Cessation
Webster's Dictionary [1]
(n.) A ceasing or discontinuance, as of action, whether temporary or final; a stop; as, a cessation of the war.
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature [2]
is an act of discipline in the Church of Rome, technically styled cessatio a divinis, by which, for any notorious injury or disobedience to the Church, a stop is put to all divine offices and the administration of the sacraments, and the dead are deprived of Christian burial. The only privilege allowed is to repeat every week a private mass in the parish churches, the doors being, shut, taking care also not to ring the bell, or to admit more than two persons to the service; to administer baptism, confirmation, and penance to such persons as desire it, provided they are not under sentence of excommunication or an interdict; and to administer extreme unction, provided the prayers which are said before and after that sacrament are not repeated. Cessation may be incurred by a whole diocese, a city, a village, or one or more churches.
