QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY. The _fiftieth_ day before Easter, reckoning in whole numbers. QUESTMEN. The same as Synod's men, or Sidesmen. (See _Churchwardens_.) RATIONALISM. There are two ways by which the human mind can attain to a knowledge of the truth; first by receiving a divine revelation of it, and secondly by means of observation and reasoning. The name of _Rationalism_ is given to that school of thought which believes that the latter of these two ways is of itself fully sufficient for the attainment of all truth. READING DESK, _see_ Desk. READING IN. Every incumbent upon entering his living is obliged to read the Thirty-nine Articles, and to give his assent thereto publicly, in Church, on some Sunday nearly following his appointment. He must also read the Morning and Evening Prayer, and declare his assent to the Prayer Book. A certificate to that effect has to be signed by the Churchwardens. The whole ceremony is known as that of "_reading in_." REAL PRESENCE, _see_ Presence, Real. RECTOR. A clergyman who has charge of a parish, and who possesses all the tithes. The distinction between a Rector and Vicar is that the former has the whole right to all the ecclesiastical dues within his parish, whereas the latter is entitled only to a certain portion of those profits, the best part of which are often absorbed by the impropriator. REFORMATION. The great revolt in Europe in the 16th century against the Papacy. The rescue of our Church from the usurped dominion of the Pope, and its restoration from the corruptions of Popery to primitive purity was then effected. (See _Church of England_.) REFRESHMENT SUNDAY The fourth Sunday in Lent is so called probably because the Gospel for the day relates the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand. It is also frequently called Mid-Lent Sunday. In several parts of England it is known by the name of _Mothering Sunday_, from an ancient practice of making a pilgrimage to the Mother Church, usually the Cathedral, of the neighbourhood on this day. The comparatively modern and local custom of young men and women going home to visit their parents on this day is probably a survival of the older practice.