Second Council of Nicaea - 787
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Second Council of Nicaea - 787 A.D.
Contents
Definition
Anathemas concerning holy images
CANONS
INTRODUCTION
A recommendation to summon an ecumenical council, in order to correct the
iconoclast heretics, had been addressed to Empress Irene, then acting
as regent for her son Emperor Constantine VI (780-797) who was still a
minor, both by Patriarch Paul IV of Constantinople (who had repented of
his earlier iconoclast views) before his abdication from the see in 784
and by his successor as patriarch, Tarasius. The aim was to unite the church
and to condemn the decrees passed by the council of 338 bishops held at
Hiereia and St Mary of Blachernae in 754.
The convocation of the council was announced to Pope Hadrian I (772-795)
in a letter of Constantine VI and Irene, dated 29 August 784. They urged
him either to attend in person or to send legates. Patriarch Tarasius sent
the same message in synodal letters to the pope and the three eastern patriarchs.
Pope Hadrian I gave his approval for the convocation of the council, stipulating
various conditions, and sent as his legates the archpriest Peter and Peter,
abbot of the Greek monastery of St Sabas in Rome.
The council, which was summoned by an imperial edict in the summer of
786, met for the first time on 1 August 786, in the presence of Emperor
Constantine and Empress Irene. When the proceedings were interrupted by
the violent entry of iconoclast soldiers, faithful to the memory of Emperor
Constantine V (741-775), the council was adjourned until the arrival of
a reliable army under Staurakios. It assembled again at Nicaea on 24 September
787, the papal legates having been recalled from Sicily.
After the bishops suspected of heresy had been admitted, 263 fathers
embraced the doctrine concerning the cult of sacred images as explained
in the letters of Pope Hadrian I, which were read out at the second session.
The question of the intercession of saints was dealt with in
the fourth session.
Once all these matters had been approved, a doctrinal
definition was decreed at the seventh session.
At the eighth and last session, which was held at the request of Constantine
and Irene in the Magnaura palace in Constantinople, the definition was
again decreed and proclaimed and 22 canons were read
out. The papal legates presided over the council and were the first to
sign the acts; but in reality it was Patriarch Tarasius who presided, and
it was he, at the command of the council, who informed Pope Hadrian I about
it: "the occasion when the letters of your fraternal holiness were read
out and all acclaimed them".
Pope Hadrian I wrote no letter in reply, yet the defence he made
of the council in 794 against Charlemagne shows that he accepted what
the council had decreed, and that he had sent no acknowledgement because
the concessions which he had requested in his letter of 26 October 785
to Constantine and Irene had not been granted to him, especially concerning
the restoration of the papacy's patrimony to the state at which it had
been prior to 731, that is, before Illyricum had been confiscated by the
emperor Leo III. Emperor Constantine VI and his mother Irene signed the
acts of the council but it is unclear whether or not they promulgated a
decree on the matter.
The translation is from the Greek text, since this is the more authoritative
version. {Material in curly parentheses ,{ }, paragraphing, italicizing
and bolding, are added by the hypertext editor. The material in square
brackets [ ] is found in the hardcopy book from which the translation was
taken.}
Definition
The holy, great and universal synod, by the grace of God and by
order of our pious and Christ-loving emperor and empress, Constantine and
his mother Irene, assembled for the second time in the famous metropolis
of the Nicaeans in the province of the Bithynians, in the holy church
of God named after Wisdom, following the tradition of the catholic church,
has decreed what is here laid down.
{The council bases itself on the inspiration of Tradition
& of itself}
The one who granted us the light of recognizing him, the one who redeemed
us from the darkness of idolatrous insanity, Christ our God, when he
took for his bride his holy catholic church, having no blemish or wrinkle,
promised he would guard her and assured his holy disciples saying,
I am with you every day until the consummation of this age. This
promise however he made not only to them but also to us,
who thanks to them have come to believe in his name. To this gracious offer
some people paid no attention, being hoodwinked by the treacherous foe
they abandoned the true line of reasoning, and setting themselves against
the tradition of the catholic church they faltered in their grasp of the
truth. As the proverbial saying puts it, they turned askew the axles of
their farm carts and gathered no harvest in their hands. Indeed they had
the effrontery to criticise the beauty pleasing to God established in the
holy monuments; they were priests in name, but not in reality. They were
those of whom God calls out by prophecy, Many pastors have destroyed my
vine, they have defiled my portion. For they followed unholy men and trusting
to their own frenzies they calumniated the holy church, which Christ our
God has espoused to himself, and they failed to distinguish the holy from
the profane, asserting that the icons of our Lord and of his saints were
no different from the wooden images of satanic idols.
