教會法與復活節計算 第 3 章

To the reader. To this new edition of the Collection of Ecclesiastical Canons of Dionysius Exiguus, lest anything should seem to be wanting to the ancient canonical jurisprudence, we have appended the letter of the same Dionysius Exiguus to Julian, presbyter of the title of Saint Anastasia, which was prefixed, by way of preface, to his collection of the Decrees of the Roman pontiffs. This letter, now for the first time restored to its author from an ancient manuscript codex of that man of the highest learning, Jacques Sirmond, a presbyter of the Society of Jesus—to whom credit for it is due—we give to you with only the index of the chapters, the full chapters of the Decrees being omitted, since these may easily be sought by anyone from the old codex of the Canons of the Roman Church, which was first printed at Mainz in the year 1523, and afterwards at Paris in the year

1619 it was printed at Paris—so that anyone may easily recover it. This Julian is indeed the presbyter who subscribed to the synods held at Rome under Pope Felix, in the consulship of Dynamius and Siphidius, that is, in the year of Christ 488, and under Symmachus, after the consulship of Paulinus, that is, in the year 499. Which argues that this Dionysian collection was made about these times, after the translation of the Greek canons. Now it contains the decretal letters of Siricius, Innocent, Zosimus, Boniface, Celestine, Leo, Gelasius, and Anastasius, namely from the year 385 to the year 486, which Cresconius also reviews in his Canonical Breviary, and Pope Leo IV, as cited in Gratian, in the canon 'de libelli', distinction

20—and Hincmar, archbishop of Reims, against Hincmar, bishop of Laon, chapter 43. And indeed this is the collection which Pope Zacharias, in his letter to Pepin, mayor of the palace, and to all the bishops established in the kingdom of the Franks, calls the BOOK OF DECREES, and from which he cites certain chapters of Siricius, Innocent, Leo, and Gelasius. Since we are preparing a fuller treatment of this matter, we have thought it fitting here to give this brief notice concerning the first collection of the decretals of the Roman pontiffs. A CATALOGUE OF THE ROMAN PONTIFFS WHOSE DECREES ARE REVIEWED IN THIS COLLECTION OF DIONYSIUS EXIGUUS. THE PREFACE OF DIONYSIUS EXIGUUS. To the venerable lord, Julian, presbyter of the title of Saint Anastasia, Dionysius Exiguus.

Stirred up by the pious zeal of your Holiness, by which you omit to inquire into absolutely nothing of those things that pertain to ecclesiastical discipline, I have gathered, with all the care and diligence I could, the constitutions of the past prelates of the Apostolic See, and, reducing them into a certain order, I have distinguished them by composed titles—in such wise, namely, that I have brought all the precepts of each pontiff, as many of them as have been found by me, to a close under a single series of numbers, and have attached all the titles to this preface, in the same manner in which formerly, when translating the canons from the Greek speech of the Fathers, I had arranged them—a thing which I had learned was exceedingly pleasing to you. You who indeed love God with the most sincere affection, and therefore cherish His servants with praiseworthy solicitude.

For what pilgrim serving Christ is not cherished by your hospitality? I judged it just to serve you in this respect, that your diligence, which you devote to the heavenly rules, may both be imitated by the present age and admired by posterity. For out of love of virtue you desire to know all things that are profitable, although you fulfil by your conduct the observance of all venerable law. And of how great merit the blessed Pope Gelasius is in the sight of God, even we who did not see him in bodily presence more easily estimate through you, his foster-children. Formed by his teaching, you adorn the grade of presbyter by a holy manner of life, so that in the manifest endowment of your character his activity may in some measure be seen to shine forth.

We rejoice that he, as we have learned from your account, stood forth in such great goodwill that, by the Lord's favour, undertaking the chief place in the Church for the salvation of many, he bore it aloft by serving rather than by domineering, and enlarged the chastity of his life by the merits of his teaching. In short, his every work is recorded to have been either prayer or reading. At times too he took up the care of writing, as the occasion or reason demanded, and rejoiced in the fellowship and society of the greatest of the servants of God. By their spiritual converse he was cherished with such great zeal of divine love, with such great meditation upon the word of God, that to him also that which the Psalmist sang might be applied:

'Blessed is the man whom Thou shalt instruct, O Lord, and shalt teach him out of Thy law, that Thou mayest give him rest from the days of affliction.' For he so passed the evil days of this world, the Lord thus assuaging and governing them, that he bore all temptations with wondrous prudence and long-suffering, scorned delights by fastings, trod down pride by humility, and shone with such mercy and alacrity of soul that, himself destitute, he merited that almost all the poor should be filled. Truly blessed in this poverty by which he ever clung to the divine praises, as the prophet says to the Lord: 'The poor and needy shall praise Thy name.' For he was a man of brilliant genius, distinguished in life, revered for his authority.

And therefore, adorned with the badges of so many virtues, he did not come unworthy to so lofty an office, esteeming the honour of the supreme dignity an exceedingly heavy burden, and contending that even a small negligence of a pontiff is an immense peril to souls. For this reason he gave himself over to no slothful idleness, nor served any luxurious or extravagant banqueting, from which things diseases both of souls and of bodies arise. This shepherd, therefore, being an excellent imitator of the supreme and good Shepherd, was a distinguished prelate of the Apostolic See, who both did and taught the divine precepts. Whence we are confident that he is great among the saints, according to the promise of Christ the Lord, who says: 'He that shall do and teach, shall be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven.' THE DECRETAL LETTER OF POPE SIRICIUS.

Siricius to Himerius, bishop of Tarragona, greeting. The report of your fraternity, addressed to our predecessor Damasus of holy memory, found me already established in his see—because the Lord so ordained—and when we read it rather carefully in the assembly of the brethren, we found as many things worthy of reproof and correction as we could wish to learn deserving of praise. And because it was necessary that we should succeed to his labours and cares, to whom by the grace of God we have succeeded in honour, having first given, as was fitting, notice of my advancement, we do not refuse to give a fitting answer to your inquiry on each point, in so far as the Lord has deigned to inspire us.

