Site Glossary

In addition to major feast days such as Easter and Christmas, the calendar of the church year has a feast day for each person commemorated as a saint. See Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2024.

Biography of a saint.

A fourth-century bishop and missionary to Armenia, which became the first country to be officially Christian. Feast day: March 23.

A fourth-century Greek bishop and leading defender of the faith expressed in the Nicene Creed. Feast day: March 9.

A fourth-century Cappadocian bishop, and a leading theologian on the topic of the Trinity. Feast day: May 9.

The response of assent by the congregation at the conclusion of the Eucharistic Prayer. It is printed in all capitals in the BCP to signify its importance.

A gesture of reverence performed by touching one knee to the floor (or lowering it toward the floor) while keeping the upper body upright, before returning to a standing position. Genuflection is not mentioned in the BCP, and is practiced most often in Anglo-Catholic congregations.

An annual test administered by the General Board of Examining Chaplains, encompassing seven broad topics, used to help determine a candidate’s readiness for ordination.

The term comes from the Latin fons, “spring of water,” and designates a receptacle for baptismal water.

The use of oil for the anointing of the sick at the time of death.

Short for Evening Song, a musically focused service of Evening Prayer, in which most of the service is sung.

The episcopate refers to the office of bishop in general or to all those serving as bishops as a whole. A person’s tenure as a bishop is known as an episcopacy.