141. That if a bishop, or presbyter, or deacon is not present, it is permitted to him who wishes to take the divine sacraments, already sanctified, by himself.
From the epistle of Saint Basil to Caesarius the Patrician.
The end of the divine canons of the Nomocanon of Saint Arsenius.
ANNO DOMINI MCLIX LUKE CHRYSOBERGES PATRIARCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE THIRTEEN SYNODAL DECREES
I. A synodal notation under the empire of the lord Manuel Comnenus, that marriages of the seventh degree of kinship should not take place. II. Concerning clerics who involve themselves in secular business. III. Concerning those in charge who are tonsured in a foreign monastery. IV. Concerning the feast of the notaries. V. Concerning the deposition of a bishop. VI. That the church may not be damaged by a transaction of a bishop. VII. Concerning those who testify against a spiritual son. VIII. Concerning a bishop who is tonsured by force. IX. That an irregular oath may not be kept. X. Concerning voluntary homicide. XI. Concerning advocates. XII. Concerning the baptizing of captive infants and concerning the Agarenes. XIII. That clerics may not become "filthy-gain" seekers or physicians.
See Patrologia volume CXIX, column 770.
ANNO DOMINI MCLXVI ALEXIUS ARISTENUS NOTICE
(Cave, *Script. eccles. Hist. litter.*, p. 592.)Alexius Aristenus, by dignity a *nomophylax* and *oeconomus* of the Great Church of Constantinople, whom Balsamon calls that "honorable lord" in more than one place, flourished in the year 1166, when he was present at the Constantinopolitan synod: and being consulted there regarding canon law against Nicephorus, Patriarch of Jerusalem, he brought forward canon 37 of the Trullan Council. The *Synopsis of the Canons*, illustrated with scholia by our Aristenus, is extant. The *Synopsis* itself seems to be much older than that time: but Aristenus was the one who interpreted it. The *Synopsis* has been edited in Greek and Latin, but without the scholia, under the name of Aristenus by Christopher Justellus in the *Bibliotheca Juris canon.*, vol. II, p. 673. William Beveridge added the scholia to the *Synopsis* in his *Pandectae Canonum*, Oxford, 1672, folio, and provided it, illustrated with notes, in both Greek and Latin.
SYNOPSIS OF ALL THE CANONS BY ARISTENUS
SYNOPSIS OF ALL CANONS WRITTEN BY ARISTENUS.
AOf the holy apostles.
1. Two or three bishops ordain a bishop; but one, a presbyter and deacon.
2. A priest offering milk, or honey, or strong drink, or animals, or legumes at the altar, except for new ears of corn, and grapes, and oil, and incense, is to be deposed.
3. Let the fruits be sent to the house, so that the superiors may distribute them to those who follow.
4. If a priest casts out his helper, let him be excommunicated; if he does not introduce him, let him be deposed.
5. A priest who accepts secular cares is unholy.
6. He who celebrates Pascha with the Jews is deposed. B
7. A priest who does not communicate let him state the cause; but if he does not state it, let him be excommunicated: for he has rendered him who offers [the sacrifice] suspect. C
8. Excommunicate him who does not persevere in prayer and communion.
9. He who prays with one excommunicated, or deposed, is self-condemned.
10. He who receives one rejected from elsewhere, is himself more rejected.
11. He who lies about an excommunication, is most rejected.
12. You shall not leap from see to see, unless there is an advantage to those who are there, as being most capable of teaching, in the judgment of many bishops and their supplication.
13. Every cleric who is outside his own [church], and dwelling in another, and being importuned by the bishop, and not returning, is excommunicable; and he who knowingly and prudently retains him, is himself self-condemned.
14. Every man who has been married twice, or who keeps a concubine, is unholy and is not admitted to the priesthood.
A 15. Whoever shall have taken a divorced woman, or a widow, or a servant, or a madwoman as his wife is truly unworthy of the priesthood. 16. No one is admitted to the clergy who has married two sisters or a cousin. 17. A clergyman does not give sureties. 18. A eunuch may be ordained, but one who has castrated himself may not. 19. If one has castrated himself after being admitted to the clergy, he is deposed. 20. A layman who has castrated himself is excommunicated for three years. 21. A priest caught in fornication, perjury, or theft is deposed. 22. He who is to be promoted to holy orders should, if he wishes, marry beforehand. B 23. A priest who has struck a believer or an unbeliever is deposed. 24. A priest who has been deposed for a just cause, if he touches holy things again, is to be utterly expelled. 25. A priest who has become such for money, together with the one who ordained him, is deposed and, like Simon Magus, is to be perpetually excommunicated. 26. A bishop who has obtained his position through the influence of magistrates is deposed and set aside. 27. A bishop who has separated himself without cause and set up another altar is to be deposed along with the one who joins him. 28. One who has been excommunicated by another is not to be received by others. 29. An outside priest is not received without letters of recommendation, and if he has them, he is carefully examined as to whether he approves of those who hold the right faith: if not, he is separated and sent away. 30. A bishop does nothing C outside of his own diocese, and the primate does nothing without his concurrence, because of the unity that is owed. 31. Let ordinations not be performed in other territories; he who does so against the judgment of those who live in those places is considered as not ordained. 32. If one newly appointed is pained by the undertaking, he is excommunicated until he accepts; but if he is not accepted by the people, the clergy is excommunicated because they did not instruct the mob; yet he remains bishop. 33. Twice a year let the bishops assemble for the sake of dogma and affairs. First, in the fourth week of Pentecost; second, on the twelfth D of October. 34. Let the bishop administer the affairs of the Church with authority, and let him not give anything to his own kin, unless it is by way of bestowing charity upon a poor person. 35. A presbyter and a deacon do nothing without the bishop, for it is to him that the people have been entrusted. 36. Things belonging to the Church and to the bishop
A must be made manifest, so that the bishop may have his account, and the Church suffer no loss.
