in Ecclesiastical Antiquity, denotes an open place or court before a church, making part of what was called the narthex or ante-temple. The atrium in the ancient churches was a large area or square plat of ground, surrounded with a portico or cloister, situated between the porch or vestibule of the church and the body of the church. Some have erroneously confounded the atrium with the porch or vestibule, from which it was distinct; others with the narthex, of which it was only a part. The atrium was the mansion of those who were not suffered to enter farther into the church; and more particularly, it was the place where the first class of penitents stood to beg the prayers of the faithful as they went into the church.