Typica

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The Eastern Orthodox Church has the belief that all Orthodox regardless of jurisdiction are united in the One, Holy, and Universal Church. At the same time each bishop functions independently within his “See”. In the beginnings of the church, communication between churches took time and comparisons were rare. And so in natural process small differences in How and When certain services would be carried out developed. These differences are called by the Orthodox Church, “Typica”, referring to the local style. These sorts of differences are completely acceptable as they accomplish the same end. An example: While the rest of the church celebrates the Divine Liturgy of St John Chrisostomos every Sunday morning, The Patriarch of Jerusalem celebrates the Divine Liturgy of St. James (first bishop of Jerusalem). These differences never cause dispute as they are completely accepted and for the most part, are so minor one hardly notices. There are notable differences between Greek and Russian practices.