Religious glossary

Also called: Advent wreath

The four weeks of preparation for Christmas in the Western tradition, with a candle lit on the Advent wreath each Sunday.

Feasts & fasts

Also called: All Souls’ Day

On 1–2 November Catholics and Protestants light candles on the graves of loved ones.

Feasts & fasts

Also called: side altar

The stone or wooden table on which the Eucharist is celebrated, visible to all; Catholic churches often have side altars too.

Sacred objects

Also called: side apses

The semicircular or polygonal end of the church, usually to the east, where the altar stands.

Architecture & spaces

The first day of Lent for Catholics, when ashes are placed on the faithful as a sign of repentance.

Feasts & fasts

Also called: Botezul

The rite of entry into the Church, by immersion in water or pouring, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Services & rites

Also called: font

The large vessel in which children are baptised; in Catholic and Protestant churches often a stone basin near the entrance.

Sacred objects

Also called: baptismal pool

The pool in which baptism by full immersion takes place, often behind the pulpit in Neo-Protestant churches.

Architecture & spaces

Also called: belfry

The tower or structure in which the bells hang; it can be attached to the church or stand separately.

Architecture & spaces

Also called: hierarch

The spiritual leader of a diocese; ordains priests and consecrates churches.

Clergy & community

Also called: lumânărar

The faithful light candles on entering the church: separately for the living and for the departed.

Sacred objects

Also called: College of Cardinals

A senior Catholic prelate appointed by the pope; cardinals under 80 elect the new pope in conclave.

Clergy & community

Also called: reverendă

The long buttoned robe of Catholic clergy: black for priests, purple for bishops, red for cardinals, white for the pope.

Vestments

Also called: monastic cell

The room where a monk or nun lives; also a small hermitage.

Architecture & spaces

Also called: thurible

The metal vessel on chains in which incense burns; the priest censes the icons and the faithful.

Sacred objects

Also called: caliciu

The consecrated cup, usually of precious metal, holding the wine for the Eucharist.

Sacred objects

Also called: choir, sanctuary

The part of the church, usually raised and facing east, where the altar stands and the clergy officiate.

Architecture & spaces

Also called: ornat

The sleeveless outer vestment worn by the Catholic priest at Mass; its colour follows the liturgical season.

Vestments

Also called: Nativity

The feast of the Nativity of Christ on 25 December (or 7 January for those who keep the Old Style).

Feasts & fasts

Also called: repentance, penance

The sacrament in which the believer confesses sins before a priest and receives forgiveness.

Services & rites

Also called: confession box

The wooden booth in which a Catholic priest hears confession through a grille.

Sacred objects

Also called: Mir (catolic), Confirmația

The rite in which young people personally affirm the faith into which they were baptised.

Services & rites

Also called: Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ

The Catholic feast of the Eucharist, with a street procession carrying the host in a monstrance.

Feasts & fasts

Also called: archdeacon, protodeacon

The first degree of ordained ministry; the deacon assists the priest, leads the petitions and reads the Gospel.

Clergy & community

Also called: paten

The consecrated plate on which the bread for the Eucharist is placed.

Sacred objects

Also called: Resurrection

The feast of the Resurrection of Christ, the greatest of the Christian year; Orthodox and Catholic dates sometimes differ.

Feasts & fasts

Also called: interchurch dialogue

The effort towards rapprochement and dialogue among Christian Churches; the name "Ecumenica" comes from it.

Other

Also called: diocese

The territory led by a bishop, made up of deaneries and parishes; Catholics call it a diocese.

Clergy & community

Also called: mural painting

Painting done on wet plaster; the colours bond with the wall and last for centuries.

Art & iconography

Also called: sponsor

The person who holds the child at Baptism and promises to guide them in faith; also the main witness at a wedding.

Clergy & community

Also called: Lent

The period of fasting and prayer (seven weeks for the Orthodox) before Easter.

Feasts & fasts

Also called: List of Historic Monuments

A building protected by law for its historic or artistic value; it has a code in the national List of Historic Monuments.

