the Week of Proper 25 / Ordinary 30
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Bible Encyclopedias
Ops
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
or (Lat. plenty), a Roman goddess of fertility, regarded as a daughter of Coelus and Terra, the same as the Rhea of the Greeks, who married Saturn, and became mother of Jupiter. She was known among the ancients by the different names of Cybele, Bona Dea, Mragna Mater, Thya, Tellus, Prpserpina, and even of Juno and Minerva; and the worship which was paid to these apparently several deities was offered merely to one and the same person, mother of the gods. Tatius built her a temple at Rome in common with Ceres. She was generally represented as a matron, with her right-hand opened, as if offering assistance to the helpless, and holding a loaf in her left hand. Her festivals were called Opalia, etc. — She was the protectress of agriculture. Her abode was the ground, and newly-born children were commended to her care.
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McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Ops'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/o/ops.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.
