Braulio, a student, friend, and correspondent of Isidore of Seville (ca. 560–636), was bishop of Saragossa 631–51.
Among his forty-four letters is one that concerns the liturgy of Christian initiation. It is a response to a letter written to Braulio by Eugene, once Braulio’s archdeacon, who became bishop of Toledo 646–57.
CPL nos. 1230ff. * Altaner (1966) 497 * CATH 2:234–36 * CE 2:744–45 * DCB 1:333 * DHGE 10:441–53 * DictSp 1:1925–26 * DPAC 1:557 * DTC 2.1:1123–24 * EC 3:47 * EEC 1:127 * LTK 2:658–59 * NCE 2:760 * NCES 2:585–86
C. Lynch, Saint Braulio, Bishop of Saragossa (631–651): His Life and Writings (Washington, D.C., 1938). * T.C. Akeley, Christian Initiation in Spain c. 300–1100 (London, 1967) 75–76.
I. Two things have occurred in my church that greatly distress me, and all I can do is seek your counsel. We have learned that there is a man who acts as if he were a priest even though he has not received this office. To apprise you of the particulars, I now present the details. (4662)
This man was most troublesome to my lord Eugene.a The king asked Eugene to ordain this man a presbyter. Since the bishop could not refuse the monarch’s request, he came up with a deception. Eugene led the man to the altar but did not impose his hand. While the clerics were vigorously singing, he pronounced a malediction rather than a blessing. This the bishop later acknowledged to some of his dear and trusted friends, entreating them to remain silent about this during his lifetime. (4663)
Now I ask that you immediately tell me what I should do. Is he to be considered a priest? Are those whom he has baptized and anointed with chrismb rightly called Christians? (4664)
II. […] I have learned that in some places deacons anoint with the chrism. I am at a loss as to what we should do regarding those who have been anointed by such deacons. Is the anointing with the holy chrism to be repeated? If not repeated, is the oil to be considered as chrism, something perhaps done under pressure or out of ignorance. I request that your piety inform me as to what action I should take here. (4665)
III. Furthermore, some presbyters, contrary to the law and the ancient canons, presume to sign the baptized with the chrism—if it can be called “chrism”—that they themselves have prepared. To be sure, I do not know what remedy to apply or how to correct the situation in regard to those who have been so signed. Consequently I ask you to enlighten me in this matter. […] (4666)
II. […] In your letter you wrote that in your church there are two situations that disturb you and concerning which you don’t know what to do. (4667)
You wrote about a certain man who, not having received the presbyteral rank, nonetheless functions as a presbyter. Explaining this, you say that he was troublesome to your predecessor who, asked by the king to ordain him a presbyter, did so because he did not wish to refuse this royal request. And so, to use your words, he devised this deception. Leading the man to the altar, your predecessor did not impose the hand upon him. During the loud singing by the clerics the bishop said a malediction, not a blessing. Your predecessor later acknowledged this to some of his dear and trusted friends, entreating them to remain silent about this. (4668)
And so you requested that I consider what you should do in these circumstances since you do not know whether he should be considered a presbyter and whether those whom he anointed with chrism should rightly be called Christians. (4669)
III. You requested that I, despite my ignorance in practical matters, might solve the question. […] Inquire of the man over whom the malediction was spoken whether he ever carried out the presbyteral office in the presence of the bishop. Or was he prohibited from doing so by the bishop? Ask whether he baptized, anointed with chrism, offered the sacrifice—being allowed to do so by the bishop who gave the malediction. (4670)
In my opinion the person to be blamed is not the presbyter but the bishop who engaged in deceit by acting fraudulently. And so it seems to me that whoever acts badly “will bear the burden.” Your holiness will be exempt from this sin because you allow all to remain in the calling in which you found them.1 Why should he not be considered a presbyter if he who did not want him to be a priest recognized him as a priest? Or why should those whom he anointed with chrism not be called Christians because even if the one who gives the anointing is unworthy, nonetheless, they have still been anointed with true chrism? (4671)
Your prudence is aware that according to the ancient canons a presbyter was not allowed to anoint with chrism. This, as we know, has been observed in the East and throughout Italy. Later on, however, presbyters were permitted to anoint with chrism but only with chrism blessed by the bishop. The reason here is that the presbyters not appear to have as their own the privilege of consecrating God’s people. They do so with the blessing and permission of the bishop acting, as it were, by the hand of the bishop. Since this is so, is there any reason why those anointed by such a priest, although unworthy, not be considered Catholics, being anointed as if by the hand of the bishop since, as I said, they were anointed by the holy and true chrism made holy by the bishop? Obviously baptism given in the name of the Trinity is not to be repeated. Yet we are not prohibited from using chrism to anoint heretics whom we learn did not receive a true chrismal anointing. As I said, this priest anointed them with real chrism. I do not believe that what he did is useless. (4672)
IV. Even more, the bishop who allowed him to function never spoke out against him. The bishop did not hesitate to hand over to him the chrism that he himself sanctified. And thus the bishop himself did what was done by the other. What difference does it make whether something is done as circumstances permit or as truth requires? Because the anointing was given in the Catholic Church, it is not to be repeated. (4673)
VII. […] There is also the matter of certain priests who prepare the chrism—if it can be called “chrism”—and presume to sign the baptized with it. I indeed confess that what, contrary to law and the ancient canons, seems to have been consecrated by presumptuous presbyters and not by any bishop is doubtfully consecrated. For if the heavenly Teacher and Lord gave us bishops as his substitutes, then what they established is established by the spirit of Christ, as the apostle says.2 If any reject their precepts, they reject Christ’s precepts. And so it seems to me that those who have fraudulently been anointed should again be signed with the holy and true chrism. The punishment of the guilty is left to your discretion; it is one thing to correct those who err, another to condemn those who are guilty. […] (4674)
Born in 515 in the Roman province of Pannonia, Martin spent his early years as a monk in Palestine. Ordained a presbyter ca. 550, he went to Gallaecia (today in northwest Spain), where he established a monastery at Dumio, becoming its first abbot and eventually bishop of the place. Before 572 he was made bishop of Braga (Bracara) in northern Portugal, where he undertook to convert the Suevians from Arianism to orthodoxy.
Well educated in the writings of the Church Fathers and an admirer of the Roman philosopher Seneca (ca. 4 B.C.–65 A.D.), Martin, who presided at the Council of Braga (WEC 4:180-G), has left us only a relatively small number of literary and pastoral works, including some catechetical tracts, various moral and spiritual treatises together with two poems.
CPL nos. 1079ff. * Altaner (1961) 592–93 * Altaner (1966) 492–93 * Bardenhewer (1908) 658–60 * Bardenhewer (1910) 566–67 * Bardenhewer (1913) 5:379–88 * Bardy (1930) 209–10 * Bautz 5:915–19 * CATH 8:741–42 * Labriolle (1947) 2:816–17 * Steidle 245–46 * Tixeront 368 * CE 9:731–32 * DCB 3:845–48 * DDC 6:835–36 * DictSp 10:678–80 * DPAC 2:2129–30 * DTC 10.1:203–7 * EC 8:220–21 * EEC 1:530–31 * EEChr 2:723 * LTK 6:1423 * NCE 9:303 * NCES 9:219 * ODCC 1044 * PEA (1991) 7:965 * TRE 22:191–94
Written after 561, the Capitula Martini—also known as the Collectio Orientalium Canonum—is a collection of eighty-four canons selected from both Eastern (Greek) and Western sources. The canons, at times rewritten, treat the ordination and functions of clerics (sixty-eight canons) and then focus on the laity (sixteen canons).
Canon 1. The selection of those appointed to the priesthood shall not rest with the people.a This judgment belongs to the bishops who test the candidates to see whether they have been instructed in word, in faith, and in the spiritual life. (4675)
Canon 2. It is especially fitting that the bishop be appointed by the whole council; but if this should be difficult due to a long distance to be traveled, then three of the bishops gather. With those who are present together with the absent, all giving their endorsement, the ordination then takes place. In every province it is the metropolitan bishop who is in charge of this. (4676)
Canon 3. No bishop is to be ordained without the consent and presence of the metropolitan bishop. It is fitting that all the priests in the province be present. These the bishop should call together by letter. If all can gather, so much the better. But should this prove difficult, then as many as possible are to meet. Whoever cannot come should be present by means of a letter. In this way consent is given to the episcopal ordination. (4677)
Canon 22. Those of an appropriate age and who were recently baptized should not be immediately promoted to an ecclesiastical order because it is fitting that they first be taught what they can learn. Such a person is to spend much time after baptism being tested so that, well examined, he may be made a cleric according to the precept of the Apostle, who says, “Not a neophyte, lest being puffed up with pride, one fall into the judgment of the devil.”b1 If afterwards he should be overcome by serious sin two or three times, he is to be deposed from his rank and cease being a cleric. […] (4678)
Canon 23. If necessity or need requires that a penitent be first counted among the doorkeepers or readers, he is not to read the gospel or the epistle. If, however, he has been ordained, then he is to be placed among the subdeacons so that there be no imposition of the hand, nor is he to touch holy things.c […] (4679)
Canon 41. No one is allowed to touch the Lord’s sacred vessels other than the subdeacon or the acolyte; these may do so in the secretarium.d (4680)
Canon 42. Women are not permitted to enter the sanctuary.e (4681)
Canon 45. No one is allowed to read or sing the psalms from the pulpit unless ordained as a reader by the bishop.f (4682)
Canon 48. During Lent no anniversaries of the martyrs are to be celebrated; only on Saturday and Sunday are offerings presented that commemorate these martyrs. Neither a birthday nor a wedding is permitted to be celebrated during Lent.g (4683)
Canon 49. It is not permitted to receive anyone for baptism later than the third week before Easter.h On these days it is fitting that those to be baptized learn the creed and on Thursday of the last week recite it to the bishop or priest.i (4684)
Canon 50. The fast is not to be relaxed on Thursday of the last week of Lent. Doing so dishonors the whole season. With sincerity we are to fast during the whole period of Lent, eating in a frugal manner.j (4685)
Canon 51. The bishop is always allowed to confect the chrism that is designated for his diocese.k Before Easter a deacon or a subdeacon is sent from the individual churches to the bishop in order to obtain the chrism.l (4686)
Canon 52. When the bishop is present, the presbyter may not sign infants unless the bishop has directed him to do so.m (4687)
Canon 53. A priest is not to enter the baptistery before the bishop; he always enters with the bishop unless the latter is absent or sick.n (4688)
Canon 54. A pregnant woman desiring the grace of baptism may be baptized whenever she so desires. The mother of an infant who is born in no way shares in the child’s baptism since each person must express his or her own will by a confession [of faith].o (4689)
Canon 55. It is not permitted to offer in the sanctuary anything other than the bread, wine, and water,p which are blessed as a type of Christ; while he hung upon the cross blood and water flowed from his body. In Christ Jesus these three are one, this victim and offering to God unto a sweet odor. (4690)
Canon 56. When the bishop or the presbyter of the town is present, priests from the countryside are not allowed to minister to the people except when the former are absent.q (4691)
Canon 57. If a presbyter because of public penance received from a priest or because of another necessity fasts on Sunday as do the Manichaeans,r let him be anathema.s Likewise, the ancient canon handed down from the apostles holds this: on all Sundays and from Easter to Pentecost we are not to kneel or bow low; rather, we are to stand erect, looking at the Lord, for on this day we celebrate the joy of the Lord’s resurrection.t (4692)
Canon 63. Should any presbyter, deacon, or any cleric attached to a church, if he is within the city or place where the church is located, not meet for the daily sacrifice of psalmody at the morning and evening hours, he is to be deposed from the clerical state unless, making amends, he shows that he has merited to be pardoned by the bishop.u (4693)
Canon 64. No cleric, no matter who he is, is to absent himself from church on Sunday but is to be present at Mass and observe the [pre-Communion?] fast.v (4694)
Canon 65. Neither clerics nor religious are to begin eating before the third hour of the day, nor are clerics at any time to eat bread without having sung a hymn and, after eating, without giving thanks to God the author [of all things]. (4695)
Canon 67. Not to be said in church are [privately] composed or common psalms.w Nor are the noncanonical works to be read; only the canonical books of the Old and New Testaments.x (4696)
Canon 69. Christians are not to carry food to the tombs of the deceased and to offer it on their behalf. (4697)
Canon 70. Clerics and the Catholic laity are not to receive eulogiaey from heretics because the eulogiae are evils rather than blessings. Nor are they to pray with heretics or schismatics.z (4698)
Canon 82. Not to be refused are those departing the body who desire the final and necessary Communion, namely, Viaticum.aa But if they, having regained health and having received Communion, are again placed in a grave state of health, they are to be prayed over since they are not to receive the Sacrament till they have carried out the appointed time of penance. (4699)
Canon 83. As to those who enter the church of God and due to talking do not hear the sacred Scriptures or due to dissipation fail to receive sacramental Communion, or do not follow the disciplinary rule regarding the mysteries, we decree that they are to be ejected from the Catholic Church till they do penance and show the fruit of penance, asking that, Communion having been received, forgiveness might be merited.bb cc (4700)
Here Martin responds to Boniface, a Spanish bishop, who believes that the triple baptismal immersion is a response to the Arian heresy.
From Bishop Martin to Bishop Boniface. […]
II. According to what you have written, some of our people traveling in your lands have told you that the priests of this province confer baptism not in the one name of the Trinity but in the names of the Trinity. This, as you must know, is completely false. For in my mind whoever wanted you to believe this has either not seen bishops baptizing or certainly wanted to recall what was formerly the practice here. But I have most certainly learned that some years ago the metropolitan of this province requested from the See of blessed Peter the formula having the utmost authority.a Upon most carefully reading a copy [of the reply], I found it written that the person being baptized is to be dipped or immersed three times. (4701)
III. You say, “Invoking the name three times and immersing three times is most certainly a practice of the Arians.”b I reply that to be immersed three times in the one name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit is the ancient and apostolic tradition, a tradition the priests of this province have from the authority of the bishop of Rome in written form. The bishop of Constantinople observed this practice on the very feast of Easter and in the presence of this court’s delegates who were sent to the imperial court. There is also the letter from Paul the blessed Apostle which says, “There is one God, one faith, one baptism.”1 There is also Saint Jerome’s treatise in which he confirms that the baptized are immersed three times with the one name being invoked only once.c Should you so desire, you can find this most ancient papyrus in the possession of our venerable and holy brother the priest Ausentius. Furthermore, in the Acts of Saint Sylvester Constantine, in a vision, was ordered to be immersed three times.d Many, upon hearing the Apostle say “one baptism,” wish to understand this as pertaining to the one immersion rather than to the one Catholic faith with baptism being everywhere celebrated in one way. And then, attempting to distance themselves from the practice of the Arians, who practice triple immersion but use a single name—as is our custom—they altered the formula found in ancient tradition so that there would be only one immersion given under one name. They did not understand that a single name shows the unity of substance and that the triple immersion shows the distinction of the three persons. For if under one name there would be only a single immersion, then only the divine unity in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit would be shown, not the difference in persons. (4702)
IV. Now when they distance themselves from the Arians, they fail to realize that they come close to the Sabellianse who under one name have only a single immersion, who say that the Father is identical to the Son and the Holy Spirit, and hold that the Holy Spirit is identical to the Father. Although it does not demonstrate a distinction of the three persons in the sacrament of baptism, the impious use of three words deceitfully implies one person. As a result some of the Spaniards, “not knowing,” as is written, “what they say nor concerning what they assert,”2 and attempting to flee the Arians, unknowingly fall into another error. The Arians practice psalmody, read the letters of the apostles and the Gospels, and do many other things that Catholics do. But does this mean that we, for our part, are to reject all these things out of a desire to flee their error? Far from it! They have departed from us, as it is written, but they retain all we observe except that they diminish the divinity of God’s Son and the Holy Spirit. (4703)
V. Yet as we said, there are some who do not follow this reasoning and desire that there be only a single immersion. To somewhat bolster their presumptuous thinking, they claim that several councils established this practice in order to avoid any similarity with the Arians, something that is patently false. For no council, whether general or local, ever legislated as to one immersion. Now, if any claim that the contrary is true, let them produce the writing showing where, by whom, and by how many of our elders this was done. If they are unable to demonstrate this, let them confidently join us in regard to what has been handed down by the authority of the Roman See, in regard to what the ancient institution of the eastern provinces demonstrates, and what is written in the treatises of the ancient fathers and in the writings that give instruction for celebrating the sacraments, so that just as in the one name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, which names one God, just as we declare that the three are of one substance, so we show the distinctions between the three persons when we three times immerse believers. […] (4704)
This treatise—not all agree that Martin is its author—explains why the Pasch is celebrated at variable periods between the XI Calends of April (March 22) and the XI Calends of May (April 21).
