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A liturgy is a set form of ceremony or pattern of worship. Christian liturgy is a pattern for worship used (whether recommended or prescribed) by a Christian congregation or denomination on a regular basis.
Though the term liturgy is used to mean public worship in general, the Byzantine Rite uses the word "Liturgy", especially when preceded by the adjective "Divine", in a more specific sense, to denote the Eucharist.

Partial list of Christian liturgical rites (past and present)
See also:Roman Catholic calendar of saints

Western (Latin) tradition

• Roman Rite, whose historical forms are usually classified as follows
  
  
  
  • Pre-Tridentine Mass (the various pre-1570 forms)
    Tridentine Mass (1570-1970, restricted use 1970-2007, restriction lifted September 2007)
    Mass of Paul VI (1970- Present)
    Anglican Use (restricted to formerly Anglican congregations)
    Ambrosian Rite (in Milan, Italy and neighbouring areas)
    Aquileian Rite (defunct: northeastern Italy)
    Bracarensis Rite (in Braga and within the archidiocesis limits, Portugal)
    Durham Rite (defunct: Durham, England)
    Gallican Rite (defunct: 'Gaul' i.e. France)
    Mozarabic Rite (in Toledo and Salamanca, Spain)
    Celtic Rite (defunct: British Isles)
    Sarum Rite (defunct: England)
    Catholic Order Rites (generally defunct)
    
    
    
    • Benedictine Rite
      Carmelite Rite
      Cistercian Rite
      Dominican Rite
      Franciscan Rite
      Friars Minor Capuchin Rite
      Premonstratensian Rite
      Servite Rite
      Eastern liturgical rites
      
      
      
      • Alexandrian liturgical tradition
        
        
        
        • Coptic Rite
          Ethiopic Rite
          Antiochian (Antiochene or West-Syrian) liturgical tradition
          
          
          
          • Maronite Rite
            Syrian Rite
            Syro-Malankara Rite
            Armenian Rite
            Chaldean or East Syrian liturgical tradition:
            
            
            
            • Chaldean Rite
              Syro-Malabar Rite
              Byzantine (Constantinopolitan) liturgical tradition (very uniform except in language) Roman Catholic Church
              The Eastern Orthodox Church use the following Eucharistic liturgies:
              
              
              
              
              
              • Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom (external: Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom)
                Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great
                Liturgy of St. James
                Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts
                Liturgy of St. Tikon (Western Rite Orthodox only) Eastern Christian Churches
                See Oriental Orthodoxy.
                
                
                
                
                
                • Coptic Liturgy of St. Basil
                  Liturgy of St. Mark
                  Divine Liturgy of St. James (the Just)
                  Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts of St. Gregory Dialogos Oriental Orthodox Churches
                  
                  
                  
                  
                  
                  • East Syrian Rite Assyrian Church of the East
                    At the time of English Reformation, The Sarum Rite was in use along with the Roman Rite. Henry VIII wanted the Latin mass translated in to the English language. Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer authored the Exhortation and Litany in 1544. This was the earliest English-language service book of the Church of England. It was the only service to be finished within the lifetime of King Henry VIII.
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    
                    • Book of Common Prayer
                      Exhortation and Litany (1544) Anglican Communion
                      The liturgy of the many denominations ultimately derives from that of the western Catholic church, however most "post-Protestant" denominations (e.g. evangelicals, etc.) claim to have no need for liturgy, or else insist that their manner of worship is a full return to the days of the apostles, which claims have not been (or cannot be) substantiated by biblical or historical evidence. The descriptions that follow explain the liturgies of those traditional, mainline denominations that fully acknowledge the history of their origins and retain an emphasis on liturgy as an important part of their worship style.
                      