Therefore the Lord God, not bearing that what was subject to
him should be destroyed by such a corruption, has by his good pleasure
summoned us together through the divine diligence and decision of
Constantine and Irene, our faithful emperor and empress, we who are
those responsible for the priesthood everywhere, in order that the
divinely inspired tradition of the catholic church should receive confirmation
by a public decree. So having made investigation with all accuracy
and having taken counsel, setting for our aim the truth, we neither diminish
nor augment, but simply guard intact all that pertains to
the catholic church.
{Recapitulation and re-affirmation of everything taught by any previous
ecumenical council}
Thus, following the six holy universal synods, in the first place that
assembled in the famous metropolis of the Nicaeans {{1}Nicea I},
and then that held after it in the imperial, God-guarded city: {i.e. {2}
Constantinople I} We believe in one God ...[the Nicene-Constantinopolitan
creed follows]. We abominate and anathematize - Arius and those
who think like him and share in his mad error; also Macedonius and
those with him, properly called the Pneumatomachi; we also confess
our Lady, the holy Mary, to be really and truly
the God-bearer, because she gave birth in the flesh to Christ, one of the
Trinity, our God, just as the first synod at {3}Ephesus decreed;
it also expelled from the church Nestorius and those with him, because
they were introducing a duality of persons. Along with these synods, we
also confess the two natures of the one who became incarnate for our sake
from the God-bearer without blemish, Mary the
ever-virgin, recognizing that he is perfect
God and perfect man, as the synod at {4}Chalcedon also proclaimed,
when it drove from the divine precinct the foul-mouthed Eutyches and
Dioscorus. We reject along with them Severus Peter and their
interconnected band with their many blasphemies, in whose company we anathematize
the mythical speculations of Origen, Evagrius and Didymus,
as did the fifth synod, that assembled at {5}Constantinople. Further
we declare that there are two wills and principles of action, in accordance
with what is proper to each of the natures in Christ, in the way that the
sixth synod, that at {6}Constantinople, proclaimed, when it also
publicly rejected Sergius, Honorius, Cyrus, Pyrrhus, Macarius, those
uninterested in true holiness, and their likeminded followers.
To summarize, we declare that we defend free from any
innovations all the
written and
unwritten
ecclesiastical traditions that have been entrusted to us.
{Council formulates for the first time what the Church has always
believed regarding icons}
One of these is the production of representational art; this
is quite in harmony with the history of the spread of the gospel, as it
provides confirmation that the becoming man of the Word of God was real
and not just imaginary, and as it brings us a similar benefit. For, things
that mutually illustrate one another undoubtedly possess one another's
message.
Given this state of affairs and stepping out as though on the royal
highway, following as we are
the God-spoken teaching of our holy fathers and
the tradition of the catholic church --
for we recognize that this tradition comes from the holy Spirit who
dwells in her--
we decree with full precision and care that,
like the figure of the honoured and life-giving cross,
the revered and holy images,
whether painted or
made of mosaic
or of other suitable material,
are to be exposed
in the holy churches of God,
on sacred instruments and vestments,
on walls and panels,
in houses and by public ways,
these are the images of
our Lord, God and saviour, Jesus Christ, and of
our Lady without blemish, the holy God-bearer,
and of
the revered angels and of
any of the saintly holy men.
The more frequently they are seen in representational art, the more are
those who see them drawn to remember and long for those who serve as models,
and to pay these images the tribute of salutation and respectful veneration.
Certainly this is not the full adoration {latria} in accordance with our
faith, which is properly paid only to the divine nature, but it resembles
that given to the figure of the honoured and life-giving cross, and also
to the holy books of the gospels and to other sacred cult objects. Further,
people are drawn to honour these images with the offering of incense and
lights, as was piously established by ancient custom. Indeed, the honour
paid to an image traverses it, reaching the model, and he who venerates
the image, venerates the person represented in that image.
So it is that the teaching of our holy fathers is strengthened, namely,
the tradition of the catholic church which has received the gospel from
one end of the earth to the other.