I. Many have attempted to explain the mystery of the Pasch. They likewise desire to make it intelligible by calculating the month, the moon, and the day, but they have left the matter somewhat obscure, either because of the impossibility of knowing or because of the impossibility of speaking; it is as if they had said nothing. I know that many are accustomed to seek more detail as to why we celebrate the Pasch on different days by following Jewish custom according to a computation of the moon. They say that it would seem better if the commemoration of the Lord’s passion were celebrated in the same manner as we observe one anniversary day of our birth—a custom followed by the Gallican bishops not all that long ago—and so we should always celebrate the Pasch on the VIII Calends of April [March 25], the day on which Christ’s resurrection is said to have occurred. For this reason I have decided to thoroughly investigate and clearly explain the practice of our ancestors. (4705)
II. The passion of Christ redeems the creature. Concerning this the apostle said, “It was made subject to slavery not willingly but because of him who made it subject, in hope. Because it also shall be delivered from the slavery of corruption unto the freedom of the glory of God’s children.”1 This creature is the spirit of life which brought all earthly and corporeal things into being. This creature is subject to the hope that it might be freed from the corruptibility of the tomb and given the freedom of the children of glory; it was made subject to slavery on the day of the world’s creation, the world Christ came to save through his passion. This he did so that at that time it would be revealed that the day on which the creature had been made subject to slavery would become a day of joy. Because the sacrament of this lamb was so great that even the shadow of truth would profit for salvation by freeing the Jews from slavery under the Pharaoh—as if already prefigured was the liberation of the creature from the slavery of corruption—so the image of Christ’s future passion was involved in the coming of salvation. Thus God said that during the first month of the fourteenth day of the moon the year-old spotless lamb was to be sacrificed, its blood being sprinkled on the doorsteps2 so that the people might fear the angel of death. And during the night when the lamb was being eaten in their homes, namely, at the celebration of the Passover, they might accept freedom through the figure of slavery. That Christ was prefigured by the spotless lamb is easy to understand; no less obvious is that his sacrifice was intended to free us from the slavery of death. We are marked by the sign of his cross as well as by the sprinkling of his blood. For this reason at the end of the world we will be saved from the angels of death. […] (4706)
III. This is what our ancestors asked: “According to what has been written, what is the first month, what is the first day, and on what day does the fourteenth day of the moon occur, the day on which the Passover meal was to be eaten?” When the Jews began this tradition, the meaning of the names of the month had not yet been determined by the movement of the moon. But once our elders had determined the time and the day of the Lord’s passion and resurrection, they were able to know when the first month of the year would occur, what the first day of the month would be, when the fourteenth day of the moon would occur, and why they ought to observe the mystery of the Pasch according to the moon and the day. This was judged to be of primary importance, namely, as the years progressed, the time of the Pasch no longer coincided with the moon and the day. So it was judged better to extend the time rather than not observe the moon and the day: first, because two things would be more rightly retained; also because both of these appeared to be more preferable in their observance. Let us now show how each was determined. (4707)
IV. Let us first explain what we mean by the first month of the year; then what we mean by its first day. We say that our ancestors took their reasoning from the time of the Lord’s passion and resurrection. It is handed down that the Lord rose on Sunday, the VIII Calends of April [March 25], and that he ate with his disciples on the preceding Thursday, namely, on the XI Calends of April [March 22]. The reason for this, as our elders believed, was that the creature, whom the Lord was freeing by his blood, was at the same time subjected to slavery. Consequently, we must show that the world began at this time. (4708)
V. Genesis teaches that the world began during the spring. When the dry land—called the “earth” by God—appeared, he said, “Let the earth produce every kind of vegetation: seed-bearing plants and every kind of fruit-bearing trees that bear fruit from their seeds.”3 It is during the spring that we see all things germinate, and thus the world certainly began during this season. Since spring has three months, the world’s beginning is found within the middle month. Not only during the middle month but also during the middle days of this month. From the V Ides of February [February 9, the beginning of spring] there is one month till the Ides of March [March 11]. However, there are fifteen days from the V Ides of March [March 11], till the VIII Calends [March 25], namely, half a month. Thus a month and a half precede this day; a month and a half follow. As we read in Genesis, night and day were equal since “God divided the light from the darkness, calling the light ‘day’ and the darkness ‘night.’”4 The two are equally divided. And so where we find day and night being equally divided, there we find the beginning of the world. Yet there was a reason why our ancestors subtracted three days from the VIII Calends of April [March 25] in order to discover the first day of the world. According to our ancestors the XI Calends of April [March 22] was the first month and the first day of the world because three days had passed before the sun was established to govern the world. Genesis tells us that the sun and the moon were created on the fourth day.5 And so we find that Christ rose on the VIII Calends of April [March 25] and had begun the Passover with his disciples on the XI Calends of April [March 22], the day when the creature was subjected to slavery, a slavery Christ had come to abolish by means of his passion. (4709)
VI. There can be no doubt that Sunday was the first day of the world because Scripture says, “The world was made in six days and God rested on the seventh.”6 The seventh day God called the Sabbath. Consequently it is evident that Sunday was the first day of the world. We know that the moon was made full because it was created at the beginning of the night and its rule. But this, as the computation shows, cannot be repeated each year in order that, for example, the XI Calends of April [March 22] and the twenty-fourth day of the moon always fall on a Sunday. During subsequent years, however, the XI Calends of April [March 22] is the twenty-fifth day of the moon, a Monday. And so when both the moon and the day are found to be changed, it seemed correct to observe the XI Calends of April [March 22] as the world’s birthday. (4710)
VII. This is why our ancestors decided that a full month should be observed for celebrating the world’s birthday and that the Pasch should be celebrated in whatever part of the month the day and the moon coincided. Nor did this lack scriptural authority. Moses said, “This month shall stand at the beginning of your calendar, and you shall count it as the first month of the year.”7 Saying this, he consecrated a whole month as the day of the world’s birth. And so our ancestors, who established the XI Calends of April [March 22] as the birth of the world, defined the XI Calends of May [April 21] as the limit of the first month. Thus the Pasch may not be celebrated before the XI Calends of April [March 22] nor after the XI Calends of May [April 21]. But when in this month both the moon and the day coincide, namely, the fourteenth day of the moon and Sunday, then the Pasch is to be celebrated at this time. But since it often happens that the fourteenth day of the moon does not coincide with Sunday, they chose to have the moon lengthened by seven days provided that Sunday be observed with the joy of the Resurrection. So when the day occurs in this manner, we always defer the Pasch up to the twenty-first day of the moon for the sake of Sunday so that we celebrate the Pasch neither before the XI Calends of April [March 22] nor after the XI Calends of May [April 21]. In this way the month and the day and the moon are maintained when celebrating the Pasch. (4711)
VIII. When considering the world’s birthday it is prudent that we direct our attention to the moon and the day rather than to the XI Calends of April [March 22] since a full moon sheds its light upon all night’s darkness and since Sunday is the resurrection of the days of the week, returning as it does to the beginning of these days and refreshing their end. It is better that these days should be observed for the happiness of the birthday and of the liberation of the creature, especially since they are kept within the confines of the first month. Furthermore, our ancestors considered the day to have more religious importance than the moon since we pass beyond the fourteenth day of the moon but not the day of the week, our whole salvation being in the resurrection of the day. Sunday is both the beginning of days and the day of the Resurrection since it was on this day that the Lord rose. The moon, however, even though it does not fill up the whole night till the twenty-first day, still sheds its light on most of the night, leaving the darkness behind and conquering the darkness that lies ahead. For this reason our elders desired to have it extended till the twenty-first day rather than to have the Pasch celebrated before the fourteenth day since it is preferable to leave the darkness behind one’s back rather than being unable to overcome the darkness that is ahead. (4712)
IX. Our elders concluded that the Pasch should be celebrated neither before the XI Calends of April [March 22] nor after the XI Calends of May [April 21]. […] (4713)
On November 6, 516, ten bishops gathered at the port city of Tarragona, where they issued thirteen canons.
Hefele (1905) 2.2:1026–29 * Hefele (1871) 4:102–4 * DCA 2:1949 * EEC 2:814
Canon 7. If a priest and a deacon are appointed to a rural parish [ecclesia diocesana] together with other clerics, these two shall alternate weeks. During one week the priest, during the other the deacon, shall provide for divine service, which must consist daily of Matins and Vespers. However, on Saturday all the clerics must appear at Vespers.a This makes it easier for all to be present at the Sunday solemnity. On all days Vespers and Matins are to be celebrated because if a cleric is not present—and this is even worse—there is no one to light the lamp in the church. […] (4714)
Canon 8. Since it is known that many rural churches are in a bad condition, the bishop in accordance with ancient practice should visit these churches every year. If they are in disrepair, they should be repaired since, in accord with ancient custom, the bishop receives the third part [of all the offerings] from rural churches.b (4715)
Canon 9. Should a reader marry an adulteress or continue in marriage with her, he must be excluded from the clergy unless he leaves the adulteress woman. The same is true for an ostiarius. (4716)
On June 8, 517, seven bishops gathered at Gerunda in northeastern Spain and there enacted ten canons.
Hefele (1905) 2.2:1029–30 * Hefele (1871) 4:105–6 * DCA 1:726–27 * DDCon 2:115–16
Canon 1. The order of Mass as well as the manner of church song and of ministry at the altar shall in the whole province of Tarragona be the same as in the metropolitan church.a (4717)
Canon 2. During the week after Pentecost, on the three days from Thursday to Saturday, the litanies are to be celebrated with fasting. (4718)
Canon 3. The second litanies will begin on 1 November. If, however, one of these three days is a Sunday, then the litanies are transferred to another week.b They begin on Thursday and end on Saturday evening after Mass. On these days all refrain from meat and wine. (4719)
Canon 4. […] Catechumens are to be baptized only at Easterc and Pentecost.d The sick, however, may be baptized at any time. (4720)
Canon 5. When newborn children are sick, as they often are, and do not seek their mother’s milk, they should be immediately baptized on the same day they are born.e (4721)
Canon 9. If any sick person has received the benedictio poenitentiae,f called Viaticum,g by receiving Communion and if, after recovery, has not been required to do public penance in the church, he may be received into the clergy if he has otherwise had no irregularity. (4722)
Canon 10. Each day after Matins and Vespers the Lord’s Prayer is to be said by the priest. (4723)
Six bishops, gathering on December 4, 524 (there are those who place the meeting in 549), in Valence on the Mediterranean, issued six canons in addition to renewing previous ones.
Hefele (1905) 2.2:1067–68 * Hefele (1871) 4:137–38 * NCE 14:515
Canon 1. […] The holy gospel is to be read before the gifts are presented or before the catechumens are dismisseda or after the epistle so that not only the faithful but also the catechumens, the penitents, and all others may hear the word of God and the preaching of the bishop. As everyone knows, many have been drawn to the faith by hearing what the bishop preaches. (4724)
Six bishops gathered ca. 540 in Barcelona, where they enacted ten brief canons whose meanings are not always clear.
Hefele (1905) 2.2:1163–64 * Hefele (1871) 4:209–10 * DCA 1:178 * DDCon 1:139 * DHGE 6:715 * EC 2:835–36 * EEC 1:110
Canon 1. Psalm L [the Miserere] is to be said before the canticle. (4725)
Canon 2. The faithful are to be blessed at Matins as well as at Vespers. (4726)
Canon 4. A deacon is not to sit when presbyters are present.a (4727)
Canon 5. In the presence of the bishop priests are to connect the prayers in proper order. (4728)
Canon 6. Penitents are to shave their heads,b wear monk’s clothing, and dedicate their lives to prayer and fasting. (4729)
Canon 7. Penitents are not to attend banquets nor engage in business affairs; they are to lead a simple life in their homes. (4730)
Canon 8. If the sick request and receive penance from the bishop, they must upon recovering live on as penitents. Hands, however, are not to be laid upon them. They are not to receive Communion till the bishop has found their life confirmed. (4731)
Canon 9. The sick will receive the benedictio viatica.c (4732)
In 546 (not 524 as is sometimes stated) seven bishops gathered for a provincial meeting in Lerida (Ilerda) in northeast Spain, where they passed sixteen canons.
Hefele (1905) 2.2:1063–66 * Hefele (1871) 4:132–37 * CE 9:188 * DCA 1:979 * DDCon 2:251–52 * EEC 1:483 * NCE 8:673
Canon 4. Concerning those who pollute themselves through incest: as long as they persist in that detestable and illicit intimacy, they will be allowed to remain in church only till the dismissal of the catechumens. […] (4733)
Canon 9. Concerning those who have received sinful baptism without being forced to do so by compulsion or fear of martyrdom, the decrees of the Synod of Nicaea on sinners shall apply, namely, they must pray for seven years among the catechumens and two years among the faithful and then, through the moderating kindness of the bishop, may assist at the offering and the Eucharist.a (4734)
Canon 13. The offerings of Catholics who allow their children to be baptized by heretics will not be received in the church.b (4735)
Canon 14. The faithful must not eat with the rebaptized. (4736)
Meeting on May 1, 561 (the date is sometimes given as 563), in Braga, a city in northwest Portugal, the eight bishops at this provincial gathering issued two sets of canons.
CPL no. 1790 * Hefele (1905) 3.1:176–93 * Hefele (1871) 4:381–86 * CE 2:729 * DCA 1:246 * DDCon 1:207–8 * EEC 1:127 * LTK 2:625–26
Series 1
The first series of twenty-two canons condemned several aspects of the doctrine of Priscillianism, a spiritual renewal movement apparently containing various trinitarian, christological, and other errors.
Canon 4. If any do not honor Christ’s birthday but fast on this day and on Sundaya because they do not believe that Christ was born in true human nature […] let them be anathema. (4737)
Canon 16. Anathema are those who on the Thursday before Easter—the day called the Coena Domini—do not while fasting celebrate Mass at a proper hour after None but, like the Priscillianists break the fast and celebrate the day from the third hour with Masses for the dead. (4738)
Series 2
The Braga synod also issued a series of twenty-two disciplinary rules, most pertaining to liturgical celebration.
Canon 1. One and the same type of psalmody is to be used in the morning and evening offices everywhere; neither monastic custom nor private usage is to be intermingled with ecclesiastical norms.b (4739)
Canon 2. At the vigils and Masses of festal days the same and not different lessons are to be read everywhere in church. (4740)
Canon 3. Bishops are to greet the people in the same manner as do the priests, with Dominus vobiscum as is read in the Book of Ruth so that the people respond Et cum spiritu tuo. This has been the practice in all the East since the time of the apostles. The change introduced by the perverse Priscillianists is not to be adopted. (4741)
Canon 4. The same order of Mass must be celebrated by all in accordance with the formulary sent in writing from Rome and received by Profuturus, formerly the metropolitan of Braga.c (4742)
Canon 5. None are to disregard the order of baptism as was formerly observed by the metropolitan church of Braga and which, to remove all doubt, was received by Profuturus in writing from the see of the most holy apostle Peter. (4743)
Canon 9. Deacons are not to wear the orariond under the tunic but over the shoulder so that they can be distinguished from the subdeacons. (4744)
Canon 10. Not the reader but only the subdeacons ordained by the bishop are allowed to carry the holy vessels used at the altar. (4745)
Canon 11. Readers are not allowed to sing psalms in church in secular garb nor are they allowed to have long hair. (4746)
Canon 12. As the holy canons prescribe, no poetical compositions are to be sung in church other than the psalms of the Bible’s Old and New Testaments.e (4747)
Canon 13. No lay person, whether male or female, may enter the church’s sanctuary to receive Communion; only clerics may do so.f (4748)
Canon 16. The names of those who committed suicide by means of the sword or poison, by jumping from a high cliff or by hanging themselves, are not to be commemorated in the sacrifice, nor is the singing of the psalms to take place while their bodies are brought for burial, as many through ignorance have done. The same is true for those punished [by execution] for their crimes. (4749)
Canon 17. The names of the catechumens who died before baptism are not to be mentioned during the offering, nor is the singing of the psalms to take place, as is done through ignorance. (4750)
Canon 18. In no way are corpses to be interred within the churches of the holy ones.g If necessary, it is not unfitting to do so outside and around the walls of the church. For if cities till now have strongly forbidden that corpses be buried within them, how much more should reverence for the venerable martyrs require this? (4751)
Canon 19. A priest who, after being forbidden to do so, dares to bless the chrismh or who consecrates churches or altarsi shall be deposed from his office since the ancient canons forbid this. (4752)
Canon 20. No lay person is to be made a priest until he has learned the ecclesiastical discipline for a whole year as a reader or a subdeacon and has risen through all the grades up to the priesthood.j (4753)
Canon 21. What is presented by the faithful either on the feasts of the martyrs or at commemorations of the deceased is to be faithfully gathered by a cleric.k At a determined time, either once or twice a year, this is to be divided among all the clergy. If each cleric is allowed to retain for himself what has been presented during the week, then there exists no little inequality from which discord arises. (4754)
This meeting, attended by the bishops of three ecclesiastical provinces and presided over by Martin of Braga (WEC 4:179), issued ten canons.
