Where did the phrase "bell, book, and candle" first originate?
The phrase "bell, book, and candle" refers originally to a Latin Christian method of excommunication by anathema (a formal curse by a Pope or a council of the Church, excommunicating a person or denouncing a doctrine), imposed on a person who had committed an exceptionally grievous sin. Evidently introduced by Pope Zachary
(679 – March 752) the bishop of Rome from 28 November 741 to his death, the rite was practiced by the Roman Catholic Church.
The ceremony traditionally involved a bishop, with 12 priests bearing candles, and would solemnly be carried out in some suitably conspicuous place. The bishop would then pronounce the formula of the anathema. After a recitation the priests would respond. The bishop would then ring a bell, close a holy book, and he and the assisting priests would snuff out their candles by dashing them to the ground.
The frightful pronouncements of the ritual were calculated so as to strike terror into the ones so excommunicated and bring them to repentance.
The dramatic nature of the ritual has lent itself to frequent depictions in culture and media. It is referred to directly in the title of the 1958 film "Bell, Book and Candle", based on the play by John Van Druten. "Bell, Book and Candle" is the name of an antiquities store in the West Village section of New York City
Shakespeare uses the phrase in "King John" Act 3: "Bell, book, and candle shall not drive me back, When gold and silver becks me to come on."
More Info:
en.wikipedia.org
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