I synagogue service. The Sept. treats it as an a4jeo- I tive (cXi|r6ct i^ucXi/roc ; ccUled) ; but there can be no doubt that the A.Y. is correct in its rendering (Smith, s. v.). See CoMOBsaATioN. Like the Greek vavii- yvptc or mass-meeting (Smith's Did. qfClau. Aniiq, s. V. PanegyrisX it signifies "a meeting or solemn as- sembly of a whole people for the purpose of worship- ping at a common sanctuary." The phrase "holy convocation" is applied, I. To the Feasts : 1. To the Sabbaths, all of which were " holy convocations" (Lev. xxiii, 2, 8). 2. To tho Passover: (a.) its first day (Exod. xii, 16 ; Lev. xxiii, 7 ; Num. xxviii, 18) ; (ft.) ! its last day (Exod. xii, 16 ; Lev. xxiii, 8 ; Num. xxviii, ' 25). 8. To the Pentecost (Lev. xxiii, 21). 4. To the Feast of Trumpets on the 1st of Tkri, the New Tear's day of the dvil year (Lev. xxviii, 24 ; Num. xxix, 1). 6. To the Featt of Weeks or First-fruUs (Num. xxviii, 26). 6. To the Feast of Tabernacles: (o.) its first day (Lev. xxiii, 86 ; Num. xxix, 12) ; (6.) its last day (Lev. xxiii, 86). 7. As introductory to the enu- meration of these feasts (Lev. xxiii, 4), and as closing it (ver. 7). II. To the one great. Fast, the annual Dajf of Atonement (\je:^,7aXu,^', Num. xxix, 7). To the deep solemnities of "the Holy Convocation," whether of joy or of sorrow (^'afflicting the soul," as in the last passage), one great future was common, marked by the command, " Ye shall do no servile work therem" (see all the passages) ; or more fully in Exod. xii, 16, " No manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you." (Such as are curious about the Rab- binical opinions of what might be done, and what might not, on these occasions, may find them in Bux- torf s Synagoga Judaica, especially ch. xix ; the joy- ous celebrations are described in ch. xxi, and the ex- piatory in ch. XXV, xxvi; see also Ugolini Thesaxar. iv, 988-1052). With this may be compared Strabo's • statement (bk. x), " This is a common practice both of Greeks and barbarians, to perform their sacred serv- ices with a festive cessation of labor." See Sabbath. CONVOCATION, a convention of the English cler- gy to discuss ecclesiastical affairs in time of Parlia- ment. This body grew out of the ecclesiastical coun- cils held in the earlier times. From the time of Edward I, when the Commons were first assembled in Parliament, it became the practice to summon the Convocation at the same time. About the year 1400 it assumed its present form. There was at this time a Convocation for the province of York, and another for that of Canterbury. At the Reformation the king assumed the titie of supreme head of the Church. Both convocations hesitated to acknowledge his claim, but the king, says Strype, made them buckle to at last ; an^ the recognition of his supremacy was made at Canterbury in 1581, and the next year at York. In 1582 the Act of Submission passed: it required the clergy, in the first place, to consent that no ordinance or constitution should be enacted or enforced but with the king's permission ; secondly, that the exist- ing constitutions should be revised by his majesty's commissioners ; and, thirdly, that all other constitu- tions, being agreeable to the laws of God and of the land, should be enforced. The bishops demurred, but the king and the commons were against them, and they were compelled to yield ; and in 1584 their sub- mission was confirmed by act of Parliament Since this period the Convocation can only be assembled by the king's writ; when assembled, it cannot make new canons without a royal Ucense, which is a separate act fh>m the permission to assemble ; havmg agreed upon canons with the royal license, they cannot be publish- ed or take effect until confirmed by the sovereign; nor, lastiy, can they enact any canon which is against the law or customs of the land or the king's preroga- tive, even should the king himself consent. Prior to this period, the archbishop of each province could as- semble his provincial synod at his pleasure ; though,
CONVOCATION
496
COOK
at the same time, the sovereign could summon both provinces hj a royal writ (Hook).