Lady Day. See Annunciation, Feast of.
Lady Fast, a species of penance, voluntary or en- joined, in which the penitent had the choice of fasting once a week for seven years on that day of the week on which Lddi/ J>ay (q. v.) happened to fall, beginning his course from tliat day, or of finishing his penance sooner by taking as many fasting-days together as would fall to his lot m one year. — Walcott, Sac. A rchceol. s. v.
Lady of Mercy, Our, a Spanish order of knight- hood, instituted in 1218 by James I of Aragon, in fulfil- ment of a vow made to the Virgin, during his captivity ill France, for the redemption of Christian captives from among the Moors ; and to this end each knight, at his inauguration, was obliged to take the vow that, if neces- sary for their ransom, he would remain himself a cap- tive in their stead. 'Within the first six years of the existence of the order no fewer than 400 captives are said to have been ransomed by its efforts. On the ex- pulsion of the Moors from Spain the labors of the knights were transferred to Africa, Their badge is a shield party per fess gules and or, in chief a cross pattee argent, in base four pallets gules for Aragon, the shield crowned \vith a ducal coronet. The order was extend- ed to ladies in 1201. — Chambers, Cyclopaedia, s. v.
Lady of Montesa, Our, an order of knighthood, founded in l.'>17 by king .lames II of Aragon, after the abrogation of the Order of the Templars, for the protec- tion of the Ciiristians against the ]\Ioors. By permis- sion of pope John XXII, James of Aragon used all the estates of the ex-Templars and of the Knights of St. John situated in Valencia for this new order, which king James n.-imed after the town and castle of Montesa, its head-quarters. The order is now conferred merely as a mark nf royal favor, though the provisions of its statutes are still nominally observed on new creations. The badge is a red cross edged with gold, the costume a long white woollen mantle, decorated with a cross on the left breast, and tied with very long white cords. — Chambers, Cychqm'dia, s. v.
Lady Psalter. See Rosary.
La'el (licit. l.aeV , ?N3,yo?- or of God, i. e. created by him ; otherwise to God, i. c. devoted to him ; occurs also in .Job xxxiii,C, where the Auth.Vers. has " in God's stead :" Scptuag. Aoi';X), father of Elias.iph, which latter was chief of the family of the Gershonites at the Exode (Numb, iii, 24). B.C." ante 1G57.
LcCtare Sunday, called also Mid-t.ent, is the fourth Siuiday of Lent. It is' named La-tare (to rejoice) from the first word of the Introit of the mass, which is from Isa. liv, 1. The characteristic of the services of
the day is joyousness, and the music of the organ, which throughout the rest of Lent is suspended, is on this day resumed. Lwtare Sunday is also called dominica de rosa, because it is the day selected by the pope for the blessing of the Golden Eose. See iiiege\, Ilandbuch d, christl.-Kirchlichen Alterthiimer, iv, 360, 367.
Laevinus, Torrentinus, commonly called Torren- TIN. a Dutch theologian, who flourished in the second half of the Kith century, was a native of (Jhent, and was educated in the University of Louvain in law and philos- ophy. After an extended tour in Italy, he became suc- cessively canon of Liege, vicar-general to the bishop of Liege, and finally bishop of Antwerp, from which he was transferred to the see of Mechlin, where he died in 1595. At Louvain Torrentin founded a Jesuitical college, to which he bequeathed his library and a large collection of curiosities.
Lafaye (also known by the Latin name Fayus), Ax- TOiNE, a French Protestant minister, was born at Cha- teaudun about the middle of the 10th centurj'. He be- came professor of philosophy at Geneva in 1570, and rec- tor in 1580. He was transferred to the chair of theol- ogy in 1584, and died in 1615. In 1587 he took part in the composition of the Preface to the French translation of the Bible. His works are, De rernaculis Bibliorum interpretationibus et sacris vernacula lim/ita pera;jendis (Gen. 1572, 4to) :—De Verba Dei (Gen. 1591, 4to):— i)e Traditionibus, adversus pontificios (Gen. 1592, 4to) : — De Christo mediatore (Gen. 1597, 4to) : — De Bonis Opei-ibiis (Gen. 1601, 4to): — Geneva libei-ata, seu narratio libera- tionis illius qua diviniius immissa est Geneva (Geneva, 1603, r2mo) : — Enchiridion Disputatio7mm theoloyicarum (Gen. 1605, 8vo) : — De Vita et Obitu Bezce Uypomnemata (Geneva, 1606, 4to) : — Commentarii in Ecclesiasten (Gen. 1609, 8vo) : — Coinment. in Episf. ad Romcmos (Gen. 1608, 8vo) : — Comment, in Psalmos xlix et Ixxxvii (Gen. 1609, 8vo)'. — Comment, in priorem Epistol. ad Timotheum (Ge- neva, 1609, 8 vo): — Emblemata et Epiigi-ammata select a ex stromatis j^ei-ipateticis (Gen. 1610, 8vo). See Hoefer, Nouv. Biorj. Generale, xxviii, 686.
Lafitau, Joseph Francois, a French Roman Cath- olic missionary of the Order of the Jesuits, born at Bor- deaux in 1670, labored for many years among the Iro- quois tribe of American Indians. He died in 1740. La- fitau is especially noted for his archteological researches, among which is Maiirs des saiivoffes A mericains com- parees aiix maiirs des premiers temps (Paris, 1723, 2 vols. 4to). He wrote also Ilistoire des decouvc?ies et des con- quetes des Portvgais dans le nouveau monde.