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.
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GOLDEN NUMBER
The name of each of the nineteen numbers representing the cycle of lunar years into which Meton (432 B.C.) divided the calendar. He discovered that after nineteen solar years had elapsed the new moon would occur on the same days in the years indicated by identical numbers. They are called golden because the number for each current year was inscribed in hold on the pillar of a temple in Athens. The Golden Numbers have been adopted in the ecclesiastical calendar since the time of St. Hippolytus (A.D. 170-236).
