The Second Canonical Letter of Basil to Amphilochius

Canon 17. I made a canon that those at Antioch who had sworn not to perform the sacred duties of their office should not perform them in public, but only in private. As for Bianor, he has been moved from there to Iconium, and so he is more at liberty; but let him repent of the rash oath he made to an unbeliever to escape a small danger. [a] Canon 18. The ancients received a professed virgin who had married as one guilty of a second marriage, that is, after one year’s penance. But such women ought to be dealt with more severely than widows who have vowed to live chastely, and even as adulterers. They ought not to be admitted to profess virginity until they are over sixteen or seventeen years of age, after a period of trial, and at their own earnest request. For relatives often offer girls who are under age, for worldly purposes of their own; such girls ought not to be admitted easily. [b] Canon 19. Men who become monks seem to promise celibacy silently, yet they do not promise it in so many words. I think it right that they too be questioned, and that a profession be required of them, so that if they turn to a life of the flesh they may be punished as fornicators. Canon 20. Women who professed virginity, even if they married while they were heretics or catechumens, are pardoned by baptism. What people do while they are catechumens is never held against them. [c]

Canon 21. A married man who commits sexual sin with an unmarried woman is punished severely as guilty of fornication, but we have no canon for treating such a man as an adulterer; and the wife must go on living with him. But if the wife commits sexual sin, she is divorced, and the man who keeps her is held to be ungodly. Such is the custom, but the reason for it is not clear. Canon 22. Those who have carried off virgins and will not give them back are to be treated as fornicators. They are to be mourners for one year, hearers the second, received into repentance the third, and co-standers the fourth, and then admitted to the communion of the Good Thing. If the virgins are given back to the men they were betrothed to, it is up to those men whether to marry them or not; if they are given back to their guardians, it is up to the guardians whether to give them in marriage to their abductors or not. [d] Canon 23. A man ought not to marry two sisters, nor a woman two brothers. One who marries his brother’s wife is not to be admitted until he sends her away. Canon 24. A widow enrolled on the list of widows, that is, a deaconess sixty years old, who marries is not to be admitted to the communion of the Good Thing until she stops her uncleanness. But for a widower who marries, no penance is set other than that for a second marriage. If the widow is under sixty, it is the fault of the bishop who admitted her as a deaconess, not of the woman. [f] Canon 25. A man who marries a woman he has seduced is to be under penance for seducing her, but he may keep her as his wife. Canon 26. Fornication is neither marriage nor the beginning of marriage. If it can be done, it is better that those who have committed fornication together be parted; but if they are passionately in love, let them not be separated, for fear of something worse.

Canon 27. As for the priest who has entered an unlawful marriage through ignorance, I have decreed that he keep the honor of his seat but refrain from all sacred acts. He is not to give the blessing, either in private or in public, nor give the Body of Christ to another, nor perform any liturgy. Let him lament before the Lord and before men, so that his sin of ignorance may be forgiven. Canon 28. It is ridiculous to vow not to eat pork, and there is no need to abstain from it. Canon 29. Rulers ought not to swear oaths to wrong their subjects. Such rash oaths ought to be repented of, and evil is not to be justified under the pretext of religion. Canon 30. Those who carry off women, together with their accomplices, are not to be admitted to the prayers, nor to be co-standers, for three years. Where no force is used, no crime is committed, unless there has been sexual sin in the case. A widow is free to decide for herself. We must pay no attention to empty pretexts.

Canon 31. A woman whose husband is away from home, if she lives with another man before she is convinced of her husband’s death, commits adultery. Canon 32. A clergyman who is deposed for a mortal sin is not to be excommunicated. Canon 33. A woman who gives birth to a child on a journey and takes no care of it is to be held guilty of murder. Canon 34. When women are under penance for adultery, whether on their own confession or convicted in some other way, their crime is not to be made public, in case it leads to their death; but they are to remain out of communion for the appointed time. Canon 35. If a woman leaves her husband, and on inquiry it appears that she did so without reason, she deserves to be punished; but let him remain in communion. Canon 36. A soldier’s wife who marries after her husband has been away a long time, but before she has been assured of his death, is more deserving of pardon than another woman, because it is more believable that he may be dead. Canon 37. A man who has had another man’s wife or betrothed taken away from him, and then marries another woman, is guilty of adultery with the first, not with the second. [g] Canon 38. If a woman runs off after the man who seduced her, she is to be under penance for three years, even if her parents are reconciled to her. Canon 39. A woman who goes on living with an adulterer is an adulteress for the whole of that time. Canon 40. A slave woman who gives herself to the will of a man without her master’s consent commits fornication; for agreements made by those who are under the power of others are void.

Canon 41. A widow, being free to decide for herself, may marry whomever she wishes. Canon 42. When slaves marry without their masters’ consent, or children without their fathers’ consent, it is not marriage but fornication, until those in authority confirm it by giving their consent. Canon 43. One who gives another a fatal wound is a murderer, whether he struck first or did it in his own defense. Canon 44. A deaconess who has committed sexual sin with a pagan is not to be received to communion, but is to be admitted to the offering in the seventh year, that is, if she lives in chastity. The pagan who, after professing the faith, turns back to sacrilege returns like the dog to his vomit. We therefore do not allow the sacred body of a deaconess to be used sexually. [h] Canon 45. One who takes the name of Christian but insults Christ will gain no advantage from the name. Canon 46. A woman who marries a man whose wife had left him for a time, and who is then sent away when his former wife returns, has committed fornication, but in ignorance. She is not to be forbidden to marry, but it is better that she does not. Canon 47. The Encratites, Saccophori and Apotactites are in the same case as the Novatians. We rebaptize them all. The canons concerning the Novatians differ, and there is no canon about the others. If this is forbidden among you, as it is at Rome for reasons of policy, still let reason prevail. They are an offshoot of the Marcionites; and though they baptize in the name of the three divine Persons, they make God the author of evil and claim that wine and the creatures of God are defiled. The bishops ought to meet and explain the canon in such a way that one who baptizes such heretics may be out of danger, and that one may have a definite answer to give to those who ask. [i] Canon 48. A woman sent away by her husband ought, in my judgment, to remain unmarried. Canon 49. If a slave woman is forced by her master, she is innocent. Canon 50. We look on third marriages as a disgrace to the church, but we do not condemn them outright, since they are better than promiscuous fornication. [j]