2. What the abbot should be like. An abbot who is worthy to preside over a monastery ought always to remember what he is called and to carry out in his deeds the name of a superior. For in the monastery he is believed to be Christ's representative, since he is called by His name, the Apostle saying: "We have received the spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry Abba, Father" [Rom. 8:15]. And so the abbot ought not (and oh that he may not!) teach or decree or order anything apart from the precepts of the Lord; but his order or teaching should be sprinkled with the leaven of divine justice in the minds of his disciples.… No distinctions of persons shall be made by him in the monastery. One shall not be loved by him more than another, unless the one whom he finds excelling in good work and obedience. A free-born man shall not be preferred to one coming from servitude, unless there be some reasonable cause. But when it is just and it seems good to the abbot he shall show preference no matter what the rank shall be. But otherwise they shall keep their own places; for, whether we be bound or free, we are all one in Christ, and under God we perform an equal service of subjection; for God is no respecter of persons [Acts 10:34].…

3. Concerning calling the brethren to take counsel. As often as anything unusual is to be done in the monastery, let the abbot call together the whole congregation and himself explain the question before them. And having heard the advice of the brethren, he shall consider it by himself, and let him do what he judges most advantageous. And for this reason, moreover, we have said that all ought to be called to take counsel; because it is often to a younger person that the Lord reveals what is best. The brethren, moreover, ought, with all humble subjection, to give their advice so that they do not too boldly presume to defend what seems good to them, but it should rather depend upon the judgment of the abbot; so that, whatever he decides upon as the more salutary, they should all agree to it.…

4. Concerning the instruments of good works.

5. Concerning obedience. The first grade of humility is prompt obedience. This becomes those who, on account of the holy service which they professed, or on account of the fear of hell or the glory of eternal life, consider nothing dearer to them than Christ; so that as soon as anything is commanded by their superior, they may not know how to suffer delay in doing it, even as if it were a divine command.…

6. _Concerning silence._ 7. _Concerning humility._ 8. _Concerning the Divine Offices at night._ 9. _How many Psalms are to be said at night._ 10. _How in summer the Nocturnal Praises shall be carried on._ 11. _How Vigils shall be conducted on Sunday._ 12. _Concerning the order of Matins on Sunday._ 13. _Concerning the order of Matins on week days._ 14. _Concerning the order of Vigils on Saints' days._ 15. _Concerning the occasions when the Alleluias shall be said._ 16. _Concerning the order of Divine Worship during the day._ 17. _On the number of Psalms to be said at these times._ 18. _Concerning the order in which the Psalms are to be said._ 19. _Concerning the art of singing._ 20. _Concerning the reverence in prayer._ 21. _Concerning _ the Deans of monasteries._ 22. _How monks shall sleep._ 23. _Concerning excommunication for faults._ 24. _What ought to be the measure of excommunication._ 25. _Concerning graver faults._ 26. _Concerning those who without being ordered by the Abbot, associate with the excommunicated._ 27. _What care the Abbot should exercise with regard to the excommunicated._ 28. _Concerning those who, being often rebuked, do not amend._ 29. _Whether brothers who leave the monastery ought to be received back._ 30. _Concerning boys under age, how they should be corrected._ 31. _Concerning the Cellarer of the monastery, what sort of person he should be._ 32. _Concerning the utensils or property of the monastery._

33. Whether monks should have anything of their own. More than anything else is this special vice to be cut off root and branch from the monastery, that one should presume to give or receive anything without order from the abbot, or should have anything of his own; he should have absolutely nothing, neither a book nor tablets nor a pen, nothing at all—for indeed it is not allowed to have their own bodies or wills in their own power. But all things necessary they must receive from the father of the monastery; nor is it allowable to have anything which the abbot has not given or permitted.…

34. Whether all ought to receive necessaries equally. 35. Concerning the weekly officers of the kitchen. 36. Concerning infirm brothers. 37. Mitigation of the rule for the very old and the very young. 38. Concerning the weekly reader.

39. Concerning the amount of food. We believe, moreover, that for the daily refection of the sixth and for that of the ninth hour as well two cooked dishes, on account of the infirmities of the different ones, are enough in all months for all tables; so that whoever, perchance, cannot eat of one may partake of the other. Therefore let two cooked dishes suffice for all the brethren; and if it is possible to obtain apples or fresh vegetables, a third may be added. One full pound of bread shall suffice for a day, whether there be one refection or breakfast and supper. But if they are to have supper, the third part of that same pound shall be reserved by the cellarer to be given back to those when they are about to sup. But if perchance some greater labor shall have been performed, it shall be in the will and power of the abbot, if it is expedient, to increase anything.… But to younger boys the same quantity shall not be served, but less than to the older ones, as moderation is to be observed in all things. But every one shall abstain altogether from eating the flesh of four-footed beasts except alone in the case of the weak and the sick.

40. Concerning the amount of drink. Each one has his own gift from God, one in this way and another in that. Therefore it is with some hesitation that the amount of daily sustenance for others is fixed by us. Nevertheless, considering the weakness of the infirm, we believe that a half pint of wine a day is enough for each one. Those, moreover, to whom God has given the ability of enduring abstinence should know that they will have their own reward. But the prior shall judge if either the needs of the place, or labor, or heat of the summer require more; considering, in all things, lest satiety or drunkenness creep in. Indeed, we read that wine is not suitable for monks at all. But, because in our times it is not possible to persuade monks of this, let us agree at least as to the fact that we should not drink until we are sated, but sparingly. For wine can make even the wise to go astray. Where, moreover, the limitations of the place are such that the amount written above cannot be found, but much less or nothing at all, those who live there shall bless God and shall not murmur. And we admonish them as to this, above all, that they be without murmuring.

41. At what hours the brethren ought to take their refection. 42. That after Compline no one shall speak. 43. Concerning those who come late to Divine Service or to table. 44. Concerning those who are excommunicated and how they shall render satisfaction. 45. Concerning those who make mistakes in the oratory. 46. Concerning those who err in other matters. 47. Concerning the announcement of the hour of Divine Service.

48. Concerning the daily manual labor. Idleness is the enemy of the soul. Therefore at fixed times the brethren ought to be occupied in manual labor; and again at fixed times in sacred reading. Therefore we believe that according to this disposition both seasons ought to be so arranged that, from Easter until the first of October, going out early from the first until about the fourth hour, they shall labor at what might be necessary. Moreover, from the fourth until about the sixth hour, they shall give themselves to reading. After the sixth hour, moreover, rising from table, they shall rest in their beds with all silence; or perchance he that wishes to read may so read to himself that he shall not disturb another. And nones shall be said rather early, about the middle of the eighth hour; and again they shall work at what is necessary until vespers. But if the exigency or the poverty of the place demands that they shall be occupied by themselves in picking fruits, they shall not be cast down; for then they are truly monks if they live by the labor of their hands, as did also our Fathers and the Apostles.

From the first of October until the beginning of Lent, they shall give themselves unto reading until the second full hour. At the second hour tierce shall be said, and all shall labor at the task which is enjoined upon them until the ninth. When the first signal of the ninth hour shall have been given they shall each leave off his work and be ready when the second signal strikes. Moreover, after the refection they shall give themselves to their reading or to the Psalms.

And in the days of Lent, from dawn until the third full hour, they shall give themselves to their reading; and until the tenth hour they shall do the labor that is enjoined upon them. In the days of Lent they shall all receive separate books from the library, which they shall read through completely in order; these books shall be given out on the first day of Lent. Above all, there shall certainly be appointed one or two elders to go around the monastery at the hours in which the brethren are engaged in reading and see to it that no troublesome brother is to be found who is given to idleness and chatting and is not intent upon his reading and is not only of no use to himself but disturbing the others. If such an one (and may there not be such!) be found, he shall be admonished once and a second time. If he does not amend, he shall be subject under the rule to such punishment that others may fear. Nor shall the brethren assemble at unsuitable hours.

On Sundays all shall give themselves to reading except those who are deputed to various duties. But if any one be so negligent and lazy that he will not or cannot meditate or read, some task shall be imposed upon him which he can perform, so that he be not idle. On feeble and delicate brothers such a labor or art is to be imposed that they shall neither be idle nor so oppressed by the burden of labor as to be driven to take to flight. Their weakness is to be taken into consideration by the abbot.

49. The observance of Lent. 50. Concerning brothers who labor far from the oratory or are on a journey. 51. Concerning brothers who do not journey very far. 52. Concerning the oratory of the monastery. 53. Concerning the reception of guests. 54. As to whether a monk should be allowed to receive letters or anything. 55. Concerning the Vestiarius and Calciarius. 56. Concerning the table of the Abbot. 57. Concerning the artificers of the monastery.

