Sacrament Reference library
Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable (19 ed.)
... (Latin sacramentum ) Originally ‘a military oath’ taken by the Roman soldiers not to desert their standard, turn their back on the enemy or abandon their general. Traces of this meaning survive in early Christian usage, but its present meaning comes from its employment in the Latin New Testament to mean ‘sacred mystery’. Hence its application to baptism, confirmation, the eucharist and so on. See also five sacraments ; seven sacraments . Sacramentarians The name given by Martin Luther to those who maintained that no change took place in the...
sacrament Quick reference
World Encyclopedia
... Symbolic action in which the central mysteries of a religious faith are enacted and which, on some accounts, confers divine grace upon those to whom it is given or administered. For Protestants, there are two sacraments: baptism and the Lord's Supper ( see Last Supper ). In the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches , the sacraments are baptism, confirmation , the Eucharist , holy orders , matrimony, penance and the anointing of the...
Sacrament Reference library
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
...the sacrament to be ‘valid’. In addition, the recipient must be in a proper state of faith and repentance for it to be ‘efficacious’. In Anglican tradition (Art. 25 of the Thirty-Nine Articles ) baptism and the eucharist are distinguished as having been ordained by Christ (i.e. Dominical sacraments), from the other five so-called sacraments. Protestant theology generally speaks of these two sacraments only. ‘Blessed Sacrament’ (or ‘Sacrament of the altar’) refers specifically to the eucharist, or the bread and wine consecrated at it. The term ‘sacrament’ is...
sacrament Quick reference
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (3 ed.)
... sacraments which have become traditional in the W. are enumerated, i.e. Baptism, Confirmation , the Eucharist, Penance , Extreme Unction , Orders , and Matrimony . Other symbolic rites came to be called ‘ sacramentals ’ (q.v.). Despite the importance of the notion of Dominical institution, in several cases no occasion of such institution by Christ is apparent; such institution had to be held to be implicit. In modern times there has been more emphasis on the Church as the fundamental sacrament of Christ in which the commonly enumerated sacraments are...
sacrament Reference library
Brian Butcher
The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (4 ed.)
...a special rank among the sacraments was given to baptism and the eucharist, both of which are clearly referred to in the Gospels (Mt. 28: 19 and 26: 26–9). In the Thirty-Nine Articles (Art. 25) of the C of E they are differentiated as the ‘two Sacraments ordained of Christ our Lord in the Gospel’ as distinct from the other ‘five commonly called Sacraments’. In the Middle Ages, under the influence of Aristotelian hylomorphism , a distinction was made between the ‘matter’ ( materia ) and the ‘form’ ( forma ) of the sacraments, the matter being the...
Sacrament Reference library
The Oxford Companion to the Bible
...worship, and it was later extended to include other official liturgical acts of the church. In 1564 the Council of Trent defined seven sacraments as instituted by Christ , namely, Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Holy Orders, and Marriage. The Reformers with their biblical emphasis preferred to confine the term to baptism and eucharist, which are generally recognized as the two gospel sacraments. The development of sacramental theology reflects different views found in the New Testament concerning the relation between God and human...
Sacrament Reference library
John HART
Berkshire Encyclopedia of Sustainability
...be a sacrament has profound theoretical and practical implications. In Earth as sacramental commons, spirituality and sustainability are integrated. As a natural sacrament, creation can be revelatory of God, a sign and symbol of divine immanence, and a visible expression of invisible divine solicitude when it is not polluted, when it is responsibly shared and used, and when it supports the evolving community of life in its Earth habitat. The elements of the ritual sacraments—bread; juice or wine—require pure, environmentally sustainable natural sacraments:...
blessed sacrament Reference library
The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (4 ed.)
...sacrament A term used of the sacrament of the eucharist, and applied both to the service itself and more esp. to the consecrated...
sacrament house Quick reference
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (3 ed.)
... house . A shrine-like receptacle for the reservation of the Blessed Sacrament. Except in Scotland , sacrament houses came to take the form of a small tower, with the central part often done in open-work. From the 16th cent. they were largely displaced by tabernacles...
Blessed Sacrament Quick reference
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (3 ed.)
...Sacrament . A term used of the Eucharist and applied both to the service and to the consecrated...
