CANONES

• 473A

To my most glorious lords, the kings of the Franks, HUGH, and his son ROBERT, who bears a form worthy of empire: ABBO, the humble ruler of the monks of Fleury, wishes the gift of everlasting salvation in Christ.

After, by the provision of divine clemency, you took up the summit of the kingdom, you endured — for the profit of your testing — many misfortunes, by the hidden but not unjust judgment of God. And this not from foreign nations, but from the chief men of the kingdom, so that the first beginnings of your rule might be soured. But because the almighty Lord has delivered you from them all, remember the goodness and mercy of God; remember your predecessors, good kings; remember just judgments; and keep it always in mind to spare the subject and 473Bto war down the proud. Assuredly, most serene lords, because I have found you well-disposed toward our order, I have arranged in a single sequence the chapters written below, drawn from the books of the canons or of the laws, partly in my own opinions, partly in those of others; and consecrating them to your name — after I had employed my Apologeticus against my rivals — I have set them forth, briefly collected, in a single volume. In these I have both expressed the sum 474Aof your ministry, and have not kept silent as to how the magnates of the kingdom ought to keep faith with you. For the defense of the monastic order too I have gathered many things — I who both wish and have always wished the senate of monks to be kept safe, whose most devoted defenders and advocates you also are. Wherefore, together with his monks, have mercy on your Abbo, that God may grant you to find his mercy here and forever with the holy kings. Farewell.

• I. On the honor of churches or monasteries.
• II. On the defenders of churches.
• III. On the ministry of the king.
• IV. On fidelity to the king.

• 474B

• V. On the privileges of the church and of its possessions.
• VI. On royal or imperial precepts.
• VII. On the difference between testaments and precaria.
• VIII. On the fact that necessity excludes laws and canons.
• IX. On the difference between law and custom.
• X. On the fact that priests are not to send a mandate to a foreign people.

• 475A

• XI. On clerics chosen by the builders of churches.
• XII. On the ordination or degradation of priests.
• XIII. On the fact that bishops ought to be ordained without money.
• XIV. On the election of an abbot.
• XV. On the ordination of an abbot, and on the bishop's access to the monastery.
• XVI. On the abbot — that he ought to be a priest.
• XVII. On what is to be done concerning an accused abbot.
• XVIII. On monks and nuns, that they live according to rule.
• XIX. On an abbot belonging to the king.
• XX. On the ruler of Fleury.

• 475B

• XXI. On the priesthood of a monk.
• XXII. On monks who do not keep their profession.
• XXIII. On clerics who wish to become monks, and on the insolence of bishops toward monks.
• XXIV. On clerics who become monks out of vanity.
• XXV. On the possessions of the church, on which clerics build.
• XXVI. On a nun or a monk summoned to court.
• XXVII. On the things that are offered to the church.
• XXVIII. On bishops who are intruders, a synod having been passed over.
• XXIX. On thirty-year prescription.
• XXX. On the endowment of churches.

• 475C

• XXXI. On the bishop — what he ought to have from the church.
• XXXII. On the property of the church, and on the kinsmen of its founders.
• XXXIII. On the provision of the bishops' support.
• XXXIV. On the need of those who have offered their goods to the church.
• XXXV. On the avarice of priests.
• XXXVI. On those unjustly excommunicated.
• XXXVII. On churches and their presbyteries.
• XXXVIII. On the fact that a bishop may give a third part of the church's goods to whom he will.
• XXXIX. On holiness of life among clerics.
• XL. On the sons of priests, or of ministers.
• XLI. On the stewardship of the property of the church.
• XLII. That no bishop choose for himself his own successor.

• 475D

• XLIII. On the Eucharist.
• XLIV. On the accusers of priests.
• XLV. On bishops called into court for the sake of testimony.
• XLVI On those who have a case against a bishop.
• XLVII. On accused bishops.
• XLVIII. On the testimony of clerics.
• XLIX. On frequent sacrifice.
• L. On soldiers.
• LI. On the pay of soldiers.
• LII. On clerics in military service.

With what honor the Church, which is the temple of the living God, is to be held, the Lord himself testifies in the Gospel 476Awhere he says to Peter: Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church (Matth. XVI, 18). Since therefore she is the oratory of which the blessed Father Benedict says (S. BENEDICT. Reg. cap. 52): « Let the oratory be what it is called, and let nothing else be done or stored there, » care must be taken lest she whose foundation is Christ be turned over to the uses of secular men on account of the plundering of her goods, since Christians are reported to inflict violence, within and without, upon the courts of the house of God. Whence Theodosius and Valentinian, the Augusti, in the ninth book of the laws, chapter 34, to Antiochus the prefect (Cod. Theod., lib. IX, tit. 45): « Let the temples of the most high God, they say, stand open to those who are afraid; and we ordain that not only the altars and the surrounding oratory of the temple, which [ al., qui] encloses the churches inwardly with a fourfold 476Benclosure of walls, be set forth for the protection of those who take refuge, but as far as the outermost doors of the church, which the people, eager to pray, enter first, we command that there be an altar of salvation for those who flee; and likewise the approach to the temple, which we have marked out by the circuit of walls. And beyond the public places, whatever lies between them and the first doors of the church — whether in cells or in houses, in gardens and baths, in courtyards and porticoes — let it shelter refugees in the manner of the inner temple. Nor let anyone attempt to lay sacrilegious hands upon them to drag them out; and let no one dare this [ al., ne qui hoc], since, when he sees his own peril, he too may flee to it to seek its aid. Now we grant this breadth of space for this reason: that it not be permitted to any of the refugees 476Cto lie down or to pass the night in the very temple of God and at the most holy altars, morning or evening, the clerics themselves forbidding this for the sake of religion. »

THE INTERPRETATION. Churches are places dedicated to God, and therefore let the guilty who, driven by fear, have fled thither be so protected that no one presume to bring force or hands against the holy places for the plundering of goods; but whatever space belongs to the porticoes or to the courts adjoining the church, we command to be guarded as though it were the inner parts of the temple, so that the compulsion of fear may not constrain the guilty to remain about the altars, and the venerable places be defiled. Of course, if any flee to the holy places, let them at once lay down the arms, if any, that they have carried with them; and let them not think themselves defended by the protection of arms more than by the veneration of the holy places. But if they refuse to lay down their arms, 476Dand do not trust the priest or the clerics, let them know that they are to be dragged out by the force of armed men. But if anyone attempts, for whatever reason, to drag any guilty man out of the holy places, he is to be condemned to capital punishment.

Those who today are called defenders of churches, against the authority of the laws and the canons, defend for themselves what belonged to the right of the churches; and thus, inflicting violence upon clerics and monks, they plunder the property of the churches or monasteries as if held in usufruct; they reduce the tenants to poverty; they do not increase the possessions of the churches, but diminish them; and those whose defenders they ought to have been, 477Athey lay waste. Their abundance of goods lies open as prey to all enemies, and they make no preparation, nor do they oppose them even with words, so as to resist — men who think themselves no longer advocates but lords, since after the departure of the enemy they consume whatever is left, according to that word of the prophet: What the caterpillar left, the locust has eaten; and what the locust left, the grub has eaten, etc. (Joel. I, 4). In short, this is why we see churches destroyed and monasteries — some torn down, some reduced to utmost want — which once, by the alms of good men, flourished in great glory: because many, offering themselves unbidden under the pretext of advocacy, intercept from the possessions, from the revenues, from the offerings, the greatest portion, which churchmen ought to have received. Wherefore, that such presumption might cease, provision was made thus 477Bin the African council, chapter 64: « It has likewise been resolved that the legates who are about to set out, Vincentius and Fortunatius, should ask, in the name of all the provinces, of the most glorious emperors, that they grant the power of appointing as defenders advocates who are in practice or hold the office of defending causes, so that, in the manner of the priests of the province, those very men who have undertaken the defense of the churches may have the power, in the affairs of the churches, as often as necessity demands, to enter the private chambers of the judges, whether to withstand encroachers or to bring forward necessary matters. »

What the ministry of the king is, he himself discloses by the name of his office, and the care of the whole kingdom, once undertaken, makes it known; nor does any sentence raise the mind of the king to well 477Cdoing more than the clemency of divers princes set forth in examples, since both the gentleness of the emperor Constantine is praised among dissenting bishops, and the pure faith of Marcian among heretics and the orthodox. But why do I speak of foreigners, and linger in speaking, when for the administration of the commonwealth and the profit of the churches so great was the piety and prudence of Charles, and of his son Louis? Assuredly both, according to time and reason, knew how to spare the subject and to war down the proud. Whence, from the books which were compiled from the councils of their time with the subscription of the bishops — how many such things there are is easy to discover — it is set down in book II, chapter 1 (Concil. Paris. VI), after some other matters: « The justice of the king is: to oppress no one unjustly by power; to judge between a man and his neighbor without respect of persons; 477Dto be a defender to strangers and orphans and widows; to restrain thefts; to punish adulteries; not to exalt the wicked; not to maintain the shameless and stage-players; to destroy the impious from the land; not to suffer parricides and perjurers to live; to defend the churches; to nourish the poor with alms; to set just men over the affairs of the kingdom; to have counselors old and wise and sober; to give no heed to the superstitions of magicians and soothsayers and pythonesses; to defer anger; to defend the fatherland bravely and justly against adversaries; to live in God through all things; not to lift up his mind in prosperities; to bear all adversities patiently; to hold the catholic faith in God; not to suffer his sons to act impiously; 478Ato apply himself to prayers at fixed hours; not to taste food before the fitting hours. For woe to the land whose king is a child, and whose princes eat in the morning (Eccle. X, 16). These things make the prosperity of the kingdom in the present, and lead the king on to the better, heavenly kingdoms. »

