Dedication is the act of consecrating an altar, temple, church, or other sacred building.

Feast of Dedication

The Feast of Dedication, today Hanukkah, once also called "Feast of the Maccabees," is a Jewish festival observed for eight days from the 25th of Kislev (usually in December, but occasionally late November, due to the

lunisolar calendar A lunisolar calendar is a calendar in many cultures, combining lunar calendars and solar calendars. The date of Lunisolar calendars therefore indicates both the Moon phase and the time of the solar year, that is the position of the Sun in the Ea ...

). It was instituted in the year 165 B.C. by

Judas Maccabeus Judah Maccabee (or Judas Maccabeus, also spelled Machabeus, or Maccabæus, Hebrew: יהודה המכבי, ''Yehudah HaMakabi'') was a Jewish priest (''kohen'') and a son of the priest Mattathias. He led the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleuci ...

, his brothers, and the elders of the congregation of Israel in commemoration of the reconsecration of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, and especially of the altar of

burnt offering A holocaust is a religious animal sacrifice that is completely consumed by fire. The word derives from the Ancient Greek ''holokaustos'' which is used solely for one of the major forms of sacrifice, also known as a burnt offering. Etymology and ...

s, after they had been desecrated during the

persecution Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are religious persecution, racism, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these term ...

under Antiochus Epiphanes (168 BC). The significant happenings of the festival were the illumination of houses and

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

s, a custom probably taken over from the Feast of Tabernacles, and the recitation of . According to the

Second Book of Chronicles The Book of Chronicles ( he, דִּבְרֵי־הַיָּמִים ) is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Chronicles) in the Christian Old Testament. Chronicles is the final book of the Hebrew Bible, concluding the third sec ...

, the dedication of Solomon's Temple took place in the week before the Feast of Tabernacles.

J. Wellhausen Julius Wellhausen (17 May 1844 – 7 January 1918) was a German biblical scholar and orientalist. In the course of his career, he moved from Old Testament research through Islamic studies to New Testament scholarship. Wellhausen contributed to t ...

, an antisemitic theologian, suggests that the feast was originally connected with the winter solstice, and only afterwards with the events narrated in

Maccabees The Maccabees (), also spelled Machabees ( he, מַכַּבִּים, or , ; la, Machabaei or ; grc, Μακκαβαῖοι, ), were a group of Jewish rebel warriors who took control of Judea, which at the time was part of the Seleucid Empire. ...

. The Feast of Dedication is also mentioned in , where the writer mentions Jesus being at the Jerusalem Temple during "the Feast of Dedication" and further notes "and it was winter". The Greek term used in John is "the renewals" (Greek τὰ ἐγκαίνια, ''ta enkainia''). Josephus refers to the festival in Greek simply as "lights."

Dedication of churches

Child dedication

A child dedication ceremony takes place in some

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

churches that practice adult baptism. The child is presented to the congregation, and vows are made to raise him or her in the Christian tradition (similar to an infant baptism ceremony), but the child is not baptised, as some churches only accept adult or 'believers' baptism.

Dedication of a marriage or relationship

Some denominations offer a dedication for a marriage or relationship. A service of dedication is used in the Church of England to bless a couple after a civil marriage. The Church of England's Diocese of Hereford "voted to support a motion calling on the House of Bishops to 'commend an Order of Prayer and Dedication after the registration of a civil partnership or a same sex marriage'." Individual Anglican congregations in England may already offer same-sex couples "a special service of prayer and dedication."

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External links

Urbs Beata Jerusalem dicta pacis visio
- Catholic Encyclopedia article
Music Dedications Database
- Database of dedications by Classical composers {{Authority control