The Divine Liturgy
Θεία Λειτουργία — Theia Leitourgia · THEE-ah lee-toor-YEE-ah
In brief
The Divine Liturgy is the Eucharistic service of the Orthodox Church — the service at which bread and wine are offered to God and received back as the Body and Blood of Christ. It is the center of Orthodox life: everything else in the Church's week leads to it or flows from it. Nearly everywhere, the Liturgy served is the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom; its central Eucharistic prayer has been prayed for some fifteen centuries, and the service grew into the shape used today over the Byzantine centuries that followed.
What is happening
On its surface, the Liturgy is a service of about ninety minutes with litanies, hymns, Scripture readings, a sermon, and Communion. Beneath the surface, the Church understands something stronger: in the Liturgy the community is taken up into the worship that never stops — the worship of the Kingdom. The hymns say so plainly: "Let us who mystically represent the Cherubim... now lay aside all earthly cares." When the envoys of Prince Vladimir of Kiev reported on the Liturgy they had seen in Constantinople, they said they no longer knew whether they were on earth or in heaven. So the chronicle tells it — and it remains the best one-line description of the Liturgy ever given.
The Eucharist itself is received with unqualified realism: the bread and wine become truly the Body and Blood of Christ. How, the Church declines to explain — Orthodoxy defines the fact and leaves the mechanism a mystery.
The shape of the service
The Liturgy has three movements. Before the public service begins, the priest prepares the bread and wine at the Proskomedia, commemorating the living and the departed by name. The Liturgy of the Catechumens — the service of the Word — moves through the great litany, the antiphons, the Little Entrance with the Gospel book, the readings, and the homily; it is the half that once ended with the dismissal of those not yet baptized, which is why it bears their name.
The Liturgy of the Faithful is the Eucharistic half: the Great Entrance carries the gifts to the altar; the Creed is confessed; the Anaphora — the great prayer of offering — reaches its height as the priest asks the Father to send the Holy Spirit upon the gifts (epiclesis); the Our Father is prayed; and the faithful approach the Chalice. A first-time visitor can follow the whole service by watching the two Entrances and the opening and closing of the Royal Doors.
Practical notes for a newcomer
Orthodox Christians prepare for Communion by prayer, fasting from the night before, and regular confession; visitors are warmly welcome at the whole service but only Orthodox Christians prepared in this way approach the Chalice — not as a snub, but because Communion is the seal of a shared faith (more here). Nearly everything else is open to everyone, including the blessed bread (antidoron) distributed at the end. Expect standing, incense, constant singing, and children present and audible throughout — the Liturgy belongs to the whole household of God.