Sedilia.--From the Latin _sedile_, meaning a seat. The name given to
the seats near the Altar, usually placed against the south wall, to
be used by the Clergy during the sermon at the Holy Communion.
See.--Derived from the Latin word _sedes_, meaning a seat. The word
is used to designate the place of a Bishop's Jurisdiction, and his
place of residence, the city where his cathedral is; usually called
the _See City_.
Sentences, The Opening.--Short passages of Holy Scripture read at
the beginning of Daily Morning and Evening Prayer, are so called,
and are intended to strike the keynote of the service to follow.
Originally the Daily Services began with the Lord's Prayer, but in
1552 the Sentences, with the Exhortation, Confession and absolution
were prefixed to Morning Prayer; they were not placed in the Evening
Prayer until 1661. In the last revision of the American Prayer-book
additional Sentences were added and arranged to strike the keynote
of the Church's great Festivals and Fasts, such as Christmas Day,
Good Friday, Easter, etc.
Septuagesima.--The name given to the third Sunday before Lent. The
explanation of this name for this Sunday has been given as follows:
"There being exactly fifty days between the Sunday next {240} before
Lent and Easter Day inclusive, that Sunday is termed _Quinquagesima_,
_i.e._, the fiftieth; and the two Sundays immediately preceding
are called from the next round numbers, _Sexagesima_, _i.e._,
sixtieth, and _Septuagesima_, _i.e._, the seventieth." The reason
for thus numbering these Sundays has been beautifully set forth
in "Thoughts on the Services" as follows: "The Church now
(Septuagesima Sunday) enters the penumbra of her Lenten Eclipse,
and all her services are shadowed with the sombre hue of her
approaching Season of humiliation. . . .We have turned our back
upon dear old Christmas and the group of holy days that hand in
hand seemed fairly to dance around it; and setting our faces towards
the more sober, but still more glorious, light of Easter we begin
to number the days of preparation, which if duly observed will fit
us to keep the Paschal as the Apostle commands, 'not with the old
leaven. . .but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.'"
(See PRE-LENTEN SEASON.)
Server.--One who attends the Priest at a celebration of the Holy
Communion. The server may be either a layman or one of the Clergy.
Sexagesima.--The second Sunday before Lent is so called, because it
is about sixty days before Easter; _Sexagesima_ meaning sixtieth.
(See SEPTUAGESIMA.)
Sexts.--One of the seven CANONICAL HOURS (which see).