Since it is the ministry of the king to examine thoroughly the affairs of the whole kingdom, lest any injustice lie hidden in them, how will he be able to stand equal to such great things, unless the bishops and the chief men of the kingdom give their assent? And since the Apostle says: Fear God, honor the king (I Petr. II, 17), by what means will he exercise the functions of his ministry against the perfidy of the contumacious, if the chief men of the kingdom do not show him, by aid and counsel, the honor that is due with 478Ball reverence? For he alone does not suffice for all the needs of the kingdom. Therefore, the burden being shared among others whom he believes worthy of honor, he too is to be honored with sincere devotion, that no one may contradict him in any manner whatever, because he who resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God (Rom. XIII, 12). For as it is better not to vow than after a vow not to pay, so it is better not to subscribe to the election of a prince than after subscription to despise or proscribe the one elected, since in the one the love of liberty is praised, in the other a servile contumacy is given over to reproach. For we know three general elections, of which one is that of a king or emperor, the second that of a bishop, the third that of an abbot. And the first indeed the concord of the whole kingdom makes; the second, the unanimity of the citizens and the clergy; the third, 478Cthe sounder counsel of the coenobitic congregation. And each of these not for the favor of secular friendship or for a price, but according to its own profession, for wisdom or merit of life. Moreover, the king, once ordained, exacts fidelity to himself by oath from all his subjects, lest in any parts of his kingdom discord might be engendered. Hence you have it written in the fourth council of Toledo: « After certain institutes of ecclesiastical order, or decrees, which pertain to the discipline of certain persons, it is at last the resolve of us all, the priests, for the strength of our kings and the stability of the nation, to pronounce a final pontifical decree, God being judge. For of many nations, as report goes, so great a perfidy of mind exists, that they scorn to keep the faith promised by oath to their kings, and with the mouth feign 478Dthe profession of an oath, while in mind they retain the impiety of perfidy. They swear to their kings, and the faith which they promise they betray; nor do they fear that volume of the judgment of God, by which a curse and many a threat of punishments is brought in upon those who swear in the name of the Lord falsely. What hope, therefore, will there be for such peoples when they labor against enemies? What faith is thereafter to be trusted in peace with other nations? What treaty is not to be violated? What pledge sworn to enemies will endure, when they keep not sworn faith even with their own kings? For who is so mad as to cut off his own head with his own hand? They, as is well known, unmindful of their own salvation, slay themselves 479Awith their own hand, turning their own forces against themselves and their kings. And though the Lord says: Touch not my anointed (Psal. CIV, 15); and David: Who, says he, shall stretch forth his hand against the anointed of the Lord, and be guiltless? (I Reg. XXVI, 9) for them there is neither fear to shun perjury, nor to refrain from bringing destruction upon their kings. For to enemies the faith of a pact is given, and is not violated — that is, if faith avails in war, how much more is it to be kept among one's own? For it is sacrilege if the faith promised to their kings be violated by nations, because the transgression of the pact is committed not only against them, but indeed against God, in whose name that very promise is pledged. »

The authority of the Roman and apostolic see, by the favor of Christ 479Bthe Lord, shines forth through the universal Church of the whole world. Nor is it any wonder, since the pontiffs of that see are seen to bear the office of the blessed Peter, who is the prince of the whole Church. From the Christian emperors also they obtained this same excellence of singular right: that, when episcopal churches and monasteries of men or of nuns had been founded, the law which they had once imposed under the anathema of excommunication they should never thereafter lose, unless necessity hindered. Whence you have it thus written in the council of Nicaea, chapter 6. « Let the ancient custom be kept throughout Egypt, Libya, and the Pentapolis, so that the bishop of Alexandria have power over all these, because a like custom holds also for the bishop of the city of Rome. And likewise at Antioch and in the other provinces, 479Clet their privileges be preserved to the churches. »

Likewise, GREGORY to JOHN the bishop (GREG. lib. VII, ep. 33, ind. 1).

« It is agreed to be exceedingly grave, and contrary to the priestly purpose, to confound the privileges once granted to any monastery, and to strive to bring to naught the things that have been ordered for its peace. The monks of your diocese, therefore, have complained to us that you hasten to introduce upon their monastery certain things contrary to what was permitted by your predecessors and kept by long custom, and to disturb the ancient ordinance by a certain novelty of prejudice. Wherefore we exhort your fraternity by these words concerning these matters, that, if it is so, it keep itself, without any excuse, from vexing that monastery, and not attempt to tear away, by the usurpation of any pretext, 479Dthe things that have long been kept for it; but let it strive to preserve all things inviolate and without any opposition, and let it know that no more is lawful to it in that same monastery than was lawful to its predecessors. » Likewise in the laws, chapter 510. « Let possessions belonging to religious houses acknowledge no assessment, except for the construction of roads or the building of bridges — provided, however, that they have possessions situated within the territory of that city in which the assessment is required. 480ABut let them have immunity from allotted extraordinary burdens and from the assessment of lucrative holdings. »

The power of the most glorious kings has willed that whatever it has established by commanding in word or in deed should be stable and firm, above all what it has judged, at the suggestion of its nobles, to be ratified for the profit of the Church. Wherefore he who contradicts royal precepts shows that he neither loves nor fears the king, especially since it is supported by the assertion of the men of old, which he is not unaware is authentic. For the Lord says: If any man love me, he will keep my words (Joan. XIV, 23). He therefore who hates the king hates his precept; he seeks to find fault even with words that are beyond reproach. But whence does this come about, if not 480Bfrom the excessive gentleness of the king? For all things in excess do harm. For this reason, in short, we are commanded to have the simplicity of the dove and the cunning of the serpent, lest toward either side the mind be too vehement, which, anxious beyond measure, knows not how to keep moderation. Indeed, not concerning an imperial precept, but concerning the brief notes of his letters, Charles set forth this edict in book IV of his capitularies. « If anyone shall have despised our letters — that is, the tractoria, which is sent for the receiving of the missi — let him either lose the honors which he holds; or let him remain in the place where he ought to have received the aforesaid missi, and at his own cost receive the legations coming thither, until he has given satisfaction to our mind: but let him who in any manner whatever has slighted our letter come at our command to the palace, and 480Creceive, according to our will, a chastisement befitting his folly. And if a free man — that is, a ministerial of the count — has done this, let him lose his honor, whatever he has held, or his benefice; and if a slave, let him be beaten naked at the stake, and let his head be shorn. »

Since some testaments are made under the name of dowry, others by donation of inheritance, and others concerning the goods of the church, which it is difficult to alienate — and these are called precariae — besides these, there are precepts strengthened by the authority of royal, that is imperial, command, with which agree the privileges of the Roman pontiffs, decreed under the anathema of excommunication. But precariae, which are made by agreement and are obtained by petition, 480Dare some of them retained, under however many persons, at a rent in usufruct, others by the emphyteusis of exchange, that is, a contract: which is made in that manner which is set down in the third book of the Councils, chapter 22: « Let precariae be presumed to be made by no one out of ecclesiastical goods, unless, according to the quality of the agreement [ al., convenienti], for as much as is given from one's own property, double be received from the goods of the church, in the name only of him who has given, if he wishes to hold his own goods and those of the church 481Ain usufruct. But if he has surrendered his own goods for the present, let a man take up from the goods of the church, in usufruct, in his own name only; because it behooves whoever protects them to do so as the steward of goods not his own, not as the bestower of his own. And let no one be compelled by any power to make a precaria of goods dedicated to God and the saints, since reason and usage hold that no one who is unwilling should, against utility and reason, make a granted benefice out of his own property. But that royal precepts be made over ecclesiastical precariae, neither reason allows, nor does authority in any way permit; since the royal majesty must needs judge it unworthy to confirm precepts in ecclesiastical right, unless they are sought by the ecclesiastical ruler. And let the same guardian of the church most carefully beware 481Blest, perchance forgetful of his order and of ecclesiastical communion, he seek, for the sake of any flattery whatever, that a royal precept be made against authority. And even if he does so, let him not be heard; but if he even obtains it, let the same be rescinded by royal discretion and episcopal judgment, and let the unjust petitioner be worthily corrected for his unjust suggestion to the prince. »

The ecclesiastical rules, which the Greeks call canons, were devised by the holy Fathers for this reason: that without any winding of error we might walk along the path of justice. Nor does it matter by what institution of the canons a man be trained to a fitting profession of the Christian faith, provided only that, having entered the way of truth 481Cwith unstumbling step, under the guidance of the Gospel he depart not from the divine oracles. For not every device is attended by necessity, so that what someone has usefully devised should be impossible to do in another way. Just as in the African council Hosius of Cordova treats many things at his pleasure, which the Church gladly receives as a most true institution of canons. Whence one must consider the situation of lands, the quality of times, the infirmity of men, and the other necessities of things, which are wont to change the rules of divers provinces. By authority also many things have been changed for the common profit of the churches, which no one of the faithful censures. And what wonder? since canons are sometimes found contradicting one another, and what is commanded in one council is forbidden in another; nor do they think this done in vain 481Dwho, for the convenience of temporal life, never desire to turn aside from virtue to vices, nor from truth to falsehood. For in the decrees of the pontiffs the same principle stands, whose authority is so great that the opinions of very many await the judgment of the one Roman pontiff. Always, therefore, in such matters utility and honor preponderate, not the enticing pleasure of desires, which holy men flee. But lest we seem to say such things to no purpose, we set forth examples. The transfer of bishops is forbidden in the synod of Nicaea and in that of Chalcedon; for necessity or utility it is allowed in the council of Antioch. And by necessity indeed — namely on account of the cold, which his weak body could not bear — Silvanus was moved by Atticus from Philippopolis 482Ato Troas. By the authority also of the Roman pontiff, Perigenes was ordained bishop in Patras, and not [ f. nec non] being received, was enthroned in Corinth, its bishop having died. Nor is this to be wondered at, since Christ taught that the wife is to be held in hatred, whom the Apostle commanded us to love. Gregory also, by the privilege of his own authority, restored to their former ranks men condemned by other bishops; he united bishops, and gave successors to bishops (GREG. lib. III, epist. 20). The bishop of the city of Salona, Maximus by name, because, being ordained for money, he had incurred the Simoniac heresy, Gregory excommunicated. He, though excommunicated, celebrated masses; yet after seven years, he being led by penitence, Gregory restored him to his see and bestowed on him the pallium, an oath concerning the things forbidden having been taken upon 482Bthe body of Saint Apollinaris (lib. VII, epist. 82, ind. 2).

