The Orthodox Liturgy

For my students coming to the Byzantine liturgical tradition with no prior background, I have them start by reading a book by the Oxford scholar Hugh Wybrew that has been in print for a quarter-century now. That book was just re-issued this summer in a handsome new reprinting: The Orthodox Liturgy: The Development of the Eucharistic Liturgy in the Byzantine Rite (SPCK, 2013), 208pp.

About this book we are told:

Western observers never fail to be awestruck at the celebration of the liturgy in an Orthodox church. Hugh Wybrew's authoritative yet highly readable account traces the fascinating story of the Orthodox liturgy from its origins in the first century to the present day, conveying a lively and memorable sense of what it would have felt like to be among the worshippers.

"We have long needed such an introduction. Clear yet detailed, sympathetic yet not uncritical, The Orthodox Liturgy will be of great value to Christian, whether western or eastern"-- Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia