Laodicea, Canons 2–59

Canon 2. Those who have sinned in various ways, if they have persevered in the prayer of confession and penance and have turned completely away from their faults, are to be received back into communion through the mercy and goodness of God. This is to be after a time of penance has been set for them, in proportion to the nature of their offense. [a]

Canon 3. Someone who has been recently baptized ought not to be advanced to the priestly order. [b]

Canon 4. Those of the priestly order ought not to lend at interest and collect it, nor take what are called hemioliae. [c]

Canon 5. Ordinations are not to be held in the presence of the hearers. [d]

Canon 6. Heretics are not permitted to enter the house of God while they continue in their heresy.

Canon 7. People converted from heresies, that is, from the Novatians, the Photinians and the Quartodecimans, whether they were catechumens or communicants among them, are not to be received until they have anathematized every heresy, and especially the one in which they were held. After that, those among them who were called communicants, once they have thoroughly learned the creeds of the faith and have been anointed with the holy chrism, are then to receive communion in the holy mysteries. [e]

Canon 8. People converted from the heresy of those called Phrygians, even if they were counted among their clergy, and even if they were called the very highest of them, are to be carefully instructed and baptized by the bishops and presbyters of the church. [h]

Canon 9. Members of the church are not allowed to meet in the cemeteries, or to attend the so-called martyries, of any of the heretics, for prayer or for service. Those who do so, if they are communicants, are to be excommunicated for a time. But if they repent and confess that they have sinned, they are to be received. [i]

Canon 10. Members of the church must not give their children in marriage to heretics indiscriminately.

Canon 11. Those called presbytides, or women presidents, are not to be appointed in the church. [j]

Canon 12. Bishops are to be appointed to govern the church by the judgment of the metropolitans and the neighboring bishops, after they have long been tested both in the grounding of their faith and in an honest way of life. [k]

Canon 13. The election of those who are to be appointed to the priesthood is not to be left to the crowd.

Canon 14. The holy things are not to be sent into other dioceses at the feast of Easter as eulogiae. [l]

Canon 15. No one else is to sing in the church except the canonical singers, who go up into the ambo and sing from a book. [m]

Canon 16. On the Sabbath, that is, Saturday, the Gospels are to be read along with the other Scriptures.

Canon 17. In the assemblies the psalms are not to be run together one after another; a reading is to come between each psalm and the next. [n]

Canon 18. The same service of prayers is always to be said, both at the ninth hour and at evening. [o]

Canon 19. After the bishops’ sermons, the prayer for the catechumens is to be said first, by itself. After the catechumens have gone out, the prayer for those who are under penance is said. After these have come under the bishop’s hand and departed, the three prayers of the faithful are then to be offered: the first said entirely in silence, the second and third aloud. Then the kiss of peace is to be given. After the presbyters have given the kiss of peace to the bishop, the lay people are to give it to one another, and so the holy offering is to be completed. Only those of the priesthood may go up to the altar and receive communion there. [p]

Canon 20. It is not right for a deacon to sit in the presence of a presbyter unless the presbyter tells him to sit down. In the same way, the deacons are to be honored by the subdeacons and all the lower clergy. [r]

Canon 21. The subdeacons have no right to a place in the diaconicum, nor to touch the Lord’s vessels. [s]

Canon 22. The subdeacon has no right to wear an orarium, that is, a stole, nor to leave the doors. [t]

Canon 23. The readers and singers have no right to wear an orarium, nor to read or sing wearing one. [u]

Canon 24. No one of the priesthood, from presbyters to deacons, and so on down the church’s order to subdeacons, readers, singers, exorcists and doorkeepers, nor any of the class of the ascetics, ought to enter a tavern. [v]

Canon 25. A subdeacon must not give the bread, nor bless the cup.

Canon 26. Those who have not been appointed to that office by the bishop ought not to perform exorcisms, either in churches or in private houses. [w]

Canon 27. No one of the priesthood, no clergyman and no layman who is invited to a love feast may carry away his portion, for this brings reproach on the church’s order. [x]

Canon 28. It is not permitted to hold love feasts, as they are called, in the houses of the Lord, that is, the churches, nor to eat and spread couches in the house of God. [y]

Canon 29. Christians must not judaize by resting on the Sabbath. They must work on that day, and instead honor the Lord’s day, resting then, if they can, as Christians. But if any are found to be judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ. [z]

Canon 30. No one of the priesthood, no cleric of lower rank, no ascetic, and no Christian or layman, is to wash in a bath together with women, for this is the greatest reproach among the pagans. [n28]

Canon 31. It is not lawful to make marriages with heretics of any kind, nor to give our sons and daughters to them. Rather, we may take from among them in marriage, if they promise to become Christians.

