FEAST OF DEDICATION
\fˈiːst ɒv dˌɛdɪkˈe͡ɪʃən], \fˈiːst ɒv dˌɛdɪkˈeɪʃən], \f_ˈiː_s_t ɒ_v d_ˌɛ_d_ɪ_k_ˈeɪ_ʃ_ə_n]\
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The annual feasts, commemorating the dedication of churches, were in this country called wakes, i.e. vigils or eves. In his instructions to Augustine, Gregory the Great allows the yearly celebration of these feasts in churches made out of the heathen temples. The custom was kept up to the seventeenth century, when the Puritans raised their voices against it ; and although it has fallen into disuse in some counties, it is still observed generally in the north.
By Henry Percy Smith
Word of the day
Snake's-head
- Guinea-hen flower; -- so called in England because its spotted petals resemble the scales of a snake's head.