Hefele (1905) 3.1:194–95 * Hefele (1871) 4:395–97 * CATH 2:230 * CE 2:729 * DCA 1:246 * DDCon 1:208 * EEC 1:127 * LTK 2:625–26
Canon 1. The bishops are to visit the individual churches of their diocese and examine how the clergy celebrate the order of baptism, of Mass, and whatever services they have in their church; if the bishop finds that the clergy do everything correctly, then give thanks to God; if they do not, the bishop is to instruct the ignorant; he is to command, as the ancient canons so order, that the catechumens come twenty days before baptism for the purifying exorcism;a during these twenty days the catechumens are to receive special instruction on the creed, which is the “I believe in God the Father almighty.”b After the bishop has examined or instructed the clergy, then on another day, having called together the people of the church, he should instruct them to flee the errors of idols and various sins. […] (4755)
Canon 3. As to clerical ordinations, the bishop is to accept no gift for it is written that what is freely accepted is to be freely given.1 The imposition of the hands is not to be sold, no matter what the price.c […] (4756)
Canon 4. Nothing is to be requested for the small portion of balsam blessed and sent throughout the churchesd for use during the sacrament of baptism.e […] (4757)
Canon 5. When a bishop is invited by one of the faithful to consecrate a church,f he is not to require that the person inviting him give any kind of gift. But if something is voluntarily offered, it will not be rejected. […] (4758)
Canon 6. In some places, so it is said, there are those who for reasons of personal gain and not for purposes of devotion have churches built where [only] half the gifts collected from the people are given to the clergy.g Thus no bishop is to dare consecrate a churchh that has been established not to obtain the protection of the saints but for the purpose of obtaining personal wealth. (4759)
Canon 7. Each bishop is to enjoin that those bringing children to be baptized and who voluntarily give an offering be received by the church. If poverty does not allow this offering to be made, no such gift will be demanded by the clergyi since many poor people, in view of this, do not bring their children for baptism. […] (4760)
Canon 9. The date of the next Pasch will be announced so that the other bishops and the rest of the clergy might each in his own church make this known by a short announcement after the gospel.j In this way no one can be ignorant of the beginning of Lent. At its beginning all gather in the neighborhood church and for three days process through the churches of the saints while singing the psalms and celebrating the litanies. On the third day, Mass being celebrated at the ninth or tenth hour, the people are dismissed. They are enjoined to observe the forty day fast and on the twentieth day to present the infantsk to be cleansed by the exorcism. (4761)
Canon 10. […] We know that some priests, corrupted by the stench of the Priscillianist heresy, are so audacious as to consecrate the offering in Masses for the dead after having taken some wine. Therefore, to be deposed from his office by the bishop is any presbyter who after this decree is caught in this madness—that is, who is not fastingl and has taken some food—and who has consecrated the offering on the altar. (4762)
Summoned by King Reccared to commemorate the conversion of the Visigoths from Arianism to orthodoxy, sixty-two bishops (some of whom were themselves Arians) gathered in Toledo and began their deliberations on May 8, 589.
Hefele (1905) 3.1:222–28 * Hefele (1871) 4:416–22 * DCA 2:1968 * DTC 15.1:1177–78 * EEC 2:844 * NCE 14:190 * NCES 14:100
Series 1
The bishops first issued twenty-three anathemas against Arianism and those rejecting the teachings of the councils of Nicaea (WEC 2:71-C), Constantinople (WEC 2:71-D), Ephesus, and Chalcedon (WEC 3:137).
Canon 14. Those who do not say “Gloria et honor Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto”a are to be anathema. (4763)
Canon 15. Those who believe or have believed that the sacrilege of rebaptism is something good or who practice or who have practiced itb are to be anathema. (4764)
Series 2
In a further series the bishops issued twenty-three decrees [capitula] on various disciplinary matters.
Capitulum 2. Out of respect for the holy faith and to strengthen the weak understanding of the faithful, at the decision of Recared the most holy and glorious lord and king, this holy synod has determined that throughout the churches of Spain, Gaul, and Gallaecia, the creed of the Council of Constantinople is—according to the formula of the Eastern Churches, that is, of the 150 bishops—to be recited so that before the Lord’s Prayer it is said aloud by the people so that purified by the witness of faith the hearts of the people might approach to receive the Body and Blood of Christ. (4765)
Capitulum 11. We have discovered that in certain churches of Spain the canons are not followed; people do penance for their sins so that as often as they desire to sin, so often do they request the presbyter to reconcile them.c Therefore, in order to restrain such a cursed presumption, this holy council has ordered that penance be given according to the ancient canonical form, namely, that first the penitent is excluded from communion and is placed among the other penitents in order to return often for the imposition of the hand. When the time of expiation has ended, the bishop as it seems good may restore the person to communion. Those who return to their previous sins either during the time of penance or after their reconciliation will be punished according to the severity of the early canons.d (4766)
Capitulum 12. Whenever someone, whether sick or in good health, requests penance from the bishop or a presbyter, the bishop or presbyter first sees to it that, if the person is a man, he first cuts his haire and then is admitted to penance. If the person is a woman, she will not begin penance till she has changed her clothing, for it can often happen that after performing an easy penance, the laity again return to their sins, the very sins they were lamenting after being admitted to penance. (4767)
Capitulum 22. The bodies of all the religious who have been called by God from this life are to be carried to burial only with voices singing the psalms. We totally forbid the funeral songs that are ordinarily sung to the deceased and which friends and servants accompany with a striking of their breasts. Christians, with their hope of rising, are to honor the remains by means of the divine canticles since the apostle forbids us to mourn the deceased when he says, “I do not want you to grieve over those who have fallen asleep as do the others who lack hope.”1 The Lord did not cry over the dead Lazarus but requested that he be raised up from the hardships of the present life. The bishop, if he can do so, is to prohibit all Christians from doing this, and religious should not, we believe, act any differently; it is fitting that throughout the world the bodies of the deceased Christians be buried in this manner. (4768)
Capitulum 23. To be completely eliminated is the irreligious custom whereby the people on the feasts of the saints—the people who should be present at the divine services—occupy themselves with dancing and singing lewd songs. So doing, they not only harm themselves but also intrude upon the offices of the religious. […] (4769)
On November 1, 592, eleven bishops met for a provincial synod at Saragossa in northeast Spain to solve several problems resulting from the conversion of the Visigoths to Catholicism.
Hefele (1905) 3.1:234–35 * Hefele (1871) 4:426–27 * CE 13:469 * DCA 2:1842 * EEC 2:755
Canon 1. A presbyter who comes to the holy Catholic Church from Arianism, whose faith is holy and strong, and who has led a chaste life, may, having been ordained as a presbyter, continue in this office, doing so in a pure and holy manner. Those who do not desire to live such a life will be deposed from the clerical office. This applies to both presbyters and deacons. (4770)
Canon 3. To be consecrated anew are those churches consecrated by bishops converting from Arianism to the Catholic faith and who performed these consecrations before they themselves were ordained as Catholic bishops.a (4771)
The bishops who met for this provincial synod in Barcelona on November 1, 599, enacted four canons.
Hefele (1905) 3.1:237 * Hefele (1871) 4:428–29 * DCA 1:178 * DDCon 1:140 * DHGE 6:715–16 * EC 2:836 * EEC 1:110
Canon 1. When clerics are promoted to an ecclesiastical office, namely, when subdeacons or deacons or presbyters are blessed, neither the bishop nor any of his clerics may ask for anything. They are to remember what the Lord Jesus said: “Freely give what you have freely received.”a1 (4772)
Canon 2. Likewise, when the chrism is given to the diocesan presbyters for confirming the neophytes,b nothing is to be accepted as payment for this; otherwise God’s grace, spoiled by paying for the blessing, will bring destruction to those who appear to be associated with Simon Magus in buying and selling.c (4773)
Canon 3. As determined by the early canons and the prescriptions of the episcopal synodal letters, no layman is to aspire to or is to be promoted to ecclesiastical orders unless the times prescribed by the canons are followed.d […] Now if two or three, agreed upon by clergy and people, are presented for judgment to the metropolitan and his co-bishops, the one on whom the lot falls after a preceding fast by the bishops will, Christ designating, be consecrated. Yet if any, God forbid, act differently, both those ordaining and those ordained will be deposed. (4774)
Canon 4. If a virgin has freely laid aside her lay clothing, has put on the garments of a religious, and has promised to observe chastity, or if anyone of either sex upon asking receives from the bishop the blessing of penance,e then, if that person voluntarily marries, he or she, expelled from the church, will be separated from communion with all Catholics and even deprived of the pleasure of speaking with them. (4775)
Sixth-century Ireland appears to have known two Finnians. One, and perhaps the most famous, is Finnian of Clonard (d. 549), the founder of a monastery in Leinster in eastern Ireland. The other is Finnian, bishop of Moville (d. 579). Some ascribe to the former the Penitential of Finnian, whereas others ascribe the work to the latter. It has even been suggested that the two Finnians are one and the same person.
CATH 4:1313–14 * CE 6:77 * DCB 2:518–19 * EEChr 1:430 * LTK 3:1294–95 * NCE 5:929 * NCES 5:735–36 * ODCC 612–13
L. Fleuriot, “Le ‘saint’ breton Winniau et le pénitentiel dit ‘de Finnian,’” Etudes celtiques 15 (1976–78) 607–14.
This, the oldest of such books to be used by confessors, was composed toward the middle or in the latter half of the sixth century.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. (4776)
1. Those who sin in thought and immediately repent are to strike the breast, request God’s pardon, and perform any appropriate penance in order to be cured. (4777)
2. Those who often sin in thought but hesitate to carry out their thoughts or do not know whether consent was given to such evil thoughts will request God’s pardon by means of prayer and fasting, doing so day and night till their evil thoughts subside. Then they will be cured. (4778)
3. As to those who have thought about or have desired to engage in evil but lacked any possibility of doing so, the sin is the same [as if the deed were actually committed], but the penance will be different. Thus those who desired to commit an act of impurity or homicide but did not carry out this desire have already sinned within. Provided penance is done immediately, there can be a cure. The penance will consist of six months of fasting, and for one year there will be abstaining from meat and wine. (4779)
4. Those who sin through harmful words and then immediately repent—should there be no premeditation—must submit to penance. There will be a prolonged fast [i.e., of two days], and care will be taken not to sin in the future. (4780)
5. Those who argue with a cleric or with a minister of God will fast for a week on bread and water. They will humbly and sincerely seek God’s pardon and that of their neighbors, and thus they will be reconciled with God and with others. (4781)
6. Should a cleric have had the scandalous intention of striking or killing his neighbor, he will fast for six months on bread and water and abstain from wine and meat. In this way he will be permitted to return to the altar [in order to offer and receive Communion]. (4782)
7. If a laic should do this, he or she is to fast for seven days because the guilt of a person of this world is less serious in this world, and so one’s reward will be less in the world to come. (4783)
8. If a cleric has struck a brother or a neighbor and has thereby shed blood, the sin is the same as if he had committed murder. The penance, however, is different. He will fast for one year on bread and water and will not exercise his ministry; he will pray with tears and lamentation so as to obtain God’s pardon, for Scripture says, “Whoever hates his brother is a murderer,”1 so how much more guilty is he who strikes his brother. (4784)
9. A lay person who strikes his or her brother [or sister] will do penance for forty days and give a fine as determined by a priest or a monk. Clerics, however, neither give nor receive money [in regard to penance]. (4785)
10. A cleric who falls into the sin of impurity and forfeits his innocence one time only and without the people being aware of this—but not without God knowing—will fast for a year on bread and water; for two years he will abstain from wine and meat and will not exercise any ecclesiastical function. We declare that his sins can be absolved, in secret, by penance and by a serious effort. (4786)
11. A cleric who habitually sins by impurity—without the people being aware of this—will do penance for three years on bread and water and will forfeit his office; for an additional three years he will abstain from wine and meat. (4787)
12. A cleric who falls so low as to kill his own child is guilty of both the sin of fornication and the sin of murder. These sins, however, can be atoned for by means of penance and good works. The guilty will do three years of penance on bread and water. In tears, lamentations, and prayers, both day and night, the cleric will request God’s pardon in order to obtain the forgiveness of his sins. For three years he will abstain from wine and meat. He will forfeit his clerical office, and for the last three Lents he will fast on bread and water. Being an outcast in his own country for seven years, he will then be restored to his duties according to the judgment of the bishop or priest. (4788)
13. If the cleric has not killed his child, the sin is less grave. The penance, however, is the same. (4789)
14. If a cleric is friendly with a woman but has done nothing sinful, neither remaining with her nor immodestly embracing her, his penance will be as follows: for as long as he has an affection for the woman in question, he will refrain from Communion; he will do penance for forty days and forty nights till he has removed from his heart the love he has for the woman. He will then be readmitted to the altar. (4790)
15. But if a cleric is friendly with many women, taking pleasure in their company, indulging in their endearments, but avoids—as he says—definite dishonor, he will do six months of penance on bread and water and will refrain from wine and meat. He will not lose his clerical office, and after a year of fasting he will be readmitted to the altar. (4791)
16. The cleric who only once carnally desires a virgin or any other woman, without acting upon this, will fast for seven days on bread and water. (4792)
17. The cleric who for a long time harbors evil desires but does not act upon them, either because the woman spurns him or because he is ashamed to make such advances, has already committed adultery in his heart. The sin remains in his heart, but the penance is not the same [as if he would have acted upon his desires]. The guilty cleric will fast forty days on bread and water. (4793)
18. If a cleric or a woman who engages in sorcery misleads anyone by this sorcery, he or she commits a very serious sin. However, they can be saved through penance: six years of fasting, the first three on bread and water, the other three without wine or meat. (4794)
19. If the sorcerer or sorceress in question has not used sorcery to end someone’s life but only to arouse carnal desire, there is one year of fasting on bread and water. (4795)
20. A woman who kills another woman’s infant by means of evil spells is to fast for six months on bread and water, go two years without wine and meat, and endure six Lents on bread and water. (4796)
21. If a female religious gives birth to a child and her sin is known by all, she will fast on bread and water for six years, as was said for a cleric; the seventh year she will be reconciled and will then be allowed to renew her religious profession, to be garbed with white garments, and once again she can be called a “virgin.” (4797)
The cleric who falls in the same way may regain his office after a fast of seven years since Scripture says, “The just fall seven times and again arise,”2 namely, after seven years of penance the fallen monk can again be called a “religious.” He will henceforth take care not to lapse again since Solomon says, “The dog that returns to its own vomit is odious.”3 The same is true for a cleric who through weakness returns to his sins. (4798)
22. A false oath is a sin that can be atoned for only with great difficulty. And yet it is better to do penance than to despair since God’s mercy is great. The penance for this is as follows: never again to swear falsely during one’s life since those doing so will not be justified, with evil descending upon them. A spiritual remedy promptly administered will ward off future punishment: seven years of penance and doing good the rest of one’s life, giving freedom to a male or female serf, or distributing to the poor what has been received as a legal compensation. (4799)