Canon 32. It is unlawful to receive the eulogiae of heretics, for they are alogiai, follies, rather than eulogiae, blessings. [n29]

Canon 33. No one is to join in prayer with heretics or schismatics. [n30]

Canon 34. No Christian is to forsake the martyrs of Christ and turn to false martyrs, that is, to those of the heretics, or to those who were formerly heretics, for they are strangers to God. Therefore let those who go after them be anathema. [n31]

Canon 35. Christians must not forsake the church of God and go off to invoke angels and gather assemblies, for these things are forbidden. If, therefore, anyone is found engaged in this hidden idolatry, let him be anathema, for he has forsaken our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and has gone over to idolatry. [n32]

Canon 36. Those of the priesthood or of the clergy must not be magicians, enchanters, casters of horoscopes or astrologers, nor make what are called amulets, which are chains for their own souls. And those who wear such things, we command to be cast out of the church. [n34]

Canon 37. It is not lawful to receive portions sent from the feasts of Jews or heretics, nor to feast together with them.

Canon 38. It is not lawful to receive unleavened bread from the Jews, nor to share in their impiety. [n35]

Canon 39. It is not lawful to feast together with the pagans and to share in their godlessness. [n36]

Canon 40. Bishops called to a synod must not treat the summons with contempt. They must attend, and either teach or be taught, for the reform of the church and of others. If any of them treats it with contempt, he will condemn himself, unless ill health keeps him away.

Canon 41. No one of the priesthood or of the clergy may go on a journey unless the bishop directs it.

Canon 42. No one of the priesthood or of the clergy may travel without canonical letters. [n37]

Canon 43. The subdeacons may not leave the doors to take part in the prayer, even for a short time. [n38]

Canon 44. Women may not go to the altar.

Canon 45. Candidates for baptism are not to be received after the second week of Lent. [n39]

Canon 46. Those who are to be baptized must learn the faith, that is, the creed, by heart, and recite it to the bishop or to the presbyters on the fifth day of the week. [n40]

Canon 47. Those who are baptized during an illness and afterward recover must learn the creed by heart, and must know that the divine gifts have been granted to them.

Canon 48. Those who are baptized must be anointed after baptism with the heavenly chrism, and be sharers in the kingdom of Christ. [n41]

Canon 49. During Lent the bread must not be offered except on the Sabbath and on the Lord’s day. [n42]

Canon 50. The fast must not be broken on the fifth day of the last week of Lent, Maundy Thursday, so dishonoring the whole of Lent. It is necessary to fast through the whole Lenten season, eating only dry food. [n43]

Canon 51. The birthdays of the martyrs are not to be celebrated during Lent; instead, the holy martyrs are to be commemorated on the Sabbaths and the Lord’s Days. [n45]

Canon 52. Weddings and birthday feasts are not to be celebrated during Lent.

Canon 53. When Christians attend weddings, they must not join in indecent dances, but should dine or breakfast modestly, as befits Christians.

Canon 54. Members of the priesthood and of the clergy must not watch the plays put on at weddings or banquets. Before the performers come in, they must get up and leave.

Canon 55. Neither members of the priesthood nor of the clergy, nor lay people either, may pool their money for drinking parties.

Canon 56. Presbyters may not go in and take their seats in the bema before the bishop comes in. They must enter with the bishop, unless he is ill at home or away. [n46]

Canon 57. Bishops must not be appointed in villages or country districts, but visitors instead. Those who have already been appointed must do nothing without the consent of the bishop of the city. Presbyters, likewise, must do nothing without the consent of the bishop. [n47]

Canon 58. Bishops and presbyters must not make the offering in private houses. [n48]

Canon 59. No psalms composed by private individuals, and no books outside the canon, may be read in the church, but only the canonical books of the Old and New Testaments. [n49]