Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series • VOLUME 14
The Seven Ecumenical Councils
SECTION 41
Canon II.
Canon II. If a woman shall have married two brothers, let her be cast out [i.e. of communion] until her death. Nevertheless, at the hour of death she may, as an act of mercy, be received to penance, provided she declare that she will break the marriage, should she recover. But if the woman in such a marriage, or the man, die, p…
934 wordsSECTION 42Canon IV.
Canon IV. If any man lusting after a woman purposes to lie with her, and his design does not come to effect, it is evident that he has been saved by grace. Notes. Ancient Epitome of Canon IV. Whoso lusteth but doth not accomplish his pleasure is preserved of God. Hefele. Instead of hepithumesai we must read, with Beveridge…
860 wordsSECTION 43Canon VII.
Canon VII. A presbyter shall not be a guest at the nuptials of persons contracting a second marriage; for, since the digamist is worthy of penance, what kind of a presbyter shall he be, who, by being present at the feast, sanctioned the marriage? Notes. Ancient Epitome of Canon VII. A presbyter ought not to be present at the…
864 wordsSECTION 44Canon X.
Canon X. Likewise, if a deacon have fallen into the same sin, let him have the rank of a minister. Notes. Ancient Epitome of Canon X. A deacon found in the same crime shall remain a minister (huperetes). Hefele. By ministers (huperetai) are meant inferior officers of the Church--the so-called minor orders, often including …
769 wordsSECTION 45Canon XIII.
Canon XIII. Country presbyters may not make the oblation in the church of the city when the bishop or presbyters of the city are present; nor may they give the Bread or the Cup with prayer. If, however, they be absent, and he [i.e., a country presbyter] alone be called to prayer, he may give them. Notes. Ancient Epitome of Ca…
2,283 wordsSECTION 46Canon I.
Wherefore, the Holy Synod present in Gangra was compelled, on these accounts, to condemn them, and to set forth definitions declaring them to be cast out of the Church; but that, if they should repent and anathematize every one of these false doctrines, then they should be capable of restoration. And therefore the Holy Synod has…
1,033 wordsSECTION 47Canon III.
Canon III. If any one shall teach a slave, under pretext of piety, to despise his master and to run away from his service, and not to serve his own master with good-will and all honour, let him be anathema. Notes. Ancient Epitome of Canon III. Anathema to him who persuades a slave to leave his master under pretence of religi…
887 wordsSECTION 48Canon VII.
Canon VII. If any one shall presume to take the fruits offered to the Church, or to give them out of the Church, without the consent of the bishop, or of the person charged with such things, and shall refuse to act according to his judgment, let him be anathema. Ancient Epitome of Canon VII. Whoso performs church acts contrar…
1,085 wordsSECTION 49Canon XI.
Canon XI. If anyone shall despise those who out of faith make love-feasts and invite the brethren in honour of the Lord, and is not willing to accept these invitations because he despises what is done, let him be anathema. Notes. Ancient Epitome of Canon XI. Whoso spurns those who invite to the agape, and who when invited wi…
835 wordsSECTION 50Canon XIV.
Canon XIV. If any woman shall forsake her husband, and resolve to depart from him because she abhors marriage, let her be anathema. Notes. Ancient Epitome of Canon XIV. Women who keep away from their husbands because they abominate marriage, anathema to them. Hefele. This canon cannot in any way be employed in opposition t…
866 wordsSECTION 51Canon XVIII.
Canon XVIII. If any one, under pretence of asceticism, shall fast on Sunday, let him be anathema. Notes. Ancient Epitome of Canon XVIII. Whoso fasts on the Lord's day or on the Sabbath let him be anathema. Zonaras. Eustathius appointed the Lord's day as a fast, whereas, because Christ rose from the grave and delivered huma…
2,209 wordsSECTION 52Canon I.
The Synodal Letter. (Found in Labbe and Cossart, Concilia, Tom. II., col. 559. It really is no part of the canons, but I have placed it here, because, as Labbe notes, "it is usually prefixed to the canons in the Greek.") The holy and most peaceful Synod which has been gathered together in Antioch from the provinces of Coele-Sy…
825 wordsSECTION 53Canon II.
Canon II. All who enter the church of God and hear the Holy Scriptures, but do not communicate with the people in prayers, or who turn away, by reason of some disorder, from the holy partaking of the Eucharist, are to be cast out of the Church, until, after they shall have made confession, and having brought forth the fruits of…
956 wordsSECTION 54Canon IV.
