[Passing-bell], a bell tolled at the moment of the death of a person to invite his neighbours to pray for the safe passing of his soul.
[Passion Play], a dramatic representation of the several stages in the passion of Christ.
[Passion Sunday], the fifth Sunday in Lent, which is succeeded by what is called the Passion Week.
[Passion Week] is properly the week preceding Holy Week, but in common English usage the name is given to Holy Week itself, i. e. to the week immediately preceding Easter, commemorating Christ's passion.
[Passionists], an order of priests, called of the Holy Cross, founded in 1694 by Paul Francisco, of the Cross in Sardinia, whose mission it is to preach the Passion of Christ and bear witness to its spirit and import, and who have recently established themselves in England and America; they are noted for their austerity.
[Passover], the chief festival of the Jews in commemoration of the passing of the destroying angel over the houses of the Israelites on the night when he slew the first-born of the Egyptians; it was celebrated in April, lasted eight days, only unleavened bread was used in its observance, and a lamb roasted whole was eaten with bitter herbs, the partakers standing and road-ready as on their departure from the land of bondage.
[Passow, Franz], German philologist, born in Mecklenburg, professor at Breslau; his chief work "Hand-Wörterbuch der Griechischen Sprache"; an authority in subsequent Greek lexicography (1786-1833).
[Pasta, Judith], a famous Italian operatic singer, born near Milan, of Jewish birth; her celebrity lasted from 1822 to 1835, after which she retired into private life; she had a voice of great compass (1798-1865).
[Pasteur, Louis], an eminent French chemist, born at Dôle, in dep. of Jura, celebrated for his studies and discoveries in fermentation, and also for his researches in hydrophobia and his suggestion of inoculation as a cure; the Pasteur Institute in Paris was the scene of his researches from 1886 (1822-1895).
[Paston Letters], a series of letters and papers, over a thousand in number, belonging to a Norfolk family of the name, and published by Sir John Fenn over a century ago, dating from the reign of Henry V. to the close of the reign of Henry VII.; of importance in connection with the political and social history of the period.