Angelus (The)

A Roman Catholic devotion in honour of the Incarnation, instituted by Urban II. It consists of three texts, each said as versicle and response, and followed by the salutation of Gabriel. The name is derived from the first words, Angelus Domini (The angel of the Lord, etc.).

The prayer is recited three times a day, generally about 6 a.m., at noon, and about 6 p.m., at the sound of a bell called the Angelus.

The Angelus bell (often wrongly called the Curfew) is still rung at 8 p.m. in some country churches.

“Sweetly over the village the bell of the Angelus sounded.”

Longfellow: Evangeline.

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

Angelus (The)

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