(2.) The next council convened there about Oct. 1, 847, by order of Louis of Germany, under Rabanus, archbishop of Mayence, assisted by twelve bishops, his suffragans, and several abbots, monks, priests, and oth- ers of the clergy, including the chorepiscopi. Thirty- one canons were published. The most important are : 2. Warning bishops to be assiduous in preaching the W^ord of God. 7. Leaving the disposition of Church property to the bishops, and asserting their power over the laity. 11. Forbidding to endow new oratorios with the tithes or other property belonging to churches an- ciently founded, without the bishop's consent. 13. Re- lating to the life to be observed by clerks and monks ; forbids joking, gaming, unsuitable ornaments, delicate
living, excess in eating or drinking, unjust weights oi measures, unlawful trades, etc. 14. Ordering all monks holding livings to attend the synods and give an ac- count of themselves. 15. Forbidding the clergy to wear long hair, under pain of anathema. 30. Forbidding marriage within the fourth degree (Cone, viii, 39).
(3.) The next important council was held at Mayence in 1225, by cardinal Conrad, legate of Ilonorius III. It is by some called " a synod of Germany." Fourteen canons were published, which relate to the incontinence of the clergy, and simony. The sixth declares that ex- communicated priests who dare to perform any clerical function while under excommunication shall be deposed both from their office and benefices, without hope of be- ing ever restored ; shall be treated as infamous, deprived of the power of leaving their property by will, and never again permitted to hold any kind of ecclesiastical bene- fice {Cone, xi, 294).
(4.) Another very large body assembled in council at Mayence in 1549, called together by Sebastian Heusen- stein, archbishop of Mayence, with the deputies of the bishops of his province and the principal of his clergj'. Forty-seven canons were published concernmg the faith, and fifty-seven canons of discipline. Among the first we find an exposition of the mystery of the sacred Trin- ity, according to the faith of the Church ; it is further stated that man was created with righteousness and en- dued with grace, but that he was possessed of free-wiU; afterwards the fall of man and his justification are spo- ken of, and it is declared that this justification proceeds from the grace of God ; that it is given before any merit; that this justification is given when man re- ceives the Holy Spirit, with faith, hope, and charity, which gifts it declares to be inherent in him, and not merely imputed, so that man is not only accounted righteous, but is so in reality, yet not through his own merits, but by God's grace and righteousness communi- cated to him ; that the charitj' which justifies must be accompanied by good works, of which grace is the source and principle (canons 7 and 8). The council moreover, in the canons of faith, set forth the doctrine of the sac- raments, and decided, against the heretics, that they are not bare ceremonies, but effectual signs of grace, which they are, by divine operation, the means of conveymg to those who receive them worthily.
AVith regard to ceremonies, it is decreed that such ought to be retained as incite the people to meditate upon God ; among these are reckoned the sacraments, churches, altars, images, holy vestments, banners, etc. As to images, the council decrees that the people should be taught that they are not set up to be worshipped, and that none ought to be set up in churches which are likely to inspire worldly and carnal thoughts rather than piet}'. Curates are also enjoined to remove the image of any saint to which the people flocked, as if at- tributing some sort of di\-inity to the image itself, or as supposing that God or the saints would perform what they prayed for by means of that particular image, and not otherwise. Afterwards the following matters are treated of: devout pilgrimages, worship of saints, prayer for the dead, and the law of fasting.
Among the fifty -six canons of discipline and mo- rality, we find it ruled (by canon 61) that when the lesser festivals fall on a Sunday, they shall be kept on some day following or preceding ; that apostate monks, upon their return to their duty, shall be kindly treated ; that nmis shall not leave their convent without the bishop's permission ; that preaching shall not be allow- ed, nor the holy sacraments administered, in chapels at- tached to private houses ; that care shall be taken that all school-masters be sound Catholics, etc. Finally, it is declared that the council received the acts of the holy (Ecumenical councils, and yielded entire submission to the catholic, apostolic, Roman Church in all thhigs {Cone, xiv, 667 ; Landon, Afanned of Coimeils, s. v.).
Mayer, Jacob, an American minister of the Ger- man Reformed Church, was born in Lykens Valley, Dau-
MAYER
926
MAYER
pliin Co., I'a., in 1798 ; was brought up in the Reformed Church, and early instructed in its doctrines. Prepara- tory to entering the ministrj', he was for four years un- der tlie special tuition of Rev. Dr. Samuel Helffenstein, of Philadelphia ; was licensed to preach in September, 1822, at the synod held in llarrisburg, I'a. ; was soon afterwards ordained, and took charge of the churches in Woodstock, Va., and vicinity. After three years of la- bor he removed to the neighborhood of Slirewsbury, York Co., Pa., and there took charge of quite a number of congregations. In this field he labored eight years ; then removed to Mercersburg, Franklin Co., Pa., and be- came pastor of the Church at that place, in connection with those at Greencastle and Loudon in the same coun- ty. In 1836 he was appointed special agent of the the- ological seminary at Mercersburg ; the next eight years of his active life were devoted to the work of procuring funds for the use of that institution and of Marshall Col- lege, in Mercersburg, in the founding and establishing of both of which he was deeply interested. While engaged in this work his healtli failed, and he was obliged to re- linquish the pastoral work, and attend to some secular pursuit in order to provide for himself and family a proper temporal support. He lived in this way, during difl'er- ent periods, at Chambersburg, Philadelphia, Columbia, and mainly at Lock Haven ; in the last-named place he died, Oct. 29, 1872. "lie suffered severely, especially during the last four years of his life, from lingering con- sumption, in the midst of which he manifested much Christian patience, especially during the closing por- tion of his eartlily career." See Reformed Church Mes- senger, Nov. G, 1872.