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SEDILIA (the plural of Lat. sedile, s...

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Originally appearing in Volume V24, Page 578 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SEDILIA (the plural of See also:Lat. sedile, seat)  , in ecclesiastical See also:architecture, the See also:term given to the seats on the See also:south See also:side of the See also:chancel near the See also:altar for the use of the officiating priests . They are generally three in number, for the See also:priest, See also:deacon and sub-deacon . The See also:custom of recessing them in the thickness of the See also:wall began about the end of the 12th See also:century; some See also:early examples consist only of See also:stone benches, and there is one instance of a single seat or See also:arm-See also:chair in stone at Lenham in See also:Kent, thought by some to be a See also:confessional . The niches or recesses in which they are sunk are often richly decorated with canopies and subdivided with moulded shafts, pinnacles and See also:tabernacle See also:work; the seats are sometimes at different levels, the eastern being always the highest, and sometimes an additional See also:niche is provided in which the See also:piscina is placed .

End of Article: SEDILIA (the plural of Lat. sedile, seat)
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