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American Heritage Dictionary:
pi·sci·na |
[Middle English piscine, from Medieval Latin piscīna, from Latin, fishpond, pool, from piscis, fish.]
piscinal pis'ci·nal (pĭs'ə-nəl) adj.|
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A shallow basin or sink, supplied with a drain pipe, generally recessed in a niche.
Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology:
piscina |
1. Swimming-bath in a Roman public bath-house.
2. A perforated stone basin for carrying away water used to wash the chalice and the hands of the priest following church ceremonies, often contained in a wall niche near the altar.
Rhymes:
piscina |
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
Piscina |
A piscina is a shallow basin placed near the altar of a church, used for washing the communion vessels. The sacrarium is the drain itself. Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a piscina. Roman Catholics usually refer to the drain, and by extension, the basin, as the sacrarium. They are often made of stone and fitted with a drain, and are in some cases used to dispose of materials used in the sacraments and water from liturgical ablutions. They are found in Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches, and a similar vessel is used in Eastern Orthodox churches.
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The piscina is a Latin word originally applied to a fish-pond, and later used for natural or artificial pools for bathing, and also for a water tank or reservoir. In ecclesiastical usage it was applied to the basin used for ablutions and sometimes other sacraments.
They were originally named for the baptismal font.[1] Piscinae seem at first to have been mere cups or small basins, supported on perforated stems, placed close to the wall, and afterwards to have been recessed therein and covered with niche heads, which often contained shelves to serve as ambries. They were rare in England until the 13th century, after which there is scarcely an altar without one. They frequently take the form of a double niche, with a shaft between the arched heads, which are often filled with elaborate tracing.
The purpose of the piscina or sacrarium is to dispose of water used sacramentally, by returning these particles directly to the earth. For this reason, it is connected by a pipe directly to the ground; otherwise presumably a basin was used.
Ordinarily the piscina is used in cleaning the sacred vessels after the Mass (see Ablution in Christianity). Cleaning the vessels in this basin ensures that any remaining consecrated particles are returned directly to the Earth. If the consecrated Hosts become unusable, the priest disposes of the hosts by placing them in the sacrarium. This is accomplished by breaking the hosts up into small pieces and washing them into the basin — which returns the consecrated hosts to the ground.[citation needed]
At times the piscina has been used for disposal of other items, such as old baptismal water, holy oils, and leftover ashes from Ash Wednesday. A common myth is that consecrated wine was also poured down the piscina. Actually, the rubrics stated that clearly any consecrated Blood of Christ that that is left over after communion is consumed either by the priest or by those who assist in the distribution of the Eucharist (the extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion), there has never been a time when the Precious Blood was officially poured down the drain. What caused this confusion is that in countries with plenty of cheap wine, if there was any unconsecrated wine left in a cruet, that wine was washed down the piscina.
In the Roman Catholic Church, pouring the consecrated wine, the Blood of Christ, or the Host down a sacrarium is never permitted.[2] In accordance with what is laid down by the canons, “one who throws away the consecrated species or takes them away or keeps them for a sacrilegious purpose, incurs a latae sententiae excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See; a cleric, moreover, may be punished by another penalty, not excluding dismissal from the clerical state.”[3] This applies to any action that is voluntarily and gravely disrespectful of the sacred species. Anyone, therefore, who acts contrary to these norms, for example casting the sacred species into the sacrarium or in an unworthy place or on the ground, incurs the penalties laid down.[4]
In the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches the piscina is called a thalassidion, and is located in the diaconicon (sacristy). The thalassidion is a sink that drains into an honorable place in the ground where liquids such as the water used to wash holy things may be poured, and where the clergy may wash their hands before serving the Divine Liturgy. In Orthodoxy the Sacred Mysteries (consecrated elements) are never poured into the thalassidion, but must always be consumed by a deacon or priest.
In some ancient churches, the thalassidion was placed under the Holy Table (altar), though now it is almost always located in the diaconicon. At one time, before a monk or nun was tonsured, their religious habit would be placed on the thalassidion;[5] now, since the separation of the thalassidion from the Holy Table, the habit is placed on the Holy Table. When a monk or nun is tonsured, if the hair must be disposed of, it is thrown into the thalassidion.
"Piscina". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Piscinas (architecture) |
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This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Translations:
Piscina |
Dansk (Danish)
n. - niche med vandafløb
Nederlands (Dutch)
vijver, Romeins zwembad, nis naast altaar voor waterafvoer
Français (French)
n. - piscine
Deutsch (German)
n. - Wasserablauf (am Altar)
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - ιχθυολίμνη, ιχθυοτροφείο
Português (Portuguese)
n. - piscina (f) (Ecles.)
Русский (Russian)
рыбный садок, плавательный бассейн
Español (Spanish)
n. - piscina, tanque, cisterna, vivero de peces
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - funt (kyrkl.), fiskdamm
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
养鱼池塘, 浴池
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 養魚池塘, 浴池
한국어 (Korean)
n. - 양어지, 고대 로마의 목욕하던 샘
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) بركه سمك
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - כיור ליד המזבח בכנסיה קתולית, בריכת דגים
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Copyrights:
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 | American Heritage Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture & Construction. McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology. Copyright © 2002, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Read more |
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Rhymes. Oxford University Press. © 2006, 2007 All rights reserved. Read more | |
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| Wikipedia on Answers.com. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Piscina. Read more |
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| Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved. Read more |
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