37. A bishop should have power over ecclesiastical matters, for he has [charge] over [men’s] souls; and he should manage everything according to the divine will. 38. A priest who is a gambler or a drunkard, if he does not cease, is to be deposed. 39. A cleric or a layman who does similar [wrong] things is to be excommunicated. 40. A priest demanding interest on a loan, if he does not cease, is to be deposed. 41. One who joins in prayer with heretics is to be excommunicated; but the cleric who leads these [heretics] is to be deposed. 42. A priest who accepts baptism or sacrifice from heretics is unworthy of the priesthood. 43. One who does not re-baptize a person truly baptized, and who does not baptize one polluted by the impious, is not to be regarded as a priest. 44. A layman who casts away his own wife and takes another, or [takes] one who has been put away, is to be excommunicated. 45. He who does not baptize into the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, but transgresses that command, ought not to function in the priesthood. 46. He who does not perform [baptism] with three immersions, but with one [immersion] into the death of the Lord, as the Lord did not say, is to be removed from the priesthood. 47. Any cleric who abhors marriage, meat, and wine, if he does not reform, is to be excommunicated. 48. He who does not forgive those who repent is himself unworthy of forgiveness B. 49. A priest who does not participate in wine and meat, unless for the sake of ascetic practice, is to be deposed. 50. A cleric who eats in a tavern, without the necessity of a journey, is to be excommunicated. 51. A cleric who insults a bishop is deposed; but a presbyter and a deacon are excommunicated. Likewise, he who mocks a deaf man, a lame man, or a blind man. 52. A bishop who does not teach piety is to be excommunicated; but if he remains unteachable, he is to be deposed. 53. A priest who does not show kindness to a cleric who is suffering poverty is to be excommunicated; but if he remains unmerciful, he is to be deposed C. 54. He who reads the book of the impious in a congregation is to be deposed. 55. A faithful man who stands convicted of crimes is not admitted to the clergy. 56. He who denies Christ is cast out; but he who scorns and overturns the clergy is to be treated as a layman. 57. A priest who tastes of that which has been strangled, or caught by a wild beast, or of a carcass, is to be deposed; but the layman is to be excommunicated. 58. He who prays with Jews is to be excommunicated D. 59. A cleric who is a murderer is deposed; a layman is excommunicated.
A 60. He who fasts on the Lord’s day or on the Sabbath, except for one, is to be cast out. 61. He who commits violence against a maiden, let him be excommunicated and keep her, even if she is poor. 62. He who is twice ordained, together with the one who ordained him, is to be deposed, unless he was first ordained by the hand of a heretic. 63. You shall depose a cleric who does not fast during the Quadragesima, or on Wednesday and Friday; but you shall excommunicate the layman, unless infirmity is an impediment to them. 64. You shall excommunicate a layman who judaizes; but a cleric, you shall depose. 65. He who steals wax or oil from the church is to be excommunicated, and he must also pay back fivefold. B 66. He who appropriates sacred vessels for his own use is to be excommunicated. 67. A bishop who is accused and called, and does not listen, let him be called twice and thrice; and if he persists, let the synod pronounce what seems right. 68. A heretic does not accuse a bishop, nor one who is not a believer. 69. One bishop does not appoint a bishop in his own place. 70. He who becomes lame in one leg or loses one eye, if he is worthy, may be a bishop; but he who is blind or deaf shall not be. C 71. One who is possessed by a demon is not to be enrolled in the clergy, nor does he pray with others; but after purification, if he is worthy, he may become a cleric. 72. One recently enlightened is not created bishop, nor is one who has recently emerged from a bad way of life. 73. A bishop who handles public affairs is unworthy of the episcopate. 74. A slave is not received into the clergy; but one who is worthy, once liberated, is promoted. 75. A priest who occupies a magistracy is held profane. 76. He who treats a magistrate or emperor contrary to what is right with insult, is to be punished. 77. Only sixty books of the canon are worthy of veneration.
Synod of Nicaea I
D 1. Let eunuchs be received into the clergy; but those who castrate themselves, let them not be received. 2. Those who come from a pagan life should not be quickly brought to the presbyterate; for without the probation which occurs through the passage of time, the neophyte is liable to fail. 3. If anyone should be proved to have sinned after ordination, either before [or] later, this person is to be expelled from the clergy. 4. Let no one have a subintroducta, except a mother or sister, and those persons who flee all suspicion. 5. A bishop is appointed by all the provincial bishops; but if this is not possible, at least by three, with the rest [signifying their approval] by letters.But the metropolitan shall have the authority.
6. Those who have been excommunicated by others should not be received by others; unless the excommunication has been imposed because of pusillanimity, or contention, or some such thing. B
7. The bishop of Alexandria shall have power over Egypt, Libya, and Pentapolis: and the bishop of Rome over those who are subject to Rome. Likewise the bishop of Antioch, and the others over those subject to them.
8. If anyone is made a bishop without the judgment of the primate, let him not be a bishop.
9. If, upon the vote of the many having been taken according to rule, three persons should contend, let their sentence be of no effect.
10. Let the bishop of Aelia be honored, while preserving the dignity of its own metropolitan.
11. The Cathari who approach [the Church] must first profess that they will assent to the ordinances of the Church, and communicate with the digamous, and grant forgiveness to the lapsed. And let those found to have been ordained remain in the same rank: for example, he who is truly a bishop, let him be a bishop; but he who is a bishop among the Cathari, let him be a chorepiscopus, or enjoy the honor of a presbyter or a bishop. For there shall not be two bishops in one city.
12. Those who are ordained without examination, if they are subsequently convicted of having sinned, let them indeed be deposed.
13. Those who have transgressed without necessity, even if they were unworthy of pardon, yet having obtained some pardon, shall submit for twelve years. C
14. Those who were forced and seemed to resist, then yielded to the impiety, and later repented, shall be excommunicated for ten years.