For by reason of our office's consideration, it is not for us to dissemble, nor have we liberty to keep silent—we upon whom a greater zeal for the Christian religion presses than upon all others; we bear the burdens of all who are weighed down. Nay rather, the blessed apostle Peter bears these burdens in us, who, as we trust, in all things protects and guards us, the heirs of his administration. That the Arians are not to be rebaptized. I. At the very front of your page, therefore, you have noted that very many baptized by the impious Arians hasten to the catholic faith, and that some of our brethren wish to baptize these same persons anew—which is not lawful, since the Apostle forbids this to be done (Eph.

chapter 4), and the canons forbid it, and the general decrees—sent to the provinces after the annulled Council of Ariminum by my predecessor Liberius of venerable memory—prohibit it. These persons we associate to the assembly of catholics, together with the Novatians and other heretics, as is laid down in the synod (in the Council of Nicaea, canon 8), by the invocation alone of the sevenfold Spirit through the imposition of the episcopal hand—a thing which the whole East and West also observes; from which path it is by no means fitting that you too should hereafter deviate, if you do not wish to be separated from our college by a synodal sentence. That baptism be not celebrated except at Easter and Pentecost. II.

There follows, concerning the diverse times for those to be baptized—just as it has pleased each one—a reprehensible and amendable confusion, which is presumed by our fellow priests (a thing we say with grief) not by reason of any authority, but by mere rashness; so that everywhere and freely, at the festivals of Christ's Nativity or Manifestation, and also of the Apostles or Martyrs, countless throngs of people, as you assert, receive the mystery of baptism—whereas both with us and in all the Churches the Lord's Pasch, with its Pentecost, specially claims this privilege for itself, on which days alone throughout the year it is fitting that the general sacraments of baptism be conferred upon those who flock to the faith.

Only those being chosen, namely, who have given in their names forty or more days beforehand, and have been purified by exorcisms, daily prayers, and fastings, so that there may be fulfilled that apostolic precept: that, the old leaven being purged out, a new lump may begin to be (1 Cor. 5). As, therefore, we say that the Paschal reverence is in no way to be diminished, so to infants, who by reason of age cannot yet speak, and to those who in any necessity have need of the sacred water of baptism, we wish that succour be given with all speed—lest it tend to the destruction of our souls if, the saving font being denied to those who desire it, each one departing from this world should lose both the kingdom and life.

Whosoever also shall have fallen into the peril of shipwreck, the inroad of an enemy, the uncertainty of a siege, or the desperation of any bodily sickness, and shall have begged that succour be brought to them by the sole aid of their faith, let them obtain, at the very moment in which they ask, the rewards of the longed-for regeneration. Let so much suffice for the error hitherto in this matter; now let all priests hold to the aforesaid rule, who do not wish to be torn away from the solidity of the apostolic rock, upon which Christ built the universal Church (Matt. 16). Concerning apostates. III.

It has also been added that certain Christians, passing over into apostasy (which it is a sin even to mention), and profaned by the worship of idols and the contamination of sacrifices—these, by being born again, we command to be cut off from the Body and Blood of Christ, by which they had formerly been redeemed. And if, perhaps, coming to their senses, they shall at some time be turned to lamentation, penance is to be done by these as long as they live, and at their very last end the grace of reconciliation is to be granted; for, as the Lord teaches, we do not desire the death of the sinner, but only that he be converted and live (Ezek. 18). That it is not lawful to take another's betrothed in the rights of marriage. IV. Concerning the violation of marriage, however, you have inquired whether one man may take in marriage a maiden betrothed to another?

That this be not done, we forbid by all means, because that blessing which the priest imposes upon her who is to be wed is, among the faithful, a kind of sacrilege if it be violated by any transgression. Concerning those who have by no means kept their penance. V. But concerning these, your Charity not improperly believed that the apostolic see should be consulted—those who, their penance done, like dogs and swine returning to their former vomit and wallowing-places, have sought again both the belt of military service, and theatrical pleasures, and new marriages, and forbidden embraces anew; whose sons, begotten after their absolution, have betrayed their professed incontinence.

Concerning these, since they now have no refuge of penance, we have thought this should be decreed: that they be joined to the faithful within the church only in prayer, and that, although they do not deserve it, they be present at the sacred celebration of the mysteries; but from the banquet of the Lord's table let them be separated, so that, chastened at least by this deprivation, they may both castigate their own errors in themselves and afford an example to others, whereby these may be drawn back from obscene desires. To these, nevertheless, since they fell through carnal frailty, we wish that succour be given by the gift of the viaticum, through the grace of communion, when they shall have begun to set out toward the Lord. And we judge that this form is to be observed also concerning women who, after penance, have bound themselves to such defilements.

Concerning monks and virgins not keeping their resolve. VI. Moreover, that certain monks and nuns, having cast off the resolve of sanctity, have been sunk into so great a wantonness of self-indulgence that first secretly, as it were under the pretext of monasteries, they have mingled themselves in unlawful and sacrilegious contagion, but afterwards, led into the abyss by the desperation of conscience, have freely begotten children out of unlawful embraces—a thing which both the public laws and the ecclesiastical statutes condemn:

these shameless and detestable persons, therefore, we command to be removed from the company of the monasteries and from the assemblies of the churches, so that, shut up in their own cells, bewailing so great a crime with continual lamentation, they may be able to purify themselves by the cleansing fire of penance—so that to them, at least at death, by the regard of mercy alone, indulgence may be able to come through the grace of communion. Concerning incontinent clerics. VII. Let us now come to the most sacred orders of the clergy, whom, to the injury of the venerable religion, we find so trodden down and confounded throughout your provinces (your charity prompting us to speak) that it must be said to us in the voice of Jeremiah:

'Who will give water to my head, and to my eyes a fountain of tears, that I may weep for this people day and night' (Jer. 9)? If, then, the blessed prophet says that his own tears cannot suffice to mourn the sins of the people, with how great a grief can we be stricken, when we are compelled to bewail the misdeeds of those who are in our own body, upon whom especially, according to the blessed Paul, the daily pressure and the care of all the Churches presses incessantly (2 Cor. 11)? 'For who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is scandalized, and I am not on fire?' For we have learned that very many priests and levites of Christ, after long periods since their consecration, have procreated offspring both from their own wives and also from shameful intercourse:

and defend their crime by this plea, that in the Old Testament the faculty of begetting is read to have been granted to priests and ministers. Let him now tell me, whosoever he be, that follower of lusts and teacher of vices, if he thinks that in the law of Moses the reins of luxury were everywhere loosened by our Lord for the sacred orders, why does He admonish those to whom the holy of holies were committed, saying: 'Be holy, for I also am holy, the Lord your God' (Lev. 20)? Why also were the priests commanded to dwell apart from their own houses, in the year of their course, in the temple (Luke 1)?