So it is that we really follow Paul, who spoke in Christ, and the entire
divine apostolic group and the holiness of the fathers, clinging fast to
the traditions which we have received.
So it is that we sing out with the prophets the hymns of victory to the
church: Rejoice exceedingly O daughter of Zion, proclaim O daughter of
Jerusalem; enjoy your happiness and gladness with a full heart. The Lord
has removed away from you the injustices of your enemies, you have been
redeemed from the hand of your foes. The Lord the king is in your midst,
you will never more see evil, and peace will be upon you for time eternal.
Therefore all those who dare to think or teach anything different,
or who follow the accursed heretics in rejecting ecclesiastical traditions,
or who devise innovations, or who spurn anything entrusted to the church
(whether it be the gospel or the figure of the cross or any example of
representational art or any martyr's holy relic), or who fabricate perverted
and evil prejudices against cherishing any of the lawful traditions of
the catholic church, or who secularize the sacred objects and saintly monasteries,
we order that they be suspended if they are bishops or clerics,
and excommunicated if they are monks or lay people.
Anathemas concerning holy
images
-
If anyone does not confess that Christ our God can be represented
in his humanity, let him be anathema.
-
If anyone does not accept representation in art of evangelical scenes,
let him be anathema.
-
If anyone does not salute such representations as standing for the
Lord and his saints, let him be anathema.
-
If anyone rejects any written or unwritten tradition of the
church, let him be anathema.
CANONS
1
For those to whom the priestly dignity is allotted, the guide-lines
contained in the canonical regulations are testimonies and directives.
We accept them gladly and sing out to the Lord God with David, the revealer
of God: In the path of your testimonies I have taken delight, as with all
manner of wealth; and, You have enjoined justice, your testimonies are
for ever; instruct me to give me life. And if the prophetic voice orders
us for all eternity to observe the messages of God and to live in them,
it is obvious that they remain unshakeable and immoveable; thus Moses,
who looked on God, declares, To these there is no addition, and from these
there is no subtraction. The divine apostle takes pride in them when he
cries out, These things which the angels long to gaze upon, and, If an
angel brings you a gospel contrary to what you have received, let him be
accursed.
Since these things really are such and have been testified to us in
these ways, we exult in them as a person would if he were to come across
a great mass of booty. We joyfully embrace the sacred canons and we maintain
complete and unshaken their regulation, both those expounded by those trumpets
of the Spirit, the apostles worthy of all praise, and those from the six
holy universal synods and from the synods assembled locally for the promulgation
of such decrees, and from our holy fathers. Indeed all of these, enlightened
by one and the same Spirit, decreed what is expedient. In the case
of those whom they sent away under an anathema, we also anathematize them,
those whom they suspended, we also suspend; those whom they excommunicated,
we also excommunicate; those whom they placed under penalties, we also
deal with in the same way. Let your conduct be free from avariciousness,
contenting yourself with what you have, cried out with all explicitness
the divine apostle Paul, who mounted to the third heaven and heard words
that cannot be uttered.
2
Since we make an undertaking before God as we sing, I shall meditate
on your judgments, I shall not neglect your words, it is essential
to our salvation that every Christian should observe these things,
but more especially those who have been invested with priestly dignity.
Therefore we decree that
everyone who is to be advanced to the grade of bishop should have
a thorough knowledge of the psalter, in order that he may instruct all
the clergy subordinate to him, to be initiated in that book.
He should also be examined without fail by the metropolitan to see if he
is willing to acquire knowledge--a knowledge that should be searching and
not superficial--of the sacred canons, the holy gospel, the book of the
divine apostle, and all divine scripture;
also if he is willing to conduct himself and teach the people entrusted
to him according to the divine commandments.
"The substance of our hierarchy are the words handed down from God", that
is to say, the true knowledge of the divine scriptures, as the great Dionysius
made plain. If someone is doubtful and ill at ease with such conduct and
teaching, let him not be ordained. For God said through the prophet: You
rejected knowledge, and I shall reject you, so that you may not serve me
in a priestly function.
3
Any election of a bishop, priest or deacon brought about by the rulers
is to be null and void in accordance with the canon that says: "If any
bishop, through the influence of secular rulers, acquires responsibility
for a church because of them, let him be suspended and let all those who
are in communion with him be excommunicated".