15. One must consider in everyone the character of their repentance. And if one who receives a penance shows himself more fervent in repenting, let the bishop deal more humanely with him; but if he is cooler, more severely.
16. Those who are departing from life, let them communicate. But if any of them should recover, let him be only with those who are partakers of prayer.
17. If a catechumen should fall, let him hear for three years only. Then let him pray with the catechumens.
18. Neither a bishop, nor a presbyter, nor a deacon shall migrate from city to city. Since they shall be returned to the churches in which they were ordained. D
19. As many presbyters and deacons as depart from their church, they shall not be received into other churches: but they shall return to their own parishes. But if anyone ordains him who pertains to another without the consent of his own bishop, the ordination shall be void.
20. If anyone takes interest or semi-interest, he shall be alien, being deposed according to the decree of the Church.
21. Let deacons remain within their own bounds, and not sit in the midst of presbyters. For against the canon...
and due order it is, if any such thing should continue.
22. Paulicians are to be rebaptized; and if any clerics are shown to be blameless, let them be baptized and ordained. But if they are not shown to be blameless, let them be deposed.
23. Deaconesses, having been deceived, since they do not partake in ordination, are to be examined among the laity.
24. On the Lord's days it is not proper to bend the knee, but men should pray standing.
Of the Council of Ancyra
1. Presbyters and deacons who have previously sacrificed, but afterwards have truly repented, let them partake of the chair and of the honor only, performing none of the holy mysteries. B
2. Those who have been truly tortured and forced, and through tyranny have received food offered to idols, let them not be prohibited from communion; and if laymen have suffered this, as if they had done nothing wrong, if they wish to obtain orders, let them obtain them, provided they are in other respects blameless.
3. As many as were carried away and went up and ate with merriment, let them submit to penance for six years.
4. Those who have gone up in mourning apparel, and have eaten, let them perform penance for three years with tears; but if they have not eaten, for two years.
5. The preceding life, and the following—that is to say, of those who have fallen—being zealous or not zealous, shows the bishop to be more humane or more severe.
6. A man who has yielded only to threats and sacrificed, and then repented, let him be subjected to five years of penance. C
7. If anyone, having his own food, has partaken of a feast with the Gentiles at their festivals, let him be subjected to penance for two years.
8. He who has not only voluntarily sacrificed, but also compelled another, let him be subjected to penance for ten years.
9. He who has sacrificed a second and third time, but under force, let him be subjected to penance for seven years.
10. A candidate for ordination as deacon, if he has testified to the bishop that he is unable to remain unmarried, if he has married, let him be a deacon. But if he has kept silent and married later, let him be deposed. D
11. If a maiden has been betrothed, but has been seized by another, she is restored to the former.
12. He who has sacrificed before baptism, let him be held blameless after baptism.
13. A chorepiscopus does not ordain without the license of the bishop.
14. A priest abstaining from flesh, let him abstain thus; but if he does not taste even the vegetables cooked with meat, let him be suspended from his office.
15. If any of the things of the Church...
have been sold, let that action be invalid, and let it remain subject to the judgment of the bishop. A 16. He who has committed an unnatural act before the age of twenty, let him be subject to penance for fifteen years; but if he has exceeded that age and has a wife, and is over fifty years old, let him do penance until the end of his life. 17. A leper who commits an unnatural act, or who is even stricken with leprosy, let him pray with those who are vexed by demons. 18. A bishop who has been appointed, if he is not received by the parish to which he was called, but causes trouble for other bishops, let him be excommunicated. But if he wishes to be numbered among the presbyters, let him be so numbered. And if he also quarrels with the bishops who reside there, let him be expelled even from the honor of a presbyter. 19. He who has professed virginity and violates his vow, let him be excommunicated for three years. 20. Let not virgins let themselves be approached by certain men as if they were brothers. 21. Let the adulteress and the adulterer be excommunicated for seven years. 22. Let harlots who take abortifacients be subject to penance for ten years. 23. A voluntary murderer, let him attain communion at the end of his life. 24. A murderer by accident, let him be subject to penance for five years. 25. He who uses divinations and brings someone into houses for the sake of finding sorcery or for purification, let him be subject to penance for five years. B 26. A man who was betrothed to a girl behaved corruptly with her sister, then took the betrothed; the first hanged herself; and let those who are conscious of this be subject to penance for ten years.
Of the Council in Neocaesarea
1. A presbyter who marries, let him be deposed; but if he engages in fornication or adultery, let him be expelled. 2. A woman who has married two brothers, let her be expelled for life; but if at the time of death she renounces the marriage, let her have penance. But if she dies, it is grievous for the one who remains. 3. The time for those who have many marriages is clear; but the zeal of repentance cuts that time short. 4. If the desires before the acts of fornication are hindered, they are not hindered without divine assistance. C 5. He who sins while being instructed in the mysteries, let him be a hearer who does not sin; but if he persists further, let him be utterly cast out. 6. A woman who is with child, let her be baptized whenever she wishes; for the resolve of each one is judged. 7. A presbyter must not be entertained at weddings where second marriages are celebrated; for how would you deem him worthy of forgiveness? DA 8. A layman whose wife has committed adultery is not enrolled in the clergy; and one who is in the clergy, if after the adultery he retains her, he is expelled.
9. If a presbyter confesses that he has sinned, let him only abstain from the oblation; for some sins the ordinations remit. But if he does not confess, and is not convicted, let him have power over himself.
10. A deacon also who is caught in the same crime, let him remain a minister.
11. Let no one become a presbyter unless he is thirty years of age, even if he is worthy, having the baptism of the Savior as an example.
12. He who is baptized because of illness, let him not become a presbyter; unless it is because of the contest he endured afterwards, and the scarcity of men.
