The Collaborative International Dictionary
Holy \Ho"ly\, a. [Compar. Holier; superl. Holiest.] [OE. holi, hali, AS. h[=a]lig, fr. h[ae]l health, salvation, happiness, fr. h[=a]l whole, well; akin to OS. h?lag, D. & G. heilig, OHG. heilac, Dan. hellig, Sw. helig, Icel. heilagr. See Whole, and cf. Halibut, Halidom, Hallow, Hollyhock.]
Set apart to the service or worship of God; hallowed; sacred; reserved from profane or common use; holy vessels; a holy priesthood. ``Holy rites and solemn feasts.''
--Milton.-
Spiritually whole or sound; of unimpaired innocence and virtue; free from sinful affections; pure in heart; godly; pious; irreproachable; guiltless; acceptable to God. Now through her round of holy thought The Church our annual steps has brought. --Keble. Holy Alliance (Hist.), a league ostensibly for conserving religion, justice, and peace in Europe, but really for repressing popular tendencies toward constitutional government, entered into by Alexander I. of Russia, Francis I. of Austria, and Frederic William III. of Prussia, at Paris, on the 26th of September, 1815, and subsequently joined by all the sovereigns of Europe, except the pope and the king of England. Holy bark. See Cascara sagrada. Holy Communion. See Eucharist. Holy family (Art), a picture in which the infant Christ, his parents, and others of his family are represented. Holy Father, a title of the pope. Holy Ghost (Theol.), the third person of the Trinity; the Comforter; the Paraclete. Holy Grail. See Grail. Holy grass (Bot.), a sweet-scented grass ( Hierochloa borealis and Hierochloa alpina). In the north of Europe it was formerly strewed before church doors on saints' days; whence the name. It is common in the northern and western parts of the United States. Called also vanilla grass or Seneca grass. Holy Innocents' day, Childermas day. Holy Land, Palestine, the birthplace of Christianity. Holy office, the Inquisition. Holy of holies (Script.), the innermost apartment of the Jewish tabernacle or temple, where the ark was kept, and where no person entered, except the high priest once a year. Holy One.
The Supreme Being; -- so called by way of emphasis. `` The Holy One of Israel.''
--Is. xliii. 14.-
One separated to the service of God. Holy orders. See Order. Holy rood, the cross or crucifix, particularly one placed, in churches. over the entrance to the chancel. Holy rope, a plant, the hemp agrimony. Holy Saturday (Eccl.), the Saturday immediately preceding the festival of Easter; the vigil of Easter. Holy Spirit, same as Holy Ghost (above). Holy Spirit plant. See Dove plant. Holy thistle (Bot.), the blessed thistle. See under Thistle. Holy Thursday. (Eccl.)
(Episcopal Ch.) Ascension day.
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(R. C. Ch.) The Thursday in Holy Week; Maundy Thursday.
Holy war, a crusade; an expedition carried on by Christians against the Saracens in the Holy Land, in the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries, for the possession of the holy places.
Holy water (Gr. & R. C. Churches), water which has been blessed by the priest for sacred purposes.
Holy-water stoup, the stone stoup or font placed near the entrance of a church, as a receptacle for holy water.
Holy Week (Eccl.), the week before Easter, in which the passion of our Savior is commemorated.
Holy writ, the sacred Scriptures. `` Word of holy writ.''
--Wordsworth.
Communion \Com*mun"ion\, n. [L. communio: cf. F. communion. See Common.]
The act of sharing; community; participation. ``This communion of goods.''
--Blackstone.-
Intercourse between two or more persons; esp., intimate association and intercourse implying sympathy and confidence; interchange of thoughts, purposes, etc.; agreement; fellowship; as, the communion of saints.
We are naturally induced to seek communion and fellowship with others.
--Hooker.What communion hath light with darkness?
--2 Cor. vi. 14.Bare communion with a good church can never alone make a good man.
--South. A body of Christians having one common faith and discipline; as, the Presbyterian communion.
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The sacrament of the eucharist; the celebration of the Lord's supper; the act of partaking of the sacrament; as, to go to communion; to partake of the communion; called also Holy Communion.
Close communion. See under Close, a.
Communion elements, the bread and wine used in the celebration of the Lord's supper.
Communion service, the celebration of the Lord's supper, or the office or service therefor.
Communion table, the table upon which the elements are placed at the celebration of the Lord's supper.
Communion in both kinds, participation in both the bread and wine by all communicants.
Communion in one kind, participation in but one element, as in the Roman Catholic Church, where the laity partake of the bread only.
Syn: Share; participation; fellowship; converse; intercourse; unity; concord; agreement.
Usage examples of "holy communion".
According to the mildest rules of ecclesiastical discipline, which were established in the fourth century, the crime of homicide was expiated by the penitence of twenty years: ^97 and as it was impossible, in the period of human life, to purge the accumulated guilt of the massacre of Thessalonica, the murderer should have been excluded from the holy communion till the hour of his death.
This seems like some wild parody of the Catholic Church's Holy Communion.
The pictures could be a book so far-the carousel horse trio, the riding portrait, now the Holy Communion.
We were in a church, Holy Communion had begun, and the dying man was behind the altar rails, so I suppose I thought Charlie was on his own turf and must be respected accordingly.
This deadly superstition was inflamed, on either side, by the principle and the practice of retaliation: in the pursuit of a metaphysical quarrel, many thousands ^70 were slain, and the Christians of every degree were deprived of the substantial enjoyments of social life, and of the invisible gifts of baptism and the holy communion.
The intimacy of the moment in which, a priest at last, he gave his brother Holy Communion for the first time, was almost too much joy to contain, the awe and wonder on Jamyl's face a sight he would cherish until the day he died.
The sacrament of baptism (even when it was administered to infants) was immediately followed by confirmation and the holy communion.
We could share each other's body and blood, just like the holy communion.
Such is our holy communion, that we lift these toads from the mud, and set them up in their godhouses, and buy their patience with our money.
And within the wet, private universe of Aleks mouth he tasted of Aleks blood like a holy Communion.