58. Concerning the manner of receiving brethren. When any one newly comes for conversion of life, an easy entrance shall not be granted him, but as the Apostle says: "Try the spirits whether they be of God" [I John 4:1]. Therefore if one who comes perseveres in knocking, and is seen after four or five days to endure patiently the insults heaped upon him and the difficulty of ingress and to persist in his request, let entrance be granted him, and let him be for a few days in the guest cell. After this let him be in the cell of the novices, where he shall meditate and eat and sleep. And an elder shall be appointed for him such as shall be capable of winning souls, who shall altogether intently watch him, and be zealous to see if he in truth seek God, if he be zealous for the work of God, for obedience, for suffering shame. And above all the harshness and roughness of the means through which one approaches God shall be told him in advance. If he promise perseverance in his steadfastness after the lapse of two months, this Rule shall be read over to him in order, and it shall be said to him: Behold the law under which thou didst wish to serve; if thou canst observe it, enter; but if thou canst not, depart freely. If he shall have stood firm thus far, then he shall be led into the aforesaid cell of the novices, and again he shall be proven with all patience.

And after the lapse of six months, the Rule shall be reread to him, that he may know upon what he is entering. And if he persist thus far, after four months the same Rule shall still again be read to him. If, after deliberating with himself, he shall promise that he will observe all things and to obey all the commands laid upon him, then he shall be received into the congregation, knowing that it is decreed that by the law of the Rule he shall from that day not be allowed to depart from the monastery, nor to shake free from his neck the yoke of the Rule, which after such painful deliberation he was at liberty to refuse or receive.

He who is to be received shall make in the oratory, in the presence of all, a promise before God and His saints concerning his stability [stabilitas loci] and the change in the manner of his life [conversio morum] and obedience [obedientia],(275) so that if at any time he act contrary he shall know that he shall be condemned by Him whom he mocks. And concerning this, his promise, he shall make a petition addressed by name to the saints whose relics are there, and to the abbot who is present. And this petition he shall write out with his own hand; or, if he be really unlearned in letters, let another at his request write it, and to that the novice shall make his sign. With his own hand he shall place it upon the altar. And when he has placed it there, the novice shall immediately begin this verse: "Receive me O Lord according to Thy promise and I shall live; and cast me not down from my hope" [Psalm 119:116, Vulgate version]. And this verse the whole congregation shall repeat three times adding: Glory be to the Father, etc. Then that brother novice shall prostrate himself at the feet of each one that they may pray for him. And already from that day he shall be considered as in the congregation.

If he have any property, he shall first either present it to the poor or, making a solemn donation, shall confer it on the monastery, receiving nothing at all for himself; and he shall know for a fact that from that day he shall have no power even over his own body. Immediately thereafter, in the monastery, he shall take off his own garments in which he was clad, and shall put on the garments of the monastery. Those garments, furthermore, which he has taken off shall be placed in the vestiary to be preserved; so that if, at any time, on the devil's persuasion, he shall wish to go forth from the monastery (and may it never happen) then, taking off the garments of the monastery let him be cast out. But the petition he made and which the abbot took from upon the altar, he shall not receive again, but it shall be preserved in the monastery.

59. Concerning the sons of nobles and poor men who are presented. If by chance any one of the nobles offers his son to God in the monastery, and the boy himself is a minor in age, his parents shall make the petition of which we have spoken above. And with an oblation, they shall wrap the petition and the hand of the boy in the linen cloth of the altar; and thus shall they offer him. Concerning their property, either they shall promise in the present petition, under an oath, that they will never, either indirectly or otherwise, give him anything at any time, or furnish him with means of possessing it. Or, if they be unwilling to do this, and wish to offer something as alms to the monastery for their salvation, they shall make a donation of those things which they wish to give to the monastery, retaining for themselves the usufruct if they so wish. And let all things be so observed that no suspicion may remain with the boy; by which, as we have learned from experience, being deceived, he might perish (and may it not happen). The poorer ones shall do likewise. Those who have nothing at all shall simply make their petitions; and with an oblation they shall offer their sons before witnesses.

60. Concerning priests who may wish to dwell in the monastery. 61. Concerning pilgrim monks, how they are to be received. 62. Ordination of monks as priests. 63. Concerning rank in the congregation. 64. Concerning the ordination of an Abbot. 65. Concerning the Prior of the monastery. 66. Concerning the Doorkeepers of the monastery. 67. Concerning brothers sent on a journey. 68. If impossibilities are imposed on a brother. 69. That in the monastery one shall not presume to defend another. 70. That no one shall presume to strike another. 71. That they shall be obedient to one another. 72. Concerning the good zeal which monks ought to have.

73. Concerning the fact that not every just observance is decreed in this Rule. We have written down this Rule, that we may show those observing it in the monasteries how to have some honesty of character or beginning of conversion. But for those who hasten to the perfection of living, there are the teachings of the holy Fathers; the observance of which leads a man to the heights of perfection. For what page or what discourse of divine authority in the Old or New Testament is not a more perfect rule of human life? Or what book of the holy and Catholic Fathers does not trumpet forth how by the right road we shall come to our Creator?

Also the reading aloud of the Fathers, and their decrees and lives; also the Rule of our holy Father Basil—what else are they except instruments of virtue for good living and obedient monks? But to us who are idle and evil livers and negligent there is the blush of confusion. Thou, therefore, whoever hastens to the heavenly fatherland, perform with Christ's aid this Rule written out as the least beginnings; and then at length, under God's protection, thou wilt come to the greater things that we have mentioned—to the summits of teaching and virtue.

(b) Formulae.

The following formulae are given to illustrate the Rule in its working. The first group bear upon the vow of stabilitas loci. The case not infrequently arose that a brother wished to go to a monastery in which the observance of the Rule was stricter. In case a new foundation was begun anywhere, the first monks were almost always from another monastery. If therefore the monk is to remove, he must obtain permission of his abbot, and this was not regarded as a violation of the vow of stabilitas loci and obedience to his abbot. These formulae were not uniform throughout the Church, but the following are given as samples of early practice.

1. Letters dimissory. (MSL, 66:859.)

(a) To all bishops and all orders of the holy Church, and to all faithful people.

Be it known unto you that I have given license to this our brother, John or Paul by name, that where he finds it agreeable to dwell in order to lead the monastic life, he shall have license to dwell for the benefit of himself and the monastery.

(b) Since such a brother desires to dwell in another monastery, where, as it seems to him, he can save his soul and serve God, know then that by these letters dimissory, we have given him license to go to another monastery.

(c) From the Consuetudines of the Monastery of St. Paul at Rome.

I, a humble abbot. You should know, beloved, that this brother, John or Paul by name, has asked us to give him permission to dwell with you. And, because we know that you observe the Rule of the order, we assent to his dwelling with you. I now commend him to you, that you may treat him as I would, and for him you are to render an account to God as I would have had to render.

(d) Another from the same.

To the venerable father the abbot of ( … ) monastery, the abbot of ( … ) monastery greeting with a holy kiss. Since our monastery has been burdened with various embarrassments and poverty, we beseech your brotherliness that you will receive our brother to dwell in your monastery, and we commend him by these letters of commendation and dismission to your jurisdiction and obedience.

Alternate conclusion:

We send him from our obedience to serve the Lord under your obedience.

2. Offering of a child to a monastery. (MSL, 66:842.)

The following forms should be compared with chapter 59 of the Rule. Children so offered were known as oblati, i.e., offered. These forms are from a manuscript of the ninth century.

(a) To offer children to God is sanctioned in the Old and New Testaments as Abraham(276) … are related to have done. Moved by the example of these and many others, I ( … ) do now, for the salvation of my soul and for the salvation of the souls of my parents, offer in the presence of the abbot ( … ) this my son ( … ) to Almighty God and to St. Mary His mother, according to the Rule of the blessed Benedict in the Monastery of Mons Major, so that from this day forth it shall not be lawful for him to withdraw his neck from the yoke of this service; and I promise never, by myself or by any agent, to give him in any way opportunity of leaving, and that this writing may be confirmed I sign it with my own hand.

(b) Brief form.

I give this boy in devotion to our Lord Jesus Christ, before God and His saints, that he may remain all the days of his life and become a monk until his death.

3. Ceremony of receiving a monk into a Benedictine monastery. (MSL, 66:829.)

(a) From Peter Boherius, Commentary on the Regula S. Benedicti, ch. 58 of the Rule, v. supra.

