"an elaborate variation on the sedan chair. Two large fans (""flabella"") made of white ostrich feathers —a relic of the ancient liturgical use of the ""flabellum"", mentioned in the ""Constitutiones Apostolicae""— were carried at either side of the ""sedia gestatoria"". The ceremonial throne was mainly used to carry popes to and from papal ceremonies in the Basilica of St. John Lateran and St. Peter's Basilica. The ""sedia"" was used as part of papal ceremony for nearly a millennium. Its origins are sometimes thought to date back to the Byzantine Empire where Byzantine emperors were carried along in a similar manner,"
"Seat of Wisdom In Roman Catholic tradition, ""Seat of Wisdom"" or ""Throne of Wisdom"" (translating Latin sedes sapientiae) is one of many devotional titles for Mary, the Mother of God. It refers to her status as the vessel in which the Holy Child was born. In ""Seat of Wisdom"" icons and sculptures, Mary is seated on a throne with the Christ Child on her lap. For the more domestic and intimate iconic representations of Mary with the infant Jesus on her lap, see Madonna and Child. The Roman Catholic Church honors Mary, Seat of Wisdom, with a feast day on"
"Hagia Sophia, the Church of Holy Wisdom, through these doors and proceed up to the altar to partake of the Eucharist). On either side of this portal are large brass candlestands called ""menalia"" which represent the pillars of fire which went before the Hebrews into the promised land. The nave is the main body of the church where the people stand during the services. In most traditional Eastern Orthodox churches there are no seats or pews as in the West, but rather ""stacidia"" (A high-armed chair with arm rests high enough to be used for support while standing); these are"
"Session of Christ The Christian doctrine of the Session of Christ or heavenly session says that Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of God the Father in Heaven—the word ""session"" is an archaic noun meaning ""sitting."" Although the word formerly meant ""the act of sitting down,"" its meaning is somewhat broader in current English usage, and is used to refer to a sitting for various reasons, such as a teaching session, or a court or council being in session. The New Testament also depicts Jesus as standing and walking in Heaven, but the Session of Christ has special"
"</poem> Session of Christ The Christian doctrine of the Session of Christ or heavenly session says that Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of God the Father in Heaven—the word ""session"" is an archaic noun meaning ""sitting."" Although the word formerly meant ""the act of sitting down,"" its meaning is somewhat broader in current English usage, and is used to refer to a sitting for various reasons, such as a teaching session, or a court or council being in session. The New Testament also depicts Jesus as standing and walking in Heaven, but the Session of Christ has"
"Sedilia In ecclesiastical architecture, sedilia (plural of Latin ""sedīle"", ""seat"") are seats, usually made of stone, found on the liturgical south side of an altar, often in the chancel, for use during Mass for the officiating priest and his assistants, the deacon and sub-deacon. The seat is often set back into the main wall of the church itself. Not all sedilia are stone; there is a timber one thought to be 15th century in St Nicholas' Church at Rodmersham in Kent. When there is only one such seat, the singular form ""sedile"" is used, as for instance at St Mary's,"
"subdivided with moulded shafts, pinnacles and tabernacle work; the seats are sometimes at different levels, the eastern being always the highest, and sometimes an additional niche is provided in which the piscina is placed. Sedilia In ecclesiastical architecture, sedilia (plural of Latin ""sedīle"", ""seat"") are seats, usually made of stone, found on the liturgical south side of an altar, often in the chancel, for use during Mass for the officiating priest and his assistants, the deacon and sub-deacon. The seat is often set back into the main wall of the church itself. Not all sedilia are stone; there is a"
"congregants would sit upon chairs and benches. Today, the custom has spread in all places to sit upon chairs and benches. Until the 19th century, in an Ashkenazi synagogue, all seats most often faced the Torah Ark. In a Sephardic synagogue, seats were usually arranged around the perimeter of the sanctuary, but when the worshipers stood up to pray, everyone faced the Ark. Many current synagogues have an elaborate chair named for the prophet Elijah, which is only sat upon during the ceremony of Brit milah. In ancient synagogues, a special chair placed on the wall facing Jerusalem and next"
