Nautae

Nautae

(ναῦται, sailors) was the name sometimes given in the early Church to the presbyters (q.v.) just as by similitude the catechumens were sometimes called ναυτολόγοι, or ναυστολόγοι, with reference to the wellknown comparison of the Church with a ship, and to the circumstance that the catechumens took their station in the church at the end of the nave. See Riddle, Christian Antiquities, page 461. SEE NAUTOLOGI.