Reserved sacrament Reference library
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
...sacrament . Bread (occasionally wine) consecrated at the Christian eucharist and kept for devotion ( see BENEDICTION ) and for communion , especially for the sick. The practice is similar in the Orthodox Church , except that the reserved sacrament consists of the host with a drop of consecrated wine on it, and there are no extra-liturgical...
sacrament house Reference library
The Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages
... house A shrine for the eucharistic *sacrament , developing from stone niches and becoming, especially in *Germany , an ornate structure near the principal *altar , as a means of perpetual reservation and sign of Christ ’s presence. David J. Kennedy N. Mitchell , Cult and Controversy: The Worship of the Eucharist Outside Mass (1982). M. Rubin , Corpus Christi: The Eucharist in Late Medieval Culture ...
Sacrament house Reference library
The Oxford Dictionary of Christian Art and Architecture (2 ed.)
... house , as distinct from a ciborium or a tabernacle , may be one of two things: an aumbry or cupboard usually near the altar, used for the reservation of the Sacraments; or a very tall, elaborately carved shrine-like structure used for the same purpose. The finest medieval example is the one in St Lorenz, Nuremberg, of 1493–6 . Their use for the reservation of the Sacrament was forbidden in Roman Catholic churches in 1863 , but the practice has been revived in recent years. Modern examples are also found in Anglican churches, such as St...
sacrament house Reference library
Bruce Harbert
The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (4 ed.)
... house A shrine-like receptacle for the reservation of the blessed sacrament. It developed from the stone niche in the wall (‘ aumbry ’), and in Scotland it always retained this form. Elsewhere, after the introduction of the Feast of Corpus Christi (1264), it began to take the shape of a small tower, the central part of which was often done in open-work. These sacrament houses, which were popular esp. in Germany, Belgium, and France, were frequently decorated with reliefs depicting the Last Supper, the passion, or other subjects. From the 16th cent....
Sacrament certificate Reference library
A Dictionary of English Manuscript Terminology 1450–2000
... certificate Following the Test Act of 1672 , directed against Catholic recusants, all persons appointed to public office, civil and military, were compelled not only to take the Oath of Allegiance to the monarch as ‘the only supreme governor of this realm’ with supreme authority in ‘all spiritual and ecclesiastical things’ as well, but also to receive regularly Holy Communion in the Church of England. A Sacrament certificate (the term derived from the Latin sacramentum , ‘a consecrating’ or ‘surety’), signed by the minister, churchwarden, and two...
Reconciliation, Sacrament of Quick reference
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (3 ed.)
...Sacrament of . The modern name of Penance ...
sacrament, reservation of Reference library
The Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages
..., reservation of The ancient practice of reserving eucharistic elements for the sick and dying, developed in the 13th-century west with the establishment in churches of *sacrament houses , pyxes, and tabernacles for personal devotion. David J. Kennedy N. Mitchell , Cult and Controversy: The Worship of the Eucharist Outside Mass (1982). M. Rubin , Corpus Christi: The Eucharist in Late Medieval Culture ...
Sacrament, the Blessed Reference library
The Oxford Dictionary of Christian Art and Architecture (2 ed.)
...Sacraments of confession and the Blessed Sacrament may be administered as the Viaticum (Lat. provision for a journey) to a sick or dying person. The Last Rites may be given at any time of the day or night, without any requirement of previous fasting. According to the Thirty-Nine Articles, reservation of the Sacrament is not permitted in the Anglican Church, nor is its exposition in any form, nor may it be carried about. The rule against its being carried, and against its reservation has, however, been relaxed considerably in recent years. See sacraments,...
Sacrament token books Reference library
A Dictionary of English Manuscript Terminology 1450–2000
... token books Since at least the fifteenth century until the Civil War, in accordance with laws compelling attendance at church and the receiving of the Sacrament, or Holy Communion, it was a practice in many parishes to use tokens both to record the fact and to acquire income for the church. Churchwardens, who, at least by Elizabethan times, went around from house to house for this purpose, gave tokens to parishioners, who were expected to give a penny or halfpenny for them. The tokens would then be handed back to the church when the person attended...
sacrament, certificate of Reference library
The Oxford Dictionary of Local and Family History
..., certificate of . Amongst the provisions of the Test Act ( 1673 ), which excluded from civil or military employment all except members of the Church of England, was the requirement that a certificate, signed by a minister, churchwarden, and two witnesses, should be presented to quarter sessions by the holder of a civil or public office to acknowledge that he had received communion in the Church of England...
