Collection of Canons (Continuation)

MATTHAEI BLASTARIS SYNTAGMA CANONUM.

BEGINNING OF LETTER M.

Chapter 1. On magi, mathematicians, and seers, as well as astrologers, enchanters, illusions, sorceries, and amulets.

^A The sixty-first canon of the Sixth Synod segregates for six years those who have given themselves over to soothsayers, or to conjurers, or to those who are called centuriones, or to those who lead bears or other such animals around for the amusement and harm of simple folk, or to cloud-chasers, or to enchanters, or to those who provide amulets, or to those who speak of fortune, fate, and genealogy, and a mass of such words—the trifles of delusion—who say that one man is born on an unlucky day, and another on a lucky star. Those, therefore, who trust in these things, it segregates for six years; but those who persist in the evil it casts out of the Church entirely, that is to say, if they are laymen. For as concerns the ordained, there is no excuse for them not to be deposed. For, as it is said by the Apostle: “What agreement has the temple of God with idols?” and so forth. ^B Now, the soothsayers [vates] are said to be those who have given themselves over to demons and, having bound themselves to their suggestions, profess to know future things through certain signs. The centuriones [ἑκατόνταρχοι] are those who think themselves somewhat wiser in these matters, and for this reason imagine they are to be preferred to the many. Those who lead bears about, attaching tinctures to them and cutting their hair, provide both to women, as though they had the power to repel diseases and fascination. Others, indeed, carry snakes in their bosoms, performing conjurations through them. The cloud-chasers ^C are those who, by means of the shapes in the clouds, predict certain things. The enchanters [incantatores] are those who sing certain Davidic psalms, and remember the names of martyrs, and even that of the holy Virgin Theotokos, and weave into these the sorcery that comes from demons. Others suspend folded papers from the necks of children, inscribed with certain incantations, wrapping them in red fabrics, to avert, as they claim, every pernicious thing; these are also called amulets and coverings. Priests have often been deposed by the Synod because they ^D gave bread on Holy Thursday to certain people to eat, in order that stolen items might be discovered, because it is not easily swallowed. Another priest also, with a Gospel bound to a wooden staff, and revolving it in a circle, making inquiries about certain matters through the Davidic psalms, was immediately deposed. Such are the

also the women who sit idly in churches or by holy icons, ^A claiming from this that they know and can foretell future events, just like those of old who possessed the Pythonic spirit. Regarding all these matters, the divine Chrysostom says that, even if the name of the holy Trinity is added to such actions, and even if invocations of the saints occur, and even if the sign of the cross is applied, one must flee and turn away from such things; and he triumphs over them not in passing in the twenty-first homily of the book *On Statues*, and furthermore in the homilies *Against the Jews*.

The twenty-fourth canon of the Council of Ancyra subjects to a five-year penalty those who, following pagan customs ^B without reason, introduce diviners into their own homes for the purpose of discovering magical arts and remedies, promising that they will purify their house from such an abomination; for they suspect that the sick are made so by these [magicians], and are subjected to prolonged illness, or that they can indicate something that has been lost. The same penalties apply to those who believe female enchanters, and to those who practice divination with barley. Even the canon of the great Basil recites this word for word; however, he extends [the penalty] to six years for those caught in such an evil; for those who have erred once, but subsequently desist from the evil, will be punished less.

The thirty-sixth canon of the Council of Laodicea decrees that clergymen who are magicians, or enchanters, or mathematicians, or astrologers, or makers of what are called amulets, ^C must be altogether cast out of the Church. And magicians are those who invoke demons, supposedly beneficent, for the purpose of some good result, although they are all murderers and inciters to evil in their intent. Enchanters, however, are those jugglers who, by means of incantations, draw demons to their own desires, and bind wild beasts and reptiles so that they cannot cause harm to a beast of burden spending the night outside; but there are also others who enchant serpents, and handling them with their hands remain without being bitten by them and suffer no evil. Mathematicians, then, are those who suppose that heavenly bodies have dominion over the universe, and that our own affairs are managed by their motion. The science of mathematics is divided into these two, ^D namely, astronomy and astrology. And the former is permitted even to the saints, as it teaches the position and motion of all heavenly bodies, and their orderly configuration and distance; but astrology—that is, prediction from them—which proceeds, so to speak, according to the order of the heavenly [bodies] and professes to know the future, is by no means permitted by the Fathers, since it compels the simpler-minded to pay attention to horoscopes and fate. And astrologers are called those who, aided by the assistance of demons, divine by the stars, and pay attention to them as if they were gods. There are four books called mathematical: arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy. The canon does not, therefore, forbid reading them, but [forbids] applying excessive study to them; and since of the heavenly

movements our own are reckoned to be moved, and [forbids] to think to foreknow certain things that are to come, as if they must necessarily happen from such movement of the stars.

Law. Wherefore the law says: Geometry is taught publicly; but mathematics is condemned as forbidden.

Great Basil also, in canon 7, condemns sorcerers, idolaters, and murderers to twenty years; but adulterers, and those who have intercourse with males and animals, to fifteen; calling idolaters not those who are manifestly impious, but those who after baptism practice sorcery and divination. For in a certain way these also practice idolatry, using invocations of demons and seeking their assistance. For those who were idolaters from the beginning, upon repenting and being baptized, immediately approach the holy communion; but those who after baptism have sacrificed to idols must perform repentance throughout their lives, and receive the divine gift at the end of their life. Just as in canon 65, he subjects one who confesses sorcery or poisoning to the judgment of a voluntary murderer, excluding them from communion for ten years, and quite rightly. For sorceries contain invocations of malevolent demons, chanted around graves, so that perhaps a person’s limbs might be dissolved, and while he enjoys the light he might fall ill, and his life become unlivable; wherefore also sorceries ^B are named from the groans and lamentations around tombs.

But poisonings either kill, or drive one from their right mind, and make death desirable to the sufferer, if he should ever come to his senses; or even for the sake of a love potion, when sometimes done, they cause one to become deranged and prepare them thus.

In canon 72, he likewise commands that one who has given himself over to fortune-tellers, or any such persons, and chooses to hold their opinions, should be punished for the time assigned to murderers. For even if oracles have ceased after the incarnation of the Lord, and the predictions of the falsely-named gods, nevertheless even today it happens that things sometimes come to pass through incantations and the energy of demons, even if the majority are proved to be lies. But those who shamelessly call upon the demons are not unjustly subjected to the judgment of murderers; ^C but those who feign holiness and virtue for the sake of gain will, I think, undergo punishment more moderately and not the same corrections.

Great Gregory of Nyssa, in canon 2, declares these things word for word: Those who approach sorcerers or fortune-tellers, or those who promise to perform certain purifications and averting rites through demons, are rigorously examined and interrogated as to whether, while remaining in the faith in Christ, they were driven to that sin by some necessity, when some affliction or intolerable loss had induced this state of mind in them, or whether, having entirely neglected the testimony believed by us, they have betaken themselves to the society of demons, believing they could foreknow ^D things, as if they must necessarily happen

^A If, however, they have done this because they have abandoned the faith and do not believe the God who is believed by Christians, they shall be subject to the judgment of those who have voluntarily denied [Him]. What the punishment is for such persons, this holy man determines in his first canon, which you may look for in chapter 1, letter A. But if, he says, some unbearable necessity, prevailing over their pusillanimity, has led them to this, they themselves shall also observe the measure of those who have sinned in fornication, which extends to nine years. Look for chapter 3 of letter E.

Laws. He who divines through sacrifices shall be punished by the sword; but he who encourages him to do so by persuasion or reward shall be subject to exile and confiscation of property. ^B Poisoners, if they are placed in high office, are deported; the rest are punished by death. He who practices sorcery that draws upright morals into lust, or devises evil against the health of men, is punished by confiscation of property and exile. Let no one consult anyone promising divination: for magi are punished by capital punishment. Those who invoke demons for the destruction of men should be punished by the sword. It is the same to learn and to teach what is prohibited by law.

A husband who finds his wife to be a poisoner dissolves the marriage by divorce; likewise also the woman [does to] the man. ^C He who has given poison to a slave instead of medicine is subject to the same penalty as one who has provided a cause of death; likewise also he who rashly gives poison. Those who make someone go insane by poison are held by the law concerning injury. He is held by the law concerning murderers who prepares, or sells, or possesses poison for the sake of killing a man. If anyone, albeit with no evil intent, provides a woman with a conception-inducing medicine, and the recipient dies, the provider is relegated. If any free person or slave, under any pretext, gives a potion to a man, or woman, or maidservant, or mistress, and they fall ill from this and die, the one who provided it shall be punished by the sword. ^D Those who perform what are called philtres, for the sake of winning human affections, let them be deported with confiscation of property. And the sixtieth novella of Emperor Leo says: If anyone is found to be practicing such magical arts at all, whether under the pretext of physical healing or to avert damage from the harvest, he shall be made to suffer the ultimate penalty, enduring the punishment of apostates.

CHAPTER II. On effeminacy. Look for chapter 28 of letter K. CHAPTER III. On those who are drunk. Look for chapter 35 of letter K.

^A CHAPTER IV. On the transposition and translation of bishops or clerics. Look for the 9th chapter of the letter A.

CHAPTER V. That penitents must not be rejected. The 52nd canon of the holy apostles says: If any bishop or presbyter does not receive one who turns from sin, but rejects him in detestation, after the manner of that old Novatus, let him be deposed, because he causes distress to Christ, who says, "There is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents," who for the salvation of sinners bowed the heavens and descended; who said he had not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance; whose mercy forgives all our sins; who also said through the prophet: "Speak you first your sins, that you may be justified." Look in the following 7th chapter for the canon of the Council of Carthage. The 2nd canon of the Council of Laodicea judges those who have been caught in various sins, and by confession and repentance opposed to those evils, showing a future life diametrically contrary to the former, according to the proverb, to be worthy of holy communion, not because of their pursuit of virtue, but because of the mercies of God and his ineffable goodness.

CHAPTER VI. On the places of repentance. Penitents are divided into four ^B orders: into the mourners, the hearers, the substrati (prostrate), and the consistentes (standing with). The mourners are those who stand outside the door of the oratory and beg for the prayers of the faithful who are entering and leaving, and for the remission of their sin. The hearers are those standing inside the door in the place called the Narthex, and hear the divine Scriptures and common instruction, and then go out with the catechumens. The substrati are those standing inside the church, but behind the ambo, and they also go out with the catechumens when "As many as are catechumens" is proclaimed by the deacon. The consistentes are those who pray and sing together with the faithful, but abstain from the communion of sanctified things until, the fixed time having been fulfilled, they are finally fully admitted to the holy communion. ^C

CHAPTER VII. That according to the disposition of the penitents, it is allowed for the bishop either to relax or to increase the penalties for them. The 12th canon of the first council establishes the bishop as an unerring judge, to either diminish the penalties and decide something more humane regarding those who perform repentance from a sincere mind, and are walking rightly in the fear of God, and making him propitious with tears, and patiently endure the affliction of the penalties, and before all things apply themselves to the practice of good works, and share of their goods with the needy, and both by deed and by appearance [manifest] their conversion. ^D

^A Or again, not to relax the rigor at all, if one should see that the person who has been rebuked is disposed toward his rebuke indifferently and loosely, and is satisfied only with the form of entry into the church, and is not grieved or suffering indignantly that he is separated from the faithful, and shares the standing and departure from the temple with the catechumens.

The second canon of the Synod in Ancyra also decrees these same things, granting authority to the bishops, according to the labor, lowliness, and meekness of the one doing penance, either to add to or take away from the penalties. Indeed, the fifth and seventh [canons] also grant to the bishops the power either to remit or to extend the penalties for those doing penance, depending on whether they show a more fervent or a more sluggish repentance; they command them also to examine the life they lived before, and that which followed, whether they live temperately or loosely and negligently, and thus to measure out their philanthropy.

The 102nd canon of the Sixth Synod says: "He who has received authority from God to bind and to loose must consider the quality of the sin and the disposition of the one who has sinned toward his conversion, whether he inclines toward health or, on the contrary, by his own habits invites the sickness upon himself, and thus bring to the wound a medicine that is appropriate, lest by using immoderation in either case, he fail in the salvation of the sufferer; for the sickness of sin is varied and multiform. Every method is taken by God, and by him to whom the pastoral leadership has been entrusted, to lead back the wandering sheep, and to heal the one wounded by the ^B serpent, and neither to impel it toward the precipices of despair, nor to loosen the reins toward the dissolution and contempt of life; but by one means or another—whether by harsher and astringent, or by softer and gentler medicines—to resist the affection, and to strive for the closing of the ulcer, examining the fruits of repentance and wisely dispensing and governing the man who is called to the higher illumination. It is necessary, therefore, to know both those things which are of strict law and those which are of custom or sympathy; and in those cases which do not admit of extremes, to use the manner of sympathy, as the holy and great Basil teaches. For in his third canon he says: 'In sum, the truer remedy for a fall is departure from sin, and through temperance and affliction to reduce the flesh into servitude and subject it to the spirit; for thus he who does penance will provide us with a perfect proof of his healing.' The curators of souls must indeed know both: the things that are of strict law and the things that are of custom. And if those who have confessed admit the things that are of strict law, to deal with them according to its prescription: but if they struggle against it, they must follow the custom of concession.

^C In his 74th canon: They who have received from God the authority to bind and to loose cannot be blamed if, of those who confess,

^A they demonstrate a more earnest and fervent repentance, it pleases them to shorten the allotted times of the penance, since the history in the Scriptures pledges to us that those who confess with greater exertion obtain the mercy of God more quickly.

At the time of the most holy Patriarch Luke, when a certain soldier committed voluntary homicide, a certain bishop gave him a written absolution after a very short time; and being called to account by the synod, he put forward the present canon. But he received the answer that while it has been granted to high priests to both increase and decrease the penalties from the canons, it is not permitted to use a concession that is unexamined and excessive. Wherefore, the synod subjected the soldier to the penalties required by the canons, but it demanded satisfaction from the high priest, namely, suspension from his duties for a determined time.

^B The great Gregory of Nyssa, in his third canon, says: "For those who have engaged in a more diligent conversion and have shown in their life a return to what is good, it is permitted to him who manages affairs for their benefit to shorten the time, and more quickly restore communion to them, according as he has put to the test the condition of the one being healed. For just as it is forbidden to cast pearls before swine, so also it is absurd to deprive of the precious pearl him who has already become a human being through cleansing and freedom from passion. For everywhere in cases of offenses it is necessary to discern before all else what the disposition of the person being healed is, and not to suppose that time is sufficient for healing—for what healing ^C could come from time?—but rather the intention of the one healing himself through conversion."

There is, he says, a certain difference in the rationale of repentance, such as this: he who has been moved of his own accord to the confession of his sins, by the very fact that he wished of his own impulse to be the accuser of his hidden deeds, as one who has already begun the healing, is dealt with through more humane penalties. But he who was caught in the evil, or was convicted involuntarily through some suspicion or accusation, is in a state of intensified conversion, so that having been cleansed through exacting precision, he may thus come to the communion of the holy things. Look also in chapter 32 of the [E] letter for the 82nd canon of the great Basil, and in chapter 23 of the [K] letter for the 61st canon of the same, and in chapter 8 of the [Σ] letter for the 70th canon of the same, and in chapter 23 of the [K] letter for the 11th canon of Gregory Thaumaturgus.

The divine Chrysostom, in the second sermon of *On the Priesthood*, says: "One must not simply apply a penalty according to the measure of the sins, but the disposition of the sinners must be looked into, lest while you wish to sew together what is torn, you make the rent worse; and while you are eager to set upright what has ^D fallen, you render the fall greater. For as for those who are weak and lax, and for the most part bound by the luxury of the world, and even possess great pride from their lineage and power, one must gently and

^A little by little turn them back from the sins in which they labor, so that, if not completely, they may at least in some part be able to free themselves from the evils that hold them. But if one should suddenly apply strict discipline, he will deprive them even of a lesser discipline and correction. For the human soul, once it is compelled to cross the boundaries of shame, falls into despair; and it no longer obeys gentle words, nor is it bent by threats, nor moved by kindnesses, but becomes much worse than that city of which the prophet, rebuking it, said: "You had a harlot’s forehead, you refused to be ashamed before all." For this reason, the shepherd needs great prudence and a thousand eyes to observe the state of the soul from every side. For just as many lose heart ^B and fall into despair of their own salvation because they are unable to endure bitter medicines, so there are some who, because they have not paid a penalty equal to their sins, fall into contempt and become much worse, claiming for themselves a greater license for sinning. Therefore, none of these things should be passed over without examination; rather, after everything has been investigated carefully, one should then apply the appropriate remedies that are within one’s power to the person seeking help, so that one’s effort may not be in vain.

The great Basil, in the 84th canon, says: "We write all these things so that the fruits of repentance may be tested. For we do not judge such things entirely by time, but we pay attention to the manner of repentance. But if they remain attached to their own habits and wish to serve the pleasures of the flesh rather than the Lord, and do not accept the life ^C instituted according to the Gospel, we have no common ground with them. For we have been taught to hear, amid a disobedient and gainsaying people, 'Save your own soul.'"

And in the 85th canon, he exhorts the high priests and all who have the power to bind and to loose not to consent to those who sin, lest by sustaining communion with those who persist in their sins, they perish together with them; but they should testify to them night and day, both privately and publicly, and not consent to their wickedness, but indeed desire to win them over and snatch them from the snare of the evil one. But if we are unable to do this, he says, let us at least strive to save our own souls from eternal condemnation.

The 46th ^D canon of the Council of Carthage orders that mimes and stage actors and all who live in a disorderly manner, and others who provide a cause for a dissolute life, as well as tricksters and dancers, and furthermore apostates—those who have renounced Christianity—who turn to God through repentance, are not to be turned away, but rather that grace should be given to them, that is, the remission of sins (as has been said somewhere by the blessed Paul: "By grace you have been saved"), and reconciliation, that is, the absolution of penances.

CHAPTER VIII. That those still doing penance, when death is imminent, should be accounted worthy of holy communion; but if they recover, they should again abstain from it.

^A The 13th canon of the First Synod decrees that those who are still subject to the penances of repentance, and have fallen into a serious illness which, as far as can be conjectured, threatens to end their life, should not be deprived of the final and most necessary provisions for the journey—I mean the participation in the holy mysteries—but, with the bishop's approval, should be accounted worthy of them in their final breaths. But if, as it may happen, they recover from the illness and return to health, they should be barred from divine communion, and stand again in the place of their former penances, until the prescribed time for them has been measured out.

The 7th canon of the Synod in Ancyra also decrees this: that if a person doing penance should encounter danger and the expectation of death from illness or any other cause, such a person should be received into communion, but under a condition; for if they escape death, it shall not be permitted for them to take communion if the fixed time of the penances has not been completed.

The 5th canon of the great Gregory of Nyssa says: If anyone, he says, has not completed the time fixed by the canons and departs this life, the humanity of the Fathers commands that he should be made a participant of the holy mysteries, so that he is not sent forth empty of provisions for that last and long journey. But if, after having been a participant of those holy things, he should return to life, let the ordained time remain, ^B and let him be constituted in the same rank in which he was before the communion was given to him by necessity.

This is the humane intention of the Fathers: if death should draw near to one who is still being purified by the medicines of repentance, and the final day seems to be at hand, it is granted to presbyters to give him communion, so that no one may depart bound by them; but if he should recover his health, with the time interval not yet completed, he remains subject to the former penances, and must await from the presbyters the sign of forgiveness, once the time of repentance, that is, the filth of sin, has been consumed.

CHAPTER IX. That the receiving of the confessions of penitents, and the absolute power to loose and bind sinners, is given to the bishops, and by their commission, to the presbyters as well.

The 6th canon of the Synod of Carthage has forbidden the performance of the making of chrism—that is, the administration of holy oil—and the consecration of virgins, done according to ancient custom, and the reconciliation of penitents, which is the declaration of confessions and the remedy for the wounds of the soul, through the penalties of repentance and the conversion to what is better (for thus is a man reconciled to God)—it has forbidden these things to be done ^C by presbyters; for the administration of these is entrusted to the high priests, seeing that they possess the power to bind and to loose, and bear the type of the apostles, to whom this power Christ delegated ^D

^A; so that those ^B ordained monks who receive the reasonings of men without the permission of the bishop act evilly, and very dangerously; for they have the authority neither to loose nor to bind, and much more so the unsanctified monks; for to them it is not at all permissible even to accept the reasonings of men and to judge them. But also the seventh [canon] does not think that presbyters ought to perform the reconciliation of penitents, if they are in danger of death, without the permission of the bishop. The 43rd [canon] ordaining these same things says, "If the bishop is absent, and he who is in repentance has come into a time of danger, let the presbyter also reconcile him." Seek also the 8th chapter of the letter K, and in the 31st chapter of the letter E the 40th canon of the council at Neocaesarea. ^C

That afterwards it seemed better to use more humane punishments in civil laws.

Furthermore, the older laws are changed in a more humane direction, and not as they had judgment before, in the so-called revision of the laws; for this abolishes the custom of immediately putting to death those who are caught in great crimes. For the emperor who made this repeated correction approved none of those punishments which are in the digests or institutes [as] cruel; for he decreed neither to execute by beheading, nor to stone, nor to burn, nor to fasten a noose; he even prohibited suffocation in the depth of the sea. Although he sometimes orders some capital punishments to be given, yet, he says, not those which are deadly, but only to be banished, or to be enclosed in a prison, the gouging out of eyes, the cutting off of a hand, and other injury to the body, which might provide an opportunity for conversion to the one being punished, by the extension of time, and repentance to those who have fallen. For in all the laws of the novellae it seems [better] to interpret the preceding laws in a more humane way, and so for sentences to be carried out. If, then, the civil laws are practiced with such humanity, much more so the ecclesiastical [laws]. For we have been taught to cut off heretics from the body of Christians, and likewise those held by absurd crimes, but we have not learned to punish, but to hand over the incurable ones to the civil law, so that the sentences brought against them by the magistrates may be carried out. ^D

CAP. X. Concerning those who eat of impure foods.

Saint Gregory Thaumaturgus in his first canon says, "It brings no heavy damage if captives tasted of foods forbidden among the barbarians, or even those sacrificed to idols, on account of necessity and bodily force, the nature [of the body] necessarily demanding food." For the Savior Himself said, "Not that which enters into the mouth defiles a man, but that which comes out." Therefore, those who have eaten impure foods are punished less, if, laboring under the yoke of servitude and the lack of legitimate nourishment, they

^A have nevertheless sought out such things; but if, prioritizing luxury and gluttony, they have not abstained from impure things, they are held blameworthy and shall be punished more severely. See also in chapter 1 of the letter A, canon 7 of the Synod of Ancyra.

Chapter XI. Concerning mimes and stage actors.

Chapter XII. Concerning leasing.

Chapter XIII. Concerning betrothals.

Chapter XIV. Concerning adultery.

one head has been fitted. ^A If, therefore, anyone acquires his own vessel, as the divine Apostle calls it, the law of nature permits its rightful use; but if anyone turns outside his own, he will certainly find himself in another's, and for everyone, everything that is not one's own is 'another's,' even if it does not have a manifest master. Therefore, to those who examine the matter a little more carefully, fornication has been shown not to be far from the sin of adultery, since the divine Scripture also says: 'Do not be much with another woman.' ^B However, because a certain indulgence, or administration and concession, was granted by the Fathers to those who are weaker, the sin has been distinguished by this general division: fornication is called the fulfillment of desire which occurs without any injury to another man; but adultery is the treachery and injury that is inflicted upon another man. The universal remedy for this is that a man should become pure from the rage of passions regarding such pleasures through repentance. ^C But since no injury is mixed into this sin by those who are defiled by fornication, for this reason the time of penance is doubled for those who are defiled by adultery, since their sin is also double: one part consisting in the illicit pleasure, and the other in the injury that is done to another. Since, therefore, those who are defiled by fornication are deemed worthy of communion after nine years, the sin of adultery is doubled in time, extending to eighteen years; yet according to the disposition of the defiled, participation in the holy mystery is granted either sooner or later. Seek also the first canon of this in the first chapter of the letter A.

The Great Basil, in his 58th canon, casts the adulterer out of communion for fifteen years.

The 20th canon of the Synod of Ancyra, reducing the penalty of the adulterer and adulteress to seven years, deems them worthy to attain what is perfect after the completion of these.

The 61st [canon] of the holy Apostles does not permit at all that one who has been clearly convicted of fornication, or adultery, or any other prohibited act, be promoted not only to the priesthood, but not even into the clergy.

The 8th canon of the Synod of Neocaesarea declares that it is not lawful to ordain to any ministry the husband of an adulterous wife; and if he is already initiated into a sacred order, if his wife has committed adultery, it orders him to either separate from her, or if he is unwilling to separate, to be removed from the priesthood. ^D For, having been contaminated by the union with one who is defiled, being himself impure, he would not be worthy to handle the pure and holy mysteries. For although it is permitted for a man to take back an adulterous wife without discrimination and to forgive the sin, this is not permitted for those who are ordained, according to

the ^A apostolic canon which commands that one who cohabits with a woman who has been cast off from marriage should not become a priest; whom you may also seek in chapter 4, letter Γ.

Great Basil in canon 34 says: "Our Fathers did not say that those who have been defiled by adultery, and who confess their sin out of piety and fear of the coming judgment, or who are convicted in any way—either by the swelling of the womb or by the birth of an infant while their own husband is far away—should be publicly exposed, by forcing them to traverse the stages of penance, that is, of the weeper, the hearer, and the prostrator, lest we provide a cause of death to those who have been convicted. For the husband of such a woman, seeing her going out of the church with those who are under penance, and not needing more manifest proofs that the laws of marriage have been violated, will immediately kill her; for according to Solomon, the spirit of a man is full of jealousy. Therefore, they ordered that she stand with the faithful and pray with them without communion, until the time of penance is completed."

In canon 37: "Whoever corrupts another man's wife or one betrothed to another, and after she has been taken away, marries her, in the first instance he shall be accused of adultery; but in the second, he shall not be held liable, the woman being free from her husband."

In canon 39: "An adulteress is one who lives with an adulterer, that is, one who has committed adultery with someone, and after the death of her lawful husband, has joined herself to the adulterer under the guise of marriage; for such a one is not permitted to cohabit with him, neither by the laws of the Church nor by civil laws. And if she does not desist, her sin is not absolved, even if she completes the time of the penances." Seek also chapter 5 of the letter Γ, and indeed also chapter 16.

Laws.

He who is accused of adultery with a woman cannot take her as his wife.

We command that all who find their wives committing adultery and do not divorce them shall be punished. For he who does not divorce his own wife who has committed adultery is a pimp, but not he who merely suspects it.

