lectisternium

lectisternium

(from Latin lectum sternere, “to spread a couch”) Ancient Greek and Roman rite in which a meal was offered to gods and goddesses whose images were laid on a couch placed in the street. When it originated in Greece, couches were prepared for three pairs of gods: Apollo and Latona, Heracles and Diana, and Mercury and Neptune. During the feast, which lasted seven or eight days, citizens kept open house, debtors and prisoners were released, and every effort was made to banish sorrow. Other gods were later honoured with the same rite. In Christian times, the word was used for a feast in memory of the dead.