As the king is so called from ruling, so also the law from reading. Wherefore the promulgation of laws is extended by the edicts of kings, and each one, within the bounds of his own kingdom, carries out Christian rule with piety. To this custom is obedient; and if it is not hindered by public utilities, it succeeds in the place of law. For Cicero, in his rhetorical works, did not forbear to lay open by definition their likeness and difference thus (CIC. lib. II, de Invent.): « The right of custom is thought to be that which age, by the will of all, has approved without law. » But legitimate rights must be learned from the laws, and they are further removed from common understanding; yet they are often to be brought in for some comparison, or to amplify a matter. 482CWherefore, if I remember rightly, law and usage are species of right. For law is a written constitution of princes; but usage is custom approved by age, and yet not written. Or has antiquity so consented with itself in evil that no one at any time would wish for the discipline of good usages? But this we have nowhere among the nations learned, since all men love the good of nature even while acting ill. All men, therefore, must needs make use either of good laws or of good usages. Yet we have found certain men who think themselves subject neither to good usages by custom, nor to any laws; and they who live without law shall without law perish.

482DFrom the fourth council of Toledo, chapter 30: « Let priests bordering on enemies, except those who have received license from the royal power, not presume secretly to receive or to send any mandate whatever to a foreign people. But he who is caught and convicted, being denounced to the prince before the council, shall be punished with great and condign severity. »

In the laws, chapter 456: « If anyone has built a house of prayer, and he or his heirs prefer to have clerics consecrated in that house, let them, providing the expenses of the same house, be heard, if they have named worthy clerics; but if those men are such that they are not approved by the divine canons, 483Ait will belong to the bishop to choose other suitable clerics. »

From the second council of Seville, chapter VI. « We have found that a presbyter of the Church [ al., comperimus Fragitanum Cordubensis Ecclesiae] was once unjustly cast down by his own pontiff, and, though innocent, condemned to exile. Him we have again by our subscription decreed restored, that, according to the synodal sentence of the ancient Fathers, no man may dare to cast down any presbyter or deacon without the examination of a council. For there are many who condemn men unexamined, by tyrannical power, not by canonical authority; and as they exalt some by the favor of grace, so, moved by hatred and envy, they humble others, and at a light breath of opinion condemn 483Bthose whose crimes they do not prove. For the bishop alone can give honor to priests and ministers; he cannot take it away. For if those who in the world have obtained from their masters the honor of liberty are not rolled back into the bond of servitude, unless they have been publicly accused before the nobles at the tribunal of the forum, how much more they who, consecrated to the divine altars, are adorned with ecclesiastical honor? Who assuredly can neither be condemned by one man, nor, with one man judging, be stripped of the privileges of their honor; but, they being presented to synodal judgment, what the canon has prescribed concerning them is to be determined. »

From the book of the Laws, chapter 430: « Before all things we ordain that this be observed: that no one be consecrated bishop upon the payment of gold or of any other thing. But if any such thing 483Cshall have been committed, they destroy themselves and their own souls who receive or furnish moneys, and their mediators are subjected to condemnation according to the divine rules and the sacred canons. For this reason let both him who gives, and him who receives, and him who has been made mediator, be removed from the priesthood or from the honor of the clerical state. What has been given for that cause, let it be claimed for that church whose priesthood he wished to buy. But if he be a layman who has received anything for this cause, or has been made mediator of the affair, let the things that were given be exacted from him in double, to be claimed by the church. And we command not only that the things given be claimed; but we ordain also that every bond, and every other action of whatever kind, cease, so that he who has received the promise be liable not only to return the bond, but also to give to the Church another sum, 483Das much as the bond contains. »

Likewise from the council of Chalcedon, chapter 11: « If any bishop shall have performed an ordination for money, and shall have brought under a price the grace which cannot be sold, and shall have ordained for moneys a bishop, or a presbyter, or a deacon, or any of those who are numbered in the clergy, or shall have promoted for moneys a steward, or anyone who is subject to the rule, 484Afor his own most shameful advantage of gain — he who is proved to have attempted this shall lie under peril of his own rank; and let him who has been ordained profit nothing by this ordination or promotion which was made by traffic; but let him be a stranger to the dignity or charge which he sought with moneys. But if anyone shall have stood forth as mediator in givings or receivings so shameful and unspeakable, if indeed he be a cleric, let him fall from his own rank; but if a layman or a monk, let him be anathematized. »

In the Laws, chapter 480: « It remains that we speak of monks. We ordain, therefore, that an abbot or archimandrite be set over each monastery, not according to the rank of the monks, but him whom all 484Bthe monks, or those established in better repute, shall have chosen — the holy gospels being set before them — declaring that not for friendship or favor, but knowing him to be of right faith and chaste life, and worthy in administration, and able profitably to guard the discipline of the monks and the whole state of the monastery, they have chosen him. And if he shall have been thus elected, let him by all means be confirmed by the bishop to whom the monastery is subject. And the things we have said of the monasteries of monks, let the same hold also in the monasteries and archisteria of women. »

GREGORY to MARINIANUS, bishop of Ravenna (Greg. lib. VII, ep. 18, indict. 1):

« How necessary it is to look to the quiet of monasteries 484Cand to treat of their perpetual security, the office you formerly discharged, which you exhibited in the government of a monastery, instructs you. And therefore, since we have learned that the monastery of the blessed John and Stephen, which is established in the city of Classe, over which our common son the abbot Claudius is known to preside, has borne many prejudices and burdens from your predecessors, it behooves that the provision of your fraternity dispose by a salutary ordinance for their future quiet, so that those dwelling there in the service of God may, His grace also assisting, persevere with a free mind. But lest, from that custom which ought rather to be amended, anyone at any time presume to bring any vexation upon them there, it is necessary that these things which we have taken care to enumerate below be so kept by the zeal of your fraternity 484Dthat from them no occasion of inflicting disquiet can any further be found. Let no one, therefore, any further dare in any way, on any excuse, to diminish the revenues, goods, or charters of the said monastery, or any place belonging to it, nor to make any fraudulent intrusions; but if perchance any case arise between the church of Ravenna and the aforesaid monastery, and it cannot be settled peaceably, let it be ended before God-fearing men chosen by the parties, without willful 485Adelay, the most holy Gospels being set between them. And when the abbot dies, let no outsider be ordained, but one from the same congregation, whom the congregation of its own will shall have chosen for itself; and let him who is elected be ordained without fraud or any venality. Nor let any person, on any occasion, be set against the incoming abbot in his own monastery, unless perchance crimes stand forth (which God forbid) such as the sacred canons are shown to punish. It is likewise to be observed that, against the will of the abbot of the same monastery, monks ought not to be taken thence for the ordering of other monasteries, or for sacred orders, or for the office of the clerical state; but if they be abundant, so that they suffice for celebrating the praises of God and fulfilling the needs of the monasteries, let the abbot with devotion offer, from those who are over and above, 485Bsuch of them as he shall think worthy. But if, having sufficient, he refuse to give, then let the bishop of Ravenna take, from those who are over and above, for the ordering of other monasteries; yet let no one be brought forth from there to ecclesiastical office, except him whom the abbot of the place, being admonished, shall of his own will have offered. And whoever from the aforesaid monastery shall have come to ecclesiastical order, let him thenceforth have there neither any power, nor license to dwell. It is also to be observed that an inventory of the goods or charters of the same monastery ought not to be made by ecclesiastics; if ever the case requires it, let the abbot of the place with other abbots make the inventory of the goods. And as often as the abbot, for the profit of his monastery, may wish to come or to send to the Roman pontiff, let it by all means be permitted him. 485CMoreover, though the coming of bishops ought to be awaited by monasteries with longing, yet because it has been reported to us that in the times of your predecessor the aforesaid monastery was heavily burdened by occasion of hospitality, it behooves that your holiness fittingly temper this: that for the sake of visiting and exhorting, the monastery be approached by the bishop of the same city as often as it shall please him; but let the bishop so fulfill the office of charity there that the monastery incur no burden. But the aforesaid abbot does not fear that your fraternity should come often to the monastery — nay, he even longs for it with desire, knowing that through you the substance of the monastery can in no way be burdened. »

And again to the same, in another epistle, after some other matters (Lib. 485DVI, ep. 40). « We exhort you that, all delay and all excuse removed, you strive so to relieve the monasteries of Ravenna of the burden laid on them by you and your clerics, 486Athat henceforth neither clerics, nor those who are established in sacred order, have license to enter them for any other cause, save only for the sake of prayer, or if perchance they have been invited to perform the sacred mysteries of the mass. But lest they perhaps bear some burden even for the promotion of any monk or abbot, you must take care that, if any of the abbots or monks from whatever monastery shall have come to the office of the clerical state or to sacred order, he have there no further power (as we have said), lest under the veil of this occasion the monasteries be compelled to bear the burdens which we forbid. Let your holiness, therefore, now admonished a second time, not delay to amend all these things with vigilant care. »

486BLikewise Gregory to John, bishop of Orvieto (Lib. I, ep. 12). Agapitus, abbot of the monastery of Saint George, has intimated to us that he bears very many burdens from your holiness, and not only in those things which in time of necessity might bring some support to the monastery, but that you even forbid masses to be celebrated in the same monastery, and prohibit even the dead from being buried there. And if it is so, we exhort you to hold back from such inhumanity, and permit the dead to be buried there, and masses to be celebrated, no opposition being made any further, lest the aforesaid venerable man be compelled to lodge a complaint anew concerning the things that have been said.

