While the word "rite" is often applied not only to ritual families but to the particular churches and denominations that use them, the word "use" has been considered a more precise term when liturgical variations do not deviate enough to justify distinguishing them as separate rites. The degree of discrepancy among uses within the same rite can vary widely; the Glagolitic Use was primarily an unmodified translation of the Roman Rite Tridentine Mass into Old Church Slavonic,[5] while the modern Anglican Use of the Roman Rite has an assortment of liturgical books blending Catholic and Anglican ritual.[6][7]
Often, uses develop regionally.[8] A use would often develop from the particular needs or traditions of a diocese, with some gaining broader adoption. In medieval England, "uses" were often synonymous with "customs" and provided aesthetic character and more specific ceremonial instruction not necessarily provided in other sources.[9]: 20 Among these was the Sarum Use, which originated in the Diocese of Salisbury and was gradually accepted in other English dioceses.[10] A "great diversity" of uses survived the initial proliferation of the printed service books, with no consistent form of the Mass and Divine Office existing in medieval Britain.[9]: 13 The preface of the Book of Common Prayer published as a result of the English Reformation identified multiple liturgical uses and declared that, from the publication of the prayer book, "all the whole realm shall have but one Use".[11]
^Thurston, Herbert (1911). "The Primer". The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 12. New York City: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved 10 January 2022 – via NewAdvent.
^ abDonald Attwater (1937). Joseph Husslein (ed.). The Christian Churches of the East: Volume I: Churches in Communion with Rome. Milwaukee: Bruce Publishing Company.
^ abThe Order for the Celebrations of Vespers, Orthros and the Divine Liturgy According to the Ruthenian Recension. Fairfax, VA: Eastern Christian Publications. 1996.
^The Byzantine Liturgy: A New Translation of the Liturgies of St. John Chrysostom and St. Basil the Great. New York City: Fordham Russian Center. 1953. p. 1.
^Cuming, G.J. (1969). A History of Anglican Liturgy (1st ed.). London: St. Martin's Press, Macmillan Publishers. p. 183-184.
^Spinks, Bryan (2006). "The Prayer Book 'Crisis' in England". In Hefling, Charles; Shattuck, Cynthia (eds.). The Oxford Guide to The Book of Common Prayer: A Worldwide Survey. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 239. ISBN978-0-19-529762-1.