For this very reason, namely, lest they could exercise carnal intercourse even with their wives, but, resplendent in integrity of conscience, might offer an acceptable gift to God. To whom, when the time of their service was completed, conjugal use was allowed for the sake of succession alone; because none was commanded to be admitted to the ministry of God except from the tribe of Levi (Num. 18). But the Lord Jesus, when He had illumined us by His advent, protests in the Gospel that He came to fulfil the law, not to abolish it (Matt. 5). And therefore He willed the Church, whose Bridegroom is beautiful in form (Eph. 5), to shine with the splendour of chastity:

so that on the day of judgement, when He shall come again, He may be able to find her, as He instituted through His apostle, without spot or wrinkle. By which sanctions all we priests and levites are bound by an indissoluble law, that from the day of our ordination we surrender both our hearts and our bodies to sobriety and chastity—provided only that in all things we please our God in those sacrifices which we daily offer. But they who are in the flesh, as the Vessel of election says (Rom. 8), cannot please God: 'But you are not now in the flesh, but in the spirit; if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you'; and where will the Spirit of God be able to dwell, except in bodies holy unto God, as we read (Wisd. 1)?

And because some, of whom we speak (as your Holiness reported), bewail that they fell through ignorance, to these we say that mercy is not to be denied on this condition: that without any increase of honour they persevere, as long as they live, in the office in which they were detected, provided that hereafter they study to show themselves continent. But those who rely on the excuse of an unlawful privilege, and assert that this was conceded to them by the old law, let them know that they have been cast down by the authority of the apostolic see from every ecclesiastical honour, of which they have made themselves unworthy, and that they can never handle the venerable mysteries, of which they themselves deprived themselves while they panted after obscene desires.

And because present examples warn us to take precaution for the future, let any bishop, presbyter, or deacon (which we do not wish) who shall henceforth be found such a one, understand even now that every avenue of indulgence is barred to him through us, since it is necessary that with the knife those wounds be cut away which have not felt the medicine of poultices. Concerning clerics: what manner of men ought to be promoted. VIII. We have also learned that men of unexamined life, who have even had numerous marriages, freely and licentiously aspire to the aforesaid dignities, just as it has pleased each one—which we impute not so much to those who arrive at these things by immoderate ambition, as to the metro-

-politan pontiffs in particular, who, while they wink at forbidden audacities, despise—as far as in them lies—the precepts of our God. And, to be silent about what we more deeply suspect, where is that which our God established by the law given through Moses, saying: 'Let my priests marry but once' (Lev. 21)? And in another place: 'Let the priest take a virgin to wife, not a widow, not one repudiated, not a harlot' (Ezek. 44). Following which, the Apostle (1 Tim. 3), from a persecutor become a preacher, commanded that both priest and deacon should be made the husband of one wife. All which things are so despised by the bishops of your regions, as though they had been established rather to the contrary.

And because we must not be negligent concerning usurpations of this kind, lest the just voice of an indignant Lord rebuke us, which says: 'Thou sawest a thief, and thou didst run with him, and thou didst put thy portion with adulterers' (Ps. 49)—we decree by a general pronouncement what is hereafter to be followed by all the Churches, and what is to be avoided. Concerning the manner of life of clerics. IX.

Whosoever, therefore, has vowed himself to the services of the Church, ought from his infancy, before the years of puberty, to be baptized and to be associated to the ministry of the readers; who, from the entrance of adolescence up to the thirtieth year of his age, if he shall have lived commendably, content with one wife only, and her whom he received as a virgin by the common benediction through a priest, ought to be an acolyte and subdeacon; after which let him advance to the grade of the diaconate, if he shall first, continence going before, have proved himself worthy. There, if he shall have ministered laudably beyond five years, he shall fittingly attain the presbyterate, and thereafter, after a decade, he will be able to obtain the episcopal chair—provided, however, that throughout these times the integrity of his life and faith has been approved.

Concerning men advanced in years. X. But he who, already advanced in age, provoked by the conduct of a better resolve, hastens from a layman to attain to the sacred service, shall not otherwise obtain the fruit of his desire, unless, at the very time when he is baptized, he be at once associated to the number of the readers or exorcists—provided, however, that it be established that he had or has one wife only, and received her as a virgin. When he has been initiated, after two years have been completed, let him for another five years be an acolyte and subdeacon, and so let him be advanced to the diaconate, if throughout these times he shall have been judged worthy. Thereafter, by the lapse of time, he shall not undeservedly obtain the presbyterate or the episcopate, if the choice of clergy and people shall call him.

That a cleric who shall have married a second wife be deposed. XI. Any cleric indeed who shall have married either a widow, or assuredly a second wife, let him be straightway stripped of every privilege of ecclesiastical dignity, with only lay communion conceded to him, which he shall be able to possess only on this condition: if afterwards he admit nothing on account of which he might lose it. What women may dwell with clerics. XII. We suffer no other women to be in the houses of clerics save only those whom, on account of the sole causes of necessary relationship, the Nicene synod permitted to dwell with them. Concerning the promotion of monks. XIII. Monks too, whom however the gravity of their morals and a holy ordering of life and faith commends, we both desire and wish to be added to the offices of the clergy:

so that those who are within their thirtieth year of age may, in the minor orders, be advanced through the several grades as time increases, and thus arrive at the insignia of the diaconate or the presbyterate by the consecration of a mature age; nor may they at once ascend by a leap to the summit of the episcopate, unless in these grades the very intervals which we have above prescribed for each rank have been observed. That a penitent is not to become a cleric. XIV.

