parabolanus

plural parabolani

1. historicalChristianityIn the early Eastern Church, a lay assistant to the clergy for tending the sick.

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   In the quarrel between Cyril and Orestes, A.D. 416, the parabolani, zealously espousing the cause of their bishop, threw the city of Alexandria into such confusion that the inhabitants despatched an envoy to Theodosius II., begging him to issue a prohibition for the bishop to leave Alexandria, as his was the only authority by which their violence could be checked.

   1880, Sir William Smith, A Dictionary of Christian Antiquities, volume 3, page 1551