Canon Law & Easter Computus 2

FROM VOLUME II OF THE COUNCILS OF GAUL, by Jacques Sirmond, presbyter of the Society of Jesus, p. 117. Concerning the Codex of Canons which was presented to Charlemagne the king, when he was at Rome, by Pope Hadrian, in the year of Christ, as is conjectured, 787. There was published in former years, first at Ingolstadt in volume VI of the 'Antiqua Lectio,' then at Cologne in volume III of the Councils, an Epitome of the Eastern and African canons, with a title which signifies that this was presented by Pope Hadrian to Charlemagne the king, when he was at Rome, for the use of the Western Churches.

And yet it is agreed that what was presented to Charlemagne was not an epitome, but an entire collection — both of the canons out of which that epitome was afterward compiled, and also of the decretals of the pontiffs, from Siricius to Gregory the Younger. In short, that the very book given to Charlemagne is that which is called by Pope Nicholas the CODEX OF CANONS [letter] 519, in the chapter 'Si Romanorum'; and which, first printed at Mainz in the year 1525, was afterward, in the Paris edition, entitled 'The Old Codex of Canons of the Roman Church.' For this is declared by the very many copies of this collection which are seen in the libraries of Gaul:

at the front of which, like the dedication of an offered gift, is prefixed the letter of Hadrian to Charles, which by the first letters of each verse renders this title: 'TO THE LORD, MOST EXCELLENT SON CHARLES THE KING, HADRIAN THE POPE.' And the letter itself runs thus, both in other copies here and there, as I have said, and in the most ancient codex of St. Germain, dating from the times of Charlemagne himself, in the 57th year of his reign, that is, of Christ 805. LETTER OF POPE HADRIAN TO CHARLEMAGNE THE KING, which in the ancient copies is prefixed to his Codex of Canons.

(An acrostic, the first letters of the verses spelling the title.) Resplendent with divine teaching, you surpass the sceptres of the kingdom. O happy origin of kings, ever a blessed line of descent. We perceive the mighty mass of the law to possess the grace of praise. By a just king is begotten the defender of the kindly Church. Never indeed can the heavenly discipline be conquered. Already of old, taking up the example of the paternal kingdom, triumphing, by which devoted faith rejoices in victory, with Christ helping, and blessed Peter the key-bearer, he subjects all hostile nations beneath his royal feet. Behold, the blessed root has yielded the like in its offspring: glad to worship God, ever to love the divine law, to keep praiseworthy faith and to defend the holy life, having as his patron in the triumphs of heaven the very doorkeeper. Relying on his conquering power, he persists ever.

Following the light of the doctrine of the faith of the apostolic see, into this holy see the great king Charles shines forth. Enriched through him with all good things, he triumphs everywhere; he has merited ever to possess in these the heavenly kingdom. Taking up divine arms, he has trampled the proud nations. He has restored the ancient gifts to the Church his mother, and great cities, likewise borders and divers camps. He has, by divine power, laid low the Lombard and the Herulian nation. Exulting, he embraces the faith which he received from his forefathers. This great lineage gleams red throughout the whole world: lofty, noble, shining, he rules divers kingdoms. Rejoicing, swift, he comes safe to the thresholds of the apostles, and is celebrated with exceeding praises and hymns by all the people.

Earnestly he begs the supreme high priest to pray for him, that the sins committed from his youth might be redeemed for him. Stripped (of them) by the kindly intercessions, his governing tongue promised to keep the spirit of the holy Roman Church forever, to guard the just claims of kindly Peter his protector, fit that, bestowing above, he might offer a libation in confession of him. To this Hadrian the bishop foretold the triumphs of Christ: that he would long be protected by the divine right hand, with Peter accompanying and Paul also, giving him the sword of victory, and fighting on your behalf, you will remain unharmed, a victor with your own, indeed through them. They seek the entrance of the city of Pavia, that you may enter as victor. You will trample the truly perfidious royal neck of Desiderius, overthrowing his forces, you will plunge them into the depth of the abyss.

Hedged about by the kingdom of the Lombards, you will render your offering, the promised sacred gifts of the hall of Peter the key-bearer, he bestowing upon you greater victory, and likewise honour, to reign here through the ages with your own, and in the future for your offspring. From the law never depart, observing these statutes. Thus far the letter of Hadrian, as it could be elicited from corrupt copies. But as for the time, since Charles came thrice to the City while Hadrian was still living — namely in the year 774, when he was besieging Pavia; again in 781, when his sons Pippin king of Italy and Louis king of Aquitaine were anointed by Hadrian; and finally in 787, when from there he set out also against Capua and Benevento, against duke Grimoald —

we, although the matter is uncertain, have judged that the codex of Hadrian is to be referred rather to the last expedition than (as has pleased others) to the first, with which many things that are read in his letter can scarcely agree. TO THE READER. The Codex or Collection of ecclesiastical canons of Dionysius Exiguus — of which only the index was first published from the manuscript codex of that most erudite man Nicolas Le Fèvre in the year 1609 — we now give you entire from another old manuscript codex of the library of the illustrious Christophe Justel, the most ancient monument of canon law of all that are extant in Latin: which indeed no one doubts must have been drawn from this source.

Now this collection contains nearly the same canons of the councils as does the Greek Codex of the universal Church, published by the same Justel in the year 1610; besides the canons which are called those of the Apostles, fifty in number, and the twenty-one of Sardica, and it comprises the 138 chapters of the African, or Carthaginian, synods. Of this Hincmar, archbishop of Reims, makes not obscure mention in his work of fifty-five chapters against Hincmar bishop of Laon, chapter 43, in these words:

'Who are those,' he says, 'whom both the apostolic see, and all the bishops throughout the whole world, and the whole catholic Church, call canons — and which, from the Council of Nicaea (which is the first in our codices, those which our forefathers received as to be followed from the greater apostolic see), in order all the way to the African Council, they retain as canons to be received, venerated, and observed?' And this is indeed Dionysius Exiguus, who, having omitted the profane numbering of years by olympiads, or consuls, or indictions, first began to mark the times from the Incarnation of Christ, and described a paschal cycle of 95 years, under the consulship not of Flavius Mavortius (as Marianus Scotus writes in his Chronicle for the year 527), but of Flavius.

