PATEN, see Altar Vessels.
PATRON. The person who has a right to present to a benefice.
PAUL (St.), THE CONVERSION OF, January 25. The festival of St. Paul is not, as usual, of the day of his martyrdom, but of his miraculous conversion, and it is upon this, rather than on his wonderful character and work, that the services lay stress.
PECULIARS. Parishes exempt from the jurisdiction of the Bishop of the Diocese in which they lie. They were for the most part abolished in the reign of William IV.
PENANCE. In the law of England penance is an open ecclesiastical punishment for sin. This discipline of the Church has fallen into disuse, a fact deplored in the opening exhortation of the Commination Service. Absolution after penance has been exalted into a Sacrament in the Church of Rome.
PENITENTIAL PSALMS. Seven psalms, from their internal character, are thus called, viz., 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, 143. These are appointed to be read on Ash-Wednesday.
PENTECOST. A solemn festival of the Jews, so called because it is celebrated fifty days after the Passover. It corresponds to the Christian Whitsuntide, which is sometimes called by the same name.
PERPETUAL CURATE. The incumbent of a church, chapel, or district, within the boundaries of a rectory or vicarage. His position is in every respect that of a Vicar.
PESSIMISM. A philosophy which acknowledges the evils that are in the world, but instead of looking for a "new heaven and a new earth" it looks for release in unconsciousness. It is the religion of doubt, and hopelessness, and despair. It makes the worst of everything.
PETER'S (St.) DAY. June 29. This festival, originally a festival of both St. Peter and St. Paul, on the traditional anniversary of their common martyrdom, is of great antiquity, certainly known from the 4th century, and kept both in the East and West on this day. The institution of the festival of the Conversion of St. Paul has now transferred the commemoration of that Apostle to another day, January 25th.