Information about Byzantine Rite

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The Byzantine Rite, sometimes called Constantinopolitan, is the liturgical rite used (in various languages) by all the Eastern Orthodox Churches and by several Eastern Catholic Churches. It originated in the city of Constantinople (now Istanbul), which had earlier been called Byzantium.

This tradition has four forms of the Divine Liturgy (liturgy of the Eucharist): that of St. Basil, that of St. John Chrysostom, that of St. James and that of the Presanctified. That of St. John Chrysostom is the one commonly said throughout the year; that of St. Basil is said on all Sundays in Lent except Palm Sunday, on Holy Thursday, on the Vigils of Easter, Christmas and Epiphany, and on the feast of St. Basil. The Liturgy of the Presanctified is said during Lent on the first five weekdays of each week. It is an office with a Communion but no Consecration, the five Holy Loaves necessary for the purpose (one for each day) having been consecrated on the previous Sunday. The Liturgy of St. James is rarely said, and then primarily on December 26, the day the Church commemorates this saint.

List of Eastern Orthodox Churches of Byzantine liturgical tradition^[1]

• Ecumenical Patriarchate
• Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria
• Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch
• Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem
• Russian Orthodox Church
• Serbian Orthodox Church
• Romanian Orthodox Church
• Bulgarian Orthodox Church
• Georgian Orthodox Church
• Cypriot Orthodox Church
• Church of Greece
• Albanian Orthodox Church
• Polish Orthodox Church
• Czech and Slovak Orthodox Church
• Finnish Orthodox Church
• Estonian Orthodox Church

List of Catholic particular Churches of Byzantine liturgical tradition

• Albanian Byzantine Catholic Church
• Belarusian Byzantine Catholic Church
• Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church
• Byzantine Church of the Eparchy of Križevci
• Greek Byzantine Catholic Church
• Melkite Greek Catholic Church
• Hungarian Greek Catholic Church
• Italo-Albanian Catholic Church
• Macedonian Byzantine Catholic Church
• Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic
• Russian Catholic Church
• Ruthenian Catholic Church
• Slovak Greek Catholic Church
• Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

Note: Georgian Byzantine-Rite Catholics are not recognized as a particular Church (cf. canon 27 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches).

Books

• Robert F. Taft, The Byzantine Rite. A Short History. Liturgical Press, Collegeville 1992, ISBN 0-8146-2163-5
• Hugh Wybrew, The Orthodox Liturgy. The Development of the Eucharistic Liturgy in the Byzantine Rite, SPCK, London 1989, ISBN 0-281-04416-3
• Hans-Joachim Schulz, Die byzantinische Liturgie : Glaubenszeugnis und Symbolgestalt, 3., völlig überarb. und aktualisierte Aufl. Paulinus, Trier 2000, ISBN 3-7902-1405-1
• Robert A. Taft, A History of the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, Pontificio Istituto Orientale, Roma 1978-2000 (3 volumes, of the planned 6, have appeared)

See also (Eastern liturgical rites, other than the Byzantine)

• Alexandrian Rite
• Antiochene Rite
• Armenian Rite
• East Syrian Rite

Sources and references

• Giga-catholic

References

External links

• The Divine Music Project Thousands of pages of Byzantine music in English for Byzantine rite services
• Byzantines.net - Short article explaining details of the Byzantine Rite
• Fr. Ronald Roberson’s book The Eastern Christian Churches – A Brief Survey is the most up-to-date primer on these churches, available on-line at Catholic Near-East Welfare Association (CNEWA).
• "The Rite of Constantinople". Catholic Encyclopedia. (1913). New York: Robert Appleton Company. 

Autocephalous and Autonomous Churches of Eastern Orthodoxy

Autocephalous Churches

Four Ancient Patriarchates: Constantinople | Alexandria | Antioch | Jerusalem Russia | Serbia | Romania | Bulgaria | Georgia Cyprus | Greece | Poland | Albania | Czechia and Slovakia | OCA*

Autonomous Churches

Sinai* | Finland | Estonia* | Japan* | China* | Ukraine | Western Europe* | Bessarabia* | Moldova* | Ohrid* | ROCOR**

The * designates a church whose autocephaly or autonomy is not universally recognized. ''The ** designates a semi-autonomous part of the Russian Orthodox Church.

	Greek Orthodox Christianity
Patriarchates Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople | Patriarchate of Alexandria | Patriarchate of Antioch | Patriarchate of Jerusalem Autocephalous and Autonomous churches Church of Greece | Cypriot Orthodox Church | Albanian Orthodox Church | Orthodox Church of Mount Sinai

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