a church-officer, thus called by corruption of the Latin sacrifia, or Saxon segerfione, which denotes the same. His office is to take care of the vessels, vestments, &c. belonging to the church; and to attend the minister, church-warden, &c. at church. He is usually chosen by the parson only. Sextons, as well as parish-clerks, are regarded by the common law as persons who have freehold in their offices; and, therefore, though they may be punished, yet they cannot be deprived, by ecclesiastical censures.

The office of sexton in the pope's chapel is appropriated to the order of the hermits of St Augustine. He is generally a bishop, though sometimes the pope only gives a bishopric, in partibus, to him on whom he confers the post. He takes the title of Prefect of the Pope's Sacrifice, and has the keeping the vessels of gold and silver, the relics, &c. When the pope says mass, the sexton always tastes the bread and wine first. If it be in private he says mass, his holiness, of two wafers, gives him one to eat; and, if in public, the cardinal, who assists the pope in quality of deacon, of three wafers, gives him two to eat. When the pope is desperately sick, he administers to him the sacrament of extreme unction, &c. and enters the conclave in quality of first conclavist.

The office of a sexton in Sweden is somewhat singular. During M. Outhier's stay at Stockholm in 1736, he visited the church of St Clara, and during divine service he observed a sexton going about with a long rod, waking those persons who had fallen asleep.