23. A cleric guilty of murder will undergo ten years of exile and will do seven years of penance, three years on bread and water, and will observe a more severe fast for three periods of forty days; he will abstain from wine and meat for another four years. After ten years, provided the cleric has lived a good life according to the testimony of an abbot or a priest to whom the sinner has been entrusted [in order to fulfill the penance], he can return to his native land. He will give the victim’s parents compensation, placing himself in the service of the victim’s mother and father and saying to them, “I will take the place of your son in whatever you order me to do.” If the guilty cleric fails to make sufficient amends, he will never be received into eternity. (4800)
24. But if a cleric has committed murder without premeditation, without hatred, and if he was a friend of the victim, and then giving way to the devil and the devil’s instigation, has murdered, he will fast for three years on bread and water and will abstain from wine and meat for three years. His penance will be done far from his native country. (4801)
25. If a cleric has once or twice committed theft, e.g., by stealing a sheep, a pig, or another animal, he will fast for a year on bread and water and return fourfold what he has taken. (4802)
26. If a cleric habitually steals, he will do penance for three years. (4803)
27. If a deacon or a cleric in orders lives with his sons, with his daughters, and with the woman he married before entering into orders and, as a result of carnal desire conjugally cohabits with his wife and produces a child, he is to understand that he has sinned greatly. His sin is no less than if—being a cleric from youth [and not married]—he had sinned with the woman. Consecrated to God, they have sinned after their promise of continence and have violated their vows: the cleric and his wife will fast for three years on bread and water. During three other years they will refrain from wine and meat, but each will do penance in his or her own way. After seven years they will be reunited, and the cleric will be restored to his office. (4804)
28. The avaricious cleric sins greatly since avarice is a type of idolatry. It can be corrected by charity and almsgiving. Penance consists in removing this sin by practicing its opposite virtue. (4805)
29. Anger, spite, calumny, unkindness, and envy, especially for a cleric, are capital sins, vices that kill the soul and plunge it into the abyss below. Penance is carried out as follows: till these vices are pulled up and removed from the human heart with the Lord’s help and with our perseverance, we will request that the Lord be merciful and grant us victory over our sins. We will continue to do penance, day and night, in tears and lamentation for as long as these sins remain within us. To cure the sickness we will use remedies that are the opposite. We will cure our vices by the opposite virtues: anger by being kind and by loving God and neighbor; calumny by self-control in the way we think and act; discouragement by spiritual joy; avarice by generosity. The Scriptures say that whoever utters calumny against one’s neighbors “will be uprooted from the land of the living.”4 Sorrow destroys and consumes the soul. “Avarice is the root of all evil,” says the Apostle.5 (4806)
30. If a cleric is convicted of stealing from a monastery or a church, doing so under the false pretext of ransoming captives, and if he reforms, he will fast for one year on bread and water; his ill-gotten goods will be distributed and, as it were, lent to the poor. (4807)
31. We order that such goods be used to ransom captives and, following the teaching of the Church, be placed at the disposition of the poor and destitute. (4808)
32. If a guilty cleric does not make amends, he will be excommunicated and banished from living among Christians. He will be exiled from his own country. He will be beat unmercifully till he sincerely and definitively repents. (4809)
33. As to our own goods, we should use them to assist the churches dedicated to the saints and to help all who are in need. We should receive pilgrims into our homes, for it is written that “we are to visit the sick and aid prisoners.”6 We must obey God’s commandments in their least detail. (4810)
34. When a sinner—it matters not whether it be a man or a woman—requests Communion at the end of life, the Body of Christ [nomen Christi] is not to be refused if the person promises to make amends and if he or she is doing good and meeting one’s obligations. If such fail to carry out their promises [i.e., to amend], punishment will again fall upon them. As to ourselves, we will not refuse to give what we ought to give. We should never cease to snatch the prey from the mouth of the lion or dragon, namely, from the clutches of the devil, who himself never ceases to snatch away our souls. We are to assist those who are at the point of death. (4811)
35. When a layman turns back to the Lord after having sinned—whether it be impurity or murder—he will do three years of penance and will no longer bear arms except for a rod. He will leave his spouse during the first year of fasting on bread and water. After these three years he will give the priest a sum of money in order to redeem his soul, and he will provide the monks with a meal. During this meal he will be reconciled and received into communion. He can then return to his wife and be admitted to Communion. (4812)
36. A layman who has had carnal relations with another man’s wife or with a [consecrated?] virgin will do penance for one year on bread and water and will cease having relations with his own wife. After a year he will receive Communion. He will pay a fine for the redemption of his soul and will not fornicate in the future. (4813)
37. The layman who violates a female religious, namely, deflowers her and makes her pregnant, will fast for three years, the first year doing so on bread and water. He will refrain from bearing arms and having relations with his wife. During the following two years he will abstain from wine and meat and will in no way approach his spouse. (4814)
38. If the layman in question has not impregnated a virgin but only deflowered her, he will fast for one year on bread and water; for six months he will abstain from wine and meat and will refrain from having sexual relations with his spouse prior to the conclusion of his time of penance. (4815)
39. A married layman who has relations with his female slave will sell her and for a year will refrain from relations with his wife. (4816)
40. If a married layman makes pregnant a slave and one or more children are born, the slave is to be given her freedom, the master not being allowed to sell her. The two partners [in sin] will be separated, and the guilty man will fast one year on bread and water. As to the future, he will forsake his concubine slave and be content with his wife. (4817)
41. A married man will not dismiss his wife because she is barren. They should remain together in continence, and they will be happy if they stay this way till God pronounces a just judgment upon them. If they remain like Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, like Anna the mother of Samuel, or like Elizabeth the mother of John, they will be happy till the last day. The apostle says, “May those who have spouses live as if they had none, for what is visible in this world will pass away.”7 (4818)
42. A wife should not leave her husband; should she do so, she is to remain single [without remarrying] or be reconciled with her spouse. (4819)
43. If a wife has committed adultery and lives with a man to whom she is not married, her husband does not have the right to marry another woman while his adulteress wife is still alive. (4820)
44. If an adulterous wife does penance, her husband is bound to take her back provided she freely and clearly requests that he do so. The husband will not give her a dowry, and she will serve him as long as she lives like a slave, completely submissive and with full devotion. (4821)
45. A wife dismissed by her husband will not marry another while her husband is still alive. She will wait alone, with patience and in continence, till God calms the heart of her husband. The penance for an adulterous husband or wife is one year on bread and water. The spouses will carry out their penance separately and not share the same bed. (4822)
46. We prescribe continence in marriage since a marriage without continence is not a true marriage but a sin. Marriage is not given by God for the purpose of pleasure but for that of procreation. It is indeed written, “They will be two in one flesh,”8 namely, in bodily unity for the purpose of begetting children and not for that of bodily pleasure. (4823)
Each year the spouses will observe continence three times, doing so with mutual consent for a period of forty days so that they might be able to pray for the salvation of their souls. They will likewise abstain from relations from Saturday night till Sunday. Also, a man will not approach his wife if she is pregnant. But after she gives birth, they can again unite as the Apostle says.9 (4824)
47. If through negligence on the part of the parents an infant dies without baptism, this is a great sin since a soul is lost. This sin can be atoned for by penance: one year of fasting on bread and water for the parents; during this time they are not to share the same bed. (4825)
48. A cleric attached to a parish who refuses to baptize a small child will fast for a year [if through his own fault the child dies without baptism]. (4826)
49. Whoever is incapable of baptizing is not to be called a cleric or a deacon, nor is he to receive the clerical dignity or be ordained. (4827)
50. Monks are neither to baptize nor receive the offerings [for the Eucharist]. If they would be allowed to receive such gifts, then why can they not baptize? (4828)
51. The man whose wife is an adulteress will not have relations with her till she has done penance, as previously stated, namely, for the period of a whole year. Likewise, a wife will not have relations with her adulterous husband till he has performed the same penance. (4829)
52. Whoever loses something blessed by God will do seven days of penance. (4830)
53. It is forbidden to receive Communion before the time of penance has concluded. The end. Thanks be to God! (4831)
And so, my dear brothers, these are several points relative to the remedies of penance. They agree with the teaching of the Scriptures and with the opinions of learned individuals. Inspired by my love for you, I have attempted to put these in writing, although doing so exceeded my ability. There are other teachings on these remedies and on the diversity of sins to be healed which we cannot list here due to lack of space and also due to my shortcomings. If anyone having a greater knowledge of the Scriptures should find more, we will agree to follow him. (4832)
End of the book compiled by Finnian for his children so that sins might disappear from among those on earth. (4833)
† Translated from Sancti Fulgentii Episcopi Ruspensis Opera, vol. 2, ed. J. Fraipont, CCL 91 A (Paris, 1968) 667ff.
1. Matt 16:18–19.
2. Rom 10:10.
3. Matt 16:19.
† Translated from CCL 91 A:740ff.
1. John 3:5.
2. See Eph 5:2.
† Translated from CCL 91 A:183ff.
1. John 15:13.
2. See Gal 6:14.
3. See Rom 6:10.
4. Rom 5:5.
5. 1 Cor 10:17.
6. John 17:11.
7. John 17:20–23.
8. Cant 8:6.
† Translated from Sancti Fulgentii Episcopi Ruspensis Opera, vol. 1, ed. J. Fraipont, CCL 91 (Paris, 1968) 380–81.
a. WEC 3:98.
b. This concerns a person who, while unconscious, was baptized but did not receive the Eucharist.
† Translated from CCL 91:397, 440.
a. See WEC 2:53-T. However, the text for Splendor paternae gloriae is not given in WEC.
1. Wis 7:26.
2. Heb 1:3.
†† Translated from PL 65:147.
† Translated from CSEL 6, ed. W. Hartel (Vienna, 1882) 311.
†† Translated from CSEL 6:332.
† Translated from CSEL 35, ed. O. Guenther (Vienna, 1895) 850.
a. Scampina: located in northwest Greece.
† Translated from CSEL 35:592.
a. John II (d. 520): patriarch of Constantinople.
†† Translated from La Règle du Maître, vol. 2, ed. A. de Vogüé, SChr 106 (Paris, 1964) 48ff. An excellent commentary on the monastery’s liturgical life appears in SChr 105:65–86. An English translation of the rule’s text and the SChr commentary is The Rule of the Master, trans. L. Eberle (Kalamazoo, MI, 1977).
a. The monastery, at least normatively, was to consist of two sections, each section having ten monks and two deans [praepositi]. The function of the deans was to impart instruction as well as to oversee various aspects of the section’s life of prayer and work.
1. Ps 51:3.
2. See Ps 119:176.
3. John 10:11.
4. See Ps 51:3.
b. Entering for a canonical hour that precedes the Mass?
5. Ps 106:1.
6. Ps 51:5–6.
7. See Matt 6:12.
8. Ps 28:3.
9. See Job 10:2.
10. See Ps 63:9.
11. See Jer 18:8–10.
12. Luke 15:32.
c. Ancient liturgical documents use the words “say,” “sing,” “recite,” etc. interchangeably. See R. Taft, The Liturgy of the Hours in East and West: The Origins of the Divine Office and Its Meaning for Today (Collegeville, 1986) 50, 138.
13. Ps 119:62.
14. Isa 26:9, LXX.
d. Eugenia: a martyr during the third century who was baptized by Helenus, bishop of Heliopolis; see Passio s. Eugeniae, ed. B. Mombritius, Sanctuarium 2, under the title Passio ss. Prothi et Hiacynthi martyrum (Paris, 1910) 392.
e. Angle brackets indicate text material inserted by A. de Vogüé, editor of SChr 106.
f. For various methods of rendering the psalms, e.g., antiphonally, responsorially, directly, see, at least in regard to Benedict’s Rule, R. Taft, The Liturgy of the Hours, 139.
g. Inpositio: a liturgical unit consisting of a psalm, the “Glory be,” a prostration, and a prayer; see R. Taft, The Liturgy of the Hours, 123–24.
h. Rogus Dei: probably a litany; see R. Taft, The Liturgy of the Hours, 125–26.
15. See Rev 4:4; 5:8–9; 7:11–12.
i. Visio Pauli 7, ed. M.R. James, Apocrypha Anecdota, Texts and Studies 2.3 (Cambridge, 1893). Also known as the Apocalypse of Paul, this is an apocryphal work originally written in Greek during the latter half of the fourth century.
16. Ps 119:164.
17. Ps 113:3.
18. Ps 65:8.
j. The “Gospel” here would seem to mean a Gospel canticle; see R. Taft, The Liturgy of the Hours, 126–27.
k. See note j above.
l. Namely, Psalms 148, 149, and 150.
m. Namely, Dan 3. See R. Taft, The Liturgy of the Hours, 128–29.
19. See Rev 4:4; 5:8–9; 7:11–12.
n. See note j above.
20. See Ps 119:164.
21. See Isa 11:2–3.
22. Ps 149:5.
23. Ps 65:8.
24. Ps 33:3–4.
25. Ps 2:11.
26. Ps 47:7.
27. Ps 138:1.
28. Matt 15:8; see Isa 29:13.
29. Ps 62:4.
30. 1 Cor 14:3, 26.
31. Ps 101:1–2.
32. 1 Cor 14:15.
33. Ps 138:1.
34. Ps 126:5.
35. Wis 3:5.
36. See Gen 9:4; Acts 15:29.
37. See Luke 7:36–46; John 12:2–8.
38. See John 1:9.
† Translated from La Règle de s. Benoît, vol. 2, trans. and ed. A. de Vogüé and J. Neufville, SChr 182 (Paris, 1972).
a. Vigilia or nocturnus: terms used by Benedict for the office celebrated at night. In this translation the term “night office” is used.
b. Matutinus: a term used by Benedict for the celebration of the office at daybreak. In this translation the term “Morning Prayer” is used. He uses the word laudes to refer to Psalms 148–50, in this translation rendered as “psalms of praise.”
c. Benedict follows the numbering of the psalms according to the LXX, an enumeration retained in this translation.
d. For antiphonal singing, see R. Taft, The Liturgy of the Hours in East and West: The Origins of the Divine Office and Its Meaning for Today (Collegeville, 1986) 139.
e. Benedict uses interchangeably various terms for rendering the psalmody, e.g., to “sing,” to “psalm,” to “say.”
f. Benedict at times, as here, employs the term ambrosianum for “hymn.”
1. Ps 51:15.
g. For “direct” psalmody, see R. Taft, The Liturgy of the Hours, 139.
2. Matt 6:12.
3. Matt 6:13.
h. See note g above.
4. Ps 119:164.
5. Ibid.
6. Ps 119:62.
7. Ps 119:164.
8. Ps 119:62.
9. Ps 70:1.
10. Ibid.
11. Prov 15:3.
12. Ps 2:11.
13. Ps 47:7.
14. Ps 138:1.
15. See Eph 4:27; 1 Tim 5:13.
16. See Gal 6:7.
17. Ps 119:116.
18. Matt 26:50.
† Translated from Règles monastiques d’Occident: IVe–VIe siècle, d’Augustin à Ferréol, trans. and ed. V. Desprez, Spiritualité orientale 9 (Maine-et-Loire, France, 1980) 349ff.
1. Ps 37:8.
a. Augustine, Rule II.4 (WEC 3:98-V).
2. Jer 48:10.
3. Ps 75:5, LXX.
4. Ps 151:4, LXX.
5. Matt 6:13.
6. See 1 Cor 11:29.
7. See Tob 8:19; Ps 50:14, 23.
† Translated from Analecta Reginensia: extraits des manuscrits Latins de la Reine Christine conservés au Vatican, ed. A. Wilmart, ST 59 (Vatican City, 1933) 171–78.
1. See 1 Cor 1:13.
2. Rom 10:10.
3. Rom 10:17.
4. Job 27:2–4.
5. Cant 1:3.
6. Matt 17:2.
7. Cant 3:6; 8:5.
8. See Heb 9:7.
a. Arius (ca. 260–336): a priest in Alexandria, noted as a preacher and for his holiness, who denied the unity and consubstantiality of the three persons of the Trinity and consequently the full divinity of Christ. This Arian doctrine was condemned by the Council of Nicaea (WEC 2:71-C).
b. Pelagians: members of a heretical movement promoted by Pelagius (b. ca. 354), who although British, lived in Rome, and who promoted the heresy that a person can be saved by one’s personal merits alone.
c. Eutychians: another name for the Monophysites, those believing that in Christ there is only one nature, not two.
d. Nestorians: Christians believing that two separate persons exist in Christ, one human and the other divine.
e. See Augustine (WEC 3:98-S).
9. Matt 28:19.
f. See WEC 2:71-C.
10. Deut 31:20.
11. Ps 119:103.
12. Ps 45:9.
g. John continues on but does not really present his answer before the text, which unfortunately is incomplete, ends.
13. Ps 148:1.
14. Ps 148:2.
15. Ps 117:1.
† Translated from PL 57:771–74.
1. Rom 10:14, 17.
2. Sir 28:24.
3. Matt 25:34.
4. Cant 1:4.
† Translated from PL 57:775–76, 778.
1. John 3:5.
2. Matt 28:19.
3. Isa 45:5; see also Hos 23:4.
4. Deut 6:4.
5. Deut 4:39.
† Translated from PL 57:777–79.
1. Ps 133:2.
† Translated from PL 69:17–18.
a. Arians: followers of Arius (ca. 260–336), a priest in Alexandria, who denied the unity and consubstantiality of the three persons of the Trinity and consequently the full divinity of Christ. This doctrine was condemned by the Council of Nicaea (WEC 2:71-C).
1. Matt 28:19.
† Translated from PL 69:398.
†† Translated from PL 161:472.
a. Grumentum: a town thirty-three miles south of Potenza in southern Italy.
††† Translated from PL 69:416.
a. Civitavecchia: a port northwest of Rome and located on the Tyrrhenian Sea.
b. Mediana septima Paschae: it has been suggested that this phrase refers to the week following the fourth Sunday of Lent; see G.C. Willis, Essays in Early Roman Liturgy, Alcuin Club Collections 46 (London, 1964) 101–4.
