or EUCHITAE, a sect of ancient her- etics, who were first formed into a religious body to- wards the end of the fourth century, though their doc- trine and discipline subsisted in Syria, Egypt, and other eastern countries, before the birth of Christ; they were thus called because they prayed without ceasing, imagining that prayer alone was sufficient to save them. Their great foundation were those words of St Paul, (Thessalonians, v. 17.), Pray without ceasing. The word is formed of the Greek, ευχη, prayer, whence ευχαι, the same with the Latin, precatorer, "prayers." They were also called Enthufasts and Melissians; a term of Hebrew origin, denoting the same as Euchites.

The Euchites were a sort of mystics, who imagined, according to the oriental notion, that two souls resided in man, the one good and the other evil; and who were zealous in expelling the evil soul or demon, and hastening the return of the good spirit of God, by contemplation, prayer, and singing of hymns. They also embraced the opinions nearly resembling the Ma- nichean doctrine, and which they derived from the ten- ets of the oriental philosophy. The same denomina- tion was used in the 12th century, to denote certain fanatics who infested the Greek and eastern churches, and who were charged with believing a double Trinity, rejecting wedlock, abstaining from flesh, treating with contempt the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's supper, and the various branches of external worship, and placing the essence of religion solely in external prayer, and maintaining the efficacy of perpetual sup- plications to the supreme Being for expelling an evil being or genius, which dwelt in the breast of every mortal. This sect is said to have been founded by a person called Lucoperus, whose chief disciple was named Tycheius. By degrees it became a general and invidious appellation for persons of eminent piety and zeal for genuine Christianity, who opposed the vicious prac- tices and insolent tyranny of the priesthood; much in the same manner as the Latins comprehended all the adversaries of the Roman pontiff under the general terms of WALDENSES and ALBIGENSES.

St Cyril of Alexandria, in one of his letters, takes occasion to censure several monks in Egypt, who, un- der pretence of resigning themselves wholly to prayer, led a lazy, scandalous life. A censure likewise appli- cable to monasteries in general.

EUHOLOGIUM, Ευχολογιον, a Greek term, sig- nifying literally a discourse on prayer. The word is form- ed of ευχη, prayer, and λογος, discourse.

The Euchologium is properly the Greek ritual, wherein are prescribed the order and manner of every thing relating to the order and administration of their ceremonies, sacraments, ordinations, &c.

F. Goar has given us an edition of the Greek Euchologium in Greek and Latin, with notes, at Paris.