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Pentecost
The Practices of the Church

Traditions

Liturgical, sacramental, theological, and devotional practices that span Christian denominations. Each described by what it is and who practices it. Where understandings differ, both are shown in their own framing.

Liturgical

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An illuminated Book of Hours, Dutch, 15th century — the Annunciation miniature (Walters MS W.918).
Apostolic / Early Church
Liturgical

The Liturgy of the Hours

The Church's daily rhythm of fixed-hour prayer — psalms, Scripture, and canticles offered at set times through the day. Rooted in the Jewish hours of prayer and the apostolic call to pray without ceasing, it orders the whole day around God.

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Theological

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Saint Luke Painting the Virgin, by El Greco, c. 1560s.
Early Church; affirmed 787
Theological

Sacred Iconography

The tradition of 'writing' icons — images of Christ, the Theotokos, and the saints — as a form of visual theology. Affirmed at the Second Council of Nicaea, icons are venerated, not worshipped; the honor passes to the one depicted.

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Devotional

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Saint Jerome in his Study, by Antonello da Messina, c. 1475.
Monastic (6th–12th C.)
Devotional

Lectio Divina

A slow, prayerful, meditative reading of Scripture — not study for information but listening for the voice of God. The classic form moves through reading, meditation, prayer, and contemplation.

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A page from the Ellesmere Chaucer, c. 1400–1410 — a pilgrim from the Canterbury Tales.
Early Church (4th C. onward)
Devotional

Pilgrimage

The practice of journeying to holy places — Jerusalem, Rome, Compostela, and countless local shrines — as an act of devotion, penance, and prayer; the outward journey an image of the inward one toward God.

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Christ Pantocrator from the Deësis mosaic, Hagia Sophia, c. 1261 — the right hand raised in the Byzantine blessing gesture.
Ante-Nicene (2nd–3rd C.)
Devotional

The Sign of the Cross

The ancient gesture of tracing the cross on oneself — forehead, breast, and shoulders. Attested from the second century, it marks the Christian as belonging to the crucified and risen Lord.

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Calendrical / Seasonal

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Christ in the Wilderness, by Ivan Kramskoi, 1872.
4th century
Calendrical / Seasonal

Lent

The forty-day season of repentance, fasting, and prayer that prepares the Church for Easter. It echoes Christ's forty days in the wilderness and the long biblical pattern of forty-day testings.

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Musical / Hymnographic

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A leaf from the Beaupré Antiphonary, Flanders, 13th century — an illuminated chant manuscript with square notation.
Apostolic onward
Musical / Hymnographic

Christian Hymnody

The Church has sung since the beginning. From the psalms and the canticles of the New Testament through Gregorian chant, the Reformation chorale, and the hymns of every tradition, sung theology has carried the faith.

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Mystical / Contemplative

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An Eastern Orthodox prayer rope, used to count repetitions of the Jesus Prayer.
Byzantine (5th–14th C.)
Mystical / Contemplative

The Jesus Prayer

The short prayer 'Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner,' repeated until it becomes the constant background of the heart. It is the centerpiece of the Eastern contemplative tradition of hesychasm.

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