In the third indiction of Philoxenus and Anicius Probus the Younger, that is, in the year of Christ 525, as Dionysius himself testifies in his first paschal letter to Bishop Petronius, recently first edited by the most learned Petavius from a manuscript codex: in which letter, moreover, from the sacred canons, that is, from that very old Codex of Canons which we now publish, and from his own translation, he cites canon 79, which is found to be the first of the Council of Antioch. From these things the order and number of the canons preserved in that codex is confirmed, and from them it can be gathered that Dionysius had already earlier translated these ecclesiastical canons from Greek exemplars.

But who was the author of that ancient Greek collection of canons, which extends from the Council of Nicaea down to the Council of Constantinople, and whose translation Dionysius himself undertook, is unknown. This, however, is plainly established: that it was older than the Council of Chalcedon, in whose fourth, eleventh, and thirteenth sessions it has been ascertained that five canons—namely the 4th, 83rd, 84th, 95th, and 96th, which are found to be the 4th of Nicaea and the 4th, 5th, 16th, and 17th of the Council of Antioch—were read and cited out of that very collection, already made beforehand and approved by the common authority of our forefathers.

These canons indeed, in the same order, and in a continuous, uninterrupted series of numbers (which the ancients call a regular sequence), exist in the Greek Codex of Canons of the universal Church, and in this Latin collection of Dionysius Exiguus. But that this Greek collection was made even before the Council of Ephesus is plain from the letter prefixed by Dionysius himself to this codex: namely, in which letter he enumerates the canons from the Council of Nicaea and the other councils that followed in sequence, which were held either before it or afterward, down to the Second Ecumenical Council of Constantinople, under the same order of numbers, that is, from the first chapter to the hundred and sixty-fifth.

But which were those 165 canons is easy for anyone to discern from the order of the councils and the sequence of the canons of which that ancient codex was composed. For there are 20 canons of the Council of Nicaea, 24 of Ancyra, 14 of Neocaesarea, 20 of Gangra, 25 of Antioch, 59 of Laodicea, 3 of Constantinople: these numbers, I say, when collected together, make one hundred and sixty-five. From these we also recognize that the ancients did not use the same method in counting the canons of the councils. For from the words of the Council of Chalcedon it is gathered that the above-cited canons—the 1st, 4th, 5th, 16th, and 17th of the Council of Antioch—were in the old Greek codex the 80th, 83rd, 84th, 95th, and 96th, which in the Latin of Dionysius Exiguus are found to be the 79th, 84th, 85th, 96th, and 97th.

But this difference seems to have arisen from the fact that the Council of Ancyra in the Greek codex consists of twenty-five canons, and that of Neocaesarea of fifteen; while in the Latin collection of Dionysius there are only fourteen and twenty-four respectively: for the fourth and fifth canons of the Council of Ancyra, likewise the thirteenth and fourteenth of Neocaesarea, are reckoned as one each, as is easy to observe from a comparison of the two codices. We have also subjoined from the codex of Is[idore]

—from that same most ancient codex of Justel—the synodical letter of Saint Cyril and of the council of the diocese of Egypt, gathered at Alexandria in the year 450, together with the twelve anathematisms against Nestorius, from the Latin translation of Dionysius Exiguus, to which he himself prefixed a letter to a certain Bishop Peter. This synodical letter is indeed attributed by Isidore, and by the other Latin compilers of councils who followed him, against the testimony of all the ancient Greek and Latin codices, to the Third Ecumenical Council of Ephesus, which is agreed to have been celebrated only in the following year, in the consulship of Anicius Bassus and Antiochus. But this letter is extant in Greek and Latin, though in another version, among the acts of the Council of Ephesus, session

first session, and of the Fifth Ecumenical Council of Constantinople, collation 6 of the Roman and Cologne edition, with this heading. Liberatus, archdeacon of Carthage, also makes mention of it in his Breviarium, book IV. Cyril, he says, directed a synodical letter to Nestorius, in which he both composed and inserted twelve chapters against his dogma; and its beginning is: 「When the Lord says, He that loveth his father and his mother more than me, is not worthy of me.」 Since these things pertain to preserving the memory of canonical and ecclesiastical antiquity, take our labor in good part, reader, and enjoy the benefit we offer. SOME TESTIMONIES CONCERNING DIONYSIUS EXIGUUS AND HIS LATIN TRANSLATION OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL CANONS. Cassiodorus, chapter 23 of the Divine Readings.

The catholic Church even today brings forth illustrious men gleaming with the adornment of approved doctrines: for in our times there was also Dionysius the monk, a Scythian by nation but wholly Roman in his manners, exceedingly learned in both languages, rendering in his deeds the equity which he had read in the books of the Lord; who had examined and understood the divine Scriptures with such great care that, questioned from whatever quarter, he had ready a fitting answer without any delay. There was in him, together with great wisdom, great simplicity; together with learning, humility; together with eloquence, sparingness of speech: so that in no respect did he set himself before even the lowliest servants, though he was without doubt worthy of converse with kings.

Being asked by Stephen, bishop of Salona, he composed the ecclesiastical canons from the Greek exemplars, in his own manner, since he was plain and eloquent, with the light of great eloquence; which canons the Roman Church today embraces with most celebrated usage. These too it behooves you to read assiduously, lest you should seem culpably to be ignorant of such salutary ecclesiastical rules. Many other things also he translated from Greek into Latin, which can be of use to the Church. Bede, On the Reckoning of Time, chapter 45: At the course of the first decennial cycle is fixed the order of times, which the Greek calculators observed from the years of the emperor Diocletian:

but Dionysius, the venerable abbot of the city of Rome, endowed with no ignoble knowledge of both languages, namely Greek and Latin, in writing the paschal cycles, was unwilling, as he himself testifies, to weave into them the memory of an impious persecutor, but rather chose to mark the times from the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ; so that the beginning of our hope might be more clearly known to us. The same author, in his Chronicle, or the book On the Six Ages, at the year of the world 4480: Dionysius writes the paschal cycles beginning from the year 532 of the Lord's Incarnation, which is the year 248 of Diocletian, after the consulship of Lampadius and Orestes. John Trithemius, in his book On Ecclesiastical Writers:

