likeness of the mother of God, holding her son and a book, is illustrious for miracles more and mote everj day.' In St. Peter's, however, is a very important one.
not only lor the miracle, but for its authentication. It is in the subterranean chapel, usually called the Grotto. It is a picture of the Virgin w ith a mark under the Left eye. and the following is the inscription : 'This picture of the Most Holy Virgin Mary, which stood between the pillars of the porch oft lie ancient Basilica, having been struck by an impious hand, poured forth blood (sangiiinem fudit i on the Stone, which is now protected by a grating.' I m one side is a Large stone, on the oth- er arc two small .-tones. All three are covered with a Strong iron grating, to preserve them, as on them the
bl of this miraculous picture is said to have fallen."
See Riddle, Christian Antiquities; Coleman. Chiistian Antiquities.
Pie is a table or rule which was used in the old Ro- man otlices previous to the Reformation, showing in a
technical way how to find out the sen ice w hich is to he
read upon each day, and corresponds to what the Greeks called -irni, or the index (literally a plank, by me- tonymy a painted table or picture); and because in- dexes or tables of honks were formed into square figures resembling pictures or painters' tables hung up in a frame, these Likewise were called irivaKtg, or, being
marl. ei I only with the first letters of the word, rri's. or pies. /'/'< is the familiar English name for the Romish
final, or service-1 k i, which perhaps came from
the ignorance of the friars, who have thrust in many barbarous words into the liturgies. Some say that the word jii/i is derived from littera picaia,a great black let- ter in the beginning of some new order in the prayer, and among printer- that term is -till used, the pica tj pe. Set l rocter, Book of Common Prayer; Kadi
. V.
Piece of Gold. The A. v.. in rendering the ellip- tical expre ion "six thousand of gold," in a passage Naaman. relating thai he -took with him ■ 3 of silver, and six 1 1: I i. and ten
changes of raiment" (2 Kings v, 5), supplies "piece-" as the word understood. The Bimilar passage respect- ing silver, in which the word understood appears to be probably justifies the insertion of that definite word. See Piece <>i Silver. The same expression, if a weight of gold be here meant, is also found iii the following passage : " And king Solomon made two hun- dred targets oi beaten gold: Bix hundred of gold went to one target" (1 Kings x, 16). Herethe A. V. supplies
the word "shekels," and there seems no doubt that it is right, considering the number mentioned, and that a common weight must be intended. That a wi gold is meant, in Naaman's case may be interred, he- cause it is extremely unlikely that coined money was already invented at the time referred to, or indeed that it was known in Palestine before the Persian pe- riod. See Daric; Money. Rings or ingots of gold may have been in use. but we are scarcely warranted in supposing that any of them bore the name of shek- els, -nice the practice w a- to weigh money. The ren- dering ••pieces of gold" i- therefore very doubtful; and "shekels of gold," as designating the value of the whole quantity, not individual pieces, is preferable.— Smith. See Gold. Piece of Monet. SceKi-nuc Stater.
Piece op Silver. The passages in the O. T. and those in the N. T. in which the A. V. uses this term mu-t be separately considered. See Mum y.
I. In the O.T. the word ••pieces" is used in the A. A'. for a word understood in the Hebrew, if we except one or two ea-es to be afterwards noticed. The phrase is
always "a thousand" or the like f silver" (Gen. xx,
L6; xxxvii, 28; xlv, 22; Judg. ix. 1 ; xvi, 5; 2 Bongs \ i. 25; llos. iii. 2; Zech. xi, 12, 13). In similar pas- sages the word -shekel-" occurs in the Hebrew, and it must be observed that these are either in the law, or relate to purchases, some of an important legal charac- ter, as that of the cave and field of Machpelab, that of the threshing-floor and oxen of Araunah. or to taxes, and the like (Gen. wiii. 15, 16; Exod. xxi. 32; Lev. xxvii.3,6,16; Josh.vii,21; 2 Sam. xxiv, 24 ; 1 ( hron. xxi, 25, where, however. shek( Is of gold are s] oken of; •_' Kings xv. 20; Neh.v, L5; Jer. xx.xii. 9). There .are other passages in which the A.V. supplies the word "shekels" instead of "piece-" (Deut. xxii, 19, 29 ; Judg. xvii, 2, 3, 4, 10 ; 2 Sam. xviii, 11, 12), and of these the first two require this to be done. It becomes then a question whether there is any ground for the adoption of the word "pieces." which is vague if actual coins he meant, and inaccurate if weights. The shekel, be it remembered, was the common weight for money, and therefore most likely to be understood in an elliptical phrase. When we find good reason for concluding that in two passages (Deut xxii. 19, 20) this is the word understood, it seems incredible that any other should be in the other places. See Sin ki i .