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Semnium

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

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(Σεμνεῖον ,, a temple), a name given by Philo to places of worship of the Therapeutae (q. i.). He says, "In every one of their dwellings there is a sacred house or chapel, which they call their semnium, or monastery, where they perform the religious mysteries proper to their holy lives" (Bingham, Christ. Antiq. vol. 7, ch. 2, § 11). Monasteries came afterwards to be called semnia, as Suicerus shows out of Balzamon, Methodius, and Suidas. See Bingham, Christ. Antiq. vol. 7, ch. 2, § 14.