Canon IV. If any bishop who has been deposed by a synod, or any presbyter or deacon who has been deposed by his bishop shall presume to execute any part of the ministry, whether it be a bishop according to his former custom, or a presbyter, or a deacon, he shall no longer have any prospect of restoration in another Synod; nor a…
859 wordsSECTION 55Canon VI.
Canon VI. If any one has been excommunicated by his own bishop, let him not be received by others until he has either been restored by his own bishop, or until, when a synod is held, he shall have appeared and made his defence, and, having convinced the synod, shall have received a different sentence. And let this decree apply …
720 wordsSECTION 56Canon IX.
Canon IX. It behoves the bishops in every province to acknowledge the bishop who presides in the metropolis, and who has to take thought for the whole province; because all men of business come together from every quarter to the metropolis. Wherefore it is decreed that he have precedence in rank, and that the other bishops do n…
873 wordsSECTION 57Canon XI.
Canon XI. If any bishop, or presbyter, or any one whatever of the canon shall presume to betake himself to the Emperor without the consent and letters of the bishop of the province, and particularly of the bishop of the metropolis, such a one shall be publicly deposed and cast out, not only from communion, but also from the ran…
734 wordsSECTION 58Canon XIV.
Canon XIV. If a bishop shall be tried on any accusations, and it should then happen that the bishops of the province disagree concerning him, some pronouncing the accused innocent, and others guilty; for the settlement of all disputes, the holy Synod decrees that the metropolitan call on some others belonging to the neighbourin…
775 wordsSECTION 59Canon XVII.
Canon XVII. If any one having received the ordination of a bishop, and having been appointed to preside over a people, shall not accept his ministry, and will not be persuaded to proceed to the Church entrusted to him, he shall be excommunicated until he, being constrained, accept it, or until a full synod of the bishops of the…
985 wordsSECTION 60Canon XX.
Canon XX. With a view to the good of the Church and the settlement of disputes, it is decreed to be well that synods of the bishops, (of which the metropolitan shall give notice to the provincials), should be held in every province twice a year, one after the third week of the feast of Easter, so that the synod may be ended in …
940 wordsSECTION 61Canon XXIII.
Canon XXIII. It shall not be lawful for a bishop, even at the close of life, to appoint another as successor to himself; and if any such thing should be done, the appointment shall be void. But the ecclesiastical law must be observed, that a bishop must not be appointed otherwise than by a synod and with the judgment of the bis…
874 wordsSECTION 62Canon XXV.
Canon XXV. Let the bishop have power over the funds of the Church, so as to dispense them with all piety and in the fear of God to all who need. And if there be occasion, let him take what he requires for his own necessary uses and those of his brethren sojourning with him, so that they may in no way lack, according to the divi…
1,057 wordsSECTION 63Canon I.
Canon I. It is right, according to the ecclesiastical Canon, that the Communion should by indulgence be given to those who have freely and lawfully joined in second marriages, not having previously made a secret marriage; after a short space, which is to be spent by them in prayer and fasting. Notes. Ancient Epitome of Canon …
787 wordsSECTION 64Canon V.
Canon V. Ordinations are not to be held in the presence of hearers. Notes. Ancient Epitome of Canon V. Ordinations are not to be performed in the presence of hearers. Balsamon. This canon calls elections "laying on of hands," and says that since in elections unworthy things are often said with regard to those who are elect…
744 wordsSECTION 65Canon VIII.
Canon VIII. Persons converted from the heresy of those who are called Phrygians, even should they be among those reputed by them as clergymen, and even should they be called the very chiefest, are with all care to be both instructed and baptized by the bishops and presbyters of the Church. Notes. Ancient Epitome of Canon VIII…
885 wordsSECTION 66Canon X.
Canon X. The members of the Church shall not indiscriminately marry their children to heretics. Notes. Ancient Epitome of Canon X. Thou shalt not marry a heretic. Fuchs. (Bib. der Kirchenvers., pt. ii., p. 324.) "Indiscriminately" means not that they might be given in marriage to some heretics and not to others; but that …
1,084 wordsSECTION 67Canon XII.
Canon XII. Bishops are to be appointed to the ecclesiastical government by the judgment of the metropolitans and neighbouring bishops, after having been long proved both in the foundation of their faith and in the conversation of an honest life. Note. Ancient Epitome of Canon XII. Whoever is most approved in faith and life a…
991 wordsSECTION 68Canon XV.
Canon XV. No others shall sing in the Church, save only the canonical singers, who go up into the ambo and sing from a book. Notes. Ancient Epitome of Canon XV. No one should ascend the ambon unless he is tonsured. Hefele. The only question [presented by this canon] is whether this synod forbade the laity to take any part …
701 wordsSECTION 69Canon XVIII.
