Holy Church

English

Alternative forms

• holy Church

Etymology

From Middle English Holy Chirche, holi chirche, hali chirche, haly kirk, equivalent to holy +‎ church.

Proper noun

the Holy Church

1. The Christian Church.

   Synonym: Church of Christ

   • 1861, Nikolaos Bulgaris, A Holy Catechism, page 46:

     According to the second definition, we all of us believe in one Holy Church from end to end of the world, Apostolic and Catholic, founded not on mere earthen stones, but on the spiritual rock of the orthodox faith of CHRIST.

   • 1898, Sebastian Dabovich, The Holy Orthodox Church, page 55:

     Hear ye, then, what is said in a prayer composed by a sainted father, approved by the Holy Church, and read for all in the name of the Church on earth, […]

   • 1944, The American Ecclesiastical Review:

     He defines the Church of Christ or the Holy Church as “the multitude which rejoices in holy unity , a unity understood , not as being physically united in some country or province , or in any bodily place , but according to the union of one sign […] ”