Practices Across Traditions, Alphabetical by Name from A to U (This Trail's Own Arrangement)

In Coptic Orthodoxy, the Agpeya is the book of hours and the daily prayer cycle it contains: seven canonical hours, each built of an opening sequence, a block of psalms, a Gospel reading, short litanies and a concluding prayer. The page records that it is prayed by laity as well as clergy.

In Sikhism, the Akhand Path is the unbroken reading of the entire Guru Granth Sahib aloud, taking about forty-eight hours. The page records that readers take shifts of roughly two hours in relay, and that the reading is completed with the Bhog ceremony.

In evangelical worship, an altar call is the public invitation at the close of a service to come forward to profess faith, dedicate or rededicate one's life, or seek prayer. The page records its origin in the United States, beginning in the 1830s.

In Islam, Asr is the afternoon prayer of four units, recited silently. The page records that its window opens when the Dhuhr window closes and runs until sunset.

In Hinduism, a bhajan is a devotional song sung to a deity in a regional language rather than in Sanskrit. The page distinguishes it from kirtan, the call-and-response chanting of divine names by a gathering.

In Hinduism, bhakti is loving, personal devotion to a chosen deity, held in that tradition to be a direct path to liberation open to all regardless of caste or learning. The page lists devotional singing, repetition of the divine name, temple and home worship, and pilgrimage among its expressions.

Chaand Raat, literally night of the moon, is a South Asian cultural observance on the eve of Eid al-Fitr. The page records that families gather to look for the first crescent of Shawwal, apply henna, shop and visit markets that stay open late.

In confessional Christian churches, subscription is the practice of requiring ministers and elders to formally agree to their church's confession of faith. The page records that Presbyterian denominations subscribe to the Westminster Confession and confessional Lutheran churches to the Book of Concord, and that the degree of agreement required varies.

In Buddhism, taking refuge is a practice, often a short prayer or recitation at the start of a day or a practice session, centered on the Three Jewels: the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. The page records that it is common to every major Buddhist school and practiced by monastics and laypeople alike.

In Jainism, upvas is complete fasting, abstention from food altogether for a day or longer. The page records that a single day is the ordinary unit, that the strictest form excludes water, and that Jain teaching treats austerity as nirjara, the shedding of karmic matter already bound to the soul.