Sunday Divine Liturgy at St. Michael’s runs about 90 minutes. That’s the short answer.
But there’s more you should know if you’re planning to visit. What we call “Sunday morning” actually includes two services that flow together without a break. Matins (sometimes called Orthros) starts around 9:15 AM and runs about an hour. Then the Divine Liturgy begins at 10:20 or so and continues until noon. You’re looking at close to three hours total from start to finish.
I know what you’re thinking. Three hours is a long time, especially if you grew up Baptist where the service ran an hour and fifteen minutes including the sermon, three hymns, and an altar call. And yes, it’s longer than Mass at St. Anne’s too. But here’s the thing: Orthodox worship isn’t designed to be efficient. It’s designed to be heavenly.
The Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, which we use most Sundays, has been celebrated for over 1,600 years. It wasn’t written to fit modern attention spans or to get you out in time for the Texans game. It unfolds at its own pace because we’re entering into something that exists outside of time. We’re joining the angels around God’s throne. That takes however long it takes.
Can you come just for the Liturgy and skip Matins? Sure. Lots of people do, especially families with young kids or folks coming off night shift at the refinery. But you’ll miss the Gospel reading at Matins and the way the morning prayers prepare you for what’s coming. If you can manage the full morning, it’s worth it.
Weekday services are shorter. Great Vespers on Saturday evening runs 45 minutes, maybe an hour. Weekday Vespers services are typically 35 to 45 minutes. If there’s a weekday Liturgy for a feast day, expect about an hour and a half total. During Lent we add services like Great Compline, which runs about an hour.
Service length varies a bit from parish to parish. A priest who chants quickly versus one who takes his time can shift things by fifteen or twenty minutes. If there’s a sermon (and there usually is), that adds another ten to twenty minutes. Baptisms, memorial services, or special blessings extend things. The Sunday we baptized three babies last year, we didn’t finish until 12:45.
The number of people receiving Communion affects timing too. In a parish of two hundred, Communion alone can take twenty minutes. We don’t rush it. Each person comes forward, gives their baptismal name, receives the Body and Blood of Christ from the chalice, and returns to their place. It’s not a production line.
You’ll also notice we don’t announce an end time. The bulletin might say “Divine Liturgy, 10:20 AM” without listing when it’s over. That’s because the services flow into each other organically. Matins doesn’t end so much as it becomes the Liturgy. There’s no hard stop between movements. It’s one continuous act of worship.
Standing for most of the service makes the time feel different too. We’re not a sitting-and-listening church. You’re physically engaged, which changes your experience of duration. Some parishes have a few chairs along the walls for elderly folks or pregnant women, but standing is the norm. Your feet will tell you it’s been three hours, even if your mind lost track.
If you’re visiting for the first time, don’t feel like you have to stay for the whole thing. Slip in, stay as long as you can, slip out quietly if you need to. We’ve all been new. We get it. But give yourself more time than you think you’ll need. Plan for the full morning. Bring your kids if you have them (they can go to the parish hall if they get wiggly). And stick around for coffee hour after if you can. That’s where you’ll actually meet people and ask the questions you didn’t know you had.
The ancient Christians celebrated Liturgy for five hours or more. St. Basil edited that down to about two and a half, and St. John Chrysostom shortened it further to what we use now. So in a way, 90 minutes is the express version. We’re not trying to make it long. We’re trying to make it true.
