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Bible Dictionaries
Dominical Letter
The American Church Dictionary and Cyclopedia
or Meaning Sunday Letter is one of the first seven letters of the alphabet used in the Calendar to mark the Sundays throughout the year. The first seven days of the year being marked by A. B. C. D. E. F. G., the following seven days are similarly marked, and so throughout the year. The letter which stands against the Sundays in any given year is called the Dominical or Sunday letter. For example, the year 1901 began on Tuesday and the first week of that year with the first seven letters of the alphabet would give us the following table:
Jan. 1. Tuesday A. " 2. Wednesday B. " 3. Thursday C. " 4. Friday D. " 5. Saturday E. " 6. Sunday F. " 7. Monday G.
From this table we learn that the Dominical letter for 1901 is F., for that letter falls opposite the first Sunday in that year. The Dominical letters were first introduced into the Calendar by the early Christians. They are of use in finding on what day of the week any day of the month falls in a given year, and especially in finding the day on which Easter falls. (See TABLES IN THE PRAYER BOOK.)
Dossal. Hangings of silk or other material placed at the back of the Altar as a decoration and to hide the bare wall. The dossal is used where there is no reredos and usually is of the Church color for the Festival or Season. Derived from the Latin word dorsum, meaning back.
These files are public domain.
Miller, William James. Entry for 'Dominical Letter'. The American Church Dictionary and Cyclopedia. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/acd/d/dominical-letter.html. 1901.