Pope Eugenius, chapter 27 (EUGEN. II, in syn. 486CRom.): « Let such abbots be ordained throughout the monasteries as can rule well those subject to them; let them also have attained the priestly honor. »

GREGORY to LUPUS the abbot (GREGOR., lib. II, epist. 12): « Since many occasions for the deception of religious persons are sought out there, as is said, by wicked men, we judge that the presbyter of the aforesaid Church is in no way to be deprived and deposed, unless the cause of a crime specifically demand it. Whence it is necessary that, if any complaint of this kind has arisen against him, not only should the bishop of the city examine the cause, but, fellow bishops being joined to him, he should search it out by careful investigation, so that, all judging in concord, the censure of canonical strictness 486Dmay by its judgment either strike the guilty, or absolve the innocent. »

• 487A

(Ex conc. Vernensi I, c. 5.) « Let monasteries both of men and of maidens which have scorned to live regularly according to their order be corrected by the bishop in whose diocese they are seen to be. But if the bishop cannot correct them, let it be made known to the metropolitan. And if he too cannot correct them, let them come thence to a public synod; and if they scorn the public synod, let them either lose their honor, or be excommunicated by all the bishops; and let such a one be appointed in his place in that same synod, by the will of the lord king, or by the consent of the servants of God, as may rule that congregation according to rule. »

487BFrom the council of the palace of Ver (Ibid., c. 20). « In another synod you granted to us that to those monasteries where monks or nuns live according to rule, goods should be left them whereby they might live. Thereafter, if the place were royal, the abbot or abbess should render accounts to the lord king; if episcopal, to that bishop. »

In the council of Toul, chapter 12: « At length the general synod, prostrating itself even to the ground, made petition before Charles the glorious king and Radulf, archbishop of Bourges, beseeching and adjuring by the cross and the blood of Christ, that they should strive to keep ratified and unshaken the privilege of the monastery of Saint Benedict, which it had confirmed with the consent of the aforesaid king, and which the same Radulf 487Chad subscribed. But if the abbot be found, by missi sent thither, negligent and not conforming to the sacred rules, let him be removed by the same paternity, and let another who shall be found worthy be substituted; and let the authority of the privilege in that same monastery not be forsaken on any occasion whatever. »

GREGORY to LUCIUS [ al., Lucido] the bishop (GREG., lib. X, ep. 54).

« Our son the abbot John has asked that a presbyter be ordained for him in his monastery from that same congregation. And therefore we have thought fit to exhort your fraternity by the present authority, that, as to the man whom he shall offer you from his congregation to be consecrated for ordination, 487Dyou should, as is the custom, carefully search out whatever things are to be examined; and if nothing be found in him that could stand against him, 488Alet him be consecrated canonically, as is the manner. Granting him, however, no other privilege, save that in his own congregation, as often as it shall be opportune, he ought only to celebrate the sacred mysteries of the mass. »

And Saint Benedict in his rule, chapter 62: « But let him who is ordained beware of elation or pride, and let him presume nothing except what is commanded him by his abbot, knowing that he is so much the more subject to the discipline of the rule, » etc.

In the Laws, chapter 490: « If anyone shall have left his monastery, or passed over to another monastery, let his goods fall to the former monastery, into which he had first entered. »

Likewise, chapter 16: « If anyone shall have placed himself in a monastery, 488Band, after he has been clothed in the religious garment, shall have withdrawn from the monastery, let all his goods which he brought into the monastery belong to that same monastery. » The same from another constitution: « Even if he did not bring them in. For all his goods, together with their owner, belong to the monastery. »

Likewise, chapter 18: « If anyone shall have entered a monastery, and after the religious garment shall have withdrawn, or served as a soldier, or simply become a layman, let him be stripped of the military belt, and let him not enjoy a free life, but be compelled to serve in the office of the governor of the province. But let his substance remain in the monastery. »

Likewise, extracts of Pope Siricius to Himerius, bishop of Tarragona, chapter 6: « Moreover, you protest that certain monks, and certain female monastics or nuns, the purpose 488Cof holiness being cast off, have been sunk into such wantonness that first in secret, as it were under the pretext of the monasteries, they joined themselves in unlawful and sacrilegious contagion; but afterwards, led headlong by despair of conscience, they have freely begotten children from unlawful embraces — which both the public laws and the ecclesiastical statutes condemn. We command, therefore, that these unchaste and detestable persons be cast out from the company of the monasteries and the assemblies of the churches, so that, shut up in their prison-cells, bewailing so great a crime with continual lamentation, they may be able to burn it away in the purifying fire of penitence, so that at least at death, in regard of mercy alone, indulgence may be able to come to their aid through the grace of communion. »

• 488D

Chapter 52 [l., 50] from the fourth council of Toledo. « Clerics who seek the purpose of monks, because 489Athey desire to follow a better life, ought to be granted by the bishop free entrance into the monasteries, nor should the purpose of those who strive to pass over to the desire of contemplation be forbidden. »

Likewise chapter 51: « It has been reported to the present council that monks are delivered over to servile work by episcopal command, and that the rights of the monasteries are usurped by unlawful presumption against the statutes of the canons, so that almost everything from the coenobium [ t., pene ex coenobio possessio fiat], and the illustrious portion of Christ, comes to ignominy and servitude. Wherefore we admonish those who preside over churches not to presume such things any further; but let the priests claim for themselves in the monasteries only this which the canons prescribe — that is, to admonish the monks to holy conversation, 489Bto appoint abbots to certain [ al., abbates, aliaque] offices, and to correct things done outside the rule. But if they shall have presumed against the monks anything forbidden by the canons, or attempted to usurp anything of the goods of the monastery, the sentence of excommunication shall not be wanting to those who thereafter in no wise withhold themselves from unlawful things. »

From the council of Saragossa, chapter 6 ( concil. Caesar., sub Damas. ): « If any of the clerics, on account of self-indulgence and presumed vanity, shall of his own accord have departed from his office, and shall have preferred to be seen a monk, as an observer of the law, rather than a cleric, he is so to be driven from the church that, unless by asking and beseeching over very many 489Cseasons he shall have made satisfaction, he be not received. By all the bishops it was said: So be it. »

From another council of Toledo, chapter 4: « If indeed any of the clerics is proved to have made for himself little fields or little vineyards on the lands of the church for the sustaining of his life, let him possess them until the day of his death. But after his departure from this life, according to the institutions of the earlier canons, let him restore its right to the church, and let him not leave them by testamentary and successory right to any of his heirs or after-heirs, unless perchance to one on whom the bishop, for services, shall have willed to bestow them by this grant of the church. »

GREGORY to JOHN THE BISHOP (GREG. lib. VII, ep. 33, ind. 1.)

489D« The monks of your diocese have complained that you have taken away certain things from the monastery under the semblance, as it were, of a gift. And therefore it is necessary that, if you recall having received anything unbecomingly, you restore it without delay, lest the fault of avarice gravely convict you, whom priestly munificence ought rather to have shown generous toward the monasteries. The monks have also complained that their abbot granted land to you by donation under the pretext of building a church. And therefore, except for that which the walls 490Aof the church enclose, we will that it return to the rights of the monastery without any difficulty, since the statutes neither of worldly laws nor of the sacred canons permit the goods of a monastery to be separated from its right under any title. Wherefore restore, without any gainsaying, the donation of that same land, which was made against reason. »

Likewise in the Laws, chapter 404: « If anyone possessing another's goods in bad faith shall have sold them, or given them, or in some other way alienated them, and he who thinks himself their owner, knowing this, shall have given notice by attestation to him who took the goods within ten years among those present, or within twenty years among those absent, let the goods remain firmly with the buyer, or with him who received the donation, or has in some other way obtained the alienated things. But if, 490Bthe owner being unaware, the possessor in bad faith shall have alienated them, this shall not otherwise prejudice the owner unless the space of thirty years has passed, although he who bought, or in some other way obtained the alienated things, was a possessor in good faith. »

From constitution 2, chapter 74 (Novell. 79, c. 1): « If anyone have a lawsuit with monks or nuns, let him not dare to accuse them before a civil judge, or to drag them thither, established as they are in an archisterium or monastery; but let him rather go to the bishop of the city. For he will judge whether the principal person ought to be produced, or be defended through a defender, a hegumen, or an apocrisiarius — with all decency, that is — so that the bishop may pronounce a sentence agreeable to the laws 490Cand the canons. » On violators, chapter 4: « If anyone shall have violated this constitution, being placed in a magistracy he shall indeed be fined with a penalty of 10 pounds of gold; but one appointed executor of suits shall be shut up in the decanica of the churches, to pay the fitting penalties; and afterwards let it not be granted him to hold the office of executor. »

From the council of Orléans, chapter 11 (conc. Aurel. I, cap. 15): « Concerning the things which any of the faithful shall have offered to the parishes in lands, vineyards, slaves, and stock, let the statutes of the ancient canons be kept, and let all remain in the power of the bishop. Yet of the things which shall have come in upon the altar, let a third be faithfully 490Dconveyed to the bishops. »