                      Protestant Churches
                      
                      
                      
                      
                      
                      • Church of Sweden
                        Church of Finland
                        Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
                        Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod
                        
                        
                        
                        • Divine Service Some Methodist or Wesleyan traditions
                          The Roman Catholic mass is the service in which the Eucharist is celebrated. When the Latin language is used in the Catholic Church, this is referred to as the Missae or the Ordo Missae. Eastern Orthodox churches call this service the Divine Liturgy. Anglicans often use the Roman Catholic term mass, or simply Holy Eucharist. In the Lutheran Church this is called either the Divine Liturgy or the Divine Service.
                          Protestant traditions vary in their liturgies or "orders of worship" (at they are commonly called). Those traditions in the west often called "Mainline" have all benefited from the Liturgical Movement which flowered in the mid/late 20th Century. Over the course of the past several decades these Protestant traditions have developed remarkably similar patterns of liturgy, drawing from ancient sources as the paradigm for developing proper liturgical expressions. Of great importance to these traditions has been a recovery of a unified pattern of Word and Sacrament in Lord's Day liturgy.
                          Many other Protestant Christian traditions (such as the Pentecostal/Charismatics, Assembly of God, and so-called Non-denominational churches) while often following a fixed "order of worship", tend to have liturgical practices that vary from that of the broader Christian tradition.
                          
                          Frequent liturgical practice
                          Matins refers to prayers generally said in the morning, without the Eucharist. Vespers refers to prayers generally said in the evening, without the Eucharist. Matins and Vespers are the two main prayer times of Christian Churches, these two prayer times now being called morning and evening prayer more commonly. These two offices in the Roman Catholic church were part of a more extensive collection of prayer hours. This larger collection was called the Divine Office or Liturgy of the Hours. The Divine Office consisted of eight parts, Matins (sometimes called Vigils), Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, and Compline. These "Hours" usually corresponded to certain times of the day. When said in the monasteries Matins was generally said before dawn, or sometimes over the course of a night, Lauds was said at the end of Matins, generally at the break of day. Prime at 6 AM, Terce at 9AM, Sext at noon, None at 3PM, Vespers at the rising of the Vespers or Evening Star (usually at around 6PM), and Compline was said at the end of the day, generally right before bed time.
                          In Anglican churches, the offices were combined into two offices: Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer, the latter of which is sometimes known as Evensong. In more recent years, the Anglicans have added the offices of Noonday and Compline to Morning and Evening Prayer as part of the Book of Common Prayer. There is also a full Anglican Breviary, containing 8 full offices, but that is not part of the official liturgies of the Anglican Church.
                          The Eastern Orthodox Church maintains a daily cycle of seven non-sacramental services:
                          Great Vespers as it is termed in the Eastern Orthodox Church, is an extended vespers service used on the eve of a major Feast day, or on the evening before the Eucharist will be celebrated.
                          A liturgy can also refer to the public burdens assigned to the wealthy in ancient Athens, such as outfitting warships, holding banquets and training choruses. See noblesse oblige.
                          Some Reformed Protestant liturgies include additional translation of the sermons such as drama skits and the Children's message.
                          
                          Vespers (Gk. Esperinos) said at sunset
                          Matins (Gk. Orthros) said at dawn
                          The four services of the Hours (Gk. Hores): First (sunrise/7 AM), Third (9 AM), Sixth (noon), and Ninth (3 PM). The First Hour is an extension of Matins, and the two are generally said together.
                          Compline (Gk. Apodeipnou -- "after supper")
                          Midnight Office (Gk. mesonychtikon) Other liturgical offices
                          This section will describe the evolution of the liturgical celebration known as the mass by Roman Catholics, which is similar to Anglican mass or Holy Eucharist. It is called the Divine Liturgy by many groups of Orthodox Christians.
                          Generally it is theorized that the Apostles obeyed the command "do this in memory of me", said during the Last Supper, and performed the liturgy in the houses of Christians.
                          In later centuries, the eastern rite was heavily influenced by the use of the iconostasis, a large wall with doors in front of the altar. Before the council of Trent, the western liturgy was very affected by local cultures and trends. In particular, the French had a large influence over many developments in the liturgy, so much so that it could be called a different rite, the Gallican Rite. Priests and Bishops were known to improvise and extend prayers, have long periods of silence, and other innovations. The Council of Trent called for a standardized western rite and created a system for printing missals which would have to be used by every congregation unless their rite was at least 200 years old. In the West, these rites included the Dominican, the Ambrosian rite, and the Mozarabic rite.
                          
                          Commonalities