Cella
cella
(Latin: little room)
One of the names of the small memorial chapels erected in earliest Christian cemeteries, also called memoriae martyrum. It is supposed that the edifices erected by Pope Fabian (236 -250 ) were cellae, used for the celebration of the funeral agapae. In form they are cellae trichorae, consisting of a rectangular nave terminating in three semicircular apses
Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary
Cella
One of the names by which the small memorial chapels sometimes erected in the Christian cemeteries of the first age were known; these edifices are also referred to as memoriae martyrum, confessiones, etc. The term cella in this sense occurs in a very interesting inscription of Caeasarea in Mauretania quoted by De Rossi (Bullet., April, 1864):—
AREAM AT [AD] SEPULCHRA CULTOR VERBI CONTULIT, ET CELLAM STRUXIT SUIS CUNCTIS SUMPTIBUS.
[This cemetery (area) was given by a worshiper of the Word, who also erected a chapel (cella) at his own expense.]
It is the general opinion of archaeologists that the edifices erected in the Roman cemeteries by Pope Fabian (236-250) [Multas fabricas per cymeteria fieri praecepit (Lib. Pont., I, 148)] were memorial cellae constructed primarily as places for the celebration of the funeral agapae or anniversaries by friends of the deceased, when the oblatio pro dormitione, or Mass for the dead, was offered. Two such cellae, or cemeterial basilicas, dedicated respectively to Sts. Sixtus and Cecilia and St. Soter, may still be seen in the cemetery of St. Callistus. In form they belong to the class of edifices known as cellae trichorae, each consisting of a rectangular nave terminating in three semicircular apses, the chords of which form three sides of a square. In other instances cellae terminate in a single apse. Originally each of these cellae consisted of three apses alone which probably served as a choir or sanctuary for the clergy during the celebration of the liturgy, while the congregation assisted at the services from the adjacent lawn. Owing to the great respect of the Roman civil authorities for places of interment, it is conjectured that, except in the more rigorous persecutions, the Christians may have sometimes held their regular Sunday liturgical services in the manner described, under the pretext of memorial services for the dead.
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MAURICE M. HASSETT Transcribed by Gerald M. Knight
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume IIICopyright © 1908 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, November 1, 1908. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia
Cella
(or Cella Memoriae), was a small memorial chapel erected in a sepulchral area over the tomb of a deceased person, in which at stated times, especially the anniversary of his decease, friends and dependents assembled to celebrate an agape, and partake of a banquet in his honor. Sepulchral buildings of this character were common both to heathens and Christians. Christianity simply inherited them, and purged them of licentious or idolatrous taint.
Directions for the erection of a building bearing the same title, and devoted to a similar purpose, by a pagan, are given in a very curious will, once engraved on a tomb at Langres, a copy of a portion of which has been discovered in the binding of a MS. of the 10th century in the library at Basle.
These celoe were halls for memorial banquets. The Christians were essentially men of their country and their age, following in all things lawful the customs of the time and place in which their lot was cast. Rejecting the abuses arising from the license of pagan morals, there was nothing in itself to take exception at in the funeral feast. Indeed, the primitive lovefeasts were often nothing more than banquets heldin celoe at the tombs of the faithful, the expenses of which, in the case of the poorer members, were provided out of the church-chest. Pictorial representations of banquets of this nature are found in the catacombs. These celle also formed oratories where prayers were offered over the remains of the departed. The name was applied only to buildings erected above the ground, those below being known as CIBICULA SEE CIBICULA . (q.v.).