Testimonials.--The general Canons of the Church prescribe that when the Standing Committee of a Diocese recommends to the Bishop a candidate for Holy Orders for ordination to the Diaconate or {253} Priesthood, that it shall present to the Bishop a certificate or testimonial to the effect that the candidate "hath lived piously, soberly and honestly, and hath not since his admission as a candidate for Orders, written, taught or held anything contrary to the doctrine and discipline of the Protestant Episcopal Church." The action of the Committee in recommending such person to be admitted a candidate for Holy Orders was based on testimonials made by the Clergy and laymen who knew the candidate personally. So, also, when a Bishop is elected, testimonials of his election by the Convention which elected him, and from the House of Deputies of the General Convention, or from the Standing Committees of the various Dioceses, of their approbation of his election and also of his fitness for the office of a Bishop, must be presented to the House of Bishops before order can be taken for his consecration. Thanksgiving.--(See GENERAL THANKSGIVING, THE.) Thanksgiving Day.--The day appointed by the Civil Authority for the rendering of thanks to God for the blessings bestowed on this land and nation during the year. It usually partakes of the nature of a Harvest Home Festival, prompted no doubt by the character of the service set forth in the Prayer-book to be used on this day, entitled, "A Form of Prayer and Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the Fruits of the earth and all other Blessings of His Merciful Providence." It is interesting to note that the first Thanksgiving Day in America was appointed, not by the Pilgrims, as many persons mistakenly believe, but by members of the Church of England. It was {254} celebrated at Monhegan, off the Maine coast, near the mouth of the Kennebec river, as far back as 1607--thirteen years prior to the arrival of the Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor--and Chaplain Seymore preached a sermon "gyving God thankes for our happy metynge and saffe aryvall into ye countrie." The earliest Thanksgiving Day of the Plymouth colonists was in 1621. Theological Virtues.--The three virtues, _Faith_, _Hope_ and _Charity_ or _Love_, as enumerated by St. Paul in the 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians, are called Theological Virtues because they are the gift of God and have God for their object. They may be explained as follows: FAITH is a gift of God, infused into our souls, whereby we firmly believe all these things which God has revealed. HOPE is a gift of God, which helps us to expect with confidence that God will give us all things necessary to salvation, if we only do what He requires of us. CHARITY is a gift of God, whereby we love Almighty God above all things for His sake and our neighbors as ourselves. Thirty-nine Articles.--(See ARTICLES OF RELIGION.)