Liturgical Renewal Movement in Contemporary Serbia

Abstract

The article is devoted to the peculiarities of modern worship and an emerging liturgical revival movement in the Serbian Orthodox Church. Among the specifics in the celebration of the Divine Liturgy representative of this renewal movement, the author lists the following: worship with the holy doors open, censing during the Alleluia, preaching after the reading of the Gospel, pronouncing eucharistic prayers in an audible voice, the elimination of the troparion of the Third Hour. Under consideration are such issues as the frequency of communion, the possibility of performing the sacrament of marriage during the Liturgy, and the removal of particles for holy angels during the prothesis rite. The author concludes that, on the one hand, the liturgical renewal movement in Serbia reflects the emergence of broader theological formation in the post-Yugoslav Serbian Church. On the other hand, criticism of the liturgical movement is largely due to the fact that Serbian believers have different levels of theological formation and different experience of participating in Church assembly, which is largely due to the specifics of the historical development of the Serbian Church. Thus, liturgical renewal is only part of a larger renewal of Church life, the goal of which is a more complete realization of life in Christ.

Keywords

• serbian orthodox church
• divine liturgy
• worship
• liturgical renewal movement
• metropolitanate of karlovci
• ecclesial body
• сербская православная церковь
• литургия
• богослужение
• движение литургического обновления
• карловацкая митрополия
• церковное собрание