An ecclesiastical dictionary : containing definitions of terms and explanations and illustrations of subjects pertaining to the history, ritual, discipline, worship, ceremonies, and usages of the Christian church : with brief notices of ancient and modern sects, and biographical sketches of the early fathers and writers of the church / by William Staunton.

  • William Staunton
Date:
1875
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An ecclesiastical dictionary : containing definitions of terms and explanations and illustrations of subjects pertaining to the history, ritual, discipline, worship, ceremonies, and usages of the Christian church : with brief notices of ancient and modern sects, and biographical sketches of the early fathers and writers of the church / by William Staunton. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    applied to the augmentation of Queen Anne’s Bounty. See First-Fruits, and Bounty, Queen Anne’s. ANNUNCIATION of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This festival is ap- pointed by the Church, in commemoration of that event in which it was announced to Mary, by an angel, that she should be the mother of the Messiah. ANOINTED. In ancient times, oil was poured on the heads of kings, priests, and prophets, when they were set apart for their respective offices. Hence the Scriptures often style kings the anointed., or the Lord's anointed, ] Sam. xxiv. 6; Ps. xviii. 50; xx. 6; Ixxxix. 37, 50. Anointing was emblematical of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on a person, to qualify him for some special office. Our Blessed Lord is in the highest sense the Anointed One, such being the meaning of the word ‘ Christ.’ In refer- ence to Him, David uses these words: ‘Therefore God, even Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness, above Thy fellows.’—Ps. xlv. 7. And S. Peter, in addressing Cornelius, declares that ‘God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost, and with power.’—Acts x. 38. In a subordinate sense, all Christians are numbered among the anointed, as in the passages : ‘Now He which establisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God.’—2 Cor. \. 21. ‘But the anointing which ye have received of Him, abideth in you;.... the same anointing teacheth you all things.’—1 S. John ii. 27. ‘But ye have an unction (or anointing) from the Holy One, and ye know all things.’—1 S. John ii. 21. ANOMCEANS. The name by which the stricter Arians were called in the fourth century, in contradistinction to the Semi-Arians. The word is formed from the Greek avoyoiog, dissimilar; for the strict Arians asserted that the Son was of a nature different from, and in nothing like that of the Father: whereas the Semi-Arians acknowledged a likeness of nature in the Son, at the same time that they denied the consubst^ntiality of the Word. ANTE-COMMUNION. That part of the Order for the Holy Commun- ion which precedes the exhortations, prayers, etc., connected with the actual celebration of the Eucharist. It has for many ages been customary to view the Communion service as embracing three main divisions. 1. The Ante-communion, or the preparatory portions; having a general refer- ence to the sacrament, but yet not touching on its immediate celebration. 2. The Communion proper, formerly styled the canon, including the conse- cration and distribution of the elements. And, 3. The Post-communion, or prayers, anthems, etc., which follow after the reception of the sacrament. The English and American Prayer-books differ somewhat in assigning the limits of the Ante-communion. In the first book of Edward VI., it appears to have embraced the offertory; and in the English Prayer-books