From the council of Carthage, chapter 66 (conc. Afric., seu Carthag., c. 87, sub Bonif. I et Coelest. I): « It has been resolved that if bishops shall have reclaimed any churches or peoples which they consider to pertain to their own see, not in such a way as to plead their causes before judging bishops, but shall have burst in while another holds them, whether 491Athe peoples be willing or unwilling, they shall suffer the loss of their cause. And whoever have already done this — if the contention between the bishops is not yet ended, but they still contend — let him depart thence who is shown to have made the invasion, the ecclesiastical judges having been passed over. Nor let anyone flatter himself, if, in order to retain it, he shall have requested letters from the primate [ al., impetrarit]. But whether he have letters or have them not, let him meet with him who holds it, and receive letters from him, that it may appear that he has held peacefully the church pertaining to him. But if the other shall have raised any question, let the cause be ended by bishops as judges, whether those whom the primates shall have given them, or neighboring bishops whom they themselves, with the counsel of the primate, shall have chosen [ al., ex consensu delegerint]. »

491BFrom the council of Chalcedon, chapter 17: « The rural parishes of the several churches, even those on estates, ought to remain unshaken for those bishops who are known to hold them, and above all if, obtaining them without violence for a space of thirty years, they have governed them under their stewardship. But if within the thirty years a dispute has arisen concerning them, or shall arise, it is lawful for those who assert themselves wronged to contend before the holy synod of the province. And if anyone is wronged by his metropolitan, let him be judged before the primate of the diocese, or before the see of Constantinople, as was said above. But if any city has been made new by imperial power, or if it be forthwith made new, let the ordering of the ecclesiastical parishes also follow the civil and public dispositions. »

• 491C

From the third council of Toledo, chapter 19: « Many, against the constitutions of the canons, ask that the churches which they have built be consecrated on such terms that they hold the endowment of that church not to pertain to the disposition of the bishop. Which practice both displeases as to the past, and is forbidden for the future; but let all things, according to the ancient constitution, pertain to the disposition and power of the bishop. »

From the council, as above, chapter 2 (conc. Bracar. III, can. 2): « It has been resolved that no bishop, in going about his dioceses, take anything else through the churches beyond the honor of his see, that is, two solidi; nor demand a third part of any offering of the people 491Din the parish churches; but let that third part be kept for the lights of the church and for its repair, and let account of it be rendered to the bishop every year. For if the bishop take that third part, he has taken from the church its light and the upkeep of its roofs. Likewise also, that parish clerics be not compelled to serve the bishops in any works after the manner of slaves. Because it is written: Neither as lording it by force over the clergy (I Petr. V, 3). »

From the ninth council of Toledo, chapter 1: « The whole amount, then, of ecclesiastical property, as it bestows the remedy of pardon on the giver, so it duly prepares harm for the defrauder. 492AAnd therefore let none of the priests or ministers take away anything from the goods of the church, which in whatever places are bestowed by the faithful, or turn it to his own right or to the profit of his own see. For the devotion of each man, as it gladly conferred its vow upon the Lord, so determined that the fullness of the vows should be preserved in that place; wherein, as, if the things conferred are kept, the grace of the offerer remains, so, if they are brought to naught, the ruin of the defrauder hangs near. But that this matter may have the stronger firmness, let it be lawful for the worthy sons or grandsons, and the more honorable kinsmen, of him who built or endowed the church, to exercise this diligence of good intention: that, if they perceive a priest or minister to be defrauding anything of the things conferred, they either restrain him by an honorable meeting of admonition, 492Bor denounce such things to the bishop or the judge for correction. But if the bishop attempt such things, let them take care to make this known to his metropolitan. And if the metropolitan do such things, let them not delay to bring this to the hearing of the king. Yet let it not be lawful for the heirs themselves to put forward power over those same goods as of their own right, nor to bring in rapine or fraud, nor to presume any violence whatever, but only to apply a salutary solicitude therein, such as reaches into no harm of its working, or such that a salutary reward may be received, whether in much, or in some part. But if anyone shall hereafter wish to violate these admonitions, let him both restore with confusion the things wickedly seized, and he shall undergo the sentence of a year's excommunication. »

Likewise, chapter 2 (Ibid.): « Since it is often usual 492Cto wring out, by the prayer of supplication and, in a manner, by the force of grief, even things that are not owed, how much more ought not those things to be yielded without hindrance which are sought at once both by the order of right and by the grief of compassion? Because, therefore, it is known often to come to pass that parish churches or sacred monasteries, by the insolence or the neglect of certain bishops, fall into such horrid ruin that a heavier sorrow arises for the builders than the labor of joy that had existed for those raising them [ al., construendo]: wherefore [ al., ideo] with pious compassion we decree that, so long as the founders of those same churches remain surviving in this life, they be permitted to have a solicitous care for those same places, and to bear a chief solicitude; and let those same men themselves offer chief or suitable rectors in those same basilicas 492Dto the bishops to be ordained. »

In the Laws, chapter 456: « If anyone has built a house of prayer, and he or his heirs prefer to have clerics consecrated in that house, let them, providing the expenses of the same house, be heard, if they have named worthy clerics. But if those men are such that they are not approved by the divine canons, it will belong to the bishop to choose other suitable clerics. »

Chapter 37 (conc. Tolet. IV): « Whatever bishops shall have provided something of ecclesiastical profit by the support of anyone, and shall have promised for it some modest thing in remuneration, it will behoove them to discharge the payment of what was promised, in such wise that the matter, brought before the provincial council, 493Abe confirmed by their assent; because, as the apostle Paul says, they shall receive their own reward (I Cor. III, 8). »

Chapter 38. (Ibid): « The solace of life is to be furnished by the priests to the needy, and above all to those to whom a return is owed in requital. Whoever of the faithful, therefore, shall have bestowed something on the church from their means by their own devotion — if perchance they themselves or their children shall have been reduced to want, let them receive from that same church the support of life according to the need of the time. For if ecclesiastical goods are bestowed for use upon clerics or monks, or upon pilgrims or any who suffer necessity, for the sole regard of religion, how much more 493Bmust provision be made for those to whom a just recompense is owed? »

Chapter 33 (Ibid.): « Avarice is the root of all evils: the thirst for it possesses even the minds of priests. For many of the faithful, out of love of Christ and the martyrs, build basilicas in the parishes of the bishops, and register offerings to them; but the priests carry these off and convert them to their own uses. Hence it is that the ministers of the sacred rites fail, since they lose their stipends. Hence the buildings of collapsing basilicas are not repaired, because all things are carried off by priestly avarice. For which cause it has been established by the present council that bishops so rule their dioceses that they presume to take away nothing from their right, but, according to the authority of earlier 493Ccouncils, receive a third both of the offerings and of the tributes and fruits. But if anything more shall have been presumed by them, let it be restored through the council, upon the appeal either of the founders themselves, or at least of their kinsmen, if those have already departed this world. Yet let the founders of basilicas know that they have no power over the things which they confer upon that same church, but that, according to the institutes of the canons, as the church itself, so also its endowment pertains to the disposition of the bishop. »

GREGORY to LEO the bishop (GREG. l. VII, ep. 8, ind. 1).

« We will that from whatever shall perchance have accrued to your church from revenue or from any other title, you ought to set apart a fourth portion without any diminution 493D, and, according to the fear of God, divide it discreetly among the presbyters, deacons, and clergy, as shall seem good to you, and to each man as the merit of his labor shall require. »

That four portions ought to be made of the goods 494Aof the church, Gelasius in the decretals, chapter 27: « Now it is fitting, he says, that four portions be made, both of the revenue and of the offering of the faithful, so far as the means of each church permit, as was long since reasonably decreed: of which let one be the pontiff's; a second, the clergy's; a third, the poor's; a fourth, to be applied to the fabric of the church. »

SIMPLICIUS the bishop to FLORENTINUS, EQUITIUS, and SEVERUS, bishops (Simpl. papae Decr. c. 2): « Concerning the revenues of the churches or the offerings of the faithful, let him permit nothing to be lawful to one who knows not what is fitting; but let one portion alone, and out of these whatever portion is remitted — let two, destined to profit the fabric of the churches and the distribution to pilgrims and the poor, be administered by the presbyter Bonager at the peril of his order. Let the last be divided among themselves by the clergy 494Baccording to the merits of each. »

From the African council, chapter 100: « So long as his own bishop communicates with an excommunicated man, let that same bishop not be communicated with by the other bishops, that the bishop may take the more care not to say against anyone what he cannot prove by other evidences. »

Likewise from the council of Cologne, chapter 56: « That none of the bishops deprive anyone of ecclesiastical communion without a sure and manifest cause of sin. And let him impose anathema upon no one without the consent of the archbishop and the bishops, even after evangelical admonition has first been given, save where canonical authority so teaches; because anathema is the damnation of eternal death, and it ought not to be imposed except for a mortal crime, and upon him who 494Ccannot otherwise be corrected. »

Likewise in the Laws, chapter 441: « Let no bishop, no presbyter excommunicate anyone before the cause is proved on account of which the ecclesiastical canons command this to be done. But if anyone shall have excommunicated someone contrary to this, let him indeed who has been excommunicated return to the grace of holy communion by the authority of the greater priest; but let him who did not lawfully excommunicate abstain from sacred communion for so long a time as shall seem good to the greater priest, that what he unjustly did, he may himself justly suffer. »