"Nov. ed.) After the Second Vatican Council it became common again to receive the communion standing. Communion bench A Communion bench is an adaptation of the sanctuary guard or altar rail. Standing in front of this barrier, in a space called the chancel, or pectoral, the faithful were wont in early times to receive Holy Communion, the men taking the Consecrated Bread into their hands and the women receiving it on a white cloth, called the domenical, while deacons administered the Precious Blood which each took through a reed of gold or silver. About the twelfth century when the custom"
"Cardinal James Gibbons's recounting how the pope mistakenly called him Jibbons. ""Cathedra"" and ""sedes"" are Latin words for a ""chair"", the symbol of the teacher in the ancient world; the ""chair"" is still used metaphorically as the office of a university professor, and to the ""see"" of a bishop (from ""sedes""). The pope is said to occupy the ""chair of Peter"" or the ""Holy See"", since Catholics hold that the pope is the successor of Peter. Also, Catholics hold that Peter had a special role among the apostles as the preserver of unity, and that the pope therefore holds the"
"the faithful. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition only men can enter the altar portion behind the iconostasis. The word comes from the Greek (""eikonostási(-on)"", still in common use in Greece and Cyprus), which means ""icon stand"". The nave is the main body of the church where most of the worshippers stand, and the sanctuary is the area around the altar, east of the nave. The sanctuary is usually one to three steps higher than the nave. The Iconostasis does not sit directly on the edge of the sanctuary, but is usually set a few feet back from the edge of"
"religious ceremonies) to feed a snake which is coiled round an altar. The snake is reared up and dips its head to the patera. Sometimes her hand is open and empty, making a gesture. Sometimes the snake directs its gaze along with hers. Sometimes there is no altar; the snake is coiled around the arm of her throne instead. Occasionally, Salus has a tall staff in her left hand with a snake twined around it; sometimes her right hand raises a smaller female figure. Later, Salus is shown standing, feeding her snake. This became the commonest pose: she is standing"
"Countries). In September 2000, at the close of the Jubilee Year, Pope John Paul II commissioned the Slovenian Jesuit artist Marko Ivan Rupnik to create in mosaic an icon of the Virgin ""sedes sapientiae"" for the world's Catholic universities; it has since been passed reverently among Catholic institutions in a number of nations. Seat of Wisdom In Roman Catholic tradition, ""Seat of Wisdom"" or ""Throne of Wisdom"" (translating Latin sedes sapientiae) is one of many devotional titles for Mary, the Mother of God. It refers to her status as the vessel in which the Holy Child was born. In ""Seat"
"Communion bench A Communion bench is an adaptation of the sanctuary guard or altar rail. Standing in front of this barrier, in a space called the chancel, or pectoral, the faithful were wont in early times to receive Holy Communion, the men taking the Consecrated Bread into their hands and the women receiving it on a white cloth, called the domenical, while deacons administered the Precious Blood which each took through a reed of gold or silver. About the twelfth century when the custom arose of receiving under one kind only, the priests placed the small Hosts on the tongues"
"Sellisternium The sellisternium or ""solisternium"" was a ritual banquet for goddesses in the Ancient Roman religion. It was based on a variant of the Greek ""theoxenias"", and was considered an appropriately ""greek"" form of rite for some Roman goddesses thought to have been originally Greek, or with clearly Greek counterparts. In the traditional Roman lectisternium, the images of attending deities, usually male, reclined on couches along with their male hosts or guests. In the sellisternium, the attending goddesses sat on chairs or benches (in Latin, ""sellae""), usually in the company of exclusively female hosts and guests. A sellisternium for the"
"habit must have proven quite persistent, for the Third Council of Braga in 675 AD saw the need to order that bishops, when carrying the relics of martyrs in procession, must walk to the church, and not be carried in a chair, or litter, by deacons clothed in white. In the Catholic Church, Popes were carried the same way in Sedia gestatoria, which was replaced later by the Popemobile. A palanquin is a covered litter, usually for one passenger. It is carried by an even number of bearers (between two and eight, but most commonly four) on their shoulders, by"
