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[German Version] The Nativity of John the Baptist is celebrated by the Catholic, Anglican, Byzantine, and Coptic churches on Jun 24 (it is also in the Lutheran Calendar of Saints), the Beheading on Aug 29; the earliest evidence of both observances dates from the 5th century. The date of the nativity observance was determined in the West in relationship to Christmas and Luke 1:36; later the feast incorporated customs associated with the summer solstice. The Byzantine church later established a seco…

[German Version] with one or both knees differs from kneeling, from falling to one's knees, but also from the related bowing and the intensive form, prostration, or major and minor metanie (Byz.). The prayer gestures genuflection and kneeling embody the humility of the creature in the act of worship, veneration and supplica-¶ tion. As liturgical gestures (II; R. Guardini, Von heiligen Zeichen, 1923; ET: Sacred Signs, 1956) in Western liturgies, they express appropriate contrition and supplication and constitute an attitude of receptiveness (ordination, marria…

[German Version] (Feb 17, 1885, Verona, Italy – Oct 1, 1968, Munich), Catholic philosopher of religion and theologian. With his conception of a Christian worldview, Guardini developed a universally acknowledged contribution to the interpretation and significance of Christianity under the intellectual conditions of the 20th century. He construed the task of his chair of philosophy of religion and Catholic (later Christian) ideology in Berlin (1923–1939), Tübingen (1945–1948), and Munich (1948–1962)…

[English Version] I. Liturgisch Die P. (patena, lat. Lehnwort von griech. πατα´n̆η/pata´nē, »Schüssel«) nimmt als Hostienschale das in der Eucharistiefeier verwendete Brot auf und entspricht so funktional dem Abendmahlskelch mit Wein (Gefäße, liturgische; Geräte, liturgische). Urspr. als Schüssel für die Brechung und Austeilung des Brotes verwendet, wird sie nach dem Aufkommen von Hostien im Westen auf einen flachen, der Kelchöffnung angepaßten Teller von 12–20 cm Durchmesser für eine Hostie reduziert (anders der δι´σκος/di´skos im Osten). Kath. und ev. werden P.…

[German Version] I. In the Liturgy The paten (Lat. patena, from Gk πατάνη/ patánē, “flat dish”) serves as a container for the consecrated bread of the Eucharist; it is a functional parallel to the chalice holding the wine (Liturgical vessels, Liturgical implements). Originally it was as a platter on which the bread was broken and arranged; after the change to smaller hosts in West, it was reduced to a flat plate for a host, 12–20 cm in diameter, fitted to the top of the chalice (unlike the δίσκος/ dískos used in the East). In Catholic and Evangelical church practice, paten and chal…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. The Christian Cult and the Mysteries – III. Art History I. Religious Studies Modern discussion of the Greek mysteries goes back to the material collected by the Dutch scholar Jan de Meurs (1619), which served as the main source for I. Casaubon's argument that the Early Church borrowed but changed some terminology and institutions from the mysteries ( Exercitationes, 1655). The belief that there was a specific religious phenomenon, “the mystery cults of antiquity,” that could be compared directly with the practice…