Dedication
DEDICATION
A religious ceremony by which any person, place, or thing was devoted to a holy purpose. Thus the tabernacle and the first and second temples were dedicated to God, Exo 40:1-38 1Ki 8:1-66 Ezr 6:1- 22. The Jews also practiced a certain dedication of walls, houses, etc., Deu 20:5 Neh 12:27 . The “feast of the dedication” was a yearly commemoration of the cleansing and rededication of the temple, when polluted by Antiochus Epiphanes, Joh 10:22 .
Fuente: American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
DEDICATION
A religious ceremony, whereby any person or thing is solemnly consecrated, or set apart to the service of God and the purposes of religion. The use of dedications is very ancient, both among the worshippers of the true God, and among the heathens. In the Scripture we meet with dedications of the tabernacle, altars, &c. Under Christianity dedication is only applied to a church, and is properly the consecration thereof.
See CONSECRATION.
Fuente: Theological Dictionary
dedication
Often used as interchangeable with consecration . The dedication of a church is spoken; of as its consecration . A distinction is drawn to accord with the ancient Romans. Whatever was devoted directly to worship was called consecrated . The objects pertaining indirectly but intimately thereto were called dedicated (temples, altars , etc.). Hence dedication is an act by which a thing is set aside for a sacred use.
Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary
Dedication
A term which, though sometimes used of persons who are consecrated to God’s service, is more properly applied to the “setting aside” of places for a special and sacred purpose (cf. Hastings, Dict. of the Bible). The Christian, indeed, believes that God is everywhere and that the Divine Immensity fills all space; but this faith does not exclude the idea of reserving a special spot in which the creature may hold communion with his Creator and worship Him. That the setting aside of this hallowed place was ever done with a certain show and ceremony is evident from the examples of Jacob (Genesis 28:18), of Moses (Leviticus 8:10), and above all, of Solomon (1 Kings 8). This precedent of the Old Law was too obvious to be overlooked in the New, and we may be sure that the modern custom was consecrated by Apostolic usage. In a fragment of a martyrology ascribed to St. Jerome (cf. D’Achéry, Spicilegium IV) this passage occurs: “Romæ dedicatio primæ Ecclesiæ a beato Petro constructæ et consecratæ”. It is not strange, however, that owing to the persecutions of the first three centuries, references to the dedication of churches are extremely rare. The first authentic accounts of this kind are furnished by Eusebius (Hist. Eccl., X, iii, iv; De Vitâ Const., IV, xliii, in P. G., XX), and Sozomen (Hist. Eccl., II, xxvi in P. G., XLVII) in regard to the cathedral of Tyre (314) and Constantine’s church at Jerusalem. The well-known historical document entitled “Peregrinatio Silviæ” (Etheria) has a full description of the celebration of the dedicatory festival of the church of Jerusalem as it was witnessed by our pilgrim-authoress in the fourth century (cf. Cabrol, Livre de la prière antique, p. 311). Here it will suffice to emphasize, in connexion with the dedication of churches, (1) the ritual employed, (2) the minister, (3) necessity and effects, and (4) festival and its days.
(1) In the beginning the dedication ceremony was very simple. A letter of Pope Vigilius to the Bishop of Bracara (538) states: “Consecrationem cujuslibet ecclesiæ, in quâ non ponuntur sanctuaria (reliquiæ) celebritatem tantum scimus esse missarum” (We know that the consecration of any church in which shrines (relics) are not placed consists merely in the celebrations of Masses). That the primitive ceremonial consisted mainly in the celebration of Mass, where there were no relics, is also shown from the old “Ordines Romani” (cf. Mabillon, “Museum Italicum”, II in P. L. LXXVIII, 857). Where relics were used the ceremony of translating and depositiing them under the altar formed a notable feature of the dedication rite (cf. “Ordo of St. Amand” in Duchesne, “Christian Worship”, London, 1903, Appendix; “Ordo of Verona” in Bianchini, ed., “Lib. Pont.”, III). The first complete formulary is found in the Gelasian Sacramentary (in P. L., LXXIV), which embodies the Roman liturgical usages of the seventh century. Here the rite consists of prayers, sprinklings with holy water, and blessings. So quickly, however, was this ritual elaborated that in the ninth century it attained the completeness which it enjoys at the present time (cf. the eighth- century “Liber Sacramentorum” in P. L., LXXVIII; “Ordines Romani”, ed. Martène, “De Ant. Eccl. Rit.”, III; Daniel, “Cod. Lit.”, I). The modern dedicatory ceremonial assumes two forms according as a church is simply blessed or solemnly consecrated. In the former case the function consists of prayers, sprinklings of holy water, and Mass (cf. Roman Ritual; Schulte, “Benedicenda”, p. 155, etc.). The solemn rite of consecration is described in the article CONSECRATION.
(2) The solemn ceremony of dedication, or consecration is found in the Roman Pontifical and is performed de jure by a bishop (see CONSECRATION). The simpler rite, which is given in the Roman Ritual, is generally reserved to bishops, but may be also undertaken by a priest with episcopal delegation.