It was likewise fitting for us to provide that, just as it is not permitted to any cleric to perform penance, so also after penance and reconciliation it may never be lawful for any layman to attain the honour of the clerical office; for although such men may have been cleansed from the contagion of all their sins, nevertheless those who have lately been vessels of vices ought not to receive the instruments for administering the sacraments. So that, if through ignorance either a penitent, or a twice-married man, or the husband of a widow has been made a cleric, they are not to be promoted. XV. And because, for all those things which fall under reproach, the sole excuse of ignorance is offered—a man to whom in the meantime, out of regard for mercy alone, we must mercifully grant…

…to acknowledge that whoever, being a penitent, or twice-married, or the husband of a widow, has crept unworthily and unfittingly into the sacred ministry, let him understand that pardon has been granted him by us upon this condition: that he ought to reckon it a great benefit if, with all hope of promotion taken from him, he may remain in perpetual stability in the rank in which he is found. Hereafter the chief bishops of all the provinces are to know that, if they think any of such men should be further admitted to sacred orders, a fitting sentence is to be pronounced by the Apostolic See both concerning their own standing and concerning the standing of those whom they have advanced contrary to the canons and our prohibitions.

We have now, as I think, most beloved brother, dealt fully with all the matters that were set forth in your complaint; and to the several causes concerning which you reported to the Roman Church—as to the head of your body—through our son Bassianus the presbyter, we have rendered, as I suppose, sufficient replies. Now we urge your fraternity more and more to keep the canons and to hold fast the decretal ordinances.

That you cause these things which we have written in reply to your inquiries to be brought to the notice of all our fellow-bishops, and not only of those who are established in your diocese, but also that to all the Carthaginians and Baeticans, the Lusitanians and the Gallicans, and to those who border on the provinces neighbouring you on either side, these matters which have been arranged by us in a salutary ordinance may be sent under the conveyance of your own letters.

And although it is permitted to none of the priests of the Lord to be ignorant of the statutes of the Apostolic See or of the venerable definitions of the canons, yet it will be able to be exceedingly glorious to your love, also for the antiquity of your priesthood, if those things which have been written generally, though addressed to you by special title, are brought, through the care of your unanimity, to the knowledge of all our brethren; so that both the things which have been established by us salutarily—not inconsiderately, but providently, with utmost caution and deliberation—may remain inviolate, and the access to all future excuses, which can now lie open to no one with us, may be blocked. Given on the third day before the Ides of February, in the consulship of Arcadius and Bauto, most distinguished men. (In the year

…in the year of Christ 385.) THE DECREES OF POPE INNOCENT. Innocent to Decentius, bishop of Eugubium, greeting. If the priests of the Lord were willing to keep entire the ecclesiastical institutions as they have been handed down by the blessed apostles, no diversity, no variety would be found in the orders and consecrations themselves. But while each one judges that not what has been handed down, but what has seemed good to himself, is to be held, hence in different places or churches diverse practices appear to be either held or celebrated; and a scandal arises among the peoples, who, while they do not know that the ancient traditions have been corrupted by human presumption, suppose either that these are not suitable for themselves or their churches, or that a contradiction has been introduced by the apostles or by apostolic men.

For who does not know, or fails to observe, that what was handed down by Peter, the prince of the apostles, to the Roman Church, and is kept even to this day, ought to be observed by all, and that nothing ought to be brought in over and above or introduced which either has not authority or appears to take its example from elsewhere? Especially since it is manifest that throughout all Italy, the Gauls, the Spains, Africa, and Sicily, and the islands lying between, no one founded churches except those whom the venerable apostle Peter or his successors appointed as priests—or let them read whether in those provinces any other of the apostles is found or read to have taught.

But if they do not read this, because they find it nowhere, it is fitting that they follow what the Roman Church keeps, from which there is no doubt that they received their origin; lest, while they are eager for foreign assertions, they should seem to omit the head of their institutions. There is no doubt that your love has often come to the City and has assembled with us in the church, and has come to know what custom it holds both in consecrating the mysteries and in performing the other secret rites—which I should think sufficient for the instruction or reformation of your church, if your predecessors held anything less or otherwise; and I should hold it quite certain, were it not that you judged we ought to be consulted about certain matters.

To these matters we therefore reply—not because we believe you to be ignorant of anything, but that with greater authority you may either instruct your own people, or, if any err from the institutions of the Roman Church, admonish them; or do not delay to make it known, that we may be able to learn who they are that either introduce novelties or suppose that the custom of any church other than the Roman is to be observed. On giving the peace after the mysteries are completed. I. You assert, then, that certain men command the peace to the peoples before the mysteries are completed, or give it among themselves the priests, whereas after all those things which I ought not to disclose, the peace must of necessity be announced.

By which it may be established that the people have given their consent to all the things that are done in the mysteries and celebrated in the church, and that these things are shown to have been concluded by the seal of the concluding peace. On the names not to be recited before the priest's prayer. II. As for the names to be recited before the priest makes his prayer, and as for his commending in his prayer the oblations of those whose names are to be recited—you yourself, in your prudence, recognize how superfluous it is to insinuate a person's name beforehand, when you have not yet offered his victim to God, although nothing is unknown to Him.

First, therefore, the oblations are to be commended, and then the names of those whose they are are to be pronounced, that they may be named amid the sacred mysteries, not among the other things which we send forth beforehand, so that by the mysteries themselves we may open the way for the prayers to come. That the baptized are not to be signed except by bishops. III. As for the signing of infants, it is manifest that it is not lawful for it to be done by any other than a bishop. For presbyters, although they are priests, nevertheless do not possess the summit of the pontificate.

But that this belongs to bishops alone—either to sign, or to bestow the Paraclete Spirit—is shown not only by ecclesiastical custom, but also by that reading of the Acts of the Apostles which asserts that Peter and John were sent to give the Holy Spirit to those already baptized. For to presbyters, whether apart from the bishop or in the presence of the bishop when they baptize, it is permitted to anoint the baptized with the chrism—but that which has been consecrated by the bishop—yet not to sign the forehead with the same oil, which is owed to bishops alone when they bestow the Paraclete Spirit. But the words I cannot tell, lest I should seem rather to betray than to answer the consultation. That fasting is duly to be kept every Sabbath. IV.