When the novice makes his solemn profession, the abbot vests to say mass, and after the offertory the abbot interrogates him saying:

Brother (such a one): Is it your will to renounce the world and all its pomps?

He answers: It is.

Abbot: Will you promise obedience according to the Rule of St. Benedict? Answer: I will.

Abbot: May God give you his aid.

Then the novice, or some one at his request, reads the aforesaid profession, and when it has been read he places it upon his head, and then upon the altar. After this, when he has prostrated himself on his knees in four directions in the form of a cross, he says the verse: Receive me, O Lord, etc. And then the Gloria Patri, the Kyrie Eleison, the Pater Noster and the Litany are said, the novice remaining prostrate on the ground before the altar, until the end of the mass. And the brothers ought to be in the choir kneeling while the Litany is said. When the Litany has been said, then shall follow very devoutly the special prayers as commanded by the Fathers, and immediately after the communion and before the prayer is said, the garments of the novice, which have been folded and placed before the altar, shall be blessed with their proper prayers; and they shall be anointed and sprinkled with holy water by the abbot. After "Ite, missa est"(277) the novice rises from the ground, and having put off his old garments which were not blessed he puts on those which have been blessed, while the abbot recites: Exuat te Dominus, etc.

And when the kiss has been given by the abbot, all the brothers in turn give him the kiss of peace, and he shall keep silence for three days continuously after this, going about with his head covered and receiving the communion every day.

(b) From Theodore of Canterbury, ibid., 827.

In the ordination of monks the abbot ought to say mass, and say three prayers over the head of the novice; and for seven days he veils his head with his cowl, and on the seventh day the abbot takes the veil off.

(c) The Vow. From another form, ibid.

I promise concerning my stability and conversion of life and obedience according to the Rule of St. Benedict before God and His saints.

105. Foundation of Mediaeval Culture and Schools

Schools never wholly disappeared from Western society, either during the barbarian invasion or in the even more troublous times that followed. Secular schools continued throughout the fifth century. During the sixth century they gave way for the most part to schools fostered by the Church, or were thoroughly transformed by ecclesiastical influences. In the fifth and sixth centuries, the great compends were made that served as text-books for centuries. Boethius, Cassiodorus, Isidore of Seville, and Bede represent great steps in the preparation for the mediaeval schools. But, apart from the survival of old schools, there was a real demand for the establishment of new schools. The new monasticism needed them. It required some reading and study every day by the monks. As children were constantly being received, ordinarily at the age of seven, these oblati needed instruction. The monastic schools, which thus arose, early made provision for the instruction of those not destined for the monastic life in the external schools of the monasteries. Then again, the need of clergy with some literary training, however simple, was felt, especially as the secular schools declined or were found not convenient, and conciliar action was taken in various countries to provide for such education. In the conversion of the English, schools seem very early to have been established, and the encouragement given these schools by the learned Theodore of Tarsus, archbishop of Canterbury, bore splendid fruit, not merely in the great school of Canterbury but still more in the monastic schools of the North, at Jarrow and Wearmouth and at York. It was from the schools in the North that the culture of the Frankish kingdom under Charles the Great largely came. There was always a marked difference of opinion as to the value of secular literature in education, as is shown by the attitude already taken by Gregory the Great in his letter to Desiderius of Vienne, a letter which did much to discourage the literary study of the classics.

(a) Augustine, De Doctrina Christiana, II, 40 ( 60). (MSL, 34:63).

The Christian's use of heathen writers.

The whole book should be examined carefully to see the working out of the same idea in detail. St. Augustine was a man of literary culture, although he was imperfectly acquainted with Greek. He speaks from his own experience of the help he had derived from this culture. The work On Christian Doctrine is, in fact, not at all a treatise on theology but on pedagogy, and was of immense influence in the Middle Ages.

If those who are called philosophers and especially the Platonists have said anything true and in harmony with the faith, we ought not only not to shrink from it, but rather to appropriate it for our own use, taking it from them as from unlawful possessors. For as the Egyptians had not only the idols and heavy burdens, which the people of Israel hated and fled from, but also vessels and ornaments of gold and silver and clothing which the same people on going out of Egypt secretly appropriated to themselves as for a better use, not on their own authority but on the command of God, for the Egyptians in their ignorance lent those things which they themselves were not using well [Ex. 3:22; 12:35]; in the same way all branches of heathen learning have not only false and superstitious fancies and heavy burdens of unnecessary toil which each of us, in going out under the leadership of Christ from the fellowship of the heathen, ought to hate and avoid; but they contain also liberal instruction which it is well to adapt to the use of truth and some most useful precepts of morality; and some truths in regard even to the worship of the one God are found among them. Now these are, so to speak, their gold and silver, which they themselves did not create, but dug, as it were, out of certain mines of God's providence, which are everywhere scattered abroad, and are perversely and unlawfully misused to the worship of devils. These, therefore, the Christian, when he separates himself in spirit from the miserable fellowship of these men, ought to take away from them for their proper use in preaching the Gospel. Their clothing also, that is, human institutions, adapted to that intercourse with men which is indispensable for this life, it is right to take and to have so as to be turned to Christian use.

(b) John Cassian. Institutiones, V, 33, 34. (MSL, 49:249.)

Cassian, born 360, was one of the leaders of the monastic movement. He founded monasteries near Marseilles, and did much to spread the monastic movement in Gaul and Spain. His Institutiones and Collationes were of influence, even after his monasteries had been entirely supplanted by the Benedictines. The opinion here given is probably that prevalent in the monasteries in Egypt. It is utterly different from the spirit of Basil, and the great theologians of Asia Minor who, in the matter of secular studies, hold the same opinion as the older Alexandrian school of Clement and Origen.

Ch. 33. We also saw the abbot Theodore, a man endowed with the utmost holiness and with perfect knowledge not only of things of the practical life but also of the meaning of the Scriptures, which he had acquired, not so much by study and reading, or secular scholarship, as by purity of heart alone; since he was able only with difficulty to understand or speak even but a few words in the Greek language. This man, when he was seeking an explanation of some most difficult question, continued indefatigably seven days and nights in prayer until, by a revelation of the Lord, he knew the answer to the question propounded.

Ch. 34. This man, therefore, when some of the brethren were wondering at the splendid light of his knowledge, and were asking him some meanings of Scripture, said: "A monk desiring to attain to a knowledge of the Scriptures ought in no wise to spend his labor on the books of the commentators, but rather to keep all the efforts of his mind and the intentions of his heart set on purification from carnal vices. When these are driven out, at once the eyes of the heart, when the veil of passions has been removed, will begin, as it were, naturally to gaze on the mysteries of Scripture, since these were not declared unto us by the grace of the Holy Ghost to remain unknown and obscure; but they are rendered obscure by our vices, as the veil of our sins cover the eyes of the heart, and for these, when restored to their natural health, the mere reading of Holy Scripture is amply sufficient for the perception of the true knowledge; nor do they need the instruction of commentators, just as these eyes of flesh need no man's assistance to see provided they are free from the dimness or darkness of blindness."

(c) Gregory the Great, Ep. ad Desiderium, Reg. XI, ep. 54. (MSL, 77:1171.)

Desiderius was bishop of Vienne. This letter was sent with several others written in connection with the sending of Mellitus to England; see Bede, Hist. Ec., I, 27, 29.

Many good things have been reported to us regarding your pursuits, and such joy arose in our hearts that we could not bear to refuse what your fraternity had requested to have granted you. But afterward it came to our ears, what we cannot mention without shame, that thy fraternity is in the habit of expounding grammar to certain persons. This thing pained us so and we so strongly disapproved of it that we changed what had been said before into groaning and sadness, since the praises of Christ cannot find room in the one mouth with the praises of Jupiter. And consider thyself what a grave and heinous offence it is for bishops to sing what is not becoming even for a religious layman. And, though our most beloved son Candidus, the presbyter, who was strictly examined on this matter when he came to us, denied it and endeavored to excuse you, yet still the thought has not left our mind that, in proportion as it is execrable for such a thing to be related of a priest, it ought to be ascertained by strict and veracious evidence whether or not it be so. If, therefore, hereafter what has been reported to us should prove to be evidently false, and it should be clear that you do not apply yourself to trifles and secular literature, we shall give thanks to God, who has not permitted your heart to be stained with the blasphemous phrases of what is abominable; and we will treat without misgiving or hesitation concerning granting what you have requested.

