Rite

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This article is about the ceremonious act . For other uses, see Rite (disambiguation).

A rite is an established, ceremonious, usually religious act or process art. Rites 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.

[edit] Christian

This Lutheran pastor is performing the rite of confirmation on the youth of his congregation after instructing them in Luther's Small Catechism.

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 the Anointing of the Sick is one of the three that are administered to someone who is dying or is seriously ill. Because in the years before the Second Vatican Council the Anointing of the Sick was reserved for those in immediate danger of death, it was traditionally known as the last rites. Others sacraments that could be celebrated with the Anointing of the Sick included Penance and Eucharist (administered as Viaticum in the case of a dying person).

The term 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.

[edit] 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.