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Sacramentals
A sacramental in Christianity is a material object or action (in Latin ''sacramentalia'') ritually blessed by a priest to signal its association with the sacraments and so to incite reverence during acts of worship. They are recognised by the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, the Church of the East, the Lutheran churches, the Old Catholic Church, the Anglican churches, Independent Catholic churches, and Methodist churches. In the Bible, prayer cloths and holy oil are mentioned in reference to praying for healing. Holy water is a sacramental that believers use to recall their baptism; other common sacramentals include blessed candles (often given to churchgoers on Candlemas), blessed palms (given away at churches on Palm Sunday), blessed ashes (placed on believers' foreheads on Ash Wednesday services), a cross necklace (often taken to be blessed by a pastor before daily use), blessed salt, and holy cards, as well as Christian art, esp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Holy Water
Holy water is water that has been blessed by a member of the clergy or a religious figure, or derived from a well or spring considered holy. The use for cleansing prior to a baptism and spiritual cleansing is common in several religions, from Christianity to Sikhism. The use of holy water as a sacramental for protection against evil is common among Lutherans, Anglicans, Roman Catholics, and Eastern Christians. In Christianity In Catholicism, Lutheranism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and some other churches, holy water is water that has been sanctified by a priest for the purpose of baptism, for the blessing of persons, places, and objects, or as a means of repelling evil. History The Apostolic Constitutions, whose texts date to about the year 400 AD, attribute the precept of using holy water to the Apostle Matthew. It is plausible that the earliest Christians may have used water for expiatory and purificatory purposes in a way ana ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crucifix
A crucifix (from Latin ''cruci fixus'' meaning "(one) fixed to a cross") is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the ''corpus'' (Latin for "body"). The crucifix is a principal symbol for many groups of Christians, and one of the most common forms of the Crucifixion in the arts. It is especially important in the Roman Rite of the Roman Catholic Church, but is also used in the Eastern Orthodox Church, most Oriental Orthodox Churches (except the Armenian & Syriac Church), and the Eastern Catholic Churches, as well as by the Lutheran, Moravian and Anglican Churches. The symbol is less common in churches of other Protestant denominations, and in the Assyrian Church of the East and Armenian Apostolic Church, which prefer to use a cross without the figure of Jesus (the ''corpus''). The crucifix emphasizes Jesus' sacrifice—his death by crucifixion, which Christians beli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blessed Salt
Blessed salt has been used in various forms throughout the history of Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula .... Among early Christians, the savoring of blessed salt often took place along with baptism. In the fourth century, Augustine of Hippo named these practices "visible forms of invisible grace". However, its modern use as a sacramentals, sacramental remains mostly limited to its use with holy water within the Anglican Communion and Roman Catholic Church. History In the Old Testament, in , "David struck down 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt." In addition, "tells the story of the prophet Elisha pouring salt onto Jericho's water springs." For centuries since the advent of Jesus, salt that had been cleansed and sanctified by special exorcisms and prayers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sacrament
A sacrament is a Christian rite that is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments to be a visible symbol of the reality of God, as well as a channel for God's grace. Many denominations, including the Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican, Methodist, and Reformed, hold to the definition of sacrament formulated by Augustine of Hippo: an outward sign of an inward grace, that has been instituted by Jesus Christ. Sacraments signify God's grace in a way that is outwardly observable to the participant. The Catholic Church, Hussite Church and the Old Catholic Church recognise seven sacraments: Baptism, Penance (Reconciliation or Confession), Eucharist (or Holy Communion), Confirmation, Marriage (Matrimony), Holy Orders, and Anointing of the Sick (Extreme Unction). The Eastern Churches, such as the Eastern Orthodox Church and Oriental Orthodox Church as well as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prayer Cloth
A prayer cloth is a sacramental used by Christians, in continuation with the practice of the early Church, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles: Prayer cloths are especially popular within the Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestantism, Protestant Charismatic Christianity, Charismatic Christian movement Among Christianity in Lebanon, Lebanese Christians, prayer cloths are blessed and then placed on an afflicted area, while believers pray to God through the intercession of Charbel Makhlouf, Saint Sharbel. Among Methodists and Pentecostals, if a Christian is suffering from an illness and is not present during a church service, a prayer cloth is consecrated ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Holy Card
