The phrase "bell, book, and candle" refers to an archaic method of excommunication for one who had committed a particularly grievous sin. Apparently introduced around the late 9th century, the practice was once used by the Roman Catholic Church.

PropertyValue
dbpedia-owl:thumbnail
dbpprop:abstract
  • The phrase "bell, book, and candle" refers to an archaic method of excommunication for one who had committed a particularly grievous sin. Apparently introduced around the late 9th century, the practice was once used by the Roman Catholic Church. This ceremony involved a bishop, with 12 priests, reciting an oath on the altar: We separate him, together with his accomplices and abettors, from the precious body and blood of the Lord and from the society of all Christians; we exclude him from our Holy Mother, the Church in Heaven, and on earth; we declare him excommunicate and anathema; we judge him damned, with the Devil and his angels and all the reprobate, to eternal fire until he shall recover himself from the toils of the devil and return to amendment and to penitence. After reciting this the priests would respond "So be it!" The bishop would ring a bell to evoke a death toll, close a holy book to symbolize the excommunicant's separation from the church, and snuff out a candle or candles, knocking them to the floor to represent the target's soul being extinguished and removed from the light of God.
dbpprop:hasPhotoCollection
rdfs:comment
  • The phrase "bell, book, and candle" refers to an archaic method of excommunication for one who had committed a particularly grievous sin. Apparently introduced around the late 9th century, the practice was once used by the Roman Catholic Church.
rdfs:label
  • Bell, book, and candle
owl:sameAs
skos:subject
foaf:depiction
foaf:page
is dbpprop:redirect of