Other

Also called: Eucharist

Receiving the Body and Blood of Christ in the form of bread and wine, after fasting and confession.

Services & rites

Also called: sacraments

The seven sacred acts through which the faithful receive God’s grace: Baptism, Chrismation, Eucharist, Confession, Ordination, Marriage and Unction.

Services & rites

Also called: holy water

The basin at the entrance of a Catholic church where the faithful dip their fingers and cross themselves.

Sacred objects

Also called: wafer

The thin, round unleavened bread used for the Eucharist in the Latin rite.

Sacred objects

Also called: frankincense

Aromatic resin burned in the censer; its smoke symbolises prayer rising to God.

Sacred objects

Also called: Holy Mass

The main service of the Roman Catholic Church, in which the Eucharist is celebrated; daily and, solemnly, on Sundays.

Services & rites

Also called: metropolis, archbishop

The bishop who leads a metropolis — a group of dioceses in a region.

Clergy & community

The headdress of a bishop (and, as an honour, of some priests), worn at solemn services.

Vestments

Also called: skete, metochion

A monastery is a community of monks or nuns; a skete is a small, often remote monastery; a metochion belongs to a larger monastery.

Architecture & spaces

Also called: monastic

A man or woman who has taken vows (obedience, poverty, chastity) and lives in a monastery.

Clergy & community

Also called: ostensorium

A gilded, sun-shaped vessel in which the consecrated host is displayed for adoration and carried in processions.

Sacred objects

Also called: aisles

The main body of the church where the congregation sits; large churches have a central nave and side aisles.

Architecture & spaces

Also called: organ loft

The pipe instrument used at services in Catholic and Protestant churches, often in a gallery above the entrance.

Sacred objects

Also called: parish priest, parishioner

The community of believers in a village or neighbourhood, with its church and its priest.

Clergy & community

Also called: patron saint, dedication

The saint or feast to which a church is dedicated; on that day the community holds a great celebration.

Feasts & fasts

Also called: Whitsun, descent of the Holy Spirit

The feast of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles, 50 days after Easter.

Feasts & fasts

Also called: pilgrim

A journey of faith to a holy place: a monastery, the relics of a saint, Jerusalem, Mecca or the tomb of a tzaddik.

Services & rites

Also called: Holy Father

The Bishop of Rome and head of the Catholic Church; Greek Catholic Churches are in union with him.

Clergy & community

Also called: Father

The cleric ordained by a bishop who celebrates the sacraments and shepherds a community; called "Father".

Clergy & community

Also called: Book of Psalms

The book of the 150 Psalms of the Old Testament, read and sung in every tradition.

Books & texts

Also called: ambo

The raised place from which the Gospel is read and the sermon preached; in Protestant churches it is the focal point.

Architecture & spaces

Also called: Law 489/2006

A religious community officially recognised by the Romanian state; Romania has 18 under Law 489/2006.

Other

Also called: holy relics

The bodies or parts of the bodies of saints, kept with honour in reliquaries.

Sacred objects

Also called: mătănii catolice, Sfântul Rozar

The string of beads with a cross used by Catholics to pray the Rosary.

Sacred objects

Also called: vestry

The room next to the altar where vestments and sacred vessels are kept and priests vest.

Architecture & spaces

Also called: homily

The talk by the priest or pastor explaining the biblical readings; in Protestant churches it is the central part.

Services & rites

A window of coloured glass pieces held in lead, forming images; typical of Gothic and Neo-Gothic churches.

Art & iconography

Also called: Way of the Cross

A prayer in 14 stations following Jesus’ path to the crucifixion; Catholic churches have 14 images on their walls.

Services & rites

The long band worn by a Catholic priest around the neck; it corresponds to the Orthodox epitrachelion.

Vestments

The locked, often gilded cabinet in which the consecrated hosts are kept; a red lamp always burns beside it.

Sacred objects

The transverse arm crossing the nave in front of the chancel, giving the church a cross shape.

Architecture & spaces