Worship

Mass is the central act of divine worship in the Catholic Church.[2] Hardon, John, Modern Catholic Dictionary The Congregation for Divine Worship at the Vatican publishes a Directory on Popular piety and the Liturgy. 'Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy: Principles and Guidelines Roman Catholic devotions are "external practices of piety" which are not part of the official liturgy of the Catholic Church but part of the popular spiritual practices of Catholics. They do not become part of liturgical worship, even if conducted in a Catholic church, in a group, in presence of a priest.

Anglican devotions is private prayers and practices used by Anglicanism Christians to promote spiritual growth and communion with God. Among members of the Anglican Communion, private devotional habits vary widely, depending on personal preference and on affiliation with low church or high-church .

Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism, Oriental Orthodoxy, and Eastern Orthodoxy make a technical distinction between two different concepts:

• adoration or latria (Latin adoratio, Greek latreia, λατρεία), which is due to God alone
• veneration or dulia (Latin veneratio, Greek douleia δουλεία), which may be lawfully offered to the

The external acts of veneration resemble those of worship, but differ in their object and intent. Protestant Christians, who reject the veneration of saints, question whether Catholics always maintain such a distinction in actual devotional practice, especially at the level of folk religion.

According to Mark Miravalle the English word "worship" is equivocal, in that it has been used (in Catholic writing, at any rate) to denote both adoration/ latria and veneration/ dulia, and in some cases even as a synonym for veneration as distinct from adoration:

As St. Thomas Aquinas explains, adoration, which is known as latria in classical theology, is the worship and homage that is rightly offered to God alone. It is the manifestation of submission, and acknowledgement of dependence, appropriately shown towards the excellence of an uncreated divine person and to his absolute Lordship. It is the worship of the Creator that God alone deserves. Although we see in English a broader usage of the word "adoration" which may not refer to a form of worship exclusive to God—for example, when a husband says that he "adores his wife"—in general it can be maintained that adoration is the best English denotation for the worship of latria.

Veneration, known as dulia in classical theology, the honor and reverence appropriately due to the excellence of a created person. Excellence exhibited by created beings likewise deserves recognition and honor. We see a general example of veneration in events like the awarding of academic awards for excellence in school, or the awarding of olympic medals for excellence in sports. There is nothing contrary to the proper adoration of God when we offer the appropriate honor and recognition that created persons deserve based achievement in excellence.

We must make a further clarification regarding the use of the term "worship" in relation to the categories of adoration and veneration. Historically, schools of theology have used the term "worship" as a general term which included both adoration and veneration. They would distinguish between "worship of adoration" and "worship of veneration." The word "worship" (in a similar way to how the liturgical term "cult" is traditionally used) was not synonymous with adoration, but could be used to introduce either adoration or veneration. Hence Catholic sources will sometimes use the term "worship" not to indicate adoration, but only the worship of veneration given to Mary and the saints.

Orthodox Judaism and orthodox Sunni Islam hold that for all practical purposes veneration should be considered the same as prayer; Orthodox Judaism (arguably with the exception of some chasidism practices), orthodox Sunni Islam, and most kinds of Protestantism forbid veneration of saints or of , classifying these actions as akin to idolatry.

Similarly, Jehovah's Witnesses assert that many actions classified as Patriotism by Protestant groups, such as saluting a flag, count as Statolatry and are therefore considered idolatrous as well. Mitchell K. Hall (2009), Vietnam War Era : People and Perspectives, ABC-CLIO, 2009, p. 97.

According to Muhammad Asad, on his notes in The Message of the Qur'an translation on ,

Thus, the innermost purpose of the creation of all rational beings is their cognition of the existence of Allah and, hence, their conscious willingness to conform their own existence to whatever they may perceive of His will and plan: and it is this twofold concept of cognition and willingness that gives the deepest meaning to what the Quran describes as "worship". As the next verse shows, this spiritual call does not arise from any supposed "need" on the part of the Creator, who is self-sufficient and infinite in His power, but is designed as an instrument for the inner development of the worshipper, who, by the act of his conscious self-surrender to the all-pervading Creative Will, may hope to come closer to an understanding of that Will and, thus closer to Allah Himself.

In the Muslim world, the word worship (in the literal context of worshipping) is forbidden to be used if it refers to an object or action and not exclusively to Allah.

The Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chayim, Chapter 231) cites Proverbs (3:6), "in all your ways, know him" (Hebrew: בכל דרכיך דעהו ( b'chol d'rachecha dei'eihu)), as a biblical source for this idea.

• Ancestor worship
• Animal worship
• Idol worship
• Imperial cult
• Nature worship
• Pole worship

• Intercession
• Major world religions
• Sacrifice - an offering of propitiation or of worship