Catholic Dictionary

Find accurate definitions of over 5,000 Catholic terms and phrases (including abbreviations). Based on Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

Your Term:

BELL-BOOK-CANDLE

Symbols used in an old form of excommunication in the Church. the sentence of greater excommunication having been read, these accessories, carried by the priests attending, were also used symbolically: the book was closed, the candle extinguished, and the bell tolled as for the dead.

Start over.