† Translated from CCL 98:881, 1132.
a. Enumeration of the psalms according to the LXX.
b. Some see this reference as applying to the hymn Bis ternas horas explicans, which can be found in A.S. Walpole, Early Latin Hymns: With Introduction and Notes (London, 1922), hymn no. LXXXII, pp. 294–98. Lines 9–12 read, “ut septies diem vere/orantes cum psalterio/laudesque cantantes Deo/laeti solvamus debitum.” However, there is no universal agreement that this hymn was written by Ambrose.
1. Ps 36:2.
2. Prov 24:16.
† Translated from Liber diurnus Romanorum Pontificum, ed. T.E. von Sickel (Vienna, 1889) 6, 77–78.
a. Manichaeans: followers of Mani (ca. 216–76), born in Persia, who preached a dualistic doctrine based on an ancient conflict between light and darkness, between good and evil; his disciples—found in Egypt, Rome, and elsewhere—practiced a severe ascetic life, e.g., always refraining from meat.
b. Mediana week: the week following the fourth Sunday of Lent.
† Translated from Le liber pontificalis: texte, introduction et commentaire, vol. 1, trans. and ed. L. Duchesne (Paris, 1957) 121ff.
a. See Duchesne, Le liber pontificalis, 47–108.
b. Tituli: the word titulus had various meanings in classical and ecclesiastical antiquity, here signifying a parish church where priests and other clergy carried out the religious ceremonies.
c. Some suggest the translation “theme of redemption.”
d. The decree regarding the Sanctus appears only in the first edition of the Liber pontificalis, perhaps simply being overlooked by the redactor of the later version.
e. In the first edition the Gloria is restricted to the Christmas night Mass; in the second edition it is sung on all Sundays and feasts.
f. Hermas: see WEC 1:10.
g. Confer WEC 4:4205. The Roman custom of celebrating the Lord’s resurrection on Sunday precedes Pius I; see Eusebius, Church History V.XXIV.14 (WEC 2:2025).
h. Confer WEC 4:4220.
i. There is nothing in the notice of Eleutherius concerning the day on which the Pasch was to be observed.
j. Confer WEC 4:4203.
k. The text here in places is somewhat obscure.
l. In the first edition and in several manuscripts of the second edition the text adds, “during the fourth, seventh, and tenth months.”
m. The practice actually antecedes Felix; see Prudentius, Peristephanon XL.v.171ff.
n. Dalmatic: a tunic-like garment today worn by the deacon.
o. Collobium: a tunic without sleeves.
p. Confer WEC 4:4215. Perhaps more of an ideal than a reality.
q. Manichaeans: followers of Mani (Manes) (ca. 216–76), who was born in Persia and who preached a dualistic doctrine based on an ancient conflict between light and darkness, between good and evil; his followers, found in Egypt, Rome, and elsewhere, observed a highly ascetic life, e.g., always refraining from meat.
r. Confer WEC 4:4216. The fermentum was the name given to the portion of the consecrated bread at the Roman episcopal Mass sent on Sunday to the priests of the Roman churches to be placed in their chalices as a symbol of the unity of the local church.
s. Arian: a follower of Arius (ca. 260–336), a priest in Alexandria, who denied the unity and consubstantiality of the three persons of the Trinity and consequently the full divinity of Christ. This Arian doctrine was condemned by the Council of Nicaea (WEC 2:71-C).
t. The text is not very clear as to which chrismation is meant. The postbaptismal anointing? Or the anointing accompanying the consignation?
u. Confer WEC 4:4219.
v. Confer WEC 4:4214.
w. Viaticum: the Eucharist given to those in immediate danger of death.
x. Confer WEC 4:4213.
y. Although British by birth (ca. 354), Pelagius taught in Rome, where he promoted the heresy that a person can be saved by one’s own merits alone.
z. Confer WEC 4:4215.
aa. Confer WEC 4:4204.
bb. The initial words of the addition still remain in the Supra quae section of the Roman Canon.
cc. See WEC 2:53-T.
dd. Confer WEC 4:4202.
† Translation (modified) from Hefele (1871) 4:426–27.
† Translated from Registre des lettres. Grégoire le Grand, vol. 1, ed. P. Minard, SChr 370 (Paris, 1991) 198–99.
a. Written in April 591. Leander: bishop of Seville 579–600.
b. Dates are those found in The Letters of Gregory the Great, 3 vols., trans. and ed. J.R.C. Martyn (Toronto, 2004).
†† Translated from SChr 370:228–29.
a. Written in June 591.
† Translated from Registre des lettres. Grégoire le Grand, vol. 2, trans. and ed. P. Minard, SChr 371 (Paris, 1991) 376–79.
a. Written in July 592. Squillace: a town in southern Italy.
b. Manichaeans: followers of Mani (ca. 216–76), who preached a dualistic doctrine based on an ancient conflict between light and darkness, between good and evil.
c. Namely, the Donatists: a schismatic Christian group in Africa whose members emphasized the Church as being one holy body and who rejected sacraments celebrated by those outside Donatism.
†† Translated from SChr 371:382–83.
a. Written in July 592. Felix: otherwise unknown. Agropolis: a town located in southern Italy on the Gulf of Taranto.
††† Translated from SChr 371:390–93.
a. Written in July 592.
† Translated S. Gregorii Magni Registrum Epistularum, vol. 1, ed. D. Norberg, CCL 140 (Turnhout, 1982) 154.
a. Written in October 592. Larissa: a town in Thessaly, a region in eastern Greece.
b. Demetrias: a city in Thessaly.
†† Translated from CCL 140:226.
a. Written in September 593. Caralis: today Cagliari in Sardinia.
b. Some manuscripts read baptizatos, namely, “those who have been baptized.”
††† Translated from CCL 140:236–37.
a. Written in March 594. Church of Saint Pancras: located on the Via Aurelia in Rome.
† Translated from CCL 140:245–46.
a. Written in May 594. Cagliari: today the capital of Sardinia.
†† Translated from CCL 140:270.
a. Written in September 594. Luni: a town in Etruria in northwest central Italy.
a. Some collections include this letter, which publishes the canons endorsed at the Synod of Rome in 595 (WEC 4:164).
††† Translated from CCL 140:363.
a. Written on August 15, 595.
b. Pallium: a white woolen band worn over the chasuble as a sign of episcopal authority.
† Translated from CCL 140:468.
a. Written in April 597. Zara: a town in Dalmatia, a region bordering on the Adriatic Sea.
b. Namely, Maximus of Salona (today Split on the Dalmatian coast), a bishop with whom Gregory was often in conflict.
†† Translated from S. Gregorii Magni Registrum Epistularum, vol. 2, ed. J. Norberg, CCL 140 A (Turnhout, 1982) 543–44.
a. Written in 598. Fantinus: bishop of Catane in Sicily.
††† Translated from CCL 140 A:549–50.
a. Written in July 598. Eulogius: bishop of Alexandria 580–607/608.
b. Eusebius of Caesarea (ca. 260–ca. 340): church historian (WEC 2:81).
† Translated from PL 76:1183ff.
a. Presumably written soon after 600. Augustine (d. between 604 and 609), who was sent by Gregory as a missionary to the Anglo-Saxons in Britain, became the first archbishop of Canterbury. Many doubt the authenticity of this letter.
1. See Lev 12:3–5.
† Translated from CCL 140 A:186–87.
a. Written in October 598. Syracuse: a city in southeast Sicily.
b. Jerome. See WEC 3:145.
c. Damasus. See WEC 2:52.
† Translated from S. Gregorii Magni Registrum Epistularum, vol. 2, ed. D. Norberg, CCL 140 A (Turnhout, 1982) 703–4.
a. Written in May 599.
1. See Job 14:1–5.
2. See Ps 51:5.
3. John 3:3. Gregory added the words “from … the Holy Spirit.”
4. 1 Cor 15:22.
†† Translated from CCL 140 A:768.
a. Written in July 599.
† Translated from CCL 140 A:792.
a. Written in July 599.
b. Dalmatic: a liturgical garment with wide sleeves and two stripes, worn on special occasions.
†† Translated from CCL 140 A:861.
a. Written in September 600.
††† Translated from CCL 140 A:892.
a. Written in February 601.
†††† Translated from CCL 140 A:910–12.
a. Written in February 601.
1. Ps 73:28.
2. John 13:10.
† Translated from CCL 140 A:919–20.
a. Written in February 601.
b. Namely, the Lombards.
†† Translated from CCL 140 A:952–53.
a. Written on July 1, 601.
b. Arians: followers of Arius (ca. 260–336), a priest in Alexandria who denied the unity and consubstantiality of the three persons of the Trinity and consequently the full divinity of Christ; the teaching of Arius was condemned by the Council of Nicaea (WEC 2:71-C).
c. Monophysites: followers of a heresy holding that in Christ there is only one nature, not two; a heresy condemned by the Council of Chalcedon (WEC 3:137).
d. Bonosians: followers of Bonosus, a late fourth-century bishop of Sardica in Illyrium.
e. Cataphrygians: an alternative name given to the Montanists; it refers to the place where the movement originated, namely, Phrygia.
f. Montanus: a native of Phrygia; during the years 155–60 he founded a movement that stressed the imminence of the parousia. Fasting, almsgiving, and in general a strong ethical rigorism were practiced as a preparation for the end.
† Translated from CCL 140 A:961–62.
a. Mellitus: sent by Gregory to Britain in 601 to assist Augustine, he eventually became the third archbishop of Canterbury.
† Translated from CCL 140 A:975–76.
a. Written in January 602.
†† Translated from CCL 140 A:992.
a. Written in September 602.
††† Translated from CCL 140 A:1068.
a. Written in September 603.
† Translated from CCL 140 A:1096.
a. Written in September 591.
†† Translated from CCL 140 A:1103–4.
a. On an occasion when the Tiber overflowed.
††† Translated from Dialogues. Grégoire le Grand, vol. 2, trans. and ed. A. de Vogüé and P. Antin, SChr 251 (Paris, 1978) 206ff.; vol. 3, SChr 265 (Paris, 1980) 188ff.
a. Centumcellae: today Civitavecchia, an Italian port city on the Tyrrhenian Sea.
1. Acts 8:20.
2. Rom 6:9.
† Translated from Homiliae in Evangelia. Gregorius Magnus, ed. R. Etaix, CCL 141 (Turnhout, 1999) 113–14.
1. See Exod 34:28.
2. See 1 Kgs 19:8.
† Translated from CCL 141:54.
†† Translated from CCL 141:221–23, 226.
1. John 20:23.
2. John 11:43.
3. John 11:44.
† Translated from CCL 141:354–55.
a. Narni: a city in Umbria south of Spoleto.
† Translated from Les règles des saints Pères, vol. 2, ed. A. de Vogüé, SChr 298 (Paris, 1982) 469.
† Translated from PL 59:210–11.
†† Translated from PL 59:289–92.
1. See Gen 19:24.
a. Mamertus: bishop of Vienne (d. ca. 475).
b. Actually, the Sunday before the Ascension is meant.
† Translated from Oeuvres monastiques, vol. 2, trans. and ed. A. de Vogüé and J. Courreau, SChr 398 (Paris, 1994) 218–20, 223.
a. For an explanation of the terminology (e.g., antiphona, vigil, missa, response, directaneus, Duodecima, etc.) used in this Rule as well as in that for nuns or virgins, see R. Taft, The Liturgy of the Hours, as noted above; also M.C. McCarthy, The Rule for Nuns of St. Caesarius of Arles, 70–80.
b. Here and in other instances the Latin dicitur or psallitur does not necessarily mean “said” or “recited” in our sense of the term. It can also mean “sung” or “chanted.”
1. Ps 145:1.
2. Ibid.
3. Ps 118:1.
4. Exod 15:1.
5. Ps 146:1.
6. See Dan 3:32–90.
7. Ps 148:1.
8. See Luke 2:14.
† Translated from Oeuvres monastiques, vol. 1, trans. and ed. A. de Vogüé and J. Courreau, SChr 345 (Paris, 1988) 190ff.
a. See note a under Caesarius’s Rule for Monks.
1. Ps 47:7, LXX.
b. See note b under Caesarius’s Rule for Monks.
2. Ps 104:19.
3. Ps 51:1.
4. Rev 15:3–4.
5. Ps 51:1.
6. Ps 117:1.
7. Exod 15:1.
8. Ibid.
9. Dan 3:52–90.
10. See Luke 2:14.
† Translated from Sermons au peuple, trans. and ed. M.-J. Delage, SChr 175 (Paris, 1971) 254–56.
1. Num 11:29.
† Translated from SChr 175:324.
†† Translated from SChr 175:402–4.
††† Translated from SChr 175:416–28.
1. Jas 5:14–15.
† Translated from SChr 175:454–56.
† Translated from SChr 175:486–90.
1. Matt 25:40.
2. Prov 20:13, LXX.
3. Jas 5:14–15.
4. See Heb 12:6.
† Translated from Sermons au peuple, vol. 2, trans. M-J. Delange, SChr 243 (Paris, 1978) 178–80.
†† Translated from SChr 243:416–20, 422.
† Translated from SChr 243:466–68, 470–72.
† Translated from Sermons au peuple, vol. 3, trans. M.-J. Delange, SChr 330 (Paris, 1986) 96–102.
1. Prov 18:3, LXX.
2. Prov 18:17, LXX.
† Translated from SChr 330:124–35.
1. Matt 7:15.
2. 1 Tim 5:23.
† Translated from SChr 330:178–82.
† Translated from SChr 330:190–98.
1. Matt 6:12.
2. See Ps 4:2.
3. 1 Pet 1:18–19.
† Translated from SChr 330:200–206.
1. Luke 10:16.
2. See Matt 22:1–10.
3. John 4:14.
4. Ps 58:4–5.
a. Visio Pauli 10 and 40, James, Apocrypha Anecdota, p. 14, line 25; p. 33, line 15.
† Translated from SChr 330:210–14.
1. Matt 10:22.
2. Ps 119:103, LXX.
3. Ps 19:10.
4. Ps 119:78.
5. Ps 73:27.
6. Ps 1:2.
† Translated from SChr 330:218–22.
1. See Luke 18:10–14.
† Translated from SChr 330:238–40.
† Translated from SChr 330:254–58.
1. John 7:38.
2. Ps 47:6.
3. Isa 58:1.
† Translated from Sermons sur l’Ecriture, trans. J. Courreau, SChr 447 (Paris, 2000) 164–66.
a. To the end of Easter week or the end of the Easter season.
1. 2 Cor 9:7.
†† Translated from Sermons, vol. 1, ed. G. Morin, SChr 103 (Paris, 1953) 537–38.
† Translated from CCL 103:560.
†† Translated from Sermons, vol. 2, ed. G. Morin, CCL 104:603–4. Much of this sermon is not by Caesarius.
1. Matt 6:11.
2. Matt 6:12.
3. Ibid.
† Translated from CCL 104:638.
†† Translated from CCL 104:698. Not all sections of this sermon appear to be the work of Caesarius.
††† Translated from CCL 104:724–26.
† Translated from CCL 104:763–65.
†† Translated from CCL 104:768–69.
† Translated from CCL 104:779–81.
†† Translated from CCL 104:792–93.
a. Visio Pauli 10 and 40, James, Apocrypha Anecdota, p. 14, line 25; p. 33, line 15.
1. Matt 16:26.
† Translated from CCL 104:800–801.
1. Luke 6:25.
2. Matt 5:4.
† Translated from CCL 104:803–4, 806–7.
† Translated from CCL 104:828–31.
a. Sermons 207, 208, and 209 were given on or shortly before what are called Rogation Days, celebrated on the three days before the Ascension. Called “minor litanies,” these observances of prayer and fasting were established in 470 by Mamertus, the bishop of Vienne (see WEC 4:4314–16).
† Translated from CCL 104:832–33.
1. Luke 6:25.
2. Prov 14:13.
† Translated from CCL 104:836–37.
†† Translated from CCL 104:910.
† Translated from Les règles des saints Pères, vol. 2, trans. and ed. A. de Vogüé, SChr 298 (Paris, 1982) 537.
†† Translated from PL 67:1016–17, 1022.
1. See Tob 6:18.
† Translated from Epistolae Merowingici et Karolini Aevi, vol. 3 (Berlin, 1892) 436.
a. Written between 524 and 533.
b. Namely, the Te Deum.
† Translated from Règles monastiques d’Occident: IVe–VIe siècles, d’Augustin à Ferréol, trans. and ed. V. Desprez, Vie monastique 9, Collection spiritualité orientale et vie monastique (Bégrolles-en-Mauges, 1980) 234ff.
a. Here and in other instances the Latin dicitur or psallitur does not necessarily mean “said” or “recited” in our sense of the term. It can also mean “sung” or “chanted.”
b. For an explanation of the terminology (e.g., antiphona, vigil, missa, response, directaneus, Duodecima, etc.) used in this Rule, see R. Taft, The Liturgy of the Hours.
