holy places

pl. The sites in Palestine connected with the ministry and death of Christ, especially those traditionally located within the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. The Greek and Latin Churches both claim the custody of these sacred spots, the Ru ians supporting the pretensions of the former, the French those of the latter. A dispute about these holy places led, in 1853, to the Ru o-Turkish war, followed, in 1854, by the Cri mean war. Holy Roman Empire, s. Hist.: The name given to that German empire which began under Otho I., A. D. 962. holy-rood, s . A cro or crucifix; especially one placed on the rood-beam in churches over the entrance to the chancel. [ROOD.] Holy - rood day : A festival kept on September 14, in commemoration of the exaltation of the Savior's Cro . Also called holy-cro day. holy-rope, s. Bot .: Eupatorium cannabinum . 2198 it in their houses, and use it on retiring to rest, on getting up, before undertaking a journey, or in time of temptation. [LUSTRATION.] "Clean washed in holy - water from the count Of things terrestrial." E. B. Barrett: Aurora Leigh , vii. *Holy-water clerk : The person by whom the holy water is carried; a name given to a poor scholar, to whom this duty was a igned. Holy - water fount: The ve el containing the holy water, also called the holy-water stock, stoup, stone, or vat. Holy -water sprinkler : 1. A brush or bundle of twigs, ., used for sprinkling the holy-water over the congregation. An as pergillum (q. v.). *2. An offensive weapon used in the middle ages, called also a morning star (q. v.). holy-week, s. Ch. Hist., Ritual , & c .: The week from Palm Sunday to Holy Saturday, or Easter-even, inclusive. In the English Episcopal Church, each day has a proper epistle and gospel, and the psalms on Good Friday are also proper. Of late the observance of holy-week has become general; in many churches pa ion-music (q. v.) is chanted and, especially among the Ritualists, the services on Good Friday have direct reference to the solemn events which that day commemorates. In the Roman Church *holy-seat, s. The Popedom. "The reserving of the first-fruits of all vacant benefices to the holy- seat ." -Clarendon : Religion and Policy , ch. v. holy-see, s. [SEE.] holy-sepulcher, s. 1. The sepulcher in which the body of Jesus was laid between His death and His resurrection. 2. The traditional or other site of that grave. 3. The Byzantine Church built at Jerusalem on what is by some believed to be the site of the sepulcher. Order of the Holy Sepulcher : Hist. & Her.: An order founded by Godfrey of Bouillon, the commanding chief, revived by Pope Alexander VI., in 1426, and reorganized in 1847 and 1868 .