The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2197 page)

see
SACRED RIVERS, SEVEN
.

 
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see
DRUZES
.

 
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see
SACRED CITIES, SEVEN
.

 
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see
TAOISM
.

 
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Seven Sleepers of Ephesus
.

The heroes of a romance which was popular among both Christians and Muslims in the Middle Ages. In the story, seven Christian young men take refuge from the persecution of the emperor Decius (249–51) in a cave near Ephesus, fall asleep and reawaken under the Christian emperor Theodosius II (408–50). They become proof of the
resurrection
of the dead. The grotto of the Seven Sleepers in Ephesus was an important Christian pilgrimage place until the Islamic conquest of Asia Minor in the 15th cent. Muslims located the story and tomb in various places, including a different Ephesus (Afs
s) which was within Arab territory from the 7th cent.

 
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Seven Sorrows of the Virgin Mary
.

According to the Roman
Breviary
:

(i) at the prophecy of
Simeon
(Luke 2. 34–5);
(ii) at the flight into Egypt (Matthew 2. 13–15);
(iii) at the loss of the holy child (Luke 2. 41–52);
(iv) on meeting Jesus on the way to
Calvary
(Luke 23. 27–31);
(v) at standing at the foot of the cross (John 19. 25);
(vi) at the taking down of Christ from the cross (Luke 23. 53);
(vii) at his burial (Matthew 27. 59–60, etc.). The seven sorrows are commemorated on 15 Sept., the feast of Our Lady of Sorrow.

 
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