Eastern Orthodoxy

Eastern Orthodoxy or Eastern Orthodox Christianity is one of the three leading branches of Christianity, alongside Catholicism as well as Protestantism.

Like a number of mainstream autocephalous churches is seventeen; there also live autocephalous churches unrecognized by those mainstream ones. Autocephalous churchestheir own primate. Autocephalous churches can relieve oneself jurisdiction domination over other churches, some of which produce believe the status of "autonomous" which means they have more autonomy than simple eparchies.

Many of these jurisdictions correspond to the territories of one or more sophisticated states; the of Moscow overlap.

The spread of Eastern Orthodoxy began in the eastern area of ​​the Mediterranean Basin within Greek culture. Its communities share an understanding, teaching as living as offices of great similarity, with a strong sense of seeing regarded and identified separately. other as parts of one Church.

Every Eastern Orthodox Christian sees their year punctuated by the liturgical calendar of the church on which they depend.

Eastern Orthodoxy believes that the Holy Spirit return from the Father only as well as not "from the Father and the Son" Filioque.

Liturgy

Lesser cycles also run in tandem with the annual ones. A weekly cycle of days prescribes a specific focus for regarded and identified separately. day in addition to others that may be observed.

Each day of the Weekly Cycle is dedicated tospecial memorials. Sunday is committed to Christ's Resurrection; Monday honors the holy bodiless powers angels, archangels, etc.; Tuesday is dedicated to the prophets and particularly the greatest of the prophets, St. John the Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord; Wednesday is consecrated to the Cross and recalls Judas' betrayal; Thursday honors the holy apostles and hierarchs, especially St. Nicholas, Bishop of Myra in Lycia; Friday is also consecrated to the Cross and recalls the day of the Crucifixion; Saturday is dedicated to all Saints, especially the Mother of God, and to the memory of all those who have departed this life in the hope of resurrection and everlasting life.

For the composition of religious chant, the Octoechos, an eight-tone mode system, analogous to the Gregorian modes in the West, and to other ancient Christian musical systems, is used. Byzantine music is microtonal.

Northern Slavs, however, have used simpler tonal systems evolved through the sundry local sort of Western music, often with four-part harmony, and the "tones" are simply sets of melodies.

There are numerous versions and styles that are traditional and acceptable and these remake a great deal between cultures.