PulpitA pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin pulpitum (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accessed by steps, with sides coming to about waist height. From the late medieval period onwards, pulpits have often had a canopy known as the sounding board, tester or abat-voix above and sometimes also behind the speaker, normally in wood.
ParamentParaments or parements (from Late Latin paramentum, adornment, parare, to prepare, equip) are both the hangings or ornaments of a room of state, and the ecclesiastical vestments. Paraments include the liturgical hangings on and around the altar, such as altar cloths, as well as the cloths hanging from the pulpit and lectern, and in the ecclesiastical vestments category they include humeral veils and mitres. In most Christian churches using paraments (including Roman Catholic and a wide variety of Protestant denominations), the liturgical paraments change in color depending on the season of the church year.
Tract (liturgy)The tract (Latin: tractus) is part of the proper of the Christian liturgical celebration of the Eucharist, used instead of the Alleluia in Lent or Septuagesima, in a Requiem Mass, and other penitential occasions, when the joyousness of an Alleluia is deemed inappropriate. Tracts are not, however, necessarily sorrowful. The name apparently derives from either the drawn-out style of singing or the continuous structure without a refrain. There is evidence, however, that the earliest performances were sung responsorially, and it is probable that these were dropped at an early stage.
Byzantine calendarThe Byzantine calendar, also called the Roman calendar, the Creation Era of Constantinople or the Era of the World (Ἔτη Γενέσεως Κόσμου κατὰ Ῥωμαίους, also Ἔτος Κτίσεως Κόσμου or Ἔτος Κόσμου, abbreviated as ε.Κ.; literal translation of Ancient Greek Roman year since the creation of the universe), was the calendar used by the Eastern Orthodox Church from c. 691 to 1728 in the Ecumenical Patriarchate. It was also the official calendar of the Byzantine Empire from 988 to 1453 and of Kievan Rus' and Russia from c.
JoachimJoachim (ˈdʒoʊəkɪm; יהויקים Yəhōyāqīm, "he whom Yahweh has set up"; Ἰωακείμ) was, according to Christian tradition, the husband of Saint Anne, the father of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the maternal grandfather of Jesus. The story of Joachim and Anne first appears in the Biblical apocryphal Gospel of James. His feast day is 26 July, a date shared with Saint Anne. The story of Joachim, his wife Anne (or Anna), and the miraculous birth of their child Mary, the mother of Jesus, was told for the first time in the 2nd-century apocryphal infancy-gospel the Gospel of James (also called Protoevangelium of James).
Christian worshipIn Christianity, worship is the act of attributing reverent honour and homage to God. In the New Testament, various words are used to refer to the term worship. One is proskuneo ("to worship") which means to bow down to God or kings. Throughout most of Christianity's history, corporate Christian worship has been liturgical, characterized by prayers and hymns, with texts rooted in, or closely related to, the Bible (Scripture), particularly the Psalter, and centered on the altar (or table) and the Eucharist; this form of sacramental and ceremonial worship is still practiced by the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran and Anglican churches, and Methodism to a lesser extent.
ShehimoShehimo (, ഷഹീമോ; English: Book of Common Prayer, also spelled Sh'himo) is the West Syriac Christian breviary of the Syriac Orthodox Church and the West Syriac Saint Thomas Christians of India (Malankara Jacobite Syrian Church, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, Marthoma Syrian Church and Thozhiyur Church) that contains the seven canonical hours of prayer. The Shehimo includes Bible readings, hymns and other prescribed prayers from the West Syriac Liturgical system.
ThanksgivingThanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Dutch town of Leiden and the Australian territory of Norfolk Island. It began as a day of giving thanks for the blessings of the harvest and of the preceding year (Similarly named harvest festival holidays occur throughout the world during autumn, including in Germany and Japan.).
Parable of the Prodigal SonThe Parable of the Prodigal Son (also known as the parable of the Two Brothers, Lost Son, Loving Father, or of the Forgiving Father) is one of the parables of Jesus in the Bible, appearing in Luke 15:11–32. The setting in vv. 1-3 has Jesus tell three stories to a group of Pharisees and scribes who were complaining that he welcomes and eats with sinners: (1) a man throws a party after finding the one lost sheep among his one hundred sheep (vv. 4–7); (2) a woman throws a party after finding the one lost coin among her ten coins (vv.
Nativity sceneIn the Christian tradition, a nativity scene (also known as a manger scene, crib, crèche (krɛʃ or kreɪʃ), or in Italian presepio or presepe, or Bethlehem) is the special exhibition, particularly during the Christmas season, of art objects representing the birth of Jesus. While the term "nativity scene" may be used of any representation of the very common subject of the Nativity of Jesus in art, it has a more specialized sense referring to seasonal displays, either using model figures in a setting or reenactments called "living nativity scenes" (tableau vivant) in which real humans and animals participate.