But now, even after the condemnation, the husband can take back his adulterous wife from the monastery, according to the 117th Justinian Novel, which says: "We command that an adulterous woman, having been subjected to the appropriate penalties, be cast into a monastery; and if within two years the husband wishes to take her back, we give him the power to do so and to dwell with her, with no danger threatening him from this. For the marriage receives no prejudice from the things that were done in the interval. But if the aforementioned time has passed, or the husband dies ^D before taking her back, we command that the woman be shorn and take on the monastic habit."

If a husband, having accused his wife of adultery, convicts her, then, once the separation has occurred, we command that the man, in addition to the gift made before the marriage, also

^B receive the dowry; and in addition to this, if he has no children, he is to receive from the rest of the woman’s property as much as is known to be the third part of the dowry, so that both the dowry and the penalty defined by us may be adjudicated to his ownership. For if he has children from her marriage, both the dowry and the rest of the woman’s property are to be preserved for the children, and in this way the adulterer, once lawfully convicted, is to be punished together with the woman. And if the adulterer has a wife, the dowry and the gift made before marriage are to be kept safe for her; but as for the rest of the husband's property, if there are ascendants or descendants up to the third degree, they are to receive it; but if there are none, it is to be adjudicated to the public treasury.

Let adulterers be beaten and shorn, and let their noses be cut off; but let the go-betweens and the wicked abettors of such a crime, once beaten and shorn, be sent into perpetual exile.

Furthermore, the 32nd novella of the Emperor Leo establishes the appropriate penalties for adulterous men and women.

The 38th [novella] punishes the adulterer and the adulteress with the cutting off of their noses, and decrees that the husband of the adulteress shall gain the dowry, but that she herself is to be confined in a monastery, though not shorn against her will; and that her children and the monastery are to divide the possessions that are beyond the dowry; but if she has no children, her parents or those otherwise related by kinship [are to do so].

An action for adultery is brought not only for the defilement of a lawful wife, but also over a union which cannot subsist, and an unlawful one, and betrothals, and concubinage.

He who catches an adulterer with his own wife in the act, if it happens that he kills him, is not punished as a homicide; for the husband is able to kill the adulterer in his own home in the act, provided he is a stage-performer or infamous. But it is not granted to husbands to kill their wives who have committed adultery.

Different laws then command that a woman not be condemned as an adulteress otherwise than through manifest proofs—that is, through five witnesses swearing they saw the adultery being performed in the act. For this reason not everyone can bring an action for adultery, but only five persons: the husband, her father, brother, paternal uncle, or maternal uncle; for in this way the pretext for the inquiry becomes more credible. But if they are strangers who accuse, if they bring proof, the adulterers are punished by the cutting off of their noses; but if they are proved to have brought the accusation out of enmity, they themselves undergo the same penalty. However, the woman who confesses herself that she has committed adultery is not condemned, which is also something new.

He who has two wives ^D shall be beaten, and the woman superinduced by him shall be expelled, along with the children born from her.

He who has presumed to have two wives, not by law but by an act of his own choosing, is subject to the penalty for adultery.

It is necessary to know that there are persons who sin and yet are not corrected; for instance, he who corrupts his own slave’s wife, and he who commits adultery with a woman who has been multi-defiled and is often-shared, is not subject to the charge of adultery, but only to that of fornication. And the man is punished as an adulterer, but the woman is not corrected, whenever he has taken her by force, and against her will, even if she, blushing, did not immediately report what had happened to her husband. ^A

Chapter XV. Concerning Monasteries and Monks.

The first canon of the so-called First and Second Council forbids the building of a monastery without the consent of the bishop, who must first perform the customary prayer; the monastery itself, and all that is donated to it by the founder, must be inscribed in a register, and the register must be deposited with the bishop, so that the one who dedicated it may no longer be able to appropriate any of these things again. For what he has alienated from himself by dedicating it to God through the monastery, how can he, as if he were still the master, manage these things, let alone sell them to others? Nor does it allow the superior of the monastery to be appointed by himself without the bishop’s consent, nor to appoint another in his place. For if one cannot, without a plausible reason, take back from a man what has been given to him, how much less can the dedicator make private property of what has been dedicated to God, as if the dedication were in name only and not in reality? ^B

The twenty-fourth canon of the Fourth Council, as well as the forty-ninth of the Sixth Council, ordain that monasteries that have once been consecrated according to the will of the bishop—who, by habit, offers the prayer before the building, as a kind of unbreakable foundation—must remain monasteries in perpetuity, and the things that pertain to them must be kept inalienable, and they must no longer become secular dwellings; and those who do not observe this are to be punished canonically, specifically the ordained by deposition, and the laity by having them subjected to excommunication. Seek also the seventeenth canon of the Seventh Council in chapter twelve of letter E. ^C

The twentieth canon of the same [council] does not think it right that, from now on, double monasteries should be established, or that nuns should live in close proximity to monks; for this gives rise to scandal and offense for the many. But as for those who have chosen to renounce the world together with their own kinsfolk, let the men enter into men’s monasteries, and the women into women’s monasteries, it says. But as for the double monasteries that have lasted until today, let them be managed, out of reverence for our divine Father Basil who established that they should be thus, according to what he himself ordained; however, for monks to live together and converse with nuns is not right, since that is dangerous and illicit; nor should they be granted the license, that they may converse together, nor eat their food with them;

^A but as for the necessities of life which are brought to the regular nuns by men, let the superior receive these outside the gate with another elderly nun. If, however, any monk desires intensely to see a relative for some necessary matter, let him converse with her in the presence of the superior, using few and brief words, and let him depart quickly.

The fourth canon of the fourth council does not approve of building a monastery or an oratory without the consent of the bishop of the city; however, it commands those monks who sincerely and not as a pretext choose the monastic life, not to treat quietude as a secondary matter, but to attend only to fasting and prayer, and to persevere in the places where they have been appointed. Those who live in this way would indeed be worthy to carry off privileges ^B before other monks; nevertheless, let these also yield to the local bishop, just as the law commands for the clergy, and perform nothing priestly while departing for another region without dismissory or commendatory letters from the bishop. As for those who abandon their own monasteries and wander about the cities carelessly and inordinately, and disturb the affairs of the Church, and also public affairs, so that neither divine matters are administered by their own, nor human matters in the proper order—that is, the things pertaining to life by the laity, and the things dedicated to God by monks and clerics—it commands that these be shut up in the monasteries even against their will, unless some perhaps be entrusted by the bishop of the city with the necessary administration of public business, as being persons from among the clerics or laity who at that time know how to settle these matters more safely and not ignorantly. It also commands the heads of monasteries to receive no slave to the monastic life without the will of his own master, lest the name of God be blasphemed; and that he who transgresses this definition be excommunicated; furthermore, that the bishop of the city ^C should take the necessary care of the monasteries, lest the tranquility of the monks be disturbed by the agitation of affairs pertaining to them. Seek also the 22nd and 25th chapters of the letter E.

Concerning the manner in which those who wish to be tonsured ought to be received.

The 43rd canon of the sixth council, "It is not forbidden," it says, "to any Christian, even if he has sinned greatly, to adopt the monastic state, which accurately depicts for us the life in repentance; for like some pillar it portrays for us repentance by the external habit, and by the manner of life, and by the customs, and causes us to be always mindful of it." Surely ^D the multitude and weight of transgressions should not create despair in us; nor should any way of life stand in the way of anyone attaining this goal so pleasing to God. For our Savior has said: "Him who comes to me I will in no wise cast out."

The 40th canon, "Although, it says, those who, that they might be joined to God, have already [renounced] worldly affairs for a long time

those who have renounced this, to make them participants in that future blessedness ^A is right, but surely not without examination; indeed, it is not even fitting that those who desire to lead the solitary life be admitted by the prefect of the monastery before the proper age. Yet, that piety may be brightly increased, by the superabundant grace of God, one who is ten years old should not be rejected, provided he exhibits character worthy of the profession; nor even one who is still in his tenth year.

The 5th canon of the so-called First and Second Synod decreed that those coming to the monastic life be tested for three years in the monastery while still wearing secular clothing; and that when they have demonstrated, in that time, a commitment to the profession worthy of approval, then at last they should be clothed in the monastic habit. For we know that rash and untested renunciations are, for the most part, ruinous to the good order of monks. Thus, those who carelessly thrust themselves into the monastic life, soon refusing the very labor of pious exercise, wretchedly return again to a life pleasing to the flesh and to worldly things. But if anyone has set the highest store by things pertaining to piety and virtue, such that his past life is a reliable pledge of his future life, then even a six-month period will suffice. ^B Moreover, for those engaged in probation who have fallen into serious illness, the completion of the order is not to be deferred. But as for those who have acted otherwise—namely, the prefect of the monastery or the candidate—it decrees that the former should be deposed from his rule and undergo the condition of a subordinate, while the latter should be led away to another monastery where nothing of monastic rigor is relaxed. ^C

Concerning those who put on the monastic habit without prayer.

But if anyone within the three years puts on the monastic habit without prayers, he shall undergo a great penalty if he should wish to take it off, as someone openly playing with things that are not to be played with; for he shall be forced to wear that habit even if he is unwilling.

The 2nd canon of the same synod directs that no one is to be tonsured and clothed in the monastic habit unless there is first present someone who is to have him in subordination, and who will have concern for the salvation of his soul—someone who himself has been ^D well-exercised beforehand in good works and is skilled in inciting his disciples to virtue.

But those who are tonsured because of illness or grief, only to acquire a reputation for piety from it, and who reside again in their own homes, caring nothing for the toils and labors of the ascetic life—these are to be placed under discipline in a monastery where the bishop shall decide; but he who tonsured him without cause is to be deposed, as one who violates the divine canons and confuses monastic good order. For because of these rash and hazardous tonsures, disgrace is brought upon the monastic life, and it comes to pass that God is blasphemed. But neither is he who has been tonsured at his last breath,

^A as is the custom for monks, though he be believed not dead solely by the fact of his breathing, and yet understands nothing of what is performed upon him, capable of being clothed in the monastic habit, and he shall not be permitted to resume the secular habit or to live a public life again, unless he wishes to be subjected to the bonds of penances. However, this shall not be granted to those who rashly clothe themselves in the monastic habit.

The 19th canon of the seventh synod absolutely forbids all who desire to lead a solitary life in any holy house to gain their admission there—or indeed into any other ecclesiastical order—through the giving of money; for it is not possible to serve God and mammon. Indeed, according to the great Basil, when the beginning is not upright, the whole is to be rejected. It orders the bishop or ^B abbot who has perpetrated this to cease or be deposed; but if the abbot is devoid of priestly rank (for we often see this happen), he shall be cast out of the monastery and sent to another for the sake of discipline. The abbess who has dared such things shall also undergo the same penalties.

Whatever parents dedicate to the monastery from their children’s inheritance may not subsequently be reclaimed; for it is consecrated to God, whether the person who offered it remains in the monastery or departs from it; unless, perhaps, the fault of the one who presides over the monastery causes him to leave.

The sixth canon of the so-called First and Second Council says, "Monks ought to have nothing of their own, as having died to the world on account of the life hidden in Christ." For thus the blessed Luke, ^C representing to us from afar those who gave form to the monastic life, says of the faithful: "No one of them said that any of the things which he possessed was his own; but all things were common to them." Hence, those who wish to lead a solitary life are permitted to dispose of their goods beforehand, and to transmit them to such persons as they may wish, provided they are not prohibited by the law, such as heretics or illegitimate children. For after they have made their profession, the monastery has ownership and dominion of all their possessions, and they are not permitted to concern themselves with or dispose of their own property. But if anyone is caught appropriating any possession ^D for his own use, the superior of the monastery, or the bishop of the region, shall take it and sell it in the presence of many witnesses—to avoid the accusation of slander—and distribute it to the poor and needy. And furthermore, he shall chastise with due correction the one who has attempted to steal such a possession, just like that Ananias. The association of nuns shall also be subject to all these things.

Moreover, the 41st canon of the sixth synod deemed it altogether dangerous and rash for those who have just withdrawn from the common life and diet to immediately shut themselves up in a very narrow cell, and so to become the instructors of a solitary life for themselves. For it is necessary first, in a monastery where there is a great crowd of brothers,

^A to demonstrate a mind prepared for obedience for a period of three years; then, to spend another year in the small dwelling in which they have chosen to be enclosed, fully and firmly demonstrating their firm resolve of mind, so that they might be presumed to be professing that life not for the sake of empty glory, but for the sake of virtue. With the consent of the bishop of the region, they are to remain enclosed and never depart from that little dwelling at all, unless they are constrained by some necessity, whether for the common utility of the people, or because of a disease that indicates that death is all but imminent; but even then, not without the consent of the bishop. If indeed they should wish to depart for other reasons, it is necessary that they be forced into that little dwelling against their will, so that their exit may never be easy for them, and furthermore to subject them to fasts and to macerate them with punishments, so that in this way the inconstancy of their mind may be corrected. ^B “For no one,” says our Savior, “having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of heaven.”

Concerning hermits.

Canon 47 permits no woman to sleep in a monastery of men, nor indeed a man in one of women. For it behooves the faithful, and especially monks, to be beyond all scandal and offense, ^C and to regulate and direct their own life toward what is becoming and pleasing to the Lord. And whoever dares to act contrary to this, both clerics and laymen, it strikes both with excommunication.

Canon 22 of the seventh synod rebukes priests and those who lead a monastic life who dine privately with women, even if these women are related to them by blood. If, however, it is necessary to take them as dinner guests, let it not be otherwise than with divine men present, and honorable and pious women, so that even the very sharing of the table and salt with them may redound to spiritual profit. ^D “For whether you eat,” he says, “or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” And: “All things are lawful to me, but not all things are profitable.” But we are also commanded to cleanse our thoughts, that is to say, to wash them out, or to purge them, or to strike them down, and not to allow them to rise up against us again. But if any one of these is making a journey, and does not know where he may be accommodated for lodging, it is not forbidden to him to go down into a public inn, if necessity urges him, provided he conducts himself soberly and with circumspection. As for those who live with

^A their wives and children, following a secular life, they are by no means forbidden to dine with their wives. For this is free from blame, provided it is done with giving of thanks to God, and not with theatrical gesticulations, or satanic songs, and harlot-like modulations, which that prophetic curse follows: «Woe to them that drink wine with the harp and psaltery,» and what follows.

Furthermore, neither does canon 38 of the Council of Carthage permit monks or clerics to go with impunity to virgins or widows who are consecrated to God, without the consent of the bishop, or, in his absence, of some priest: nor even then to be alone with them, but rather with other clerics or honorable and pious Christians present, so that all suspicion may be removed. «Be without offense,» says the Apostle, «to both Jews and Greeks and to the Church of God;» since we are commanded to avoid evil suspicions, even if they be false. ^B

On moving from one monastery to another.

The twenty-first canon of the Seventh Synod does not permit a monk or a nun to desert their own monastery and betake themselves to another. But if it happens that this occurs, to be received as guests is considered praiseworthy and indeed necessary, lest peradventure they be forced to mix with worldly people living haphazardly; yet they are by no means to be received [as permanent residents] without the consent of their own superiors.

The third canon of the so-called First and Second Synod subjects the superior to excommunication if he does not diligently seek out the monks of his own flock who flee, and bring back to the sacred fold the sickly sheep, having treated it with appropriate remedy. For if the shepherd of irrational animals, who behaves ^C negligently toward his flock, necessarily suffers punishment, why should he who for his own sloth places the salvation of Christ’s sheep at the lowest value not pay inexpiable penalties? But if the monk who has been called back refuses to return to where he departed from, he shall be excommunicated if it seems fit to the bishop.

The fourth canon decrees that a monk who has deserted his own monastery and moved to another, or who has unseemly engaged in revelry in a secular lodging, is to be excommunicated, both he himself and the one who received him, until he who departed returns to the monastery which he basely deserted. If, however, the bishop of the region, taking certain monks renowned for their piety (as happens), removes them from their own monastery and establishes them in another ^D to preside over the monastery (provided that both houses are subject to him), or has committed to them the guardianship of a house: this act renders both those who receive them and the monks themselves free from all blame.

Furthermore, the 80th canon of the Council of Carthage wishes the bishop to be punished who receives a monk belonging to another and promotes him to a clerical rank or to the headship of one of his own monasteries, without the dimissory letter of the

local bishop. And while it permits the bishop to communicate with his own people, and only forbids others from communicating with him, it wills that the monk fall from the clergy or the headship. See also chapter 6 of the letter A, and in chapter 9 of the same letter the 23rd canon of the 4th synod, and in chapter 19 of the letter Γ the 18th canon of the 7th synod, and chapter 29 of the letter Ε; furthermore, see chapters 33 and 20 of the letter Κ, and in chapter 32 of the same letter the 7th canon of the 4th synod. ^A

The 13th canon of the synod in Gangra assigns to the anathema those who have children and, under the pretext of asceticism, leave them to rejoice [in their own course] and do not school them in the ways of piety and the rest of virtue, but rather provide them with what is sufficient for life, supposedly out of great regard for piety and asceticism, as if it were not possible for them to attain salvation in the world. For the great Paul says: "If anyone does not provide for his own, and especially those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever." And prescribing concerning widows, he adds: "if they have brought up children," and he instructs old women to school the young to be lovers of their husbands and lovers of their children; and in other places, he admonishes fathers to bring up their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. How terrible it is that wild beasts feed and cherish their own cubs, and risk their lives for them even unto death, while men in this [matter] surpass even the wild beasts in cruelty. But it is not permitted to one who has already been tonsured to leave his monastery for the sake of the care of his children and to associate with those in the world; for God, who is the Father of orphans and Judge of widows, will take care of their education. ^B

The 14th [canon] deems worthy of anathema also those children who, under the pretext of asceticism, do not treat their own parents with honor, nor choose to support them in their old age, but leave them uncared for, whether they be believers or unbelievers. However, it says, piety must be preferred above all whenever, in fact, unbelieving parents attempt to drag their children into their own impiety. The 19th [canon] says: If any of those who are practicing virginity for the Lord's sake exalt themselves over those who are married, let them be anathema. ^C

Of Nuns.

The 45th [canon] of the 6th synod forbids women who are about to be tonsured from being brought to the altar adorned in overly bright robes, and there putting off that vanity and putting on the garments of monks. For this stirs up turmoil in the soul, as if it were being torn away with difficulty from the pleasures of this world. ^D

The 46th [canon] desires those who choose the ascetic life to remain in the monastery and never to go out. If, however, an unavoidable necessity presses, let them go out with the blessing and permission of the abbess; and only then, not by themselves alone, but accompanied by

elder ones, or the chief ones among those in the monastery, and especially if they are of a youthful age, which is a snare to unguarded eyes, not easily passed by. ^A For to them, in addition to the naturally slippery disposition of the female mind, youth also contributes a great part to wickedness. Moreover, it is by no means permitted for them to remain outside the monastery at night. For the monks, however, when necessity presses, it is permitted, with the blessing of the abbot, to go out even alone, and what is more, sometimes even to stay the night outside their residence. But these things have been said regarding women suspected because of their youth, not of those who are not suspected because of their age and virtue.

192 ^B The 44th canon of the Council of Carthage commands that sacred virgins separated from their parents, by whom they were being very diligently guarded, should be entrusted to the providence of a bishop, or, in his absence, of a priest, so that they may be commended to more venerable women for cohabitation, or even that all the younger ones may dwell together; so that, living together, they may constantly see and keep watch over each other, and not, by wandering hither and thither, bring harm upon the reputation and good order of the Church. However, among us, the cohabitation of younger men and women has now gone out of use, although it is still preserved in the Latin Church.

Following this, the 126th canon [of Carthage] entrusts to the bishop, and to him alone, the duty of veiling virgins, yet not before their 25th year, unless perhaps necessity urges it. But this has been abrogated by the aforementioned canon of the Sixth Council, which decrees that boys and girls even ten years of age may be tonsured. ^C

The 15th canon of the Council of Gangra subjects to anathema those women who, on account of their supposed piety, cut their hair, inasmuch as they destroy the symbol of subjection; just as the Apostle says somewhere, "A woman ought to have power over her head," that is to say, the sign of her subjection toward her husband, namely the hair. And again, "If it be shameful for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered." And, "If a woman grows her hair, it is a glory to her, for the hair is given to her for a covering." Indeed, nature herself knows that hair pertains more particularly to women, so that she never brings baldness upon them. Nevertheless, a woman who has chosen the monastic life will be tonsured, even against her husband's will. ^D

Concerning monks and nuns who have fallen.

The 19th canon of the Council of Gangra decrees that men and women who have professed virginity, although they may still be wearing lay garments, and have not yet been numbered among the enclosed or clothed in the monastic habit, if they have rendered their vow void and have lapsed into lawful marriage, are to be subjected to the definition and penalty of those who contract a second marriage.

Great Basil also, in his sixth canon, says: "The fornications of canonical persons—that is to say, of clerics and monks, and of those women who devote themselves to exercise—must by no means be considered as marriage." For that will not hold among us, which

^A in the civil law is held: "He who enters into marriage with a free woman who has not made a profit from her own body, is deemed to have not a concubine, but a wife." On the contrary, it is better in every way to break their union, even if they should wish to enjoy that pleasure, since they have fallen from their honor. For this will be useful to the Church, in that the rest may be inhibited from such deeds, and no handle will be given to the heretics against us, as if we were drawing men of another sect to ourselves through a license to sin, by permitting them to persevere in their faults and not prohibiting such unlawful marriages.

In canon 18, it says: "Although the Fathers in Ancyra decreed that virgins who fall after having promised to preserve their virginity should be punished as digamists, yet, because the grace of God has now caused the Church to grow, it is fitting that these be subjected to the penalties of adulteresses," and there he confirms his own opinion with various arguments. We define those, however, as being they who, having passed their sixteenth or seventeenth year of age, have willingly confessed celibacy, ^B and have said "many greetings" to marriage; but not those whom parents or kinsmen have coerced, managing some worldly affair for themselves thereby, since they perhaps do not have wherewith to pay a dowry for them. It is not becoming to accept these, who are not moved by their own impulse, easily, until we have openly investigated their own mind. However, regarding nuns [monialibus] and virgins who profess the ascetic life, this does not hold. For even if they have put aside the worldly hair at an age even more tender than that which that holy man defined, their profession for the future shall be firm.

In canon 19, it says: "We do not know of a profession of men, unless they have numbered themselves in the order of monks, who indeed seem to accept celibacy in silence." But yet it is right that these also be interrogated and openly confess celibacy, so that, if they deceive the profession they have given, they may be punished as guilty of fornication. ^C Nay, even monks who have merely put on the rags, but have not made such a profession, can neither change their habit nor proceed to marriage.

In canon 60, it deems it right that she who has professed virginity and has set aside her promise should fulfill the time for the sin of adultery, that is to say, 15 years. The canon says that the same should also be done for those who have professed the monastic life.

Furthermore, Saint Chrysostom, in the second epistle to Theodorus, says: "For to be joined to the heavenly bridegroom, and then to leave him and join oneself to a woman, is an act of adultery, even if thou thyself callest it matrimony a thousand times. For that is so much the more grievous than adultery, by as much as God is better than men. For if the woman does not have authority over her own body, but the husband, much more are they who live in Christ not masters of their own body."

The 44th canon of the Sixth Synod: the monk convicted of fornication, and who has used both penance and confession, ^D [is to receive] clemency...

^A is ordered not to be punished more than fornicators. I believe, therefore, that this canon ought properly to prevail, as it is later than the others. Seek also ^B in the chapter of the letter Γ, and in the 12th chapter of the letter Δ, the 4th canon of the 4th Synod, and in the 12th chapter of the letter E, the 17th canon of the 7th Synod.

Laws

From the 131st novella of Justinian, you may learn indeed that the rules made by founders in monasteries should be piously accepted, unless they are contrary to the canons; for it is not permitted for them to deprive the local bishops of canonical right in the monasteries which are built by them. Nor can the prelates who build monasteries bind the succeeding prelates under penalty, nor have any right regarding matters of this kind; for an unjust separation recoils upon their own heads.

The bishop should not promote the abbot or archimandrite of any monastery solely according to rank; but [should promote] him whom all the monks, or those of better reputation, have elected, swearing upon the Gospels that they did not elect him out of friendship or favor, but knowing him to be of right faith, of chaste life, and worthy of administration, and able to guard the discipline of the monks and the whole state of the monastery. The same also applies to women’s monasteries and asceteria.

The 123rd [Novella] indeed: "In all monasteries," it says, "which are called coenobia, we order, according to the monastic rules, that all dwell in one house, and eat together, and all sleep separately in one house, so that they may mutually provide to one another an example of a chaste life." And all these things should also be observed concerning women’s monasteries.

But its fifteenth chapter: "There shall not enter," it says, "at all, either a woman into a monastery of men, or a man into a monastery of women, either under the pretext of the memory of some deceased person who is lying there, or for any other reason; nor if anyone says that he has a brother or sister or someone of his kin in the monastery. For there is no kinship on earth for monks, seeing that they have emulated the life in heaven. Furthermore, neither should men be laid to rest in the tombs of women’s monasteries, nor should women be buried in men’s monasteries, lest from this a path be given to nature to return to itself, to do what is not lawful, and to behave delicately, and to play, and to do injury to divine things."

But if any woman should be about to be buried in a women's monastery (for we judge it not lawful for a man), only those who carry the bier and the grave-diggers,

^A must approach it; and the nuns must remain in their own dwelling; but only the gate-keeper and the abbess, the directress, if she so wishes, may be present at what is taking place; and when those men have finished the funeral rites as quickly as possible, they must depart immediately, neither having seen any of the nuns, nor having been seen by any of them. But on the third and ninth day, convening as is the custom for the dead, and subsequently for the fortieth-day memorials as well, at the appointed time, they celebrate them. If it is a women's monastery, let the women do all things; if it is a men's, let the men do them.

Let there not be many entrances to the monastery, but perhaps one or two; ^B and let there stand at the gate old and prudent men, who shall neither permit the monks to go out of the monastery without the will of the superior, nor any outsiders to remain or stay at the monastery with impunity, either by night or by day.

He who is coming to the monastic life, if he is known—so that it is certain that he is subject to no condition of fortune—him, when the superior has examined him, let them clothe with the monastic habit; but if he is unknown, let him be tested for three years, and if he be judged worthy, let him be tonsured, with no suspicion that he might suffer anything severe if some trouble should occur after these things. Seek the law also in the 12th chapter of the letter A.

By the foresight of the bishop, let neither monks nor nuns wander about the cities, ^C but let them give their responses through apocrisiaries, remaining in their own monasteries. Seek also in the 7th chapter of the letter K.

If any monk should leave the monastery and pass over to a secular life, he, having first been stripped of his military service and his honor (if he possessed any) by the local bishop and the magistrate, should then be sent back—even against his will—to the monastery, along with the goods that he possesses.