We commend to you in all respects the monks whom, together with our most beloved son Laurentius, the presbyter, and Mellitus, the abbot, we have sent to our most reverend brother and fellow-bishop Augustine, that by the help of your fraternity no delay may hinder their journey.

(d) Council of Vaison, A. D. 529, Canon 1. Bruns, II, 183.

Vaison is a small see in the province of Arles. The synod was attended by about a dozen bishops. It is, therefore, not authoritative for a large district, but when taken in connection with the following selection indicates a wide-spread custom.

That presbyters in their parishes shall bring up and instruct young readers in their houses. It was decided that all presbyters who are placed in parishes should, according to a custom which we learn is very beneficially observed throughout Italy, receive young readers, as many as they have who are unmarried, into their house where they dwell, and as good fathers shall endeavor to bring them up spiritually to render the Psalms, and to instruct them in the divine readings, and to educate them in the law of the Lord, that so they may provide for themselves worthy successors, and receive from the Lord eternal rewards. But when they come to full age, if any of them, on account of the weakness of the flesh, wish to marry, they shall not be denied the right of doing so.

(e) II Council of Toledo, A. D. 531, Canon 1. Bruns, I, 207.

Concerning those whom their parents voluntarily give in the first years of their childhood to the office of the clergy, we have decreed this to be observed; namely, that as soon as they have been tonsured or have been given to the care of appointed persons, they ought to be educated by some one set over them, in the church building, and in the presence of the bishop. When they have completed their eighteenth year, they shall be asked by the bishop, in the presence of all the clergy and people, their will as to seeking marriage. And if by God's inspiration they have the grace of chastity, and shall have promised to observe the profession of their chastity without any necessity of marriage, let these who are more desirous of the hardest life put on the most gentle yoke of the Lord, and first let them receive from their twentieth year the ministry of the subdiaconate, probation having been made of their profession, that, if blamelessly and without offence they attain the twenty-fifth year of their age, they may be promoted to the office of the diaconate, if they have been proved by their bishop to be able to fulfil it.…

(f) Bede, Hist. Ec., III, 18. (MSL, 95:144.)

Sigebert became king of the East Angles about 631 and died 637. The facts known of him are briefly recorded in DCB.

At this time the kingdom of the East Angles, after the death of Earpwald, the successor of Redwald, was subject to his brother Sigebert, a good and religious man, who long before had been baptized in France, whilst he lived in banishment, flying from the enmity of Redwald; when he returned home and had ascended the throne he was desirous of imitating the good institutions which he had seen in France, and he set up a school for the young to be instructed in letters, and was assisted therein by Bishop Felix, who had come to him from Kent and who furnished him with masters and teachers after the manner of that country.

(g) Bede, Hist. Ec., IV, 2. (MSL, 95:173.)

Theodore arrived at his church the second year after his consecration, on Sunday, May 27, and held the same twenty-one years, three months and twenty-six days. Soon after he visited all the islands, wherever the tribes of the Angles dwelt, for he was willingly entertained and heard by all persons. Everywhere he was attended and assisted by Hadrian, and he taught the right rule of life and the canonical custom of celebrating Easter.(278) This was the first archbishop whom all the English Church obeyed. And forasmuch as both of them were, as has been said, well read in sacred and secular literature, they gathered a crowd of scholars and there daily flowed from them rivers of knowledge to water the hearts of their hearers; and together with the books of the holy Scriptures they also taught them the arts of ecclesiastical poetry, astronomy, and arithmetic. A testimony of which is that there are still living at this day [circa A. D. 727] some of their scholars who are as well versed in the Greek and Latin tongues as in their own, in which they were born. Never were there happier times since the English came to Britain; for their kings were brave men and good Christians and were a terror to all barbarous nations, and the minds of all men were bent upon the joys of the heavenly kingdom of which they had just heard. And all who desired instruction in sacred reading had masters at hand to teach them. From that time also they began in all the churches of the English to learn sacred music which till then had been only known in Kent. And excepting James, mentioned above, the first singing-master(279) in the churches of the Northumbrians was Eddi, surnamed Stephen, invited from Kent by the most reverend Wilfrid, who was the first of the bishops of the English nation that taught the churches of the English the Catholic mode of life.

(h) Council of Clovesho, A. D. 747, Canon 7. Haddan and Stubbs, III, 360.

They decreed in the seventh article of agreement that bishops, abbots, and abbesses should by all means take care and diligently provide that their families should incessantly apply their minds to reading, and that knowledge be spread by the voices of many to the gaining of souls and to the praise of the eternal King. For it is sad to say how few(280) in these times do heartily love and labor for sacred knowledge and are willing to take pains in learning, but they are from their youth up rather employed in divers vanities and the affectation of vainglory; and they rather pursue the amusements of this present unstable life than the assiduous study of holy Scriptures. Therefore let boys be kept and trained up in such schools, to the love of sacred knowledge, and that, being by this means well learned, they may become in all respects useful to the Church of God.



Chapter IV. The Revolution In The Ecclesiastical And Political Situation Due To The Rise Of Islam And The Doctrinal Disputes In The Eastern Church

In the course of the seventh and eighth centuries, the ecclesiastical and political situation altered completely. This change was due, in the first place, to the rise of the religion and empire of the Moslems, whereby a very large part of the Eastern Empire was conquered by the followers of the Prophet, who had rapidly extended their conquests over Syria and the best African provinces. Reduced in extent and exposed to ever fresh attacks from a powerful enemy, the Eastern Empire had to face new political problems. In the second place, as the provinces overrun contained the greater number of those dissatisfied with the doctrinal results of the great councils, the apparently interminable contests over the question as to the two natures of Christ came to an unexpected end. This did not take place until a new cause for dispute had arisen among the adherents of Chalcedon, due to an attempt to win back the Monophysites by accounting for the unity of the person of Christ by positing one will in Jesus. Monotheletism at once became among the adherents of Chalcedon a burning question. It was finally condemned at the Sixth General Council, Constantinople, A. D. 683, at which Pope Agatho played a part very similar to that played by Pope Leo at Chalcedon, but at the cost of seeing his predecessor, Honorius, condemned as a Monothelete. It was the last triumph of the West in the dogmatic controversies of the East. The Eastern ecclesiastics, irritated at the diplomatic triumph of Rome, expressed their resentment at the Concilium Quinisextum, in 692, where, in passing canons to complete the work of the Fifth and Sixth Councils, an opportunity was embraced of expressly condemning several Roman practices. In the confusion resulting in the next century from the attempt of Leo the Isaurian to put an end to the use of images in the churches, the Roman see was able to rid itself of the nominal control which the Emperor still had over the papacy by means of the exarchate of Ravenna. When the Lombards pressed too heavily upon the papacy it was easy for the Bishop of Rome to make an alliance with the Franks, who on their side saw that it was profitable to employ the papacy in the advancement of their own schemes. In this way arose that alliance between the pontiff and the new Frankish monarchy upon which the ecclesiastical development of the Middle Ages rests. But Iconoclasm suffered defeat at the Seventh General Council, 787, in which the doctrinal system of the East was completed. As this was the last undisputed general council, it may be taken as marking the termination of the history of the ancient Church. In following the further course of the Western Church there is no longer need of a detailed tracing of the history of the Eastern Church, which ceased to be a determining factor in the religious life of the West. The two parts of Christendom come in contact from time to time, but without formal schism they have ceased to be organically united.

106. The Rise and Extension of Islam

Mohammed (571-632) began his work as a prophet at Mecca about 613, having been "called" about three years earlier. He was driven from Mecca in 622 and fled to Yathrib, afterward known as Medina. Here he was able to unite warring factions and, placing himself at their head, to build up despotic authority over the surrounding country. He steadily increased the territory under his sway, and by conquests and diplomacy was able to gain Mecca in 629. Before his death in 632 he had conquered all Arabia. His authority continued in his family after his death, and the course of conquest went on. Damascus was conquered in 635; in 636 the Emperor Heraclius was driven to abandon Syria, which now fell into the hands of the Moslems. In 637 the Persians were forced back. In 640 Egypt was taken, and by 650 all between Carthage and the eastern border of Persia had been acquired for Islam. In 693, after a period of civil war, the work of conquest was resumed. In 709 all the African coast as far as the Straits of Gibraltar was gained, and in 711 the Moslems entered Spain. They at once made themselves masters of the peninsula with the exception of a small strip in the north in the mountains of Asturias, the kingdom of Gallicia. Crossing the Pyrenees, they attempted to possess Gaul, but were forced to retreat from central Gaul by Charles Martel at the battle at Tours and Poitiers in 732. They maintained themselves north of the Pyrenees until 759 when they were driven out of Narbonne and across the mountains.