In the Christian tradition, holy cards or prayer cards are small, devotional pictures for the use of the faithful that usually depict a religious scene or a saint in an image about the size of a playing card. The reverse typically contains a prayer, some of which promise an indulgence for its recitation. The circulation of these cards is an important part of the visual folk culture of Roman Catholics, and in modern times, prayer cards have also become popular among Orthodox Christians and Protestant Christians, although with the latter, biblical themes are emphasized within them. Uses Most cards are circulated to assist the veneration of the saints and images they bear. Special holy cards are printed for Catholics to be distributed at funerals by the family of the deceased that include the name and usually dates of birth and death of the deceased. These are a particular type of the in memoriam cards, which can also record other events such as baptisms, confirmations, ordina ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in each of the four canonical Gospels. Palm Sunday marks the first day of Holy Week. For adherents of mainstream Christianity, it is the last week of the Christian solemn season of Lent that precedes the arrival of Eastertide. In most liturgical churches, Palm Sunday is celebrated by the blessing and distribution of palm branches (or the branches of other native trees), representing the palm branches which the crowd scattered in front of Christ as he rode into Jerusalem; these palms are sometimes woven into crosses. The difficulty of procuring palms in unfavorable climates led to their substitution with branches of native trees, including box, olive, willow, and yew. The Sunday was often named after these substitute trees, as in Yew Sunday, or by the general term Branch Sunday. In Syriac Christianity it is ofte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cross Necklace
__NOTOC__ A cross necklace is any necklace featuring a Christian cross or crucifix. Crosses are often worn as an indication of commitment to the Christian faith, and are sometimes received as gifts for rites such as baptism and confirmation. Communicants of the Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox Churches are expected to wear their baptismal cross necklaces at all times, a practice derived from Canon 73 and Canon 82 of the Sixth Ecumenical Council (Synod) of Constantinople. Some Christians believe that the wearing of a cross offers protection from evil, while others, Christian and non-Christian, wear cross necklaces as a fashion accessory. "In the first centuries of the Christian era, the cross was a clandestine symbol used by the persecuted adherents of the new religion." Many Christian bishops of various denominations, such as the Orthodox Church, wear a pectoral cross as a sign of their order. Most adherents of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church will wear a cro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christian Art
Christian art is sacred art which uses subjects, themes, and imagery from Christianity. Most Christian groups use or have used art to some extent, including early Christian art and architecture and Christian media. Images of Jesus and narrative scenes from the Life of Christ are the most common subjects, and scenes from the Old Testament play a part in the art of most denominations. Images of the Virgin Mary and saints are much rarer in Protestant art than that of Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. Christianity makes far wider use of images than related religions, in which figurative representations are forbidden, such as Islam and Judaism. However, there are some that have promoted aniconism in Christianity, and there have been periods of iconoclasm within Christianity, though this is not a common interpretation of Christian theology. History Beginnings Early Christian art survives from dates near the origins of Christianity, although many early Christians assoc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Devotional Scapular
The scapular (from Latin ''scapulae'', "shoulders") is a Western Christian garment suspended from the shoulders. There are two types of scapulars, the monastic and devotional scapular, although both forms may simply be referred to as "scapular". As an object of popular piety, it serves to remind the wearers of their commitment to live a Christian life. The "monastic scapular" appeared first, perhaps as early as the 7th century in the Order of Saint Benedict. It is a length of cloth suspended both front and back from the shoulders of the wearer, often reaching to the knees. It may vary in shape, color, size and style. Monastic scapulars originated as aprons worn by medieval monks, and were later extended to habits for members of religious organizations, orders or confraternities. Monastic scapulars now form part of the habit of monks and nuns in many Christian orders. The "devotional scapular" is a much smaller item and evolved from the monastic scapular. These may also be worn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Family Bible (book)
A family Bible is a Bible handed down through a Christian family, with each successive generation recording information about the family's history inside of it. Typically, this information consists of births, deaths, baptisms, confirmations and marriages; family Bibles contain a "family record" or "family registry" section to record this information. People sometimes may place other items, such as holy cards, certificates, letters, newspaper cuttings and photographs, inside a family Bible. In the United Kingdom, they are found today and were especially common in the Victorian period, and are also found in the United States, Australia and New Zealand. Family Bibles are often placed on a family's home altar, being regularly used for family prayer. They are often used as sources for genealogical research. Gallery File:The Wilson Family Bible (4379704462).jpg, Family bible of Woodrow Wilson File:Family-bible.jpg, A family Bible File:Bird family birth registry.jpg, Birth record Fil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Home Altar
A home altar or family altar is a shrine kept in the home of a Western Christian family used for Christian prayer and family worship. Home altars often contain a cross or crucifix, a copy of the Bible (especially a Family Bible), a breviary and/or other prayer book, a daily devotional, icons of Jesus Christ and prayer beads, among other religious articles specific to the individual's Christian denomination, for example, the images of the saints for Catholics, the Small Catechism for Lutherans, and the Anglican Rosary for Anglicans. History ''The Christian Treasury'' traces the origin of the family altar to the prophet Abraham erecting one in the Old Testament (). Since at least the 2nd century, believers such as Hipparchus, hung or painted a Christian cross, to which they prostrated in front of, on the eastern wall of their home in order to indicate the eastward direction of prayer during the seven fixed prayer times, as an "expression of their undying belief in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