From the third council of Toledo, chapter 20: « The complaint of many has demanded this constitution, whereby we have learned that bishops 494Drage through their parishes not in priestly fashion, but cruelly; and, whereas it is written: Be ye a pattern to the flock, and not as lording it by force over the clergy (I Petr. V, 3), they inflict exactions or losses upon their own diocese. And therefore we decree — excepting what the constitutions of the ancients 495Acommand bishops to have from their parishes — that the other things which up to now have been presumed be denied them. That is, let them weary the presbyters or deacons neither with forced services nor with any imposts, lest they seem to be named in the Church of God exactors rather than pontiffs of God. And let those clerics, both local and diocesan, who know themselves to be burdened by the bishop, not delay to carry their complaints to the metropolitan: and let the metropolitan not delay to restrain presumptions of this kind. »

Pope Eugenius, chapter 21 ( synodus Rom. ): « Let a monastery or oratory canonically built not be taken away from the dominion of its builder [eo] against his will; and let it be lawful for him to commend it to whatever presbyter he will, with the consent of his 495Bbishop — lest he be a bad man — in such wise that the priest obediently repair to the court of the bishop. »

Likewise, chapter 24: « Let bishops ordain presbyters in their own churches. But if any other man, admonished by the bishop, shall not have sent a presbyter into his basilica within the space of three months, let the bishop suggest to the prince that he amend this. »

Likewise, chapter 25: « If destroyed churches cannot be rebuilt from their own resources, let them be aided by the people of the parish. »

Likewise, chapter 26: « Let no bishop exact gifts from any cleric subject to him beyond the statutes of the Fathers, nor press him with forced services. »

• 495C

Chapter VI ( from another council ): « We have deemed it opportune to decree that, when the bishop shall have determined to confer the third — which he knows to be owed to him from the goods of the church by the sanction of the Fathers — either upon that very church whose property it shall appear to be, or upon another church, upon which he has fixed his choice, it remain lawful, and the force of what his sentence bears, irrevocable. »

Likewise from the third council of Toledo, chapter 3: « Let it be lawful for no bishop to alienate the property of the church, since this is forbidden also by the more ancient canons. But if they shall have given anything that does not burden the usefulness of the church, for the support of monks or of churches belonging to their own parish, let it stand firm; but for the necessity of pilgrims or of clerics and the needy 495Dthey are permitted, the right of the church being preserved, to furnish for a time what they can. »

Pope Siricius in his epistle, chapter 7 (SIRIC., Decret. ): « We have learned that very many priests of Christ and levites, long after the time of their consecration, have begotten offspring both from their own wives and even from shameful intercourse, and defend their crime by this prescription: that in the Old Testament the faculty of begetting is read to have been granted to priests and ministers. But those men were chosen by succession of family from the tribe of Levi alone, to whom God says: Be ye holy, for I am holy (Lev. XIX, 2). Whence also they were commanded, in the year of their course, to dwell in the temple 496Afar from their own houses, that they might not be able to have carnal commerce with their wives. But we priests and levites are all bound by an indissoluble law, that from the day of our ordination we surrender both our hearts and our bodies to sobriety and chastity, so that in all things we may please our God in these sacrifices which we daily offer. Those therefore who lament that they have fallen through ignorance — to these we say that mercy is not to be denied, on this condition: that, without any increase of honor, they persevere, so long as they live, in that office in which they were detected, if only after these things they take pains to show themselves continent. But those who, after the example of the old priesthood, make use of marriage as though it were lawful, let them know that by the authority of the apostolic see they are cast down from every ecclesiastical honor, which they have unworthily used, and that never henceforth, by any indulgence of ours, can they handle 496Bthe divine mysteries — whether he be a bishop, or a presbyter, or a deacon. »

From the ninth council of Toledo, chapter 10: « But whosoever of the clerics, from the bishop down to the subdeacon, being established in honor, shall thereafter have begotten sons by detestable union whether with a bondwoman or with a freeborn woman: let those, indeed, from whom they are proved to have been begotten be condemned by canonical censure; but the offspring alienated by [ al., tali nata] pollution shall not only never receive the inheritance of their parents, but shall also remain, by perpetual right, in the servitude of that church from the disgrace of whose priest or minister 496Cthey were born. But let the sons of priests who were born before the priesthood not exhibit secular spectacles, nor even watch them — although this is forbidden to all Christians; and let them not approach where blasphemies are, as you have it in the council of Carthage, chapter 15. »

From a council of the Eastern bishops, chapter 14, on the presumption of a bishop in the property of the church: « If any bishop, compelled by no necessity of ecclesiastical reason, shall have presumed to sell anything of the ecclesiastical property among his own clergy, or where perchance there is no presbyter, let him be compelled to restore those very things to his own church, and let him be cast down unheard in the judgment of the bishops, and, as one guilty of theft or robbery 496D, let him be deprived of his honor. »

Likewise, chapter 16: « Let the bishop have power over the property of the church, that he may dispense to those suffering necessity with all reverence and fear of God; and it behooves him to partake of the things that are necessary — if, that is, he himself or the brethren who are with him lack anything, or suffer necessity in any way — according to the holy Apostle, who says: Having food and covering, with these we are content (I Tim. VI, 8). But if the bishop shall wish to usurp the ecclesiastical property to his own wills, and shall have handled the gains of the church and the fruits of the fields without the counsel of the presbyters or deacons, or shall have given power to his brothers or sons or any kinsmen of his whatsoever, so that through them the property 497Ais secretly injured, it behooves him to be answerable to the council. Likewise it behooves presbyters and deacons, if they do the same things, to be rebuked. »

From the council of Antioch, chapter 25 (conc. Antioch. sub Julio P. I): « That it is not lawful for a bishop to appoint another in his own stead as successor to himself, even though he be coming to the end of his life. But if any such thing shall have been done, let a constitution of this kind be void. And let the ecclesiastical rule be kept which contains this: that it ought not to be done otherwise than with a synod and the judgment of the bishops, who, after the death of him who has gone to his rest, have the power to promote him who shall have proved worthy. »

Likewise, GREGORY to ANATOLIUS the Constantinopolitan 497Bsubdeacon (GREGOR., lib. 9, ep. 41).

« Nowhere do the canons command that a bishop be succeeded on account of sickness. And it is altogether unjust that, if affliction of body has broken in upon him, the sick man be deprived of his honor; and therefore this can in no wise be done through us, lest sin come upon my soul from his deposition. But it should be suggested that, if he who is in the government is sick, such a steward be sought for him as can undertake all his care and fill his place in the government of the church — he himself not being deposed — and in the guardianship of the city; so that neither almighty God be offended, nor the city be found to be neglected. But if that same most reverend John should perchance ask, on account of his affliction, that he be released from the honor of the episcopate, then, upon his giving the petition in writing, it is to be granted 497C. But otherwise we are altogether unable to do it, for the fear of almighty God. But if he will not ask this: whatever pleases the most pious emperor, whatever he commands to do, is in his own power. As he knows how, let him himself see to it; only let him not cause us to be mixed up in the deposition. But as for what the emperor himself shall have done — if it is canonical, we follow it; but if it is not canonical, we bear it, so far as we can without sin of our own. »

AUGUSTINE in the ecclesiastical Rules, chapter 23 ( auctor Dogmat. eccl. ): « To receive the communion of the Eucharist daily I neither praise nor blame. Yet I exhort that one communicate on all the Lord's days, provided the mind be not in the affection of sinning. 497DFor I say that he who still has the will to sin is burdened rather than purged by the reception of the Eucharist. And therefore, although a man be stung by sin, let him for the rest have no will of sinning, and, being about to communicate, let him make satisfaction with tears and prayers. When he has done these things, trusting in the compassion of the Lord, who is wont to forgive sins upon pious confession, let him approach 498Athe Eucharist fearless and secure. But this I say of him whom capital sins do not burden. For him whom mortal sins committed after baptism press down, I exhort first to make satisfaction by public penance, and so, reconciled by the judgment of the priest, to be joined to communion, if he wishes not to receive the Eucharist unto judgment or condemnation. But neither do we deny that mortal crimes are loosed by secret satisfaction — but the secular habit being first changed, so that, by zeal for religion through the correction of his life, and by continual, nay perpetual mourning, God showing mercy, he may obtain pardon; provided only that he not [ al., deest non] do things contrary to those of which he repents, and that as a suppliant he receive the Eucharist on all the Lord's days until his death. »

Gregory (GREG., in resp. X ad interrog. Augustini): 498B« A woman ought not to be forbidden to receive the mystery of holy communion in her monthly time. But if out of great veneration she does not presume to receive, she is to be praised. But if she has received, she is not to be judged. For it belongs to good minds to acknowledge their faults in some manner even there where fault is not, because often that is done without fault which comes from fault. Whence also, when we hunger, we eat without fault — we for whom it was brought about by the fault of the first man that we hunger. For the monthly custom is not any fault in women, seeing that it happens naturally; but yet, in that nature itself has been vitiated, so that even without any purpose of the will it seems to be polluted, the defect comes from fault — wherein human nature recognizes itself, what it has been made by judgment; so that man, who committed the fault willingly, 498Cbears the guilt of the fault unwilling. And therefore let women consider themselves, and if in the monthly custom they do not presume to approach the sacrament of the Lord's body and blood, they are to be praised for their right consideration; but when, out of the custom of a religious life, they are carried away by love of that same mystery to receive it, they are not (as we have said before) to be restrained. »