Additional source material: The Koran, standard translation by E. H. Palmer, in the Sacred Books of the East; Stanley Lane-Poole, Speeches and Table Talk of the Prophet Mohammed.

(a) Mohammed, Koran (translation of E. H. Palmer).

Surah CXII.

The Unity of God.

The following surah or chapter of the Koran, entitled "The Chapter of Unity," Mohammed regarded as of value equal to two-thirds of the whole book. It is one of the shortest and most famous.

In the name of the merciful and compassionate God, say:

"He is God alone! God the Eternal. He begets not and is not begotten! Nor is there like unto Him any one."

Surah V, 73, 76, 109 ff.

The teaching as to the nature and mission of Jesus.

[73.] Verily, those who believe and those who are Jews, and the Sabaeans, and the Christians, whosoever believes in God and the last day and does what is right, there is no fear for them, nor shall they grieve.

[76.] They misbelieve who say, "Verily, God is the Messiah, the son of Mary"; but the Messiah said, "O Children of Israel, worship God, my Lord and your Lord." Verily he who associates aught with God, God hath forbidden him paradise, and his resort is the fire, and the unjust shall have none to help them.

They misbelieve who say, "Verily, God is the third of three"; for there is no God but one, and if they do not desist from what they say, there shall touch those who misbelieve amongst them grievous woe.

Will they not turn toward God and ask pardon of Him? for God is forgiving and merciful.

The Messiah, the son of Mary, is only a prophet; prophets before him have passed away: and His mother was a confessor.

[109.] When God said, "O Jesus, son of Mary! remember my favors towards thee and towards thy mother, when I aided thee with the Holy Ghost, till thou didst speak to men in the cradle and when grown up.

"And when I taught thee the Book and wisdom and the law and the gospel; when thou didst create of clay, as it were, the likeness of a bird, by my power, and didst blow thereon, it became a bird;(281) and thou didst heal the blind from birth, and the leprous by my permission; and when thou didst bring forth the dead by my permission; and when I did ward off the children of Israel from thee, and when thou didst come to them with manifest signs, and those who misbelieved among them said: 'This is naught but obvious magic.'

"And when I inspired the Apostles that they should believe in Him and in my Apostle, they said, 'We believe; do thou bear witness that we are resigned.' "

[116.] And when God said, "O Jesus, son of Mary! is it thou who dost say to men, take me and my mother for two gods, beside God?" He said: "I celebrate thy praise! what ails me that I should say what I have no right to? If I had said it, Thou wouldest have known it; Thou knowest what is in my soul, but I know not what is in Thy soul; verily Thou art one who knoweth the unseen. I never told them save what Thou didst bid me, 'Worship God, my Lord and your Lord,' and I was a witness against them so long as I was among them, but when Thou didst take me away to Thyself Thou wert the watcher over them, for Thou art witness over all."…

Surah IV, 152.

Relation of Islam to Judaism and Christianity.

[152.] The people of the Book will ask thee to bring down for them a book from heaven; but they asked Moses a greater thing than that, for they said, "Show us God openly"; but the thunderbolt caught them in their injustice. Then they took a calf, after what had come to them of manifest signs; but we pardoned that, and gave Moses obvious authority. And we held over them the mountain at their compact, and said to them, "Enter ye the door adoring," and we said to them, "Transgress not on the Sabbath day," and we took from them a rigid compact.

But for that they broke their compact, and for their misbelief in God's signs, and for their killing the prophets undeservedly, and for their saying, "Our hearts are uncircumcised"—nay, God hath stamped on them their misbelief, so that they cannot believe, except a few—and for their misbelief, and for their saying about Mary a mighty calumny, and for their saying, "Verily we have killed the Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary, the apostle of God," but they did not kill Him, and they did not crucify Him, but a similitude was made for them. And verily, those who differ about Him are in doubt concerning Him; they have no knowledge concerning Him, but only follow an opinion. They did not kill Him, for sure! nay God raised Him up unto Himself; for God is mighty and wise!…

[164.] O ye people of the Book! do not exceed in your religion, nor say against God save the truth. The Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, is but the apostle of God and His Word, which He cast into Mary and a spirit from Him; believe then in God and His apostles, and say not "Three." Have done! it were better for you. God is only one God, celebrated be His praise that He should beget a Son!

Surah LVI.

The delights of heaven and the pains of hell.

This description of the future life has been taken as characteristic of the religion of Mohammed, but not quite fairly. It is simply the Bedouin's idea of complete happiness, and is by no means characteristic of the religion as the whole.

In the name of the merciful and compassionate God.

When the inevitable [day of judgment] happens; none shall call its happening a lie!—abasing—exalting!

When the earth shall quake, quaking! and the mountains shall crumble, crumbling, and become like motes dispersed!

And ye shall be three sorts;

And the fellows of the right hand—what right lucky fellows!

And the fellows of the left hand—what unlucky fellows!

And the foremost foremost!

These are they who are brought nigh,

In gardens of pleasure!

A crowd of those of yore, and a few of those of the latter day!

And gold-weft couches, reclining on them face to face.

Around them shall go eternal youths, with goblets and ewers and a cup of flowing wine; no headache shall feed therefrom, nor shall their wits be dimmed!

And fruits such as they deem the best;

And flesh of fowl as they desire;

And bright and large-eyed maids like hidden pearls;

A reward for that which they have done!

They shall hear no folly there and no sin;

Only the speech, "Peace, Peace!"

And the fellows of the right—what right lucky fellows!

Amid thornless lote trees.

And tal'h(282) trees with piles of fruit;

And outspread shade,

And water poured out;

And fruit in abundance, neither failing nor forbidden;

And beds upraised!

Verily we have produced them(283) a production,

And made them virgins, darlings of equal age (with their spouses) for the fellows of the right!

A crowd of those of yore, and a crowd of those of the latter day!

And the fellows of the left—what unlucky fellows!

In hot blasts and boiling water;

And a shade of pitchy smoke,

Neither cool nor generous!

Verily they were affluent ere this, and did persist in mighty crime; and used to say, "What, when we die, have become dust and bones, shall we indeed be raised? or our fathers of yore?"

Say, "Verily, those of yore and those of the latter days shall surely be gathered together unto the tryst of the well-known day."

"Then ye, O ye who err! who say it is a lie! shall eat of the Zaqqum(284) tree and fill your bellies with it! a drink of boiling water! and drink as drinks the thirsty camel!"

(b) Paulus Diaconus, Historia Langobardorum, VI, 46 ff. (MSL, 95:654.)

The Advance of the Saracens.

Ch. 46. At that time [A. D. 711] the people of the Saracens, crossing over from Africa at a place which is called Ceuta, invaded all Spain. Then after ten years, coming with their wives and children, they invaded as if to settle in Aquitania, a province of Gaul. Charles(285) had at that time a dispute with Eudo, prince of Aquitania. But they came to an agreement and fought with perfect harmony against the Saracens. For the Franks fell upon them(286) and slew three hundred and seventy-five thousand of them; but on the side of the Franks only fifteen hundred fell. Eudo with his men broke into their camp and slew many and laid waste all.

Ch. 47. At the same time [A. D. 717], the same people of the Saracens with an immense army came and encompassed Constantinople and for three years besieged it until, when the people had called upon God with great earnestness, many of the enemy perished from hunger and cold and by war and pestilence and so wearied out they abandoned the siege. When they had left they carried on war against the people of the Bulgarians who were beyond the Danube, but, vanquished by them also, they fled back to their ships. But when they had put out to the deep sea, a sudden storm fell upon them and many were drowned and their vessels were destroyed. But in Constantinople three hundred thousand men died of the pestilence.

Ch. 48. Now when Liutprand heard that the Saracens, when Sardinia had been laid waste, had also polluted those places where the bones of the holy bishop Augustine, on account of the devastation of the barbarians, had formerly been transported and solemnly buried, he sent thither and when he had given a large sum obtained them and transported them to the city of Pavia, where he buried them with the honor due so great a father.(287) In these days the city of Narnia was conquered by the Lombards.