"""Session"" (Latin. ""sessio"" from ""sedere"" ""to sit""), sometimes the ""Kirk session"", ""church session,"" or (in Continental Reformed usage) ""consistory"". The members of the session are the pastor(s) of that congregation (sometimes referred to as a teaching elder) and the installed ruling or canon elders (""ruling"" or ""canon"" because they are responsible for ""measuring"" the spiritual life and work of a congregation). In some Continental Reformed churches, deacons are members of the consistory; others, such as the Christian Reformed Church in North America, distinguish between the consistory, comprising the pastor and elders, and the council, which comprises the pastor(s), the elders,"
"in a 6th-century hagiography of Theodosius the Cenobiarch. According to this text, both the church and the monastery of Kathisma were built by a wealthy widow called Ikelia (""Iqilia, Hicelia"") during the reign of bishop Juvenal of Jerusalem (r. 450–458). Theodosius is said to have lived in the monastery as a young monk. Church of the Seat of Mary The Church of the Seat of Mary (, from ), which is also the name mostly used in literature, was a 5th-century Byzantine church in the Holy Land, located between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. It was built on the supposed resting place"
"Cathedra A cathedra (; from Greek: καθέδρα ""kathédra"", ""seat"") or bishop's throne is the seat of a bishop. It is a symbol of the bishop's teaching authority in the Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church, and the Anglican Communion churches. ""Cathedra"" is the Latin word for a chair with armrests, and it appears in early Christian literature in the phrase """"cathedrae apostolorum"""", indicating authority derived directly from the apostles; its Roman connotations of authority reserved for the Emperor were later adopted by bishops after the 4th century. A church into which a bishop's official ""cathedra"" is installed is called a cathedral."
"Session (Presbyterianism) A session (from the Latin word ""sessio"", which means ""to sit"", as in sitting to deliberate or talk about something; sometimes called ""consistory"" or ""church board"") is a body of elected elders governing each local church within presbyterian polity. These groups of elders make decisions for the local parish through a ruling body called the ""Kirk session"" (Latin. ""sessio"" from ""sedere"" ""to sit""), sometimes the ""Session"", ""church session,"" or (in Continental Reformed usage) ""consistory"". The members of the session are the pastor (Teaching Elder) of that congregation, and the other ruling elders (sometimes called ""lay elders""). Elders are"
"the senate in a procession. The message was that the senate was with Augustus instead of against him. The east panel depicts Tellus, the Roman Goddess of the earth and Pax. The message was that Roman people were no longer starving, which was consistent with Augustus’ promise of “peace and fertility”, where he gave land to farmers to plant in the fall and harvest in the spring. The west panel depicts the sacrifice of either Aeneas, the founder of Rome or Numa Pompilius the second king of Rome, it is also where the entrance is located. The steps leading up"
"sits in the chief stall in the choir, which is usually at the west end of the south side. Next to the dean (as a rule) is the precentor (""primicerius"", ""cantor"", etc.), whose special duty is that of regulating the musical portion of the services. The precentor presides in the dean's absence, and occupies the corresponding stall on the north side, although there are exceptions to this rule, where, as at St Paul's, the archdeacon of the cathedral city ranks second and occupies what is usually the precentor's stall. The third dignitary is the chancellor (""scholasticus"", ""écoldtre"", ""capiscol"", ""magistral"", etc.),"
"or her and worn over the shoulder. At ordination to the priesthood, the newly ordained priest then wears the stole around his or her neck, hanging down in front, either straight down or crossed across the front of the body and secured with the cincture. In Protestant churches, the stole is most often seen as the symbol of ordination and the office of the ministry of Word and Sacrament. Stoles are often given by the congregation (sometimes hand-made or decorated) as a love gift at ordination or at other life milestones. Generally, Protestant clergy wear the stole in the same"
"Misericord A misericord (sometimes named mercy seat, like the Biblical object) is a small wooden structure formed on the underside of a folding seat in a church which, when the seat is folded up, is intended to act as a shelf to support a person in a partially standing position during long periods of prayer. Prayers in the early medieval church at the daily divine offices (i.e. Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, and Compline) were said standing with uplifted hands. The old or infirm could use crutches or, as time went on, a ""misericordia"" (literally ""act of mercy"")."