13. A local presbyter does not offer in a city church, unless the bishop is absent, and the whole presbyterium; but if they are absent, and he is called, he offers. B
14. Chorepiscopi, as fellow-ministers, offer, holding the type of the seventy.
15. Let there be seven deacons, according to the Acts, even in a great city.
Of the Council of Gangra
1. To him who repudiates legitimate marriage, and to him who condemns one who eats meat, without it being strangled or offered to idols, anathema.
2. To him who persuades a slave to leave his master under the pretext of piety, and to him who hesitates to receive communion from presbyters joined in marriage, anathema. C
3. He who calls the divine house contemptible, and he who holds private ecclesiastical gatherings, and performs the things of the Church against the opinion of the bishop or presbyter, let him be anathema.
4. He who gives or receives first-fruits outside of the Church and against the opinion of the bishop or presbyter; and he who practices virginity not for the sake of the good, but because he abominates marriage, or also because he exalts himself against those who are married, let him be anathema.
5. He who spurns those who call for agape-feasts, and he who, when called, does not commune with them; and he who holds in contempt those who wear rough garments; and as many women as imitate the garments of men, and as many as separate from their husbands because they abominate marriage, and those who abandon their children, and do not instruct them toward piety, and as many children as depart from infidel parents, anathema. D
6. As many women as shear their hair, feigning piety; and he who fasts on the Lord’s Day, and he who disdains the ecclesiastical fasts; and he who despises the gatherings of the martyrs—anathema.
Of the Council of Antioch
1. He who attempts to change the canonical tradition of the Pascha: if he is a layman, let him be excommunicated; but if a clergyman, let him be cast out of the Church.
2. He who enters the church and listens to the holy Scripture, and then disdains it, and goes out, and turns away from the reception...
of the communion, is to be cast out. A 3. He who communicates with the excommunicated is himself excommunicated; and he who prays with those who do not pray with the Church is accountable; and he who receives one who does not join in the assemblies of the Church is not without fault.
4. A bishop who has been deposed by a synod, and a presbyter and deacon who have been removed from their rank by a bishop, if they should dare to perform their ministry, are beyond hope of restoration.
5. Every presbyter or deacon who despises his bishop and separates from him, and builds another altar: if, being called twice and three times by his bishop, he persists in his arrogance, let him be deposed and left beyond hope of healing.
6. If a greater synod accepts or condemns a cleric or layman who has been excommunicated by a bishop, one must acquiesce to that decision.
7. A stranger who does not bring letters of peace is not to be received.
8. A presbyter who lives in the country B should not give canonical letters, except only to a neighboring bishop.
9. Bishops ought to depend on the opinion of the metropolitan, and to transact nothing without his counsel, except only those matters which pertain to their own diocese, and they should perform the laying on of hands only upon men who are not subject to reproach.
10. The chorepiscopus ordains exorcists, readers, subdeacons, and singers; however, he does not ordain a presbyter or deacon without the bishop of the city. But he who dares to transgress this is to be deposed.
11. The bishop of the city appoints the chorepiscopus.
12. A bishop or presbyter who proceeds of his own accord to the emperor, without being commanded by the metropolitan of the province, shall fall from both communion and his rank. C
13. If a deposed man should disturb the ears of the emperor, he should ask for a greater synod, and stand by the decision of those who judge there. But if he is indignant again, no hope of recovering his former dignity can exist for him.
14. If a bishop, without anyone asking him, should go to another province, and ordain, and administer affairs: both those acts remain void, and he himself shall be deposed.
15. If, when a bishop is being judged, the bishops of the province disagree, others from neighboring places must be called in to resolve the controversy with certainty.
16. If, when a bishop is being judged, every bishop of the province is found to have the same opinion, no retrial is granted.
17. He who, without a complete synod and the approval of the metropolitan himself, D leaps upon a vacant Church, even if he himself is without a position, is to be cast out.
18. He who has accepted an ordination and afterwards shrinks back from it is excommunicated, until, moved by repentance, he accepts the ministry.
19. A bishop who has been ordained should share in the honor.
A A cleric who is not received by the city should only perform his duties, awaiting whatever the synod of the province may pronounce.
20. Let no bishop be ordained without a synod and a metropolitan. If, however, for any difficulty all cannot assemble, at least the majority should be present or signify their consent by letter. If, when the matter has been concluded in this way, some contend against it, let the vote of the majority prevail.
21. A bishop should not be forced by the people, nor compelled by bishops, to remove to another parish.
22. A bishop must not go from city to city to ordain individuals, except by the judgment of the bishop of the city; if he does otherwise, the ordination is invalid, and he himself is liable to judgment.
23. A bishop must not appoint another to succeed him at his departure from life; but after he has fallen asleep, let a worthy person be chosen in a meeting of those who have the authority.
24. It is proper for the entire clergy to have knowledge of the affairs of the Church, so that, when the bishop dies, the property of the Church may be preserved; as for the property of the bishop, let it be administered according to his own decree.
25. Let the bishop have authority over the affairs of the Church. But if he is not satisfied with those things that are sufficient, and transforms the affairs and revenues of the Church for other uses without the counsel of the clergy, let him undergo the judgment of the synod. Indeed, if he appropriates for himself even those things owed to the poor, let him likewise render an account to the synod.
Of the Synod in Laodicea
1. A digamist who has not married in secret, having spent a short time in penance, is innocent.
2. Those who have been caught in various failings, if they confess them and perform penance in proportion, are easily received.
3. One who has been newly baptized is not fit for the priesthood.
4. A cleric shall not take interest.
5. Ordinations are not to take place in the presence of those who are only hearers.
6. The holy place is inaccessible to heretics.
7. Novatians and Quartodecimans, if they do not anathematize the other heresies and their own, are not to be received; but after they have anathematized them and been anointed, let them communicate.