Dionysius, the Roman abbot, surnamed Exiguus, a man great and most renowned in genius and knowledge, learned in the holy Scriptures, and nobly instructed in the discipline of secular letters, distinguished in Greek and Latin speech, an outstanding computist and calculator of times, wrote in the Latin tongue several little works. Of which I have found only the following annexed: the great Paschal Cycle of 532 years; he translated from Greek into Latin the Life of Saint Pachomius the abbot, also the book of Gregory of Emesa On the Condition of Man, and the writings of Proterius, bishop of Alexandria, to Pope Leo, and certain other things. He began his Cycle in the year of the Lord 531, etc. He flourished under Justinian the Great in the year 540. From the Ecclesiastical Annals

of Cardinal Caesar Baronius, at the year 325, number 123: If the utmost fidelity and skill in translating, and sincerity in publishing, are required, no edition can be sought more exact and faithful than that which was elaborated by that great—though surnamed Exiguus—Dionysius, whose exceptional skill in both languages, and outstanding probity of manners, Cassiodorus wonderfully proclaims with worthy praises. Cardinal Robert Bellarmine, On Ecclesiastical Writers, at the year 525: Dionysius Exiguus, a Scythian by nation, but Roman in his manners, just as he was surnamed Exiguus (the Little), but in doctrine and sanctity very great, lived in the time of Theodoric, king of Italy, and of his successors:

for in the year 527 he wrote the Paschal Cycle, and, having omitted the profane reckoning of years from the empire of Diocletian, that impious persecutor, he began to number from the Incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ. He wrote besides a Collection of the sacred canons, from the councils of the catholic Church: which afterward Martin of Braga and Cresconius imitated. PREFACE TO THE CODEX OF ECCLESIASTICAL CANONS OF DIONYSIUS EXIGUUS. To the lord venerable to me, my Father Stephen the bishop, Dionysius Exiguus, greeting in the Lord.

Although our most beloved brother Laurentius, by assiduous and familiar exhortation, impelled our littleness to translate the ecclesiastical rules from the Greek—offended, I believe, by the confusion of the earlier translation—nevertheless I undertook the imposed labor out of consideration for your Beatitude, upon whom Christ the omnipotent God, providing for His peoples with His accustomed mercy, has conferred the dignity of the highest priesthood. So that, among the many ornaments of virtue with which you adorn the Church of the Lord by holiness of conduct, you might also, preserving inviolate the most sacred laws, drawn up by God's grace in pontifical assemblies, govern the clergy and the people with perfect rule:

in no way content with the manner of our age, in which we more readily desire to know what is right than to do it, but joined to divine aid, that you might first accomplish what you command to be done, so that you may profit the faithful by a most effective example. For great is the authority of one who commands and first fulfills his own commands, so that the discipline of the ecclesiastical order, remaining unshaken and inviolable, may afford to all Christians access to the attainment of the eternal reward: through which the holy prelates may be fortified by the paternal rules, and the obedient peoples may be imbued with spiritual examples. At the beginning, therefore, we translated from the Greek the canons which are called those of the Apostles:

and since very many did not readily give their assent to them, we were unwilling that your Holiness should be ignorant of this very fact, although afterward certain constitutions of the pontiffs seem to have been taken from these very canons. Then we arranged the rules of the Nicene synod, and thereafter of all the councils, whether those held before it or those done afterward, down to the synod of the one hundred and fifty pontiffs who convened at Constantinople, under the order of numbers, that is, from the first chapter to the hundred and sixty-fifth, as it stands in the Greek authority. Then, subjoining the decrees of the holy Council of Chalcedon, in these we declare that the end of the Greek canons is reached.

Moreover, lest I be thought to wish to withhold anything from your knowledge, the statutes also of the Council of Sardica and of the African council, which were published in Latin, are seen by us to have been distinguished by their own numbers. But arranging more strictly, after this preface, the titles of all the definitions, we have placed under one view those things which were promulgated here and there in the individual councils, so that we may seem to have brought some abridgment to the investigation of any matter. ECCLESIASTICAL RULES OF THE HOLY APOSTLES, SET FORTH THROUGH CLEMENT, PONTIFF OF THE ROMAN CHURCH. On the ordination of a bishop. I. Let a bishop be ordained by two or three bishops. On the ordination of a presbyter, and a deacon, and the rest. II.

Let a presbyter be ordained by one bishop, and a deacon, and the rest of the clergy. That nothing other than what the Lord has appointed is to be offered in the sacrifice. III. If any bishop or presbyter, contrary to the ordinance of the Lord, should offer upon the altar certain other things in the sacrifice—that is, either honey, or milk, or strong drink instead of wine, and certain manufactured things, or birds, or any animals, or vegetables—acting contrary to the institution of the Lord, let him be deposed at a fitting time. What kinds of things ought to be presented at the altar not for the sacrifice, but for a simple blessing. IV. Let it not be permitted to offer anything at the altar except new ears of grain and grapes; and oil for the lamps, and incense, that is, frankincense:

at the time when the holy oblation is celebrated. That those things which cannot be offered in the churches should be brought by the faithful to the houses of the priests. V. Let all the remaining fruits be sent as first-fruits to the house of the bishop and the presbyters, and let them not be offered on the altar. It is certain, however, that they are to divide them among the bishops and presbyters, and the deacons and the rest of the clergy. That a bishop or presbyter should not abandon his wife, whom he ought to govern with care. VI. Let not a bishop or presbyter by any means cast off his own wife under the pretext of religion: but if he should reject her, let him be excommunicated; and if he should persist, let him be deposed. That priests and ministers of the altar should abstain from secular cares. VII.

Let a bishop, or presbyter, or deacon by no means take up secular cares; otherwise, let them be deposed. At what time Easter is to be celebrated. VIII. If any bishop, or presbyter, or deacon should celebrate the holy day of Easter before the vernal equinox together with the Jews, let him be cast out. That the ministers of the altar, after the oblation is celebrated, ought to communicate. IX. If any bishop, or presbyter, or deacon, or anyone from the priestly roll, when the oblation has been made, does not communicate: either let him state a cause, so that, if it be reasonable, he may obtain pardon; or if he does not state it, let him be deprived of communion, as one who has become to the people a cause of offense, giving rise to suspicion concerning the one who offered the sacrifice, that he did not rightly offer it.

That the faithful laity, entering the church, ought to communicate. X. All the faithful who enter the church and hear the Scriptures, but do not persevere in prayer, nor receive the holy communion, as those disturbing the peace of the Church, it is fitting that they be deprived of communion. That one ought not to pray with the excommunicated. XI. If anyone should pray together with an excommunicated person, even in a house, let that one be deprived of communion. That one ought not to pray with condemned clerics. XII. If anyone should pray together with a condemned cleric, as with a cleric, let that one be condemned. That no one of the faithful is to be received without letters of commendation. XIII.

