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Abbott, Lyman

(Encyclopedia)Abbott, Lyman, 1835–1922, American clergyman and editor, b. Roxbury, Mass., son of Jacob Abbott. He was ordained a minister in 1860 and was pastor in several churches before succeeding Henry Ward Be...

vigil

(Encyclopedia)vigil vĭjˈəl [key] [Lat.,=watch], in Christian calendars, eve of a feast, a day of penitential preparation. In ancient times worshipers gathered for vespers before a great feast and then waited out...

catholic church

(Encyclopedia)catholic church [Gr.,=universal], the body of Christians, living and dead, considered as an organization. The word catholic was first used c.110 to describe the Church by St. Ignatius of Antioch. In s...

Sabaoth

(Encyclopedia)Sabaoth săbˈāŏth, –ōth, sābāˈəth [key], Hebrew term used in the New Testament (Rom. 9.29; James 5.4) and in Christian hymns (e.g., Sanctus and Te Deum) in the title of God, translated in th...

Saint Valentine's Day

(Encyclopedia)Saint Valentine's Day, Western European Christian holiday, originally the Roman feast of Lupercalia. It was christianized in memory of the martyrdom of St. Valentine in a.d. 270, who, in medieval time...

Barrows, Samuel June

(Encyclopedia)Barrows, Samuel June, 1845–1909, American clergyman and reformer, b. New York City. He was a pastor in Dorchester, Mass., and later edited (1880–96) the Christian Register, a Unitarian weekly. In ...

Santer, Jacques

(Encyclopedia)Santer, Jacques (Jean Jacques Santer) zhäN zhäk säNtĕrˈ [key], 1937–, Luxembourg political leader and European statesman. A lawyer and economist, he entered politics as a member of the Christia...

Santería

(Encyclopedia)Santería sănˌtərēˈə, sänˌ– [key], religion originating in W Africa, developed by Yoruba slaves in Cuba, and practiced by an estimated one million people in the United States. Blending Afric...

Segni, Antonio

(Encyclopedia)Segni, Antonio äntôˈnyō sĕnˈyē [key], 1891–1972, Italian political leader. A lawyer, he entered national politics in 1919 as a leader of the Popular party, the forerunner of the Christian Dem...

Seven Sleepers of Ephesus

(Encyclopedia)Seven Sleepers of Ephesus ĕfˈĭsəs [key], in a Christian version of a widespread story, martyrs immured in a cave near Ephesus during the persecutions by Decius (c.250). Long afterward, in the 5th ...