It is necessary that the person who is to be advanced to a bishopric
should be elected by bishops, as has been decreed by the holy fathers at
Nicaea in the canon that says: "It is by all means desirable that
a bishop should be appointed by all [the bishops] in the province. But
if this is difficult because of some pressing necessity or the length of
the journey involved, let at least three come together and perform the
ordination, but only after the absent bishops have taken part in the vote
and given their written consent. But in each province the right of confirming
the proceedings belongs to the metropolitan".
4
The herald of the truth, Paul, the divine apostle, laying down a sort of
rule for the presbyters of Ephesus, or rather for the whole priestly order,
declared firmly: I have not coveted silver or gold or anybody's clothing;
I have made completely plain to you that it is by working in this fashion
that we should provide for the weak being convinced that it is blessed
to give.
Therefore we also, having been taught by him, decree that a bishop
should never have any sort of design on foul profit, inventing excuses
for his sins, nor demand any gold or silver or anything similar from the
bishops, clerics and monks subject to him. For the apostle says: The
unjust will not inherit the kingdom of God; and, It is not children who
should heap up treasures for their parents, but parents for their children.
So if it is discovered that somebody, because of a demand
for gold or something similar, or because of some private infatuation of
his own, has excluded from the liturgy or excommunicated one of the clerics
under his authority, or has closed off one of the holy churches, preventing
the celebration of God's liturgies in it, pouring out his own madness
against insensible things, then he is truly senseless himself and he
should be subjected to suffer what he would inflict and the penalty imposed
by him will turn upon his own head, because he has transgressed both
the law of God and the rulings of the apostles. For Peter also, the spokesman
of the apostles, urges: Be pastors to the flock of God entrusted to you,
not under compulsion, but willingly as pleasing to God, not for sordid
gain but with enthusiasm, not as men who lord it over those entrusted to
you, but as being models for the flock. Then when the chief shepherd is
disclosed, you will carry off the imperishable crown of glory.
5
It is a sin leading to death when sinners remain uncorrected, but still
worse is it when people flaunt their sin as they override holiness and
truth, both preferring mammon to obedience to God and neglecting his legally
formulated instructions. The Lord God is not present among such persons
unless they humbly turn from their fault. Their duty is to approach God
with a contrite heart and implore his forgiveness for their sin and his
pardon, rather than to take pride in an unholy distribution of gifts: For
the Lord is close to the contrite of heart. Therefore in the case of those
who boast that they have been appointed in the church by distributing gifts
of gold, and who pin their hopes on this evil custom, which alienates a
person from God and from all priesthood, and who take this as a reason
for deriding quite shamelessly and openly those who have been chosen by
the holy Spirit and appointed for the virtue of their lives, without any
distribution of gifts of gold, when they first do this each should take
the lowest rank in his order, and if they persist they should be corrected
with a penalty.
If someone is found to have done this at any time in connection with
an ordination, let matters proceed in accordance with which says: "If some bishop or priest or deacon has obtained
his dignity by means of money, let him and the person who performed the
ordination be suspended, and let them be excluded completely from the communion,
as Simon Magus was by me, ".
Similarly, in accordance with canon 2 of our holy fathers at Chalcedon,
which says "If any bishop performs an ordination for money and puts the
unsaleable grace on sale, and ordains for money a bishop, a chorepiscopus,
a presbyter or deacons or some others of those numbered among the clergy;
or appoints a manager, a legal officer or a warden for money, or any other
ecclesiastic at all for personal sordid gain; let him who has attempted
this and been convicted stand to lose his personal rank, and let the person
ordained profit nothing from the ordination or appointment he has bought;
but let him be removed from the dignity or responsibility which he got
for money. And if anyone appears to have acted even as a go-between in
such disgraceful and unlawful dealings, let him too, if he is a cleric,
be demoted from his personal rank, and if he is a lay person or a monk,
let him be anathematized".
6
Although there is indeed a canon which says, "In each province the canonical
investigations should take place twice yearly by means of a gathering of
the bishops", because of the trouble and because those attending the
meetings lack the resources for such journeys, the holy fathers of the
sixth synod decreed "they should be held in any case and despite all
excuses, once a year, and all that is incorrect should be put right".