107. The Monothelete Controversy and the Sixth General Council, Constantinople A. D. 681

The Monothelete controversy was the natural outcome of the earlier Christological controversies. With the assertion of the two complete and persisting natures of Christ, the question must sooner or later arise as to whether there was one will or two in Christ. If there were two wills, it seemed to lead back to Nestorianism; if there was but one, either the humanity was incomplete or the position led to virtual monophysitism. But political causes played even a greater part than the theological dialectic. The Emperor Heraclius, in attempting to win back the Monophysite churches, on account of the war with Persia and later on account of the advancing Moslems, proposed that a union should be effected on the basis of a formula which asserted that there was but one will in the God-man. This had been suggested to him in 622 by Sergius, patriarch of Constantinople [Hefele, 291, 295]. In 633 Cyrus of Phasis, since 630 patriarch of Alexandria, brought about a union between the Orthodox Church and the Egyptian Monophysites on the basis of a Monothelete formula, i.e., a statement that there was but one will or energy in Christ. At once a violent controversy broke out. The formula was supported by Honorius of Rome, but attacked by Sophronius, patriarch of Jerusalem, and after the fall of Jerusalem in 638, by the monk Maximus Confessor. In 638 Heraclius tried to end the controversy by an Ecthesis [Hefele, 299], and Constans II (641-668) attempted the same in 648, by his Typos. But at the Lateran Council of 649, under Martin I, Monotheletism as well as the Ecthesis and Typos were condemned. For this Martin was ultimately banished, dying in misery, 654, in the Chersonesus, and Maximus, after a long, cruel imprisonment, and horrible torture and mutilation, died in exile, 662. But Constantius Pogonatus (668-685), the successor of Constans II, determined to settle the matter by a general council. Pope Agatho (678-682) thereupon held a great council at Rome, 679, at which it was decided to insist at the coming general council upon the strictest maintenance of the decisions of the Roman Council of 649. On this basis Agatho dictated the formula which was accepted by the Council of Constantinople, A. D. 681, which sent its proceedings and conclusions to the Pope to be approved. Along with them was an express condemnation of Honorius. Leo II (682-683), Agatho's successor, approved the council with special mention of Honorius as condemned for his heresy.

(a) Cyrus of Alexandria, Formula of Union, A. D. 633, Hahn, 232.

The author of this formula, known also as Cyrus of Phasis, under which name he was condemned at Constantinople, A. D. 680, attempted to win over the Monophysites in Alexandria and met with great success on account of his formula of union. The first five anathemas, the form in which the formula is composed, are clearly based upon the first four councils. The sixth is slightly different; and the seventh, the most important, is clearly tending toward Monotheletism. The document is to be found in the proceedings of the Sixth General Council in Mansi, and also in Hardouin. For a synopsis, see Hefele, 293, who is most valuable for the whole controversy.

6. If any one does not confess the one Christ, the one Son, to be of two natures, that is, divinity and humanity, one nature become flesh(288) of God the Word, according to the holy Cyril, unmixed, unchanged, unchangeable, that is to say, one synthetic hypostasis, who is the same, our Lord Jesus Christ, being one of the holy homoousian Triad, let such an one be anathema.

7. If any one, saying that our one Lord Jesus Christ is to be regarded in two natures, does not confess that He is one of the Holy Triad, God the Word, eternally begotten of the Father, in the last times of the world made flesh and born of our all-holy and spotless lady, the Theotokos and ever-virgin Mary; but is this and another and not one and the same, according to the most wise Cyril, perfect in deity and the same perfect in humanity, and accordingly only to be thought of as in two natures; the same suffering and not suffering, according to one or the other nature, as the same holy Cyril said, suffering as a man in the flesh, inasmuch as he was a man, remaining as God without suffering in the sufferings of His own flesh; and the one and the same Christ energizing the divine and the human things with the one theandric energy,(289) according to the holy Dionysius; distinguishing only in thought those things from which the union has taken place, and viewing these in the mind as remaining unchanged, unalterable, and unmixed after their union according to nature and hypostasis; and recognizing in these without division or separation the one and the same Christ and Son, inasmuch as he regards in his mind two as brought together to each other without commingling, making the theory of them as a matter of fact, but not by a lying imagination and vain combinations of the mind; but in nowise separating them, since now the division into two has been destroyed on account of the indescribable and incomprehensible union; saying with the holy Athanasius, for there is now flesh and again the flesh of God the Word, now flesh animated and intelligent, and again the flesh of the animated and intelligent God the Word; but should under such expressions understand a distinction into parts, let such an one be anathema.

(b) Constans II, Typos, A. D. 648, Mansi, X, 1029. Cf. Kirch, nn. 972 f.

The attempt to end the controversy by returning to the condition of things before the controversy broke out, an entirely futile undertaking. The question having been raised had to be discussed and settled by rational processes. See Hefele, 306.

Since it is our custom to do everything and to consider everything which can serve the welfare of the Christian State, and especially what concerns our true faith, by which we believe all our happiness is brought about, we perceive that our orthodox people are greatly disturbed, because some in respect to the Economy(290) of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ assert that there is only one will, and that one and the same affects both the divine and human deeds; but others teach two wills and two operations in the same dispensation of the incarnate Word. The former defend their views by asserting that our Lord Jesus Christ was only one person in two natures, and therefore without confusion or separation, working and willing as well the divine as the human deeds. The others say that because in one and the same person two natures are joined without any separation, so their differences from each other remain, and according to the character of each nature one and the same Christ works as well the divine as the human; and from this our Christian State has been brought to much dissension and confusion, so that differing from one another they do not agree, and from this the State must in many ways needs suffer.

We believe that, under God's guidance, we must extinguish the flames enkindled by discord, and we ought not to permit them further to destroy human souls. We decree, therefore, that our subjects who hold our immaculate and orthodox Christian faith, and who are of the Catholic and Apostolic Church, shall from the present moment on have no longer any permission to raise any sort of dispute and quarrel or strife with one another over the one will and energy, or over two wills and two energies. We order that this is not in any way to take anything from the pious teaching, which the holy and approved Fathers have taught concerning the incarnation of God the Word, but with the purpose that all further strife in regard to the aforesaid questions cease, and in this matter we follow and hold as sufficient only the Holy Scriptures and the tradition of the five holy general councils and the simple statements and unquestioned usage and expressions of the approved Fathers (of which the dogmas, rules, and laws of God's holy Catholic and Apostolic Church consists), without adding to or taking from them anything, or without explaining them against their proper meaning, but everywhere shall be preserved the former customs, as before the disputes broke out, as if no such dispute had existed. As to those who have hitherto taught one will and one energy or two wills and two energies, there shall be no accusation on this account; excepting only those who have been cast forth as heretics, together with their impious doctrines and writings, by the five holy universal councils and other approved orthodox Fathers. But to complete the unity and fellowship of the churches of God, and that there remain no further opportunity or occasion to those who are eager for endless dispute, we order that the document,(291) which for a long time has been posted up in the narthex of the most holy principal church of this our God-preserved royal city, and which touches upon the points in dispute, shall be taken down. Whoever dares to transgress this command is subject before all to the fearful judgment of Almighty God, and then also will be liable to the punishment for such as despise the imperial commands. If he be a bishop or clergyman, he will altogether be deposed from his priesthood or clerical order; if a monk, excommunicated and driven out of his residence; if a civil or military officer, he shall lose his rank and office; if a private citizen, he shall, if noble, be punished pecuniarily, if of lower rank, be subjected to corporal punishment and perpetual exile.

(c) Council of Rome, A. D. 649, Canons, Mansi, X, 1150. Cf. Denziger, nn. 254 ff.

Condemnation of Monotheletism, the Ecthesis, and the Typos, by Martin I.

Text of canons or anathematisms and abstract of proceedings in Hefele, 307.

Canon 18. If any one does not, according to the holy Fathers, and in company with us, reject and anathematize with mind and mouth all those whom as most wicked heretics the holy Catholic and Apostolic Church of God, that is, the five universal synods and likewise all approved Fathers of the Church, rejects and anathematizes, with all their impious writings even to each point, that is, Sabellius, etc. … and justly with these, as like them and in equal error … Cyrus of Alexandria, Sergius of Constantinople, and his successors Pyrrhus and Paul, persisting in their pride, and all their impious writings, and those who to the end agreed with them in their thought, or do so agree, that there is one will and one operation of the deity and manhood of Christ; and in addition to these the most impious Ecthesis, which, by the persuasion of the same Sergius, was put forth by the former Emperor Heraclius against the orthodox faith, defining, by way of adjustment, one will in Christ our God, and one operation to be venerated; also all those things which were impiously written or done by them; and those who received it, or any of those things which were written or done for it; and along with these, furthermore, the wicked Typos, which, on the persuasion of the aforesaid Paul, was recently issued by our most serene prince Constans against the Catholic Church, inasmuch as it equally denies and excludes from discussion the two natural wills and operations, a divine and a human, which are piously taught by the holy Fathers to be in Christ, our God, and also our Saviour, and also the one will and operation, which by the heretics is impiously venerated in Him, and therefore declaring that with the holy Fathers also the wicked heretics are unjustly freed from all rebuke and condemnation, to the destruction of the definitions of the Catholic Church and its rule of faith … let him be condemned.

