Sichseus, in Phoenician mythology, was the hus- band of Dido, queen of Carthage, whose brother Pyg- malion caused him to be murdered for his treasure. The disembodied spirit revealed the place in which the treasure was concealed to the widow and bade her fiee. She accordingly landed in .Africa, and founded Carthage (Virgil, u'Eneid, i, 347, etc.; iv, 20, 502, etc.; vi, 474). Justin (xviii, 4) gives the name A cerbos to Dido's hus- band, and states that Pygmalion himself was the mur- derer; that Dido fled his kingdom in order to escape from the scene which fed her grief, and that she was obliged to use stratagem to induce her attendants to refrain from delivering her up to the king. After touching at Cyprus, the final settlement was made at Carthage. — Vollmer, WOrteib. d. Mythol. s. v.
Si'chem (an incorrect rendering [borrowed from the Vulg. ] of the name elsewhere Anglicized Sheciieji [(). v.] ) occurs in two passages of the A. V.
1. In (ien. xii, (i the inuisual expression "the place of Sichem" may i)erhai)S iiidicale that at that early age the city did not exist. The "oaks of ]Moreh" were there, but the town of Shechem as yet was not; its "place" only was visited by tiie great patriarch.
2. ('Kj' '^iKiftoic; Vulg. ill iSichinns, ICcclus. 1, 26.) If there could be anj' doubt that the son of Sirach was alluding in this passage to the Samaritans, wlio lived, as they still live, at Sliechein, it \vould be disjjrovecl by the characteristic pim whiili Ik! has perpetrated on the word Moreli, the ancient name of Shechem: "That foolish people (Xaof fiwpog) that dwell ia Sichem." — Smith.
SICILIAN VESPERS
727
SICKINGEN
Sicilian Vespers, the name given to the insur- rection of Palermo, March 31, 128-2. It was at a festi- val on Easter-Monday that a multitude of the inhabi- tants of Palermo and the neighborhood had thronged to the Church of the Holy Ghost, about half a mile out of the town. The religious service was over, and amuse- ments of all sorts were going gayly on, when a body of French soldiery appeared, under the pretext of keeping the peace. One of tliem offering an insult to the daugh- ter of Roger Mastrangelo, he was immediately slain, and in the fighting which followed everj' one of the 200 Frenchmen present was killed. The insurrection became general; 2000 French were slain. A government was hastily formed, the towns asserted their independence, and formed a league for mutual defence, and in one month Sicily was free; the French had disappeared. See Milman, Hist, of Latin Christianity, ii, 155 sq.
Sicily, Council of (Concilium Siculnm), was held in 365 or 366 by Eustathius, bishop of Sebaste, and the Oriental deputies, who convoked the bishops of the coun- try in order to confirm the faith as settled at Nicaa and to nuUifj' the proceedings at Ariminum. The use of the term "consubstantial" was approved, and the bishops drew up a synodal letter after the form given by pope Liberius. See Mansi, ii, 830. — Laudon, Manual of Coun- cils, s. v.
Sicinus, in Grecian mj'thology, was a son of Thoas, king of Lemnos, and a Naiad whom he learned to love while in the island of Ginoe. He colonized an island near Euboea, which received his name. See Schol. Ad Aiwllon. Rhod. i, 624 ; Strabo, x. 484.
Sick, Anointing of. See Extreme Unction.
SICK, Cake of, was one of the principal duties of the deaconesses (q. v.) in the apostolic age.
SICK, Communion of the, is the celebration of the Lord's supper in a private house for the benefit of one so ill as to be unable to attend the church. Of this there are many instances in antiquity. Paulinus, bish- op of Nola, caused the eucharist to be celebrated in his own chamber a few hours before his death. Gregory Nazianzen informs us that his father communicated in his own chamber; and Ambrose is said to have admin- istered the sacrament in a private house in Rome. It has been the constant usage of the Cliristian Church to permit persons dangerously sick to receive the sacra- ment in their own homes. The Church of England has a special office for the commnuion of the sick. See Hook, Church Diet. s. v.
SICK, Visitation of. The sick being in special need of pastoral care, and the visitation of them being enjoined by divine authority (Matt, xxv, 36 ; James i, 27 ; v, 14, 15), it is made by Christian churches a special duty of the clergy. The Church of England has a spe- cial order for it in her Book of Common Prayer. The usual office contains : 1. Supplications to avert evil, in the Salutation and short Litany, 2. Prayer to procure good things, in the Lord's Prayer and the two collects. 3. Exhortations, prescribed in the large form of Exhor- tation ; and directions in the rubric to advise the sick man to forgive freely, etc. 4. Consolations, in the Ab- solution, the Prayer, etc. There are also added Extraor- dinary Prayers and the Manner of Administering Com- munion. See Hook, Church Diet. s. v.
Sickels, William, a Presbyterian minister, was born at Troy, N. Y,, Aug. 20, 1795. He graduated at Jefferson College, Canonsburgh, Pa,, in 1824, and at the theologi- cal seminary at Princeton, N. J,, in 1827; was licensed by Winchester Presbytery, and ordained by the same, in 1828; and then removed West and settled at Hushville, Ind. He subsequently preached at Washington, Shiloh, Bethany, and Hopewell, within the bounds of Indian- apolis Presbytery ; also at Connellsville, Pleasant, and Jefferson churches in Madison Presbytery. He died in Indianapolis, Ind., Aug. 9, 1864, Mr. Sickels was an able preacher, always instructive and interesting. He