Sacra

Webster's Dictionary

(pl.) of Sacrum

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(sacred rites), a general term used by the ancient Romans to denote all that belonged to the worship of the gods. The sacra were either public or private, the former applying to the worship conducted at the expense of the State, and the latter at the expense of families or single individuals. In both cases the whole services were performed by the pontiffs, who, in the case of the sacra publica, had also the charge of the funds set apart for these services. The sacra privata were generally nothing more than sacrifices to the Penates, or household gods.