Secret (liturgy)

The Secret (Latin: Secreta, oratio secreta) is a prayer said in a low voice by the priest or bishop during religious services.

Western Christianity

In the Roman Rite the secreta is said by the celebrant at the end of the Offertory in the Mass. It is the original and for a long time was the only offertory prayer. It is said in a low voice merely because it was said at the same time the choir sang the Offertory, and it has inherited the special name of Secret as being the only prayer said in that way at the beginning.

The silent recital of the Canon (which is sometimes called "Secreta") did not begin earlier than the sixth or seventh century. The present offertory prayers are late additions, not made in Rome until the fourteenth century. Before that the offertory act was made in silence, and the corresponding prayer that followed it was the Secret. Since it is said silently the Secret is not introduced by the invitation to the people: "Oremus."

The Secret is part of the Accentus of the Mass, changing for each feast or occasion, and is built up in the same way as the Collect. The Secret too alludes to the saint or occasion of the day. But it keeps its special character inasmuch as it nearly always (always in the case of the old ones) asks God to receive the eucharist and sanctify it. All this is found exactly as now in the earliest Secrets we know, those of the Leonine Sacramentary. Already there the Collect, Secret, Postcommunion, and "Oratio ad populum" form a connected and homogeneous group of prayers. So the multiplication of Collects in one Mass entailed a corresponding multiplication of Secrets. For every Collect the corresponding Secret is said.

Liturgy

Liturgy (Greek: λειτουργία) is the customary public worship performed by a specific religious group, according to its particular beliefs, customs and traditions.

The word, sometimes rendered by its English translation "service", may refer to an elaborate formal ritual such as the Eastern Orthodox Divine Liturgy (Greek: Θεία Λειτουργία), Catholic Mass, the Eucharist or Mass (Anglican Communion) or a daily activity such as the Muslim salah and Jewish services. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy is a communal response to the sacred through activity reflecting praise, thanksgiving, supplication, or repentance. Ritualization may be associated with life events such as birth, coming of age, marriage and death. It thus forms the basis for establishing a relationship with a divine agency, as well as with other participants in the liturgy. Methods of dress, preparation of food, application of cosmetics or other hygienic practices are all considered liturgical activities.

Etymology

The word liturgy, derived from the technical term in ancient Greek, leitourgia, signifies the often expensive offers of service to the people, and thus to the polis and the state. Through the leitourgia, the rich carried a financial burden and were correspondingly rewarded with honours. The leitourgia became both mandatory and honorific, supporting the patron's standing among the elite. The holder of a Hellenic leitourgia was not taxed a specific sum, but was entrusted with a particular ritual, which could be performed with greater or lesser magnificence. The chief sphere remained that of civic religion, embodied in the festivals: M.I. Finley notes "in Demosthenes' day there were at least 97 liturgical appointments in Athens for the festivals, rising to 118 in a (quadrennial) Panathenaic year." Eventually, under the Roman Empire, such obligations, known as munera, devolved into a competitive and ruinously expensive burden that was avoided when possible.

Liturgy (disambiguation)

Liturgy is a Christian term with several meanings:

Liturgy may also refer to:

Secret (Heart song)

"Secret" is a song recorded by American rock band Heart. It was released as the fourth and final single from the band's tenth studio album Brigade.

The track is a rock power ballad which did not meet with much mainstream success, peaking at number sixty-four on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and number seventy-nine on the UK Singles Chart. As an emotional song, it portrays forbidden love and the tragedy that the situation is. The communication in this power-ballad is often linked to the still on and off relationship Ann maintains with ex-guitarist Roger Fisher.

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Secret (chocolate bar)

Secret was a chocolate bar that was manufactured by Nestlé during the 1980s and the 1990s that was popular in the UK. It consisted of a bird's nest-styled chocolate coating with a creamy mousse centre similar to the filling of a Walnut Whip. It was packaged in a gold-coloured wrapper with the product's name printed on it in purple and white.

A television advert for the product, first shown in 1990, and set in a 1940s mystery film style featured an elegant lady riding a train when a man rushes into her cabin and hands her a Secret bar saying, "guard this with your life". He then runs off to divert the two mysterious men who've been following him, but while he's away, the woman eats the secret bar because she couldn't resist such a delicious temptation. When the man returns to retrieve it, it's gone, because she had eaten it. At the end of the advert the words accompanied by a voice-over says, "You can't trust anyone to keep a Secret." The product was discontinued a couple of years later, due to high production costs and low volume of sales.

Secret (disambiguation)

A secret is information kept hidden.

Secret or The Secret may also refer to:

General uses

Brands and Products

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Film and television