The American Church Dictionary and Cyclopedia

House of Bishops.--The upper House of the General Convention in which all Diocesan, Coadjutor and Missionary Bishops have seats, representing their own Order. The term is often...

John Evangelist, Saint.--Commemorated on the second day after Christmas, December 27th. St. John was the son of Zebedee and Salome and brother of St. James the Great. The sons o...

Mass--The old name for the Sacrament of the Holy Communion, being a corruption of the Latin, _Ite, Missa est_, meaning "the people are now dismissed." "This name was retained in...

Golden Number.--The Golden Number is that {124} which marks the position of any given year in the Lunar Cycle, which is a period of nineteen years. Meton, an Athenian philosophe...

Belfry.--That part of the steeple in which a bell is hung. Sometimes a separate tower is built, in a room of which the bell is placed. The old name was campanile, from _campana_...

Dedication, Feast of.--The annual commemoration of the consecration of a Church building is so called. From ancient authors we learn that when Christianity became prosperous and...

Occasional Offices.--Those services of the Prayer Book which are not in constant use, but used only as occasion may require, such as the Office for Holy Matrimony, the Order for...

Fathers, The.--The name used to designate the ancient writers of the Church. Their writings are of the greatest value as bearing witness to the N. T. Scriptures and their interp...

The writer of the following pages has long been convinced, from an experience of many years in the Ministry, that a great desideratum among Church people is a Church Dictionary,...

Andrew, Feast of Saint.--A Holy Day of the Church observed on November 30, and is of very ancient date. It is known to have been observed since A.D. 360. St. Andrew was of Beths...

Circumcision, The.--A Feast of the Church observed on January 1st, in commemoration of our Lord's obedience to the Law of Circumcision and His receiving the Name JESUS (which se...

Postulant.--The canonical name for one who {214} desires to become a Candidate for Holy Orders and whose name is entered by the Bishop upon the list of Postulants, as required b...

Visitation of the Sick.--A requirement of the Church is that "When any person is sick, notice shall be given thereof to the Minister of the Parish." When the Minister visits suc...

Easter Tide.--The weeks following Easter Day and reaching to Ascension Day are so called. They commemorate the forty days our Lord spent on earth after His Resurrection, commonl...

Sponsors.--It would be difficult to say with any degree of certainty at what period the office of _Sponsors_ was established, but it appeared in the very earliest ages of the Ch...

Cathedral.--The word "cathedral," derived from the Greek word _cathedra_, meaning a seat, is the name given to the Church where the Bishop's seat or throne is. As such, it is th...

Transfiguration, The.--A Feast of the Church observed on August 6, in commemoration of our Lord's Transfiguration on the Mount in the presence of His three disciples, St. Peter,...

Lessons, The.--The word "Lesson" is derived from the Latin _lectio_, meaning a reading, and signifies a portion of Scripture appointed to be read during Divine service; applied...

Responds.--In the old system of reading Holy Scripture in Divine Service, short selections from different books of the Bible were read successively, with short Anthems being sun...

Habit 131 Hades 131 Hallelujah. See Alleluia 9 Heaven 132 Hell 132 Heresy 132 Heretic 132 High Celebration 132 Historic Episcopate 133 Historiographer 133 Holy Angels 133 Holy C...