If any cleric or layman, suspended from communion, or while communicating, should hasten to another city, and be received without letters of commendation, let both those who received him and the one received be deprived of communion. But for the excommunicated person let this very correction be prolonged, as for one who has lied and led astray the Church of God. That a parish should by no means be encroached upon by bishops. XIV. That it is not permitted to a bishop to encroach upon another's parish, having left his own, even if he be compelled by many. Unless perhaps a reasonable cause should impel him, as one who can confer more profit upon those established there, and provide something truly advantageous in the cause of religion.

And let him not attempt this of his own accord, but accomplish it by the judgment of many bishops, and with the greatest entreaty. That clerics should not abandon their own churches. XV. If any presbyter, or deacon, or anyone from the number of the clergy, leaving his own parish, should go to another, and, migrating altogether, should reside in another parish without the knowledge of his own bishop, him we do not permit to minister any longer: especially if, when called by the bishop, he has scorned to return, persisting in his unruliness. Nevertheless, let him communicate there as a layman. That a bishop who has received the clerics of another should be deprived of communion. XVI.

But the bishop, with whom it has been established that the aforesaid persons are, if, reckoning as nothing the cessation decreed against them, he should perhaps receive them as clerics: let him, as a master of unruliness, be deprived of communion. That bigamists are not to be admitted to the clergy. XVII. If anyone after baptism should have been joined in second nuptials, or should have had a concubine, he cannot be a bishop, nor a presbyter, nor a deacon, nor at all of the number of those who serve in the sacred ministry. That he who has taken a widow, or a divorced woman, or a harlot, is not to be admitted to the clergy. XVIII.

If anyone should take a widow, or a divorced woman, or a harlot, or a slave-girl, or any of those who are devoted to public spectacles, he cannot be a bishop, or presbyter, or deacon, or of that number who serve in the sacred ministry. That he who has had two sisters is not to be admitted to the clergy. XIX. He who has taken two sisters in marriage, or his brother's daughter, cannot be a cleric. That a cleric cannot be a surety. XX. Let a cleric who occupies himself with suretyships be cast out. That those who have not of their own will been made eunuchs are to be received into the clergy. XXI. A eunuch, if he was made so through the treachery of men, or if in persecution his virile parts were amputated, or if he was so born, and is worthy:

let him be made a bishop. That he who has made himself a eunuch should not become a cleric. XXII. If anyone has cut himself off—that is, if anyone has amputated his own virile parts—let him not become a cleric, because he is his own murderer, and an enemy of God's creation. That a cleric who has made himself a eunuch is to be cast out from the clergy. XXIII. If anyone, being a cleric, should cut himself off, let him be wholly condemned, because he is his own murderer. That a layman who has made himself a eunuch is to be deprived of communion for three years. XXIV. A layman cutting himself off, let him be deprived of communion for three years, because he has proved a plotter against his own life. That a bishop, or presbyter, or deacon, if they have been condemned for crimes, should by no means be deprived of communion. XXV.

A bishop, or presbyter, or deacon who has been caught in fornication, or perjury, or theft, let him be deposed: yet let him not be deprived of communion. For Scripture says: The Lord will not take vengeance twice for the same thing. Likewise also the rest of the ministers of the Church. XXVI. Likewise let the rest of the clergy also be subject to this condition. Which clerics ought to be joined to wives. XXVII. To the unmarried, however, who have been advanced to the clergy, we command: that if they wish, they may take wives; but only readers and cantors. That a bishop, presbyter, and deacon ought not to strike sinning faithful. XXVIII.

A bishop, or presbyter, or deacon who strikes faithful who have transgressed, or unbelievers who have acted wrongfully, and by such means wishes to be feared, we command to be cast down from his office, because nowhere has the Lord taught us this. On the contrary, He Himself, when He was struck, did not strike back; when He was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten. That those condemned for crimes ought not to usurp their former office. XXIX. If any bishop, or presbyter, or deacon who has been justly deposed on account of certain crimes should dare to lay hold of the ministry once committed to him, let this man be utterly cut off from the Church. That ecclesiastical offices ought not to be obtained by money. XXX.

If any bishop, or presbyter, or deacon should obtain this dignity through money, let both him and his ordainer be cast down, and let him be cut off from communion in every way, as Simon Magus was by Peter. That the Church should by no means be encroached upon by secular power. XXXI. If any bishop, using the powers of the world, should obtain a church through them, let him be deposed, and let all who communicate with him be separated. Concerning a presbyter who, being assembled apart against his bishop, should attempt to gather a congregation. XXXII. If any presbyter, despising his own bishop, should gather apart, and erect another altar, having nothing of which he may reproach the bishop in the cause of piety and justice, let him be deposed, as being a lover of preeminence, for he is a tyrant;

and the other clerics, whosoever consent to such a one, let them be deposed, but let the laity be separated. But these things it will be fitting to do after the first, and second, and third admonition of the bishop. That condemned clerics ought not to be received by others. XXXIII. If any presbyter, or deacon should be separated by his own bishop, it is not permitted that he be received by another, but only by the very one who sequestered him, unless perhaps that bishop himself who is known to have separated him should have died. That no bishop, presbyter, or deacon is to be received without letters of commendation. XXXIV.

Let no foreign bishops, or presbyters, or deacons be received without letters of commendation, and when they have brought their writings, let them be examined more attentively, and let them be so received, if they prove to be preachers of piety; but if they prove less so, let neither the things that are necessary be supplied to them, and let them by no means be admitted to communion, because many things come about through deception. On the primacy of bishops. XXXV.

