CATHOLIC WORD BOOK - Knights of Columbus, Supreme Council

ack to the third or fourth century, and
came from the form of baptism. The
concluding words, As it was in the
beginning, etc., are of later origin. (2) The
greater doxology, Glory to God in the
highest, begins with the words of angelic
praise at the birth of Christ recounted in
the Infancy Narrative (Lk 2:14). It is often
recited at Mass. Of early Eastern origin, it
is found in the Apostolic Constitutions in
a form much like the present. (3) The
formula of praise at the end of the
Eucharistic Prayer at Mass, sung or said by
the celebrant while he holds aloft the paten
containing the consecrated host in one
hand and the chalice containing the
consecrated wine in the other.
Dulia: A Greek term meaning the
veneration or homage, different in nature
and degree from that given to God, paid to
the saints. It includes honoring the saints
and seeking their intercession with God.
Duty: A moral obligation deriving from
the binding force of law, the exigencies of
one’s state in life, and other sources.
E
Easter Controversy: A three phase
controversy over the time for the
celebration of Easter. Some early Christians
in the Near East, called Quartodecimans,
favored the observance of Easter on the
14th day of Nisan, the spring month of the
Hebrew calendar, whenever it occurred.
Against this practice, Pope St. Victor I,
about 190, ordered a Sunday observance of
the feast. The Council of Nicaea, in line
with usages of the Church at Rome and
Alexandria, decreed in 325 that Easter
should be observed on the Sunday
following the first full moon of spring.
Uniformity of practice in the West was not
achieved until several centuries later, when
the British Isles, in delayed compliance
with measures enacted by the Synod of
Whitby in 664, accepted the Roman date
of observance. Unrelated to the
controversy is the fact that some Eastern
Christians, in accordance with traditional
calendar practices, celebrate Easter at a
different time than the Roman and Eastern
Churches.
Easter Duty: The serious obligation
binding Catholics of Roman Rite, to
receive the Eucharist during the Easter
season (in the U.S., from the first Sunday
of Lent to and including Trinity Sunday).
Easter Water: Holy water blessed with
special ceremonies and distributed on the
Easter Vigil; used during Easter Week for
blessing the faithful and homes.
Ecclesiology: Study of the nature,
constitution, members, mission, functions,
etc., of the Church.
Ecology: The natural environment of the
total range of creation — mineral,
vegetable, animal, human — entrusted to
people for respect, care and appropriate use
as well as conservation and development
for the good of present and future
generations.
Ecstasy: An extraordinary state of mystical
experience in which a person is so absorbed
in God that the activity of the exterior
senses is suspended.
Economy, Divine: The fulfillment of God’s
plan of salvation. It was fully developed in
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