Schism.--Derived from a Greek word, meaning _fissure_, or _rent_, and may be defined as a rending of the Body of Christ, His Church on earth, and making divisions in the one Body. The divisions between the East and West, and between Rome and the Anglican Communion may be described in St. Paul's words as "schism _in_ the Body," rather than schism _from_ it, inasmuch as none of these three bodies has lost any of the essentials of Church Unity--the Apostolic Ministry, the Sacraments, the Creeds and the Holy Scriptures. But the word also means separation from the Church and is applied to those religious bodies which have abandoned the Historic Church. Such wilful separation, whether within the Church or without, St. Paul, in 1 Corinthians, calls a sin (1 Cor. 1:10; 3:3; 11:18), and in Romans 16:18, we are directed to avoid those who cause divisions. The Church regards her unity as of such vital importance to her own life and to the life of each individual soul, she bids us pray in the Litany, "From all false doctrine, heresy, and Schism, Good Lord, deliver us." (See UNITY, CHURCH; and also UNDIVIDED CHURCH.) Scriptures in the Prayer-book.--It has been pointed out, on the authority of a careful and detailed calculation that of the whole Prayer-book, three-fifths of it are taken from the Bible and that two-fifths of all the Church's worship are carried on in the actual words of Holy Scripture. Again, that one-half of this Divine Service is Praise; one-fourth, Prayer; and {239} one-fourth, Reading of the Bible. From these facts, the Episcopal Church has been rightly called a "Bible Reading Church." We thus learn the great value of the Prayer-book in setting forth "the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God." (See LECTIONARY.) Seasons, The Church.--(See CHRISTIAN YEAR.) Sedilia.--From the Latin _sedile_, meaning a seat. The name given to the seats near the Altar, usually placed against the south wall, to be used by the Clergy during the sermon at the Holy Communion. See.--Derived from the Latin word _sedes_, meaning a seat. The word is used to designate the place of a Bishop's Jurisdiction, and his place of residence, the city where his cathedral is; usually called the _See City_. Sentences, The Opening.--Short passages of Holy Scripture read at the beginning of Daily Morning and Evening Prayer, are so called, and are intended to strike the keynote of the service to follow. Originally the Daily Services began with the Lord's Prayer, but in 1552 the Sentences, with the Exhortation, Confession and absolution were prefixed to Morning Prayer; they were not placed in the Evening Prayer until 1661. In the last revision of the American Prayer-book additional Sentences were added and arranged to strike the keynote of the Church's great Festivals and Fasts, such as Christmas Day, Good Friday, Easter, etc.