1. See Jer 48:10.
2. See Ps 47:8.
3. Ps 101:2.
4. 1 Cor 14:15.
5. Jer 48:10.
6. Ps 68.
7. Ps 113:1.
8. Ps 104.
9. Ps 145.
10. Ps 43.
11. Ps 62.
12. Ps 118.
13. Exod 15:2–18.
14. Pss 145–47.
15. Dan 3:57–88.
16. Pss 148–50.
17. Luke 1:46–55.
18. Ps 51.
19. Ibid.
20. Ps 57.
21. Ps 43.
22. Ps 63.
23. Ps 147:1–11.
24. Ps 147:12–20.
25. Pss 148–49.
26. Ps 150.
27. John 5:17.
28. 1 Cor 4:12.
29. 2 Thess 3:10.
30. Prov 15:19.
31. Matt 25:30.
32. Ps 33:22.
33. Exod 15.
† Translated from Desprez, Règles monastiques, 253ff.
a. This paragraph is the same as no. XX in Aurelian’s Rule for Monks (WEC 4:4461).
b. This paragraph is the same as no. XXII in Aurelian’s Rule for Monks (WEC 4:4462).
c. This paragraph is the same as no. XXX in Aurelian’s Rule for Monks (WEC 4:4465).
d. This paragraph is the same as no. XXXI in Aurelian’s Rule for Monks (WEC 4:4466).
e. The order of the office is, at least for the most part, the same as that for monks, nos. LVI–LVII (WEC 4:4467–68), the only difference being that the nuns say six psalms rather than twelve at Prime, Terce, Sext, and None.
† Translated from Gregorii Episcopi Turonensis Libri Historiarum X., ed. B. Krusch and W. Levison, Scriptores Rerum Merovingiarum, vol. 1, part 1, 2nd ed. (Hanover, 1951) 49ff.
a. Sidonius: namely, Sidonius Apollinaris (WEC 3:122).
b. This is now lost.
c. Remigius: bishop of Rheims in northeastern France; little is known of his life.
d. Clovis: Frankish king 481–511 of the Merovingian dynasty.
e. Arianism: a doctrine propagated by Arius (ca. 260–336), a priest in Alexandria, who denied the unity and consubstantiality of the three persons of the Trinity and consequently the full divinity of Christ. Arianism was condemned by the Council of Nicaea (WEC 2:71-C).
f. Avitus of Vienne (WEC 4:167).
g. Mamertus: fifth-century bishop of Vienne in Narbonne.
h. Audofleda and Amalasuntha: Audofleda (d. 526) was the sister of Clovis and the wife of Theodoric, King of Italy; Amalasuntha was the daughter of Audofleda and Clovis.
i. Tetricus: bishop of Langres in eastern France (d. 572/573).
j. Gregory: bishop of Rome (WEC 4:165-A-31).
k. Limoges: city in southwestern France.
l. Gatianus: most historians consider Litorius (337/338–70) as the first bishop of Tours.
m. Perpetuus: bishop of Tours 458/459–488/489.
n. Nativity of Saint John: June 14.
o. Burial of Saint Martin: November 11.
p. Birth of Saint Hilary: January 13.
q. Episcopate of Saint Peter: February 22.
r. Passion of Saint John: August 29.
s. Feast of Peter and Paul: June 29.
t. Feast of Saint Martin: July 4.
u. Feast of Saint Simphorian: August 22.
v. Feast of Saint Litorius: September 13.
w. Feast of Saint Martin: November 11, second feast of this saint.
x. Feast of Saint Bricius: November 3.
y. Feast of Saint Hilary: January 13.
† Translated from PL 71:725–26, 781–82.
a. Osset: located near Seville in Spain.
b. Polycarp of Smyrna (WEC 1:13).
c. Epachius: probably a priest who lived at Clermont toward the end of the fifth century.
† Translated from PL 71:813, 815–16.
†† Translated from PL 71:946ff.
a. Some would translate expletis missis as “At the end of the consecratory prayer.”
† Translated from PL 71:1034ff.
a. Gallus: Gregory’s uncle and a bishop of Tours (d. 554).
b. Psalm 50, LXX.
c. Nicetius: bishop of Tours 525/526–ca. 569.
d. Lupicinus: bishop of Lyons in the late fifth century.
e. Trézelle: located in the province of Auvergne.
f. Lipidiacum: located in the region of Aquitaine in southwest Gaul.
g. Venantius: namely, Venantius Fortunatus (WEC 4:173).
† Translated from PL 71:812ff.
a. Eufronius: bishop of Tours 556–73.
b. Saturinus: an early martyr at Toulouse.
c. Julian: martyred in 304 and buried at Brioude, some forty miles south of Clermont.
d. Illidius: late fourth-century bishop of Clermont.
e. Maximus: abbot of a monastery in Lyons.
f. Gaza wine: a wine produced in Gaza (Palestine) and highly esteemed by the Gauls.
† Translated from PL 88:370.
† Translated from Sancta Colombian Opera, ed. G.S.M. Walker, Scriptores Latini Hiberniae, no. 2 (Dublin, 1957) 128, 130, 132.
a. Chora: as explained by Columbanus, a unit of three psalms, the first two being without antiphons, the third being antiphonal.
1. Luke 21:36.
2. 1 Thess 5:17.
3. See Matt 6:6.
4. Luke 23:34.
† Translated from Sancta Colombian Opera, 155ff.
a. Chapters X and following appear to be later additions to the text.
1. Ps 70:2.
†† Translated from Le Pénitentiel de Saint Columban, trans. and ed. J. Laport, Monumenta Christiana Selecta, no. 4 (Tournai, 1958) 91ff.
+ = later additions to the primitive text.
1. 1 Cor 13:9.
a. Bonosians: a heretical group denying, among other things, the divinity of Christ.
2. Ps 51:10.
† Translated from Règles monastique d’Occident: IVe–VIe siècle, d’Augustin à Ferréol, trans. and ed. V. Desprez, Vie monastique 9, Collection spiritualité orientale et vie monastique (Bégrolles-en-Mauges, 1980) 305–8, 310.
1. Ps 88:1.
2. Ps 1:2.
†† Canons translated from Concilia Galliae de 314 à 506, ed. C. Munier, CCL 148 (Turnhout, 1963) 200–212.
a. See Elvira (ca. 300) can. 26 (WEC 2:1276); Dvin (527) can. 38 (WEC 4:4853); Orleans IV (541) can. 2 (WEC 4:4616).
b. See Saragossa (ca. 380) can. 2 (WEC 2:1295); Gangra (ca. 345) can. 18 (WEC 2:1955); Statuta (5th c.) can. 77 (WEC 3:3102); Orleans IV (541) can. 2 (WEC 4:4616); Braga I (561) ser. 1 can. 4 (WEC 4:4737); Capitula Martini (after 561) can. 57 (WEC 4:4692).
c. See Laodicea (between 343 and 381) can. 46 (WEC 2:1992); Braga II (572) ser. 1 can. 1 (WEC 4:4755); Capitula Martini (after 561) can. 49 (WEC 4:4684).
d. See Laodicea (between 343 and 381) can. 45 (WEC 2:1991); Irish Synod II (after 456) can. 19 (WEC 3:3180); Auxerre (late 6th or early 7th c.) can. 18 (WEC 4:4641); Gerunda (517) can. 4 (WEC 4:4720); Mâcon II (585) can. 3 (WEC 4:4653); Capitula Martini (after 561) can. 49 (WEC 4:4684).
e. See Irish Synod I (between 450 and 456) can. 23 (WEC 3:3178); Epaon (517) can. 26 (WEC 4:4581); Orleans III (538) can. 16 (WEC 4:4607); Braga I (561) ser. 2 can. 19 (WEC 4:4752); Braga II (572) cans. 5–6 (WEC 4:4758–59).
f. See Elvira (ca. 300) can. 32 (WEC 2:1279); Carthage II (390) cans. 3–4 (WEC 2:876–77); Hippo (393) Brev. Hipp. ser. 2 can. 30-b (WEC 2:888); Statuta (5th c.) can. 20 (WEC 3:3077); Toledo III (589) ser. 2 cap. 11 (WEC 4:4766).
g. See Barcelona I (ca. 540) can. 6 (WEC 4:4729); Toledo III (589) ser. 2 cap. 12 (WEC 4:4767).
h. See Orleans III (538) can. 27 (WEC 4:4608).
i. See Elvira (ca. 300) cans. 1, 6, 7, 37, 47 (WEC 2:1270–72, 1284, 1290); Ancyra (314) cans. 16, 22 (WEC 2:1432, 1435); Nicaea I (325) can. 13 (WEC 2:1453); Rome (488) Letter 7, can. 3 (WEC 3:2959); Statuta (5th c.) cans. 20–21 (WEC 3:3077–78); Orange I (441) can. 3 (WEC 3:3125); Vaison (442) can. 2 (WEC 3:3137); Arles II (between 442 and 506) can. 28 (WEC 3:3149); Epaon (517) can. 36 (WEC 4:4587); Orleans III (538) cans. 6, 28 (WEC 4:4605, 4609); Capitula Martini (after 561) can. 82 (WEC 4:4699); Gerunda (517) can. 9 (WEC 4:4722); Barcelona I (ca. 540) can. 9 (WEC 4:4732).
j. See Neo-Caesarea (ca. 320) can. 11 (WEC 2:1443); Hippo (393) Brev. Hipp. ser. 2 can. 1-b (WEC 2:881); Arles IV (524) can. 1 (WEC 4:4589); Orleans III (538) can. 6 (WEC 4:4605).
k. See Irish Synod II (after 456) can. 22 (WEC 3:3181).
l. See Carthage II (390) can. 3 (WEC 2:876); Hippo (393) Brev. Hipp. ser. 2 can. 1-b (WEC 2:881); Hippo (393) Brev. Hipp. ser. 2 can. 34 (WEC 2:891); Saragossa (ca. 380) can. 8 (WEC 2:1298); Riez (439) can. 4 (WEC 3:3122).
m. See Orleans I (511) can. 25 (WED 4:4570); Epaon (517) can. 35 (WEC 4:4586); Clermont (535) can. 15 (WEC 4:4604); Orleans IV (541) can. 3 (WEC 4:4617); Lyons IV (583) can. 5 (WEC 4:4650).
n. See Vannes (between 461 and 491) can. 15 (WEC 3:3164); Braga I (561) ser. 2 can. 1 (WEC 4:4739).
o. See Neo-Caesarea (ca. 320) can. 7 (WEC 2:1439); Laodicea (between 343 and 381) can. 53 (WEC 2:1999); Vannes (between 461 and 491) can. 11 (WEC 3:3162).
p. See Toledo I (400?) can. 2 (WEC 3:3168); Statuta (5th c.) can. 84 (WEC 3:3106); Epaon (517) can. 3 (WEC 4:4575); Arles IV (524) can. 3 (WEC 4:4591); Orleans III (538) can. 6 (WEC 4:4605); Capitula Martini (after 561) can. 23 (WEC 4:4679).
q. See Antioch (341) can. 2 (WEC 2:1948); Orleans I (511) can. 26 (WEC 4:4571); Orleans III (538) can. 32 (WEC 4:4612); Narbonne (589) can. 12 (WEC 4:4659).
† Canons translated from Concilia Galliae de 511 à 695, ed. C. de Clercq, CCL 148 A (Turnhout, 1963) 7–12.
a. See Epaon (517) can. 33 (WEC 4:4585); Saragossa II (592) can. 3 (WEC 4:4771).
b. See Angers (453) can. 5 (WEC 3:3153); Tours I (461) can. 8 (WEC 3:3159); Vannes (between 461 and 491) can. 3 (WEC 3:3160); Epaon (517) can. 23 (WEC 4:4579); Orleans III (538) can. 28 (WEC 4:4609); Toledo III (589) ser. 2 cap. 11 (WEC 4:4766).
c. See Elvira (ca. 300) can. 77 (WEC 2:1294); Dvin (527) can. 18 (WEC 4:4845).
d. See Orleans I (511) can. 15 (WEC 4:4567); Braga I (561) ser. 2 can. 21 (WEC 4:4754); Braga II (572) can. 6 (WEC 4:4759); Mâcon II (585) can. 4 (WEC 4:4654).
e. See Orleans I (511) can. 14 (WEC 4:4566); Braga I (561) ser. 2 can. 21 (WEC 4:4754); Braga II (572) can. 6 (WEC 4:4759); Mâcon II (585) can. 4 (WEC 4:4654).
f. See Saragossa (ca. 380) can. 2 (WEC 2:1295); Dvin (527) can. 29 (WEC 4:4851); Orleans IV (541) can. 2 (WEC 4:4616).
g. See Agde (506) can. 21 (WEC 4:4556); Epaon (517) can. 35 (WEC 4:4586); Clermont (535) can. 15 (WEC 4:4604); Orleans IV (541) can. 3 (WEC 4:4617); Lyons IV (583) can. 5 (WEC 4:4650).
h. See Antioch (341) can. 2 (WEC 2:1948); Agde (506) can. 47 (WEC 4:4562); Orleans III (538) can. 32 (WEC 4:4612); Narbonne (589) can. 12 (WEC 4:4659).
i. These three days are called the “minor litanies,” an observance of fasting and prayer established by Mamertus, bishop of Vienne, in 470; see WEC 4:4314.
† Canons translated from CCL 148 A:25–34.
a. See Toledo I (400?) can. 2 (WEC 3:3168); Statuta (5th c.) can. 84 (WEC 3:3106); Agde (506) can. 43 (WEC 4:4560); Arles IV (524) can. 3 (WEC 4:4591); Orleans III (538) can. 6 (WEC 4:4605); Capitula Martini (after 561) can. 23 (WEC 4:4679).
b. See Laodicea (between 343 and 381) can. 7 (WEC 2:1960); Orange I (441) can. 1 (WEC 3:3123); Arles II (between 442 and 506) cans. 17, 26 (WEC 3:3145, 3148).
c. See Nicaea I (325) can. 19 (WEC 2:1456); Laodicea (between 343 and 381) can. 11 (WEC 2:1964); Nîmes (394) can. 2 (WEC 2:1226); Statuta (5th c.) can. 100 (WEC 3:3119); Orange I (441) can. 25 (WEC 3:3136); Chalcedon (451) can. 15 (WEC 3:3379); Dvin (527) can. 17 (WEC 4:4844); Orleans II (533) can. 18 (WEC 4:4600).
d. See Angers (453) can. 5 (WEC 3:3153); Tours I (461) can. 8 (WEC 3:3159); Vannes (between 461 and 491) can. 3 (WEC 3:3160); Orleans I (511) can. 11 (WEC 4:4564); Orleans III (538) can. 28 (WEC 4:4609); Toledo III (589) ser. 2 cap. 11 (WEC 4:4766).
e. See Irish Synod I (between 450 and 456) can. 23 (WEC 3:3178); Agde (506) can. 14 (WEC 4:4551); Orleans III (538) can. 16 (WEC 4:4607); Braga I (561) ser. 2 can. 19 (WEC 4:4752); Braga II (572) cans. 5–6 (WEC 4:4758–59).
f. See Vannes (between 461 and 491) can. 15 (WEC 3:3164); Gerunda (517) can. 1 (WEC 4:4717); Braga I (561) ser. 2 can. 4 (WEC 4:4742).
g. See Elvira (ca. 300) can. 53 (WEC 2:1293).
h. See Elvira (ca. 300) can. 1 (WEC 2:1270); Ancyra (314) cans. 1–12 (WEC 2:1422–30); Nicaea I (325) cans. 8, 11, 14 (WEC 2:1449, 1451, 1454); Valence (374) can. 3 (WEC 2:1225); Arles II (between 442 and 506) cans. 10–11 (WEC 3:3141–42).
i. See Orleans I (511) can. 10 (WEC 4:4563); Saragossa II (592) can. 3 (WEC 4:4771).
j. See Agde (506) can. 21 (WEC 4:4556); Orleans I (511) can. 25 (WEC 4:4570); Clermont (535) can. 15 (WEC 4:4604); Orleans IV (541) can. 3 (WEC 4:4617); Lyons IV (583) can. 5 (WEC 4:4650).
k. See Elvira (ca. 300) cans. 1, 6, 7, 37, 47 (WEC 2:1270–72, 1284, 1290); Ancyra (314) cans. 16, 22 (WEC 2:1432, 1435); Nicaea I (325) can. 13 (WEC 2:1453); Rome (488) Letter 7, can. 3 (WEC 3:2959); Statuta (5th c.) cans. 20–21 (WEC 3:3077–78); Orange I (441) can. 3 (WEC 3:3125); Vaison (442) can. 2 (WEC 3:3137); Arles II (between 442 and 506) can. 28 (WEC 3:3149); Agde (506) can. 15 (WEC 4:4552); Orleans III (538) cans. 6, 28 (WEC 4:4605, 4609); Capitula Martini (after 561) can. 82 (WEC 4:4699); Gerunda (517) can. 9 (WEC 4:4722); Barcelona I (ca. 540) can. 9 (WEC 4:4732).