And below. « But it must be weighed with a vigilant mind that on Mount Sinai the Lord, being about to speak to the people, first commanded that same people to abstain from women. And if there, where the Lord was speaking to men through a subject creature, cleanness of body was required with so great forethought that those who were to receive the words of God 498Dshould not be mingled with women, how much more ought women, who receive the body of almighty God, to keep in themselves the cleanness of the flesh, lest they be weighed down by the very greatness of the inestimable mystery? Hence also it is said to David, concerning his young men, by the priest, that if they were clean from women they should receive the loaves of proposition; which they would by no means have received, had not David confessed them to be clean. Then, moreover, 499Aa man, after intercourse with his wife, if he has been washed with water, may also receive the mystery of holy communion, since, according to the sentence defined above, it is lawful for him also to enter the church. » Likewise on the pollution of a dream (resp. II). « Such a man indeed the Testament of the old law calls polluted, and, unless he be washed with water, does not allow him to enter the church until evening. Which nevertheless the spiritual people, understanding it otherwise, take in this sense: that he is as it were deluded through a dream who, tempted by uncleanness, is defiled by vain images in his thought. But he must be washed with water, that he may wash away the faults of thought with tears, and, unless the fire of temptation first withdraw, let him acknowledge himself guilty, as it were until evening. But in this same delusion a discernment is very necessary, which you ought subtly to weigh: from what 499Bcause it befalls the mind of the sleeper. For sometimes it happens from surfeit, sometimes from the superfluity or infirmity of nature, sometimes from thought. And indeed, when it has come about from the superfluity or infirmity of nature, this delusion is by no means to be feared, because the mind is rather to be pitied for having suffered it unknowing than for having done it. But when the appetite of gluttony is carried beyond measure in taking food, and thereby the receptacles of the humors are burdened, the mind thence has some guilt — yet not so far as a prohibition of receiving the holy mystery, or of celebrating the solemnities of masses, when perchance either a feast day requires it, or necessity itself compels the mystery to be exhibited, because another priest is lacking in the place. For if others are present who can fulfill the ministry, the delusion brought about through surfeit 499Cought not to bar a man from the reception of the sacred mystery; but from the immolation of the sacred mystery he ought, as I judge, humbly to abstain — provided, that is, a foul imagination has not shaken the mind of the sleeper. For there are those in whom for the most part the delusion so arises that their mind, even set in the sleep of the body, is not defiled by foul imagination. In which matter one thing is there shown: that the mind itself is not then guilty, but free by its own judgment, when it remembers that, even with the body sleeping, it saw nothing, 500Ayet remembers that in the body's waking hours it fell into gluttony. But if the delusion of the sleeper arises from the foul thought of the waking man, his guilt is plain to his mind. For he sees from what root that defilement proceeded, who suffered unknowing what he had thought knowing.

When monks and other penitents ought to communicate, the holy Eucherius makes plain: « Let penance be given to the secular man, whose neck still hangs beneath the yoke of the world, and for him, who still serves the time, let the term be fixed according to the enormity of his sin or offense. But he who renounces the world and its warfare, and pledges himself to serve God all his days — why should he delay penance, who, made as it were a wild ass, follows after the vastness of the desert? As Job says: 500BWho hath sent out the wild ass free in the desert? Let him strongly beware of the lion, and in the wilderness be fed on dry herbs with a scanty cup (Job. XXXIX, 5). Let him lift his head into the air, and so let the breeze of the Holy Spirit allay the too-burning ardor of his thirst, lest, while he greatly desires the pleasant green places, hindered by excessive delights he incur peril of his salvation. Therefore for him who renounces, public penance is not necessary, because, being converted, he has groaned, and has entered into a covenant with the eternal God. From that day, therefore, his offenses which he committed in the world are not remembered — from the day on which he shall have promised God to do justice for the rest. Therefore, as to the bond whose debt the monk has promised in full faith to fulfill: even if, having become faithful, he sinned in the world, after his renunciation made anew let him not hesitate to receive the Lord's body, nor, 500Con the pretext of excessive humility, let him be kept long from the body and blood of him to whom he has joined himself, that he might make one body. Therefore let him not cease to communicate, who has ceased to sin — only, let him sin no more hereafter. For as that visible fire has in itself two certain powers, that is, to burn up things frail and to give light to things dark, so that fiery body of the Lord, when it has been taken with fear and great reverence, consumes indeed the offenses of the body, but gives light to the sense 501Aof the soul. And for this reason he ought to communicate the more frequently. But if there shall be, as it is written, leprosy in the skin, it shall be unclean — that is, sin in the monk; for Scripture signifies that the monk is the skin, mortifying his members upon the earth. Ashes have cleaved to his bones, and his flesh is changed because of the oil, and is weakened by fasting, and his knees wither like grass. Therefore if leprosy shall have been seen in this skin, it shall be unclean, and unless it be of hyacinth, or pure red, it will not be fit for the adornment of the tabernacle. »

These are the sentences of the holy Fathers, full of discretion, by which men and women are admonished when, and in what condition, they ought to approach the communion of the Eucharist. For of the sins on account of which we are commanded to abstain from the Eucharist, some drag us by the defect of nature 501Beven unwilling, others willing. For he was led unwilling by the law of sin who, groaning, complained: I see indeed another law in my members, fighting against the law of my mind, and taking me captive in the law of sin, which is in my members (Rom. VII, 23). Whence Gregory, singularly magnificent in discretion and eloquence, indulging human infirmity, granting to such persons access to the church and the communion of the Eucharist, consoles the one who grieves; because sometimes even against his will a man is polluted by a nocturnal dream, and a woman by her menses. By whose authority we learn that he who alone is conscious to himself in the work of sin shall alone be judge for himself, even after confession, in receiving the communion of the body and blood of Christ. But he who is willingly carried away by the law of sin — him the remembrance of his sins 501Cdoes not so much sadden as delight, because by consent he deliberates to sin. And therefore, as Augustine says: « He must be believed to be burdened rather than purged by the communion of the Eucharist, » seeing that he stands wholly in the affection of sinning. For every sin whatsoever that a man shall do is outside the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body (I Cor. VI, 18). It must therefore be known, concerning him who sins gladly whether against himself or against another, that he ought to be kept from communion, lest we seem to set our pearls before swine, and to be partakers also of another's perdition. And yet the example of Christ comes to mind, who reached the dipped bread to Judas the betrayer, of whom it is written that after the morsel Satan entered into him (Joan. XIII, 27). But he, as one not ignorant of secrets, 501Dreached forth the bread for the showing forth of the lost disciple; we, however, conscious of our own sins, should offer the Eucharist to a brother not for a showing forth, but for the commemoration of Christ. Whence Augustine (tract. 61 in Joan.): « Why dost thou wonder, if the bread of Christ was given to Judas, through which he should be made over to the devil, when thou seest, on the contrary, that an angel of the devil was given to Paul, through whom he should be perfected in Christ? Thus both the good thing harmed the evil man, and the evil thing profited the good man. It is written: Whosoever shall eat the bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord (I Cor. II, 27). If, therefore, he is here rebuked who does not discern — that is, does not distinguish the Lord's body from other foods — how is he condemned who, feigning himself a friend, comes to his 502Atable an enemy? If the negligence of the guest is touched with reproof, with what punishment is he stricken who sold the very host who invites? And what was the bread given to the betrayer, but a demonstration of the grace for which he had been ungrateful? Therefore after this bread Satan entered into the betrayer of the Lord, that he might more fully possess him, now given over to himself, into whom he had before entered that he might deceive him. »

GREGORY to JOHN the defender, among other things (GREG., lib. II, ep. 52):

« Since, therefore, bishop Stephen complains that certain things were fabricated in hatred of him, and that he was accused on false charges, and asserts that nothing was done in due order, but that he was unjustly 502Bcondemned, it must first be diligently inquired whether the trial was held in due order, and whether the accusers were one set of men and the witnesses another. Then the quality of the causes must be examined — whether it was such as deserved exile or deposition; and whether testimony was spoken against him upon oath in his presence, or the matter was transacted in writing; and whether he himself had liberty of answering and of defending himself. But concerning the persons of the accusers and of the witnesses also it must be minutely inquired of what condition and of what repute they are; whether they be not paupers, or whether perchance they had any enmities against the bishop; and whether they spoke their testimony from hearsay, or indeed testified that they knew it of their own particular knowledge; and whether judgment was given in writing, and the sentence read out in the presence of the parties. But if perchance these things were not solemnly done, and no cause 502Cwas proved which is worthy of exile or deposition, let him by all means be recalled to his church; and let those who condemned him against the fear of God and the statutes of the canons be excommunicated and sent into a monastery to do penance for six months — with this proviso, indeed, that if the peril of death should chance to hang over any of them, the blessing of the viaticum be not denied. But he himself who, while the other was living, rashly sought his place, deprived of the priesthood, is to be driven from every ecclesiastical ministry, and handed over to that same most beloved brother and fellow bishop of ours, so that by ecclesiastical judgment he may either send him over to us, or keep him in custody with himself. And the bishops who presumed to ordain him, or lent their consent to his perverse ordination, deprived of communion, are to be assigned to a monastery for six 502Dmonths to do penance. But if the bishops shall have professed that in the prejudgment of the condemnation or deposition of the aforesaid Stephen they consented through fear of the judge, and did such things not of their own accord, the time is to be shortened for them, and the measure of the penance tempered. »

Likewise, concerning a certain bishop accused of a crime, and whether an extorted confession does him harm.