Canon XVIII. The same service of prayers is to be said always both at nones and at vespers. Notes. Ancient Epitome of Canon XVIII. The same prayers shall be said at nones and vespers. Hefele. Some feasts ended at the ninth hour, others only in the evening, and both alike with prayer. The Synod here wills that in both cases…
1,166 wordsSECTION 70Canon XIX.
Canon XIX. After the sermons of the Bishops, the prayer for the catechumens is to be made first by itself; and after the catechumens have gone out, the prayer for those who are under penance; and, after these have passed under the hand [of the Bishop] and departed, there should then be offered the three prayers of the faithful,…
2,235 wordsSECTION 71Canon XX.
After this is said "Our Father," accompanied by a short litany....The bishop then pronounces his benediction on the people. The deacon awakes the attention of the faithful and the bishop cries aloud, "Holy things for holy persons." And the people answer, "There is one only holy, one only Lord Jesus Christ, to the glory of God t…
735 wordsSECTION 72Canon XXI.
Canon XXI. The subdeacons have no right to a place in the Diaconicum, nor to touch the Lord's vessels. Notes. Ancient Epitome of Canon XXI. A subdeacon shall not touch the vessels. The "Lord's vessels" are the chalice and what we call the sacred vessels. Aristenus. The ecclesiastical ministers shall not take into their ha…
2,215 wordsSECTION 73Canon XXIII.
[195] Eusebius. Hist. Eccl., v. 24. [196] What follows down to the next asterisk is a foot-note to p. 379 of Duchesne's book. Canon XXIII. The readers and singers have no right to wear an orarium, and to read or sing thus [habited]. Notes. Ancient Epitome of Canon XXIII. Cantors and lectors shall not wear the orarium. Van…
2,073 wordsSECTION 74Canon XXV.
Canon XXV. A subdeacon must not give the Bread, nor bless the Cup. Notes. Ancient Epitome of Canon XXV. A subdeacon may not give the bread and the cup. Aristenus. Subdeacons are not allowed to perform the work of presbyters and deacons. Wherefore they neither deliver the bread nor the cup to the people. Hefele. According…
808 wordsSECTION 75Canon XXVIII.
Canon XXVIII. It is not permitted to hold love feasts, as they are called, in the Lord's Houses, or Churches, nor to eat and to spread couches in the house of God. Notes. Ancient Epitome of Canon XXVII. Beds shall not be set up in churches, nor shall love feasts be held there. Hefele. Eusebius (H. E., Lib. IX., Cap. X.) em…
845 wordsSECTION 76Canon XXXV.
Canon XXXV. Christians must not forsake the Church of God, and go away and invoke angels and gather assemblies, which things are forbidden. If, therefore, any one shall be found engaged in this covert idolatry, let him be anathema; for he has forsaken our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and has gone over to idolatry. Notes.…
715 wordsSECTION 77Canon XXXVIII.
Canon XXXVIII. It is not lawful to receive unleavened bread from the Jews, nor to be partakers of their impiety. Canon XXXIX. It is not lawful to feast together with the heathen, and to be partakers of their godlessness. Notes. Ancient Epitome of Canons XXXVII., XXXVIII, and XXXIX. Thou shalt not keep feasts with Hebrews o…
778 wordsSECTION 78Canon XLIV.
Canon XLIV. Women may not go to the altar. Notes. Ancient Epitome of Canon XLIV. The altar must not be approached by women. Van Espen. The discipline of this canon was often renewed even in the Latin Church, and therefore Balsamon unjustly attacks the Latins when he says; "Among the Latins women go without any shame up to …
719 wordsSECTION 79Canon XLVIII.
Canon XLVIII. They who are baptized must after Baptism be anointed with the heavenly chrism, and be partakers of the Kingdom of Christ. Notes. Ancient Epitome of Canon XLVIII. Those illuminated should after their baptism be anointed. Van Espen. That this canon refers to the anointing with chrism on the forehead of the bapt…
1,159 wordsSECTION 80Canon LI.
Canon LI. The nativities of Martyrs are not to be celebrated in Lent, but commemorations of the holy Martyrs are to be made on the Sabbaths and Lord's days. Notes. Ancient Epitome of Canon LI. Commemorations of Martyrs shall only be held on Lord's days and Sabbaths. By this canon all Saints-days are forbidden to be observed…
777 wordsSource & rights
Historical text source: Christian Classics Ethereal Library. The downloaded text itself records Public Domain.