[L. = lamb of God.] In R. C. Ch. a. A part of the Mass beginning with the words Agnus Dei; also the music set to it. b. A figure of a lamb bearing a cross or flag. c. A cake of wax stamped with such a figure and blessed by the Pope.
c. 1400. Apol. for Loll., 8. Bi-twex þe consecracioun & Agnus Dei.
1480. Caxton, Chron. Eng., ccxxx. 245. After the iii agnus dei y seid.
1583. Exec. for Treason (1675), 45. Their Cakes of Wax which they call Agnus Dei.
1629. Owen, Spec. Jesuit., 44. Such little Cristall glasses, as Papists do vse to weare about their necks, with an Agnus Dei inclosed betweene them.
1673. Milton, True Relig., Wks. 1851, 418. Masses for him both quick and dead, Agnus Dei’s, Reliques, and the like.
1845. E. Holmes, Mozart, 100. The service lasted till a quarter to eleven, and an Agnus Dei of Haydn’s was again performed.