† Canon translated from CCL 148 A:40.
a. After the death of his wife, Stephen, an official in Burgundy, married his wife’s sister Palladia. For this Stephen was excommunicated.
†† Canons translated from CCL 148 A:43–44.
a. Conversion: undertaking a life of asceticism or celibacy?
b. See Neo-Caesarea (ca. 320) can. 11 (WEC 2:1443); Hippo (393) Brev. Hipp. ser. 2 can. 1-b (WEC 2:881); Agde (506) can. 17 (WEC 4:4553); Orleans III (538) can. 6 (WEC 4:4605).
c. See Toledo I (400?) can. 2 (WEC 3:3168); Statuta (5th c.) can. 84 (WEC 3:3106); Agde (506) can. 43 (WEC 4:4560); Epaon (517) can. 3 (WEC 4:4575); Orleans III (538) can. 6 (WEC 4:4605).
d. See Angers (453) can. 11 (WEC 3:3156).
† Canons translated from CCL 148 A:78–80.
a. See Narbonne (589) can. 2 (WEC 4:4656); Toledo III (589) ser. 1 can. 14 (WEC 4:4763).
† Canons translated from CCL 148 A:99–101.
a. See Chalcedon (451) can. 2 (WEC 3:3378); Braga II (572) can. 3 (WEC 4:4756); Barcelona II (599) can. 1 (WEC 4:4772).
b. See Statuta (5th c.) can. 35 (WEC 3:3083); Toledo I (400?) can. 5 (WEC 3:3169); Irish Synod I (between 450 and 456) can. 7 (WEC 3:3173); Vannes (between 461 and 491) can. 14 (WEC 3:3163); Tarragona (516) can. 7 (WEC 4:4714); Orleans III (538) can. 15 (WEC 4:4606).
c. See Hippo (393) Brev. Hipp. ser. 2 can. 1-c (WEC 2:881); Narbonne (589) can. 11 (WEC 4:4658).
d. See Nicaea I (325) can. 19 (WEC 2:1456); Laodicea (between 343 and 381) can. 11 (WEC 2:1964); Nîmes (394) can. 2 (WEC 2:1226); Statuta (5th c.) can. 100 (WEC 3:3119); Orange I (441) can. 25 (WEC 3:3136); Chalcedon (451) can. 15 (WEC 3:3379); Epaon (517) can. 21 (WEC 4:4577); Dvin (527) can. 17 (WEC 4:4844).
† Canons translated from Les canons des conciles mérovingiens, vol. 1, trans. and ed. J. Gaudemet, SChr 353 (Paris, 1989) 212–19.
a. See Agde (506) can. 21 (WEC 4:4556); Orleans I (511) can. 25 (WEC 4:4570); Epaon (517) can. 35 (WEC 4:4586); Orleans IV (541) can. 3 (WEC 4:4617); Lyons IV (583) can. 5 (WEC 4:4650).
†† Canons translated from CCL 148 A:116–26.
a. Conversion: undertaking a life of asceticism or celibacy?
b. See Neo-Caesarea (ca. 320) can. 11 (WEC 2:1443); Hippo (393) Brev. Hipp. ser. 2 can. 1-b (WEC 2:881); Agde (506) can. 17 (WEC 4:4553); Arles IV (524) can. 1 (WEC 4:4589).
c. See Angers (453) can. 11 (WEC 3:3156); Arles IV (524) can. 3 (WEC 4:4591).
d. See Toledo I (400?) can. 2 (WEC 3:3168); Statuta (5th c.) can. 84 (WEC 3:3106); Agde (506) can. 43 (WEC 4:4560); Epaon (517) can. 3 (WEC 4:4575); Arles IV (524) can. 3 (WEC 4:4591).
e. See Elvira (ca. 300) cans. 1, 6, 7, 37, 47 (WEC 2:1270–72, 1284, 1290); Ancyra (314) cans. 16, 22 (WEC 2:1432, 1435); Nicaea I (325) can. 13 (WEC 2:1453); Rome (488) Letter 7, can. 3 (WEC 3:2959); Statuta (5th c.) cans. 20–21 (WEC 3:3077–78); Orange I (441) can. 3 (WEC 3:3125); Vaison (442) can. 2 (WEC 3:3137); Arles II (between 442 and 506) can. 28 (WEC 3:3149); Agde (506) can. 15 (WEC 4:4552); Epaon (517) can. 36 (WEC 4:4587); Capitula Martini (after 561) can. 82 (WEC 4:4699); Gerunda (517) can. 9 (WEC 4:4722); Barcelona I (ca. 540) can. 9 (WEC 4:4732).
f. See Statuta (5th c.) can. 35 (WEC 3:3083); Toledo I (400?) can. 5 (WEC 3:3169); Irish Synod I (between 450 and 456) can. 7 (WEC 3:3173); Vannes (between 461 and 491) can. 14 (WEC 3:3163); Tarragona (516) can. 7 (WEC 4:4714); Orleans II (533) can. 14 (WEC 4:4598).
g. See Angers (453) can. 9 (WEC 3:3154).
h. See Irish Synod I (between 450 and 456) can. 23 (WEC 3:3178); Agde (506) can. 14 (WEC 4:4551); Epaon (517) can. 26 (WEC 4:4581); Braga I (561) ser. 2 can. 19 (WEC 4:4752); Braga II (572) cans. 5–6 (WEC 4:4758–59).
i. See Agde (506) can. 15 (WEC 4:4552).
j. See Arles II (between 442 and 506) can. 22 (WEC 3:3147).
k. See Angers (453) can. 5 (WEC 3:3153); Tours I (461) can. 8 (WEC 3:3159); Vannes (between 461 and 491) can. 3 (WEC 3:3160); Orleans I (511) can. 11 (WEC 4:4564); Epaon (517) can. 23 (WEC 4:4579); Toledo III (589) ser. 2 cap. 11 (WEC 4:4766).
l. See Laodicea (between 343 and 381) can. 29 (WEC 2:1980); Auxerre (late 6th or early 7th c.) can. 16 (WEC 4:4640); Mâcon II (585) can. 1 (WEC 4:4651); Narbonne (589) can. 4 (WEC 4:4657).
m. See Antioch (341) can. 2 (WEC 2:1948); Agde (506) can. 47 (WEC 4:4562); Orleans I (511) can. 26 (WEC 4:4571); Narbonne (589) can. 12 (WEC 4:4659).
n. See Mâcon I (581/583) can. 14 (WEC 4:4649).
o. Bonosius: a fourth-century bishop of Sardica whose followers were accused of various trinitarian and christological errors.
p. See Carthage (345–48) can. 1 (WEC 2:874–75); Toledo III (589) ser. 1 can. 15 (WEC 4:4764).
† Canons translated from CCL 148 A:132–34.
a. See Nicaea I (325) (WEC 2:1459); Antioch (341) can. 1 (WEC 2:1947); Hippo (393) Brev. Hipp. ser. 1 can. 1 (WEC 2:880); Carthage V (401) can. 73 (WEC 3:2747); Statuta (5th c.) can. 78 (WEC 3:3103).
b. Victorius of Aquitaine in 457 composed a table for determining the date of Easter. It is found in Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores Antiquissimi, 9, 1, 677–735.
c. See Auxerre (late 6th or early 7th c.) can. 2 (WEC 4:4630); Braga II (572) can. 9 (WEC 4:4761).
d. See Saragossa (ca. 380) can. 2 (WEC 2:1295); Orleans I (511) can. 24 (WEC 4:4569); Dvin (527) can. 29 (WEC 4:4851).
e. See Elvira (ca. 300) can. 26 (WEC 2:1276); Agde (506) can. 12 (WEC 4:4549); Dvin (527) can. 38 (WEC 4:4853).
f. See Saragossa (ca. 380) can. 2 (WEC 2:1295); Gangra (ca. 345) can. 18 (WEC 2:1955); Statuta (5th c.) can. 77 (WEC 3:3102); Agde (506) can. 12 (WEC 4:4549); Braga I (561) ser. 1 can. 4 (WEC 4:4737); Capitula Martini (after 561) can. 57 (WEC 4:4692).
g. See Agde (506) can. 21 (WEC 4:4556); Orleans I (511) can. 25 (WEC 4:4570); Epaon (517) can. 35 (WEC 4:4586); Clermont (535) can. 15 (WEC 4:4604); Lyons IV (583) can. 5 (WEC 4:4650).
h. See Hippo (393) Brev. Hipp. ser. 2 can. 23-a (WEC 2:886); Auxerre (late 6th or early 7th c.) can. 8 (WEC 4:4633).
† Canon translated from CCL 148 A:202.
a. See Gerunda (517) can. 3 (WEC 4:4719).
b. See Orleans I (511) can. 27 (WEC 4:4572).
†† Canons translated from CCL 148 A:178–92.
a. Namely, the various parts of the consecrated bread that has been broken.
b. See Laodicea (between 343 and 381) can. 44 (WEC 2:1990); Braga I (561) ser. 2 can. 13 (WEC 4:4748); Capitula Martini (after 561) can. 42 (WEC 4:4681).
c. Namely, a meal taken at midday.
d. See Mâcon I (581/583) can. 9 (WEC 4:4647).
e. See Laodicea (between 343 and 381) can. 39 (WEC 2:1988); Auxerre (late 6th or early 7th c.) can. 1 (WEC 4:4629).
f. See Laodicea (between 343 and 381) can. 59 (WEC 2:2002); Braga I (561) ser. 2 can. 12 (WEC 4:4747); Capitula Martini (after 561) can. 67 (WEC 4:4696).
† Canons translated from CCL 148 A:265–69.
a. See Laodicea (between 343 and 381) can. 39 (WEC 2:1988); Tours II (567) can. 23 (WEC 4:4627).
b. See Carthage V (401) can. 73 (WEC 3:2747); Orleans IV (541) can. 1 (WEC 4:4615); Braga II (572) can. 9 (WEC 4:4761).
c. See Laodicea (between 343 and 381) can. 58 (WEC 2:2001); Dvin (527) can. 16 (WEC 4:4843).
d. See Statuta (5th c.) can. 87 (WEC 3:3108); Toledo I (400?) can. 20 (WEC 3:3172); Vaison (442) can. 3 (WEC 3:3138); Capitula Martini (after 561) can. 51 (WEC 4:4686); Braga II (572) can. 4 (WEC 4:4757); Barcelona II (599) can. 2 (WEC 4:4773).
e. See Hippo (393) Brev. Hipp. ser. 2 can. 23-a (WEC 2:886); Orleans IV (541) can. 4 (WEC 4:4618).
f. The meaning of this canon is not clear; see Hefele (1871) 2:411–13.
g. See Hippo (393) Brev. Hipp. ser. 2 can. 4 (WEC 2:883).
h. See Dvin (527) can. 21 (WEC 4:4848); Braga I (561) can. 18 (WEC 4:4751).
i. See Laodicea (between 343 and 381) can. 29 (WEC 2:1980); Orleans III (538) can. 31 (WEC 4:4611); Mâcon II (585) can. 1 (WEC 4:4651); Narbonne (589) can. 4 (WEC 4:4657).
j. See Laodicea (between 343 and 381) can. 45 (WEC 2:1991); Irish Synod II (after 456) can. 19 (WEC 3:3180); Agde (506) can. 13 (WEC 4:4550); Gerunda (517) can. 4 (WEC 4:4720); Mâcon II (585) can. 3 (WEC 4:4653); Capitula Martini (after 561) can. 49 (WEC 4:4684).
k. See Hippo (393) Brev. Hipp. ser. 2 can. 28 (WEC 2:887); Dvin (527) can. 24 (WEC 4:4850); Braga II (572) can. 10 (WEC 4:4762); Mâcon II (585) can. 6 (WEC 4:4655).
1. Isa 56:7; Matt 21:13.
l. Pall: a cloth placed on the altar and used to cover the bread and cup.
† Canons translated from CCL 148 A:224–26.
a. Pallium: a woolen band worn over the shoulder; see DACL 13:1 (1937) 935–36.
b. See Tours II (567) can. 18 (WEC 4:4624).
c. See Orleans III (538) can. 33 (WEC 4:4613).
†† Canon translated from CCL 148 A:232.
a. See Agde (506) can. 21 (WEC 4:4556); Orleans I (511) can. 25 (WEC 4:4570); Epaon (517) can. 35 (WEC 4:4586); Clermont (535) can. 15 (WEC 4:4604); Orleans IV (541) can. 3 (WEC 4:4617).
††† Translated from CCL 148 A:239–42.
a. See Laodicea (between 343 and 381) can. 29 (WEC 2:1980); Orleans III (538) can. 31 (WEC 4:4611); Auxerre (late 6th or early 7th c.) can. 16 (WEC 4:4640); Narbonne (589) can. 4 (WEC 4:4657).
b. See Laodicea (between 343 and 381) can. 45 (WEC 2:1991); Irish Synod II (after 456) can. 19 (WEC 3:3180); Agde (506) can. 13 (WEC 4:4550); Gerunda (517) can. 4 (WEC 4:4720); Auxerre (late 6th or early 7th c.) can. 18 (WEC 4:4641); Capitula Martini (after 561) can. 49 (WEC 4:4684).
c. See Rome (ca. 400?) can. 11 (WEC 3:2958).
d. Hippo (393) Brev. Hipp. ser. 2 can. 28 (WEC 2:887). See also Dvin (527) can. 24 (WEC 4:4850); Auxerre (late 6th or early 7th c.) can. 19 (WEC 4:4642); Braga II (572) can. 10 (WEC 4:4762).
† Canons translated from CCL 148 A:254–56.
a. See Vaison II (529) can. 5 (WEC 4:4596); Toledo III (589) ser. 1 can. 14 (WEC 4:4763).
b. See Laodicea (between 343 and 381) can. 29 (WEC 2:1980); Orleans III (538) can. 31 (WEC 4:4611); Auxerre (late 6th or early 7th c.) can. 16 (WEC 4:4640); Mâcon II (585) can. 1 (WEC 4:4651).
c. See Hippo (393) Brev. Hipp. ser. 2 can. 1-c (WEC 2:881).
d. See Antioch (341) can. 2 (WEC 2:1948); Agde (506) can. 47 (WEC 4:4562); Orleans I (511) can. 26 (WEC 4:4571); Orleans III (538) can. 32 (WEC 4:4612).
†† Translation from J. Daniélou, The Bible and the Liturgy (London, 1960) 36. The original citation is found in L. de Bruyne, “La décoration des baptistières paléochrétiens,” in Miscellanea Liturgica in Honorem L.C. Mohlberg, vol. 1 (Rome, 1948) 198ff.
† Translated from PL 87:403.
a. Eugene: namely, Eugene I, bishop of Toledo 636–46.
b. The precise nature of this postbaptismal rite is debated. See C. Lynch, Saint Braulio, 89–94.
† Translated from PL 87:407–10.
1. See 1 Cor 7:20.
2. See Acts 20:28.
† Translated from Opera Omnia, ed. C.W. Barlow, Papers and Monographs of the American Academy in Rome, vol. 12 (New Haven, 1950) 124ff.
a. See Laodicea (between 343 and 381) can. 13 (WEC 2:1965); Hippo (393) Brev. Hipp. ser. 2 can. 20 (WEC 2:884); Statuta (5th c.) can. 10 (WEC 3:3072).
b. See Nicaea I (325) can. 2 (WEC 2:1448); Arles II (between 442 and 506) can. 1 (WEC 3:3139).
c. See Toledo I (400?) can. 2 (WEC 3:3168); Statuta (5th c.) can. 84 (WEC 3:3106); Agde (506) can. 43 (WEC 4:4560); Epaon (517) can. 3 (WEC 4:4575); Arles IV (524) can. 3 (WEC 4:4591); Orleans III (538) can. 6 (WEC 4:4605).
d. See Laodicea (between 343 and 381) can. 21 (WEC 2:1973).
e. See Laodicea (between 343 and 381) can. 44 (WEC 2:1990); Braga I (561) ser. 2 can. 13 (WEC 4:4748); Tours II (567) can. 4 (WEC 4:4623).
f. See Laodicea (between 343 and 381) can. 15 (WEC 2:1967).
g. See Laodicea (between 343 and 381) cans. 51–52 (WEC 2:1997–98).
h. See Laodicea (between 343 and 381) can. 45 (WEC 2:1991); Auxerre (late 6th or early 7th c.) can. 18 (WEC 4:4641); Irish Synod II (after 456) can. 19 (WEC 3:3180); Gerunda (517) can. 4 (WEC 4:4720); Mâcon II (585) can. 3 (WEC 4:4653).
i. See Laodicea (between 343 and 381) can. 46 (WEC 2:1992); Agde (506) can. 13 (WEC 4:4550); Braga II (572) can. 1 (WEC 4:4755).
j. See Laodicea (between 343 and 381) can. 50 (WEC 2:1996).