Those who have embraced the monastic life neither act as curators, nor as guardians, nor do they plead the causes of others, not even if those who have the causes are their kinsmen, except on behalf of their own monastery alone, and then only with the consent of the superior.

If a monk should leave his own monastery and go into another, whatever property it appears he has ^D at the time when he left the monastery, we command that these things belong to the first monastery into which he entered.

We forbid parents to drag their children who have chosen the monastic life away from the holy monasteries, or to disinherit them, even if some cause had arisen before the monastic life.

He who is about to enter a monastery should dispose of his own affairs before his entrance; for all that he has is assigned to the monastery, even if he does not expressly state that he has brought them in, and he shall no longer be the owner of them in any way.

He who has children and becomes a monk may, even after he has become a monk,

or after he has entered the monastery, to divide his property among his children, keeping for himself one portion, which also pertains to the monastery. If a monk dies intestate, then his children shall receive the inheritance by intestacy, that is, through the Falcidian law, but the rest is donated to the monastery.

The novella of Emperor Leo, in accordance with the aforementioned canon of the Council, orders that a child ten years old enter the monastery and put on the monastic habit, but not that he dispose of his assets until he reaches sixteen or seventeen years. For I think, he says, that for this reason the great Basil also established this time in his ascetic book, since there is nothing preventing them at that age from deliberating about their own possessions.

Monks ought to have a twofold work: either to be occupied with the Holy Scriptures and to meditate upon them always, or to undertake manual labors befitting monks. For a mind that wanders in idleness can bring forth nothing good.

A layman, and especially a theatrical performer or fornicator, who wears or imitates the monastic and holy habit, is corporally punished and banished by the bishops and magistrates, as one who intends to mock any ecclesiastical institution. Look also in chap. 33 of the letter E; look also in chap. 13 of the letter E. ^C

CHAP. XVI. On the holy myron.

BEGINNING OF LETTER N.

CAP. I. On the building and consecration of temples.

CAP. II. That it is not permitted for banquets to be held within the precincts of the temple, or for there to be shops, or for anything to be offered for sale, or for a beast of burden to be brought in without necessity, or for anyone to stay with a woman.

CAP. III. On exposed infants or those about whom there is doubt as to whether they have been baptized.

CAP. IV. On fasting.

^A to the laity, excommunication; unless, he says, one is detained by bodily weakness. For fasting was introduced for the humiliation of the libidinous flesh; but when that has already been subdued by sickness, it will not be at all necessary to afflict it with fasting. To those who are ill, but who admit the eating of fish, it is unjust that they should not obtain pardon; but to eat meat is nothing less than impious, even if someone suffering from a lethal disease should hope to recover by such a diet. ^B It has indeed been permitted in the Sabbaths and Sundays during the Forty Days to use a somewhat more generous food, according to the apostolic canon, which you should see in chapter 37 of the letter K. But strictly speaking, the forty-day fast before the holy Pascha was the one specifically ordained; for if there were others, the canon would not have been silent about them. Nevertheless, as for those who abstain during other fasting times—I mean the holy Apostles, the Dormition of the holy Theotokos, and the Birth of Christ—no sensible person, I think, would reproach them. Seek also in chapter 37 of the letter K for the 15th canon of Saint Peter of Alexandria.

The tenth canon of Timothy of Alexandria permits one suffering from illness to partake of wine and oil during the fasts before Pascha, and does not oblige them, like others, to xerophagy (that is, dry and meager food); but rather, so that they may be able to endure, he allows them to break their fast either every day or every other day, according to the judgment of the one to whom he has entrusted the governance of his own conscience. Seek also chapter 25 of the letter G.

The 18th canon of the council of Gangra says: If any of those who exercise [the practice of] piety, without bodily necessity, should behave insolently and dissolve the fasts commonly handed down and observed by the Church, and do so with deliberate judgment, let him be anathema. ^C Furthermore, the 41st canon of the council of Carthage mandates that deacons and priests celebrate the sacraments of the altar while fasting, with the exception of one day of the year, on which the Lord’s Supper is celebrated, namely, the great Thursday. For after bodily food, they would perform things pertaining to the spiritual, as it seems. Indeed, when anyone dies in the afternoon, if they who celebrate the holy mysteries are not fasting, he says, let them perform these with prayers only. But this does not obtain today for the reason that we are ignorant of what it signifies. Yet two canons have, I might almost say rightfully, criticized the intermission of the fast. For the 50th canon of the council of Laodicea says that it is not fitting to break the fast in the final week of Quadragesima on the fourth day, by using, that is, luxurious foods, and thereby dishonor the entire Quadragesima; but rather one should spend the whole Quadragesimal period in fasting and dry diet, except for the Sabbaths and Sundays therein. The 29th canon of the Sixth [Ecumenical] Council recounts these same things, as the wording stands, and adds, just as the divine Fathers

grave Fathers have made use of such dispensation for the needs of that time. ^A However, it is not proper for us to abrogate the traditions of the Apostles and the Fathers, hinting at the aforementioned 69th Apostolic canon, as well as this one from the Council of Laodicea.

CAP. V. That one ought not to fast on Saturdays or Sundays.

CAP. VI. That those who fast ought to abstain from foods, yet not as if they were detestable in themselves.

CAP. VII. Concerning Law.

CAP. VIII. Concerning Possession. Laws.

BEGINNING OF THE LETTER Ξ

CAP. I. Concerning the removal of idols.

and the 84th [canon] ordering all idols to be removed from the midst, and that the remains of the idols be uprooted to their very foundations. ^A

CAP. II. That it behooves clerics to receive strangers with hospitality. Look for the 9th chapter of the letter A.

INITIUM LITTERÆ O.

CAP. I. That a bishop and an abbot ought to have an administrator (oeconomus) with them. Look for the 24th chapter of the letter E.

CAP. II. Concerning auguries. Look for the 3rd chapter of the letter E.

CAP. III. Concerning those who suffer noctural emissions. Consult the 38th chapter of the letter K.

CAP. IV. Concerning oaths. Look for the 32nd chapter of the letter E. ^B

INITIUM LITTERÆ Π.

CAP. I. Concerning stage plays. See the 1st chapter of the letter Θ, and in the 15th chapter of the letter M, the 27th canon of the seventh synod, and the 7th chapter of the letter Γ.

CAP. II. Concerning clerics eating in a tavern. Look for the 7th chapter of the letter K.

CAP. III. Concerning episcopal audience. Look for the 28th chapter of the letter E. ^C

CAP. IV. Concerning women who have chosen virginity. Look for the 15th chapter of the letter M.

CAP. V. Concerning the fast on Friday (Parasceve). Look for the 4th chapter of the letter N.

CAP. VI. Concerning a deposit or trust. A deposit is that which is given to some person for safekeeping. If the one who received the thing to be kept loses it due to an incursion of thieves, his heirs shall not be held liable for the loss of the deposit. For he who receives a deposit is held responsible only for fraud, sluggishness, and negligence, unless perhaps something else was expressly agreed upon in specific terms.

CAP. VII. Concerning the Holy Pascha. ^D

Furthermore, other subjects which the present work appeared to demand, so that nothing pertaining hereto should be lacking—insofar as it was granted to us, for us who are insignificant and think and act in minor measure—we have treated not without diligence. Or shall we hold in such neglect the venerable Pascha, in which the summit of the Lord’s dispensation has been accomplished, as to refrain from explaining its methods and their causes, as far as possible, to those who are ignorant of them? For who could justly hold us to blame for this fault? Wherefore, even before the divine oracles, it seems good to me to discuss briefly those things concerning the holy Pascha which it is most important to know, without entirely neglecting the legal one; for types, as is fitting, lead us towards the fulfillment of the truth. That great Moses, then, ordained the legal Pascha to be celebrated on the fourteenth day of the first lunar month. And the first month is that which the Egyptians call Phamenoth, the Greeks Dystros, the Hebrews Nisan, and [which] is called March by the Romans. In which month, indeed, the sun, in its universal course

^A moving through the opposite side of the zodiac, begins for the first time to enter the twelfth part, which those diligent in these matters are accustomed to call the equinoctial [point], and the beginning of the months, and the head of the circle, and the starting-gate of the journey of the planets; while the one before it is the last of the months, and the final twelfth part, and the end of the period of the planets. We believe March to be the first month, from what Moses has said, how God commanded the trees and flowers and grasses to sprout at that time of the year. And we see this command of God being fulfilled, not through any other, but through this law of nature. The aforementioned month, then, as indeed all the rest, differs no less in its names than in the number of its days among each of the aforementioned nations. ^B Yet nature itself restores the equinox each year at the same time, because the duration of the annual cycle always brings forth a high degree of equality to itself. However, the number of days and months, both that which is customary for other nations and that which we use according to the Romans, does not allow the equinox to occur at the same hour or even on the same day. For since the annual magnitude adds almost a quarter [of a day] beyond the 365 days, when the equinox occurs around midday, the following year it will be around sunset, and the next around midnight, and so on until the end. But since again the excess of 365 days does not contain the whole quarter of a day, but falls short by a three-hundredth part, as we shall demonstrate more clearly as we proceed, and since we use the number of days and months according to the Romans, as though the quarter were always being added perfectly, and for this reason we add ^C one day to the 365 days every four years, it happens of necessity that the equinox occurs in the four-year cycles one day earlier. For instance, since at present the equinox has been calculated for us to occur on the eighteenth of the month of March, after three hundred years it will be on the seventeenth; then after another such period, on the sixteenth, and so on forever. For indeed, in the times of Nabonassar, it happened to be near the evening of the twenty-fifth of March; in the times of Philip Arrhidaeus, around midday of the twenty-fourth of the same; when Christ suffered His saving death for us, around midnight of the twenty-third of the same month; but in our own time, as has been shown, around the eighteenth of it. ^D The more learned among the Hebrews, and especially those who dwelt in Judea, such as Josephus and Philo—men who had reached the pinnacle of every philosophy—did not think the legal Passover should be celebrated before the equinox. For they themselves say that the paschal sacrifices must be offered by all alike after the vernal equinox, during the middle of the first month. But those who are more ignorant in their behavior, and are scattered throughout the world, ignorantly suppose the first month to be simply that in which the vernal equinox happens to occur, whether the full phase of the moon encounters it before or after this, without caring in the slightest

^A if the sun has not yet clearly reached the point of the equinox, they carelessly celebrated Pascha even before the equinox. Regarding these people, the seventh canon of the holy apostles seems to deliver a judgment to me, pronouncing excommunication if anyone of the clerical order should celebrate the holy day of Pascha with the Jews before the vernal equinox. For since the canon does not decree that he should be punished for the acts taken separately—celebrating with the Jews, or before the vernal equinox—but suggests that the aforementioned [offense] is to be understood from above as a [single] act, it implies this. Now it happens that when the moon passes through its fifth cycle, to which the twenty-eighth ^B foundation (as many call the number of days that is surplus from the cycles of the moon) necessarily corresponds, and it shines with a full face at approximately the seventeenth of March, it happens that the Jews celebrate the feast at that time, quite ignorantly and rashly; for we see even today those who reside in our cities doing this unlawfully. We, however, securing what is safe and certain for ourselves, and telling those Jews who act impiously that we wish them well, hasten to the next lunar month—which the days of April are wont to fulfill—when it happens that our Pascha is separated from that of the Jews by a long interval of days. For thus did the holy Fathers, most wisely and accurately, contemplate the decrees of the holy apostles, ^C managing to hold the secure path above all else—not, however, that even if after that vernal equinox they perform Pascha, we must celebrate with them. For the first canon of the council at Antioch forbids this, as it seems, deliberately interpreting the meaning of this apostolic canon, because the canon sets down two definitions regarding Pascha, even if it proposes the argument in this way: that we should not celebrate the feast with the Jews, and that we should wait for the vernal equinox. From these, two other definitions necessarily followed: namely, that the feast must be celebrated at the first full moon after the equinox, and indeed not at just any day after that, but on the first day of the week immediately ^D following the full moon. And while the others of the provisions are still kept securely even today, yet the Lord's Day after the full moon is often postponed for us, owing to the addition of two days each year to the legal Pascha, and after them arriving at the Lord's Day. This occurred not out of the ignorance or ineptitude of the Fathers who decreed this law regarding Pascha, but the cause of this is to be referred to the course of the moon. For since the annual motion is completed in three hundred sixty-five and approximately one-quarter days, as has been said, and the average longitudinal passages of the moon are not restored exactly in nineteen years when calculated by the addition of the quarter, but fall short (of completing the cycle) by one

day—sixty-first and thirty-seventh parts of the second; therefore, in years that are not complete, but lacking sixty-firsts and sixty-second parts of a day or almost one day, the said revolution is accomplished. ^A For this reason, two days were aptly added in the investigation of the legal Passover, since the full moon could not exactly reach the day of the month defined by the Fathers; for as we have said, in those years it falls short by one day approximately. This variation in the state of the Passover, the days, and the movement of the luminaries, while it in no way harms religion, actually helps it considerably. For thence the interval of time appears more clearly between the celebration of the legal Passover and our own, with not one—as was the case then—but at least three intermediate days being taken. ^B For this reason, the Fathers altogether transferred the Paschal day to Sunday; and if the legal Passover should fall on a Sunday, they decreed that our own should be moved to the next Sunday following, judging it right and good that we should turn away from their God-opposing and celebrationless festival, and by a long interval separate our Passover from that one in every way, reflecting that it was better to be so situated. These things will be shown to us more broadly as we proceed, where canons are also set forth explaining the equinox and the full moons more generally, and in which years the difference of the conjunctions is clearly shown.

On why we are commanded to celebrate the Passover after the vernal equinox.

^C But it would be profitable to inquire for what reason we are commanded to celebrate the Passover after the vernal equinox. For when God brought the world from non-existence into existence, from the first day until the sixth, there was an exact equinox, with neither the day nor the night exceeding the other by even an instant. For although the fourth of the days joyfully beheld the creation of the luminaries, it was not yet granted to them to perform the annual revolution, as is now the case in nature. For the sun, immediately entering the first equinoctial point of the zodiac, stood in the first degree of Aries; while the moon, in the region diametrically opposed to it, stood at the autumn equinoctial point, or Libra, not at all leaping ahead of the sun, as it is now accustomed to run today. For it could not be otherwise that it might keep its full brightness exactly (insofar as God showed us that from the beginning He made nothing imperfect), even though this portion which is turned toward us, while being fully illuminated, exhibits to us various phases on account of the variety of the movement. ^D Therefore, both lights, or rather, moving immutably together with the entire universe, were as if awaiting the end and consummation of the creation of the world. But on the sixth day, man is formed by the hand of God, while the equinox still shone beautifully, and the moon stood opposite the sun with a nearly equal abundance of splendor. For it was not fitting that the first man should be created before the equinox, when everything was already covered in darkness, he who, because of his great kinship with the light, has not without reason been called [by those] who were strangers to the light of piety. But the luminaries of the world

^A (which were soon to be subjected), as they began to fulfill the order of creation, it was necessary that they, being about to take up the dominion of creation (since the time had to be ordered otherwise), should have begun day and night, which then occurred, from equality, because this nature is prior to inequality, just as a state is prior to privations. For God taught us by this that the law of equality, in which the very nature of virtue consists, is more ancient than all excess and inequality. Then, after the seventh day, when the luminaries began to run as if from starting gates, not however being naturally constituted so as to move with equal speed, a certain irregularity crept in. Since, however, the Lord willed that the fall of man through sin should be repaired and amended by His grace, it was fitting that at the equinoctial beginning of the year, around which man first fell, his restoration should also be prepared; nay more, since at that time the light of piety had to increase and the darkness of impiety to decrease, the saving Pascha is not without reason celebrated after the equinox, when the daylight increases and the darkness of night decreases.

Non-coincidentally, Pascha does not occur on the same day every year, because many things must converge for this. For not only is it required every year that the full moon, which the fourteenth day provides, must coincide with the equinox, but also it must coincide with the sixth day of the week and the twenty-third of March—conditions which met when the first Adam was created and when he was restored by the second Adam. These ^B things rarely happen to coincide at one and the same time; hence the so-called intercalary months, which are introduced, create the irregularity concerning the time of Pascha. For we seek, in the case of the saving passion, primarily, as has been shown, that the fourteenth of the moon be after the equinox; for if it should slightly precede this, there is a divine law among us to reject that lunar month entirely and to proceed to the fourteenth of the following one; then to celebrate Pascha on a Sunday, and not to celebrate together with the Jews. For which reason, even if the Jewish Pascha should fall on a Sunday, we defer ours to the following one, which will be pure, indeed, and free from the Jewish observance. ^C Because of these things, therefore, an irregularity arises concerning the Paschal feast, and we miss for the most part the proper day of the month. For the Lord underwent the saving passion in the current year, the sun then passing through the cycle [of the year], but the moon being on the tenth day; and while the Jews were celebrating the Jewish Pascha on the last day of the week, as the evangelists testify, calling that day a great Sabbath, and on the twenty-fourth of March, on the following Sunday—which was exceptionally dedicated to the sun, and which consequently ended on the twenty-fifth of March—that intelligible sun of righteousness, Christ, rose from the tomb. Since, therefore, the ^D

legal ^A Pascha, as has been said, is celebrated on the fourteenth day of the moon after the equinox, habitually falling between the 21st of March and the 18th of April, while ours is kept on the Sunday immediately following; and since the sun is the arbiter of both days and weeks, and regulates the cycles of both luminaries—we most easily investigate the proposed subject. Cycles, therefore, have been established: nineteen for the moon, and twenty-eight for the sun. The lunar ones take their beginning, as if according to a law of nature, from January, which is also their foundation; but those of the sun begin from the beginning of October. I do not think it inopportune to set forth the reasons for these things as well.

Why there are 19 lunar cycles

^A

Why there are twenty-eight cycles of the sun.

The course of the sun extends into twenty-eight cycles, because the 365 and a quarter days of the year make up 52 weeks, and one day remains over each year, and after four years another one. Whence, when we wish to find from the motion of the sun the day of the week, for every solar cycle we add one day, and after four years, because of the bissextile, another one; and thus we find the sought-after day of the current cycle. These remaining days cannot in any other time complete entire weeks, so that they might fall at the end of the year and the end of the week, except in the twenty-eighth cycle. For 28 days become four weeks, and from the 28 quarters of days arises one further week, which cannot happen in any other cycle except in the 28th, or in twice 28, or thrice 28, and so on. And if we wish to extend the number beyond the 19 cycles of the moon or the 28 of the sun, the sought-after result will be found in the further cycles, just as it was recognized in the first, second, or third cycle. ^B

Why the cycles and foundations of the moon begin from the month of January.

We begin to calculate both the cycle of the moon and the foundation from the month of January, because on the fourth day of the week the sun and the moon were produced into being by the word of the Creator, and on the fifteenth course of the lunar month according to March, they first rose, the moon having appeared immediately as fifteen days old and perfect, since God did not wish to create anything imperfect from the beginning; in order that after the setting of the sun—which had risen in the morning and illuminated the whole day committed to it—the moon might illuminate the whole night ^C entrusted to it. From the 15th of March, therefore, until the whole of December, there are nine and a half solar months, which have differing quantities of days; but the lunar months, being always of 29 and a half days, are not only seen to be the same in number, but in addition to these, 11 days remain over. For January and February taken together produce exactly two lunar months. Since, therefore, on the first day of January the excess of 11 days clearly appears after the completion of the full cycle of the moon, of necessity both its cycle and the remaining number begin from January, which is also called the foundation ^D of the days of the succeeding cycle of the moon.

Why the cycles of the sun begin from October.

We say that the periods of the cycles of the sun begin from October, because from the 15th course of the month of March, the sun having risen, until October...

^A of the month of October, the days of the months were carried on alternately with the days of the week. But since the 1st of October was discovered, and the week in the first of its days, from thence we also make our start. For there is no other of the months, save October alone, which has the first of its days coincident with the first day of the week in the first period of the sun. Beginning from this point, therefore, of each of the subsequent months we omit the 28 days, as forming complete weeks, and we take those that lie beyond them, until we arrive at the day concerning which we have the inquiry. That this happened in the first cycle of the creation of the sun is easy to perceive. From the 15th of March, in which the sun had its genesis, until the whole of September, together with the three days that preceded the birth of the sun, the days become 283, which make twenty-nine weeks; for seven times 20 is 140, and seven times 9 is 63; the remainder is that the first of October also became the first of the week.

How the cycle of the moon is found

But when you wish to find the cycle of the moon, take the current year with the fingers of your hands, and calculate. Let there be set, for example, the present year 6843. Since the numbers 108 and 1800 possess the same proportion with respect to the 19 cycles of the moon, subtract first from 6843 the 108. ^B Then from the remainder 6735, remove six times 1100, and you will have as the remainder 3, which is the cycle of the moon. Or if you prefer, hold that small year number alone, that is to say the 43, and add the 17 which remain over from the past century: and the sum that is produced, say 60, divide by 19; the remainders clearly show the cycle of the moon.

How the epact of the moon is found

But you will accurately know its epact if, having multiplied by eleven the cycle of its own which you have found, and added three days to these, you subtract by 30, and hold the remaining number ^C as the epact of the moon. These three days are added because the passes of the moon in longitude do not restore themselves in 19 full years, as has been said; but they fall short by three minutes of a day, and thirty-seven seconds, so that in the space of 304 years the cycle of the moon is diminished by one day almost. For this reason, in the 5115th year of the world, no day was added by the undecuplication of the cycle of the moon; but from that point until the 6233rd year one was added; and from thence until the 6537th year, two; and again until the 6843rd, three; and thereafter, according to the interval of the aforementioned time, four days will be added. Nevertheless, at the present time, if you both multiply the 8th cycle of the moon by eleven and add four days, you could thus be ^D able to find the epact of the lunar month.

How the cycles of the sun are found

Likewise also concerning the sun, hold in your hands the current year...

6843, and since the twenty-eighth number of the cycles of the sun corresponds to 280 and to 2800, subtract 2800 twice from that year, and from the remainder again subtract 280 four times; then, from the 123 that remain, having subtracted 28 four times, there remains an inexhaustible 11, which is the cycle of the sun.

Otherwise. ^B Or also thus: keep the small years of the current hundred-year period, that is, the 43, and add to these the remainder of the past 24, and divide the sum of 67 by 28; the remainder after this division, which is 11, is the cycle of the sun.

In another way. But do not consider this method unworthy, by which you may easily grasp the cycle of both luminaries ^C and understand both. The cycle of the moon (19) and the cycle of the sun (28), when multiplied by each other, produce the number 532, which some call "alpha," because the same sum is formed from the elements of that word. With this, therefore, the completion of the cycles perpetually concurs; for it makes the moon's cycle 19, and the sun's cycle 28. Therefore, divide the years from the creation of the world by 532 in this manner: 12 times 500 makes 6000, 12 times 30 makes 360; 12 times 2 is 24, making in total 6384. The remainder after the division is 461, which is the current year. Now if you wish to find the cycle of the moon for the present year, divide 461 by 19 in this manner: 20 times 10 is 200, 20 times 9 is 180; likewise 4 times 10 is 40, and 4 times 9 is 36. That is, 456 in total. The remainder after the division, which is 5, is the cycle of the moon. You will search for the cycle of the sun in this way: 10 times 20 is 200, 10 times 8 is 80; and 6 times 20 is 120, 6 times 8 is 48. Their sum is 448. The remainders truly show the cycle of the sun.

How the indiction is found.

How the legal Pascha is found.

is in the aggregate of them. And having united them all, cast out the thirties and retain only the remainders less than 30; and to these add the days of March, until you reach the number 50. If all the days of March do not suffice, add also those from April, and on that day of the month which fills out the number fifty, know that the legal Passover occurs.

^A *Otherwise.* If it pleases you to use another method, add three epacts to the foundation of the moon found on the first day of January (but if the moon has reached the 17th cycle and is rising [up towards] the 19th, add four epacts to the foundation); and if the number becomes greater than 30, subtract 30, and add the remainder from the first day of March, until the number 50 is filled. If all the days of March did not fill the 50, add the remaining ones from April, and on that day of the month which filled the 50, know that the Passover of the Law is celebrated.

*Otherwise.* If you prefer, do it this way: keep the foundation of the moon found on the first day of the month of January; to this add from the days of March until they become 47 days, or if those alone do not suffice, add also from the days of April—except for the 17th cycle of the moon, which is decreasing, up to the nineteenth—count 48 days, and know that there the legal Passover is celebrated. However, if the foundation of the moon has more than 26 days, do not take all the days of March, but only one, and from April complete the 47 days.

It is necessary for you to know this, that the full moon according to the legal Passover is properly found at the number 45; for thus one and a half lunar months are completed. Likewise also in the other methods mentioned, which make up the number 50, it is not on that day, but at the number 48, that the moon begins to wane. The anomaly of this, as has been said, also requires two other days, and thus the number 47 is collected from here, and the number 50 from there.

^D *How the Christian Passover is found.*

And in this way the day of the month of the legal Passover is found. But you must also know what day of the week matches it, so that proceeding from there to the Lord's Day [Sunday], and again grasping that day of the month upon it, you may know the time of the Christian Passover to be celebrated. Take, therefore, the cycle of the sun, and add to it the epacts we mentioned—namely, one for every four years, which are the bissextile epacts—then also those of the four months, namely from October to January, where the month consists of days... [missing: thirty], taking two, but three from the one that has 31. From February, however, do not take any, because it has been cut short at the end. And if the legal Passover is found in March...

take also the days up to this Passover; but if it is in April, take also only three from March, and those of April, as many as are found up to the Passover, and joining them all together, divide by 7. And if ^A one day remains, it is Sunday, and you must wait for the following one; if two, Monday; if three, Tuesday, and so on up to seven. And from each, meet at the Sunday, and on that day of the month on which the Sunday is found, say that the Christian Passover occurs.

How Apokreos is found.

After finding the day of the month on which the Christians' Passover occurs, add to this three other days, or four, if the year is leap year, ^B and having joined them all together, if the sum of these falls in March, seek the Apokreos on the day of January with the same number; but if that falls in April, look for it in February. Look also in this way: extend the current lunar base up to the fiftieth, adding to it the days from the first of January onwards, and of the 50th finished number on whatever day of the week it falls, celebrate the Apokreos on the next Sunday with certainty. But if the moon's base progresses to the 26th and beyond, ^C you shall take only one day from January, and the rest from February; and thus you will know on which day the Apokreos falls. If indeed the Apokreos falls in January, the Passover (I mean that of the Christians) will certainly be in March; but if it falls in February, the other [will be] in April; making here a subtraction of only as many days as the addition made there, namely three, or if it is a leap year, four. But also the legal Passover ^D is known from this, since it always falls on the same day of the week which the fiftieth number indicates for the Apokreos, after also here subtracting three or four days of the month.