8. Phrygians who repent are to be rebaptized, even if they have been enrolled in the clergy among them.
9. One who prays in the cemeteries or shrines of heretics is excommunicated.
10. Presbyteresses are not to be baptized in the church.
11. Do not enter into agreements with a heretic.
12. One who is most approved in faith and life and is most learned is fit to be chosen as bishop.
13. It is not to be ordained by those of the world A 14. To be sent to another parish is unworthy. 15. No one shall ascend the ambo except those who read from the codex. 16. The Gospels and the Apostles shall be read on the Sabbaths. 17. In the assemblies, the readings shall interrupt the psalms. 18. At the Nones and the Vespers, the same prayers shall be performed. 19. After the prayer for the catechumens, let those in penance be brought forward; after this, that of the faithful, and after the peace, let the oblation be made, with only the priests sitting at the place of elevation. 20. A deacon shall not sit unless commanded. 21. A minister shall not touch the vessels, for he is not vested in the orarion. 22. A chanter and a reader shall not wear an orarion. 23. Every cleric shall be one who does not trade for profit. 24. A minister shall not give the bread and the chalice. 25. He who has not been advanced to this office by a bishop shall not exorcize. 26. A cleric shall not be taken away from his hearth for shares. 27. Banquets and agape feasts shall not take place in churches. 28. A Christian shall not Judaize, but shall rest on C the first day, that is, the Lord's Day. 29. It is unlawful for women to bathe with [men]. 30. Children are to be received in marriage from heretics, not given to them. 31. The blessings of heretics are to be judged as curses. 32. He who honors the false-martyrs of heretics is anathema. 33. He who gathers secret meetings and calls upon the names of angels is next to idolatry. 34. There shall not be a sorcerer, or an enchanter, or a mathematician, or an astrologer, or an amulet-wearer, or one who declares himself to be of the priesthood. 35. You shall not celebrate festivals with Jews or Gentiles, nor hold fellowship with them. 36. He who is called to a synod and refuses, unless he is sick, is not blameless. 37. A cleric or a subordinate who has been excommunicated shall not go out; and a minister shall not pray having left the doors. 38. The sanctuary is inaccessible to women. 39. The one being baptized shall recite the faith on the fifth day of the week, and he who is in sickness, shortly after. 40. In Lent, one must not offer, nor dissolve the fast at all, nor celebrate the memorials of martyrs, except on Sundays and Sabbaths. 41. In Lent, no marriage shall be celebrated, nor a birthday.
42. To play music at weddings, or to dance, is unworthy. One who serves sacred things, however, must depart before the entry of the stage-performers. 43. Neither a cleric nor a layman shall hold banquets involving contributions. 44. A presbyter shall not enter onto the bema before the bishop, nor sit. 45. A bishop shall not be appointed to a village or country town; but if someone has been appointed, let him manage nothing without the bishop of the city. 46. A bishop or presbyter shall not introduce [anyone] into a house to offer. 47. Private books are not to be read in temples.
Of the 150 Holy and Blessed Fathers at Constantinople, under Theodosius the Great.
1. The Nicene faith shall prevail; as for heresies, let them be anathema. 2. No one [from outside his diocese] shall be a stranger for the confusion of the Churches, nor shall he ordain, nor enthrone. Nevertheless, in the Churches that are among the gentiles, the custom of the Fathers shall prevail. 3. The bishop of Constantinople shall hold honor immediately after the bishop of Rome. 4. Maximus the Cynic is alien to the episcopate; and everyone who has been allotted to the clergy by him is profane. 5. The Tome of the Westerners, asserting that the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit are consubstantial, is readily accepted. 6. A If anyone is infected with evil opinion, if he suffers injury, let him accuse [the offender] before the bishop; but if the charge be against those who are in holy orders, let him not speak. Also, let no one speak if he has been previously condemned; let the excommunicated not speak; let the outcast not speak; neither let one who is accused of certain crimes speak, until he has cleared himself of the crimes charged against him. But let the one who accuses be Orthodox, a partaker of communion, un-condemned, and un-accused; and let the charge be communicated to the provincial bishops. But if they cannot [decide it], let them turn to a larger synod, and let them not be heard without a written statement of the same complaint. But whoever, contrary to these things, approaches the emperor and causes him trouble, shall be cast out. 7. The Quartodeciman, the Arian, the Novatian, the Macedonian, and the Sabbatian, after repentance, are to be received—that is, after they have been anointed on all their senses. 8. Those baptized by the Eunomians by one immersion, and the Sabellians, and the Phrygians, are to be received as gentiles.Of the 200 Holy Fathers at Ephesus, under Theodosius the Younger.
1. If a metropolitan, having withdrawn, adheres to [the party of] Caelestinus or shall adhere to him, he is to be rejected and subsequently removed from the administration of the Church. And whoever is a bishop who agrees and is like-minded with Nestorius shall be cast out. 2. Whoever has been prevented from his priesthood by Nestorius is most worthy of the priesthood; but whoever is accepted by him is profane.D 3. Whoever has been condemned by a bishop and accepted by Nestorius, it shall profit him nothing. 4. A layman who resists the synod is excommunicated; but a cleric is furthermore deposed. 5. A bishop who introduces a faith other than the Nicene is held as a stranger to the Church; but a layman is banished. 6. The rights of each province shall be kept pure and inviolate; but he who introduces a form contrary to these is futile. 7. Eustathius, when he should have stood firm (for this is what every bishop must do), turned his back easily and fled. Theodorus was ordained in his place. He, however, weeping and beseeching, seeks back the honor. He who ordained another in his place is not accountable, B since he held his resignation as a crime. But this appeared to be just: that he should have the name of the episcopacy and communion itself, and that this seemed more kindly.
Of the Holy Fathers [assembled] at Chalcedon during the reign of Marcian.
