Verulam, Councils of {Concilium Vei-ulamiense). Verulam,or Verulamium, was an ancient town of Eng- land, County of Hertford, the site of which is now oc- cupied by the city of St. Albans, which is twenty miles northwest of London. Two ecclesiastical councils were held here as follows :
I. (Called aho'Council of St. Albans) Was held A.D. 429 by SS. Germanus and Lupus against the Pelagian heresy. The authors of this detestable heresy, writes Constantius, came to the council glittering with pomp and tine dresses, and surrounded by their partisans. An immense concourse of people — men, women, and chil- dren— were assembled; leave was given to the Pelagi- ans to speak first, which the\' did, and at much length; after which the venerable bishops poured forth, in an- swer, the torrent of their eloquence, supporting their own assertions by divine testimonies. Their opponents testified by their silence that they could not withstand them, and the assembled multitude with loud shouts proclaimed the victorj' of the Catholics. See Wilkins, Concil. i, 3.
II. Was held A.D. 793, attended by king Offa, arch- bishop Humbert, and a large concourse, before whom the foundation of the Abbey of St. Alban was discussed, and the king recommended a journey to Home. See 3Iaiisi, Concil. xiii, 861 ; Wilkins, by Iladdan and Stubbs, iii, 470.
Vervactor, in Roman mythology, was a god of the fields, who was said to give the fallow ground its fruit- fulness again.
VERY REVEREND
765
VESPERS
Very Reverend is a title given by custom to certain clergymen in priests' orders who have attained to positions of dignity. In the Cluirch of England it is usually reserved for deans and provosts of cathedrals and collegiate churches. In the Anglo -Koman corn- niunion it is applied to canons of cathedrals, to certain doctors of divinity, and others.
Vesalia, John he, a celebrated preacher and doc- tor of theology at Erfurt and Worms, often confound- ed with John Wessel (q. v.), with whom he held near- ly the same sentiments, was condemned for his theolog- ical opinions at Mentz in 1-179, and cast into prison, where he soon died. A Catholic who witnessed the trial says he advanced nothing but what might be de- fended, except in regard to the procession of the Holy S|)irit, in which he agreed with tiie Greeks. See Mos- heim. Hist, of the Church, bk. iii, cent, xv, pt. ii, ch. ii.
Vesey, William, an American Episcopal clergy- man, was born at Braintree, Mass., in 1G7-4. He gradu- ated at Harvard College in 1(593, and pursued his theo- logical studies under the direction of the Kev. Samuel Myles, rector of King's Chapel, Boston. Under a call from the members of the Ejiiscopal communion of the city of New York, he embarked for England in the spring of 1697 to receive holy orders, and was ordained by Dr. Henry Compton, bishop of London, Aug. 1(5 of the same year. He returned to New York, and was inducted, under command of the governor, into his office by Rev. Henricus Selyns of New York, Kev. Johannes Petrus of Kingston, Thomas Wenham and Robert Lurting, church -wardens, in the Dutch Church, on Christmas, 1697. Mr. Selyns and Mr. Vesey preached alternately in this church — the one in Dutch, the other in English — for about three months. Mr. Vesey was married to a Miss Reade early in IMarch following. Meanwhile Trin- ity Church, the edifice under construction for the Epis- copal society of New York, was approaching comple- tion, and was formally opened for public worship on Sunday, March 13, 1698. JMr. Vesey was rector of this Church from that time until he was removed by death. In 17ri, or about that time, he was appointed commis- sary to the bishop of London, which office he also held during the remainder of his days. His life, combining the two offices of rector and commissary, was a very ac- tive and laborious one, and it seems that the work of God prospered in his hands. He was largely aided in his labors by schoolmasters and catechists provided for his assistance, and by regularly appointed assistants at diflferent periods, viz. Rev. Robert Jenny, Rev. James Wetmore, Rev. Thomas Colgan, and Rev. Robert Charl- ton. Mr. Vesey was a man of eminent piety as well as industry, and saw the fruits of his labors and exam- ple ripen in an abundant harvest. He died July 18, 1746, after a ministry of over fortj^-eight years in the same place. See Sprague, ,-1 nnals of the A met: Fid- pit, V, 13 sq.
Vesica Piscis {hlad- cler of a fsh), a name ap- plied by Albert Dlirer to a pointed oval figure, formed by two equal circles cut- ting each other in their centres, which is a very common form given to the aureole, or glory, by which the representations of each of the three Persons of the Holy Trinity and the Blessed Virgin are sur- rounded in the paintings and sculptures of the Mid- dle Ages. It has been con- „ . -n- ■ t^, ,^ ., ^ , ^ . , ■ , , Vesica Piscis, Ely Calhedral.
jectiired that it was adopt- ed from the idea that this figure is symbolical, and signifi- cant of the Greek word 'ix^vQ (a fisli), which contains
the initial letters of the name and titles of the Sav- iour, '\)]C!ovQ XjOioTOCi Beou I'loc, 2wr/;p. This form, however, is by no means always given to the aureole, and the idea of any peculiar symbolical meaning being attached to it appears to have been adopted almost ex- clusively by English antiquaries. Tliis form is some- times found in panels and other architectural features, and is extremely common in mediaeval seals, especially those of bishops and monastic establishments. — Parker, Gloss, of A rchitect. s. v.