TABLE INDICATING IN WHICH YEARS THE FULL MOON OCCURS ACCORDING TO THE LEGAL PASSOVER, On what day of the month it falls, and approximately at what first and second minutes of the day, counting from midday.

| | | | | | | | | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | | I. | 6000. 200. 33. | | 6000. 500. 37. | | 6000. 800. 21. | | | II. | 6000. 200. 34. | Mar. 22. 23' 49" | 6000. 500. 38. | | 6000. 800. 22. | Mar. ... 34' | | III. | 6000. 200. 35. | Apr. 10. 23' 40" | 6000. 500. 39. | Apr. 9. 25' 25" | 6000. 800. 43. | Apr. 8. 27' 56" | | IV. | 6000. 200. 36. | Mar. 29. 45' 41" | 6000. 500. 50. | Mar. 28. 47' 50" | 6000. 800. 44. | Mar. 27. 49' 58" | | V. | 6000. 200. 37. | Apr. 17. 39' 34" | 6000. 500. 51. | Apr. 16. 41' 42" | 6000. 800. 45. | Apr. 15. 43' 50" | | VI. | 6000. 200. 38. | Apr. 7. 1' 36" | 6000. 500. 52. | Apr. 6. 3' 44" | 6000. 800. 46. | Apr. 5. 5' 52" | | VII. | 6000. 200. 39. | Mar. 27. 23' 38" | 6000. 500. 53. | Mar. 26. 25' 46" | 6000. 800. 47. | Mar. 25. 26' 44" | | VIII. | 6000. 200. 40. | Apr. 14. 17' 29" | 6000. 500. 53. | Apr. 13. 19' 37" | 6000. 800. 48. | Apr. 1. 23' 27" | | IX. | 6000. 200. 41. | Apr. 3. 39' 31" | 6000. 500. 54. | Apr. 2. 41' 39" | 6000. 800. 49. | Mar. 22. 23' 27" | | X. | 6000. 200. 42. | Mar. 24. 1' 33" | 6000. 500. 55. | Mar. 23. 3' 41" | 6000. 800. 50. | Mar. 22. 5' 41" | | XI. | 6000. 200. 43. | Apr. 11. 55' 25" | 6000. 500. 56. | Apr. 10. 57' 33" | 6000. 800. 51. | Apr. 9. 59' 21" | | XII. | 6000. 200. 44. | Mar. 31. 17' 27" | 6000. 500. 57. | Mar. 30. 19' 35" | 6000. 800. 52. | Mar. 29. 21' 43" | | XIII. | 6000. 200. 45. | Mar. 20. 39' 29" | 6000. 500. 58. | Mar. 19. 41' 37" | 6000. 800. 53. | Mar. 18. 43' 45" | | XIV. | 6000. 200. 46. | Apr. 8. 33' 21" | 6000. 500. 59. | Apr. 7. 35' 29" | 6000. 800. 54. | Apr. 6. 37' 37" | | XV. | 6000. 200. 47. | Mar. 28. 55' 23" | 6000. 500. 60. | Mar. 27. 55' 31" | 6000. 800. 55. | Mar. 26. 59' 39" | | XVI. | 6000. 200. 48. | Apr. 15. 49' 15" | 6000. 500. 61. | Apr. 14. 51' 23" | 6000. 800. 56. | Apr. 13. 53' 31" | | XVII. | 6000. 200. 49. | Apr. 5. 11' 17" | 6000. 500. 62. | Apr. 4. 13' 25" | 6000. 800. 57. | Apr. 3. 15' 33" | | XVIII. | 6000. 200. 50. | Mar. 25. 33' 19" | 6000. 500. 63. | Mar. 24. 35' 27" | 6000. 800. 58. | Mar. 23. 37' 35" | | XIX. | 6000. 200. 51. | Apr. 13. 27' 11" | 6000. 500. 64. | Apr. 12. 29' 19" | 6000. 800. 59. | Apr. 11. 31' 27" |

CYCLUS LUNE.

TABLE OF THE YEARS IN WHICH THE PASCHAL FULL MOON ACCORDING TO THE LAW OCCURS

Which [full moon] occurs, on what day of the month, according to which [calculation] from noon, more precisely, of the 1st or 2nd minute of the day.

| Cycle of the Moon | | | | | | | | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | | A' | 6. 19. 33'. | 6. 500. 15'. | Apr. 22. | 6. 800. 21'. | Mar. 22. | | B' | 6. 19. 34'. | 6. 500. 49'. | Mar. 23. | 6. 800. 22'. | Mar. 23. | | Γ' | 6. 19. 35'. | 6. 500. 13'. | Apr. 10. | 6. 800. 23'. | Apr. 8. | | Δ' | 6. 19. 35'. | 6. 500. 45'. | Mar. 20. | 6. 800. 24'. | Mar. 27. | | E' | 6. 19. 36'. | 6. 500. 30'. | Apr. 17. | 6. 800. 25'. | Apr. 15. | | Ϛ' | 6. 19. 38'. | 6. 500. 52'. | Apr. 7. | 6. 800. 26'. | Apr. 5. | | Z' | 6. 19. 39'. | 6. 500. 47'. | Mar. 27. | 6. 800. 26'. | Mar. 25. | | H' | 6. 19. 40'. | 6. 500. 17'. | Apr. 14. | 6. 800. 28'. | Apr. 1. | | Θ' | 6. 19. 41'. | 6. 500. 30'. | Apr. 3. | 6. 800. 29'. | Mar. 22. | | I' | 6. 19. 42'. | 6. 500. 31'. | Mar. 24. | 6. 800. 29'. | Mar. 22. | | IA' | 6. 19. 43'. | 6. 500. 55'. | Apr. 11. | 6. 800. 29'. | Apr. 9. | | IB' | 6. 19. 44'. | 6. 500. 17'. | Mar. 31. | 6. 800. 29'. | Mar. 29. | | IΓ' | 6. 19. 45'. | 6. 500. 19'. | Mar. 20. | 6. 800. 28'. | Mar. 18. | | IΔ' | 6. 19. 46'. | 6. 500. 33'. | Apr. 8. | 6. 800. 28'. | Apr. 6. | | IE' | 6. 19. 45'. | 6. 500. 55'. | Mar. 28. | 6. 800. 26'. | Mar. 26. | | IϚ' | 6. 19. 48'. | 6. 500. 15'. | Apr. 15. | 6. 800. 26'. | Apr. 13. | | IZ' | 6. 19. 49'. | 6. 500. 11'. | Apr. 5. | 6. 800. 26'. | Apr. 3. | | IH' | 6. 19. 50'. | 6. 500. 17'. | Mar. 25. | 6. 800. 27'. | Mar. 23. | | IΘ' | 6. 19. 51'. | 6. 500. 11'. | Apr. 13. | 6. 800. 28'. | Apr. 11. |

|

Radix of the Moon. Cycles of the Moon. Legal Passover.

| Radix of the Moon | Cycles of the Moon | Legal Passover | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | α'. | β'. | γ'. | δ'. | κσ'. | ε'. | ς'. | | ς'. | η'. | κδ'. | θ'. | ι'. | ια'. | κγ'. | | ιβ'. | ιγ'. | ιδ'. | ιε'. | κζ'. | ις'. | ιζ'. | | ιη'. | ιθ'. | κ'. | κ'. | κα'. | κβ'. | κη'. | | ιη'. | α'. | Apr. β'. | Apr. γ'. | Apr. δ'. | Apr. ε'. | Apr. ς'. | Apr. γ'. | Apr. β'. | Apr. α'. | | κε'. | β'. | Mar. ιβ'. | Mar. κδ'. | Mar. κγ'. | Mar. κε'. | Mar. κθ'. | Mar. κζ'. | Mar. κς'. | Mar. κε'. | | ς'. | γ'. | Apr. δ'. | Apr. ιδ'. | Apr. ιγ'. | Apr. ιβ'. | Apr. ια'. | Apr. ιζ'. | Apr. ις'. | Apr. ιε'. | | ιζ'. | δ'. | Mar. λ'. | Mar. λ'. | Apr. ς'. | Apr. ε'. | Apr. δ'. | Apr. γ'. | Apr. β'. | Apr. α'. | | κη'. | ε'. | Apr. ιη'. | Apr. κα'. | Apr. κ'. | Apr. ιθ'. | Apr. κε'. | Apr. κδ'. | Apr. κγ'. | Apr. κβ'. | | ο'. | ς'. | Apr. ζ'. | Apr. ιδ'. | Apr. η'. | Apr. ιγ'. | Apr. ιβ'. | Apr. ια'. | Apr. ι'. | Apr. θ'. | | κ'. | ς'. | Mar. κζ'. | Mar. λα'. | Mar. λ'. | Mar. κθ'. | Apr. ιη'. | Apr. ιζ'. | Apr. ις'. | Apr. κβ'. | | α'. | η'. | Apr. ιε'. | Apr. κα'. | Apr. κ'. | Apr. ιθ'. | Apr. ιη'. | Apr. ιζ'. | Apr. ις'. | Apr. κβ'. | | ιβ'. | ο'. | Apr. δ'. | Apr. ζ'. | Apr. ς'. | Apr. ε'. | Apr. ιδ'. | Apr. ι'. | Apr. θ'. | Apr. η'. | | κγ'. | ι'. | Mar. κ'. | Mar. λα'. | Mar. λ'. | Mar. κθ'. | Mar. κη'. | Mar. κζ'. | Mar. κς'. | Mar. κε'. | | δ'. | ια'. | Apr. ιβ'. | Apr. ιδ'. | Apr. ιγ'. | Apr. ιθ'. | Apr. ιη'. | Apr. ις'. | Apr. ις'. | Apr. ιε'. | | ιε'. | ιβ'. | Apr. α'. | Apr. ζ'. | Apr. ς'. | Apr. ε'. | Apr. δ'. | Apr. γ'. | Apr. β'. | Apr. η'. | | ις'. | ιγ'. | Mar. κα'. | Apr. κδ'. | Apr. κγ'. | Apr. κβ'. | Mar. κη'. | Mar. κζ'. | Mar. κς'. | Mar. κε'. | | ς'. | ιδ'. | Apr. θ'. | Apr. ιδ'. | Apr. ιγ'. | Apr. ιβ'. | Apr. ια'. | Apr. ι'. | Apr. ις'. | Apr. ιε'. | | ιη'. | ιε'. | Mar. κθ'. | Mar. λα'. | Mar. λ'. | Apr. ε'. | Apr. δ'. | Apr. γ'. | Apr. β'. | Apr. α'. | | κθ'. | ις'. | Apr. ις'. | Apr. κα'. | Apr. κ'. | Apr. ιθ'. | Apr. ιη'. | Apr. κδ'. | Apr. κγ'. | Apr. κβ'. | | ια'. | ιζ'. | Apr. ε'. | Apr. ζ'. | Apr. ς'. | Apr. ιβ'. | Apr. ια'. | Apr. ι'. | Apr. θ'. | Apr. η'. | | κβ'. | ιη'. | Mar. κε'. | Mar. λα'. | Mar. λ'. | Mar. κθ'. | Mar. κη'. | Mar. κζ'. | Mar. κς'. | Apr. α'. | | γ'. | ιθ'. | Apr. ιγ'. | Apr. ιδ'. | Apr. ια'. | Apr. ιβ'. | Apr. ιη'. | Apr. ιζ'. | Apr. ις'. | Apr. ιε'. |

The smaller numbers show on which day the legal Passover falls. Cycle of the sun of 28 years.

ALPHABETICAL SYNTAGMA - II.

Radix (or Foundation) of the Moon. Cycle of the Moon. Legal Passover.

(The remainder of this page consists of the continuation of the table provided in the facsimile, documenting the solar cycle of 28 years and the corresponding dates of the legal Passover.)

The lower numbers show the day of the week on which the legal Passover falls.

Or even thus: Count fifty-six days after Meat-fare [Carnisprivium], that is, from the Monday of the cheese-eating week, and there you shall find the Passover of the Christians. Take, too, the number of days found from the Monday of New Week [Bright Monday] until the third of May, and consider those to be the fasting days of the summer fast of the Holy Apostles. If the current Passover of the Jews is found in the month of March, you must add 19 days, and there the next one shall be found. But if the current one is in April, you must subtract 11 days, and the following one shall be there. But if the moon is in the sixteenth cycle alone, 12 must be subtracted; and the next will immediately be made manifest.

^B

Concerning the Legal Passover and the Dissent regarding the Full Moon.

Most excellent, indeed, and more beautiful than any would suppose, is this table that the Fathers established of old. For it exhibits the cycles of both luminaries—I speak of the sun and the moon—in the outer columns; and by the cycle of the moon, it shows the legal Passover near the truth, while by the other, the sun, it shows the Christian one, which lies in the same straight line as the legal one. Are these letters not, therefore, illustrious images of the things themselves? Do they not excellently set forth the difference between both Testaments? For the moon, representing the borrowed Law, which illuminated—though not most clearly—the true knowledge of God in the night of polytheistic error, being a mystery ineffable to most, and the perfect radiance of the Tri-solar Divinity being as if wrapped in darkness—not without reason does it show the legal Passover. ^C But the sun, pleasing to the view of all, which presents in a certain image the most ample dispensation of grace, and which, clear and open, as well as the beam of truth at midday, and the knowledge of the Trinity which the Sun of Righteousness spread to all, is shown to be the conductor and indicator of the true Passover. Since, however, the Law is accustomed to call an entire period of the moon a month, and decrees that the Passover be celebrated on the 15th of its first month, and since it is our custom to measure those months according to the Roman calculation, this present table has been usefully found, by which it is shown on which day of any Roman month the full moon of the first lunar month occurs, and furthermore on which day of the week that day falls; so that we, proceeding thence to the first day of the week and knowing again which day of the month that same day is, may securely celebrate our Passover.

^D Furthermore, concerning this, our Passover, there are four necessary determinations to be sought out, two of which the apostolic canon establishes, as we have said above in the chapter on Passover, letter II; to which two others are added from unwritten tradition. The first, therefore, is that the Passover must be celebrated after the vernal equinox; the second, that it must not be on the same day as the Jewish rite; the third, that it must not

not simply after the equinox, but after the first full moon that follows the equinox. And the fourth limitation is this: that it must be on the first day of the week immediately following the full moon. ^A Therefore, in order that these four limitations might be observed by all equally, both by the learned and the simple, and that Christians throughout the entire world might celebrate the feast at the same time and not need the help of astronomers on each occasion, our Fathers composed the present canon and delivered it to the Church, thinking that through it everything we have already stated as requisite for the proper limitation would be inviolably preserved.

They established that table in this manner: having taken in order the years from the six thousand two hundred and thirty-third year since the creation of the world up to the year 6251, they calculated ^B the first full moon in each of them following the vernal equinox. The sun, at the time when the Fathers were deliberating on this matter, reached the point of the equinox on the twenty-first day of the month of March, as the tables which we ourselves have constructed clearly show. They noted on what day of March or April each full moon happened to occur, and thus, by combining that nineteen-year cycle of years and full moons into a single two-column table, and having observed that for the space of three hundred years the full moons of the first month following the vernal equinox fall on the same days of the months, they handed down this canon for us to use for the subsequent cycle of the nineteen-year periods, and indeed for all the years that follow.

They judged it not to be absurd, nor harmful to piety, if—on account of the anomalous motion of the moon—after the enumeration of the aforementioned years, this canon should indicate the legal Pascha not on the full moon of the first month, but one or two days later; ^C and if, on account of this, it should sometimes happen that the fourth limitation of Pascha is not observed, in that the addition of the two days causes it to be that the Sunday which follows the first full moon is assigned to the feast of Palms, and we celebrate the saving Pascha on the Sunday immediately following. This is what has recently happened amongst us, and has disturbed not a few, as if some necessary and essential doctrine were being destroyed; yet, even though it was not useless when it originally performed its function aright, it will be shown that it is harmless even now when it deviates.

For this fact did not escape those most excellent Fathers, nor did it happen because of their ignorance of the astronomical art, but because of the motion of the luminaries, as has been said; how this is so, shall be stated presently. The annual movement is completed in ^D three hundred and sixty-five days and approximately a quarter of a day. But the mean motions of the moon in longitude do not return in nineteen entire years calculated by the addition of the quarter-day, but are wanting by sixty-firsts of a day, three, and seconds thirty-seven; and for this reason, in years that are not whole, but diminished by no days, fifty-one sixty-firsts and fifty-two seconds—that is to say, approximately one day—this aforementioned restoration occurs. For when we recently took the nineteen-year cycle after the Fathers, being the seventeenth of the

^A cycle, which begins—it is clear—from the year 6537, and having calculated the full moons occurring therein after the vernal equinox, we found each full moon to occur one day earlier than those in the first nineteen-year cycle, as has been set forth in the canon we published concerning these matters. Likewise, we also calculated similar conjunctions of the [subsequent] nineteen-year cycle, which begins at an equal interval from this one—from the year 6941, to be precise—and we found them to occur, again, one day earlier than those preceding them. And in the subsequent years, those that are separated by an equal interval, one will likewise find a difference of nearly one day in the conjunctions. For this reason, ^B at the present time, two days are found to be added in the calculation of the legal Passover, because the full moon cannot attain the day of the month defined by the Fathers, as it is found to have receded, as has been stated, in a space of 304 years, by nearly one day; so much of a discrepancy has time created regarding this canon.

Concerning the vernal equinox.

Nor did the moments of the equinox remain on the same day. For since the sun performs its own movement slowly along the diagonal through the zodiac, ^C so that its single such revolution renders a complete year, yet it is borne around with nearly equal speed with the movement of the universe, so as to perform a natural day in a single rotation, when therefore it is found at the common intersections of its own circle (that is to say, the ecliptic) and the greatest parallel (that is, the equinoctial), that diurnal motion makes the day equal to the night everywhere. For because the greatest of the parallel circles has equal segments both above the earth and below the earth, when the sun, being carried around upon it together with the universe, travels along, it necessarily makes the periods of time spent above and below the earth equal. For things that move equably traverse equal intervals in equal time. ^D Nay, on account of the equality of night and day that occurs therein, that circle is called the "equinoctial," and the points common to it and the zodiac, on which days it happens that the nights and days are equal, are called "equinoctial" points; and finally, "equinox" is the moment of time at which the center of the sun enters the common intersection of the aforementioned circles. Now there are two such equinoctial points: the autumnal, which lies at the beginning of Libra, in which the sun is situated as it passes from the northern to the southern regions, and the vernal, which is viewed at the beginning of Aries, where the sun's center enters as it moves from the more southern to the northern parts; and that time is called the vernal equinox, after which the divine law commands the Passover to be celebrated. Therefore, with respect to the nature of the universe itself, the equinoxes always occur at the same time, because the magnitude of the annual period is always one and the same. But with respect to the disposition of celestial bodies in relation to the earth, and to the measure of days and months which we ourselves use according to the rite of the Latins, neither at the same hour, nor

^A on the same day does the equinox always happen to occur. For since the annual duration exceeds the 365 days by nearly a fourth part of a day, if the equinox currently falls near midday, in the following year it will be near sunset, in the third year near midnight, and so on to infinity. Hence, indeed, every four years the bissextile day is completed. But then, since the surplus over 365 days does not contain a full quarter of a day, but falls short by a three-hundredth part, and we ourselves use the number of days and months accepted from the Latins—as if a quarter of a day were always perfectly fulfilled, and consequently every four years we add one day to them—it necessarily happens that after 300 years the equinox ^B occurs one day earlier. For instance, at the present time, the equinox occurs on the 18th of March; after 300 years it will fall on the 17th, then after another similar interval on the 16th, and so on perpetually.

Therefore, the vernal equinox for the year 4156 from the creation of the world is calculated by us to have occurred on March 27 around midday; I mean midday according to the meridian of Alexandria. As for the rest of the equinoxes, which are separated from one another by 300 years, each one occurs around the same hour, but one day earlier, as has been set out in the table. The intermediate equinoxes, however, occur in the intervening spaces of the day, that is, at different hours. If, however, you desire a more accurate knowledge of the points in time, in the years of Nabonassar the equinox was near the end of the evening of the 25th of March, but in the time of Philip Aridaeus near ^C midday of the same day of that month; in the time of ^D Aridaeus, near midday of the 24th of the same month. And on those days when Christ by His own death destroyed death itself, passing through the 23rd, it was near that middle of the night; but when the Fathers constructed this table, the equinoctial moment coincided with the 21st of that month. Now, however, among us, as has been shown above, the 18th day of this month is seen to be the equinox, even if taken in a cruder way. Such an anomaly was caused by a very slight deficiency in the motion of the luminaries—even though it has not been long since this occurred—and it has caused the luminaries to recede. Nevertheless, one ought not for this reason to change that canon of the Fathers; for it is not possible to compose another that would so clearly demonstrate to all the aforementioned rules regarding the Pascha. But even if we should wish, as some do, to change it, by two

^A days, beginning from the body of the year, in addition to the fact that it is not even possible for all those throughout the entire world who profess the Christian faith to be persuaded to relearn it, because even after 304 years, and again after as many more, and forever thus, the same error will follow, and it will be necessary to change the table very often. Therefore, it will be much better not to innovate at all; for such an innovation will not only be unable to avoid returning to the same error, but it will also become the cause of no small disturbances in the Church. As the canon now stands, however, those things that must primarily be maintained regarding the Pascha are firmly kept by it: namely, that after the equinox, and indeed even after the moon following the equinox, the solemnities of this feast are celebrated by all, at the same time and on the same day, without dissension. Furthermore, if that periodic canon were correctly ordered in all respects, it would nevertheless often happen that the Pascha would be observed by us on the day immediately following the feast of the Jews. But now, it is celebrated at least three days after their feast. This corresponds even more to the apostolic canon, which determines that the Pascha must not be celebrated at the same time as the Jews; and indeed, this error regarding the Pascha acts as if by deliberate design to ensure that this precept is more strictly observed. Now, however, I think it is appropriate to mention also the necessary sanctions. ^B

The first canon of the Council of Antioch says: "The first council of Nicaea has set forth a decree, in the presence of the most pious Emperor Constantine, that Christians should not celebrate the holy solemnity of the Pascha together with the Jews, but rather, just as in laws and judgment, so too should they be distinguished from them by the difference of days." And those clerics who dare to violate that definition, and who presume to teach the people in such a way, it punishes with the loss of the priesthood; furthermore, those who have communicated with such people, even after their deposition, ^C are also stripped of the honor that pertains to them outside the sacred seat, that is, the cathedra and other privileges. For those who are not deprived of their priesthood for a light offense are not immediately stripped of that honor concerning external matters.

The 66th canon of the Sixth Synod admonishes the faithful to spend time from the day of the Resurrection until the following Sunday in psalms, hymns, and spiritual canticles, and, having omitted public spectacles in the hippodromes, to be more frequently occupied with holy things, for which reason we have been liberated from the bondage of the devil. For, in truth, the Christian must be always prepared to receive the holy mysteries; for thus it will come to pass that we rise again together with Christ, and are lifted up from a base and earthly life to a truly ultramundane and spiritual mode of conduct. ^D

See also in chapter 1 of letter Theta the 61st canon of the Council of Carthage.

The 89th canon of the Sixth Synod regarding the saving Pas-

- ^A sion day. It directs that the faithful should perform it in fasting, and prayer, and contrition of heart; and that they should break their fast around the middle of the night after the Sabbath, since the divine evangelists Matthew and Luke, the one by the phrase "in the end of the Sabbath," and the other by "very early in the morning," have described for us the lateness of the night. For it is lawful to fast until the sixth hour of the night of the Sabbath; but after the seventh, no longer; because it is believed that the Lord rose about that hour, and it is ordained that one should not fast on the Lord's days.

The blessed Dionysius, Patriarch of Alexandria, agrees with them in this, and commands those who have fasted before Pascha to break their fast at that same hour, whether they have spent the whole week without food, or only two days, or three, or four. For the phrase "in the end of the Sabbath," spoken by the divine Matthew, does not, he says, signify the evening, but the deep night, the lateness, and the long duration of the night, which "in the end" signifies. For this reason he also added, "as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week." ^B And John says, "Early, when it was yet dark." And Luke, "Upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning." And Mark, "Very early in the morning, the first day of the week, the women came unto the sepulchre, the sun having risen." "Very early in the morning" is the same as "deep in the morning." For the women went to the sepulchre during the night, but they sat by the tomb until the rising of the sun. For although the rising of the sun is the beginning of the day, and the setting of it is the beginning of the night, yet civil law and those who are occupied with the art of astronomy set the seventh hour of the night as the beginning of the day, and the seventh hour of the day as the beginning of the night. For this reason, even on the holy night of the resurrection of Christ, seeing that ^C it was then the spring equinox, the deep morning, and the "very early" time of the sun's rising, and the darkness, and the "evening of the Sabbath" as it dawned toward the first day of the week—which was the Lord's day—the time of the night after the sixth hour is called by the divine evangelists a day, which was the beginning of the Lord's day; whence we say the resurrection of the Lord was for three days, according to His infallible promise. For since He slept the death-dealing sleep on Friday, which was the first, and the second was the Sabbath, and He reached the seventh hour of the night, which was the beginning of the Lord's day, as has been said, the Lord's day is therefore reckoned as the third.

The enclosure of the Church, the book of evangelical experience, that is ^D the divine Chrysostom, says that if the Lord had risen sooner, there would have been no accusation; but if later, it would have been highly suspicious. For a sensible man would not blame someone who paid a debt before the appointed time. The divine evangelists, therefore, clearly recorded the approaches of the holy women, and the different visions which they saw concerning the resurrection, as each had them in memory or, to speak more truly, by divine inspiration. But the very truth of the resurrection

^A is known only to God who rose. The 54th and 73rd canons of the Council of Carthage command that the day of the holy Pascha be declared at the annual synods; they appoint as the day for holding the synod the tenth before the Kalends of September, which corresponds to the twenty-first day of August; for the first days of the months are called Kalends. If, therefore, you subtract the ten days preceding this, there remains the twenty-first of August, as the month has thirty-one days.

Furthermore, canon 14 of the Council of Laodicea judges it illicit to send the holy mysteries from one parish to another during the Paschal season for the sake of blessing; for this, being an indecent and unbecoming custom, has been rightly forbidden by the Fathers. Yet the Latins do this today, distributing the unleavened bread already consecrated during the Paschal season to the whole people as if it were common food.

Law. On the first of the Paschal days, unless an imperial order has decreed otherwise, all those in prison shall be released, except, however, for the sacrilegious, the adulterer, the ravisher of virgins, the tomb-robber, the sorcerer, the poisoner, the murderer, the parricide, and whoever is found having plotted anything new against the emperor or the civil state.

CAP. VIII. Concerning the Patriarch.