That fasting is to be kept on the Sabbath, the clearest reasoning demonstrates. For if we celebrate the Lord's day, on account of the venerable resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, not only at Easter but also frequent the image of that day through every succession of weeks; and if on the sixth day we fast on account of the Lord's Passion, we ought not to pass over the Sabbath, which is seen to be enclosed between the sorrow and the joy of that time. For it is certainly established that the apostles were, during those two days, in sorrow and in grief, and that they hid themselves for fear of the Jews. And it is certainly not doubtful that they fasted so greatly during those two days mentioned, that the tradition of the Church holds that during those two days the sacraments are not at all to be celebrated.

This form is certainly to be kept through each week, because the commemoration of that day is always to be celebrated. But if they think that one should fast once and on one Sabbath only, then the Lord's day and the sixth day too will likewise be celebrated only once, at Easter. But if the image of the Lord's day and of the sixth day is to be renewed through each week, it is the mark of a madman to keep the custom of the two days while passing over the Sabbath, since it has a cause not unequal—namely, from the sixth day on which the Lord suffered, when He also went down to those below, that rising on the third day He might restore joy after the preceding two-day sorrow.

We therefore do not deny that one should fast on the sixth day, but we say that this is to be done on the Sabbath also, because both days brought sorrow to the apostles, or to those who had followed Christ, who, made glad on the Lord's day, willed not only that it should be most festive, but also judged that it should be frequented throughout all the weeks. On the leaven to be sent to the presbyters of the city. V.

As for the leaven which we send through the titular churches on the Lord's day, you have wished to consult us superfluously, since all our churches are established within the city; and because their presbyters, on that very day, cannot assemble with us on account of the people entrusted to them, for this reason they receive through the acolytes the leaven prepared by us, so that on that day above all they may not judge themselves separated from our communion. This, I do not think, ought to be done through the parishes, because the sacraments are not to be carried far, nor do we send it to the presbyters established throughout the various cemeteries, and the presbyters have the right and license of preparing these things themselves. On the baptized who are possessed. VI.

As for those baptized persons who afterwards are seized by a demon, or by some fault, or by an intervening sin, your love has inquired whether they can or ought to be signed by a presbyter or a deacon: this is not lawful unless the bishop has commanded it; for in no way is a hand to be laid upon such a one, unless the bishop has given authority to do it. But that it may be done, it belongs to the bishop to command that a hand be laid upon him either by a presbyter or by the other clerics. For how could this be done without great labour, that a possessed person established far off should be led to the bishop? Since, if such a case should befall him on the journey, he can neither easily be carried to the bishop nor brought back to his own home. On penitents. VII.

As for penitents who perform penance, whether for graver offences or for lighter ones, if no sickness intervenes, the custom of the Roman Church shows that they are to be granted remission on the Thursday before Easter. For the rest, it belongs to the priest to judge concerning the estimation of the weight of the offences: that he attend to the confession of the penitent, and to the weeping and tears of the one amending his life, and then command him to be released, when he sees fitting satisfaction. But if anyone has fallen into sickness and come even to despair, remission is to be granted to him before the time of Easter, lest he depart from the world without communion. On the epistle of the holy apostle James, in which prayer for the sick is prescribed. VIII.

Indeed, since your love wished to be informed about this, as about other matters, my son Caelestinus the deacon also added in his letter that this point was raised by your love—namely, that which is written in the epistle of the blessed apostle James: 'If any among you is sick, let him bring in the presbyters, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith shall save the sick man, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he be in sins, they shall be forgiven him.'

There is no doubt that this ought to be received and understood concerning the faithful who are sick, who can be anointed with the holy oil of chrism, which, prepared by the bishop, it is lawful not only for priests but for all Christians to use, to be applied in their own or their kinsfolk's necessity. For the rest, we see it superfluously added that there should be doubt about the bishop in a matter which there is no doubt is lawful for presbyters. For it was said of presbyters for this reason, that bishops, being hindered by other occupations, cannot go to all the sick. But if a bishop is either able, or judges someone worthy to be visited by himself, he can both bless and touch with chrism without hesitation, since it is his to prepare the chrism itself.

For this cannot be poured upon penitents, because it is a kind of sacrament. For to those to whom the rest of the sacraments are denied, how is it thought that one kind can be granted? To all these matters, therefore, most beloved brother, which your love wished to be explained by us, we have taken care to reply as we were able: that your church may be able to keep and observe the Roman custom, from which it draws its origin. But the rest, which it was not lawful to write, we shall be able to declare when you are present and have been questioned. But it will be in the power of the Lord also to bring this about: that you may well instruct both your church and our clerics who serve in the divine offices under your pontificate, and may furnish to others a form which they ought to imitate. Given on the fourteenth day before the Kalends of April, in the consulship of Theodosius Augustus

…seventh consulship, and that of Palladius, most distinguished man. (In the year of Christ 416.) Innocent to Victricius, bishop of Rouen, greeting. Although to you, most beloved brother, on account of the merit and honour of the priesthood in which you greatly excel, all things pertaining to living and teaching according to the ecclesiastical rules are known, and there is nothing that may seem to you to have been less gathered from the sacred readings:

Nevertheless, because you greatly requested the norm and authority of the Roman Church, complying very much with your wish, I have sent, annexed to my letters, the digested disciplines of life and of approved morals, through which the peoples of the churches of your region may perceive by what rules and regulations the life of Christians ought to be contained, in whatever each man's profession may be, and what kind of discipline is observed in the churches of the city of Rome. It will be for your love sedulously to insinuate this book of rules, as a teaching manual and monitor, throughout the neighbouring congregations and to our fellow-priests who preside over their own churches in those regions: that they may both come to know our practices, and may be able, by diligence in teaching, to form their faithful unto the same morals.

For either they will recognize their own purpose from this fitting reading of ours, or, if anything is still lacking, they will easily be able to supply it by good imitation. Let us begin, therefore, with the help of the holy apostle Peter, through whom both the apostolate and the episcopate took their beginning in Christ: so that, since many causes have often arisen which in some cases were not causes but crimes, henceforth let it be the care of each priest in his own church to have such oversight—as the apostle Paul preaches, that such a church is to be presented to God as not having spot or wrinkle (Eph. v)—lest by the love of any diseased sheep our conscience, being contaminated, should be violated.