1. 1 Tim 3:6.
k. See Toledo I (400?) can. 20 (WEC 3:3172); Carthage II (390) can. 3 (WEC 2:876); Hippo (393) Brev. Hipp. ser. 2 can. 34 (WEC 2:891); Braga I (561) ser. 2 can. 19 (WEC 4:4752).
l. See Toledo I (400?) can. 20 (WEC 3:3172); Elvira (ca. 300) can. 77 (WEC 2:1294); Statuta (5th c.) can. 87 (WEC 3:3108); Vaison (442) can. 3 (WEC 3:3138); Auxerre (late 6th or early 7th c.) can. 6 (WEC 4:4632); Braga II (572) can. 4 (WEC 4:4757); Barcelona II (599) can. 2 (WEC 4:4773).
m. See Toledo I (400?) can. 20 (WEC 3:3172).
n. See Laodicea (between 343 and 381) can. 56 (WEC 2:2000).
o. See Neo-Caesarea (ca. 320) can. 6 (WEC 2:1438).
p. See Hippo (393) Brev. Hipp. ser. 2 can. 23-a (WEC 2:886).
q. See Neo-Caesarea (ca. 320) can. 13 (WEC 2:1445).
r. Manichaeans: followers of Mani (ca. 216–76), who preached a dualistic doctrine based on an ancient conflict between light and darkness, between good and evil.
s. See Gangra (ca. 345) can. 18 (WEC 2:1955); Saragossa (ca. 380) can. 2 (WEC 2:1295); Statuta (5th c.) can. 77 (WEC 3:3102); Agde (506) can. 12 (WEC 4:4549); Orleans IV (541) can. 2 (WEC 4:4616); Braga I (561) ser. 1 can. 4 (WEC 4:4737).
t. See Nicaea I (325) can. 20 (WEC 2:1457); Statuta (5th c.) can. 67 (WEC 3:3099).
u. See Toledo I (400?) can. 5 (WEC 3:3169).
v. See Hippo (393) Brev. Hipp. ser. 2 can. 28 (WEC 2:887).
w. See Laodicea (between 343 and 381) can. 59 (WEC 2:2002); Braga I (561) ser. 2 can. 12 (WEC 4:4747); Capitula Martini (after 561) can. 67 (WEC 4:4696); Tours II (567) can. 24 (WEC 4:4628).
x. See Laodicea (between 343 and 381) can. 59 (WEC 2:2002); Hippo (393) Cod. Ver. can. 5, Brev. Hipp. can. 36-a (WEC 2:879, 892).
y. For a listing of the meaning of eulogiae (literally, “to speak well” or “to bless”), see EEC 1:297.
z. See Laodicea (between 343 and 381) cans. 32–33 (WEC 2:1982–83); Statuta (5th c.) can. 82 (WEC 3:3105).
aa. See Elvira (ca. 300) cans. 1, 6, 7, 37, 47 (WEC 2:1270–72, 1284, 1290); Ancyra (314) cans. 16, 22 (WEC 2:1432, 1435); Nicaea I (325) can. 13 (WEC 2:1453); Rome (488) Letter 7, can. 3 (WEC 3:2959); Statuta (5th c.) cans. 20–21 (WEC 3:3077–78); Orange I (441) can. 3 (WEC 3:3125); Vaison (442) can. 2 (WEC 3:3137); Arles II (between 442 and 506) can. 28 (WEC 3:3149); Agde (506) can. 15 (WEC 4:4552); Epaon (517) can. 36 (WEC 4:4587); Orleans III (538) cans. 6, 28 (WEC 4:4605, 4609); Gerunda (517) can. 9 (WEC 4:4722); Barcelona I (ca. 540) can. 9 (WEC 4:4732).
bb. See Antioch (341) can. 2 (WEC 2:1948).
cc. Some suggest that the text “deprecans ut possit communione percepta indulgentiam promereri” may be, at best, just unclear.
† Translated from Opera Omnia, ed. C.W. Barlow, 256–58.
a. See WEC 4:4190.
b. Arians: followers of Arius (ca. 260–336), a priest in Alexandria who denied the unity and consubstantiality of the three persons of the Trinity and consequently the full divinity of Christ, a doctrine condemned by the Council of Nicaea in 325.
c. Jerome, Dialogue between a Luciferian and an Orthodox Christian (WEC 3:3929).
d. See Edictum Constantini Magni (PL 8:572).
1. Eph 4:5.
e. Sabellians: followers of Sabellius, an early third-century Roman theologian who held that in the Divinity there is a succession of modes or operations.
2. 1 Tim 1:7.
† Translated from Opera Omnia, ed. C.W. Barlow, 270–75, with assistance from Iberian Fathers, vol. 1, trans. and ed. C.W. Barlow, Fathers of the Church 62 (Washington, D.C., 1969) 103–9.
1. Rom 8:20–21.
2. See Exod 12:3–11.
3. Gen 1:11.
4. Gen 1:4–5.
5. See Gen 1:16, 19.
6. Gen 2:2–3.
7. Exod 12:2.
† Canons translated from CV:36–37.
a. Irish Synod I (between 450 and 456) can. 7 (WEC 3:3173); Vannes (between 461 and 491) can. 14 (WEC 3:3163); Orleans II (533) can. 14 (WEC 4:4598); Orleans III (538) can. 15 (WEC 4:4606).
b. See Orleans I (511) cans. 14–15 (WEC 4:4566–67); Braga I (561) ser. 2 can. 21 (WEC 4:4754); Braga II (572) can. 6 (WEC 4:4759); Mâcon II (585) can. 4 (WEC 4:4654).
† Canons translated from CV:39–41.
a. See Vannes (between 461 and 491) can. 15 (WEC 3:3164); Epaon (517) can. 27 (WEC 4:4582); Braga I (561) ser. 2 can. 4 (WEC 4:4742).
b. See Lyons III (between 567 and 570) can. 6 (WEC 4:4621).
c. See Laodicea (between 343 and 381) can. 45 (WEC 2:1991); Irish Synod II (after 456) can. 19 (WEC 3:3180); Agde (506) can. 13 (WEC 4:4550); Auxerre (late 6th or early 7th c.) can. 18 (WEC 4:4641); Mâcon II (585) can. 3 (WEC 4:4653); Capitula Martini (after 561) can. 49 (WEC 4:4684).
d. Some manuscripts read “the Nativity of the Lord” for “Pentecost.”
e. See Carthage V (401) can. 72 (WEC 3:2746); Milevis (416) can. 2 (WEC 3:2749).
f. See Barcelona II (599) can. 4 (WEC 4:4775).
g. See Ancyra (314) can. 22 (WEC 2:1435); Nicaea I (325) can. 13 (WEC 2:1453); Statuta (5th c.) cans. 20–21 (WEC 3:3077–78); Arles II (between 442 and 506) can. 28 (WEC 3:3149); Orange I (441) can. 3 (WEC 3:3125); Rome (488) Letter 7, can. 3 (WEC 3:2959); Agde (506) can. 15 (WEC 4:4552); Epaon (517) can. 36 (WEC 4:4587); Orleans III (538) can. 6 (WEC 4:4605); Capitula Martini (after 561) can. 82 (WEC 4:4699).
† Canon translated from CV:61.
a. See Orange I (441) can. 17 (WEC 3:3133).
†† Canons translated from CV:53.
a. See Nicaea I (325) can. 18 (WEC 2:1455); Laodicea (between 343 and 381) can. 20 (WEC 2:1972); Arles II (between 442 and 506) can. 15 (WEC 3:3144).
b. See Agde (506) can. 15 (WEC 4:4552); Toledo III (589) ser. 2 cap. 12 (WEC 4:4767).
c. See Elvira (ca. 300) cans. 1, 6, 7, 37, 47 (WEC 2:1270–72, 1284, 1290); Ancyra (314) cans. 16, 22 (WEC 2:1432, 1435); Nicaea I (325) can. 13 (WEC 2:1453); Rome (488) Letter 7, can. 3 (WEC 3:2959); Statuta (5th c.) cans. 20–21 (WEC 3:3077–78); Orange I (441) can. 3 (WEC 3:3125); Vaison (442) can. 2 (WEC 3:3137); Arles II (between 442 and 506) can. 28 (WEC 3:3149); Agde (506) can. 15 (WEC 4:4552); Epaon (517) can. 36 (WEC 4:4587); Orleans III (538) cans. 6, 28 (WEC 4:4605, 4609); Capitula Martini (after 561) can. 82 (WEC 4:4699); Gerunda (517) can. 9 (WEC 4:4722).
† Canons translated from CV:56–59.
a. See Nicaea I (325) cans. 8–12 (WEC 2:1449–52).
b. See Elvira (ca. 300) can. 28 (WEC 2:1277); Statuta (5th c.) cans. 49, 69 (WEC 3:3087, 3100).
† Canons translated from CV:67–76.
a. See Saragossa (ca. 380) can. 2 (WEC 2:1295); Gangra (ca. 345) can. 18 (WEC 2:1955); Statuta (5th c.) can. 77 (WEC 3:3102); Agde (506) can. 12 (WEC 4:4549); Orleans IV (541) can. 2 (WEC 4:4616); Capitula Martini (after 561) can. 57 (WEC 4:4692).
b. See Vannes (between 461 and 491) can. 15 (WEC 3:3164); Agde (506) can. 30 (WEC 4:4557).
c. See Vannes (between 461 and 491) can. 15 (WEC 3:3164); Agde (506) can. 30 (WEC 4:4557); Epaon (517) can. 27 (WEC 4:4582); Gerunda (517) can. 1 (WEC 4:4717).
d. See Laodicea (between 343 and 381) cans. 22–23 (WEC 2:1974–75).
e. See Laodicea (between 343 and 381) can. 59 (WEC 2:2002); Tours II (567) can. 24 (WEC 4:4628); Capitula Martini (after 561) can. 67 (WEC 4:4696).
f. See Laodicea (between 343 and 381) cans. 19, 44 (WEC 2:1971, 1990); Tours II (567) can. 4 (WEC 4:4623).
g. See Auxerre (late 6th or early 7th c.) can. 14 (WEC 4:4639); Dvin (527) can. 21 (WEC 4:4848).
h. Carthage II (390) can. 3 (WEC 2:876); Hippo (393) Brev. Hipp. ser. 2 can. 34 (WEC 2:891); Toledo I (400?) can. 20 (WEC 3:3172).
i. See Irish Synod I (between 450 and 456) can. 23 (WEC 3:3178); Agde (506) can. 14 (WEC 4:4551); Epaon (517) can. 26 (WEC 4:4581); Orleans III (538) can. 16 (WEC 4:4607); Braga II (572) cans. 5–6 (WEC 4:4758–59).
j. See Barcelona II (599) can. 3 (WEC 4:4774).
k. See Orleans I (511) cans. 14–15 (WEC 4:4566–67); Tarragona (516) can. 8 (WEC 4:4715); Braga II (572) can. 6 (WEC 4:4759); Mâcon II (585) can. 4 (WEC 4:4654).
† Canons translated from CV:81–85.
a. See Laodicea (between 343 and 381) can. 26 (WEC 2:1978); Constantinople I (381) can. 7 (WEC 2:1460); Rome (ca. 400?) can. 11 (WEC 3:2958); Statuta (5th c.) cans. 64, 95 (WEC 3:3096, 3114).
b. See Laodicea (between 343 and 381) can. 46 (WEC 2:1992); Agde (506) can. 13 (WEC 4:4550); Capitula Martini (after 561) can. 49 (WEC 4:4684).
c. See Chalcedon (451) can. 2 (WEC 3:3378); Orleans II (533) can. 3 (WEC 4:4597); Barcelona II (599) can. 1 (WEC 4:4772).
1. See Matt 10:8.
d. See Statuta (5th c.) can. 87 (WEC 3:3108); Vaison (442) can. 3 (WEC 3:3138); Toledo I (400?) can. 20 (WEC 3:3172); Auxerre (late 6th or early 7th c.) can. 6 (WEC 4:4632); Capitula Martini (after 561) can. 51 (WEC 4:4686); Barcelona II (599) can. 2 (WEC 4:4773).
e. See Elvira (ca. 300) can. 77 (WEC 2:1294); Laodicea (between 343 and 381) can. 48 (WEC 2:1994); Toledo I (400?) can. 20 (WEC 3:3172); Rome (ca. 400?) can. 11 (WEC 3:2958); Riez (439) can. 3 (WEC 3:3121); Orange I (441) can. 2 (WEC 3:3124).
f. See Irish Synod I (between 450 and 456) can. 23 (WEC 3:3178); Agde (506) can. 14 (WEC 4:4551); Epaon (517) can. 26 (WEC 4:4581); Orleans III (538) can. 16 (WEC 4:4607); Braga I (561) ser. 2 can. 19 (WEC 4:4752).
g. See Orleans I (511) cans. 14–15 (WEC 4:4566–67); Tarragona (516) can. 8 (WEC 4:4715); Braga I (561) ser. 2 can. 21 (WEC 4:4754); Mâcon II (585) can. 4 (WEC 4:4654).
h. See note f above.
i. See Elvira (ca. 300) can. 48 (WEC 2:1291).
j. See Carthage V (401) can. 73 (WEC 3:2747); Orleans IV (541) can. 1 (WEC 4:4615); Auxerre (late 6th or early 7th c.) can. 2 (WEC 4:4630).
k. See Carthage V (401) can. 72 (WEC 3:2746); Milevis (416) can. 2 (WEC 3:2749); Gerunda (517) can. 5 (WEC 4:4721).
l. See Hippo (393) Brev. Hipp. ser. 2 can. 28 (WEC 2:887); Dvin (527) can. 24 (WEC 4:4850); Auxerre (late 6th or early 7th c.) can. 19 (WEC 4:4642); Mâcon II (585) can. 6 (WEC 4:4655).
† Canons and capitula translated from CV:119–33.
a. See Vaison II (529) can. 5 (WEC 4:4596); Narbonne (589) can. 2 (WEC 4:4656).
b. See Carthage (between 345 and 348) can. 1 (WEC 2:874–75); Orleans III (538) can. 34 (WEC 4:4614).
c. See Carthage II (390) cans. 3–4 (WEC 2:876–77); Hippo (393) Brev. Hipp. ser. 2 can. 30-b (WEC 2:888); Elvira (ca. 300) can. 32 (WEC 2:1279); Statuta (5th c.) can. 20 (WEC 3:3077); Agde (506) can. 15 (WEC 4:4552).
d. See Angers (453) can. 5 (WEC 3:3153); Tours I (461) can. 8 (WEC 3:3159); Vannes (between 461 and 491) can. 3 (WEC 3:3160); Orleans I (511) can. 11 (WEC 4:4564); Epaon (517) can. 23 (WEC 4:4579); Orleans III (538) can. 28 (WEC 4:4609).
e. See Agde (506) can. 15 (WEC 4:4552); Barcelona I (ca. 540) can. 6 (WEC 4:4729).
1. 1 Thess 4:13.
† Canons translated from CV:154.
a. See Orleans I (511) can. 10 (WEC 4:4563); Epaon (517) can. 33 (WEC 4:4585).
†† Canons translated from CV:159–60.
a. See Chalcedon (451) can. 2 (WEC 3:3378); Orleans II (533) can. 3 (WEC 4:4597); Braga II (572) can. 3 (WEC 4:4756).
b. Statuta (5th c.) can. 87 (WEC 3:3108); Vaison (442) can. 3 (WEC 3:3138); Toledo I (400?) can. 20 (WEC 3:3172); Auxerre (late 6th or early 7th c.) can. 6 (WEC 4:4632); Capitula Martini (after 561) can. 51 (WEC 4:4686); Braga II (572) can. 4 (WEC 4:4757).
1. Matt 10:8.
c. See Braga II (572) can. 4 (WEC 4:4757).
d. See Braga I (561) ser. 2 can. 20 (WEC 4:4753).
e. See Gerunda (517) can. 9 (WEC 4:4722).
† Translated from C. Vogel, Le pécheur et la pénitence au Moyen Age (Paris, 1969) 52–62.
1. 1 John 3:15.
2. Prov 24:16.
3. Prov 26:11.
4. Ps 52:5.
5. 1 Tim 6:10.
6. See Matt 25:44.
7. 1 Cor 7:29, 31.
8. Gen 2:24.
9. See 1 Cor 7:5.