names of Saints John Chrysostom, Basil the Great and the Presanctified Gifts.
Liturgy of John Chrysostom
The church liturgy got its name thanks to its author, who is considered the Archbishop of Constantinople John Chrysostom.
He lived in the IV century, then they gathered together various prayers and created the order of Christian worship, which takes place on most of the days of the liturgical year, except for some holidays and several days of Lent. Saint John Chrysostom became the author of the priest's secret prayers, read during the service.
The liturgy of Zlatoust is divided into three consecutive parts. First comes the proskomidia, followed by the Liturgy of the Announced and the Liturgy of the Faithful.
Proskomidia
Proskomidia is translated from Greek as “offering”. In this part, the preparation of everything necessary for the performance of the Sacrament is underway. For this purpose, five prosphora are used, however, it is for the communion itself that the only one called the Holy Lamb is used. The prosquidia is conducted by the Orthodox priest on a special altar, where the Sacrament itself is performed and all particles around the Lamb are united on the discos, which creates the symbol of the Church, at the head of which is the Lord himself.
Divine Liturgy
This part is a continuation of the liturgy of St. Chrysostom. At this time, the preparation of believers for the Sacrament of Communion begins. I recall the life and sufferings of Christ. The Liturgy of the Announced received its name because in antiquity only instructed or announced people were admitted to it, prepared to receive Holy Baptism. They stood in the narthex and had to leave the temple after the deacon’s special words: “Announcements, go out ...”.
Liturgy of the Faithful
It contains only baptized Orthodox parishioners. This is a special divine liturgy, the text of which is read from the Holy Scriptures. At these moments, important ceremonies, prepared earlier during the previous parts of the liturgies, are completed. The gifts from the altar are transferred to the throne, believers are prepared for the consecration of the Gifts, then the Gifts are sanctified. Then all believers prepare for Communion and receive communion. Thanksgiving comes next for Communion and letting go.
Liturgy of St. Basil the Great
The theologian Basil the Great lived in the 4th century. He occupied the important church rank of Archbishop Caesarea of Cappadocia.
One of his main creations is the order of the Divine Liturgy, where the secret prayers of priests recited during church service are recorded. There he included other prayer requests.
According to the Christian Charter of the Church, this rite is performed only ten times a year: on the feast day of St. Basil the Great, at Christmas and Epiphany, from the 1st to the 5th Sunday of Great Lent, on Great Thursday and on the Great Saturday of Holy Week.
This service is in many ways similar to the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, the only difference is that the dead are not remembered here, secret prayers are read, certain songs of the Mother of God are performed.
The liturgy of St. Basil the Great was received by the entire Orthodox East. But after a while, John Chrysostom, referring to human weakness, made reductions, which, however, concerned only secret prayers.
Memorial Day of Vasily the Great is celebrated on January 1 in the old style and January 14 in the new.
Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts
This tradition of church services is attributed to St. Gregory the Great (Dvoeslov) - the Pope of Rome, who held this high post from 540 to 604. It is held only during Lent, namely on Wednesday, Friday, and even on some holidays, only if they do not fall on Saturday and Sunday. At its core, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is evening, and it combines the order before the Holy Communion.
One very important feature of this service is that at this time the Sacrament of the Priesthood can be ordained as a deacon, while at the other two liturgies, Chrysostom and Basil the Great, a priest can be ordained.