Apocrypha (from the Greek, 'things concealed or spurious') is a term applied in the earliest churches to various sacred or professedly inspired writings, sometimes given to those whose authors were unknown, sometimes to those with a hidden meaning, and sometimes to those considered objectionable. The term is specially applied to the fourteen undermentioned books which were written during the two centuries preceding the birth of Christ. They were written, not in Hebrew, but in Greek, and the Jews never allowed them a place in their sacredcanon. They were incorporated into the Septuagint, and thence passed to the Vulgate. The Greek Church excluded them from the canon in 360 at the Council of Laodicea. The LatinChurch treated them with more favour, but it was not until 1546 that they were formally admitted into the canon of the Church of Rome by a decree of the Council of Trent. The Anglican Church says they may be read for example of life and instruction of manners, but that the church does not apply them to establish any doctrine. All other Protestant churches in Britain and America ignore them. The following fourteen books form the Apocrypha of the English Bible: - The first and second Books of Esdras, Tobit, Judith, the rest of the Book of Esther, the Wisdom of Solomon, the Wisdom of Jesus the son of Sirach, or Ecclesiasticus, Baruch the Prophet, the Song of the Three Children, Susanna and the Elders, Bel and the Dragon, the Prayer of Manasses, and the first and second Books of Maccabees.
Besides the Apocryphal books of the Old Testament there are many other books composed in the earlier ages of Christianity, and published under the names of Christ and his apostles, or of such immediate followers as from their character or means of intimate knowledge might give an apparent plausibility for such forgeries. These writings comprise: 1st, the Apocryphal Gospels, which treat of the history of Joseph and the Virgin before the birth of Christ, of the infancy of Jesus, and of the acts of Pilate; 2d, the Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles; and 3d, the Apocryphal Apocalypses, none of which have obtained canonical recognition by any of the churches. Research Apocrypha
Ave Maria ('Hail, Mary'), are the first two words of the angel Gabriel's salutation according to Luke I 28, and the beginning of the very common Latin prayer to the Virgin in the Roman Catholic Church. Its lay use was sanctioned at the end of the twelfth century, and a papal edict of 1326 ordains the repetition of the prayer thrice each morning, noon, and evening, the hour being indicated by sound of bells called the Ave Maria or Angelus Domini. The prayers are counted upon the small beads of the rosary, as the Paternosters are upon the large ones. Research Ave Maria
Blasphemy is the denying of the existence of God, assigning to him false attributes, or denying his true attributes; contumelious reproaches of Jesus; profane scoffing at the Holy Scriptures, or exposing them to ridicule and contempt. In Catholic countries it also includes the speaking contemptuously or disrespectfully of the Holy Virgin or the saints. By the former common law of England blasphemies of God, as denying his being and providence, all contumelious reproaches of Jesus Christ, etc, were punishable by fine and imprisonment, or corporal punishment. According to a celebrated judgment of LordHales, 'Christianity being parcel of the law of England, to reproach the Christian religion was to speak in subversion of the law;' but in a case decided in 1883 it was held that a person may attack the fundamentals of religion without being guilty of a blasphemous libel 'if the decencies of controversy are observed.' Research Blasphemy
Candlemas day is a Christian feast of the purification of the Virgin Mary. The celebration is held on February the 2nd and involves a candle procession to consecrate all the candles which will be needed in the church during the year. Research Candlemas Day
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, called also Benet College, was founded about 1352 by the united guilds of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin, two fraternities of townspeople which used to meet for prayers at St BenedictChurch and St Mary's respectively. The endowments of the college were considerably increased by Archbishop Parker, who also bequeathed to it his valuable collection of manuscripts.
Corpus Christi College, Oxford is a college founded by Richard Fox, bishop of Winchester, under the license from Henry VIII in 1516. The foundation consisted of twenty fellows and twenty scholars. Research Corpus Christi College
The ISO (International Standards Organisation) assigns a two character code to each country name. These codes are used by Internet 'whois' databases (these two character abbreviations are the whois country codes) and also other applications.
Iconolatry is the worship of religious symbols or icons.In Christianity iconolatry refers to the worship or adoration of the images of sacred personages connected with the Christian religion, as images intended to represent angels, the Virgin Mary, saints, martyrs, etc. Iconolatry must not be confounded with idolatry, which worships objects as being themselves divine or possessing supernatural power.
The worship or adoration of images was not common in the church for several centuries after Christ, and in its earlier stages it excited strong feelings, especially in the Eastern section of the church, as illustrated by the rise of the Iconoclasts. The second council of Nicasa taught that images were to be retained, but that they were not to be objects of adoration in the strict sense, though it was right to salute, honour, and venerate them, and to burn lights and incense before them. This decree was rejected by Charlemagne and by a council at Frankfort in 794, but the practice of image-worship finally established itself in the West. Roman Catholics maintain that the cultus of images is 'relative,' and that they are not in themselves really adored or honoured, 'but that all adoration and veneration is referred to the prototypes, in as much as images have no dignity or excellence to which such honour properly appertains.' Research Iconolatry
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Research Apocrypha
