Part 78 (1/2)
Canon 13. _On the Marriage of the Clergy._
The following canon permits subdeacons and priests if married before ordination to continue to live in marriage relations with their wives. But they are not allowed to marry a second time or to marry a widow. Neither are bishops to remain married; but if they are married when elected, their wives must enter a monastery at a distance. With this canon should be compared the earlier legislation of Nica, _v. supra_, 78, and also the law of Justinian, _v. supra_, 94.
Since we know that it is handed down in the canonical discipline in the Roman Church that those who are about to be deemed worthy of ordination to the diaconate or presbyterate should promise no longer to live maritally with their wives, we, pursuing the ancient rule of apostolic discipline and order, will that henceforth the lawful marriage of men in holy orders remain firm, by no means dissolving their union with their wives, nor depriving them of intercourse with each other at a convenient season.
Therefore, if any one shall have dared, contrary to the Apostolic Canons, to deprive any one in holy orders, that is, any presbyter, deacon, or subdeacon, of cohabitation and intercourse with his lawful wife, let him be deposed; likewise also if any presbyter or deacon, on pretence of piety, puts away his wife, let him be excluded from communion; but if he persists let him be deposed.
Canon 36. _On the Rank of the Patriarchal Sees._
Rome always rejected the claim of Constantinople to rank as second. _Cf._ Leos opinion, _v. supra_, 87.
Renewing the enactments of the one hundred and fifty Fathers a.s.sembled in the G.o.d-preserved and imperial city, and the six hundred and thirty a.s.sembled at Chalcedon, we decree that the see of Constantinople shall enjoy equal privilege with the see of Old Rome, and in ecclesiastical matters shall be as highly regarded as that is, and second after it. And after this [Constantinople] shall be ranked the see of the great city of Alexandria, and after that the see of Antioch, and after that the see of Jerusalem.
Canon 37. _On Bishops of Sees among Infidels._
This canon is cited here, though not entering into the controversy between the East and the West, because it is significant of the changed position of the Eastern Church at this time, due to the Moslem and other conquests. The Monophysite bishops in Egypt and Syria were not molested by the Moslems. This canon marks the beginning of the practice of ordaining bishops _in partibus infidelium_.
Since at different times there have been invasions of the barbarians, and consequently very many cities have come into the possession of the infidels, so that as a consequence the prelate of a city may not be able, after he has been ordained, to take possession of his see and to be settled in it in sacerdotal order, and so to perform and manage, according to custom, the ordinations and all other things which appertain to the bishop; we, preserving the honor and veneration of the priesthood, and in nowise wis.h.i.+ng to make use of the heathen injury to the ruin of ecclesiastical rights, have decreed that they who have been thus ordained, and for the aforesaid causes have not settled in their sees, may be kept from any prejudice from this thing, so that they may canonically perform the ordination of the different clerics and use the authority of their offices according to proper limits, and that whatever administration proceeds from them may be valid and legitimate. For the exercise of his office shall not be circ.u.mscribed by reason of necessity, when the exact observance of the law is circ.u.mscribed.
Canon 55. _On Fasts in Lent._
As stated in the canon, this enactment is aimed at the Roman usage, and refers to the 64th Apostolic Canon, which Rome rejected. For the Apostolic Canons, see ANF, VII, 504.
Since we have learned that in the city of the Romans, in the holy fast of Lent, they fast on the Sabbaths(310) contrary to the traditional ecclesiastical observance, it seemed good to the holy synod that also in the Church of the Romans the canons shall be in force without wavering which says: If any cleric shall be found to fast on Sunday or on the Sabbath except on one occasion only,(311) he shall be deposed; and if a layman he shall be excommunicated.
Canon 67. _On Eating Blood._
This canon is less distinctly aimed at Rome. In the West the prohibition against eating blood seems to have been little observed, as it had been given another interpretation. At the time of the Second Trullan Council the practice was very common.
Augustine, it might be said, did not consider the apostolic command as binding except in the special circ.u.mstance in which it was issued. _Cf._ Augustine, _Contra Faustum_, 32:13.
The divine Scriptures command us to abstain from blood, from things strangled, and from fornication. Those, therefore, who, on account of a dainty stomach, prepare by any art for food the blood of animals and so eat it, we punish suitably. If any one henceforth venture to eat in any way the blood of an animal, if he be a clergyman let him be deposed; if a layman, let him be excommunicated.
Canon 82. _On Pictures of the Lamb of G.o.d._
The custom which is here condemned was prevalent in the West.
In some pictures of the holy icons, a lamb is painted to which the Forerunner(312) points his finger, and this is received to serve as a type of grace, indicating beforehand through the Law our true lamb, Christ our G.o.d. Embracing therefore the ancient types and shadows as symbols and patterns of the truth, which have been given to the Church, we prefer grace and truth, receiving it as the fulfilment of the Law. In order, therefore, that what is perfect may be delineated to the eyes of all, at least in colored expression, we decree that the figure of the lamb who taketh away the sin of the world, Christ our G.o.d, be henceforth exhibited according to human form in the icons, instead of the ancient lamb, so that all may understand, by means of it, the depth of the humiliation of the Word of G.o.d, and that we may recall to our memory His life in the flesh, His pa.s.sion and salutary death, and the redemption resulting therefrom for the whole world.