CANONS OF RABBULAS, BISHOP OF EDESSA
A *Regarding stewards.* Seculars shall not be stewards, unless where there is no presbyter or deacon.
*Regarding the vessels of the altar.* No presbyter or deacon shall dare to place profane vessels with the sanctified vessels in the chest, or in the *paradise* (the sanctuary cell).
*Regarding the anathema of altars which are consecrated.* If there exist anywhere relics of an idolatrous temple, they shall immediately be pulled down, if possible, and converted into an Ecclesia, if the church has not yet been built. But churches that are built shall be whitewashed, and there shall be shells in them, and courts.
*Admonitions regarding the reception of the mysteries.* Priests shall not give the oblation to the tempted, so that holy things may not be subjected to irreverence.
B *Regarding the transmission of the mysteries and the handling of them.* No one deprived of the presbyterate or diaconate shall dare to give the oblation to a man. Presbyters and deacons who give the sanctifications shall not on that account receive a gift.
*Regarding negligences that occur.* A fragment that falls from the holy body upon the ground shall be looked for carefully, and if it is found, its location, if it be earthen, shall be scraped away, and that very earth shall be mixed with water and given to the faithful: and if it be not found, the place shall be scraped in like manner, as we have said. In the same way, if it is spilled from the blood, if the place be of stone, coals shall be placed over it.
*Regarding prayer.* All the sons of the Ecclesia shall be persevering in prayer and diligent in ministry, nor shall they cease from the hours of prayers and psalms night and day.
*Regarding the gathering of monks.* Monks who are recluses shall let their hair grow and put on iron. C Monks who are visitors and all brothers outside the monasteries shall not put on black garments made of hair, so that the honor of the habit is not disparaged. No one shall receive a brother who migrates from monastery to monastery, unless at the request of the prefect of the former monastery. A monk who is not a presbyter or deacon shall not dare to offer the Eucharist. Monks shall not go to villages and cities, but only the visitors; and they shall sit and remain in the church or monastery, nor shall they wander through houses. Monks shall not drink much wine, lest they blaspheme. Monks shall not possess sheep or horses, but only donkeys and bulls for plowing. Let them not have foreign books in the monasteries, nor [seek] gain from buying and selling. No one of the brothers shall possess anything as his own, but all things shall be common, and under the power of the prefect of the monastery. The prefect of the monastery shall not permit brothers to visit their blood relatives, lest they be relaxed by vain conversations. D Monks shall not leave their own cenobia for reasons of infirmity, and wander through cities and places, but shall endure hardships for the sake of our Lord. No one of the brothers shall lead a solitary life unless he be one whose works have been long tested. He shall be appointed prefect of the monastery who is able to govern the fraternity. Presbyters and deacons who are monks may minister at the command of the bishop in places where there are no clerics. Chests in which monks are buried shall be set in the earth. When the prefect of the monastery dies, the brothers shall bury him in silence, and seculars shall not be gathered for the pomp of his funeral. Monks and nuns shall not cohabit with seculars. Seculars shall not neglect the bodily sustenance of the monks. Women shall not enter within the doors of the monasteries. Nuns who are in cities and villages, if they do not have a monastery or cenobium of sisters, shall sit together in one house and go to church together. Monks shall recite psalms, and nuns likewise canticles. Monks and nuns shall fulfill the hours of prayer and recite psalms day and night. A secular who has betrothed to himself a daughter of the covenant (a nun) shall be anathematized. Monks and nuns who put off the habit shall perform penance, otherwise they shall be anathematized along with their kinsmen, if they consent to them. A married woman, without the will of her husband, shall not accept the monastic institution, nor a man without the will of his spouse. Monks without a presbyter, and nuns without a deaconess, shall not proceed to synaxes. A heretic shall not sit in our monastery, nor approach the sanctified things. Monks shall not ascend to the steps of the altar. Monks and nuns shall abstain from the use of meat, but let them use wine in moderation on account of infirmity.