consistents

Noun

consistent (plural consistents)

1. (in plural, rare) Objects or facts that are coexistent, or in agreement with one another.
   • The Diurnal motion of the primum mobile, is it not from Eaſt to Weſt? And the annual motion of the Sun through the Ecliptick, is it not on the contrary from Weſt to Eaſt? How then can you make theſe motions being conferred on the Earth, of contraries to become conſiſtents?1661, Galileo Galilei, “Galilæus: Galilæus Lincæus, His Systeme of the World. The Second Dialogue.”, in Thomas Salusbury, transl., Mathematical Collections and Translations, volume I, part I, London...
2. (historical, Eastern Orthodoxy) A kind of penitent who was allowed to assist at prayers, but was not permitted to receive the holy sacraments.
   • [F]rom the fourth century onwards, the Eastern Church divided penitents into four classes. […] The consistentes (the last class—συστάντες, consistentes) "stand together with the faithful, and do not go out with the catechumens. Last comes participation in the sacraments (ἁγιασμάτων)."[1884, William E[dward] Addis, Thomas Arnold, “PENITENTIAL DISCIPLINE AND BOOKS”, in A Catholic Dictionary: Containing Some Account of the Doctrine, Discipline, Rites, Ceremonies, Councils, and...

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