Through Orthodox worship, as Archim. Gabriel, we are raised to living communion with God, and this, in turn, is the preparation of believers for eternal communion with Him, in the future life of the age to come, for the blessedness for which man is predestined. Therefore, in the Liturgics it is necessary to approach the explanation of church services from different angles: from the contemplative, educational, spiritual and mysterious, i.e. to comprehend the supersensible in the sensual, "to ascend from the material to the contemplation of the spiritual, to see in the sacraments of the earthly Church the beginning of the heavenly mysteries, in the prayerful service to our Lord the beginning and prototype of our eternal service in heaven, in standing before the Altar the beginning of the glorious standing before the Lord in the life of the age to come, and in the psalmody of the earth-born there is a semblance of the silent singing of the heavenly powers" (Archim. Gabriel, p. 15, Tver, 1886).

At the same time, Liturgics must present an interpretation of the divine service from the dogmatic, moral, and historical side, for without such an approach to the exposition, to the study of the divine service, much in the divine service will appear to us unclear and incomprehensible and unauthoritative.

Liturgics, in explaining the rites of the Orthodox Church, is obliged to indicate the origin of these liturgical rites. It is important for an Orthodox person to know where all the church rites originate, who composed them, in what form they were performed in the ancient Church and how they came down to us. If there were changes in the rites, then what and why? For, knowing the history of the gradual development and completion of church services, it will be easier for us to interpret and explain them to those who do not know it and, at the same time, are interested in this issue. At the present time, the attitude towards our Orthodox services is often unfriendly, and sectarians often attack our rites, saying that our services are now performed differently than they were in the ancient Church. It is pointed out that in the Byzantine period a lot of unnecessary and pompous ritual was allegedly introduced, this is especially attributed to expensive decorations of church utensils, vestments and various ceremonies. But in order to bring the erring ones to their senses or to protect our Orthodox children from such temptation, the Liturgics must show that all the rites in their essential parts originate from the deepest Christian antiquity. They have remained the same as they were in the ancient Church.

But since the Church lives its grace-filled life, the divine services in some of their parts were supplemented and developed. New services were composed for the newly glorified saints, new rites and prayers for all kinds of needs appeared, etc. Church construction was also beautified, just as the outside of the churches were more magnificent, so inside they were decorated with iconography and icon-cases with images of saints and with especially revered or glorified icons. In turn, zealous Christians made offerings to their churches and decorated them with valuable icons, church utensils, and vestments. And these decorations were not the main goal, but the main thing was the desire that the celebration of divine services, and especially the Divine Liturgy, take place in an appropriate environment corresponding to the holiness of these services. Therefore, for the church, for divine services, for offerings to God, zealous Christians tried to bring the best, the most valuable, the most beautiful.

Thus, it is necessary for every Orthodox Christian to know at least briefly the history and origin of the divine service, so that, participating in public worship, he may clearly comprehend its mysterious meaning, for without this he will not know how and for what purpose it is performed, and will not understand its meaning.

But it is even more necessary to study the Liturgics for a pastor of the Church, and especially for those who are preparing to be pastors. Because pastors themselves must not only perform church services with full understanding and reverence, but at the same time they must teach their flock, they must be able to explain everything and indicate to those who are interested where a more detailed explanation of all this can be found, and so on.

Liturgics, as a theological science, and a practical one at that, has a close connection with all other theological sciences related to it. Thus, it is connected with Dogmatic Theology, from which it draws its content. It also, like Dogmatics, explains how dogmatic truths are clearly revealed in divine services, in sacraments and rites, or, speaking of the forms of expression of worship of God, Liturgics indicates the ways of pleasing God in prayers, fasts, and other cases, it also indicates how abstract moral rules must be applied in life, and in this way it is connected with Moral Theology. Liturgics provides homiletics with material for church preaching. Liturgics is constantly connected with Church history, for in explaining the divine services it refers to it. Therefore, it can be clearly observed that there is a close connection between the divine services with which Liturgics is concerned and other elements of spiritual-religious and Christian life, i.e., between the faith, which is concerned with Dogmatics, and Christian activity, which is occupied by Moral Theology.

Our Orthodox worship is an expression of our religious experiences, our spiritual feelings, our faith in the Triune God, our piety. Such perception, such purposefulness is called latreutic in the Liturgy, from the Greek word λατρευειν, that is, service, worship of the Triune God.

In addition, the divine service can be seen as a sacramental aim, since it unites us in the redemptive feat of our Savior and is a conductor of grace to the world and to individual believers.

Далее богослужение имеет и характер дидактический, т. е. поучительный. Наш богослужебный круг содержит огромное богатство песнопений, которые переплетаются с чтениями из Священного Писания Ветхого и Нового Заветов, с поучениями из святоотеческих писаний и аскетических сборников и житийной литературы, откуда можно извлечь великое духовное богатство знаний. Таким образом, богослужение является источником богопознания и дает возможность углублять свои познания и в богословии. В данном случае Литургика входит в полную связь с Патристикой. Патристика занимается изучением развития христианской богословской мысли у разных церковных писателей и учителей Церкви в разное время и она не должна быть оторвана от литургического богословия. Раскрытие содержания святоотеческих творений, обогащает наше богословское ведение и дает нам материал для истории и системы православного богословия.

Особенно много можем мы почерпнуть из песнопений Октоиха, из стихир и его Догматиков, которые поются на «и ныне» на «Господи воззвах», в которых излагаются мысли о воплощении Сына Божия, об искуплении человека, о Приснодевстве Пресвятыя Богородицы и др. Степенные антифоны воскресных служб дают нам тоже богатый материал для учения о Святом Духе. В Постной Триоди мы находим материал объясняющий нам зарождение греха в человеке, о борьбе с ним, о посте, о молитве. Цветная Триодь повествует о воскресении Христовом, а другие богослужебные книги тоже содержат богатство богословского материала.

Авторы богослужебных песнопений, это духовные учители и вдохновенные поэты, которые излагают свое учение по разным догматическим вопросам, подобно тому, как и церковные писатели–богословы, излагают свое учение в богословских трактатах.

Архимандрит Киприан (Керн) указывает, «что богослужение, в самом широком смысле этого слова, то есть песнопения, чтения из Писания и поучительных отеческих книг, неисчерпаемое богатство нашей иконописи и символических действий при таинствах, повседневных службах и вообще при богослужении, равно как и народно–бытовая мудрость в обычаях, связанных с отдельными праздниками и чинопоследованиями, все это есть источник нашего богословского назидания и боговедения» («Литургика», стр. 5. Париж, 1964).

Разделение науки Литургики