(d) Sixth General Council, Constantinople, A. D. 681, Definition of Faith. Mansi, XI, 636 ff.

The concluding, more strictly dogmatic portion of this symbol is to be found in Greek in Hahn, 150, and in Latin and Greek in Denziger, nn. 289, ff. See also PNF, ser. II, vol. XIV.

The holy, great, and ecumenical synod assembled by the grace of God and the religious decree of the most religious, faithful, and mighty Emperor Constantine, in this God-preserved and royal city of Constantinople, New Rome, in the hall of the imperial palace called Trullus, has decreed as follows:

The only begotten Son and Word of God the Father, who was made man, like unto us in all things, without sin, Christ our true God, has declared expressly in the words of the Gospel: "I am the light of the world; he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life" [John 8:12]; and again: "My peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you" [John 14:27]. Our most gracious Emperor, the champion of orthodoxy and opponent of evil doctrine, being reverentially led by this divinely uttered doctrine of peace, and having assembled this our holy and ecumenical synod, has united the judgment of the whole Church. Wherefore this our holy and ecumenical synod, having driven away the impious error which has prevailed for a certain time until now, and following closely the straight path of the holy and approved Fathers, has piously given its assent to the five holy and ecumenical synods—that is to say, to that of the three hundred and eighteen holy Fathers assembled at Nicaea against the insane Arius; and the next at Constantinople of the one hundred and fifty God-inspired men against Macedonius, the adversary of the Spirit, and the impious Apollinaris; and also the first at Ephesus of two hundred venerable men assembled against Nestorius, the Judaizer; and that in Chalcedon of six hundred and thirty God-inspired Fathers against Eutyches and Dioscurus, hated of God; and in addition to these the last, that is the fifth, holy synod assembled in this place against Theodore of Mopsuestia, Origen, Didymus, and Evagrius, and the writings of Theodoret against the twelve chapters of the celebrated Cyril, and the epistle which was said to have been written by Ibas to Maris the Persian—without alteration this synod renews in all points the ancient decrees of religion, chasing away the impious doctrines of irreligion. And this our holy and ecumenical synod, inspired of God, has set its seal to the creed of the three hundred and eighteen Fathers, and again religiously confirmed by the one hundred and fifty, which also the other holy synods gladly received and ratified for the removal of every soul-destroying heresy.

Then follow:

The Nicene Creed of the three hundred and eighteen holy Fathers. We believe, etc.

The Creed of the one hundred and fifty holy Fathers assembled at Constantinople. We believe, etc., but without the filioque.

The holy and ecumenical synod further says that this pious and orthodox creed of the divine grace would be sufficient for the full knowledge and confirmation of the orthodox faith. But as the author of evil, who in the beginning availed himself of the aid of the serpent, and by it brought the poison of death upon the human race, has not desisted, but in like manner now, having found suitable instruments for the accomplishment of his will—that is to say, Theodorus, who was bishop of Pharan; Sergius, Pyrrhus, Paul and Peter, who were prelates of this royal city; and also Honorius, who was pope of Old Rome; Cyrus, bishop of Alexandria, Marcarius, lately bishop of Antioch, and Stephen, his disciple—has not ceased with their declaration of orthodoxy by this our God-assembled and holy synod; for according to the sentence spoken of God: "Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them" [Matt. 18:20], the present(292) holy and ecumenical synod, faithfully receiving and saluting with uplifted hands also the suggestion which by the most holy and blessed Pope Agatho, Pope of Old Rome, was sent to our most pious and faithful Emperor Constantine, which rejected by name those who taught or preached one will and operation in the dispensation of the incarnation of Christ(293) our very God, has likewise adopted that other synodal suggestion which was sent by the council held under the same most holy Pope, composed of one hundred and twenty-five bishops beloved of God,(294) to his God-instructed tranquillity [i.e., the Emperor], as consonant to the holy Council of Chalcedon and the Tome of the most holy and blessed Leo, Pope of the same Old Rome, which was directed to the holy Flavian, which also the council called the pillar of a right faith; and also agrees with the synodical letters written by the blessed Cyril against the impious Nestorius and addressed to the Oriental bishops.

Following(295) the five holy and ecumenical synods and the most holy and approved Fathers, with one voice defining that our Lord Jesus Christ must be confessed to be our very God, one of the holy and consubstantial and life-giving Trinity, perfect in deity and the same perfect in humanity, truly God and truly man, of a reasonable soul and body; consubstantial with His Father as to His godhead, and consubstantial with us as to His manhood; in all things like unto us, without sin [Heb. 4:15]; begotten of His Father before the ages according to His godhead, but in these last days for us men and for our salvation begotten of the Holy Ghost and of the Virgin Mary, strictly and in truth Theotokos, according to the flesh; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only begotten, in two natures unconfusedly, unchangeably, inseparably, indivisibly to be recognized; the peculiarities of neither nature lost by the union, but rather the properties of each nature preserved, concurring in one person,(296) and in one subsistence,(297) not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same only begotten Son, the Word of God,(298) the Lord Jesus Christ, according as the prophets of old have taught, and as Jesus Christ Himself hath taught, and the creed of the holy Fathers hath delivered to us;(299) we likewise declare that in Him are two natural wills or willings and two natural operations indivisibly, unchangeably, inseparably, unconfusedly, according to the teaching of the holy Fathers. And these two natural wills are not contrary one to the other (which God forbid), as the impious heretics say, but His human will follows, not as resisting or reluctant, but rather therefore as subject to His divine and omnipotent will. For it was right that the will of the flesh should be moved, but be subject to the divine will, according to the most wise Athanasius. For as His flesh is called and is the flesh of God the Word, so also the natural will of His flesh is called and is the proper will of God the Word, as He Himself says: "I came down from heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of the Father which sent Me," [John 6:38], wherein he calls His own will the will of the flesh, inasmuch as His flesh was also His own. For as His most holy and immaculately animated flesh was not destroyed because it was deified [θεωθεῖσα], but continued in its own state and nature, so also His human will, although deified, was not taken away, but rather was preserved according to the saying of Gregory the Theologian:(300) "His will, namely that of the Saviour, is not contrary to God, but altogether deified."

We glorify two natural operations, indivisibly, unchangeably, inseparably, unconfusedly, in the same our Lord Jesus Christ, our true God, that is to say, a divine operation and a human operation, according to the divine preacher Leo, who most distinctly says as follows: "For each form does in communion with the other what pertains to it, namely the Word doing what pertains to the Word, and the flesh what pertains to the flesh."(301) For we will not admit one natural operation of God and of the creature, that we may not exalt into the divine essence what is created, nor will we bring down the glory of the divine nature to the place suited for those things which have been made. We recognize the miracles and the sufferings as of one and the same person, but of one or of the other nature of which He is, and in which He has His existence, as the admirable Cyril said. Preserving in all respects, therefore, the unconfusedness and indivisibility, we express all in brief phrase: Believing that our Lord Jesus Christ, one of the Trinity also after the incarnation, is our true God, we say that His two natures shone forth in His one subsistence [hypostasis], in which were both the miracles and the suffering throughout the whole incarnate life,(302) not in appearance merely but in reality, the difference as to nature being recognized in one and the same subsistence; for, although joined together, each nature wills and operates the things proper to it.(303) For this reason we glorify two natural(304) wills and operations concurring most fitly in Him for the salvation of the human race.

Since these things have been formulated by us with all diligence and care, we decree that to no one shall it be permitted to bring forward or write or to compose or to think or to teach otherwise. Whosoever shall presume to compose a different faith or to propose, or to teach, or to hand to those wishing to be converted to the knowledge of the truth from the heathen or the Jews or from any heresy any different symbol, or to introduce a new mode of expression to subvert these things which have now been determined by us, all these, if they be bishops or clergy, shall be deposed, the bishops from the episcopate, the clergy from the clerical office; but if they be monks or laymen, they shall be anathematized.

(e) Council of Constantinople, A. D. 681, Sessio XIII. Mansi, XI, 1050. Cf. Mirbt, n. 188.

The condemnation of the Monotheletes, including Honorius of Rome.