It is fitting that the bishops of each nation know who among them is held to be the first, whom they should regard as the head, and do nothing of greater moment without his knowledge, but each only those things which pertain to his own parish and the villages that are under it; but let not even he do anything without the knowledge of all, for thus there will be unanimity, and God will be glorified through Christ in the Holy Spirit. That it is not permitted to a bishop to ordain clerics in another province. XXXVI. That a bishop dare not make ordinations outside his own boundaries, in cities and villages which are by no right subject to him:

but if he should be convicted of having done this without the knowledge of those who hold those cities and villages, let both him be deposed, and those who were ordained by him. Concerning bishops who have been ordained but not received. XXXVII. If any bishop should not take up the office and the care of the people committed to him, let this man be deprived of communion, until he consent, yielding obedience; and likewise also a presbyter and a deacon. But if he should set out, and not be received, not through his own fault, but through the malice of the people: let him indeed remain bishop; but let the clergy of the city be deprived of communion, because they were not instructors of the disobedient people. That councils should be held twice a year. XXXVIII. Let councils of the bishops be held twice a year;

that they may mutually examine among themselves the dogmas of piety, and may remove the ecclesiastical contentions that arise: once indeed in the fourth week of Pentecost; but the second time on the twelfth day of the month Hyperberetaeus, that is, according to the Romans, on the fourth day before the Ides of October. That a bishop should have only the care of ecclesiastical affairs. XXXIX. Let the bishop have the care of all ecclesiastical business, and let him dispense it as in the sight of God, and let it not be permitted to him to touch any of these things at all, or to bestow upon his own kindred the things that are God's. But if they are poor, let him minister to them as to the poor, and let not the affairs of the Church be plundered on their occasion. On the dignity of the pontiff, and that he should have power over his own goods. XL.

Let presbyters and deacons attempt nothing apart from the bishop. For the people of the Lord has been committed to him, and he is to render an account for their souls. But let the bishop's own goods be manifest (if indeed he has any of his own), and let the Lord's goods be manifest, so that the bishop, dying, may have power to leave his own as he wishes, and to whom he wishes. And let them not be lost under the pretext of ecclesiastical goods which are proven to be the bishop's; for perhaps he has either a wife, or children, or kinsfolk, or servants.

And this is just before God and men, that neither should the Church suffer detriment through ignorance of the pontiff's goods, nor should the bishop, or his kinsfolk, be proscribed under the pretext of the Church, and those who belong to him fall into lawsuits, and his death be subjected to insults and ill repute. That the bishop should have power over ecclesiastical goods for the dispensing to the poor. XLI. We command that the bishop have the Church's goods in his own power. For if the precious souls of men are entrusted to him, much more ought he to have the care of money, so that by his power all things may be dispensed to the needy through presbyters and deacons, and ministered with fear and all solicitude.

But from those things of which he has need (if indeed he has need), let him take for his own necessities, and for the use of the brethren who are strangers, so that nothing at all may be lacking to them. For the law of God commands that those who serve the altar should be fed from the altar, since not even a soldier ever bears arms against the enemy at his own expense. That a bishop, presbyter, and deacon ought not to be a gambler and a drunkard. XLII. A bishop, or presbyter, or deacon who is a slave to dice and drunkenness, let him either cease, or assuredly be condemned. Likewise let clerics and laymen, if they persist in dicing, be deprived of communion. XLIII. A subdeacon, or reader, or cantor doing the like, let him either cease, or be deprived of communion; likewise also the laity.

That a bishop, presbyter, or deacon ought not to receive usury. XLIV. A bishop, or presbyter, or deacon who exacts usury from debtors, let him either cease, or assuredly be condemned. That a bishop, presbyter, or deacon ought not to pray with heretics. XLV. A bishop, presbyter, and deacon who has prayed with heretics, let him only be deprived of communion: but if he has exhorted them to act or pray as clerics, let him be condemned. That the baptisms of heretics ought not to be approved. XLVI. We command that a bishop or presbyter who receives the baptism of heretics be condemned: for what agreement has Christ with Belial, or what part has the believer with the unbeliever?

That one who has been baptized with the baptism of the Church ought not to be baptized again, and that one not so baptized ought to be baptized. XLVII. A bishop, or presbyter, if he should baptize again one who has had baptism according to the truth, or if he should not baptize one defiled by the impious, let him be deposed, as deriding the cross and death of the Lord, and not rightly distinguishing priests from false priests. That a layman who drives away his own wife is to be deprived of communion. XLVIII. If any layman, driving away his own wife, should take another, or one divorced by another, let him be deprived of communion. That one ought to be baptized in the name of the Trinity. XLIX.

If any bishop or presbyter should not baptize according to the precept of the Lord in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, but into three principles without beginning, or into three Sons, or into three Paracletes, let him be cast out. That a single immersion ought not to take place in baptism, as into the death of the Lord. L. If any bishop or presbyter should not celebrate the triple immersion of the one mystery, but should immerse once in baptism, which is seen to be given into the death of the Lord, let him be deposed. For the Lord did not say to us, Baptize into my death, but, Go, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. CANONS OF THE COUNCIL OF NICAEA, 20 IN NUMBER. On eunuchs, and those who have cut themselves off. I.

If anyone has been operated upon by physicians on account of illness, or has been cut off by barbarians, let him remain among the clergy. But if anyone, while in health, has mutilated himself, it is fitting that such a one, even if appointed among the clergy, be suspended, and that henceforth none of such persons be promoted. But just as it is clear that this is said of those who deliberately pursue or dare this thing, namely to mutilate themselves, so the rule receives into the clergy those whom either barbarians or masters have castrated, if they are otherwise found most worthy. Concerning those who from among the heathen are promoted, after baptism, to the order of clergy. II.

Since many things have been done contrary to the ecclesiastical rule, whether through necessity or otherwise under pressure from men, namely that men recently coming over from a heathen life to the faith, and instructed only for a short time, were straightway led to the spiritual laver, and as soon as they were baptized were at once promoted even to the episcopate or the presbyterate: it has been deemed best that nothing of the sort be done henceforth. For both time is needed for one who is being catechized, and after baptism much further probation. For the apostolic Scripture is plain, which says: Not a neophyte, lest, lifted up with pride, he fall into judgment and the snare of the devil.

But if in process of time some sin of the soul be found in such a person, and he be convicted by two or three witnesses, let such a one withdraw from the clergy. But if anyone shall do otherwise than this, setting himself as it were against the great council, he himself shall be imperiled in his clerical honor. Concerning women secretly brought in. III. The great synod has wholly forbidden that any bishop, presbyter, or deacon, or anyone at all who is among the clergy, be permitted to have a woman secretly brought in to dwell with him: unless perchance a mother, or a sister, or an aunt, or only such persons as escape all suspicion. Concerning those who are advanced to the episcopate in the provinces. IV.

