“Windows To Spirituality”
Church Service A church service (also called a service of worship, or simply a service) is a formalized period of Christian communal worship, often held in a church building. It often but not exclusively occurs on Sunday, or Saturday in the case of those churches practicing seventh-day Sabbatarianism. The church service is the...
Anointing Of The Sick Anointing of the sick, known also by other names, is a form of religious anointing or “unction” for the benefit of a sick person. It is practiced by many Christian churches and denominations. Anointing of the sick was a customary practice in many civilizations, including among...
Baptism Baptism, from Greek βαπτίζω (baptízô), is a religious act of purification by water usually associated with admission to a Christian church. Although the primary meaning of the Greek word for baptism is dip or plunge, the term was used also historically to mean perform ablutions. The Christian ceremony of baptism evolved from the Jewish tradition of purification by immersion...
Lutheranism Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the teaching of Martin Luther, a 16th century German reformer. Luther’s efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation. The reaction of the government and church authorities to the international spread of his writings, beginning with the 95...
Divine Liturgy Divine Liturgy or Holy Liturgy is the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine Rite, developed from the Antiochene Rite of Christian liturgy which is that of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. As such, it is used in the Eastern Orthodox, the Greek Catholic Churches, and the Ukrainian Lutheran Church. Although the same term is sometimes applied in English to the Eucharistic service of...
A Booklet For A Sick “A Booklet For A Sick” treatise consists of Twenty-Five Remedies. It was written as a salve, a solace, and a prescription for the sick, and as a visit to the sick and a wish for their speedy recovery. Warning and Apology This immaterial prescription was...
![The Eucharist has been a key theme in the depictions of the Last Supper in Christian art,[8] as in this 16th-century Juan de Juanes painting.](https://slife.org/wp-content/uploads/1707px-Última_Cena_-_Juan_de_Juanes-520x329.jpg)
Eucharist The Eucharist is a sacramental or memorial reenactment of the Last Supper between Jesus and his disciples, in which Christians partake in the “body” and “blood” of Christ. It is also known as Holy Communion. Christians generally recognize a special presence of Christ in this rite, though they differ about exactly how, where, and...
Christian Worship Christian worship is the act of attributing reverent honor and homage to God. In the New Testament, various words are used to refer to the term worship. One is proskuneo (“to worship”) which means to bow down to God or kings. Throughout most of Christianity’s history, corporate Christian worship has been liturgical,...
Passages From The Psalms And The Proverbs Here are some passages from the Psalms and the Proverbs for blessings. A blessing is a prayer asking for God’s protection, or a little gift from the heavens. It’s also any act of approving, like when your roommate wants to move out and...
Buddhist Devotion Devotion, a central practice in Buddhism, refers to a commitment to religious observances or to an object or person and may be translated with Sanskrit or Pāli terms like saddhā, gārava or pūjā. Central to Buddhist devotion is the practice of buddhānussati, the recollection of the inspiring qualities of the Buddha. Although buddhānussati had been...
Prayer Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity (a god), or a deified ancestor. More generally, prayer can also...
Sacrament Of Penance The Sacrament of Penance (also commonly called the Sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession) is one of the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church (known in Eastern Christianity as sacred mysteries), in which the faithful are absolved from sins committed after Baptism and they are reconciled with the Christian community. While in current practice...
Confession In Lutheran Church Confession in Lutheran Church, (Holy Absolution) is the method given by Christ to the Church by which individual men and women may receive the forgiveness of sins; according to the Large Catechism, the “third sacrament” of Holy Absolution is properly viewed as an extension of Holy...
Confession In Islam: Istighfar Confession In Islam: Istighfar (استغفار istiġfār), is the act of seeking forgiveness from Allah. It is considered one of the essential parts of worship in Islam. Etymology Istighfar is derived from the root Ghafr “gh-f-r” (غ-ف-ر), which means the covering of a thing with that which will protect it...
Confession In Judaism Confession in Judaism (וִדּוּי, widduy, viddui) is a step in the process of atonement during which a Jew admits to committing a sin before God. In sins between a Jew and God, the confession must be done without others present (The Talmud calls confession in front of another a show of disrespect). On the other hand, confession...
Twelve-step program A twelve-step program is a set of guiding principles outlining a course of action for recovery from addiction, compulsion, or other behavioral problems. Originally proposed by Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) as a method of recovery from alcoholism, the Twelve Steps were first published in the 1939 book Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of...
Atonement Atonement means that two parties, estranged from each other because one of them offends the other, eventually reconcile to each other. It usually contains two stages: 1) the offender’s act of expiation for forgiveness from the offended party, and 2) reconciliation, which is a regained state of unity thereafter. Atonement in...
Prayascitta Prayascitta (or Prāyaścitta, प्रायश्चित्त) is the Sanskrit word which means “atonement, penance, expiation”. It refers to one of the corrective measures in dharmaśāstra as an alternative to incarceration or other forms of danda (punishment) when someone is convicted of certain categories of crimes. The word is also used in Hindu texts to refer to actions...
Confession In Religion This article covers confession in religion in detail. Confession, in many religions, is the acknowledgment of one’s sins (sinfulness) or wrongs. A confession is a statement – made by a person or by a group of persons – acknowledging some personal fact that the person (or the group) would ostensibly prefer to keep...
Confession A confession is a statement – made by a person or by a group of persons – acknowledging some personal fact that the person (or the group) would ostensibly prefer to keep hidden. The term presumes that the speaker is providing information that he believes the other party is not...