1. Whoever buys or sells an ordination puts his rank in jeopardy; and the law extends even to the defender. 2. Those who take upon themselves the care of secular houses are to be corrected; unless by chance the law calls them to an inescapable administration of the affairs of a minor, or the bishop has urged them to the care of orphans and widows. 3. An oratory or monastery is not to be built without the judgment of the bishop. And every monk shall be subject to the bishop and shall not depart from his monastery C unless he be invited by him. 4. A servant, without the judgment of his master, let him not embrace the monastic life. 5. Those who cross from city to city shall be subject to the canons established concerning this matter. 6. Do not ordain in martyr-shrines or oratories without qualification. If not, the one who is allegedly ordained is unordained. 7. Anyone who has been admitted or has become a monk, if he arrogantly covets military service or dignity, is accursed. 8. A cleric living in a hospice or in a monastery shall look to the authority of the bishop of the city; but he who resists this, let him know the penalty. 9. If clerics in litigation, abandoning the bishop, hasten to secular courts, they shall be punished canonically. And a cleric contending with his bishop shall await the synod; the metropolitan bishop, however, shall appeal to the [bishop] of Constantinople. 10. A cleric shall not be enrolled in the churches of two cities; but if he has been so enrolled, he shall return to the first. If, however, anyone has been already transferred, he shall in no way be a participant in the affairs of the former church. 11. Let the poor make their journey with letters, but not with letters of commendation; for letters of commendation are given to those in good standing. 12. A province is not divided into two provinces; he who divides it is deprived of his bishopric. Which, by imperial letter
A have been divided into cities, shall enjoy the honor alone, and the bishop of that place; but to the one who is truly the metropolitan, his own rights shall be preserved.
13. A cleric without letters of commendation is not received into communion in another city.
14. A heterodox chanter or reader, if he has married and begotten children, shall lead his children into communion, if they have been baptized there; but if they remain unbaptized, they shall no longer be baptized among heretics.
15. A deaconess is not ordained unless she is forty years old; but to her who has brought disgrace upon the holy office by entering into marriage, anathema.
16. Let not monks or nuns marry; for if they do this, let them be excommunicated.
17. A local or rural parish, if it has been possessed for thirty years, shall be held; but if it is within that time, those who hold it shall be subject to judgment. B But if a city has been rebuilt by imperial decree, the order and form of the ecclesiastical parish shall follow the civil and public ordinances.
18. Clerics and monks, if they are discovered holding secret meetings or conspiring against their bishop, shall lose their ranks.
19. One who has lost his own country, if he has come to another church, is blameless.
20. A bishop who has received a foreign cleric, shall have, along with the one received, the penalty of excommunication.
21. An untried cleric or layman who accuses a bishop is not to be accepted.
22. He who seizes the property of a deceased bishop shall be deprived of his rank.
23. Those who reside in Constantinople without the bishop’s consent and stir up disturbances shall be driven from the city.
24. A monastery founded by the consent of a bishop shall remain unchangeable; and whatever belongs to it, unalienable. C He who attempts otherwise shall not be held innocent.
25. The ordinations of bishops shall be performed within three months; however, some unavoidable necessity may extend the time. If this is not done, the ordaining bishop shall be liable to the penalty; but the revenues shall remain with the steward.
26. There shall be a steward in every Church from the clergy; but a bishop who neglects this is not free from guilt.
27. A cleric who abducts a woman is deprived of communion; but a layman shall be anathema; and the accomplice also shall be subject to the same penalty. D
28. Let the bishop of New Rome enjoy the same honor as the bishop of Old Rome, because of the transfer of the empire.
29. Those of Pontus, and Asia, and Thrace, and the barbarians, are ordained by the one of Constantinople.
30. He who degrades a bishop to the rank of presbyter,
A sacrilegious; for he is guilty and unworthy of the priesthood. But he who is deposed while innocent, let him be a bishop.
31. It is the custom for the Egyptians, unless the archbishop permits it, not to write. From this, those who did not subscribe to the letter of the holy Leo are blameless, until a new archbishop is created.
Of the Holy Fathers gathered at Sardica.
1. A bishop is not to pass from a larger city to a smaller one. Therefore, he who leaps from a humble see to a higher one, being looked upon as arrogant and covetous, is excommunicated for his whole life.
2. A bishop must not pass into another city uninvited; and if a provincial bishop has a dispute, he shall not summon foreign bishops, unless the Roman Pontiff, if he deems it expedient, decides it.
3. When a bishop is deposed and insists on presenting a defense, no other shall be appointed in his place unless the Bishop of Rome so decides. For he shall investigate the deposition, either through envoys or by letters.
4. If, when the laity seek a bishop, the bishops are present, but one is absent, he also shall be summoned. But if, when summoned, he is unwilling to write or to attend, the one sought shall be ordained.
5. When a metropolitan is being appointed, the neighboring bishops also must be sent for.
6. In a small city or village, for which one presbyter is sufficient, a bishop is not to be appointed; but if the city becomes very populous, it is not unworthy of a bishop.
7. If an orphan, a widow, or one without protection is oppressed, the bishop shall bring them aid. However, let him not, under such a pretext, linger at the royal court, but rather let a deacon be sent.
8. Help must be afforded to all who flee to the Church.
9. When a brother sends a messenger to a brother, the metropolitan shall authorize the messenger and write to those among whom the request of the bishop is made, that they may support the messenger.
10. Neither a courtier, nor a scholasticus, nor a wealthy man shall be created bishop unless he has passed through the sacred orders. And the interval between the degrees must not be too short, so that there may be a greater trial of his faith and integrity of morals. For he who is appointed otherwise is a neophyte.
11. If the one invited by a bishop is inexperienced, he should not preach too assiduously; for this will be a disgrace to the inexperienced man, and he will appear to be courting the episcopacy, and both are blameworthy.
