Rite - Definition and Overview

A rite is an established, ceremonious, usually religious act. Rites fall into three major categories:

• rites of passage, generally changing an individual's social status, such as marriage, or Christian baptism
• rites of worship, where a community comes together to worship, such as Jewish synagogue or Christian Mass
• rites of personal devotion, where an individual worships, including prayer and pilgrimages such as the Muslim Haj.

Within Christianity it can have a much more specific meaning -- in this sense a rite is a particular liturgy. For example, in the Roman Catholic religion, the last rites are often performed on someone who is dying.

Freemasonry in North America is divided into the Scottish Rite and the York Rite.

See also

• ritual, ceremony, Rite of Spring