Sacra (sacred rites), a general term used by the ancient Romans to denote all that belonged to the worship of the gods. The sacra were either public or private, the former applying to the worship conducted at the expense of the State, and the latter at the expense of families or single individuals. In both cases the whole services were performed by the pontiffs, who, in the case of the sacra publica, had also the charge of the funds set apart for these services. The sacra privata were generally nothing more than sacrifices to the Penates, or household gods.
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