(3) All churches, public oratories and semi-public, if destined for Divine worship in perpetuum, must be at least blessed before the Sacred Mysteries can be regularly celebrated in them (Cong. of Rites, Sept., 1871). Purely private or domestic oratories may not be thus dedicated, but simply blessed with the Benedictio loci (cf. Roman Ritual or Missal) on each occasion Mass is said in them. As a rule the principal churches in every district should be consecrated in the solemn manner, but as certain conditions are required for licit consecration that are not always feasible (cf. Irish Ecclesiastical Record, April, 1908, p. 430) the ordinary simple dedication rite is regarded as practically adequate. Both forms render the place sacred, and contribute, as sacramentals, to the sanctification of the faithful, but they differ in this that while a church that is consecrated must, if polluted, be reconciled by a bishop, a church that is simply blessed may be reconciled in similar circumstances by a priest (cf. Roman Ritual).
(4) Another difference in the effects of the two forms of dedication is that a consecrated church is entitled to celebrate each year the anniversary feast of its consecration, which is to be held as a double of the first class with an octave, by all the priests attached to the church. A church that is only blessed has no right to this anniversary feast unless per accidens, that is, when it is included in the special indult granted for the simultaneous celebration of the anniversaries of all the churches in a district or diocese. In this case the Office and Mass must be celebrated in every church, within the limits of the indult independently of their consecration (Cong. of Rites, n. 3863). Though any day may be selected for the dedication of a church, yet the Roman Pontifical suggests those “Sundays and solemn festive days” which admit the dedicatory Office and Mass, as well as the anniversary celebration.
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In addition to the authorities cited the following may be usefully consulted: CATALANI, Commentarium in Pontificale Romanum (Paris, 1850); FERRARIS, Bibliotheca, s. v. Ecclesia (Paris, 1865); DE HERDT, Praxis Pontificalis (Louvain, 1905); BERNARD, Le Pontifical (Paris, 1902), II; MANY, De Locis Sacris (Paris, 1904); SCHULTZ, Benedicendo; Consecranda (New York, 1906), very full on ceremonial.
PATRICK MORRISROE Transcribed by WGKofron With thanks to Fr. John Hilkert, Akron, Ohio
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume IVCopyright © 1908 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat. Remy Lafort, CensorImprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York
Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia
DEDICATION
According to common usage, dedication is another word for consecration. The two words refer to the act of setting apart people or things from the ordinary affairs of life and presenting them to God for his service (Exo 13:2; Exo 13:12; Exo 29:1; Exo 29:22; Num 7:10-11; 1Sa 1:11; 1Sa 1:24-28; 1Ki 8:63; 1Ch 26:26; Ezr 6:16-17; for details see CONSECRATION).
The Jewish festival known as the Feast of Dedication celebrated the rededication of the Jewish temple after the defilement by Antiochus Epiphanes in the second century BC (Joh 10:22; for details see FEASTS).
Fuente: Bridgeway Bible Dictionary
Dedication
DEDICATION.See House, 3.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Dedication
Dedication, a religious ceremony, whereby anything is dedicated or consecrated to the service of God; and it appears to have originated in the desire to commence, with peculiar solemnity, the practical use and application of whatever had been set apart to the divine service. Thus Moses dedicated the Tabernacle in the Wilderness (Exodus 40; Numbers 7); Solomon his temple (1 Kings 8); the returned exiles theirs (Ezr 6:16-17); Herod his. The Maccabees, having cleansed the temple from its pollutions under Antiochus Epiphanes, again dedicated the altar (1Ma 4:52-59), and an annual festival was established in commemoration of the event. This feast was celebrated not only at Jerusalem, but everywhere throughout the country; in which respect it differed from the feasts of the Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles, which could only be observed at Jerusalem.
In Joh 10:22-23, we are told that Jesus was at Jerusalem, walking in Solomon’s porch at the time of ‘the feast of the dedication, and it was winter.’ This is usually supposed to have been the feast commemorating the dedication by Judas Maccabus, which was celebrated in the month Chisleu, about the winter solstice (answering to the 15th of December). There seems no reason to disturb this conclusion; for the dedication of Solomon’s temple was in the seventh month, or autumn; that of Zerubbabel’s temple in the month Adar, in the spring; and, although that of Herod’s temple was in the winter, we know not that it was celebrated by an annual feast, while the Maccaban dedication was a festival much observed in the time of Christ.
Not only were sacred places thus dedicated; but some kind of dedicatory solemnity was observed with respect to cities, walls, gates, and even private houses (Deu 20:5; Psalms 30 title; Neh 12:27). We may trace the continuance of these usages in the custom of consecrating or dedicating churches and chapels; and in the ceremonies connected with the ‘opening’ of roads, markets, bridges, etc., and with the launching of ships.
Fuente: Popular Cyclopedia Biblical Literature
Dedication
Law concerning dedicated things
– General references
Lev 27; Num 18:14; 1Ch 26:26-27
– Must be without blemish
Lev 22:18-23; Mal 1:14
– Not redeemable
Lev 27:28-29
– Offering must be voluntary
Lev 1:3; Lev 22:19 Offerings; Vows
Of the tabernacle
Num 7
Solomon’s temple
1Ki 8; 2Ch 7:5
Second temple
Ezr 6:16-17
Of the wall of Jerusalem
Neh 12:27-43
Of houses
Deu 20:5
Of Samuel by his mother
1Sa 1:11; 1Sa 1:22 Consecration
For instances of liberality in dedicated things
Liberality
Feast of
Joh 10:22; 1Ki 8:65; 2Ch 7:8-10
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Dedication
a religious ceremony, whereby any person or thing was set apart to the service of God, and the purposes of religion. Dedications of persons, temples, and houses, were frequent among the Jews. See CONSECRATION.