A patriarch is a living and breathing image of Christ, ^B depicting the truth in himself through works and words.

The task of the patriarch is, first, to preserve those whom he has received from God in piety and good habits; then, to convert all heretics, as much as he is able, to the orthodox faith and the unity of the Church (for both the civil law and the sacred canons call "heretics" all those who do not communicate with the Catholic Church); and thirdly, to strike the unbelievers with his brilliant and admirable conduct so that they may become imitators and emulators of the faith, and that the observers of his works—insofar as this is possible—may become worshippers of the most holy and consubstantial Trinity.

The duty of the patriarch is the salvation of the souls committed to him, and to live in Christ, but be ^D crucified to the world.

Furthermore, these are his excellent qualities: to be apt at teaching; to conduct himself with a liberal spirit toward all men, whether of high or low station; moreover, to be gentle in his admonitions toward all with whom he has dealings, but at the same time to possess the power of rebuking the contumacious; and finally, on behalf of the truth, the vindication of dogmas, and the preservation of justice and piety, to speak before emperors and not be ashamed.

Since the ecclesiastical polity, like a man, consists of parts and particles, its greatest and most necessary members are the emperor and the patriarch. For this reason, the peace and happiness of the subjects

^A of the empire and the priesthood is concord and agreement in all things.

The throne of Constantinople, being honored by the empire, was declared the first by synodical votes; wherefore the imperial sanctions, which follow here, command that if disputes arise in other sees, they are to be referred to the inquiry and judgment of this throne.

The oversight and care of all metropolitan churches, episcopal sees, monasteries, and churches—and further, their adjudication, condemnation, and absolution—belong to their own proper patriarch. But to the prelate of Constantinople it is permitted also to manifest his influence within the districts of other thrones; and not only this, but also to observe, moderate, and thoroughly settle disputes that arise in other provinces; he is likewise constituted the sole exacter and investigator of penance and of turning away from transgressions and heresies.

CHAPTER IX. Concerning visitors, or exarchs.

Seek in the 30th chapter of the letter E for Canon 57 of the Council of Laodicea.

CHAPTER X. Concerning orthodox faith.

See the chapter of the Preface, which immediately precedes, under the letter A.

CHAPTER XI. Concerning avarice and rapacity.

Consult the 12th chapter under the letter A.

The great Gregory of Nyssa, in ^C Canon 6, says: "This species of idolatry"—for so the great Apostle called avarice—"I know not how it has been neglected by our Fathers as if it were incurable; for that evil seems to be a passion of the third faculty of the soul." For the reason, which ought to judge of the good, goes astray and imagines that the good is situated in material things, looking not toward the immaterial beauty. And the concupiscible power, turning away from true objects of desire, slips down to things below; and the irascible and spirited faculty often takes occasion from that error. And, to speak in summary, such a disease harmonizes with the apostolic definition of avarice. For the divine Apostle declared it to be not only idolatry, but also the root of all evils. And yet, this kind ^D of disease has been neglected, unexamined, and uncared for; wherefore this malady abounds against the Church; and no one carefully examines those who are being led into the clergy, lest they might have been defiled by this kind of idolatry. But concerning these things, because they were passed over by our Fathers, we think it sufficient, by the public word of teaching, to try to heal, as it were, and to purge—as is usually done in the case of a plethora—the disease of avarice.

CHAPTER XII. How spiritual fathers ought to deal with those who confess to them.

Seek under the letter M, chapters 5, 6, 7, and 9.

CHAPTER XIII. That one ought not to eat suffocated animals.

^A By the 65th canon of the holy apostles, and also by the 67th of the sixth synod, it is deemed cruel and entirely irrational for those who are about to consume the flesh of brute animals not to first evacuate their blood by slaughter. It is prohibited to eat that which has been caught by a beast or is dead, and furthermore, due to a gluttonous belly, to make the blood of any animal edible by some artifice. For although after the flood God granted men the right to take food from brute animals no less than from herbs, yet He prohibited the eating of flesh with the blood of the soul; for in brute animals the blood holds the office of the soul. For this reason, the apostles in the Acts ordered the faithful, just as they must abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from fornication, so also to abstain from strangled things. Those who treat this commandment as of small account—if they are in the clerical order—are punished with deposition, and the laity with excommunication. The Latins, however, regarding these holy canons for nothing, rashly devour strangled things.

Law.

The 58th novella of the emperor Leo decrees that those who sell or eat any kind of food containing blood shall, after being beaten with lashes, suffer the confiscation of their goods, be deformed by a close shearing of the hair, and be condemned to perpetual exile; and any magistrates who do not punish such offenders shall incur a fine of ten pounds of gold.

CHAPTER XIV. Concerning penalties.

Seek in the 12th chapter under the letter Σ for the 5th canon of the synod of Antioch.

Laws.

We do not allow any woman to be thrown into custody for a monetary claim, whether public or private, or for any charge whatsoever, nor to be guarded by men, lest by such an occasion she be found to be in danger of corruption regarding her chastity. But if the crime of which she is accused is most grave, let her be cast into a monastery or handed over to women, ^B so that she may be safely guarded until the matter is made manifest.

If the emperor condemns someone to a penalty, let not the condemned be punished immediately, but let the infliction of the penalty be deferred for thirty days; for perhaps he will obtain mercy.

The crimes of fathers do not harm children who have done nothing wrong, nor do those of children harm their fathers; for sins follow the head of the sinner.

The constitution forbids both hands or both feet to be cut off.

The penalty of the mines is for one to be condemned to prepare asbestos, or to mine sulphur.

Seek also in the 9th chapter under the letter [M], and in the 9th chapter under the letter Δ for the 50th canon of the council of Carthage. ^{C D}

CHAPTER XV. Concerning Fornication.

Seek in the 14th chapter under the letter M for the 4th canon of the great Gregory of Nyssa, who orders fornicators to be chastised for nine years. ^A The great Basil, in his 9th canon, excludes the fornicator from communion for seven years. For although in the 22nd canon, which you should also seek in the 13th chapter under the letter A, he appears to release such men from the penance after four years, he did not introduce his own opinion, but that of the Fathers who preceded him; nevertheless, he decreed the seven-year period by his own judgment, punishing fornication more severely than those before him, just as he did with not a few other vices.

Concerning him who lives lawfully with his wife but fornicates, seek in the 16th chapter under the letter Γ for the 21st canon of the great Basil. ^B

Concerning him who has violated a virgin by force, seek the 30th chapter under the letter Γ.

The great Basil, in the 25th canon, says: "He who has violated an unbetrothed virgin, and after the violation has treated her as a wife, shall undergo the penance for the violation. But he shall not be deprived of the woman, if she chooses to live with him, provided that the parents of the girl, who is still under their authority, permit this to happen. For if they do not consent, the violator shall be punished according to the civil laws," which you should also seek in the aforementioned 30th chapter under the letter Γ.

The violator and the violated both suffer a three-year penance, according to the canons of this holy Father in the 8th chapter under the letter Γ. ^C And in this respect Basil agrees with the 7th apostolic canon, which you should also seek in the same 30th chapter under the letter Γ, deciding that the violator of a virgin be lawfully joined to her as a husband; for perhaps if she is not joined to him, she will be left in dishonor, since no one else would choose to take her in marriage.

In the 26th [canon], he says: "Fornication is not marriage, nor even the beginning of marriage." Therefore, if it is possible for those who are joined through fornication to be separated, this is much better; for the foundation of such a marriage is rotten as well as unlawful. If, however, both strongly desire to live together by any means, let them acknowledge the penance for the fornication, but let them be allowed to live together, lest something worse happen. For the woman, if joined to another, may slide into adultery, having secret intercourse with the first; or, being desperately in love with each other and forbidden to live together, they may lay violent hands upon themselves, due to the excessive love by which they are possessed, being unable to tolerate separation from each other. Seek also the 80th canon of the same Basil in the 4th chapter under the letter Γ. ^D

Laws.

But the civil law orders that a man who uses a chaste concubine be compelled to take her as his lawful wife; but she who associates with others, and is not content with one man, even be cast out from the house of the one who is fornicating.

^A Regarding those women who are forced into fornication, the great Basil in canon 49 says: "Defilements brought about by force are free from blame." Thus, even a maidservant, if she has been violated by her own master, is by no means to be punished for the sake of the outrage; if, however, she be a deaconess, she shall abstain from the diaconal ministry. Indeed, a woman who has been corrupted by her master or any other person shall by no means be joined in marriage to a man who is about to receive holy orders.

The first canon of Saint Gregory Thaumaturgus says: If a woman has been corrupted by barbarians, if her previous life was condemned, then even though she be a captive, the state of fornication is not free from suspicion; wherefore it is not fitting easily to communicate in prayers with such persons. But if any woman has lived in the utmost chastity, and has shown her previous life to be free from all suspicion, but has now fallen into outrage by violence and necessity, she is more to be pitied than accused, according to that example in Deuteronomy concerning the young woman whom a man found in a field and corrupted by force: "You shall do nothing to the young woman," he says; "the young woman is not guilty of a capital offense, for just as if any man rises up against his neighbor and kills him, so also is this matter. The young woman cried out, and there was no one to help her." Nevertheless, even these shall be moderately punished, just as those who have tasted of forbidden foods, even if against their will.

Regarding clerics who have fallen into fornication, the following has been established by the canons: ^B The first canon of the Council of Neocaesarea strips of his priesthood him who, after receiving the priesthood, is joined in what is supposedly a lawful marriage; but it completely expels from the Church one who fornicates or is caught in adultery, and places him in the ranks of the penitents. But that a priest who commits fornication should be punished with such penalties does not seem to be according to the Apostolic or Patristic canons, which you may consult in chapter 10 of the letter A.

Likewise, the third canon of the great Basil casts the deacon who has committed fornication out of the diaconate, and thrusts him into the place of the laity, but it does not exclude him from the communion of the holy mysteries. ^C This, he says, is done on account of the old law which says: "You shall not avenge twice for the same thing." This is done, moreover, because all hope of returning to his former rank is cut off. For the layman who has fallen returns, after the period of time prescribed in the form of penance, to where he departed from; but the cleric once suffers the permanent punishment of deposition. Furthermore, the true remedy and preparation for him to participate in the mysteries is the withdrawal from sin, through contrition of heart and the subjection of the flesh. For if he persists in fornicating, he shall be excluded not only from communion, but also from the assembly of the faithful who are praying, and he shall be subjected to corrections, just as the laity. ^D

^A Canon 44 also deposes a deaconess who has fornicated with a Greek from her rank, yet it does not forbid her from communicating in the assembly and prayers with the laity; it orders that she be deemed worthy of the communion of the holy things in the seventh year, if she has lived in chastity and purity. But if that Greek, having been converted to the faith, seeks that woman in marriage, it judges that she must by no means be given to him, considering it a clear sacrilege for a body once consecrated to God to yield to the use of carnal desire. Hence it is clear to those who weigh these things rightly, that it is not lawful for clerics who change their habit, or for monks, to take wives; nor, indeed, is it pious for the wives of priests to contract second marriages, since through marriage with the priests they have become one body. Seek also chapter 25 of the letter X, and in chapter 4 of the letter ^B Gamma, the canons of the holy apostles 17 and 18, and canon 61 in chapter 14 of the letter M, and canon 20 of the great Basil in chapter 9 of the letter Gamma, and canon 26 of the 6th synod, and in chapter 15 of the same letter, canon 69 of the great Basil. Concerning monks who have fornicated, seek also chapter 15 of the letter M.

CAP. XVI. Of him who desires to fornicate, but does not do so in act.

That old custom of wickedness is indeed not to invade our passions suddenly or at the first impulse, but by a certain art and sophistic craft to dig, bit by bit, the pit of destruction at our feet. ^C Therefore, it introduces to our thoughts the first thing—called "impulse"—so that it may mingle with them quietly, as it seems, and pleasurably, and it cunningly schemes to corrupt them with the blandishments of the object presented, and persuades one to receive rashly the beginnings of pleasures as if they were mere conceptions, bearing no greater evil, and having nothing in them for harm. For it hides the hook of sin under the bait of pleasure, so that those who gape at the latter may fall into the former; then it leads them captive and treats them like slaves. Would that, therefore, you did not take as auxiliaries against the soul those very ones whose care it is to follow and guard it! For if that wickedness which is hostile to us were deprived of the support of our thoughts, ^D all its snares and allurements would be in vain, since they cannot govern of themselves or produce into action an affect which, like a bubble, now appears, now disappears and dissolves, being of a nature truly mortal and possessing little substance. But that which receives its being and life from our thoughts kills those who gave it life. For such are the rewards of wicked affects. This impulse, therefore, since it in no way depends on our will, cannot charge us with crime. There follows a second [stage], 'conjunction,' which a frequent impulse is wont to generate slowly and bit by bit, as the mind, whether with passion or without it, consents to the impression. Who, indeed, would assert that this does not harm the rational soul, regarding the knowledge of God, when its thoughts are occupied with such things? There is present thirdly in

^A assent, which also accuses the soul of a pleasurable inclination toward the passion, and once it has received this, as if it were a secret document, the captivity arises fourthly at its heels, rendering useless our best state, already gaining mastery over the heart and persuading it to pluck the deceptive fruit of the imagination. And even if it should penetrate at the time of prayer, we derive no benefit from it, but rather are mocked, being entangled in evil thoughts. Understanding then from what an evil we have come to be, we must struggle to overcome through conflict the one who attempts to trip us up; and, by one of two means: either by breathing more vehemently and, by divine aid, we shall escape as victors, or, having grown soft and turning our backs in retreat, we are driven and carried away. In this way, the spirits of wickedness, remaining for a long time within the soul and transferring it into their own habit, finally plant the so-called passion like a trophy and a pillar in the heart, nourished in the memory and preserved by habit, and preparing the soul to commit all manner of filthiness in any matter whatsoever.

For this reason, the fourth canon of the Synod of Neocaesarea asserts that he who desires a woman and proposes in his mind to sleep with her, provided his intent does not proceed to the act, is ^B set free through grace; yet it is advantageous for him to be moderately punished, according to the canon of the great Basil. For he says: A deacon who has been defiled with his lips and confesses that he has sinned with regard to kisses should be restrained from his office for some time, but he should partake of the holy things with the deacons in the meantime. So too for a presbyter. But if he is caught persisting in the same offense, whatever rank he may hold, he must be deposed.

225 The ninth and tenth canons of the same Council of Neocaesarea agree with these, stating that sins which usually precede fornication, namely those that pertain to touches and other things of this sort, generally pass among many as being resolved by ordination. If, however, a presbyter or deacon is caught having engaged in fornication before ordination, and, compelled by his conscience, confesses the sin committed before ordination, he shall be prohibited from consecrating the Eucharist, but nevertheless, if he turns to virtue, he shall not be rejected from the other privileges of the priesthood. But if he neither confesses it himself, nor is clearly convicted, it is proper that the authority lie with him either to cease if he has sinned, or to perform the holy offices if he is conscious of no sin in himself. Nay, more: if he is convicted by five witnesses who have confirmed the accusation on oath, in addition to deposition, he shall be deprived of the privileges of the priesthood and shall be demoted to the place of a layman. ^D Theophilus of Alexandria also says in his fifth canon that a Reader guilty of fornication, if he is openly convicted after an accurate examination has been made, ought to be cast out of the clergy; but he should remain in the clergy if he does not

^A appear to have been convicted; for it is not necessary to give heed to vain accusations.

Law. The law also says: It is better to leave sins unpunished than for anyone to be punished without cause.

CHAPTER XVII. Concerning those who keep prostitutes.

Canon 86 of the Sixth Synod ^B deposes clerics who gather and foster prostitutes to the destruction of souls; moreover, it decrees that they be excommunicated, imposing a double penalty upon them, but it wills that laymen be segregated.

Law. He who knows that his wife has committed fornication, and yet remains silent, is himself a procurer.

Those born of fornication inherit not only from their mother, but also from the relatives on the mother's side, and are inherited by them. An illustrious woman who has both legitimate and natural children can confer nothing upon those born of fornication, neither while she is living nor when she is dying.

The inheritance of one born of fornication does not belong to the relatives on the father's side; for such a person is not acknowledged to have a father, but it comes to the mother and his brothers from the same parent. But the laws concerning marriages and the canons acknowledge even the kinship arising from fornication, and those who join in marriage with relatives through fornication are punished as those who fall into incest in legitimate marriages.

However, concubinage is lawful; for he who takes a respectable and free-born woman as a concubine, and makes this manifest by having witnesses present, is deemed to have her as his wife; if otherwise, he commits fornication with her.

CHAPTER XVIII. Concerning the privileges and immunities which the prelates and the churches have, and concerning their provinces.

Look for chapter 11 of the letter E.

CHAPTER XIX. Concerning the rights which presbyters have.

Look for chapter 9 of the letter M.

CHAPTER XX. Concerning dowry property.

Law. A dowry that has been valued ^D runs a risk for the husband; even if the animals die, or the woman wears out the clothing, he is liable for their valuation. But for an unvalued dowry, both the increase and the decrease concern the woman, and she herself takes the offspring of the slaves; but the husband receives the fruits and the increase of the livestock.

Things promised for the sake of a dowry, if they are not paid within two years, are demanded along with their interest at the rate of one-third of one percent.

If the husband suffers from poverty during the time of the marriage, the woman can retain his property for her own dowry, being preferred over every creditor and holder of a mortgage; however, she cannot alienate what she retains, in order that...

^A she may be able to support herself, her husband, and her children from it.

A woman is not held liable for the contracts of her husband, even if she has been betrothed to him; nor, if the husband is proscribed, are the woman's goods confiscated, nor are her extradotal properties subject to the husband's public duties.

A husband, even if he is in need, owes the entire dowry. When a father-in-law is asked by his son-in-law, or a wife by her husband, for the dowry they stipulated, they win their case according to the scale of their means.

If a husband makes a contract with his wife that he might inherit her estate after she dies, that contract is void. But if a pact was made from the beginning that if the woman should die first, the dowry should remain with the husband, and the father has accordingly surrendered the dowry, the pact is valid and the father is excluded. ^B If, however, the father is of such disreputable character that there is fear he might squander the dowry entrusted to him, an action prohibits this, and the judge provides for her and for the daughter.

If, while the children are still living, a husband who has remained a widower after the death of his spouse—without having passed into another union—needs to be separated from the company of his own children, he ought, in addition to his complete assets, to take also the share of one child, according to the number of children, not only for the sake of nourishment, but also because of the reverence and honor preserved by him toward the first marriage. ^C

If a husband has incurred any expenses for his spouse while she was ill, after her death he cannot demand them from his father-in-law, to whom the dowry of his daughter has returned; rather, he ought to acquiesce to his pleasure. However, the father whose hands the dowry has returned to shall pay the funeral expenses.

A father whose son is under his power is obligated to support both him and his spouse; for he bears the burdens of his son's marriage.

Search for chapter 2 of the letter Δ.

CAP. XXI. On Traitors.

The ninth canon of Saint Gregory Thaumaturgus says: "As for those who have become captives among the barbarians and, having been constrained by their impiety, ^D have participated in it to such an extent that, forgetting their being Christians, they kill some of their own fellow tribesmen by wood or by a noose, and point out paths or houses to the barbarians who are ignorant of them, let them be cast out from the assembly of the hearers until the holy ones gather together and something is commonly decided regarding them, and first by the Holy Spirit."

Laws.

He who incites enemies or hands over Romans into their hands is punished with the death penalty. But those who aid robbers in desert places or along the sea are punished more severely than open enemies, insofar as

and secretive scheming brings more danger than open war. Those who flee from Roman camps to the enemy may be killed without penalty, just as enemies are. He who plots or contemplates anything against the safety of the Emperor or the state shall himself suffer the supreme penalty, and his goods shall be forfeited to the exchequer. Those who desert to the enemy and betray our councils shall perish by strangulation. ^A See chapter 11 of letter Σ.

BEGINNING OF LETTER P

INITIUM LITTERÆ Σ

CAP. III. That one must not describe a cross on the pavement, and that those already there must be erased. The 73rd canon of the Sixth Synod forbids the depiction of the sign of the precious cross on the pavement; not only this, but it also unequivocally enjoins that those already drawn be effaced and erased, so that the salutary trophy of our victory—which should be honored with all reverence in the mind, celebrated with notable speech, and adored in a practical sense through the senses—might not be trodden underfoot by those walking and thus brought into contempt. ^C Lex. Let no one engrave a cross on the pavement, or on marble lying on the pavement, or on a millstone; and if any are already inscribed, let them be erased. Whoever violates this law shall suffer the heaviest penalty.

CAP. IV. Concerning pacts and contracts. Lex. The loss of [the written record of] things concerning which a covenant was made does not remove the right of action, in so far as it is possible to demonstrate the truth in another way. Pacts made without malice and not contrary to the laws are valid. ^D

CAP. V. Concerning banquets. By the 55th canon of the Synod of Laodicea, it is forbidden for both clerics and laymen to hold banquets by means of contributions or collections; for such things, for the most part, are of no good, but are rather sometimes full of every kind of indecency.

^A Canon 27 of the same synod forbids clerics to take portions from the agapes, which are called banquets, and carry them home; for this accuses those who do so of gluttony and wickedness, insomuch that disgrace is thereby inflicted upon the ecclesiastical order. Seek also chapter 3, letter A.

CHAPTER VI. Regarding those who shun the sacred gatherings.

CHAPTER VII. Regarding clerics who support foreign women.

CHAPTER VIII. Regarding those who are privy to the sins of others, yet do not confess them to the clergy.

Law.

CHAPTER IX. Regarding synods to be held annually.

^A to be called, but the other not during Pentecost, but rather to be convened before Lent; so that, having discarded all bitterness and pettiness of mind, pure themselves, they might offer the gift of the fast to the pure by nature.

The 19th canon of the fourth synod judges it to be right and good that bishops celebrate councils twice a year, wherever the metropolitan of the province may deem it proper, to determine matters concerning the reform of ecclesiastical affairs; and that those bishops who, being in good health and residing in their own cities, do not attend, and are not hindered by any other necessary matter, should be rebuked in a brotherly fashion.

The 8th canon of the sixth synod repeats this verbatim, but ordains that the council be held once a year and not twice, and prescribes the time from Easter until the whole of October, both because of the incursions of barbarians ^B and other causes that occur, which render frequent journeys very burdensome for the bishops.

The sixth [synod] again confirming this, as well as the seventh synod, ordains that any magistrate who is found hindering any of the bishops traveling to the synod should be excommunicated. But when they are gathered, it says, their primary care should be to teach those under them the evangelical and canonical precepts in the highest degree. But if a metropolitan should demand from the arriving bishops a beast of burden or any other thing that belongs to them, and be convicted of it, let him pay fourfold.

Also, the 40th [canon] of the council of Laodicea demands with great care that a synod be held annually in each province. And so it commands that the bishops who are called to it should not shrink back, but go without delay; and let those who are wiser teach the things they know, or let the simpler ones learn what they are ignorant of. For thus it happens that the Church is reformed and makes progress, both regarding the right dogmas of the faith and the commands that regulate life; but he who scorns to be corrected should blame himself, unless he is perchance hindered by some irregularity of body ^C or of affairs.

And the 19th [canon] of the council of Carthage admonishes bishops to hold a council annually; and likewise the 73rd, which see in chapter 7 of letter Π.

The 76th [canon] agrees with these and brings forward the same reasons for the aforementioned canons; it commands him who refuses [to attend] to abstain from the communion of the other bishops, and to be content only with that of his own Church.

But to the 97th canon, it does not seem necessary for a council of bishops to be held annually at Carthage, lest the brethren be fatigued. But as often as common causes arise, for example concerning dogmas, the bishops should be called together by letters, and the doubt resolved through a common synod held. But if the causes are private, let them be determined in each respective province. ^D

^A Justinian’s novella 137 commands that synods be celebrated once or twice a year, namely in the month of June or September—metropolitans before the patriarchs, and bishops before the metropolitans—and that the causes which bishops, clerics, and monks have against one another concerning the faith, the canons, and ecclesiastical matters be examined, and that things done contrary to the canons be corrected. It further orders that magistrates who do not compel metropolitans and bishops who delay in the celebration of the established councils, or who do not report the disobedient to the Emperor, be subjected to the ultimate penalties. But these things which pertain to the celebration of councils are today totally neglected.

CAP. X. On letters of commendation.

CAP. XI. On those who plot conspiracies, fraternities, or seditions.

Laws.

The novella constitution of the Emperor Constantine Porphyrogennetus, with the knowledge of Alexius the patriarch and the synod, subjects to anathema those who devise ambushes or tumults, and also those who bring aid to them and are associates in the defection, or who counsel them, and ^D

incite them to such misdeeds, or fight along with them, and finally those who receive them to repentance, when they do not yet perform penance for the defection or abandon it. Seek information regarding this novella in the inscription of the Gangrenous synod, which occurs around the beginning of the book. ^A

CAP. XII. Of schismatics.

Seek in chapter 2, letter A, the first canon of the great Basil, wisely defining there and distinguishing schisms and heresies according to the properties of each. ^B 31 The canon of the holy apostles, however, says: If any presbyter, being unable to accuse or condemn his own bishop, as he commits no sin against piety, nor indulges in wickedness, but is on the contrary just toward men and pious toward God, should, gripped by the passion of ambition, set up a private altar and, gathering meetings, perform the sacred rites upon it, and after one, two, and then a third admonition and exhortation to return to his former agreement he should obstinately persist in his resolve, let him be deposed as ambitious and manifesting a tyrannical disposition. But those who convene and gather at it, if they be clergy, let them also be removed from their rank; if they be laity, let them be subject to excommunication.

From this it is manifest, then, that nothing prevents clergy from making separations and withdrawing from their own bishops if they convict and condemn them for being wicked or unjust. ^C Otherwise, even though the worst things might be said about a bishop or presbyter, it is not lawful to withdraw from his communion before judgment, arrived at after careful examination, has removed him. For this grace is not of men, but of the Holy Spirit, which usually confers it upon those who excel in the fervor of faith, according to their merits. For, he says (namely, St. Chrysostom), God does not ordain everyone, but He works through everyone.

The same is also recounted by the fifth canon of the council of Antioch, adding that, if after his deposition he persists in stirring up disturbances and sedition in the Church, let him be chastised by external and political ^D power, if perhaps he might thereby be converted to repentance. For it is permitted to bishops only to rebuke the offenders, not also to punish them, but to hand over the disobedient to the magistrate to be chastised. Seek also the 31st and 59th canons of the sixth council in chapter 1, letter B.

The 12th canon of the so-called first and second council says: Being of one mind with the 31st canon of the sixth council, we ordain that those priests who perform sacred rites in oratories which are within private houses be removed from the clergy and be made subject to the local bishop. But whoever, apart from these, having dared without the consent of the bishop to enter houses to perform sacred rites,

^A indeed to be deposed, and those who communicate with them to be excommunicated.

