| Bell, Book, And Candle |
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Bell, book, and candle is an archaic method of Excommunication for one who had committed a particularly grievous Sin . Apparently introduced around the late 9th Century , the practice was once used by the Roman Catholic Church . This ceremony involved a Bishop , with 12 Priest s, reciting an Oath on the Altar : "We Separate him, together with his accomplices and abettors, from the precious Body And Blood of the Lord and from the society of all Christians; we exclude him from our Holy Mother , the Church in Heaven , and on earth; we declare him excommunicate and Anathema ; we judge him damned, with the Devil and his Angels and all the reprobate, to Eternal Fire until he shall recover himself from the toils of the devil and return to amendment and to penitence." After reciting this the priests would respond "So be it!" The bishop would ring a Bell to evoke a death toll, close a Holy Book to symbolize the excommunicant's separation from the church, and snuff out a Candle or candles, knocking them to the floor to represent the target's Soul being extinguished and removed from the light of God. William Shakespeare referenced the practice in '' King John '': "Bell, book, and candle, shall not drive me back / When gold and silver becks me to come on" (Act 3, Scene 3). Cited in "Lord Jim" film (1965), Richard Brooks's interpretation of the Conrad's book. Gentlemen Brown say's: -Ring the bell. Close the book. -Quench the candle. -What's that? Never heard the final sentence of excommunication? SOURCES
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