GREGORY to CONSTANTIUS of Milan (lib. VIII, ep. 30):

« Having read again the letters which you sent to us by Marianus, the bearer of these presents, we have written back that your solicitude was pleasing to us, in that you by no means bore to dissemble the things which had come to you concerning our brother and fellow bishop Pompeius, 503Awho is still so to be named. But if there had been such fineness in the sifting as there was care in the inquiry, nothing of what was said about him would have been doubtful; rather it would have lain open whether it was true, or fabricated; for already, long since, in Sicily, before our brother Maximianus of reverend memory, such a question, as we have learned, was raised against him. But because his cause was sought out with an altogether fine investigation, he who had been accused of the crime was found innocent. Now therefore, since the things which were said against him were not inquired into with that strictness which was fitting, and the acts which were thereupon drawn up before your fraternity are proved to be able to suffice neither for his condemnation nor for his absolution: 503Bno light matter is at stake, that it should be settled incautiously or in passing. For it is grave enough, and unseemly, that in a doubtful matter a certain sentence be pronounced. And these acts indeed could have been fit for a decision, if the confession of the accused had followed upon them — if, that is, the fineness of the examination drew that same confession out of things hidden, and vehement affliction did not extort it; which frequently brings this about, that even the innocent are compelled to confess themselves guilty. For since the aforesaid bishop, as is said, asserts that he was tortured by imprisonment and consumed with hunger, you ought to know, if it is so, whether a confession thus extorted does harm. Is it not the case that, when such causes receive sentence, and appeal is made to the apostolic see, the person who is judged is also present, and 503Cthe truth is sought most strictly and from every side, so that then it may be decreed whether the sentence ought to stand? And further, if the aforesaid bishop should wish to appeal to the apostolic see, his cause is to be searched into more inwardly and with all diligence. And therefore, since both the person is absent, and the acts which you sent to us do not, as we have said before, appear to satisfy us adequately, we ought not rashly to decree anything concerning the person of the bishop — nor can we — lest (which God forbid!) we be found blameworthy in our own judgments, we to whom it belongs by right to review the sentences of others. »

Likewise, concerning a bishop whom he reproved for not having sent serviceable men in his cause, and who, an oath having been taken, returned into favor.

503DGREGORY to MAXIMUS bishop of Salona (lib. II, ep. 13): « Other letters indeed we had written to your fraternity before; but also at the time when we wished to release your men, whom you sent to us, I find that you wrote to certain of ours that you had by no means sent Veteranus the presbyter and Optatus the defender in the cause at that time, and that therefore the things which were transacted with them ought not to stand. But Thomas, the defender of your church, did not report that this word was spoken by you. For which reason we judge that not even the bearers of these presents are now to be believed, lest after these the like be said of them also. Since therefore this has made us doubt greatly, and has forewarned us that we ought to be cautious: if you wish henceforth to plead your cause fully furnished, 504Asend over a person with a mandate legally drawn up, confirmed by the subscriptions of yourself and of the presbyters and deacons and witnesses, with the acts entered upon it according to custom, so that whatever shall be done in the matter may be able to stand in law. For we are prepared, God helping, to observe in all things what is just and lawful, not only toward you, but toward all — only do you not omit to do what is commanded by law. »

Likewise, GREGORY to CASTORIUS, notary and chartulary of Ravenna (lib. VII, ep. 81, ind. 2): « The more you see that trust is placed in you by us, and that necessary causes are enjoined upon you, the more vigorous and solicitous you ought to show yourself. Accordingly, if Maximus of Salona, having taken an oath, shall have affirmed that he is not held by the simoniac heresy; and concerning the other matters, being merely questioned before the body of Saint Apollinaris, 504Bshall have answered that he is innocent; and shall have done penance for his disobedience, as we have appointed: we will that, to console him, your experience should give him the letter which we wrote to him, wherein we have signified that we have restored to him both our favor and communion; because, as it befits us to be severe toward those who persist in contumacy, so again we ought not to deny the place of pardon to those who are humbled and penitent. »

A certain bishop purged himself of a crime by oath before the body of blessed Peter. GREGORY to JUSTINIAN [ al., JUSTINUM] (lib. II, ep. 23): « This the envy of the ancient enemy has as its own property: that those whom, God resisting him, he cannot deceive into the perpetration of wicked deeds, he, by feigning false things for the present, 504Ctears their good name to pieces. Since, therefore, a sinister rumor had scattered certain things, contrary to the priestly profession, about Leo our brother and fellow bishop, we caused strict and prolonged inquiry to be made whether they were true; and we found in him no fault as to the things that had been said. But that nothing might seem to be omitted which could remain doubtful to our heart, we caused him to offer oaths at the most sacred body of blessed Peter. When these had been taken, we rejoiced with great exultation, that by a trial of this kind his innocence shone forth evidently. Wherefore let your glory receive the aforesaid man with all charity, and show him such reverence as befits a priest; and let no doubt remain in your heart concerning the things that have been purged; but it behooves you most devotedly 504Dto cleave to the above-written bishop in all things, so that you may be seen fittingly and becomingly to honor God in the person of him whose minister he is. »

From the constitution, chapter 9: « Let no bishop be compelled to come to court for the sake of giving testimony, but let the judge send his ministers to the bishop, so that, the holy Gospels being set forth, the bishop may say what he knows, according to what is honorable for priests. »

Chapter 10: « Let no bishop, whether for a civil or for a criminal cause, be brought or produced before any judge, whether 505Acivil or military, unless an imperial order shall have gone before. For the magistrate who shall have dared to command this shall be punished with the loss of his belt and a fine of twenty pounds of gold, so that these twenty pounds be adjudged to the church whose bishop was ordered to be brought or produced. And let the executor of the suit, after the loss of his belt, be subjected to torments and sent into exile. »

Chapter 37: « If a cleric, or anyone else, prefers to be heard against a bishop on account of any cause whatsoever, let their metropolitan first decide it according to the holy rules and our laws; and if anyone contradicts what has been judged, let the matter be referred to the patriarch of that region 505B, and let him, according to the canons and the law, put an end to it. If anyone wishes to proceed against the metropolitan, let the patriarch of that region decide the business. Whatever bishop is accused before any judge, let him by no means be compelled to give any surety or promise for the suit — yet so that he take pains to dissolve the claims and causes of the plaintiff. »

Chapter 33. « If a presbyter and a deacon shall have given false testimony in a pecuniary cause, let them not be subjected to torments, but for three years let them be separated from the divine ministry, and handed over to a monastery. If they shall have given false testimony in criminal causes, stripped of the honor of the clerical estate, let them be subjected to the lawful penalties. 505CBut the other clerics of lower rank, for any false testimony whatsoever, stripped of the ecclesiastical order, are to be subjected to the lawful corrections. If anyone has any action against a cleric, or a monk, or a deaconess, or a monastery, or an archisterium, let him first go to the most religious bishop to whom each of them is subject; and let him decide the matter as regards them. But if one of the litigants contradicts what has been judged, and the bishop takes cognizance of it by imperial or judicial order, let it be referred to the emperor or to the judge who gave the order. If out of an ecclesiastical judgment the same canonical cause shall have emerged, let not the magistrate, but the religious bishop, according to the sacred canons, put an end to the business. »

505DGregory, in Homily 37 on the Gospels: « Weigh, brethren, how kind it is that he who by his coming is able to crush us delays to come. Let us send to him our embassy — by weeping, by giving, by offering the sacred victims. For singularly does the victim of the sacred altar, offered with tears and with kindness of mind, plead for our absolution; because he who, rising in himself from the dead, now dies no more, still through it suffers again for us in his mystery. For as often as we offer to him the victim of his passion, so often do we renew his passion for our absolution. » 506AOf which thing the same doctor subjoined an example, when he told of a certain man bound in captivity, how often he was loosed. His wife, he says, thinking him to be dead, offered the sacrifice for him every week; and, as he himself afterwards learned when he had returned home, he was loosed as often as the saving victim was offered for him. »

Augustine, On the Words of the Lord, Homily 19: « To serve as a soldier is not a fault; but to serve as a soldier for the sake of plunder is a sin. Nor is it criminal to administer the commonwealth; but so to conduct the commonwealth that you rather increase your family estate — this appears damnable. And for this reason, by a certain providence, pay has been established for soldiers, lest, while support is being sought, plunder 506Brun riot. But what sort of thing is this, [si] when they are reproved by their elders for some error, and it is charged against one of them why he was drunk, why he seized other men's goods, why in his turbulence he committed slaughter, he straightway answers: What was a secular man and a soldier to do? Have I professed myself a monk or a cleric? As though, for every man who is not a cleric or a monk, that could be lawful for him which is not lawful. »

« It is said according to the Gospel: The soldiers also questioned John: And what shall we do? John says to them: Do violence to no man, neither bring false accusation, but be content with your pay (Luc. III, 14). Here now he who serves as a soldier ought to recognize himself. For Scripture speaks not only of those soldiers 506Cwho are held in armed military service, but whoever wears the belt of his own service is enrolled a soldier of his own dignity. And this sentence can be addressed, for example, to soldiers, to protectors, and to all rulers. For whoever obtains the pay publicly decreed to him, if he seeks more, is condemned by the sentence of John as a false accuser and an extortioner. But this evil has grown so insolent that now, as if by custom, the laws are sold, rights are corrupted, the sentence itself is venal, and no cause can now be without a cause. »

« This sentence, which speaks to soldiers, can also be turned back upon clerics; because, even if they seem not to serve as soldiers of the world, yet they serve God as soldiers, as 506Dthe Apostle says: No man that warreth for God entangleth himself with secular business (II Tim. II, 4). We seem, I say, not to be soldiers, with our loose and flowing tunics: but we have the belt of our service, wherewith we may bind fast the inward parts of chastity. Of which belt the Lord says: Let your loins be girt, and burning lamps in your hands (Luc. XII, 35). For the catholic cleric too is held by this sentence. For if he is not content with the pay which he obtains from the altar at the Lord's command, but plies a trade, sells intercessions to the Lord, and embraces gladly the gifts 507Aof widows, he can seem a trader rather than a cleric. Nor can we say: No one charges us as invaders with violence; no one accuses us. As though blandishments 508Adid not sometimes entice a greater prey from widows than torments. Nor does it matter with the Lord whether a man seize other men's goods by force or by circumvention, so long as by any bargain whatsoever he holds what is another's. »