Canon 13: "Just as the shoots of heretical tares," it says, "were cut out by the roots with the sword of the Spirit, in the same way we, restraining the madness of schismatics who attempt to divide the body of Christ, decree that if any presbyter or deacon, on account of certain charges which are connected with carnal passions, having condemned his own bishop [who has lived with all piety and innocence], decides, contrary to what is defined by the apostolic and sacred canon, to withdraw from his communion prior to a synodal judgment, and does not mention his name when performing the divine liturgy, we order that he be subject to deposition and be deprived of every priestly honor." For it is illicit for one who seizes the judgment of the metropolitans to pass sentence against his own father and bishop before the judgment, as much as it pertains to him. And those who follow him, if they are clergy, are to submit to the same penalties; if they are monks or laymen, they are not only to be excluded from holy communion, but also to be entirely expelled from the Church until, rejecting the conspiracy with the schismatics, they shall have returned to their own bishop.

Canon 14 decrees deposition also for a bishop if he defect from the communion of his own metropolitan, or refuses to mention his name in the sacred rites.

Canon 15 deems metropolitan bishops subject to the same charges if they withdraw from their patriarch. “But if,” it says, “a patriarch, or metropolitan, or bishop should happen to preach any heresy whatsoever that has been condemned by the holy Fathers, publicly and openly, those who separate themselves from his communion and fence themselves off, are not only not subject to punishment, but are also deemed worthy of the honor which is appropriate for the orthodox.” For they did not condemn bishops, but pseudo-bishops and pseudo-teachers, and they did not cut the unity of the Church into schisms, but strove to deliver the Church from schisms and divisions, as much as lay in their power. For this reason, we also act rightly in that we have renounced the communion of old Rome, even before a synodal inquiry and judgment.

Canon 6 of the Council of Gangra denounces the ultimate punishment on him who, despising the Church, holds private meetings and celebrates sacred rites without the permission of the bishop: for what is anywhere more grave and terrible than anathema? By "Church," however, it calls not the temple, but the gathering of the faithful. For the temple, according to Saint Isidore of Pelusium, might properly be called an "ecclesiasterium," just as incense is an "incensorium," and a sacrifice an "altar."

Moreover, canon 10 of the Council of Carthage decrees that a presbyter who has been punished with deposition, if out of insolence he has built a new altar and performs sacred rites privately to God, ^D

[as a] corrupter of the faith and of the ecclesiastical constitution, and one who seeks to expose it to the contempt of the enemies of the truth, he delivers him over to anathema. For, in the first place, it is necessary to endeavor by exhortations to bring back those who cause schisms to concord; but if they do not obey, to depose or excommunicate them. If, however, they remain obstinate and stir up sedition, one must subject them to anathema and cut them off from the body of the Church as rotten members.

The same is asserted also by canon [XI]: A presbyter condemned by his own bishop as one who is living improperly, must report this to the neighboring bishops, so that through them he may be reconciled to his own bishop. But if, puffed up with pride, he separates himself from the bishop and wishes to celebrate privately, he shall not only lose his own rank, but shall also be subject to anathema. ^B It is necessary, he says, to look into whether a cleric accuses his own bishop with just cause—that is, if he has seen him acting unjustly or fighting against the true doctrine—and not decline his communion without reason. Seek in chapter 2 of the letter A, the 33rd canon of the council of Laodicea, and chapter 20 of the letter K.

The many-voiced trumpet of the Church, of blessed memory, Chrysostom, in interpreting the Epistle to the Ephesians, and in the 11th discourse of his Exposition, arguing regarding those who cause schisms, says: "A certain holy man has said that not even the blood of martyrdom can wash away this sin." And in chapter 65 of the same Exposition, he shows that to rend the Church is an evil no less than falling into heresy. Nothing, moreover, prevents us from adding to what has been said the Epistle of the blessed Dionysius, bishop of Alexandria and martyr, which he sent to Novatus, who was a presbyter at Rome.

Epistle of Dionysius to Novatus, a Roman presbyter.

Dionysius to brother Novatus, greeting. If, as you say, you bore your promotion with difficulty, you will prove it by voluntarily withdrawing. For one ought to suffer anything whatever rather than rend the Church of God. And the martyrdom ^C had for the sake of not rending [the Church] is no less glorious than that which is for the sake of not performing idolatry; in my judgment, indeed, it is even more so. For in the latter case, one undergoes martyrdom for his own soul alone, whereas in the former, it is for the whole Church. But even now, if you were to persuade or constrain the brothers to come to harmony, the accomplishment would be greater for you than the mistake; and the former would not be reckoned, while the latter would be praised. If, however, you have no power to save those who are disobedient, save your own soul. I pray that you may fare well, holding to peace in the Lord.

BEGINNING OF LETTER T.

for the presbyters to go before him, but rather that they sit down when they enter; nor ^A should they merely leave the bishop alone (for this is not only an instance of disorder, but even a sign of contempt for the bishop), but rather they should enter together with him, unless someone happens to be in poor physical health and is quite unable to endure the standing.

Chapter II. Concerning Burial.

Chapter III. That it is not permitted to baptize the dead, nor to offer the holy mysteries to their bodies.

Chapter IV. Concerning the children of clerics.

Chapter V. Concerning the holy Quadragesima, and the customs observed therein.

^A they fast unlawfully; and what is even more illegal than this is that they have transferred the breaking of the Saturday fast to Wednesday and Friday, and the fasting of those days to Saturday, as if, by making it their business, they were attempting to overturn every sacred law.

The 56th [canon], correcting on the other hand the error of the Armenians, commands them to abstain from cheese and eggs on the Saturdays and Sundays of the holy Great Fast; a precept which indeed obtains throughout the entire Church of God. For just as we abstain from all animals that are to be sacrificed, so it is necessary that we should not admit their products into our food. This must be observed also on the Wednesdays and Fridays of the whole year; and for those who transgress this, it threatens the penalty of deposition or excommunication, according to whether they are clergy ^B or laypersons. But even in this you may see that the Latins have arrived at the peak of lawlessness, as if they were deliberately resisting the sacred canons; for on the Saturdays and Sundays of the Fast, they consume not only cheese and eggs, but even meat, and this is done not only by the common people, but also by those monks who are, they claim, physically weak.

Search also in chapter 1 of the B category for the 42nd canon of the Council of Laodicea, and in chapter 7 of the H category for the 89th canon of the Sixth Council.

The 52nd canon of the Sixth Council, on the other of the days of the holy Great Fast, which are destined for mourning, fasting, and compunction for the sake of expiating for what each has done wrongly, orders the service of the Presanctified to be celebrated; ^C but on the Saturdays and Sundays of the Fast, and on the holy day of the Annunciation, since it is not lawful to fast on these days, it is permitted both to offer sacrifice and to celebrate the perfect liturgy. For we honor the day of the Annunciation by resting on it, as [it is] the beginning and head of our salvation. It seems, therefore, that the forty-day fast is one and simple. For if another were recognized by the canons, it would have been established also in that one not to perform the full service, but the Presanctified.

For what reason is the divine liturgy celebrated for the most part at the third hour of the day? But there are times when it is also in the evening on the greatest of feasts.

Yet it must be inquired here, for what reason on the other days of the year, the law wishes the divine mystery ^D to be celebrated at about the third hour after sunrise; but some of the illustrious feasts, thinking them worthy of a kind of special honor, we reserve their celebration for the evening, and celebrate immediately after the evening hymns. This custom, therefore, is uniquely and especially observed on the holy and great Thursday, and on the holy and great and venerable Saturday; furthermore, on the illustrious day of the Nativity of Christ, and indeed on the bright and renowned day of the divine light, unless perhaps they coincide with days that in no way permit the services intended for these occasions to be

^A performed. To these, if you wish, add the holy day of the Annunciation. And the cause of this, from the probability of the former, is that on this day of the day the Paraclete, having descended manifestly upon the apostles and having fully instructed them in the threefold and perfect light, clearly taught us through them to consecrate the perfect liturgy to the tri-personal Godhead at the hour named after the Holy Trinity. For even if the rite of the divine liturgy portrays the mystery of the ineffable economy of the Word, nevertheless, we ascribe grace no less to the Father, who is without beginning and who was well pleased, and to the life-giving Spirit, who cooperated.

Indeed, on the said solemn days, other matters hidden in the depths, and mysteries exceeding the understanding of the wisdom of God, are obscurely revealed to us, as if depicted in outline, so that, from these, as far as is possible, by this initiation, we might be given to be more uplifted and raised toward divine love. ^B As soon as the perfect and supreme light appeared on earth to men as if in the evening at the end of the ages, the course of the law, so to speak, saw its end; yet the radiance of the New Testament set out to dissipate the darkness of polytheistic wickedness, which the shadowy law had to cast off long before. Therefore, the Savior, communicating with His disciples, who were receiving then and would minister it afterward, did not do so during the day, but in the deep evening—of the Great Thursday, I mean—and, anointing them for the sacred struggle and admonishing them to depart from error with a mind clearly tranquil and with firm thoughts, not at all like those of the heavens, inasmuch as the works ^C were to be better than according to the old law: "This cup," He says, "mixes the New Testament to those who contend and fight for it," signifying through the cup that they would never be exempt from dangers and temptations to error, nor would they entirely overcome that whose darkness, present at that time, was a manifest sign.

Because of these things, then, so far as it is possible for us to know and as is reasonable, the divine liturgy is celebrated at the third hour on the other days of the year, but on the aforementioned solemn days, and on these alone, the evening time is observed by the decree of the Fathers. For the divine Fathers were accustomed to alternate the Eucharistic office ^D and, through this variety, to manifest to us, in a kindly way, the incomprehensibility of the mysteries, and to lead us marvelously to the single, ineffable, and supreme knowledge. Indeed, according to the history, the Virgin gave birth to the Lord at night, which is also clear from that evangelist who says, "And there were shepherds," etc. The Lord was also baptized by John at night, so that the Spirit, coming upon Him in the form of a dove and illuminating the night with abundant light, and striking the people with an unusual spectacle, might warn and adjure them to attend to God the Savior. Furthermore, the Lord communicated with the disciples regarding the mystical supper at night; at night also the Resur-

^Arection has occurred; and at night the Virgin received the strange greeting from Gabriel.

And Canon 49 of the Council of Laodicea does not deem it right to offer bread, or to perform the perfect liturgy, during this forty-day period, except on the Sabbaths and Sundays of that time.

Canon 51 also commands that the perfect sacrifice must not be celebrated during the entirely of Lent, whether in the commemorations or in the birthdays of the holy martyrs, unless perchance they should coincide with a day of the Sabbath or the Lord's Day. If it is by no means permitted to celebrate the memories of the martyrs on days of fasting, much less is it permitted for those who have departed from life, except on the Sabbath alone.

The next canon permits neither weddings nor birthdays to be celebrated in Lent.

On the reason why the forty-day period is called the tenth part of the whole year, and for what causes those things that are observed in it are performed.

Verily, it would be pleasant to set forth the causes of these things, as far as possible, for those who are ignorant; for it is not minded to begrudge those who desire a deeper knowledge of things ^B which, by reason of sloth, escape the majority.

The entire ancient law was accustomed to instruct in the condition of invisible things by means of visible ones, and to facilitate the correction of spiritual matters by means of bodily ones. Among other things, it was commanded to the ancients to consecrate annually to God the tithes of their possessions; but those things which were performed typically by them are received by us mystically. Therefore, the divine choir of the Apostles, desiring not to dissolve, but to supply in this very point the deficiency of the law, decreed that we should consecrate to God not the fruits of any particular season, but the tithes of the annual course of every day of our life; so that through the discipline in these things and more intense repentance, we might, with God as our helper, be able to heal the infirmities of the soul throughout the whole year.

We assert that these days of fasting constitute the tenth part of the year. For the seven weeks of these, omitting the Sabbaths and Sundays, amount to 35 days; and with the addition of the Great Sabbath, and the half of the bright and light-bearing night, there are collected 36 days and a half; which exactly constitute the tenth part of the 365 days of the year. For the tenth of three hundred is 30, and of sixty is 6, and of five is the half.

But this number thirty-six also signifies another mystical theorem: for those who have occupied themselves with these matters say that being a triangle, it translates into the shape of a square and a circle. For the number six, which alone among the singular numbers is perfect, being multiplied by itself, produces this number. Through the triangle, the three-hypostasized Godhead is signified; through the square, faith in the Trinity that is upright and firm—for the square figure, supported by equal angles of its sides, is stable and always consistent in the same way. But the circle indicates the circular connection of the virtues among themselves. For since these ^C strive toward God

both the correct conception concerning the Divine and the observance of the commandments—that number teaches you to be fixed and immutable in the faith of the Holy ^A Trinity, and not to set the circle of the virtues aside as a secondary matter, but to offer both as first-fruits of the whole year to God, especially in the time of fasting. The enemy and adversary of our salvation, therefore, who envies us from above, seeing us esteeming virtue more highly than the many species of vice, and seeing us aroused to cast out his instruments that are in us as a plague of the soul, ^B takes up arms against us with arrogant preparation. He attempts to bring us back as if we were deserters, and as if we were fugitives he tries to persuade us to submit ourselves to him, and not to shake off the reins, nor to renounce evil habits, but to continue to wallow in our habitual passions. For the wicked one is accustomed for the most part to attack those who strive most earnestly to be freed from their passions more ferociously, and to kindle a more vehement flame of the affections, opposing himself to them with all his might, so that the violence of temptations might overcome the soul’s fortitude; which God also permits to happen, so that the upright may be made manifest, ^C and the struggle itself may show the most excellent, and that we might learn to act humbly, and not to place confidence in ourselves, and that we might thoroughly abhor wickedness, having more clearly discerned its murderous, deceitful, and detestable nature. A clear image of the wickedness of the Evil One is also that Pharaoh of old who held Israel in subjection; for he cruelly burdened Israel, who was with difficulty enduring his long servitude and desiring to be liberated, with heavier labors, and for the making of bricks caused him to stoop, presenting an image of Satanic servitude. And he likewise forces us to covet the earth and earthly things, and to attach our whole soul to these, ^D together with all our senses, both external and internal, and not to raise it in the least toward things that are not sensed. Pharaoh indeed held Egypt in subjection as a tributary state, which for the interpreter means "darkness"; and thus this one is also called the prince of intellectual darkness. To him it was a care to destroy the male children, and to this one as well his more important thoughts: wherefore our King Christ, when He instructs us for the war to be waged against him, and arranges well the manner of struggling, arms us with fasting, and prayer, and compunction of heart (for the opposites of these are wont to kindle the madness of the demons against us no less than oil kindles fire); and thus He permits us to go headlong against the enemies, Himself acting as general, Himself fighting for us, shielding us, battling for us, Himself winning the victory over our opponents, and bestowing the prize upon us. How great is the abyss of Thy judgments, surpassing all our admiration, O Lord Creator! Just as, therefore, soldiers spending the day in battle, being dispersed toward evening, seek food, preparing a makeshift meal from the spoils, lest their strength entirely fail them, since they desire to make a second assault upon the Barbarians afterward; for it is not fitting for soldiers to sacrifice to their genius and to gorge themselves.

^A And so we too, when we offer our new sacrifice on Saturday and Sunday, when we relax somewhat the tension of our strenuous exercise, we take sustenance around evening from those previously offered and presanctified portions, sufficient for those who live sparely, in accordance with the condition of those who are both mourning and fighting; or rather, by partaking of those holy meats, we are strengthened to go forward again with vigor against the enemy. For to the spiritual soldier, spiritual food is also a source of strength. For this reason, it is mystically prescribed for us to celebrate the office of the Presanctified in the evening.

That the memorial of the departed is not celebrated in Lent, except on Saturdays.

Again, those who are engaged in battle and fear for their soul, and contend for it, are for the moment hindered from performing the due rites for those who have fallen by the sword, even if they happen to be their most precious and beloved friends, because the conflict is more compelling than grief; or because, when the dead are being removed, they might, lest the war—which is pressing in on all sides—and the impending danger surprise them in the distraction of caring for the one lying there, be destroyed along with the dead. ^B Therefore, we too, who are drawn up for an intellectual war against the passions that kill us, must endeavor to bury them, not by setting our minds on the commemorations of those who have departed from the body, as the commandment of the Lord suggests. They, once they cease from war, busy themselves with the funeral rites and the customary burials of the slain; and we, when we allow ourselves a break from the intensity of the fast on the more cheerful days, commemorate the rites of the commemorations of the departed.

That weddings and other such festivals are not held during the Forty Days.

What business have weddings and nuptial songs with those who handle weapons, or is it permitted for them to take joy and participate in festivals? Far from it; and for us, in our struggle against the demons, it is neither safe nor fitting to be concerned with any such thing.

Concerning the miracle of the boiled grain by Saint Theodore.

^C For if it were allowed to celebrate the memorials of martyrs at such times, it would be necessary, more than anything else, to celebrate that of the most glorious martyr Theodore the Tyro on the first day of the fast, during which he performed a miracle that is not inferior to any other in the account of miracles. He exposed the hidden malice of the apostate, and prepared the people not to be defiled by polluted foods during the days of fasting; but he instructed the bishop who was then in charge that no one should touch the bread set out in the market for sale, but that they should boil wheat and use it to satisfy the necessity of nature. They did this and escaped the danger, lest malice should boast against virtue and impiety ^D overcome piety. Moreover, since the austerity of the fast and the hilarity of the feast in the Saturday...

proximate to it coincided, this custom has deservedly obtained, of honoring the feast with almsgiving, which was most aptly managed by the institutions of the Fathers. ^A

Why we celebrate a commemoration of all those who have fallen asleep in the faith and of the holy Fathers before the Forty Days.

Therefore, before the entry of the fasts, the Saturday of the Carnival is dedicated to those who have fallen asleep from the beginning of time, and the Saturday following it to all the saints, as a public commemoration—a conclusion, as one might say, of the festivals held on these occasions, since we no longer have leisure, as we proceed to spiritual struggles, to attend to such things.

Why again the commemoration of all the saints is celebrated after Pentecost.

It is customary for soldiers, after the defeat of the barbarians, to erect a trophy and offer the spoils of victory to the Emperor, and only then proceed to the burials of the fallen. It is likewise our concern, after the spiritual war during the fast and the victory of the Resurrection, to erect a trophy at Pentecost and sing songs of victory to Christ through whom we conquer, and thus to discharge the duty owed to the dead after the completion of Pentecost, and seven days later to celebrate the festival of All Saints, providing as it were firstfruits of the festivals and commemorations that follow. But neither is it pious to make commemorations of the departed on the Lord’s festivals, nor is it seemly to celebrate the obits of martyrs; for when royal songs of victory resound, neither does the law ^B wish to mourn those who fell in battle, nor to commingle servile virtue with the Lord’s trophies. For it is most just and equitable that the things of the Lord (who is the One who dispenses the prizes and crowns the victors) should be mingled with servile things; but to add servile things to the Lord’s things is audacious and foolish, unless it concerns certain saints on account of their exceeding virtue in their struggle.

Again, one may observe this rite of the Quadragesima in another way; for we are commanded to observe a fast of forty-eight days in this season. The forty days [are kept] according to the history of the Lord's fast, by which, being equipped in His human nature, He overcame our enemy. But the eight days that follow [are kept] in imitation of His saving sufferings. These latter kindle our contemplation and spirit, and lift us up toward the eighth and interminable day, making us sons of light and bringing forth the love appropriate to sons with piety. ^C The former make us superior to our passions and lift us up from the body and earthly things, and awaken the primeval fear which, like an executioner, pricks our conscience with the remembrance of our sins and the punishments owed to those who drag out their lives in such a way, according to the saying, "By the fear of the Lord one turns away from evil." And since the Quadragesima consists entirely of four decades, the tetrad itself must now be considered, as to how it is found in both units and decades. For it is taken, for the most part, in Holy Scripture for evil and punishment: and sometimes for... ^D

^A it depicts the outcome of divine matters; for when God caused it to rain for forty days and nights, the great flood covered the earth. Looking toward this as an example, we also, with an equal number of days to those of the flood, being contrite and pouring forth waves of tears, signify the detestation of sin. God declared to Abraham that his own race would be enslaved to the Egyptians, and mistreated, and would endure myriad torments, a thing which indeed came to pass. In days no more than forty, the great Moses, having struck Egypt with those divinely-sent plagues, freed Israel from the slavery of Pharaoh. The generation that had been benefited a myriad times in the wilderness, and had manifested its ingratitude in myriad ways, was in the fortieth year, because of its incurable nature, utterly laid low; for it was drunk on the unmixed polytheism of Egypt, and was insulting God to the point of satiety. ^B

But not even the great Moses in Deuteronomy deems it right that the offender be struck with more than forty blows, for he considered the addition of the flailing to be an addition of shame to the sufferer; thus it also pleased the Jews to inflict these minus one, so that, by wishing to fulfill the number forty, they might not, through the momentum of the hand causing more blows to be inflicted than necessary, against their will lacerate the one being beaten. Concerning which the great Paul also says, "Five times forty less one I received." ^C

Furthermore, the Law signified that the scourgings of sinners remained active until the incarnation of Christ and his resurrection from the dead, but did not proceed further, since Christ granted to all who believe in him, through baptism, the remission of the punishments due for their transgressions. For those who belong to the Spirit, dividing this age of ours into five periods, say that the first is that which Adam spent in paradise; the second, that which reached to Noah; the third, which the great Abraham traversed with the radiance of piety; the fourth, which the great Moses and the rest of the prophets completed; the fifth, however, and last, is when the final accession of good things, I mean the incarnation of the Savior, brought renewal to the whole world. For to each of these periods a corresponding law was given: to Adam, the natural law, that of conscience, which he disregarded and incurred the guilt of apostasy; the law of the eating of flesh and the drinking of wine to Noah; to Abraham, that of circumcision; the written law from divine providence through Moses to all those from that time who made piety their highest priority. ^D Our Savior finally granted the Gospel of grace and the abundant largesse of the Spirit. This last time is also signified by the ascent of the sons of Israel from Egypt in the seventh generation; for in this we, having been liberated from the slavery of demons and of the passions, enjoy the salvation acquired through the great sacrifice. These, I think, are the five periods that are also indicated by the...

parabola of the Lord who hired laborers for his ^A vineyard, who went out early in the morning, and at the third hour, and at the sixth, and the ninth, and the eleventh; at which hour Christ also hired the nations called for the work of spiritual commandments, when the reward for the works is first given to those who came last. For we are the first to obtain regeneration, we for whom Christ was sacrificed, and who, rising from the dead, breathed the Holy Spirit into us for our renewal. Since, therefore, the Savior became man at the fifth age of the world, and rose again on the eighth day (for after the seventh, which is the Sabbath, there follows in every case the eighth day, which is the Lord's Day), if you multiply ^B eight by five, you will have forty, a number which the lashes of those who sin do not exceed; for if they exceed it, he says, the one being beaten becomes infamous—for the one who is beaten further is truly shameful and disgraced, I mean after the grace of the aforementioned remission; for he is scourged either as one who has not believed, or as one who, after the remission, has fallen back into his former sins.

What, then, would you say about the woman who yields to the law of nature, and who, because of carnal pleasure, conceives in the womb and afterwards brings forth her offspring into the light—is she excluded from the communion of the faithful and the holy mysteries for ^C less than forty days? Certainly not; for it is for this many days that the law of Moses commands her to be purified from both original stain and the prior pleasure. Was that great Moses, then, forgetful of this number when the occasion required it? By no means; for by macerating his flesh for forty days, and making it thin like a cloud, he brought his soul into a state of freedom to receive divine manifestations, and indeed far better ones than those stone tablets which, after receiving them from God, he broke not long after with righteous zeal. Therefore, when he asked for a second set of laws, and interceded with God to turn away His wrath from the people, he fasted for the same number of days as before. Similarly, we also strive through the forty-day toil to have the tables of our hearts, which have been defiled by the deceit of sin while we rejected the precepts of the law, made pure once again, and to have the law of God inscribed upon them. Nor do I think this is far from the purpose of that man. For this great man Moses lived for three periods of forty years, and the first of these he endured in Egypt for the sake of acquiring knowledge; the second saw him philosophizing with ^D much sweat about the natures of things, in the guise of a shepherd; and the last he spent ruling the people with infinite labors.

What, indeed, is more worthy of admiration than the prophet from Thespe who was fleeing from Jezebel? For what in this case was the best and most appropriate remedy that seemed suitable for the prophet? Was it not the most ready remedy of fasting? But he did not think it right to pass over that number, after which he had been deemed worthy of that great contemplation; for which reason it is also befitting for us to flee from Jezebel with both feet, so to speak. For she, whose power of mourning interpreted signifies sin, which for us

^A causes valid and heavy sorrow, and threatens to deliver the soul to death. There occur, therefore, histories which, if anyone interprets them spiritually, will not lack doctrine sufficient for ordering life well. Much, too, did this number please the Saviour. For our threefold generation—the corporal, the baptismal, and that of the resurrection—He Himself also, sustaining it by a more excellent dispensation, appeared to have perfected, I say, in forty days. For after His ineffable birth in the flesh, on the fortieth day He is offered in the temple, consecrating our purification; for He Himself had no need of this, who takes away the sin of the world. After baptism, armed with a fast of forty days, He vanquished the enemy. For He did not desire to exceed the limits in fasting, or those things which those holy men of old performed, lest He should be thought to be merely simulating humanity. ^B After as many days, too, from the resurrection He ascends to the celestial temple, presenting our nature in Himself pure before God the Father. But also the flight into Egypt—the intellectual affliction, I mean—which He ordered most excellently, after four years, as regards the flesh, he returned from thence. And that I may speak summarily, by all these types He sufficiently shows that God, when He delivered into the hands of man the region of all things under heaven, and the government of all animals therein, did not desire him who was made according to His image to enjoy only this habitation which is open to the brutes; wherefore He built privately for him, last of all, as a palace, the celestial paradise, a place flowing with delights, and a hospitium befitting minds that love God, ^C so that man, dwelling there, might dispense fitting things to those under his hand, as a god. For this reason he is compounded of two things differing widely in nature, the irrational and the rational, that earthly things might be administered by reason, just as celestial things are by the angelic powers. But when he had drawn the commandment given to him into contempt rather than desire, and upon the approach of evil, he was by this very thing changed as to his nature, and having fallen into corruption and a bestial life, he obtained a hospitium common even to the brutes. Indeed, being exiled from the happy hearth long ago granted to him (for it was not right that he who had already cast away the splendid garment of mortality should inhabit that place, ^D who had known corruption and mortality), he was deservedly thrust into this confused and cognate world, whence he had also been taken; to which, as of a comparable nature, he imparted of his own perversity, subjecting it to vanity, and rendering it a place of mortality and misery. And this world, having become such, deservedly repays equal suffering to him who first brought corruption upon it, afflicting him more severely than with a whip, with cares and miseries and troubles, as if with briars. For as fire, and the worm, and virus, when brought into the light, first plot against their parents, so also evil, entering into the world, injures first the man who is its author, through him. Therefore, this one

^A which is composed of four elements and presses upon us on every side, and which has shared with us in corruption—the contemplation of histories, exposing it through action, portrays it via the fourfold decade of days, having instructed and legislated for us to suffer evil, so that we might avoid this even against our will, as truly a scourge, or rather as the death of the soul itself, to those who are always gaping after it; but let us hasten to return to our true fatherland, I mean Paradise, one which differs greatly by nature from this seventh and perishing age, but which is most perfectly suited to the happiness of the eighth age that awaits us after this; for it abounded with plants of marvelous nature, bearing fruits better than the former ones, and these were beautiful to the sight, but more beautiful in their condition; for the excellence of their form and sweetness cannot be expressed in words.