12. Without serious necessity, it is grievous for a bishop to be absent from his own Church for a long time.
13. If a bishop possesses estates outside his own diocese, if he intends to visit them, he shall not tarry for more than three Lord's days; for thus his own flock
flock will be enriched, and he himself will remain free from pride. A
14. He who deems one excommunicated by another worthy of communion, with knowledge, is not innocent.
15. He who is condemned by an irascible man, if he needs aid, must be heard; but until he has obtained aid, he shall remain excommunicated.
16. He who constitutes a foreign servant in any rank without the consent of his own bishop, indeed constitutes him, but the ordination is invalid.
17. The bounds defined regarding the slowness of bishops have force also in the case of presbyters and deacons.
18. A bishop unjustly expelled, if he dwells in a foreign church, is to be received until the injury is repelled and he is restored to his former state.
19. A cleric not dwelling in the church in which he has been enrolled is not to be received. Eutychianus and Musæus, however, shall not claim the title of bishop, but they shall obtain communion with the laity, if they wish.
20. Whoever attempts to undermine through arrogance those things which have been established well and in a manner pleasing to God is not a bishop.
21. A bishop having seen a bishop coming in a military camp, let him not be an impediment, if he knows he is coming because of any of the things aforesaid; but if otherwise, let him declare the excommunication. C
Of the Council of Carthage
1. He who opposes his own confession or subscription shall be branded with ignominy by his own judgment. D
2. A priest shall not be a curator.
3. An adolescent reader shall profess either continence or marriage.
4. He who is a deacon before twenty-five years of age is not a deacon.
5. The Eucharist is not to be given to the body of one who has died; for he does not eat or drink.
6. Those who handle sacred things, according to their own statutes, let them abstain from their wives.
7. Bread and wine mixed with water shall be offered, and that alone.
8. Unless it is from those who have fasted, the holy things are not offered.
9. Theaters are not to be gathered on Sundays and feast days.
10. Things celebrated according to Gentile custom are still to be removed.
11. Altars which are set up in fields or vineyards, in which no relic of a martyr lies, unless public tumult occurs, are destroyed; and whatever is set up through dreams and vain revelations, as idols and any likeness, are to be destroyed.
12. Kings who are born in piety and trained in the faith ought to extend a hand to the Churches; since even when Paul was in need, a military hand dissolved the conspiracy of the factious.
A
13. Whoever seeks a public judgment from the emperor is not to be called a bishop.
14. Whoever says that the first-created man would have died even without sin because of the necessity of nature, let him be anathema. B
15. Whoever says that infants who are newly born and baptized draw nothing from the sin of Adam which is cleansed by baptism, is to be cursed: for by one man, both death and sin entered into the whole world.
16. Whoever maintains that the grace of God provides for the forgiveness of sins already committed, but not for the aid of future ones, let him be twice accursed.
17. Whoever preaches that, apart from grace, we can nevertheless fulfill the commandments, though with more difficulty, let him be thrice accursed; for, "Without me," the Lord said, "you can do nothing." C
If, while the Theologian teaches that "if we say that there is no sin in us, we deceive ourselves," anyone interprets this falsely, saying that he did not say this truthfully but with humility, let him be anathema.
18. Whoever paraphrases "Forgive us our debts" by saying "our debts" in a way that refers to the many, and not to each and to one’s own individual faults, let him be anathema; especially when he sees Daniel saying with the many, "I confess my sins and the sins of my people."
19. A judge who is requested by two parties cannot be refused.
20. A bishop who neglects the care of heretics, and, after being admonished, continues to reside in his own diocese, shall be free of blame for up to six months; but if, after that, he perseveres in his negligence, he shall be excommunicated. D
21. An accuser may not bring witnesses from his own household.
22. A bishop who has deprived of communion one who has not been convicted of a crime shall himself likewise be deprived of the communion of others.
Of those in the Trullo of Constantinople
1. The faith of the Apostles is immovable. The faith at Nicaea is whole, which destroyed the doctrine of Arius, which introduced degrees of divinity, through the *homoousios*.
2. The council held under Theodosius the Great is inviolable, which deposed Macedonius for saying that the Holy Spirit is a servant.
3. Those who gathered at Ephesus under Theodosius the Younger cast out the most impious Nestorius, who spoke of the Lord as a man in one way and as God in another.
4. Those who gathered at Chalcedon under Marcian, of eternal memory, deposed Eutyches, who dared to say that the great mystery was accomplished only in appearance; and they also deposed Nestorius and Dioscorus, who had reasoned perversely in diametrically opposite ways.
5. One hundred and sixty-five [bishops] gathered in the royal city under Justinian; they anathematized Origen, who affirmed the cycles of bodies and souls, and also Theodoret, who had acted boldly against the twelve chapters of Cyril.
6. A synod was convened at Byzantium under Constantine, which cast out Honorius of Rome and Sergius of Constantinople, bishops who taught one will and one operation in their dogmas. A
7. Things surreptitiously inserted by heretics into the Constitutions of the Apostles by Clement are to be repudiated.
8. Bigamous priests, and those who are unrepentant, are deposed; those, however, who have driven away the evil, shall cease from their ministry for a fixed time—for he who is wounded does not bless. And those who have married unlawfully, and those who have joined in marriage after widowhood, after the fixed time shall be acknowledged in their ranks, remaining continent, that is, putting away their marital union; but those who, after the ruling, are both living in union and deposed, shall remain [in that state of deposition]. B
9. A cleric joined in marriage to the Lord’s bride is to be deposed; but if he is a layman, he is to be excommunicated.
10. A celibate priest shall not have serving maids, or others, except for persons who are beyond suspicion.
11. One who has been ordained, even if he is joined in marriage, is deposed.
12. And a deacon holding an office, unless he is a representative of the patriarch or the bishop, if he sits before the presbyters, shall be the very last of all. C
13. A cleric is forbidden to enter a tavern, and he shall be forbidden all the more to keep one.
14. The unleavened bread of the Jews is to be rejected; and he who even calls upon them as physicians, or bathes with them, is to be cast out.