"the child is female, the priest lays her in front of the icon of the Theotokos; if it is a male, the priest takes the child around the Holy Table (altar). In some Greek Orthodox parishes, there is an ambo to the side (usually the Liturgical North, opposite the Bishop's throne) of the Iconostasis. It retains only a few of the functions of the ancient ambo, whereas the solea retains the other functions. The Epistle and Homily are read from this ambon (similar to a western pulpit), whereas the Gospel is read from the Solea. The practice of vesting the"
"The Curia is used for the proper assemblies of the magistrates, while the Comitium was most likely used for public events, assemblies, funerals, and speeches. The Comitium seats would most likely have been stood on first to allow for more people to assemble and second because the size and shape (about 33 cm x 40 cm wide) would not have allowed for comfortable seating. Approximately 600 people could stand on the Comitium steps with others around the Comitium looking at some type of Rostra where the speaker would be. Separate from the Arx, Temples B and C stood side by"
"Mercy seat According to the Hebrew Bible, the mercy seat ( ""ha-kappōreṯ"") was the gold lid with two cherubim beaten out of the ends of it to cover and create the space into which God would appear. This gold cover was placed on the Ark of the Covenant. This was connected with the rituals of the Day of Atonement; where God did appear. The term also appears in later Jewish sources, and twice in the New Testament, from where it has significance in Christian theology. The English phrase ""mercy seat"" is a translation of the Hebrew ""kapporeth"" (in the Masoretic"
"Christ was tried and condemned to death. The Bible refers to the Praetorium as the ""common hall"", the ""governor's house"", the ""judgment hall"", ""Pilate's house"", and the ""palace"". (see Gospel of John 18:28, Mark 15:16) As well, Paul was held in Herod's Praetorium. Notes Praetorium The Latin term praetorium — or prœtorium or pretorium — originally signified a general's tent within a Roman castra, castellum, or encampment. It derived from the name of one of the chief Roman magistrates, the praetor. ""Praetor"" (Latin, ""leader"") was originally the title of the highest-ranking civil servant in the Roman Republic, but later became"
"only pastors wear the stole, as there is only the one order of ordination, that of pastor, in these Lutheran traditions. (The office of bishop for Episcopal polity and president for Congregational Polity is not a separate order of ordination.) Diaconal ministers, the ELCA's equivalent to the deacon, generally do not wear the stole, but sometimes will wear the traditional deacon's stole while performing liturgical functions traditional to the diaconal order. However, in certain Lutheran Churches where people are ordained to the diaconal ministry, such as in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, wearing a deacon's stole when assisting in"
"Hetoimasia The Hetoimasia, Etimasia (Greek ἑτοιμασία, ""preparation""), prepared throne, Preparation of the Throne, ready throne or Throne of the Second Coming is the Christian version of the symbolic subject of the empty throne found in the art of the ancient world, whose meaning has changed over the centuries. In Ancient Greece it represented Zeus, chief of the gods, and in early Buddhist art it represented the Buddha. In Early Christian art and Early Medieval art it is found in both the East and Western churches, and represents either Christ, or sometimes God the Father as part of the Trinity. In"
"Mourner's bench The mourners' bench, also known as the mercy seat, in Methodist and other evangelical Protestant churches is a bench located in front of the chancel. The practice was instituted by John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church. Individuals kneel at the mourners' bench to experience the New Birth and some of those who have already had the New Birth go there to receive entire sanctification, while others, especially backsliders, use the mourners' bench to confess their sins and receive forgiveness, in order to continue the process of sanctification. At the mourners' bench, individuals receive spiritual counsel from"
"High Place (the area behind the Holy Table, where the bishop's throne sits) and makes three metanias to the east, saying each time, ""O God, cleanse me a sinner."" The Deacon, holding his vestments on the palm of his right hand, comes to the priest and, bowing his head, says: ""Bless, Master, the Sticharion and Orarion."" The Priest says: ""Blessed is our God + at all times, now and always and for ever and ever. The Deacon says ""Amen"", kisses the right hand of the Priest, withdraws to another part of the sanctuary (the diaconicon) and puts on his vestments"
"color of the day. The celebrant sits at the sedile, in front of which is placed a lectern, covered with a cloth in the color of the day. The assistants sit on benches or stools facing the altar, or if there are two assistants, they may sit at the sedile next to the celebrant (the first assistant in the place of the deacon and the second assistant in place of the subdeacon). The celebrant and assistants follow the acolytes into the church wearing the biretta. Upon arriving in the sanctuary the acolytes place their candles on the lowest altar step,"