In this place Adam was once dwelling, ^B and he was expected, if he should keep the commandment to the end, to receive the inheritance of the kingdom prepared for him before the foundation of the world; for Paradise was as it were a gymnasium for this. But having made the pleasure that is the parent of corruption his choice before the commandment, not only did he fail of that, but he was also cast out of this by divine decree; for corruption does not inherit incorruption, and he has been banished into this world which is named after the seventh; but not even so has he been completely disappointed of hope: for the enjoyment of those goods is reserved in the eighth to those who have lived piously and soberly. Wherefore also our body, ^C having been compounded of this material quaternion, by whose irrational desires our reason, having been beguiled, brought the stain of mortality upon us and upon all creation, must be perfectly purified, upon each of the elements united to it, through a rough discipline, by the perfect number of the decade of days; and by this, having cast off the heavy burden of sin, the way to the things above becomes easy for the soul to take; for as much as our outward man is perishing, so much is the inward man being renewed, according to the Apostolic word.

Just as, on the contrary, Herod (which is interpreted "the leathery one"), through whom the affection of the flesh is represented, being puffed up by his tetrarchy—by the composition, I say, of our flesh, which he later distributed to his sons—since he could not take from us the true word of doctrine, did not know how to spare the male infants, ^D that is to say, the very first and noble impulses of the mind toward virtue. Can the son of this tetrarch really strive to do anything else but appear to agree with his father, both in his ways and in his lineage and name? Certainly not; and that man, too, beheads the herald of the true Word when the occasion arises.

Furthermore, this decade, since it is born of the tetrad, is itself also a tetrad; for when combined with the numbers that follow it, it produces the decade; and for this reason I think it is also taken in a negative sense. For in the tenth generation the universal flood encroached; and with ten plagues Moses afflicted Egypt. Therefore, our Lord both us, and the nature of the universe that had grown old through the corruption of the elements, in the pri-

- ^A stine state to restore willing, and immortality again kindly to bestow, He deemed it just to start the healing from us, through whom of old corruption had spread universally, using equal numbers of instruments for this purpose. ^B For having first deemed it good to strengthen the four natural virtues in us, He established the great elements of our new creation—the four Gospels, I say—as a counterweight to the lifeless (elements) within us rational beings; they are four, and they contain these things: doctrines, commandments, promises, and threats. This is so that those who believe in the doctrines and esteem the commandments above all else may succeed in obtaining the blessedness of adoption, which the promises set forth, and that the creation along with them might be transformed into the splendor of immortality. But to those who do not care to act in this way, nor to act after that awesome economy, but have remained in wickedness until the end, all hope of a second restoration is cut off, and they are warned that they will immediately inherit the threatened punishments. ^C But since fasting, to speak with the holy Cyril, is a purgation of the five senses through which it comes about that the soul is brightened or polluted; and since this purgation guarantees the blessedness hoped for in the eighth age, the number forty is generated by multiplying five by eight. Because of all these things, as has been shown, we are commanded to renew our souls, debilitated by the stain of sin, through the forty-day fast at this time, when the whole world also is restored for the better every year.

Laws.

CHAP. VI. On the fast of the fourth day.

CHAP. VII. That it is forbidden for a cleric to take usury, and concerning usury.

deceit, and usury upon usury." ^A And the Psalmist, regarding a city held in a multitude of transgressions, says: "Usury and deceit have not departed from its streets." But the Lord says: "Refuse not him who wishes to borrow from you; lend to those from whom you hope to receive nothing back." For "He who has pity on the poor, lends to the Lord"; for the same thing is both a gift, because of the hopelessness of recovery, and a loan, because of the munificence of the Lord, who pays back in return for it abundant and manifold rewards.

The 17th canon of the first synod orders every cleric, and those who are reckoned in the canon, to be deposed if they—ignoring that sacred oracle which says, "He has not given his money out to usury"—pursue avarice and shameful gain, and demand from debtors hundredth-part [centesima] or half-more [hemiolia] usury. For since usuries are of many kinds, the hundredth-parts are the most burdensome—that is, the twelve coins per hundred, which the civil law allows to moneychangers. For the ancients used a pound of a hundred parts, just as we use that of seventy-two exagia. And the "half-more" [hemiolii] are those which are half of the total interest of twelve coins, that is, six. This is not, however, as is the custom of arithmeticians, indicating quantities of numbers compared to one another—where for instance six is "half-more" than four, and this is "less-than-half-more" [hyphemiolios] than that. But as for those who do not openly do this, but cunningly avoid being held for violation of the law—namely, those who give money as a loan to others and agree to share the profit equally, while being entirely immune to loss—it judges it just that those who contrive such things, or seek any other shameful gain, should incur the penalty of deposition and be removed from the clergy. It would be kinder if this were done after an admonition, in accordance with the apostolic canon praised above.

The 10th canon of the sixth synod repeats the same things, and commands clerics who are usurers to either cease or be deposed. The 4th canon of the Council of Laodicea agrees with these.

Moreover, the fifth canon of the Council of Carthage says: "No one, it says, is unaware that avarice is the mother of all evils. This, therefore, must be removed in every way, and one must not violate the definitions of the Fathers for the sake of shameful gain, nor is it permitted for a cleric to take usury on any matter whatsoever." For a loan is given not only in money, but also in grain, wine, and oil, with the debtor agreeing to return something more after the established time. For regarding those things which the holy Fathers have decreed, it is not fit to hold votes and deliberate, but rather to follow without contradiction or curious disquisition; therefore, if such a thing brings disgrace and blame upon laymen, it does so even more upon clerics.

Great Basil, in his 14th canon, says: "A cleric who has taken usury, if he intends to spend the unjust gain upon the poor, and subsequently to avoid the disease of avarice, is acceptable for the priesthood." Since he says elsewhere: "The ^D farmer having taken the ear of corn, does not search for the seed again under the root; but the lender..."

^A also keeps the fruits, and does not withdraw from the principal; he plants without land, and harvests without seed; therefore, copper and gold, and the objects that by nature do not produce anything, are born against nature, while that which by nature brings forth becomes sterile.

Laws. Even if it seemed to many before us that the payment of interest should be admitted, perhaps because of the harshness and cruelty of lenders, we however have judged it to be unworthy of our Christian way of life and detestable, as it is forbidden by divine legislation. Therefore, our serenity commands that it be permitted to no one, under any pretext, to take interest, so that while we think we are keeping the law, we do not violate the law of God; but even if someone should take any amount, it shall be reckoned toward the debt.

The ancient law expressly defines the quantity of interest for the loans, changing it however according to the quality of the persons. For it orders those who lend from the ranks of the Illustrious and above to take only a third of a centesima; but money-changers and merchants up to two-thirds of a centesima; and all others up to half a centesima. If the loan is for a pious house, up to a quarter of a centesima. In maritime loans, where the lender ^B assumes the risk of the sea, the lender does not take more than the legal interest, that is, a centesima; for if the lender assumes the risk by sea, he may take more than the legal interest. In the case of lent fruits, for which in the past it was permitted to demand higher interest due to the uncertainty of the outcome, the present ordinance does not permit demanding higher interest, *if not* up to a centesima only, not wishing that either through the holding of pledges greater interest be taken, nor for judges ever to condemn one to pay more under the pretext of the custom of the place; but if anyone should take higher interest, it is to be deducted from the principal. A centesimal interest is called that which provides twelve coins per hundred for each year; that which among us is reckoned as eight, that is to say, two-thirds. Let interest extend up to the amount of the principal lent; but if it happens that more than the measure of the principal is paid, it shall be reckoned towards the principal. Whoever schemes for interest on interest is infamous; for no one demands interest on interest, even if it is paid little by little.

CHAP. VIII. On the Trisagion hymn.

CHAP. IX. That it is not permitted to adorn the hair of the head delicately.

^A with superfluous and overly curious care? For what could be more superfluous than to take the greatest pains to adorn, and artfully arrange, the hair of the head and the beard, and to set a trap for souls prone to intemperance, while abandoning the cultivation of the inner man through all virtues? For the Apostle says: "If a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him." And Moses in Deuteronomy: "Ye shall not make round corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard." He commands that those who do such things be first paternally rebuked: but if they persist, that they be excommunicated. Subject to these same penalties are those who curl their hair so that it becomes ringleted, or who dye it, or who drench it with water and dry it in the sun so that it turns yellowish, or who take care to make it appear golden or bushy, or who wear false plaits, or who shave their chin, or burn off the greater part of it with an ignited shard, removing the hair with some skill to make it look clean-shaven, as it seems to them, and effectively setting it in such a way as to suggest that the down has only just begun to grow upon them—for this has now spread among those who are called Christians, especially as if it were an epidemic disease.

Chapter X. Concerning the Violators of Tombs.

^B Canon 66 of the Great Basil directs that the tomb-robber who breaks open graves and plunders the things buried with the dead be debarred from holy communion for ten years.

Moreover, the great Gregory of Nyssa, in canon 7, says: The violation of tombs is divided into that which is pardonable and that which is unpardonable. For if anyone, moved by religion, has left the buried body inviolate, so as not to expose to the sun the deformity of nature, but uses some of the stones that were around the tomb for the construction of some work, this is in no way laudable, yet custom has rendered it pardonable, when the removal of the material leads to something more beautiful and more useful; ^C but to disturb the ashes of the unburied flesh, and to move the bones in the hope of finding some treasure buried with them, this is punished with the same penalty as simple fornication—that is to say, for nine years. But if the person being corrected displays a praiseworthy conversion, it is permitted for the one who directs his correction to shorten the time prescribed for his punishment by the canons.

Laws.

Those who take any material from tombs are held guilty of the crime of sacrilege.

If anyone carries away from a tomb stones or columns, ^D or marbles, or any other material whatsoever, let him pay twenty pounds of gold to the public treasury.

Those who dig up tombs and strip the bodies of the dead, if they have committed such acts with arms, are punished with death; if without arms, they are condemned to the mines.

Those who despoil the dead in their tombs of their garments shall pay the penalty by the cutting off of their hands.

Those who remove relics or bones, if they are commoners,

are subjected to the extreme penalty; but the well-born are exiled, or sent to the mines.

It is not permitted for the remains of the deceased to be disturbed or despoiled; but those deposited for a time are to be re-interred.

Let no man transfer the body of a dead person to another place without an imperial mandate.

CAP. XI. That it is not permitted for clerics to strike anyone.

The 27th Canon of the holy apostles says: We command that a bishop, or presbyter, or deacon who strikes the faithful who are sinning, or infidels who have treated them unjustly, and who wishes to intimidate them in this way, be deposed; for the Lord nowhere taught us this. ^B On the contrary, He Himself, when struck, did not strike back; when reviled, He did not revile in return; when suffering, He did not threaten; but He even commanded that the left cheek be offered to him who does not spare the right. For it is permitted to rebuke those who do evil in other ways, and to defend those who suffer injustice as much as we are able; just as we know the great Paul instructed Timothy to rebuke those who sin in the presence of all, so that fear may take hold of the rest also. But it is not permitted for clerics to take the law into their own hands. However, it is permitted to moderately discipline their own disciples when they sin and, after warning, do not repent; for the Lord also, when He drove out those who were trading in the temple as if sinning against God, struck them with a lash. If, however, any teacher, yielding to anger, should strike with a lethal instrument, he shall not go unpunished. ^C

The 9th canon of the so-called First and Second Council, reviewing this apostolic canon, rebukes those who attempt to evade it and imagine that only those who strike with their own hand are blameworthy, and not those who do so by command. For this, it says, is vain and alien to the mind of the apostolic canon, that one who strikes three or four times should be deposed, while he who inflicts fatal blows by command should go unpunished. For it behooves a priest of God to restrain him who behaves inordinately by teaching and admonition, and sometimes by ecclesiastical corrections, but not to insult human bodies indecorously with whips and blows, and to lacerate them. If, however, any are completely incorrigible, no one forbids them from being disciplined by the magistrate of that place, as is also decreed by the canon of the Council of Antioch, which see in cap. 12 of the letter S. ^D

The 3rd canon of the council presided over by Photius puts under anathema anyone who has dared to strike or keep in custody any bishop, whether he does it without a cause or fabricates a cause. And even if the cause is very plausible, nevertheless it is not within the power of the supreme magistrate to avenge it, but it must be referred to the synod, which alone has the right to judge and punish those bishops who are at fault.

the civil law forbids bishops from striking with their own hands, yet it sets no penalty; but in general, it makes provisions regarding anyone who strikes or inflicts injury, granting against them an action for insults, which is prosecuted both pecuniarily and criminally, and it also defines what sort of insult ought to be reckoned as grave, and what as light.

He who attempts to strike a priest either in church or in a procession shall be banished. ^A If a free body has been harmed, the judgment shall be for the costs of medical treatment and the loss of earnings, but not for disfigurement, for a free body is not valued in money. But he who harms the body of a slave is required, in addition to the aforementioned, to pay also for the depreciation of his value.

INITIUM LITTERÆ Υ

The 56th canon of the holy apostles, and also the 55th, say: A cleric who insults his own bishop shall be deposed. "For you shall not speak evil of the ruler of your people." ^B This is the voice of Moses, the man of God. But he who insults a presbyter or deacon shall be excommunicated. For an injury towards a greater person demands also a greater punishment, and a lesser one towards lesser persons. For the former holds the place of the head in the body of the Church, while the latter hold the place of the hands and the other subservient members.

The 57th canon says: And he who has mocked a lame man, or a blind one, or one who has a defective gait, shall be deprived of communion, whether he be a cleric or a layman. For such persons one ought rather to treat with pity, extending to them a helping hand, than to make them the object of mockery and derision.

^C Leges. Grave injury is defined either by the person, or by the deed itself, or by the place. By the person, when it is committed against a magistrate or a patron; by the place, when it occurs in a theater with everyone looking on; by the deed, when a wound is inflicted or the face is struck. Such persons are either banished for a time, or prohibited from some office, if they are of high rank; but if they are free men, yet of the common people, they are beaten with rods; but slaves are beaten with scourges and handed over to their masters.

^D If anyone, while the divine mysteries or any other of the sacred offices are being performed, enters into a holy church and inflicts any injury upon the bishop, or the clerics, or the other ministers of the church, we command that he be tortured and banished; and if he has disturbed the divine mysteries and the liturgies, or prohibited them from being celebrated, [he shall] suffer capital punishment. The same shall be observed also in the case of processions, in which bishops or clerics are found; so that if anyone has only offered an insult, he shall atone with torments and exile, but if he has broken up the procession, he shall suffer capital punishment.

SYNTAGMA ALPHABETICUM.

CAP. II. On the Hydroparastatai heretics

CAP. III. On adoption

CAP. IV. On ministers, that is, subdeacons

CAP. V. On settlement before marriage

BEGINNING OF THE LETTER PHI.

CAP. I. On the Falcidian law

If, however, the children are more numerous, they acquire one half of the property, and the remainder the father bestows wherever he chooses, whether to one of his children, or to more, or to any stranger whatsoever. If the father should even wish to cast it into the abyss, no one has the right to call him to account. The law says: We decree that legacies left for pious uses shall have preference over the Falcidian law.

CAP. II. On poisoners and magicians.

CAP. III. On the defilement of virgins.

CAP. IV. On avarice.

CAP. V. On voluntary and involuntary homicides.

The great Gregory of Nyssa in the 5th canon says: The crime of homicide is divided by the distinction between voluntary and involuntary. Voluntary homicide is that which is committed with deliberation; furthermore, that also is reckoned among voluntary homicides when someone in a clash and ^C fight, beating and beaten, takes the first opportunity to inflict with his hand a fatal blow. For whoever, having become masterless to his soul, has given place to the impulse of his anger, no longer brings to mind any of those things that were able to cut off the evil while the passion is strong; so that even the crime of homicide resulting from a clash is attributed to an act of will, not to chance.

But involuntary homicides have clear marks, when someone, while having some other intention, does something of these irreparable things by chance. The penance for voluntary homicide ^D extends to twenty-seven years, divided into three nine-year periods; so that during the first, the person under penance is entirely separated, standing outside the church and weeping; the remaining two [periods] he spends part in the station of the hearers, and part in that of the prostraters, and thus comes to the participation of the mysteries. But if the conversion of the punished person, and the fervor of his repentance, should surpass those who undergo their cleansing more slowly over a long period of time, the duration of the penance will be shortened for him, so that instead of the nine years which correspond to each grade, eight or seven or six

^A or even only five, according to the judgment of him who governs the Church.

Involuntary homicide, however, has been judged to be pardonable, but not worthy of praise. For the canon declares that he who is held by this pollution should be excluded from priestly grace as one already become impure, and an object of contempt. But as much time as is established for the cleansing of simple fornication—that is, the space of nine years—it has been deemed fitting that this same duration apply to those who have involuntarily committed homicide, with consideration given in this case also to the intention of the penitent, and whether it is necessary for the determined time assigned to him to be extended in full or on the contrary to be shortened.

^B Thus also the great Basil, in his 8th canon, defining voluntary and involuntary homicide, says: It is involuntary, he says, when someone, having thrown a stone with the intent to drive away a beast or to knock down fruit from a tree, strikes and kills a passerby whom he did not see beforehand. Furthermore, if someone desiring to correct another, strikes him with a strap or a rod—not a very harsh one—and the one being struck dies; for the intent here is examined, namely, that he wished to improve the wrongdoer, not to kill him. Among involuntary [homicides] is also that case when someone, defending himself in a struggle, strikes a person with a stick or his hand on vital parts, intending to harm him, but not absolutely to kill him; but this already borders upon voluntary [homicide]. For he who has used such an instrument for defense, and thus has inflicted a most grievous wound, appears to have acted with cruelty toward the man due to weakness of spirit. ^C Similarly, he who has used a heavy club or a stone greater than human strength requires, is numbered among involuntary homicides, as one who intended one thing but did another. For in a fit of rage he inflicted such a blow as to kill the one struck, even though his purpose was perhaps to crush him, not to put him to death entirely. He, however, who has used a sword or anything of that sort has no excuse, especially he who throws an axe; for it is not even evident that he struck with his hand, so that the measure of the blow might be in his power; but he threw it so that, by the weight of the iron, and by the edge, and by the motion through a long distance, the wound must necessarily be fatal.

Voluntary [homicide], again, is entirely clear and admits of no doubt, ^D such as that of robbers and that of the onslaughts of war. For some kill for the sake of money, fleeing the evidence; while others in wars come to commit murders, not intending to frighten or to discipline, but openly intending to kill their adversaries. Moreover, if someone should mix a lethal drug for any other curious reason, and kills, we judge such a case to be voluntary. Such things are often done by women who, by certain incantations and amulets, try to draw men to their own love, and provide them with drugs that cause darkness to their minds; these women, therefore, if they kill, even if they intended one thing and did another, nevertheless, because of the lethal and forbidden drug,

are reckoned among voluntary murderers. ^A Likewise, those who offer or accept abortifacient drugs, so as to bring about a miscarriage and cause the untimely death of the fetus, do not differ in any way from those who commit voluntary murder.

In canon 43: Whoever, it says, has inflicted a lethal wound upon his neighbor is a murderer, whether he initiated the wound or defended himself.

And in canon 56: He who kills voluntarily and is later led to repentance shall be deprived of the communion of the holy mysteries for twenty years; namely, for four years he shall stand weeping outside the doors of the house of prayer, openly confessing his crime and begging the believers entering to pray to God for him; for five years he shall depart along with the hearers; then for seven years he shall remain inside with the repentant [the prostrate], but shall not remain to the end; in the remaining four years he shall stand [with the faithful], and having completed this, he shall participate in the holy mysteries.

The canon 57 excludes the involuntary murderer from the communion of the holy mysteries for ten years. But in canon 54, it commands that the penalties for the unintentional murderer be either relaxed or increased according to the nature of the circumstances.

And in canon 11, it affirms that it is a sufficient penalty for one who kills unintentionally that he abstain from communion for eleven years; for this exceeds even the time prescribed by the sacred canons. Regarding those who are struck, we must observe the Mosaic Law: he who is laid low by the wounds he received, but walks again leaning on his staff, we shall not consider to have been killed. But if he did not rise after the wounds, because he who struck him did not intend to kill him, he is indeed a murderer, but an unintentional one on account of his intent.

The 22nd canon of the Synod of Ancyra says that those who fall into accidental homicide: the former decree commands that they do not partake of the perfect [communion] for seven years, while the latter [decree] commands that they complete a five-year period.

The 23rd canon commands that voluntary murderers be accounted worthy of communion at the end of their lives. But you, however, must rather obey the canons of Great Basil.

CAP. VI. Concerning those who kill themselves.

CAP. VII. Concerning homicides in war, and those who kill robbers.

^D Great Basil, in his 13th canon, says: Our Fathers did not consider killings in war to be homicides, as I believe, granting pardon to those who fight in defense of chastity and piety. Yet they seem to have given good counsel, as being not clean in their hands, to abstain from communion for three years. For this holy Father also esteems as worthy of praise those who courageously engage the enemy and defend the Christian race; for whoever among them in praise...

could be considered more worthy? But because his goal is to cleanse the stains which sometimes adhere to good actions, he also moderates punishments for these, just as the great Athanasius, I suppose, would have done if he had chanced to handle this matter himself and had not looked elsewhere, omitting these. But those who do not attain the magnanimity of the lawgiver, nor consider the proneness of human nature to vice, dare to cast blame upon him, as if the advice were tasteless and lacking in correct judgment. For in this way, they say, it will come to pass that the most highly esteemed soldiers, and those whose work it is to cut off the onsets of the barbarians with sword and slaughter, will be deprived of communion in ^B good things for their whole life, which for Christian men is an intolerable punishment. "Why, then," they say, "are not their hands clean, whom you yourself testify are fighting for temperance and piety," as he has considered this best of all? For if these were not prepared to come to grips with the barbarians, and by brandishing their swords to persuade them not only not to covet the property of others, but to be afraid for their own, the matters of piety would not be preserved, since the barbarians would bring everything under themselves in the great emptiness of any to stop them, and would put into practice the strengthening of their own worship. And who will be the person pursuing temperance, when all are compelled to live according to them, they already having become autocrats? ^C Against these, one might say in childish language, they dare to murmur at the many-sounding trumpet of the Spirit and the book of evangelical experience. To whom I might reply, that the swarm of passions within us—to speak in summary—after the transgression of Adam, as we know, has swarmed into the human race, just as common infirmities crashing into wickedness. Some of these are bound by nature and necessity, and others are governed by nature and choice; and the former possess an unblamable character, for they possess as a sufficient excuse the irrational necessity of nature, provided that excess does not corrupt the use. But as for those ^D to which choice incites—which indeed is appropriate to a nature that naturally acts freely—persuading it to submit to the passions of the irrational nature, even if it refused to give itself over, it has not entirely escaped blame, although it is condoned. Therefore these also have need of expiation, as they follow in the footsteps of the original fault. For even marriage, although it appears to bear a certain image of the immortality from which we have fallen through the succession of the race, nevertheless, unless one has legitimate authority and by sacred rite cleanses the ancient stain, it is considered among detestable things. Therefore also infants, if they are not cleansed by the sacred washing, are excluded from our communion, although they are believed to become participants in the original taint not by choice, but naturally, inasmuch as they bear the concupiscence of the flesh as a fault of nature. Whence says the holy David: "For behold, I was conceived in iniquities," etc. Wherefore, if wars, and the things that from thence follow

^A are the offspring of the voluntary passions of transgression, it is necessary that those who have chosen to live in arms, and to stain their right hand with the blood of aliens, should first be cleansed by the medicine of repentance, and by its fire should melt away the filth that clings to that manner of life, and so approach the mysteries of the new Adam. For since the entire evangelical institution, bringing us back to our primitive state and instructing us in a spiritual—and as far as possible, better—life, is nowhere shown to be approving of wars, or checking the impulse of wickedness through slaughters, as the old law had it, but rather stands in direct opposition to these things and teaches the contrary. For indeed, when the disciples asked the Lord if they should call down lightning upon the Samaritans who would not receive them—moved by the zeal of the Tishbite—He turned and rebuked them, saying: "You know not of what spirit you are." Nevertheless, if you scrutinize the old law carefully, you will find it in these matters to be of the same mind as the evangelical, even if the different state of human nature seemed to demand a different providence and different laws. Why did God not permit David, who was so eager, to build the temple? Was it not because his right hand was polluted by the infinite slaughter of foreigners? Let Josephus here also deservedly be trusted. Furthermore, when God spoke to the aforementioned Tishbite in Horeb by signs from heaven and the sound of a thin ^B breeze, why did He say that the Lord was not in the former, but was indeed present in the latter? Did He not clearly demonstrate thereby that only long-suffering and philanthropy are pleasing to God, and that the malice of men brings about all the rest? What was the preeminence of the administration of Moses? Was it not that he was able to remove from the midst that impiety which is wont to rule over human life and to crush all those who resist it and oppose in every way their reformation for the better? Why, therefore, did He forbid those who, even by God's command, cut down impiety together with human bodies from entering the camp for certain days? For those who were sent by Him with dire oracles against the most hostile Balaam, and who had pillaged the cities tributary to him, and had cruelly slaughtered all the citizens except the infants, having also slain the king himself, who had previously meditated and wrought infinite evils against the Jews—for he had set before them shameless women, corrupting the bodies of those who mingled with them by lasciviousness and their souls by impiety—these, I say, who had so gloriously conquered the enemy, He commanded to remain outside the camp until the seventh day, and commanded the great priest Eleazar to purify them: showing, as I think, that although the slaughter of enemies was legitimate, nevertheless he who slays a man, even if he did so justly in self-defense and against his will, is seen to be liable to [the need for] sacrifice on account of our supreme kinship and communion; wherefore He wished even men who were not at all wicked, to whom it had befallen to be polluted by slaughter, to be purified in order to wipe away that guilt. Therefore, turning his whole mind to the spiritual law, the holy man (and Moses, as

an exemplar placed before his eyes, who expressed equity, yet dared not fully grant to him the discretion of time and circumstances) did not wish the slaughters that occur in war to be without penalty, according to the discretion of him who administers the remedy and the disposition of the recipient, although he seems to limit the remission of guilt to a certain time, as he is accustomed to prescribe in other faults.

