…pronounce words in a religious rite in order to confer or invoke divine favour upon; ask God to look favourably on…
…(in classical mythology) a land, traditionally located near the place where the sun sets, to which the souls of the good were taken to enjoy a life of eternal bliss…
…(in Catholic use) the consecrated elements of the Eucharist, especially the bread or Host…
…(of God or some notional higher power) endow someone with (a particular cherished thing or attribute)…
…mother of Jesus; known as the (Blessed) Virgin Mary, or St Mary, or Our Lady. According to the Gospels she was a virgin betrothed to Joseph and conceived Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. She has been venerated by Catholic and Orthodox Churches from the earliest Christian times. Feast days, 1 January (Roman Catholic Church), 25 March (Annunciation), 15 August (Assumption), 8 September (Nativity), 8 December (Immaculate Conception)…
…mother of Jesus; known as the (Blessed) Virgin Mary, or St Mary, or Our Lady. According to the Gospels she was a virgin betrothed to Joseph and conceived Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. She has been venerated by Catholic and Orthodox Churches from the earliest Christian times. Feast days, 1 January (Roman Catholic Church), 25 March (Annunciation), 15 August (Assumption), 8 September (Nativity), 8 December (Immaculate Conception)…
…a cathedral on the south side of Red Square in Moscow, commissioned by Ivan the Terrible to commemorate his capture of Kazan from the Tartars in 1552 and built between 1555 and 1560. The official name of the cathedral is the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Virgin, for Kazan was taken on October 1, the Orthodox feast of the Intercession of the Virgin. The more common name St. Basil’s Cathedral is from St. Basil the Blessed, a ‘holy fool’ who was buried near the site of the cathedral…
