Oriel or Oriole (Lat. Oratoriolum, or little place for prayer, its original meaning) was a portion of an
apartment set aside for prayer, and in the mediaeval houses it was not an uncom- mon practice to arrange the domestic oratory so that the sacrarium was the whole height of the building, while there was an upper Hoor look- ing into it for the lord and his guests to attend to the service. This upper part more especially received the name of Oriole. Thus any projecting portion of a room, or even of a building, was called an oriole, such as a penthouse, or such as a clos- et, bower, or private cham- ber, an upper story, or a gal- lery ; and the term became last of all applied to a pro- jecting window, hence oriel window ; also called boiv or bay window. — Parker, Glos- sary of Architecture, s. v.
Vicar's Close, Wells.
Orient, St., a Roman Catholic prelate, was born at Huesca, on the frontier of Aragon, near the middle of the 4th century. After the death of his parents, who were wealthy, he gave all his goods to the poor, and lived a time as a hermit in the valley of Lavedan. His repu- tation caused him, however, to be appointed bishop of Auch about 410. He at once applied himself to uproot- ing heathenism in his diocese : he destroyed a temple of Apollo at Auch, and erected a church over the ruins. Theodoric I, king of the Goths, and an Arian, sent him as ambassador to the Roman general Aetius, and to his lieutenant Littorius. Orient died soon after his return at Auch, May 1, 439. One of the parishes of Auch bears his name. Part of his remains was transferred as relics to Huesca, Sept. 16, 1609. He wrote a Latin poem in elegiac verses, entitled Commonitorium, which is mentioned by Fortunatus of Poitiers. Although not equal to some of the poetry of the early part of the 6th century, it is forcible and fluent, and the language is good. The work is divided into two books. The first was published at Antwerp in 1599 or 1600 (12mo), with notes by the Jesuit Martin Delrio, who had discovered it in a MS. of the abbey of Aucliin. It was afterwards republished at Salamanca in 1604 and 1664 (4to); at Leipsic in 1651 (8vo), with notes by Andrew Rivinus; at Cologne in 1618 in the Bihl. Pair., and afterwards at Paris and Lyons in similar collections. Dom Martene having discovered a MS. of the whole work, some 800 years old, in the convent of St. Martin, at Tours, had it published in the new collection of ancient writers (Rouen, 1700, 4to) in his Thesaurus Anecdotorum (1717, foL, vol. v), together with some small pieces of Orient found in the same ]\IS. The Memoires de Trevoux, July and September, 1701, contain remarks and corrections by Commire. A new edition Avas published by Schurtz- fleisch (Wittemberg, 1706, 4to), and a supplement, con- taining variations derived from a MS. in the Oxford library', at Weimar, in 1716. An edition in Latin and French, preceded by a life of the author according to the BoUandists, was published under the title of Com- monitoire by Z. CoUombet (Lyons, 1839, 8vo). Some writers, deceived by the resemblance of the name, have attributed this work to Orese, bishop of Urgel, known for his correspondence with Sidonius Apollinaris. See BoUandists, Acta Sanct. May 1; La Vie du gloiieux Saint Oreiw, eveque d'Aitch, composee siir les memoires tirez des anciennes legendes et des plus fideles historiens (Toulouse, no date); Gallia Christiana, i, 973; Hist, litter, de la France, ii, 251-256. — Hoefer, N'ouv. Biog. Generale, xxxviii, 775. (J. N. P.)
Oriental Churches. Eusso-Gkeek Church,
See Eastern Church;
ORIENTAL LANGUAGES
428
ORIGEN
Oriental Languages. See Shemitic Lan- gua<;ks.
Oriental Liturgy. See Liturgy.
Oriental Philosophy is an ancient system seeking to explain the nature and origin of all things ■ by the principle of emanation from an eternal fountain of being. See Magi. Those who professed to believe the Oriental philosophy were divided into three lead- ing sects, which were subdivided into others. Some imagined two eternal principles, from whence all things proceeded — the one presiding over light, the other over matter; and by their perpetual conflict explaining the mixture of good and evil that appears in the universe. See ManichvEANS ; Ormuzd. Others maintained that the being which presided over matter was not an eter- nal principle, but a subordinate intelligence; one of those which the Supreme God produced. They sup- posed that this being was moved by a sudden impulse to reduce to order the rude mass of matter which laj' excluded from the mansions of the Deity, and at last to create the human race. A third sect entertained the idea of a triumvirate of beings, in which the Supreme Deity was distinguished both from the material evil principle and from the Creator of this sublunary world. From blending the doctrines of the Oriental philosophy with Christianity, the Gnostic sects, which were so numerous in the first centuries, derived their origin. See Gnosticism. Other sects arose which aimed to unite Judaism with Christianity. Many of the pagan pliilos- ophers, who were converted to the Christian religion, exerted all their art and ingenuity to accommodate the doctrines of the Gospel to their own schemes of philos- ophy. In each age of the Church new systems were introduced, till, in process of time, we find the Christian world divided into that variety of heretical sentiment which is exhibited under the various articles in this Cyclopaedia. See Philosophy.