Is it true that Orthodox masses (sic) last 3 hours or even a whole night?

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I heard the other day something like this. But I couldn’t find any evidence.
 
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Attended orthodox Easter service and it did last all night. But, to be fair, the faithful lasted only until a little after midnight. Then the church suddenly became empty as the faithful went downstairs for coffee and cake refreshments as the service (very long sermon) continued. After this, about half of the people left and the rest returned. I was there with an orthodox friend and we remained until the end. I enjoyed the early morning procession.
 
The Orthodox, both Eastern and Oriental, typically combine Sunday Divine Liturgy with other services, like Matins, or some of the Little Hours. While the Divine Liturgy itself would not generally last for 3 hours, when combined with other services, it could. I have attended an Ethiopian Orthodox Liturgy that lasted longer than 3 hours. I have also attended a Copic Liturgy that lasted around 3 hours. A Greek Orthodox Divine Liturgy, when combined with Orthros (Matins), could take about 2 1/2 hours.
 
The Eastern Catholic Churches as well as the Orthodox have Divine Liturgy, not Mass. 😉
 
MynameisD said:
I heard the other day something like this. But I couldn’t find any evidence.
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A typical Sunday Divine Liturgy might be about 1 hour 15 - 1.5 hours, but if you couple that with the Hours (another part of the daily cycle of services before Liturgy) it could be around 2 hours. Most people arrive for Liturgy.

On Saturday nights, most churches do Vespers (about 45 minutes) while some do Vigil, which can last around 3 hours. But most don’t do a whole Vigil except for maybe important feast days.
 
MynameisD said:
I heard the other day something like this. But I couldn’t find any evidence.
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I went to an EO service once and it was almost 3 hours. Plus, people would arrive 1 hour or 2 hours in to attend and this sort of thing was completely acceptable.
 
Others have given you good answers, but I would like to add that the Anaphora of St. Basil is slightly longer. It could also be added that the services come one after the other, which means that it could be hard for an outsider to understand when the Liturgy begins and when it ends. Some parishes where I live also demands confession before receiving the Eucharist, and therefore pauses the Eucharistic celebration to recite the psalms and give those who did confess a last opportunity to do so. I do not like this custom, but that is just me.

I have personally never attended a Liturgy that only lasted 1h and 15 min, but I will take ReaderTs word for it. In my parish, a typical Liturgy lasts for about 1.5-2h. The services for Easter usually begins around 7 (we pause during the day) and ends around three in the morning, when we bless the food and eat together. It is quite strange, but I would not want to change it…
 
Lasse said:
I have personally never attended a Liturgy that only lasted 1h and 15 min, but I will take ReaderTs word for it. In my parish, a typical Liturgy lasts for about 1.5-2h.
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Now that I think of it, our service is only 1 hour 15 minutes because the priest doesn’t give a sermon now - it’s a weird thing that some Churches are doing because of Covid. We were told only to do the Liturgy (not even 3rd and 6th hours), so he thought the sermon was supposed to be cut also. Otherwise you’re right, it would be 1.5 hours.
 
Oh, thank you. It’s very kind of you to share this interesting information with us.
 
I came across a video of an Ethiopian Orthodox Christmas Eve Liturgy that was 4.5h long.
 
Along this same vein…

Has anyone been to the Blessing of the Fire Mass in which all readings and songs were used?
Just wondering. If done, I am pretty sure that would last a few hours.
 
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