We also renew this canon, and should a ruler be found who prevents
its observance, let him be excommunicated; however if one of the metropolitan
bishops neglects its fulfillment, let him be subject to canonical penalties,
unless it is a case of necessity, constraint or some other reasonable cause.
When such a synod is held to discuss canonical and evangelical matters,
the gathered bishops should pay particular care and attention to the divine
and life-giving laws of God: There is a great reward for their observance;
for a law is a lamp, a regulation is a light, and reproof and discipline
are the path of life indeed the law of the Lord gives light to the
eyes. However, the metropolitan bishop does not have the right to demand
anything that a bishop may have brought with him, such as a beast or
some other thing; and if he is convicted of doing so, let him pay back
fourfold.
7
The divine apostle Paul said: The sins of some people are manifest, those
of others appear later. Some sins take the front rank but others follow
in their footsteps. Thus in the train of the impious heresy of the defamers
of Christians, many other impieties appeared. Just as those heretics removed
the sight of venerable icons from the church, they also abandoned other
customs, which should now be renewed and which should be in vigour in virtue
of both written and unwritten legislation. Therefore we decree that in
venerable churches consecrated without relics of the holy martyrs, the
installation of relics should take place along with the usual prayers.
And if in future any bishop is found out consecrating a church without
relics, let him be deposed as someone who has flouted the ecclesiastical
traditions.
8
Since some of those who come from the religion of the Hebrews mistakenly
think to make a mockery of Christ who is God, pretending to become Christians,
but denying Christ in private by both secretly continuing to observe the
sabbath and maintaining other Jewish practices, we decree that they shall
not be received to communion or at prayer or into the church, but rather
let them openly be Hebrews according to their own religion; they should
not baptize their children or buy, or enter into possession of, a slave.
But if one of them makes his conversion with a sincere faith and heart,
and pronounces his confession wholeheartedly, disclosing their practices
and objects in the hope that others may be refuted and corrected, such
a person should be welcomed and baptized along with his children, and care
should be taken that they abandon Hebrew practices. However if they are
not of this sort, they should certainly not be welcomed.
9
All those childish baubles and bacchic rantings, the false writings
composed against the venerable icons, should be given in at the episcopal
building in Constantinople, so that they can be put away along with other
heretical books. If someone is discovered to be hiding such books,
if he is a bishop, priest or deacon, let him be suspended, and if
he is a lay person or a monk, let him be excommunicated.
10
As some clerics, who despise the canonical ordinance, abandon
their own dioceses and run off into other dioceses--something that
happens with special frequency in this imperial, God-guarded city--and
there they lodge with rulers, celebrating the liturgy in their chapels,
let it not be permitted for them to be received in any house or church
without the approval of their own bishop and that of the bishop of Constantinople.
If they do so and persist therein, they are to be suspended.
In the case of those who do this with the approval of the above-mentioned
prelates, it is not permitted for them to assume worldly and secular responsibilities,
since they are forbidden to do so by the sacred canons; and if someone
is misled into occupying himself with the responsibility of the so-called
high stewards, he is to desist or be suspended. Rather let him busy
himself with the teaching of the children and servants, lecturing
them on the divine scriptures because it is for such activity that
he received the priesthood.
11
Since we are obliged to observe all the sacred canons, we ought also to
maintain in all its integrity the one that says that there should be
administrators in each church. Therefore if each metropolitan bishop
installs an administrator in his own church, that is well and good; but
if not, the bishop of Constantinople on his own authority has the right
to appoint one over the other's church, and similarly with metropolitan
bishops, if the bishops under them do not choose administrators to hold
these posts in their own churches. The same rule is also to be observed
with respect to monasteries.
12
If it is discovered that a bishop or a monastic superior is transferring
episcopal or monastic farmland to the control of the ruler, or has been
conceding it to another person, the transaction is null and void in
accordance with which stipulates:
"Let the bishop take care of all ecclesiastical affairs, and let him administer
them as if under God's inspection. It is not permitted him to appropriate
any of these things, nor to make a present of the things of God to his
own relatives. Should the latter be poor, let him care for them as for
other poor people, but let him not use them as an excuse for selling off
the church's possessions." However, if he pretends that the land is a loss
and brings in no profit at all, let him make a present of the place to
clerics or landworkers, but even in these circumstances it should not be
given to the local rulers. If they use evil cunning and the ruler buys
up the land from the landworker or the cleric in question, this sale shall
also be null and void in such circumstances, and the land should be restored
to the bishopric or monastery. And the bishop or monastic superior who
acts thus should be expelled, the bishop from the episcopal house and the
monastic superior from the monastery, because they wickedly waste what
they have not gathered.
