Annunciade, the name of two orders of nuns.
1. That founded at Bourges in 1500, by Jeanne, queen of France, after her divorce from Louis XII. These nuns also call themselves the nuns of the ten virtues, viz., the virtues exhibited, as they say, in the mysteries which the Roman Church commemorates in the ten festivals of the Virgin Mary. Their rule is formed upon the idea of an initiation of these virtues. They wear a gray habit, a red scapulary, a cross of gold or silver, suspended from the neck, and a ring of one of those metals on the finger. At the Revolu- tion they had 45 nunneries in France and Holland, all of which were suppressed. — Helyot, Ordres Relig. i, 227.
2. Another order of nuns, otherwise called Celes- tines (Ccelestes or Cceleslince), from the girdle and mantle of sky-blue which thejr wear over their white habit. A Genoese widow, named Maria Victoria For- nari, instituted this order in 1602 or 1604. The consti- tution of the order, approved by Clement VII, enjoins poverty and separation from the world. They are al- lowed to speak to persons out of their house only six times a year, and then only to their nearest relatives. In 1860 they had three nunneries in Italy, six in Bel- gium, and five in France. In Rome they arc called Turchine (i. e. the "violet-blue" ones). — Helyot, Ordres Religieux, i, 236 ; P. Carl vom heil. Aloys, /Statislisches Jahrbuch der Kirche (Regensbg. 1860).
Annunciation, Feast of the (from the Lat. annunciatio, announcement), a festival observed in hon- or of the tidings which the angel Gabriel brought to the Virgin Mary of the incarnation of our Saviour. It is called by various names in church history, e. g. 'Huipa atnrarrpov, "the day of salutation ;" Xaanff- fioc, in reference to the epithet Ke\aptriopfi'ii, employ- ed by the angel (Luke i, 28) ; also EvayycXiapoc., with reference to the subject of the announcement. Some doubt exists as to the date of its establishment. Au- gust! is of opinion that the festival was celebrated at the time of the council of Laodicea, cir. 364. In the homily ascribed to Athanasius it is called one of our Lord's festivals. After the fifth century, in conse- quence of what passed during the Nestorian contro- versies, this festival was referred to Man*, and its ob- servance fixed for the 25th of March, on which day it is now celebrated by the Greek, Roman, and English Churches. It seems to have been generally observed in the sixth century, but the first formal mention that we meet with of its being commemorated among the festivals of the Church is in the decrees of the council of Trullo, convened at the close of the seventh cen- tury. Chrysostom, and Bernard after him, call it
ANNUUS
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ANOINT
"the root of all festivals." — Bingham, Orig. Eccl. bk. xx, ch. viii, § 4.
The following writers treat on this subject : Kci- cher, Be salutatione angelica (Jen. 17G0-1) ; Myslenta, Be angelica annunciatione (Regiom. 1623); Rancke, Be locutione angelorum (Lips. 1678) ; Sonntag, Be charetismo (Altdorf. 1709); Zeibich, Be verbis Gabrieli ad Mariam (Viteb. 1754). See Mary.
Annu'us (*Avvovog, Vulg. Amin), given (1 Esdr. viii, 48) as the name of one of the Levites sent to ac- company the captives returning from Babylon; but it is evidently an error of the translator for iPlfcjfi, veitto', " and with him," of the original text (Ezra viii, 19).
Anoint (usually 1112333, mashach' , xpiio). The practice of anointing with perfumed oils or ointments appears to have been very common among the He- brews, as it was among the ancient Egyptians. See Unguent. The practice, as to its essential meaning, still remains in the East; but perfumed waters are now far more commonly employed than oils or oint- ments (q. v.). See Perfume. It is from this source that the usage has extended to other regions. Among the Greeks and Romans oil was emploj-ed as a lubri- cator for suppling the bodies of the athletes in the games (q. v.), and also after the bath (q. v.).
I. In the Scriptures several kinds of anointing are distinguishable (Scacchi, Myrotkeca, iii, Rom. 1637).
1. Consecration and Inauguration. — The act of anointing appears to have been viewed as emblemati- cal of a particular sanctification, of a designation to the service of God, or to a holy and sacred use. Hence the anointing of the high-priests (Exod. xxix, 29 ; Lev. iv, 3), and even of the sacred vessels of the tabernacle (Exod. xxx, 26, etc.); and hence also, probably, the anointing of the king, who, as "the Lord's anointed," and, under the Hebrew constitution, the viceroy of Jehovah, was undoubtedly invested with a sacred character. This was the case also among the Egyptians, among whom the king was, ex officio, the high-priest, and as such, doubtless, rather than in his secular capacity, was solemnlj' anointed at his inauguration. See Unctions (of Christ).
As the custom of inaugural anointing first occurs among the Israelites immediately after they left Egypt, and no example of the same kind is met with previously, it is fair to conclude that the practice and the notions connected with it were acquired in that country. With the Egyptians, as with the Jews, the investiture to any sacred office, as that of king or priest, was confirmed by this external sign ; and as the Jewish lawgiver mentions the ceremony of pour- ing oil upon the head of the high-priest after he had put on his entire dress, with the mitre and crown, the Egyptians represent the anointing of their priests and kings after they were attired in their full robes, with