Rite
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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A rite is an established, ceremonious, usually religious act. Rites in this sense fall into three major categories:
- rites of passage, generally changing an individual's social status, such as marriage, baptism, or graduation.
- rites of worship, where a community comes together to worship, such as Jewish synagogue or Mass
- rites of personal devotion, where an individual worships, including prayer and pilgrimages such as the Muslim Hajj.
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Christian
Within Christianity, "rite" often refers to what is also called a sacrament or to the ceremonies associated with the sacraments. In Roman Catholicism, for example, the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is one of the three that used to be called "the last rites," because it was administered to someone who was dying. The other two were Penance and Eucharist (administered as Viaticum in the case of a dying person). Since the Second Vatican Council, Anointing of the Sick is administered to those who are seriously ill but not necessarily in immediate danger of death.
The term "rite" also refers to a body of liturgical tradition usually emanating from a specific center. Examples include the Roman Rite, the Byzantine Rite, and the Sarum Rite. Such rites may include various sub-rites. For example, the Byzantine Rite has Greek, Russian, and other ethnically-based variants. For a full list of Christian liturgical rites, see Christian liturgy.
In addition, the same term was and still is, though less frequently than before, applied to an autonomous particular Church within the Catholic Church associated with a particular liturgical tradition. Of these, the largest is the Latin Rite or Western Church. There are also several Eastern Catholic Churches or Rites. For a full list of Catholic liturgical rites, see List of Catholic rites and churches.
Masonic
In North America, Freemasons have the option of joining the Scottish Rite and/or the York Rite, two appendant bodies that offer additional degrees to those who have taken the basic three.
See also
Namesakes
- Scatalogic Rites of All Nations
- Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night
- Erotic Rites of Frankenstein
- The Rite of Spring