On account of those, therefore, who either through ignorance or through sloth do not keep the ecclesiastical discipline, and presume many things not to be presumed, you have rightly requested that in those parts the form which the Roman Church holds in such matters should be observed. Not that any new precepts are being commanded, but that we desire those things which through the sloth of certain men have been neglected to be observed by all—which nevertheless have been established by apostolic and patristic tradition. For it is written to the Thessalonians, Paul admonishing: 'Stand fast, and hold the traditions which we have taught, whether by word or by our epistle' (II Thess. ii, 14).

This indeed ought the more vehemently to rouse your mind: that, free from every stain of this present age, you may be found secure before the sight of God; for to whom much is entrusted, more is exacted from him in usury of punishments. Therefore, since we are compelled to render an account not for ourselves only, but for the people of Christ, we ought to instruct the people with deifying [Cod. ms.: sanctified] discipline. For there have arisen not a few who, not holding the statutes of their elders, would violate the chastity of the Church by their own presumption, following the favour of the people and not fearing the judgment of God. Therefore, lest by our silence we should be thought to offer consent to these men—since the Lord says, 'You saw a thief, and you ran with him' (Ps.

…XLIX, 18)—these are the things which henceforth, in view of the divine judgment, it is expedient for every catholic bishop to keep. That a bishop is not to be ordained without the cognizance of the metropolitan. IX. First, that without the cognizance of the metropolitan bishop no one may dare to ordain; for that judgment is whole which is confirmed by the opinions of the many, and let not one bishop presume to ordain, lest the benefit conferred should seem stealthy. For this was established and defined by the Synod of Nicaea. Who cannot be received into the clergy, and that the causes of clerics are to be settled by their own bishops. X. Likewise, if anyone, after the remission of sins, has held the belt of secular military service, he ought by no means to be admitted to the clerical office.

But if any causes or contentions arise among clerics, both of the higher order and also of the lower, let the quarrel be settled, according to the Synod of Nicaea, by the bishops of the same province being gathered together; nor let it be lawful for anyone, without prejudice however to the Roman Church, leaving those priests who govern the Church of God in the same province by the divine nod, to fly off to other provinces. But if anyone should perhaps presume this, let him be both removed from the office of the clergy and judged by all to be guilty of injuries. But if greater causes have been brought into the midst, let them be referred, after the episcopal judgment, to the Apostolic See, as the synod has established. That a cleric is not to take a widow as wife. XI.

That a cleric is not to take a widow as wife, because it is written: 'Let the priest take a virgin to wife, not a widow, nor one cast off' (Lev. xxi, 13). Certainly he who strives toward the priesthood by his own labour and the uprightness of his life ought to take care lest, hindered by this prejudice, he be unable to attain it. That if a layman has married a widow, he is not to become a cleric. XII. That he who has married a widow as wife, though a layman, whether before baptism or after baptism, is not to be admitted to the clergy, because he is seen to be excluded by the same fault. For in baptism crimes are remitted, but the fellowship of a wife once taken is not loosed. That he who has had a second wife is not to be a cleric. XIII. That he who has married a second wife is not to become a cleric, because it is written:

'The husband of one wife' (1 Tim. iii); and again: 'Let my priests marry but once' (Lev. xxi); and elsewhere: 'My priests shall not marry again' (Ezek. xliv). And if it is supposed by some that, before baptism, if perchance a man took a wife, and—she departing from the world—he married another, this was remitted in baptism, he errs greatly from the rule, because in baptism sins are remitted, but the number of wives taken is not abolished; since indeed a wife is taken by the precept of the law, so much so that even in paradise, when the parents of the human race were joined together (Gen. ii), they were blessed by the Lord Himself, and Solomon says, 'A wife is prepared for a man by God' (Prov. xix)—which form usage itself shows that all priests also of the Church observe.

For it is quite absurd for anyone to believe that a wife taken before baptism is not to be counted after baptism, since the blessing which is imposed by the priest upon those marrying is taught not to have given matter for sinning, but to have held to the form of the law instituted by God of old. But if a wife who was taken before baptism is not thought to be counted, then neither are the sons who were begotten before baptism reckoned as sons. That no bishop is to usurp the ordaining of another's clerics. XIV. That no one is to usurp the ordaining of a cleric from another church, unless his bishop, entreated by prayers, has willed to grant it.

This too the Synod of Nicaea established: that one church is not to receive a cleric cast off by another. That those who come to the Church from the Novatians or the Montanists are not to be rebaptized. XV. That those coming from the Novatians or the Montanists are to be received only through the laying on of hands, because, although baptized by heretics, they were nevertheless baptized in the name of Christ—except those who, if perchance crossing over from us to them, have been rebaptized; these, if, coming to their senses and considering their ruin, they have preferred to return, are to be admitted under a long satisfaction of penance. That priests and Levites are not to come together with women. XVI.

Moreover, what is worthy, and chaste, and honourable, the Church ought by all means to hold: that priests and Levites should not come together with their wives, because they are occupied with the necessities of daily ministry; for it is written: 'Be holy, because I also am holy, the Lord your God.' For if in ancient times the priests did not depart from the temple of God in the year of their course, as we read of Zacharias (Luke i, 8), and did not touch their house at all—men to whom indeed the use of a wife had been relaxed for the sake of the succession of offspring, because none had been commanded to approach the priesthood from another tribe and other than from the seed of Aaron (Num.

…xviii)—how much more ought these priests or Levites to preserve chastity from the day of their ordination, men whose priesthood or ministry is without succession, nor does a day pass on which they are free either from the divine sacrifices or from the office of baptism? For if Paul writes to the Corinthians, saying: 'Abstain yourselves for a time, that you may be free for prayer' (1 Cor.

…vii), and he certainly prescribed this for laymen, much more shall priests, whose office of praying and sacrificing is continual, always be bound to abstain from such fellowship; who, if they are contaminated with carnal concupiscence, with what shame will they perhaps presume to sacrifice, or with what conscience, or by what merit do they believe themselves to be heard, since it has been said: 'All things are clean to the clean, but to the defiled and unbelieving nothing is clean' (Tit. i)? But perhaps one believes this to be lawful, because it is written: 'The husband of one wife' (1 Tim. iii)—he did not say one remaining in the concupiscence of begetting, but on account of the conscience to come. For he did not exclude those whole in body, who said: 'I would that all were as I myself am' (1 Cor. vii).

