1. THE CANON OF SCRIPTURE means those books of Scripture which the Church has received or accepted as inspired, and therefore declares them to be canonical, to distinguish them from profane, apocryphal or disputed books.
2. CANON LAW means the body of ecclesiastical laws enacted by the Church for the rule and discipline of its clergy and people. There are ecumenical canons, including the Apostolic canons of unknown date, and the canons of the undisputed General Councils; the canons of the English Church which are regarded as binding in this country where they do not conflict with enactments of the American Church; the General canons of the American Church, and the Diocesan canons enacted by the various Dioceses.
3. THE CANON OF THE LITURGY, by which is meant the rule for the celebration of the Holy Communion by which it is always to be offered. This includes the Prayer of Consecration, which was formerly called the "Canon of the Mass."
4. CANON, the name given to a clergyman connected with a cathedral; an officer of the cathedral staff; a member of the cathedral chapter.
Canonical—Pertaining, or according to the Canons.
Canonical Hours.—Seven stated hours appointed for devotional exercises, viz., Nocturns, Matins with Lauds, Prime, Tierce, Sext, Nones, and Vespers with {46} Compline. Each of the Seven Hours is said to commemorate some point in the Passion of our Lord, as set forth in the old rhyme,
"At mattins bound, at prime reviled,
Condemned to death at tierce,
Nailed to the Cross at sexts, at nones
His blessed side they pierced.
"They take Him down at vesper-tide
In grave at compline lay:
Who thenceforth bids His Church observe
The sevenfold hours alway."
Canonical Residence.—By this is meant that every clergyman of the American Church is connected with some one or other of the various Dioceses, and is always under some Bishop. His canonical residence begins with his ordination, or from the Bishop's acceptance of his letter of transfer from one Diocese to another. (See DIMISSORY LETTER).
Canticle.—A word derived from the Latin canticulus, meaning a little song, from cantus a song. The term is applied to the detached Psalms and Hymns used in the services of the Church, such as the Venite, Benedictus, Magnificat, etc.