13
On account of the disaster which came about in the churches due to our
sins certain venerable houses--episcopal buildings as well as monasteries--were
seized by certain men and became public inns. Now if those who hold
them choose to restore them, so that they are established once more
as formerly they were, this is good and excellent. However if
such is not the case, should they be inscribed in the list of priests,
we order that they be suspended, and if they are monks or lay persons,
that they be excommunicated, seeing that they are criminals condemned
by the Father, the Son and the holy Spirit, and let them be assigned there
where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched, because they
oppose the voice of the Lord declaring, You shall not make my Father's
house a house of trade.
14
It is perfectly clear to everyone that a certain order has been established
in the priesthood, and that it is God's good pleasure that the appointment
to priestly offices should be observed with care. However we have noticed
that some, without the imposition of hands, are adopting the clerical
tonsure while still youngsters, and without having received the
imposition of hands from the bishop they are undertaking to read publicly
from the ambo during the church service, even though they are acting uncanonically.
We urge therefore that this be discontinued, and that the same regulation
be observed among monks.
Each monastic superior has permission for the imposition of hands on
a reader for his own monastery, and only for that monastery, provided that
the monastic superior has himself received from the bishop the imposition
of hands to rule there, and obviously provided that he is himself a priest.
Similarly it is an ancient custom that chorepiscopi, with the permission
of the bishop, should appoint readers.
15
From now on, no cleric should be appointed to office in two churches.
Such a procedure savours of commerce and sordid profit-making, and is quite
foreign to ecclesiastical custom. We have learned from the Lord's own voice:
No one can serve two masters, because either he will hate the one and love
the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. Therefore,
following the advice of the apostle, Each should stay where he has been
called, and remain in one church. In ecclesiastical matters, whatever
is done for the sake of sordid gain constitutes something alien to God.
But as far as the needs of this present life are concerned, there are various
gainful occupations; each may use these, as he prefers, to procure what
is needed for the body. As the apostle said: These hands of mine have provided
for my own needs and for the persons accompanying me. These are the regulations
for this God-protected city; for what concerns places in the country, a
concession may be granted because of the lack of population.
16
All indulgence and adornment bestowed on the body is alien to the priestly
order. Therefore all those bishops and clerics who deck themselves
out in brilliant and showy clothes should be called to order, and if they
persist let them be punished. The same holds for those who use perfumes.
However, since the root of bitterness has sprouted, there has appeared
in the catholic church the plague of a heresy which delights in the defamation
of Christians. Those who adopt this heresy not only heap insults on representational
art, but also reject all forms of reverence and make a mockery of those
who live pious and holy lives, thus fulfilling in their own regard that
saying of scripture, For the sinner piety is an abomination. So if persons
are found who make fun of those who wear simple and respectful clothing,
they should be corrected with punishment. Indeed, from the earliest times
all those ordained to the priesthood have been accustomed to present themselves
in public dressed in modest and respectful clothing, and anyone who adds
to his apparel for the sake of decoration and not out of necessity deserves,
as the great Basil remarked, to be accused of "vainglory". Neither did
anyone dress in variegated clothes made of silk, nor did they add various
coloured ornaments to the fringes of their garments. They had heard the
tongue that spoke God's words declare, Those who dress in soft clothes
are in the houses of kings.
17
Some monks abandon their own monasteries because they desire to
be in authority and disdain obeying others, and then they attempt to
found houses of prayer, although they lack adequate resources. If somebody
undertakes to do this, let him be prevented by the local bishop.
If someone possesses adequate resources, however, his plans should be brought
to completion. The same ruling holds for both laity and clerics.
18
Be irreproachable even for those outside, says the divine apostle. Now
for women to live in the houses of bishops or in monasteries is a cause
for every sort of scandal. Therefore if anybody is discovered to be
keeping a woman, whether a slave or free, in the bishop's house or in a
monastery in order to undertake some service, let him be censured, and
if he persists let him be deposed. Should it happen that women are living
in the suburban residence and the bishop or monastic superior wishes to
journey there, no woman should be allowed to undertake any sort of work
during the time that the bishop or monastic superior is present; she should
stay on her own in some other area until the bishop has retired, in order
to avoid all possible criticism.