^B Furthermore, under the Emperor Nicephorus, son of Phocas, the institution of this canon was useful to the Church. For when he urged the Church to decree that those who perished in war should receive equal honors with the holy martyrs, and that they should be celebrated as martyrs' memorials with hymns and solemnities, those who were then in charge of the Church, since they could not persuade the emperor with much speech that his command was not pious, finally used this canon. ^C Is it possible, they said, to count those who fell in war with the martyrs, whom the great Basil, as being impure in their hands, excluded from the holy mysteries for three years? And in this way they warded off the emperor’s ferocity. But since many priests and bishops confessed at the synod that they had engaged with the enemy and had killed many of them, the holy and venerable synod, proceeding according to the canon of this holy man and also the 55th, which further look for in ch. 5 of letter A, and reciting whatever is contained in sacred Scripture on this matter, ordered them to cease from their office, especially if some from the military order had not forced them to this. See also ch. 7, letter A.

CAP. VIII. Of women who kill their fetuses with medications.

See chapters 28 and 29 of letter Γ, and in ch. 9 of the same letter the canon of the Council of Ancyra; ^D furthermore, concerning involuntary homicides, and concerning infants who are suffocated while sleeping next to their parents.

To involuntary homicides is also added that which occurs when some infants, lying at night between their parents, are suffocated because of their parents' negligence, or being weighed down by drunkenness or by a surfeit of food, they fall upon them. These indeed shall observe seven years, appeasing God with dry food and genuflection, but also by mourning and by alms according to their means, they cut short the prescribed years, obtaining pardon, because they are held by an irremediable evil.

But if it is clear that this happened through the guile of the adversary, the parents having sinned in nothing, although such an event deserves pardon, still a moderate penalty must intervene. For it is probable that because of other sins of which they have not yet done penance, this abandonment was sent by the Lord who guards infants. For he says: "Do not give thy foot to be moved, and he who guards thee shall not slumber."

^A If, however, the infant were stifled while unbaptized, the parents must, in addition to the penances, also pay the obligatory alms.

Laws. Homicide is judged by the intent, that is, whether one had the purpose to kill a man or not. Hence it happens that one who strikes a man, yet does not kill him, is sometimes punished as a murderer, while he who kills, though he only intended to strike, is not punished as a murderer; and such an intention is judged by the instrument used by the striker. The punishment for voluntary homicide is, for one of high status, deportation or the total confiscation of property; for those of lower status, it is subjection to the sword or to wild beasts. For those who kill through recklessness or negligence, there is a five-year exile; for involuntary homicide, pardon is granted.

The law regarding assassins requires malice, not mere great negligence; hence, if any of them should throw a stone or a branch of a tree from a height ^B and kill someone, he is not held by the law against assassins.

Neither an infant—that is, a child of seven years—nor a madman who commits slaughter is held guilty by the law on murderers. He who commands another to kill is judged as a murderer.

In all crimes, one must inquire whether someone acted with premeditation or by accident, and thus be punished either according to the rigor of the law or more leniently. He who kills any of his relatives, whether ascendants or descendants, is delivered to the fire.

He who, while in danger of his own life, kills an attacker is free from blame. If one kills a thief at night, he remains unpunished, provided he could not have spared the thief ^C without personal danger. Seek this also in chapter [A], and chapter 29 of letter [G].

The Novella of the holy patriarch Athanasius and the venerable emperor Andronicus decrees that only the one caught in homicide is to be punished according to the laws, and that his children are not to have their property confiscated, provided they were not accomplices in the slaughter; but his possessions are to be divided according to the number of his natural children, and one share is to be assigned to the one killed, especially if he lived in poverty and had a wife and children; and only the portion of the murderer itself is to revert to the public treasury.

He who kills an infant is held liable to the penalty for homicide. ^D

See also the two Novellae of the emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus, which decree different punishments according to the quality of the slaughter, and designate which murderers seeking refuge in the church should not be cast out, and which should be dragged forth without hesitation.

CHAPTER IX. That one ought by no means to make phylacteries.

Consult chapter [M].

CHAPTER X. Concerning those who are kept in prison.

Law.

BEGINNING OF THE LETTER X.

CHAPTER I. On the manner in which the elections of bishops to be ordained take place, and concerning the disputes that arise over them.

The 13th canon of the Council of Carthage also votes in favor of these things. If anyone, it says, acts against his own confession or subscription, he brings judgment against himself, and is deprived of his own rank. And it is shown from the canons that it is not lawful for the metropolitan to be present at the elections of the archbishops under him, but only the bishops alone.

The 5th canon of the Synod of Laodicea says that it is not permitted for just anyone who wishes to be present at the election of the one to be ordained; for it happens sometimes that accusations against some people are brought into the middle, which perhaps ought to prevent them from ordination, so that unless these matters remain hidden from the people, he himself will draw upon them insult and ridicule, and this will become an incitement to evil; and the name of God will be blasphemed by those not firmly established in the faith, just as it is glorified through those who live according to virtue.

The 19th canon of the Council of Antioch determines the same thing, saying that the metropolitan of the province must be present at the election of the future ordinand, not indeed to vote together with the bishops, but to moderate; for without his authorization it is impossible for elections to take place. Then all bishops of the same province are to be summoned by letters from the metropolitan. And it is better if all assemble. But if this be difficult, at least the majority must be present; yet those who do not attend for necessary reasons should give their assent to what has been done by means of letters, and thus the establishment of the vote is to come about; but if it is not

^A performed canonically, as we have said, and some of the bishops perhaps contradict out of a spirit of contention, let not the electoral vote be hindered, but let the vote of the majority prevail.

Canon 49 of the Council of Carthage says: If any controversy arises regarding a bishop who has been elected by three bishops, stirred up by certain people from the laity bringing forward reasons that are not sufficiently clear, it is necessary to add two others to the number of the three, so that all together may examine the things said against the one being voted for and declare him pure. See also in chapter 11 of letter E, the 6th canon of the first ^B Council, and the 28th of the fourth Council.

The 123rd Novella of Justinian commands that the election of bishops be made by three categories of persons, namely, by the clergy and the leading men of the city for which the bishop is to be chosen, each of these taking an oath upon the holy Gospels that he is not electing this person through given or promised money, nor through friendship, nor favor, nor any other affection, but knowing him to be orthodox and of honest life, and that he has a wife, and indeed only one, and neither a widow nor a repudiated woman, nor has he kept a concubine; and that from the three who are elected, the more worthy one is to be ordained according to the election and judgment of the ordaining bishop. It commands that all clergy who are ordained live such a life. However, the greater part of these rites are contrary to the holy canons, which do not judge it necessary to swear ^C upon the holy Gospels, nor for elections to be made by the clergy or the leading men of the city, but by the bishops alone, who also will have to render an account for them before the common judge.

Law: But if, it says, anyone brings an accusation against a bishop or clerk who is to be ordained, upon any cause whatsoever, let that ordination be deferred, and let a most accurate examination be held within three months; and if they find the one to be ordained to be guilty, let the ordination be prevented; but if innocent, let him be ordained. But if the accuser cannot prove it, if he is a clerk, let him be deposed from his rank; but if a layman, let him undergo appropriate correction. But if anyone ordains him before the examination of the case, let him be stripped of the ^D priesthood together with the one ordained.

He who goes against his own previously entered subscription, saying later that he has learned of something that prevents the one elected from being ordained, shall not be deposed, unless he wavers in his proofs.

Chapter II. That the elections of those to be ordained ought not to be made by the magistrates or by the people.

See chapter 19 of letter E.

The 12th and 13th canons of the Council of Laodicea, indeed, do not permit the crowds to elect either bishops or presbyters, but wish this to be done according to the judgment of the metro-

- ^A politan and the bishops of his province. The one elected must be long-tested in both word and deed, so that he may be able to exhort those subject to him in the sound faith, and to refute those who contradict true dogmas, and by his life be able to draw those who approach him toward a zeal for virtue, being upright and blameless, and thriving in good ways.

CHAPTER III. Concerning the time within which bishops must be ordained.

The 25th canon of the fourth council ordains that the ordinations of bishops must take place within three months by those to whom this matter pertains. For it is not fitting that the assemblies of the churches should long be devoid of the care of shepherds and wander about in uncertainty, unless perhaps some unavoidable cause happens to make the time prolonged and the ordination postponed, such as the city being captured by Barbarians. Those who do not act thus are to be subjected to ecclesiastical penalties. However, it directs that the income of the vacant church, received by the steward of that same church during the space of the three months or even longer, be reserved for the one who is to be ordained.

See Chapter 27 of the letter E.

CHAPTER IV. What kind of men those who are to be ordained as bishops must be, and what they ought to know before all else.

The 2nd canon of the seventh council mandates that the one who is to be promoted and raised to the ^C grade of the episcopacy must apply the greatest care, that he might above all understand the Psalter, and exhort the holy people to sing and know these hymns above all others; and that he be accurately examined by his own metropolitan as to whether he is prepared to read diligently and not cursorily the sacred canons, the holy Gospel, the book of the divine Apostle, and the rest of the holy Scripture, and to diligently elicit its meaning; and to live his own life according to its divine precepts, and to persuade others to consider these things of the greatest importance; and to be ready to provide an apology to everyone who asks for an account concerning the hope that is in us, and to take care that all those who are subject to him be prepared for this as well. For the essence and constitution of our hierarchy are the divinely delivered oracles, as the great Dionysius has declared; and if he promises willingly to perform these things, he receives the ordination; but if he is doubtful in his mind and refuses, he is sent away with the matter unfinished. For God says through the prophet: "You have rejected knowledge, and I will reject you, so that you shall not serve as a priest for me" (Hos. 4:6). For if all we believers standing together chant, "I will meditate on your statutes, and I will not forget your words" (Ps. 118:16), then much more does it behoove those who have put on the holy vestment to do so.

The 18th and 19th canons of the Council of Carthage command that the one to be ordained be reminded to keep the decrees of the Fathers, as many as they have firmly established regarding dogmas and regarding the holy canons, lest his sanctions be bypassed…

and they be put to shame at the last in vain, either being deposed in the present life or suffering unavoidable punishments in the future.

CAP. V. How many bishops are required for the ordination of a bishop and other clerics.

The first canon of the holy apostles commands that a bishop be ordained by two bishops, being consecrated by them through the invocation of the Holy Spirit and the sacred rite of prayers. The second canon, however, enjoins that a presbyter, a deacon, and the rest of the clergy be ordained by one bishop. The 49th canon of the council of Carthage declared that three bishops are sufficient for the ordination of a bishop, so that, if more were required, this might not become an impediment to the utility and necessity of the Church. It is not necessary, however, that all three be of the same province; but if the metropolitan does not have so many under him, he takes two from another province, and thus ordains the one who has been elected.

CAP. VI. That he who is to be ordained bishop must first be separated from his wife.

See chapter 17 of letter Γ.

CAP. VII. On the age of those to be ordained.

See chapter 2 of letter B.

CAP. VIII. That a dying bishop ought not to appoint and ordain another in his place.

The 76th canon of the holy apostles says, "A bishop must not, by whatever way he may be departing from the church which he governs, ordain another to his throne, whether to gratify a relative or anyone else. For it is not fair to make one's own kinsmen heirs to the episcopate, or to bestow what belongs to God out of human inclination; if this occurs, both the ordination shall be invalid, and the ordainer shall be excommunicated." For it has been decreed that bishops are to be made by a council, and not that each one should appoint whomsoever he might wish in his own place. This was considered forbidden even among the Israelites; indeed, they used to accuse divine Moses, suggesting that he had appointed his brother Aaron and his sons to the priesthood; and had not God confirmed their priesthood through miracles, they would not have been long preserved in it. ^D The 23rd canon of the council of Antioch commands that it is not permitted for a bishop to ordain whom he wishes as his successor, even if he should be at the end of his life; and if he does so, the appointment is invalid; but those who observe the rites of the Church, after the bishop is no longer there, shall promote one who is worthy by the judgment of the bishops of the province.

CAP. IX. That a bishop, presbyter, or deacon ought not to be ordained until he has made all his household Christians.

The 36th canon of the council of Carthage says that one should not be ordained

^A a layman as a bishop immediately, nor one newly baptized; and for what reasons a cleric is removed from the priesthood. Seek chapter 1, letter A.

CAP. XI. When a eunuch, or one otherwise maimed in body, is not to be ordained bishop or cleric.

Seek chapter 34, letter E.

Canons 77 and 78 of the holy Apostles do not reject from the priesthood one who is blind in one eye or who limps. For it is not bodily deformity that defiles in this regard, but a vice of the soul. For that was observed under the shadowy law, which demanded a whole body, being accustomed to teach spiritual things through visible ones. Indeed, he who had suffered such a thing before was removed from his office; nevertheless, among us, he who has had his eyes removed after his ordination, or has fallen into some other bodily defect which cannot be healed, is not removed from the priesthood. For if anyone, it says, has been deprived of both eyes, or has become deaf in both ears, or has a withered right hand, or has been deprived of any other sense, in such a way that his mutilation prevents him from exercising the priestly office, he shall not be promoted to the episcopate, not because his members are damaged, but because he cannot handle the sacred mysteries. However, he who suffers such a thing after his ordination has been conferred is not removed from the priesthood. ^C

CAP. XII. That a bishop ought not to be ordained in a church whose bishop is still living.

Seek in chapter 9, letter A, the canon of the First and Second Synod.

CAP. XIII. That a bishop ought not to be ordained in a small city or village.

See chapter 30, letter E.

CAP. XIV. Concerning the ordination of chorepiscopi.

Consult chapter 31, letter E.

CAP. XV. Concerning an ordained bishop who refuses to go to his own church.

See chapter 20, letter E.

CAP. XVI. That it is not permitted for a bishop to make ordinations in a district not subject to him.

Canon 35 of the holy Apostles commands that a bishop must not presume to make ordinations outside his own limits in cities and regions not subject to him; but if anyone is convicted of having done this without the consent of those who occupy those places, let him be deposed and ^D

those whom he ordained. ^A But neither is a metropolitan permitted to travel into the diocese of any of the bishops who are under him, and to perform any hierarchical office without the consent of the bishop. See in chap. 9, lett. A, the 13th and 22nd canons of the Synod of Antioch, and the 2nd canon of the Second Synod.

CAP. XVII. That it is not permitted to a bishop to ordain a cleric of another province.

Canon 54 of the Synod of Carthage deprives of communion with the rest those bishops who receive and ordain a foreign cleric in their own churches.

^B The synodical constitution, however, which was made under Patriarch Michael, who was also called the prince of the philosophers, says: "It is permitted to the chief priests to teach the word of faith to all who have not yet been initiated, and to instruct and baptize them, from wherever they may be, and to share the divine mysteries with the faithful of any diocese whatsoever; but not, however, to confer sacred orders upon those who come from anywhere; rather, only to those who pertain to their own jurisdiction, as the sacred canons decree. For it has been judged harsh and inhuman to excommunicate those who attempt to do this—namely, the bishops—and to strip the ordained of their priesthood, unless perhaps they have refused to obey after one or two warnings; but even then, it condemns the sloth of the bishop, with a certain time added; however, it wishes the ordained to exercise their priestly office in that diocese in which they were ordained." It also orders that there be given to the ministers of the bishopric and to the chartophylax, that is, the registrar, those things which by ancient custom are prescribed for those being ordained. ^C And see these things in chap. 28 of the present element.

CAP. XVIII. That it is granted to certain bishops to receive alien clerics, and to ordain them in their own churches.

See in chap. 9, lett. A, the 55th canon of the Synod of Carthage.

CAP. XIX. That a cleric is ordained, even one who is not from a priestly lineage.

Seek chap. 13, lett. K.

CAP. XX. When slaves are also ordained.

Consult chap. 12, lett. D.

CAP. XXI. On the ordination of lectors.

Seek chap. 6, lett. A.

*Law.* Let a lector be ordained as soon as he is able and knows how to read; but if he has taken a second wife, or the first one from among widows, or those repudiated, or those prohibited either by civil law or the sacred canons, let him by no means be promoted to another ecclesiastical rank.

CAP. XXII. That clerics were not ordained without a title.

See chap. 19, lett. K.

CAP. XXIII. When a catechumen who has sacrificed before baptism may be ordained.

CAP. XXIV. That reordinations should not take place.

The 48th canon of the Council of Carthage ordains that one should neither re-baptize a person nor accept a second ordination; but it speaks of a "second ordination" as the action of allowing someone to desert his own diocese and pass to another, and even if he is gently warned, if he does not wish to return to his own jurisdiction, he shall be handed over to the power of the magistrate.

CAP. XXV. Concerning him who is ordained while subject to some crime.

The 5th canon of Theophilus of Alexandria expels such people from the Church, let alone from the priesthood; but to the one who ordained them out of ignorance, he grants pardon. See this canon also in chap. 16, lett. P, and in the 9th and 10th canons of the Council of ^C Neocaesarea.

CAP. XXVI. That one who was baptized while ill should not be ordained.

CAP. XXVII. Concerning those who swear that they have not yet received sacred orders.

CAP. XXVIII. Concerning those who are ordained for money.

or a priest, or a deacon, let him be deposed, together with the one who ordained him, and let him be cut off from communion entirely, as Simon Magus was by me, Peter. Look also to the 30th canon of these same in the 19th chapter of the letter E, and what is said there concerning both these canons.

The second canon of the fourth synod [says]: "If any bishop," it says, "should bring to sale the unsaleable grace of the Holy Spirit, which is to say, the priceless [grace], which is not subject to being sold on account of its transcendent nature and its being beyond all valuation, and should ordain for money a bishop, or a chorepiscopus, or a priest, or a deacon, or a subdeacon (for these are they who receive holy orders), or should appoint any one of those in the clergy to be an oeconomus, or an ekdikos, or a steward (for these are they who are appointed, just as indeed ^B readers and chanters are also designated), or any other [person] whatsoever of those who belong to the ecclesiastical state, the one who attempts these things for the sake of his own filthy lucre, and is convicted, let him be put in peril of his own rank; and the one who is ordained shall receive no benefit from the purchased ordination or promotion, but shall even be deprived of the dignity or office which he had acquired through money. If, however, anyone should act as a mediator in these base and nefarious payments, he also, if he be a cleric, shall fall from his own rank; but if he be a layman or a monk, let him be struck with anathema." Here it would be right, beating our breasts, to cry out sorrowfully: "If thou, O Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?" (Ps. CXXIX, 3). For who is there who undertakes the administration of a religious house, or any ministry of the Church, or becomes a cleric, or governs a monastery, without some payment? ^C But if the holy canons threaten the ultimate punishment to all those who give and those who receive in this unlawful way, what hope of salvation is there for us, who do not at all abstain from their communion?

The 22nd canon of the sixth synod: "Those who are ordained for money," it says, "whether they be bishops or any clerics whatsoever, and not according to testing and the probity of life, [we command] that both they and those who ordained them be deposed."

The 5th canon of the seventh synod, reviewing all the aforementioned canons and deeming that they were passed for the highest benefit of the Church, confirms their judgment itself as well.

Great Basil, writing to the bishops who were under him, that they should not ordain for money, among other things says this: "Some think they do not sin if they do not receive [the payment] at the time they confer holy orders, but [receive it] after the ordination. But to receive is to receive at any time whatsoever. ^D I exhort you, therefore, to put away this custom, or rather this path leading to hell, and do not, by staining your hands with such payments, render yourselves unworthy to celebrate the holy mysteries."

^A The encyclical letter of Gennadius, Patriarch of Constantinople, among other things, contains also this: "Let him therefore be, and indeed he is, excommunicated and alienated from every priestly dignity and ministry, and subject to the curse of anathema, who thinks to acquire the priesthood through money, and who promises to provide it for money, whether he be a clerk or a layman, and whether he be convicted of doing this or not. For it is impossible for incompatible things ever to coincide, nor can Mammon conform itself to God, nor can those who serve the one serve God; for this is the Lord’s own incontrovertible declaration: 'You cannot serve God and Mammon.'"

^B The letter of the holy Tarasius, Patriarch of Constantinople, sent to Pope Adrian of Rome, says: "Macedonius and the impious heresy of the enemies of the Holy Spirit are much more tolerable than those who dare to sell the grace of the Holy Spirit. For those men insult the Holy Spirit by calling Him a creature and a servant of God and the Father; but these men make Him, as it seems, their own servant. For anyone who sells something sells it as its master; and he who buys, desiring to become the master of what is purchased, acquires it for a price in silver." He adds, moreover, that this crime is similar to that of Judas the traitor, reasoning in this manner: "If the Holy Spirit is consubstantial with the Son and of the same dignity, and Judas is condemned because he betrayed the Son for money, it is necessary that those who sell the Spirit should undergo no less punishment than he." ^C But let the siren of the Church also come forth, that lyre which sings throughout the whole world, he who understands and wisely compounds spiritual medicines better than any physician—I mean the divine Chrysostom—so that he may teach us through this also how, when necessary, we must relax the severity of the divine canons by tempering it with compassion. For we know how he stripped of the priesthood those who had bought their ordinations with gold, yet he required the gold to be recovered from the heirs of the man who performed the ordination, since his life had already reached its end (this Antoninus was the prelate of the Ephesians, who did not hesitate to set a price upon the gift of the Holy Spirit). ^D But behold the excellence of the holy man's compassion. For those men had sworn long before that they had never done such a thing; but being shamed by manifest proofs, and reminded of the places and times and the amount of the gold, they later confessed that the matter was so, pleading that they were moved not by malice of heart but rather by simplicity, thinking it to be the custom, and doing so in order that they might be freed from the council to which they were subject. To this, that soul as vast as heaven, and—if anyone ever was—a most genuine interpreter of the mercies of God, did not superadd excommunication to deposition, as the sacred canons decree, nor did he entirely cast them out of the Church (although a voluntary confession of any crime detracts much from its gravity, just as conviction, on the contrary, adds to it).

^A But by tempering the severity of the canons with mercy, he permitted them to partake of the holy mysteries within the altar, believing that by this means he brought sufficient comfort to their souls, which were depressed by the loss of their priesthood.

In the book of Acts these things occur: "But when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, saying, 'Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.' But Peter said to him, 'Your silver be with you to destruction, because you thought that the gift of God could be acquired with money,'" etc.

The third book of Kings says: "And Jeroboam, it says, did not turn from his wickedness, and he returned and made priests of the high places from [among] the people; whoever wished, he filled his hand. And this word became a sin to the house of Jeroboam, and an undoing, and an annihilation from off the face of the earth." Who, therefore, does not know that old Gehazi, how he served the prophet Elisha, as the fourth book of Kings narrates, and what penalties he suffered for his deeds? For he is known to all for his wickedness no less than his master is for his virtue. When, therefore, Naaman had determined to give gifts to the prophet, because he had been freed by him from leprosy, and he had not accepted the bounty at all, Gehazi awaited Naaman as he departed, and covering his own avarice with a lie, as if his master had ordered him to accept, and after he had received not a few things from his goods in this way, he immediately became the heir of the leprosy which the other had cast off, upon the prophet denouncing this curse upon him.

Great Basil also, in his Exposition on the prophet Isaiah, explaining that place, "He gave the Law for help," [says] that they should say, not as this word, for which it is not permitted to give a gift, because ventriloquists, he says, divine for money. For this is ridiculous, that those who are deceived pay money to them as a reward for the lie. But the word of the law is not of such a kind that a gift should be given for it, because no one gives grace. "For freely," he says, "you have received, freely give." Do you see how Peter was indignant at Simon, who had offered money for the grace of the Holy Spirit? "Your silver," he says, "be with you to destruction, because you thought that the gift of God could be acquired by money." Therefore, the word of the Gospel is not like the venal words of the ventriloquists. For what price could anyone give worthy of Him? Hear David hesitating and saying: "What shall I render to the Lord for all that He has rendered to me?" It is not, therefore, permitted to give a gift worthy of His grace; there is one single gift ^{B C D} worthy [of Him]—the preservation of the thing given. He who gives you a treasure, does not demand a price...

^A for the gift, but a worthy preservation of what is given.

Laws. If anyone, by the giving of gold, becomes a bishop or clergyman, or a superintendent of strangers, or of the poor, or of the sick, or an administrator of any house consecrated to God, or a curator of any other ecclesiastical ministry, both he who gives, and he who receives, and the one who acts as intermediary shall be deprived of their priesthood, or clergy, or the administration entrusted to them. If, however, any bishop or clergyman, either before his ordination or after it, wishes to bestow from his own possessions upon the church to which he has been called, we not only do not forbid it, but we judge it worthy of every praise ^B.

Concerning the canonical [dues], and those [fees] given for ordination.

CHAP. XXIX. Concerning widows.

CHAP. XXX. Concerning those who mock such as suffer from physical infirmity.

CHAP. XXXI. Concerning the holy chrism, and which of the heretics who return to the Church are received by anointing only.

CHAP. XXXII. Concerning Christianity.

ordains us to approach the faith by free will and of our own accord, and not through force or out of necessity; for such things are neither firm nor lasting. Virtue must exist through choice, not be forced or involuntary. By speaking of "practice," he implies that every Christian must practice virtue, temperance, and chastity, and above all else, charity towards everyone, so that he who does not live in this way is a Christian in name only, and not in reality.

The great Basil, in his 45th canon, says: "Whoever takes upon himself the name of Christian and insults Christ through the transgression of His commandments, derives no benefit from the mere title." He says things equal to the great James, who asks, "What is the benefit, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?" For just as God is glorified when the splendor of virtues shines within us, according to the saying, "Let your light shine before men," and the rest, so when we are darkened by the shadows of vices, it happens that God is blasphemed among the nations. ^B

CAP. XXXIII. On chorepiscopi. Seek chapter 31 of letter E.

THE BEGINNING OF THE LETTER Ψ

CAP. II. On cantors and lectors. See in chapter 9 of letter E, canon 23 of the council of Laodicea.

CAP. III. That it is not permitted to follow the false martyrs of the heretics. Seek in chapter 2 of letter A, canons 9 and 34 of the council of Laodicea. ^C

CAP. IV. How the votes are held for those who are to be ordained. Seek in letter X, chapters 4 and 2.

THE BEGINNING OF THE LETTER Ω

MATTHEW BLASTARES · TWO POEMS ON THE OFFICES OF THE CHURCH AND THE COURT OF CONSTANTINOPLE