It is most fitting that a bishop be ordained by all the bishops who are in the province. But if this be difficult, either on account of pressing necessity or on account of the length of the journey, let at least three by all means come together in the same place, and let those who are absent likewise give their decision and consent in writing, and then let the ordination be performed. But let the confirmation of what is done throughout each province be assigned to the metropolitan bishop. Concerning the excommunicated. V. Concerning those who are deprived of communion, whether from the clergy or from the lay order, by the bishops throughout each province, let the rule of the canon prevail: namely that those who are cast out by some be not received by others.

But let it be examined whether anyone may seem to have been excluded from the congregation through the pettiness, or contentiousness, or some other fault of the bishop. So that this may be inquired into more fittingly, it has been well resolved that councils be held twice a year in each province: so that, with all the bishops of the province gathered together in common, questions of this sort may be discussed. And thus those who have manifestly offended their own bishop may reasonably be reckoned excommunicated by all, until it seem good either to the assembly in common, or to the same bishop, to pronounce a more humane sentence for such persons. Let the councils be held, the one indeed before the Lent of Easter: so that, all dissension being removed, a most pure gift may be offered to God;

and the second about the time of autumn. Concerning the privileges which belong to certain cities. VI. Let the ancient custom be preserved throughout Egypt, Libya, and Pentapolis, so that the bishop of Alexandria has authority over all these. For to the bishop of the city of Rome also a like custom belongs. Likewise also at Antioch and in the other provinces, let their privileges be preserved to the Churches. But this is generally clear, that if anyone be made a bishop apart from the judgment of the metropolitan, the great synod has determined that such a one ought not to be a bishop.

But if, when the common decree of all is reasonable and approved according to the ecclesiastical rule, two or three contradict it out of their own contentiousness, let the judgment of the majority prevail. Concerning the bishop of Aelia, that is, of Jerusalem. VII. Since custom and ancient tradition have obtained that the bishop of Aelia be honored, let him have the prerogative of honor, the proper dignity of the metropolis being preserved. Concerning those who are called Cathari, that is, the pure. VIII. Concerning those who name themselves Cathari, that is, the pure, if at any time they come over to the Catholic Church, it has pleased the holy and great council that, receiving the laying on of hands, they so remain among the clergy.

But above all things it is fitting that they profess in writing that they accept and follow the dogmas of the Catholic and Apostolic Church: that is, both to hold communion with those twice married, and with those who lapsed in persecution, for whom both periods have been appointed and times defined: so that in all things they may follow the decrees of the Catholic and Apostolic Church. But wherever, whether in townships or in cities, they alone are found ordained, let those who are found among the clergy continue in the same rank: but where there is a bishop or presbyter of the Catholic Church already appointed, and certain of those persons come over, it is certain that the bishop of the Church shall hold the dignity of bishop.

But he who among them is named bishop shall possess the honor of a presbyter, unless perchance it shall please the bishop to reckon him in the honor of the name. But if this in no way please him, the bishop shall provide for him either the place of a chorepiscopus or of a presbyter, so that he may by all means appear to be among the clergy, lest two bishops be found to exist in one city. Concerning those who have been advanced to the honor of the presbyterate without examination. IX. If any presbyters have been advanced without examination, or, when they were examined, have confessed their sins, and men, moved contrary to the canons, have presumed to lay hands on those who confessed, the rule does not admit such persons, because the Catholic Church defends what is irreproachable.

Concerning those who denied the faith in persecutions, and were afterward promoted among the clergy. X. Whosoever of those who lapsed have been promoted to the order of the clergy, whether through ignorance or through the dissimulation of those who ordained them, this does not prejudice the ecclesiastical rule, for once they are recognized, let them be deposed. Concerning laymen who denied the faith. XI. Concerning those who, apart from necessity, lapsed into prevarication, or apart from the loss of their goods, or apart from peril, or anything of this sort, which was done under the tyranny of Licinius: it has pleased the synod, although they be proved unworthy of clemency, nevertheless to extend kindness to them. Whosoever therefore truly do penance, let them for three years be reckoned among the hearers as faithful;

and for six years let them prostrate themselves in all contrition, and for two years let them communicate with the people in prayer, without the offering. Concerning those who renounced the world, and again returned to it. XII. Whosoever, having been called by grace, at first indeed showed their fervor by laying down the belt of military service, but afterward returned to their own vomit, so that some even paid money and by bribes sought back their military service, let these for ten years after the period of three years (which they shall spend among the hearers) remain in affliction. But in all these cases it is fitting to examine the purpose and the manner of their penitence;

for as many as by fear and tears and penitence, or by good works, demonstrate their conversion in actual deeds and not in pretense, these, having fulfilled the appointed time of hearing, may then at last communicate with the faithful in prayer; and afterward it shall be lawful for the bishop to think something more humane concerning them. But whosoever bore it with indifference, and reckoned that the mere entrance into the Church could suffice for them as conversion, let these by all means fulfill the appointed time. Concerning those who demand communion at the time of death. XIII.

Concerning those who come to their end, even now let the ancient and canonical law be observed, so that if anyone departs from the body, he be by no means deprived of the last and necessary viaticum. But if, having been despaired of and having received communion and become a partaker of the offering, he again recovers, let him be among those who attain communion of prayer only. But in general, to everyone whatever placed at the point of death, and asking that the grace of communion be granted to him, the bishop ought reasonably to give of the offering. Concerning catechumens who have lapsed. XIV. Concerning catechumens, it has pleased the holy and great council that for three years they be among the hearers only, and after this let them pray with the catechumens. That one ought not to migrate. XV.

On account of the great disturbance and the seditions which arise, it has pleased the council that the custom be by all means cut off which, contrary to the rule, seems to have been admitted in certain parts: namely that from city to city no bishop, no presbyter, no deacon be transferred. But if anyone, after the definition of the holy and great council, shall attempt to do any such thing, and shall sell himself to a business of this kind, let this deed be utterly reduced to nullity, and let him be restored to the Church for which he was ordained bishop, or presbyter, or deacon. Concerning those who have by no means continued in the Churches in which they were advanced. XVI.

Whosoever, rashly and dangerously, neither having the fear of God before their eyes nor acknowledging the ecclesiastical rule, depart from the Church, whether presbyters or deacons, or whoever at all are under the rule, these ought by no means to be received into another Church, but it is fitting that every constraint be laid upon them, that they return to their own parishes; and if they will not do so, they ought to be deprived of communion. But if anyone shall boldly attempt to seize one belonging to another, and to ordain him in his own Church, without the consent of the bishop from whom he who is bound by the rule departed, let an ordination of this kind be proved invalid. Concerning clergy who take usury. XVII.