And more openly he declares, saying: 'But those who are in the flesh cannot please God; you, however, are now not in the flesh, but in the spirit' (Rom. viii). That a monk, if he has been made a cleric, ought to keep his purpose. XVII. Concerning monks who, after long remaining in monasteries, have afterwards come to the order of the clergy, they ought not to deviate from their former purpose. For either, as he was in the monastery and as he long preserved it, being placed in a higher grade he ought not to lose it; or if, having been corrupted after he was baptized, sitting in the monastery, he should wish to approach the order of the clergy, he can by no means have a wife, because one already corrupted beforehand cannot be blessed with a spouse.

Which form is kept especially among clerics, since the old rule holds this: that whoever, being corrupted after baptism, should wish to be a cleric, should pledge himself by no means to take a wife. That a member of the city council (curialis) is not to become a cleric, on account of the pleasures which, being invented by the devil, he is compelled to exhibit. XVIII. Moreover, certain of our brethren frequently strive to make clerics of decurions, or of any persons occupied with public functions; from whom afterwards a greater sorrow arises, when something is commanded by the emperor concerning their being recalled, than the joy that arose over those received.

For it is established that they, in those very offices, also exhibit pleasures which there is no doubt were invented by the devil, and either preside over the apparatus of games or spectacles, or perhaps take part in them. Let there be set forth as an example the anxiety and sorrow of the brethren, which we have often borne with the emperor present; when we more than once entreated on behalf of these men—as you yourself, being placed with us, came to know—against whom a great vexation pressed, that not only the lower clerics from among the decurions, but even those already established in the priesthood, should be given back. On veiled virgins, if they go astray. XIX.

Likewise, those who have spiritually married Christ and are veiled by a priest, if afterwards they either publicly marry, or secretly join themselves, are not to be admitted to perform penance, unless he to whom they had joined themselves has departed from the world. For if this principle is observed concerning men—that whatever woman marries another while her husband lives is held to be an adulteress, and the license of performing penance is not granted to her unless one of these has died—how much more is it to be held concerning her who had previously joined herself to an immortal Spouse, and afterwards passed over to human nuptials? On unveiled virgins, if they go astray. XX.

But those women who, though not yet covered with the sacred veil, have nevertheless always given themselves out to be continuing in the virginal resolve—although they were not forbidden—if perchance they should marry, must for a considerable time undergo penance twice over, because their pledge was held bound before the Lord. For if among men a contract entered in good faith is wont by no reasoning to be dissolved, how much more shall that promise which they made with God not be loosed without punishment? For if the Apostle Paul said of those women who had departed from the resolve of widowhood that they have damnation, because they had made void their first faith (1 Tim. 5), how much more so the virgins who have attempted to break the faith of their earlier promise?

This rule, therefore, dearest brother, if it be observed with full vigilance by all the priests of God, ambition will cease, dissension will be put to rest, heresies and schisms will not arise, the devil will gain no place for raging, unanimity will abide, iniquity overcome will be trodden underfoot, truth will blaze with spiritual fervour, the peace proclaimed by the lips will accord with the will of the soul, and the saying of the Apostle will be fulfilled, that, being of one mind and thinking the same thing, we may abide in Christ (Phil. 2), claiming nothing for ourselves through contention nor through vain glory, pleasing not men but God our Saviour: to whom be honour and glory unto the ages of ages. Amen. Given on the fifteenth day before the Kalends of March, in the consulship of Honorius Augustus for the sixth time and of Aristaenetus, vir clarissimus.

(of the consuls; in the year of Christ 404.) Innocent to Exuperius, bishop of Toulouse, greeting. When you consulted me, dearest brother, as to what I thought concerning each proposed matter, I have, according to the measure of my understanding, answered what seemed best—what right reason might teach should be followed, or what the authority of the sacred reading might show, or what the observed sequence of the ages might demonstrate. Indeed your Charity, following the practice of the prudent, chose rather to refer to the Apostolic See what it ought to observe in doubtful matters, rather than, by presumptuous usurpation, to retain in particular cases whatever might seem good to itself. For why should we think it more shameful to learn something than to be wholly ignorant?

To me also there accrues a teachableness from the conferring of counsel, so that, the reasons having been searched out, I am constrained to answer the questions put; and thus it comes about that he who is asked to teach always learns something. I will therefore set forth each point, and append the answer. On the incontinence of priests or levites. XXI. You have proposed what ought to be observed concerning those who, set in the ministry of the diaconate or in the office of the presbyterate, the general voice of the sons has reported to be, or to have been, incontinent.

Concerning these the discipline of the divine laws is manifest, and the clear admonitions of Siricius, bishop of blessed memory, have come down to us, namely, that the incontinent set in such offices should be deprived of all ecclesiastical honour, nor be admitted to that ministry which ought to be fulfilled by continence alone. For there is a very ancient authority of the sacred law (1 Chron. 25; Luke 1), kept from the very beginning, that in the temple the priests were commanded to dwell in the year of their course, so that, serving the sacred oblations, they might claim the divine mysteries for themselves pure and cleansed from every stain; nor is it lawful that those be admitted to the sacrifices who practise carnal intercourse even with a wife, because it is written:

Be ye holy, for I also am holy, the Lord your God (Lev. 20). To these men, indeed, the use of a wife had been relaxed for the sake of the succession of offspring, because no one from another tribe had been commanded to approach the priesthood: how much more ought these priests or levites to keep their chastity from the day of their ordination, whose priesthood or ministry is without succession, and for whom no day passes by on which they are free from the divine sacrifices or from the office of baptism? For if Paul writes to the Corinthians, saying: Abstain ye for a time, that ye may have leisure for prayer (1 Cor.

