Apparitor an officer who summons others to appear. Among the Romans this was a general term to comprehend all attendants of judges and magistrates appointed to receive and issue their orders (Smith's Dict. of Class. Antiq. s.v.). Similar is the duty of an ecclesiastical apparitor, who serves the process of a spiritual court: summons the clergy to attend visitations, calls over their names on such occasions, and assists the bishop or archdeacon in the business belonging to their respective courts. They seem to have originated in England from the synod of London, 1237. By can. 8 of the Council of London, 1342, under Archbishop Stratford, it was ordered that each bishop should have only one riding apparitor, and each archdeacon one foot apparitor only.
The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature was edited by John McClintock and James Strong. It contains nearly 50,000 articles pertaining to Biblical and other religious literature, people, creeds, etc. It is a fantastic research tool for broad Christian study.
John McClintock was born October 27, 1814 in Philadelphia to Irish immigrants, John and Martha McClintock. He began as a clerk in his father's store, and then became a bookkeeper in the Methodist Book Concern in New York. Here he converted to Methodism and considered joining the ministry. McClintock entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1832 and graduated with high honors three years later. Subsequently, he was awarded a doctorate of divinity degree from the same institution in 1848.WikipediaRead More