The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (295 page)

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
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Auto-da-fé
(Portuguese, ‘act of faith’). The elaborate public ceremony of the
Inquisition
, especially in Spain, at which, after a showy procession, mass, and sermon, the sentences were read. Heretics were dressed in a yellow gown and mitre. Those sentenced to death were handed over to the secular power.
Autonomy of the liminal
(independence in ritual of the transitional stage)
:
Auto Sacramental
(Spanish religious plays)
:
Av, Ninth of
(Heb.,
Tishah be-Av
). A day of
mourning
in the Jewish calendar for the destruction of the Jerusalem
Temple
. According to the
Talmud
, five disasters occurred on 9 Av:
(i) the Israelites could not enter the
Promised Land
;
(ii) and
(iii) the first and second Temples were destroyed;
(iv) the last Jewish stronghold in the
Bar Kokhba
war was destroyed;
(v) Emperor Hadrian established a heathen temple in Jerusalem.
Avad
na literature
.
One of the twelve types of literary composition traditionally found in Buddhist Sanskrit literature. The Avad
nas are essentially popular moral tales which seek to inspire the believer to exertion in the faith and the performance of good deeds. The most important examples of this type of literature include the
Avad
na-
ataka
, the
A
oka-Avad
na
,
Divya-Avad
na
, and the later
Avad
na-Kalpalat
.

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