hich see).

Antependium.--The name given to the covering hanging in front of
the lectern, pulpit or Altar, and being the color of the Church
Season. The Altar hanging is usually called the _Frontal_.

Anthem.--Originally the same as Antiphon; "anthem" being simply
the Anglicized form of the word. Later, the terms "anthem" and
"antiphon" came to stand for two different ideas. _Anthem_ is any
musical setting of words bearing upon the services of the day,
other than a hymn or canticle, although the canticles are sometimes
called anthems, as in the rubric before the _Venite_ in the Morning
Prayer. The rubric in the Evening Prayer provides for an anthem
after the Collect beginning, "Lighten our darkness." _Antiphon_ has
come to mean a verse of Scripture which is sung wholly or in part
before and after the Psalms or Canticles, and designed to strike
the key-note of the teaching of the day.

Antiphon.--(See ANTHEM).

Antiphonal.--The alternate singing or chanting by two sides of the
choir and congregation, each taking a verse in turn. This mode of
rendering the music of the Church is of very ancient origin; it
prevailed in the ancient Jewish worship as the antiphonal structure
of the Psalms indicates. It is a reproduction of the heavenly
worship as described by Isaiah, "And one {24} cried unto another
and said." It seems to be also a practical following out of the
admonition, "teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and
hymns and spiritual songs." (Col. 3:16.)

Apocalypse.--The name given to the last book of the Bible; a Greek
word meaning _Revelation_. The book of the Revelation was written
by St. John Evangelist about A.D. 96 or 97. Its purpose is set
forth by Bishop Wordsworth as follows: "The Apocalypse is a manual
of consolation to the Church in her pilgrimage through this world
to the heavenly Canaan of her rest."

Apocrypha.--This is the name given to certain books generally bound
with the Old and New Testament Scriptures which the Sixth Article
of Religion describes as "The other books (as Hierome saith) the
Church doth read for example of life and instruction of manners;
but yet doth it not apply them to establish any doctrine." They are
called Apocryphal for the reason that while they are usually bound
up with the Bible, yet they are not regarded as canonical. Apocrypha
is a Greek word meaning _hidden_, secret or unknown. Several of the
Lessons are taken from the Apocryphal Books, and the Benedicite,