Since many who are placed under the rule pursue avarice and base gain, and, forgetful of divine Scripture which says: He that hath not given his money upon usury, exact a hundredfold from those to whom they lend: the holy and great synod has justly decreed that if anyone be found, after this definition, taking usury, or transacting business by some contrivance or in any manner whatsoever, or exacting hemiolia, that is, one and a half times the amount, or devising at all anything of this kind for the sake of base gain, let him be cast out from the clergy and be a stranger to the rule. Concerning the privileges of presbyters. XVIII. It has come to the holy and great council that in certain places and cities deacons administer the grace of holy communion to presbyters;

which neither rule nor custom has handed down, that those who have no power to offer should give the Body of Christ to those who do offer. Moreover this also has become known, that certain deacons touch the holy offerings before the bishops. Let all these things therefore be cut off, and let the deacons remain within their own measure: knowing that they are indeed the ministers of the bishops, but are reckoned inferior to the presbyters by order. Therefore let them receive the grace of holy communion after the presbyters, the bishop or the presbyter administering it to them. Nor let it be lawful for the deacons to sit in the midst of the presbyters; for if this be done, it is proved to exist contrary to rule and order.

But if anyone, even after these definitions, shall be unwilling to obey, he shall be required to cease from his ministry. Concerning those who come to the Church from Paul of Samosata. XIX. Concerning the Paulianists fleeing for refuge to the Catholic Church, a definition has been put forth, that they be by all means baptized. But if any of these in time past were among the clergy, if indeed they appear unblemished and irreproachable, let them be baptized and ordained by the bishop of the Catholic Church: but if examination find them unfit, it is fitting that such be cast out. Likewise also concerning deaconesses, and altogether concerning those who are engaged under the rule, this form shall be observed.

But we have made mention of deaconesses who are proved to be in the same habit, that they have not received any laying on of hands, and therefore are by all means to be reckoned among the laity. Concerning the bending of the knee. XX. Since there are certain who kneel on the Lord's day and in the days of Pentecost: in order that all things may be observed harmoniously in all places, it has pleased the holy council that the vows be paid to the Lord standing. The Rules of the Council of Ancyra. These rules are indeed earlier than those of Nicaea: but the Nicene canons were written first on account of the authority of that great and holy council gathered at Nicaea. Concerning presbyters who sacrificed in the time of persecution. XXI.

Concerning presbyters who sacrificed and then again entered the contest, if they did this not through any pretense but in truth, and not before their kinsfolk—who were pressing and persuading them to seem indeed to be subjected to torments, but in fact to submit to these only in appearance and outward show—it has pleased the council that they retain indeed the honor of their proper see; but it is not lawful for them to offer, or to preach, or to perform priestly offices at all. Concerning deacons who sacrificed. XXII. Deacons likewise who sacrificed, let them indeed keep their honor: but let them cease from all sacred ministry, whether from offering the bread or the cup, or from preaching.

But if certain of the bishops are conscious of their labor, and humility, and meekness, and are willing to grant them something more or to take something away, the power shall rest with the bishops themselves. Concerning those who were seized in flight, and by force endured something of pagan rite. XXIII.

Those who, fleeing, were seized, or betrayed by their own household, or, with their goods taken away, endured torments, or, thrust into custody, proclaimed themselves to be Christians, and were so bound that, seizing their hands violently, men dragged them and brought them to the deadly sacrifices, or they were compelled by necessity to take some defiled food, while they continually confessed themselves to be Christians, and ceaselessly showed their grief at the thing that had befallen, by all dejection and habit and humility of life: these, as persons set outside of sin, are not to be excluded from the grace of communion. But if they have been forbidden by any, for the sake of greater caution or on account of the ignorance of certain people, let them be received at once.

But it is fitting to observe this likewise both concerning clergy and concerning the rest of the laity. It was also inquired whether even laymen who fell into these straits of necessity can be promoted to the order of the clergy. It has therefore pleased the council that these also, as those who in no way sinned, if their preceding life be likewise approved, be advanced to this office. Concerning those who, for various causes, performed something of the heathen rite. XXIV.

Concerning those who were compelled to sacrifice, and moreover dined in the idol's temple, whosoever of them, when they were being led, were of a more cheerful appearance and used more costly garments, and partook indifferently of the prepared feast, it has pleased the council that they be placed among the hearers for one year, that they prostrate themselves for three years, and that they communicate in prayer for two years, and then at last attain to the grace of perfection. But as many as ascended the temples in mourning garb, and reclining wept throughout the whole time of the banquet, if they have completed the penance of a three-year period, let them be received without the offering. But if they did not eat, having been subjected to penance for two years, let them in the third year communicate without the offering;

so that they may attain perfection in the fourth year. But the power shall rest with the bishops, who, examining the manner of their conversion, may either act more humanely toward them, or assign a longer time. But above all let their preceding and subsequent life be inquired into, and so let clemency be imparted to them. Concerning those who through fear performed something of the heathen rites. XXV.

Concerning those who yielded only to the threats of punishments, or, terrified by the deprivation of their goods or by banishment, sacrificed, and have hitherto been negligent of penitence, nor have been converted, but at the time of this council have offered themselves, taking counsel for their conversion, it has pleased the council that they be received among the hearers until the great day, and after the great day perform penance for three years, and afterward communicate without the offering for two years: and then at last, six years being completed, attain to the grace of perfection. But if certain were received to penance before this synod, let the beginning of the six years be reckoned for them from that time.

But if any peril, or the expectation of death, whether from infirmity or from some other occasion, should befall them, let not communion under the appointed conditions be denied them. Concerning those who ate in the places of idols. XXVI. Concerning those who, on the festal days of the heathen, held banquets in their remote places, and bringing their own foods ate there, it has pleased the council that after a penance of two years they be received; but whether with the offering, let the several bishops, examining their life and their individual acts, determine. Concerning those who repeatedly sacrificed to idols. XXVII. Those who sacrificed a second and a third time under compulsion, let them be subjected to four years of penance;

but for two years let them communicate without the offering, and in the seventh year let them be perfectly received. Concerning those who furnished to others also causes for sacrificing. XXVIII. But as many as not only themselves went astray, but also rose up and compelled their brethren, and furnished causes that they should be compelled, let these for three years indeed receive a place among the hearers, but for another six years be subjected to a sharper penance, and in yet another year receive communion without the offering, so that, the tenth year being completed, they may attain perfection. But in the meantime their life also is to be weighed. Concerning deacons who at the time of ordination testified concerning marriage. XXIX.

