Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/162

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

152 PASSIONISTS PASSPORT abundantly produced. It is probable that this state of things does not exist among these plants in the wild state, but that, as the repro- ductive function is often affected by slight ex- ternal causes, self-sterility in these plants has been induced by the unnatural conditions of cultivation. This view is supported by the fact that P. alata in some greenhouses is inveter- ately self-sterile, while in other places it fruits abundantly by the aid of its own pollen ; and a plant known to be self-sterile was by graft- ing upon another species rendered ever after- ward self-fertile. But little is certainly known about the medicinal qualities of the passion flowers; the roots and leaves of several are employed in their native countries as expec- torants, narcotics, and anthelmintics ; the root of one of the granadillas, P. quadrangularis, very common in greenhouses, is said to be diuretic, emetic, and so powerfully narcotic as to be regarded as poisonous. Passion flowers are increased with the greatest ease from cut- tings of the young wood, and they may also be raised from seeds. If the plants are not set in the ground of the greenhouse, they should have very large pots or boxes, as the roots re- quire much room. PASSIONISTS, an order of regular clerks in the Roman Catholic church, founded in 1720 by Paolo Francesco Danei, known as St. Paul of the Cross. He was born Jan. 3, 1694, at Ovada, near Genoa, and died Oct. 18, 1775. Having conceived the idea of a body of mis- sionaries uniting all the austerities of a clois- tered life with the active duties of the pastoral ministry, he retired in 1720 to a hermitage with a few companions. Their saintly life, the good effected by them among the neigh- boring population, and the recommendation of the bishops, induced Benedict XIII. to or- dain them priests in 1727. The order, now consisting of 11 priests, was approved by Bene- dict XIV. in 1741; and in 1746, under the name of "the Discalceated Clerks of the Cross and Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ," Danei established his first convent and novitiate on the Celian hill in Rome; and this establish- ment continued to be the mother house of the order till its suppression in 1873. Twelve con- vents were also founded by him in various cities of Italy, which became centres of home missionary labor, and a Passionist sisterhood was established at Corneto. The order and its constitutions were solemnly confirmed by Pius VI., Sept. 15, 1775. The Passionists, though much esteemed in Italy, did not extend beyond it till the present century. In 1841 the first house of the order was founded at Highgate, near London, by Father Ignatius (George Spencer) ; and they multiplied rapidly, extending to Ireland and Australia. The first Passionist convents in the United States were established at Birmingham, Pa., in 1852, and at West Hoboken, K J. They also own estab- lishments in Pennsylvania and Maryland. The habit of the Passionists is a cassock of coarse black cloth, a large crucifix borne in the girdle, and an emblem of the passion wrought in red on the left breast. They go barefooted, rise during the night to sing the canonical hours, and devote themselves especially to giving " missions " or spiritual retreats. Their found- er, Paul of the Cross, was beatified in 1853 and canonized in 1868. PASSION PLAYS. See MIRACLES AND MOEALI- TIES, and OBER-AMMEKGATJ. PASSION WEEK. See HOLT WEEK. PASSOVER (Heb. pesa'h, frompasa'h, to leap over, to pass by ; Aram, pas 'ha ; Sept. Traa^a ; Vul. paschci), a Hebrew festival, instituted by Moses in commemoration of the Israelites re- maining intact on the night of the destruction of the first born in Egypt, immediately pre- ceding the exodus from that country (Ex. xii.). Originally it was observed by sacrificing pass- over lambs toward the evening of the 14th of the first Hebrew spring month (now Msan), and eating them on the following night, as well as by excluding all leaven from the meals of that evening and the following seven days, the first and last of which were observed as holy. Since the final destruction of the temple of Jerusalem, the passover has been celebrated by eating unleavened bread during the seven (out of Palestine during eight) days, by absti- nence from labor on the first and last (out of Palestine on the first two and last two), and by the observance on the first evening (out of Palestine on the first and second) of various domestic rites commemorative of the deliver- ance from Egyptian bondage, including the recital of Scriptural and legendary narratives and familiar conversation on the same national event, and the chanting of psalms. PASSOW, Franz Ludwig Karl Friedrieh, a Ger- man philologist, born in Ludwigslust, Sept. 20, 1786, died in Breslau, March 11, 1833. He studied theology and philology at Leipsic, in 1807 became professor of Greek in the gymna- sium at Weimar, and in 1815 professor of an- cient literature in the university of Breslau. His most important work is the " Dictionary of the Greek Language" (4th ed., Leipsic, 1831). PASSPORT, a document given by the author- ized officer of a state, which permits a person or persons therein named to pass or travel either generally, or through a country named, or on certain routes, by land or water. Pass- ports must have been used by all civilized gov- ernments to some extent and in some form ; but in England and in the United States they have not been used within those countries, though their governments give them to those of their citizens who purpose to travel abroad. The United States secretary of state is charged with the duty of issuing passports, and au- thorizing and regulating their issue by diplo- matic or consular agents. Any one who is- sues a passport without authority, or who has authority and issues a passport to one not a citizen, is liable to punishment by fine and imprisonment. Passports are also given by