Divine Liturgy

The Divine Liturgy constitutes the central and most important act of worship in the Orthodox Church. It is fundamentally a eucharistic celebration. The service is structured in two main sections; 1) The Liturgy of the Catechumens (also known as the Liturgy of the Word), during which the Holy Scriptures are read aloud and explained through preaching, and 2) The Liturgy of the Faithful (also called the Liturgy of the Eucharist), in which the offerings of bread and wine are presented, consecrated, and then received by the baptized faithful as the Sacrament of Holy Communion. Orthodox teaching holds that, through the action of the Holy Spirit and the words of institution, these gifts truly and really become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. At the same time, the Church has deliberately refrained from defining or dogmatizing any single philosophical or scientific explanation of precisely how this change occurs.