The Byzantine rile is the most important of all the Eastern rites and is used throughout the world in many different languages. It is the rite of the great Russian Church, of the Greek Church, and of other smaller communions. There are three liturgics in this rite, that of Saint John Chrysostom, that of Saint Basil, and that of Saint Gregory Dialogos or the Presanetified. The two latter are used only on special days, while that of Saint Chrysostom is the ordinary liturgy. It is thii rite which is used in the Greek churches in America. The Armenian liturgy is a daughter of the Byzantine, though in its present form it has been influenced by the Roman.
The Egyptian rite. In a manuscript recently discovered on Mount Athos and first published in 1899 we have a collection of liturgical prayers used by Bishop Serapion. a friend of Saint Athanasius. It is probably not later than A.D. 350, giving us the earliest known form of the Egyptian service, and should be compared with the more developed form in the liturgy of Saint Mark, which is the typical Egyptian liturgy. The Copts still use a version of this liturgy.
In many of the Eastern communities there is a Uniat rite which is a compromise between the Orthodox and the Roman forms, but usually contains the Roman Canon of the Mass.
The Western liturgies may be divided into the Latin and the Vernacular ; the former represented now by the Roman Mass and the latter by the various Protestant liturgies.
The earliest references to the Latin liturgy of the West are found in the writings of the North African School, and it was probably in North Africa that the first Latin liturgy was used. At Milan Saint Ambrose took great interest in the development of the service; as a result we have the liturgy which bears his name and is still used in the diocese of Alilan. The early Galliean liturgies were supplanted after Charle magne by the Roman; and we know them only from such remains as have come down to us and are published in Mabillon, Mone, and others. The Christians in Spain under Arab rule used what is known as the Mozarabic liturgy, a form of which, revised by Cardinal Ximenes, is still in use in a few churches in Toledo. The Celtic or British Church also had its own liturgy, which bears distinct traces of a connection with the Oriental rites. After the time of Saint Augus tine (A.n. 507) the older form gave way gradual ly to the form introduced by him, which was a modified form of the Roman. Before the Reforma
tion there had developed in England a number of diocesan Uses, which, however, affected the Eucharistic office but little. The most famous of these 'uses' was the Sarum, which just before the Reformation was very widely used. From it was taken much of the present service of the Church of England.
The earliest extant torn of the Roman or Mass is found in the 'Leonine Sacramentary,' probably compiled about A.D. 550. Later forms are found in the Sacramentaries of Gelasius and Gregory the Great. From the eighth century on, Rome has striven to enforce uniformity in ritual and has succeeded in supplanting the various Latin uses until to-day her followers, with very few exceptions. use the same form of liturgy in all lands and all churches. See Alissm,.
The Vernacular liturgies of the West are the product of the Reformation. The leaders both in Germany and England tried at first to reform the Latin service, but soon abandoned it for a vernacular form. The earliest attempts were made in Germany between 1520 and 1526. In the latter year appeared Luther's German Mass, and from that time a large number of German services were compiled, sonic following the old Latin. while others made radical changes. The followers of Luther were inclined to be conserva tive, while those of Zwingli were more radical. A comparison of the Lutheran liturgies or Agendas of the sixteenth century shows a certain type of service which may be called normal, con sisting of : (1) Introit ; (2) Kyrie: (3) Gloria in excelsis: (4) collect; (5) epistle: (6) alleluia; (7) gospel; (S) creed; (9) sermon; (10) gen eral prayer; (11) preface; (12) Sanctus and Ho sanna; (13) exhortation to communicants; (14) Lord's Prayer and words of institution; (15) Agnus Dei ; ( 16 ) distribution ; ( I ) post•com munion thanksgiving; (IS) benediction. With the rise of rationalism in the seventeenth century the older forms of liturgies gave place to a very bald. hare service, in which the congregation had no part. A revival and return to earlier forms began with the publication in 1822 of the Kir ehenagenda for the Court and Cathedral Church • of Berlin, and since that time new and revised agendas have been introduced in nearly all the German States, among the most important of • which is the Aqende fii• die Erangclisehe Landcs kirelie introduced into Prussia in 1S94.