Home›Devotional Practices›Obligation›ObligatoryBrowse ByObligatoryThis page groups practices by whether they are a required duty or a voluntary devotion. Wikipedia notes that cultus "implies the necessity of active maintenance beyond passive adoration," a distinction between merely believing and actually being obliged to act. Browsing this way lets a visitor separate a commanded practice from one an adherent may take up or leave off freely.FactsLearn MoreObligatorySourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0)FactsOverviewWhat Defines This GroupingWell-attestedThe sustained acts by which adherents attend to a deity, ancestor or holy figure - prayer at fixed hours, recitation and chant, offerings at a shrine or home altar, veneration of saints and images, pilgrimage. It is the widest and loosest of these groupings and holds acts that are obligatory in one tradition and freely optional in another. 2StatusStanding as a Comparative CategoryWell-attestedA standard analytic category in the study of religion 2DirectoryCategoryWell-attestedPractices 1ComparisonPrimary Academic DisciplineWell-attestedComparative Religion 3Learn MoreThe Devotional Practices This group gathers devotional practices, the acts by which the faithful express love, reverence and dependence toward the divine: prayer, worship, praise, offering, the reciting of names and the observance of daily and seasonal devotion. It is the largest practice grouping in the atlas, reflecting how central devotion is to religious life. The browser will find devotional practices from across the world's traditions. The entries describe each practice's form, purpose and setting, noting the tradition to which it belongs and how it is performed.ObligatoryFilter Results33 entriesOrigin Period Start YearAll-1000 (2)-500 (4)70 (3)610 (6)1150 (1)1500 (1)1699 (1)Solitary or CommunalAllPerformed alone (4)Performed alone or together (23)Performed by a gathered group (4)TraditionAllAfrican Methodist Episcopal Church (1)African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (1)Ahmadiyya (1)Anglican Communion (5)Anglicanism (5)Armenian Apostolic Church (5)Baptist (1)Beta Israel (1)Breslov Hasidism (5)Calvinism (Reformed) (1)Chabad-Lubavitch (5)Christian Methodist Episcopal Church (1)Church of Cyprus (6)Church of England (5)Church of Greece (6)Church of Ireland (5)Church of Scotland (1)Church of Sweden (5)Church of the Nazarene (1)Conservative Judaism (3)Coptic Orthodoxy (5)Dutch Reformed Church (1)Eastern Orthodoxy (6)Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (6)Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church (5)Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (5)Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (5)Free Methodist Church (1)Georgian Orthodox Church (6)Global Methodist Church (1)Greek Orthodox Church (6)Haredi Judaism (5)Hasidic Judaism (5)Humanistic Judaism (1)Ibadism (1)Karaite Judaism (1)Khalsa (1)Lutheranism (5)Maronite Church (1)Methodism (1)Modern Orthodox Judaism (5)National Baptist Convention of America (1)Oriental Orthodoxy (5)Orthodox Judaism (5)Presbyterianism (1)Progressive National Baptist Convention (1)Reconstructionist Judaism (1)Reform Judaism (3)Roman Catholicism (7)Romanian Orthodox Church (6)Russian Orthodox Church (6)Serbian Orthodox Church (6)Seventh-day Adventism (1)Shaivism (1)Shaktism (1)Shia (Twelver) (3)Smartism (1)Sufism (1)Sunni (1)The Episcopal Church (5)The United Methodist Church (1)Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (1)Ukrainian Orthodox Church (6)Vaishnavism (1)Wesleyan Church (1)Zaidiyyah (1)Category of PracticeAllDevotional (10)Who Performs ItAllAll adherents of the tradition (24)Clergy or ordained officiants (5)Initiates only (2)Practice StatusAllHistorical; not practised continuously (2)Living tradition, practised today (24)Scholarly StandingAllA standard analytic category in the study of religion (33)CadenceAllAnnual (1)As the occasion requires (2)Continuous: a standing discipline, not an event (1)Daily (19)Once, or at a turning point in a life (1)Several times a day (2)Weekly (2)In GroupAllAncient and Historical Religious Practices (2)Christian Devotional Practices (6)Hindu Devotional Practices (2)Islamic Devotional Practices (11)Jewish Devotional Practices (5)Sikh Devotional Practices (2)Zoroastrian Devotional Practices (5)Show ResultsBrowseCompareSelect all 33Aiwisruthrem GahObligatoryAparche (First Fruits Offering)ObligatoryAsrObligatoryComplineObligatoryDhuhrObligatoryFajrObligatoryFriday prayerObligatoryHavan GahObligatoryIshaObligatoryLaudsObligatoryLiturgy of the HoursObligatoryMaarivObligatoryMaghribObligatoryMatinsObligatoryMinchaObligatoryNextlahualli (Debt Payment Offering)ObligatoryNitnemObligatoryNiyyahObligatoryObserving the SabbathObligatoryPrayer compensationObligatoryPuja (daily worship)ObligatoryRapithwin GahObligatorySai between Safa and MarwaObligatorySandhyavandanamObligatorySefirat HaOmerObligatorySeven SacramentsObligatoryShacharitObligatoryTawafObligatoryThe Five PillarsObligatoryUshahin GahObligatoryUzerin GahObligatoryVespersObligatoryWearing the Five KsObligatorySources1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Treetier 12. Encyclopedia of Religiontier 1Mircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.), Macmillan Reference, 2005s.v. Worship and Devotional LifeView the Source3. Wikipedia: Comparative religiontier 2WikipediaComparative religion, opening definitionQuote, Comparative religion, opening definitionComparative religion is the branch of religious studies that systematically compares the doctrines, practices, themes and impacts (including migration) of the worlds religions.View the SourceDivinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptionstier 1Comments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.