15. Even though it is said not to put away one’s wife, yet looking toward progress toward the better, we command the leader who is being ordained no longer to live with his wife.
16. If the Romans wish to dismiss the wife of one being promoted to the diaconate or presbyterate, we wish the marriages of deacons and presbyters to be valid; but he who forces them to dissolve them shall be deposed. D
17. A presbyter less than thirty years old, a deacon less than twenty-five, a deaconess less than forty, and a subdeacon less than twenty, are to be deposed.
18. Let him who says there are seven deacons, according to what is said in the Acts, know that the discourse is not about those serving the mysteries, but about those serving the tables.
19. He who receives a foreign cleric, and ordains him, is deposed along with the one who was wrongly ordained.
20. He who has migrated due to a barbarian incursion, once the incursion has ceased, must return to the Church in which he was enrolled; if not, he shall be excommunicated along with him who received him.
21. The leader of a Church shall, in particular, teach the dogmas on Sundays and interpret them, not from his own resources, but as the holy Fathers have laid them out.
22. He who is perpetually deposed, and reduced to the lay order, shall be shaved in penance, and only that: but if not, let him grow his hair. A
23. And he who demands an obol or another form of payment for giving the immaculate communion shall be deposed.
24. A cleric who attends horse races, or who, when players are to enter for nuptials, does not withdraw, shall be deposed.
25. Rural and local parishes that have been held for thirty years shall remain so held; but below that period, there may be a dispute about them.
26. A presbyter who falls into an unlawful marriage, once deposed, shall participate in his see only—that is, he shall be purged of all defilement.
27. Grapes are joined by some to the unbloody sacrifice; it is decreed that this is to be done no longer.
28. And priests in the barbaric Churches, even if they abstain for a time from the intercourse of their wives, yet let them no longer have dealings with them in any way whatsoever. B
29. Some of the Fathers offered the divine Supper after they had eaten; it has therefore seemed good to the synod that this should not happen again.
30. Unless it is with the consent of the bishop, you shall not make an offering in a house within an oratory.
31. Chrysostom, removing the heresy of the hydroparastatae—those who offered only water—says, "When," he says, "the Lord suffered and rose again, he used wine." The Armenians, taking this, offer wine alone, not knowing that Chrysostom himself, and Basil, and James, used wine mixed with water, and handed it down to us to offer in that way. If, therefore, anyone uses either wine alone or water alone, and not mixed, let him be deposed. C
32. He who is worthy of ordination, whether he is from the priestly class or another, shall be ordained; but he who has not been shorn, and has obtained a blessing, shall not read the holy words from the ambo.
33. When a bishop dies, the clergy shall guard his possessions; but if no cleric is left, the metropolitan shall guard them until the next ordination.
34. A bishop who, on account of the incursion of barbarians, does not preside at his throne, shall still hold his own seat, and shall ordain, and shall perform all the duties of the priesthood most securely. D
35. The monk shall live the monastic life for ten years. For even though the divine Basil deemed that she who has been shorn should complete the seventeenth year, yet because the Apostle commands that a widow sixty years old should be elected in the Church*, the Fathers have said that a deaconess should be forty years old, and now that the Church has become more robust, we too place the seal upon the monk all the sooner.
36. He who is to be enclosed shall spend three years previously in the monastery, and before he is enclosed, where another...
A year has been spent, let him so enter, and let him not go out, unless death or public utility compels it. 37. The solitary who wears a dark garment and is unshorn, unless he is tonsured and enclosed in a monastery, let him be driven out of the city. 38. Anyone fleeing the storm of life, and wishing to enter a monastery, let him have permission for this matter. 39. A monk who is joined in matrimony, or who commits fornication, let him undergo the penalty of a fornicator. 40. Parents shall not clothe a daughter who has chosen the monastic life in silk garments, and thus confer the habit upon her; for this is a reminder of the passing world. 41. A nun shall not go out of the monastery except with the blessing of the superior; nor indeed alone, but with another older woman. She shall by no means spend the night outside; similarly, a monk shall not go out of the monastery B except by the permission of the abbot. 42. Neither is a woman allowed to sleep in a monastery of men, nor a man in a monastery of women. 43. She who is separated from one who is about to receive the episcopacy, after the ordination let her enter a monastery, as far as possible from the bishop's house, and let her enjoy the provision of the bishop. 44. Whatever monasteries have been established by the will of a bishop, they shall no longer be secular hostels, nor shall they be rented out to secular men. 45. It is not becoming for a layman to gamble, nor to be a mime, nor to endure theaters and hunting. 46. Throughout the Quadragesima, except for Sundays and Saturday, C the sanctified [elements] are offered. 47. You shall not allow those who receive children from baptism to be joined to the mothers of the children; if, however, one has been joined, after the separation, let him also undergo the penalty. 48. You shall not permit a female cousin to be joined to a male cousin, nor to a mother and daughter a son and father, nor to two brothers a mother and daughter, nor to two sisters brothers. If, however, such a thing has happened, after the dissolution, let them be subject to seven years of penance. 49. The Romans fast on D the Saturdays of the Quadragesima; the synod therefore reminds them that the canon holds in these cases also. 50. The Armenians eat eggs and cheese on the Saturdays of the Quadragesima; it is decreed, therefore, that the whole world must abstain from these also; if not, let them be totally excommunicated. 51. A layman shall not communicate himself; if he does so, he is excommunicated for seven days. 52. In oratories that are within great houses, they shall not perform baptism. 53. If someone feigns to be demon-possessed, he shall undergo the penalties of the demon-possessed. 54. Whoever commits himself to centurions or fortune-tellers, so as to learn something secret, let him undergo six years of penance.