WHITSUN-DAY, or WHITSUNDAY. The derivation of the name is doubtful; some taking it from Whitsun, a corruption of Pentecosten, the old Anglo-Saxon name for the day; and some from White Sunday, because those who had been baptized on its eve wore white robes. This festival is the birthday of the Church, and has been observed, like Easter, from the first days of Christianity. (See _Pentecost_.) WILL, FREE, _see_ Free Will. WORD, THE. A name given to our Lord in the opening of St. John's Gospel. The term was familiar to the Jews. (See _Logos_.) WORSHIP. Besides meaning the supreme homage and devotion due to Almighty God, it is also used in the Bible and Prayer Book, to denote honour, respect, and reverence given to men. Thus it is used in Ps. lxxxiv.12; Luke xiv.10; and in 1 Chron. xxix.20, it seems to be used in both senses. In the marriage service the husband promises to _worship_ his wife, that is, to render her all due respect and honour. In like manner we call a Mayor or a Chancellor "Worshipful." WORSHIP, PUBLIC, _see_ Public Worship. YEAR, THE ECCLESIASTICAL. The different seasons of the Church Year have each a separate notice. The Church begins her year with Advent, because, as Bishop Cosin says, "she does not number her days, or measure her seasons, so much by the motion of the sun, as by the course of our Saviour; beginning and counting her year with Him who, being the true Sun of Righteousness, began now to rise upon the world." End of Project Gutenberg's The Church Handy Dictionary, by Anonymous