Canons 22–35

Canon 22. We order that those who are ordained for money, whether bishops or of any rank at all, and not after examination and on the strength of their way of life, are to be deposed, together with those who ordained them.

Canon 23. No one, whether bishop, presbyter or deacon, when giving the immaculate communion, is to demand fees of any kind from the one who receives it. For grace is not to be sold, nor do we give the sanctification of the Holy Spirit for money; it is to be given in all simplicity to those who are worthy of the gift. But if any of those enrolled among the clergy makes demands on those to whom he gives communion, let him be deposed, as an imitator of the error and wickedness of Simon. [a]

Canon 24. No one on the priestly list, and no monk, is allowed to take part in horse races or to attend theatrical shows. If a clergyman is invited to a wedding, as soon as the entertainments begin let him get up and leave, for so the teaching of our fathers orders. And if anyone is convicted of such an offense, let him stop or be deposed. [b]

Canon 25. Moreover we renew the canon which orders that rural parishes and those in the provinces are to remain subject to the bishops who held them, especially if they have governed them without opposition for thirty years. But if within thirty years there has been, or should be, any dispute on the point, those who think themselves wronged may bring the matter to the provincial synod. [c]

Canon 26. If a presbyter has through ignorance entered into an unlawful marriage, he keeps the right to his place, as we have defined in the sacred canons, but he must abstain from all priestly work. For it is enough that such a man is shown indulgence. He is unfit to bless another who needs to take care of his own wounds, for blessing is the passing on of sanctification. How can someone pass this on to another when he does not have it himself, because of a sin of ignorance? So neither in public nor in private can he bless, or distribute the body of Christ to others, or perform any other ministry. But, content with his seat of honor, let him mourn before the Lord that his sin of ignorance may be forgiven. For it is clear that the wicked marriage must be dissolved, and the man can have no intercourse with the woman on whose account he is deprived of carrying out his priesthood. [d]

Canon 27. None of those on the list of the clergy is to wear clothes unsuited to him, either while living in town or on a journey; they are to wear the clothes assigned to those who belong to the clergy. And if anyone breaks this canon, he is to be cut off for one week.

Canon 28. We understand that in several churches grapes are brought to the altar, according to a custom that has long prevailed, and that the ministers join them with the unbloody sacrifice of the offering and distribute both to the people together. We decree that no priest is to do this in future, but is to give the people the offering alone, to give life to their souls and for the forgiveness of their sins. But as for offering grapes as firstfruits, the priests may bless them separately from the offering and give them to those who ask for them, as an act of thanksgiving to the Giver of the fruits by which, according to his divine decree, our bodies grow and are fed. And if any cleric breaks this decree, let him be deposed. [e]

Canon 29. A canon of the synod of Carthage says that the holy mysteries of the altar are to be celebrated only by men who are fasting, except on the one day in the year on which the Supper of the Lord is celebrated. At that time, perhaps because of certain circumstances in those places that served the church, even the holy fathers themselves made use of this allowance. But since nothing leads us to give up strict observance, we decree that the apostolic tradition and that of the fathers is to be followed. And we define that it is not right to break the fast on the Thursday of the last week of Lent, and so dishonor the whole of Lent. [f]

Canon 30. Wishing to do everything for the building up of the church, we have decided to provide even for the priests who are in the barbarian churches. If they think they ought to go further than the apostolic canon about not putting away a wife on the pretext of piety and religion, and to do more than is commanded, and so by agreement with their wives abstain from living with them, we decree that they are no longer to live with them in any way at all, so that by this they may give us complete proof of their promise. But we have granted this to them for no other reason than their narrow outlook and their foreign and unsettled ways. [g]

Canon 31. We decree that clerics who celebrate the holy mysteries or baptize in chapels inside houses ought to do this with the consent of the bishop of the place. So if any cleric has not done so, let him be deposed. [h]

Canon 32. It has come to our knowledge that in the region of Armenia they offer wine alone on the holy table, and those who celebrate the unbloody sacrifice do not mix water with it. As their authority for this they cite John Chrysostom, a teacher of the church, who says in his commentary on the Gospel according to Saint Matthew:

“And why did he drink not water, but wine, after he had risen again? To pull up by the roots another wicked heresy. For since there are some who use water in the mysteries, he shows that both when he gave the mysteries he had given wine, and when he had risen and was setting before them a plain meal without the mysteries, he used wine, ‘of the fruit,’ he says, ‘of the vine.’ But a vine produces wine, not water.” And from this they think that the teacher overturns the mixing of water into the holy sacrifice. Now, so that from now on they may not be kept in ignorance on this point, we lay open the orthodox meaning of the father. There was an ancient and wicked heresy of the Hydroparastatae, that is, of those who offered water, who used water instead of wine in their sacrifice. This holy writer was refuting the detestable teaching of that heresy and showing that it is directly opposed to apostolic tradition when he said what has just been quoted. For in his own church, where the pastoral charge had been given him, he ordered that water mixed with wine be used at the unbloody sacrifice, so as to show the mingling of the blood and water that poured from the precious side of Christ our Redeemer for the life of the whole world and the redemption of its sins. And moreover, in every church where spiritual light has shone, this divinely given order is kept. [i]

For James too, the brother according to the flesh of Christ our God, to whom the throne of the church of Jerusalem was first entrusted, and Basil, archbishop of the church of Caesarea, whose glory has spread through all the world, when they handed down to us in writing directions for the mystical sacrifice, declared that the holy cup is consecrated in the divine liturgy with water and wine. And the holy fathers who assembled at Carthage laid down in these express words: “That in the holy mysteries nothing besides the body and blood of the Lord be offered, as the Lord himself laid down, that is, bread and wine mixed with water.” Therefore, if any bishop or presbyter does not perform the holy action according to what has been handed down by the apostles, and does not offer the sacrifice with wine mixed with water, let him be deposed, as one who shows forth the mystery imperfectly and makes innovations in what has been handed down. [k]

Canon 33. We know that in the region of the Armenians only those of priestly descent are appointed to the orders of the clergy, in this following Jewish customs, and that some who have not even received the tonsure are appointed to succeed singers and readers of the divine law. We therefore decree that from now on it is not to be lawful for those who wish to bring anyone into the clergy to look at the descent of the man to be ordained. Instead let them examine whether such men are worthy, according to the decrees set out in the holy canons, to be placed on the list of the clergy, so that they may be advanced in the church whether they are of priestly descent or not. Moreover, let them not allow anyone at all to read from the ambo in the order of those enrolled in the clergy unless he has received the priestly tonsure and the canonical blessing of his own pastor. But if anyone is seen acting against these directions, let him be cut off. [l]

Canon 34. The priestly canon sets this out plainly: the crime of conspiracy or secret association is forbidden even by the laws outside the church, and much more ought it to be forbidden in the church. We too are quick to keep this, and so, in future, if any clerics or monks are found conspiring or forming secret associations, or plotting anything against bishops or clergy, they are to lose their rank altogether. [m]

Canon 35. No metropolitan is to be allowed, on the death of a bishop of his province, to take for himself or to sell the private property of the dead bishop or that of the widowed church. These are to be kept by the clergy of the diocese over which he presided until another bishop is elected, unless no clergy are left in that church. In that case the metropolitan is to protect the property without any loss, and hand over everything to the bishop when he is appointed. [n]