Deacons, whosoever are ordained, if at the very ordination they protested and said that they wished to be joined in marriage, because they could not remain thus, these, if they afterward take wives, let them remain in the ministry, for the reason that the bishop gave them license. But whosoever indeed kept silent and received the laying on of hands, professing continence, and afterward were bound by marriage, they ought to cease from the ministry. Concerning betrothed maidens who have been corrupted by others. XXX. As for betrothed maidens who were afterward carried off by others, it has pleased the council that they be rescued and restored to those to whom they had previously been betrothed, even if violence has been done to them by their abductors. Concerning those who, while they were catechumens, sacrificed to idols. XXXI.

As for those who before baptism sacrificed to idols, and afterward attained baptism, it has pleased the council that they be advanced to orders, since they are proved to be washed. That chorepiscopi ought not to ordain clergy, except in the fields and small villages. XXXII. It is not lawful for chorepiscopi to ordain presbyters or deacons, nor even for the presbyters of a city, without the command of the bishop or his letters, in any parish. Concerning those who, being appointed among the clergy, shun the eating of flesh. XXXIII. As for those who are among the clergy, presbyters and deacons, and abstain from flesh, it has pleased the council that they indeed touch it, and so, if they wish, abstain.

But if they so abhor it that they think not even the vegetables which are cooked with it ought to be eaten, then, as not consenting to the rule, they ought to cease from their order. Concerning ecclesiastical goods sold away at that time when the Churches themselves are widowed of their bishops. XXXIV. Concerning those things which pertain to the Church, whatsoever the presbyters sold when there was no bishop, it has pleased the council that, the contract being rescinded, they be recalled to ecclesiastical right. But it shall be in the judgment of the bishop whether the price ought to be received back or not: because very often the income of the things sold away has yielded a larger sum than the price given. Concerning those who fornicate irrationally, that is, who mingle with beasts, or are defiled with males. XXXV.

Concerning those who have lived, or are living, irrationally, as many as committed such a crime before their twentieth year, having spent fifteen years in penance, let them earn the communion of prayers; then, continuing in this communion for five years, let them at last touch the sacraments of the offering. But let their life also be examined, what manner it was during the time of penance, and so let them obtain mercy. But if they have clung to these crimes insatiably, let them spend a longer time in performing penance. But as many as, the age of twenty years being passed, and having wives, have lapsed into this sin, let them, performing penance for twenty-five years, be received into the communion of prayers;

and continuing in this for five years, let them at last receive the sacraments of the offering. But if any, both having wives and being past their fiftieth year of age, have so transgressed, let them attain the grace of communion at the end of life. Concerning those who have either of old been defiled with beasts, or with males, or to this day waste away in this vice. XXXVI. Those who have lived irrationally, and with the leprosy of an unjust crime have defiled others, the holy synod has ordered to pray among those who are imperiled by an unclean spirit. Concerning those who have been promoted to the episcopate, but not received. XXXVII.

If any bishops have been ordained, but not received by that parish in which they had been named, and should wish to occupy other parishes, and to offer violence to the prelates of those parishes, stirring up seditions against them, it has pleased the council that these be cast out. But if they should wish to reside in the order of the presbyterate, where they formerly were, as presbyters, let them not be cast out from their proper dignity. But if they stir up seditions against the bishops there established, let the honor of the presbyterate also be taken away from such persons, and let them be made notable by condemnation. Concerning those who have professed virginity, and concerning those women who under the habit of a sister dwell with certain men. XXXVIII. As many as, promising virginity, make void their pledge, let them be reckoned among the twice-married.

But as for virgins who agree to dwell with certain men as sisters, we forbid it. Concerning those who have adulterous wives, or if they themselves are proved adulterers. XXXIX. If anyone's wife shall have been adulterous, or if he himself shall have committed adultery, he ought to attain perfection after a penance of seven years, according to the prescribed grades. Concerning those who in various ways destroy their offspring conceived in fornication. XL. Concerning women who fornicate and slay their offspring, or who do with themselves that they may cast out what is conceived in the womb, the ancient definition indeed removes them from the Church until the end of life: but more humanely we now define, that we grant them a period of ten years, according to the prefixed grades of penance. Concerning homicides. XLI.

Those who have committed willful homicide, let them indeed continually submit themselves to penance: but let them attain perfection about the close of life. Concerning those who have committed homicide not willingly. XLII. Concerning homicides committed not willingly, the former definition indeed prescribes attaining perfection after a seven-year penance: but the second, to complete a period of five years. Concerning those who seek out divinations. XLIII. Those who seek out divinations, and follow the custom of the heathen, or bring into their houses men of this kind, in order to seek out something by malefic art, or for the sake of expiation, let them lie under the rule for five years, according to the defined grades of penance. Concerning those who are accessory to the corruption of virgins. XLIV.

A certain man, having a betrothed, violated her sister and got her with child: afterward he took to wife the one betrothed to him, but she who had been corrupted hanged herself with a noose. Those who were accessory to this, after a ten-year satisfaction, were ordered to be received, according to the established grades of penance. The Rules Put Forth in the Synod of Neocaesarea. XIV. And these rules are indeed proved to be after those which were set forth at Ancyra: but they are found to be earlier than the Nicene. Concerning presbyters who have taken wives, or have fornicated. XLV. A presbyter, if he take a wife, let him be deposed from his order: but if he fornicate or commit adultery, he ought further to be expelled and reduced to penance.

Concerning those women who have married two brothers, or those men who have taken two sisters to wife. XLVI. A woman, if she shall have married two brothers, let her be cast out until death: nevertheless at her end, on account of mercy, if she shall have promised that, being made whole, she will dissolve the bonds of this union, let her obtain the fruit of penance. But if either the woman or the man fail in such marriages, penance shall be difficult for the one remaining in life. Concerning those many times married. XLVII. Concerning those who have fallen into many marriages, the appointed time indeed is manifest, but their conversation and faith shorten the time. Concerning those who, purposing to fornicate, are prevented. XLVIII.