19
The blight of avarice has spread to such an extent among ecclesiastical
authorities that even some so called pious men and women, forgetting the
Lord's commands, have been tricked into authorizing, for the sake of
cash payments, the entry of those presenting themselves for the priestly
order and the monastic life. Thus it happens, as the great Basil says,
"when people begin wrongly, all they do is to be rejected", for it is not
possible to serve God through mammon. So, if somebody is found out to be
doing this, if he is a bishop or a male monastic superior or one of the
priests, let him stop or be deposed, in accordance with canon 2
of the holy council of Chalcedon. If the person is a female monastic superior,
let her be expelled from the monastery and put under obedience in another
monastery, and similarly for a male monastic superior who has not received
priestly ordination.
With regard to gifts given by parents under the concept of dowries
for their children, or with regard to the personally acquired goods that
the latter present provided that those presenting them declare that these
are gifts offered to God, we have decreed that these gifts are to remain
in the monastery, whether the person stays or leaves, in accordance
with their explicit undertaking, unless there is a reprehensible cause
on the part of the person in charge.
20
We decree that from now on no more double monasteries are to be started
because this becomes a cause of scandal and a stumbling block for ordinary
folk. If there are persons who wish to renounce the world and follow the
monastic life along with their relatives, the men should go off to a male
monastery and their wives enter a female monastery, for God is surely pleased
with this.
The double monasteries that have existed up to now should continue
to exist according to the rule of our holy father Basil, and their constitutions
should follow his ordinances. Monks and nuns should not live in one monastic
building, because adultery takes advantage of such cohabitation. No monk
should have the licence to speak in private with a nun, nor any nun with
a monk. A monk should not sleep in a female monastery, nor should he eat
alone with a nun. When the necessary nourishment is being carried from
the male area for the nuns, the female superior, accompanied by one of
the older nuns, should receive it outside the door. And if it should happen
that a monk wishes to pay a visit to one of his female relatives, let him
speak with her in the presence of the female superior, but briefly and
rapidly, and let him leave her quickly.
21
It is not right for a monk or a nun to leave his or her own monastery
and transfer to another. However should this occur, it is obligatory
that hospitality be given but such a person should not be accepted as a
member without the agreement of his or her monastic superior.
22
It is very important to dedicate everything to God and not to become
slaves of our own desires; for whether you eat or drink, the divine
apostle says, do all for the glory of God. Now Christ our God has instructed
us in his gospels to eradicate the beginnings of sins. So not only adultery
is rebuked by him, but also the movement of one's intention towards the
performance of adultery, when he says: He who looks on a woman lustfully
has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Thus instructed we should purify our intentions: For if all things are
lawful, not all things are expedient, as we learn from the words of the
apostle. Now everybody is certainly obliged to eat in order to live, and
in the case of those whose life includes marriage and children and the
conditions proper to layfolk it is not reprehensible that men and women
should eat in one another's company; though they should at least say grace
to thank the giver of their nourishment, and they should avoid certain
theatrical entertainments, diabolical songs, the strumming of lyres and
the dancing fit for harlots, against all such there is the curse of the
prophet which says, Woe on those who drink their wine to the sound of lyre
and harp, those who pay no attention to the deeds of the Lord and have
never a thought for the works of his hands. If ever such people are found
among Christians, they should reform, and if they do not, let the canonical
sanctions established by our predecessors be imposed on them.
Those whose mode of life is contemplative and solitary should sit and
be silent, because they have entered into a contract with the Lord that
the yoke they carry will be a solitary one. Indeed, all those who have
chosen the life of priests are certainly not free to eat privately in the
company of women, but at the most in the company of certain God-fearing
and pious men and women, in order that such a meal taken in common may
draw them to spiritual betterment. Let the same be done in the case of
relatives.
As for another situation, if a monk or even a man in priestly orders
happens to be making a journey and is not carrying with him his indispensable
provisions, and then wishes to satisfy his needs in a public inn or in
someone's house, he is allowed to do so when it is a case of pressing necessity.
Introduction and translation taken from Decrees of
the Ecumenical Councils, ed. Norman P. Tanner
END OF TEXT
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