7), and this he enjoined certainly upon the laity, much more must priests, whose office of praying and sacrificing is continual, always abstain from intercourse of this kind: and if such a one be defiled by carnal concupiscence, with what shame will he presume to sacrifice, or with what conscience, or by what merit does he believe himself to be heard, when it is said: To the pure all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure (Tit. 1)? But perhaps he believes this to be permitted, because it is written: The husband of one wife (1 Tim. 3); he did not say this of one continuing in the concupiscence of begetting, but for the sake of future continence. For he did not refuse those who are whole in body, who said: But I would that all were even as I myself (1 Cor.

7), and more openly he declares, saying: But they that are in the flesh cannot please God; but ye are not now in the flesh, but in the spirit (Rom. 8). And he said one having children (1 Tim. 3), not one begetting them. But this is plainly a distinct and divided sentence; for if it shall not be proved that that pattern of ecclesiastical life and discipline alike, which went forth from bishop Siricius to the provinces, reached certain persons, pardon for their ignorance shall be granted to them twice over, on this condition: that henceforth they utterly begin to abstain, and so retain the grades in which they were found, in such wise that it be not lawful for them to ascend to higher ones: to whom it ought to be a benefit, that they lose not the very place which they hold.

But if any are detected to have known the pattern of living sent forth by Siricius, and yet not at once to have cast off the desires of lust, they are by all means to be removed—those who, after the admonition had become known, judged that pleasure should be preferred. On the final penance. XXII. This also has been asked, what ought to be observed concerning those who, after baptism, having given themselves up at all times to the pleasures of incontinence, at the very end of their life beg at once for penance and for reconciliation of communion. Concerning these the earlier observance was harsher, the later, with mercy intervening, is more lenient; for the earlier custom held that penance be granted them, but communion denied.

For since in those times frequent persecutions arose, lest the granted facility of communion should fail to recall from their fall men made secure about reconciliation, communion was rightly denied and penance granted: lest the whole be utterly refused, and reason made of the time a harsher remission. But after our Lord restored peace to His Churches, now, terror being driven away, it was resolved that communion be given to the departing, both for the Lord's mercy's sake, as a viaticum, as it were, for those about to set forth, and lest we seem to follow the harshness and hardness of the Novatian heretics who deny pardon. Communion, therefore, shall be granted with the final penance, that men of this kind may, even at their last, by the permission of our Saviour, be rescued from perpetual destruction.

On administrations (public offices). XXIII. It has also been asked concerning those who, after baptism, have held administrative offices, and either employed only tortures, or even pronounced a capital sentence; concerning these we read nothing defined by our forefathers (Rom. 13). For they remembered that these powers had been granted by God, and that for the punishment of the guilty the sword had been permitted, and that the minister of God had been appointed an avenger in such matters. How then should they reprehend a deed which they saw to be granted with God as its author? Concerning these, therefore, we hold the matter as it has hitherto been observed, lest we seem either to overturn discipline, or to come against the authority of the Lord. But to themselves, in rendering account, all their deeds shall be reserved.

That husbands who communicate should not be reconciled with adulterous wives. XXIV. And this also was desired to be known, why husbands who communicate are not reconciled with adulterous wives, whereas, on the contrary, wives seem to remain in the fellowship of adulterous husbands. On this point the Christian religion condemns adultery in both sexes by equal reasoning; but women do not easily accuse their own husbands of adultery, and hidden sins do not incur punishment; husbands, however, have been more freely accustomed to denounce adulterous wives before the priests, and therefore, when the woman's crime has been disclosed, communion is denied her; but when the husband's offence is hidden, no one is easily restrained on mere suspicion—yet he too will be removed if his disgrace be exposed.

Since, then, the case is equal, sometimes, when proof is wanting, the reasoning of punishment is put to rest. That those who dictate petitions, even capital ones, should be held immune. XXV. This also you wished to inquire, whether it be freely granted to those who dictate petitions—indeed, after the regeneration of baptism—to seek from rulers the death of someone, or his blood, on account of guilt? Which thing rulers never grant without examination, but always remit the charges or crimes committed to the judges, that, the case being examined, they may be punished: and when these have been delegated to the magistrate of inquiry, either acquittal or condemnation is pronounced according to the quality of the business; and while the authority of the laws is exercised against the wicked, the one who dictated will be immune.

That those who, through the intervention of a repudiation, have endured divorce, and have bound themselves to other marriages, are shown to be adulterers. XXVI. Concerning these also your Charity has inquired, who, a repudiation intervening, have joined themselves to another marriage, whom it is manifest to be adulterers on both sides. But those who, even while the wife yet lives—although the union may seem to have been dissolved—have hastened to another union, cannot but be seen to be adulterers, to such a degree that even those persons to whom such people are joined are themselves also seen to have committed adultery, according to that which we read in the Gospel: Whosoever shall put away his wife, and shall marry another, committeth adultery; and likewise he that marrieth her that is put away, committeth adultery (Matt.

19), and therefore all such are to be kept from the communion of the faithful. But concerning their parents or kinsfolk, nothing of the kind can be determined, unless they be detected to have been instigators of the unlawful union. Which books are to be received in the canon. XXVII. Which books are received in the canon of the Scriptures, a brief list appended shows. These, then, are the things which you wished to be advised of by word: the five books of Moses, that is, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy; and also one of Joshua son of Nun, and one of Judges, and four books of Kingdoms, together also with Ruth. Sixteen books of the Prophets, five books of Solomon, the Psalter. Likewise of the histories, one book of Job, one of Tobit, one of Esther, one of Judith, two of Maccabees, two of Ezra, two of Chronicles.

Likewise of the New Testament: the four books of the Gospels; the fourteen Epistles of the Apostle Paul; the five Epistles of John; the two Epistles of Peter; the Epistle of Jude; the Epistle of James; the Acts of the Apostles; the Apocalypse of John. But the rest, which are circulated under the name of Matthias, or of James the Less, or under the name of Peter and John (which were written by a certain Leucius), or under the name of Andrew (which were written by the philosophers Nexocharis and Leonidas), or under the name of Thomas, and if there be any others—these you shall know are not only to be repudiated, but even to be condemned. Given on the tenth day before the Kalends of March, in the consulship of Stilicho for the second time and of Anthemius (in the year of Christ 405). Innocent to Felix, bishop of Nuceria, greeting.