The condemnation of Honorius has become a cause celebre, especially in connection with the doctrine of papal infallibility. It should be observed, however, that the doctrine of papal infallibility, as defined at the Vatican Council, A. D. 1870 (cf. Mirbt, n. 509), requires that only when the Pope speaks ex cathedra is he infallible, and it has not been shown that any opinion whatever held by Honorius was an ex cathedra definition of faith and morals according to the Vatican Council. The matter is therefore a mere question of fact and may be treated apart from the Vatican dogma. It should be borne in mind, further, that the Sixth General Council was approved by Pope Leo II, A. D. 682 (cf. Mirbt, n. 189), who included Honorius by name among those whose condemnation was approved. That he did so approve it is also stated in the Liber Pontificalis (cf. Mirbt, n. 190), and according to the Liber Diurnus, the official book of formulae used in the papal business, the Pope took an oath recognizing among others the Sixth General Council, and condemning Honorius among other heretics (cf. Mirbt, n. 191). That Honorius was actually a heretic is still another matter; for it seems not at all unlikely that he misunderstood the point at issue and his language is quite unscientific. The text of the letters of Honorius may be found in Kirch, nn. 949-965, and in Hefele in a translation, 296, 298. On the condemnation of Honorius, see Hefele, 324.

The holy council said: After we had reconsidered, according to our promise made to your highness,(305) the doctrinal letter written by Sergius, at one time patriarch of this royal God-preserved city, to Cyrus, who was then bishop of Phasis, and to Honorius, sometime Pope of Old Rome, as well as the letter of the latter to the same Sergius, and finding that the documents are quite foreign to the apostolic dogmas, to the definitions of the holy councils, and to all the approved Fathers, and that they follow the false teachings of the heretics, we entirely reject them, and execrate them as hurtful to the soul.

But the names of those men whom we execrate must also be thrust forth from the holy Church of God, namely, that of Sergius, sometime bishop of this God-preserved royal city, who was the first to write on this impious doctrine; also that of Cyrus of Alexandria, of Pyrrhus, Paul, and Peter, who died bishops of this God-preserved city, and were like-minded with them; and that of Theodore, sometime bishop of Pharan, all of whom the most holy and thrice-blessed Agatho, Pope of Old Rome, in his suggestion to our most pious and God-preserved lord and mighty Emperor, rejected because they were minded contrary to our orthodox faith, all of whom we declare are subject to anathema. And with these we decree that there shall be expelled from the holy Church of God and anathematized Honorius, who was Pope of Old Rome, because of what we found written by him to Sergius, that in all respects he followed his view and confirmed his impious doctrine.

We have also examined the synodal letter(306) of Sophronius, of holy memory, sometime patriarch of the holy city of our God, Jerusalem, and have found it in accordance with the true faith and with apostolic teachings, and with the teachings of the holy and approved Fathers. Therefore, we have received it as orthodox and salutary to the holy and Catholic and Apostolic Church, and have decreed that it is right that his name be inserted in the diptychs of the holy churches.

108. Rome, Constantinople, and the Lombard State Church in the Seventh Century

The Sixth General Council was the last great diplomatic triumph of Rome in the East in matters of faith, though two centuries after, in the matter of Photius, Rome played a brilliant part in the internal affairs of the Eastern Church. Immediately after the council of 681, it was felt that the West, of which the Greeks had grown very jealous, had triumphed over the East, especially as several of the leading patriarchs had been condemned. Monotheletism, furthermore, was too strongly intrenched in the East to be removed by a single conciliar action. It was felt necessary to take action to confirm the results of Constantinople in 681. The fifth and sixth general councils had been occupied entirely with doctrinal matters and had not issued any disciplinary canons. A new council might be gathered to complete the work of the Sixth General Council, not only to reaffirm it, but in connection with some much-needed legislation to retort upon the West by condemning some Roman practices. In this way the Second Trullan Council, or Concilium Quinisextum, came about in 692. The Roman see, in the meanwhile, although it had triumphed at Constantinople in 681, did not enjoy an independent political position in Italy. It was still under the Roman Emperor at Constantinople, as had been most painfully perceived in the treatment of Martin I by Constans. Although the Pope had his apocrisiarius, or nuncio, at Constantinople, he came into immediate contact with the exarch of Ravenna, the Emperor's representative in Italy. In Italy, furthermore, the Arian heresy long persisted among the Lombards, although greater toleration was shown the Catholic Church.

Additional source material: The canons of the Quinisext Council may be found complete in Percival, Seven Ecumenical Councils, PNF, ser. II, vol. XIV.

(a) Concilium Quinisextum, A. D. 692, Canons. Bruns, I, 34, ff.

This council was commonly regarded as the continuation of the Sixth General Council, and has been received in the East, not as a separate council, but as a part of the sixth. The West has never accepted this opinion and has only to a limited extent admitted the authority of its canons, though some have been current in the West because, like much conciliar action, they were re-enactments of older canons. Occasionally some of the canons have been cited by popes as belonging to the Sixth Council. The canons given here are, for the most part, those which were in some point in opposition to the Roman practice.

Canon 1. Renewal of the Condemnations of the Sixth Council.

We, by divine grace at the beginning of our decrees, define that the faith set forth by the God-chosen Apostles, who themselves had both seen the Word and were ministers of the Word, shall be preserved without any innovation, unchanged and inviolate. Moreover the faith of the three hundred and eighteen holy and blessed Fathers, etc.

[Here follows a detailed statement of the first five general councils.]

Also we agree to guard untouched the faith of the Sixth Holy Synod, which first assembled in this royal city in the time of Constantine, our Emperor, of blessed memory, which faith received still greater confirmation from the fact that the pious Emperor ratified with his own signet what was written, for the security of every future age. And again we confess that we should guard the faith unaltered and openly acknowledged; that in the Economy of the incarnation of our one Lord Jesus Christ, the true God, there are two natural wills or volitions and two natural operations; and have condemned by a just sentence those who adulterated the true doctrine and taught the people that in the one Lord, our God, Jesus Christ, there is but one will and operation, that is to say, Theodore of Pharan, Cyrus of Alexandria, Honorius of Rome, Sergius, Pyrrhus, Paul, and Peter, who were bishops of this God-preserved city, Macarius, who was bishop of Antioch, Stephen who was his disciple, and the insane Polychronius, depriving them henceforth of the communion of the body of Christ our God.…

Canon 2. On the Sources of Canon Law.

This canon opposed Rome in two respects: it accepted eighty-five Apostolic Canons, whereas Rome received but fifty; it drew up a list of councils and of Fathers whose writings should have authority as canons, and omitted the important Western councils, except Carthage, and all the papal decrees. With this canon should be compared the decretal of Gelasius, De Libris Recipiendis, v. supra, 92.

It has also seemed good to this holy synod that the eighty-five canons received and ratified by the holy and blessed Fathers before us, and also handed down to us in the name of the holy and glorious Apostles, should from this time forth remain firm and unshaken for the cure of souls and the healing of disorders. And since in these canons we are bidden to receive the Constitutions of the Holy Apostles by Clement, in which, in old time, certain spurious matter entirely contrary to piety was introduced by heterodox persons for the polluting of the Church, which obscures to us the elegance and beauty of the divine decrees; we, therefore, for the edification and security of the most Christian flock, reject properly such constitutions; by no means admitting the offspring of heretical error, and cleaving to the pure and perfect doctrine of the Apostles. But we set our seal likewise upon all the other holy canons set forth by our holy and blessed Fathers, that is, by the three hundred and eighteen God-fearing Fathers assembled at Nicaea, and those at Ancyra; further, those at Neo-Caesarea and at Gangra, and besides these those at Antioch in Syria [A. D. 341], those too at Laodicea in Phrygia, and likewise those of the one hundred and fifty assembled in this God-preserved imperial city and of the two hundred, who assembled for the first time in the metropolis of the Ephesians, and of the six hundred and thirty holy and blessed Fathers at Chalcedon; in like manner those of Sardica and those of Carthage; those also who assembled in this God-preserved imperial city under Nectarius [A. D. 394], and under Theophilus, archbishop of Alexandria; likewise too the canons(307) of Dionysius, formerly archbishop of the great city of Alexandria, and of Peter, archbishop of Alexandria, and martyr; of Gregory the Wonder-worker, archbishop of Neo-Caesarea; of Athanasius, archbishop of Alexandria; of Basil, archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia; of Gregory, bishop of Nyssa; of Gregory the Theologian;(308) of Amphilochius of Iconium; of Timothy, archbishop of Alexandria; of the first Theophilus, archbishop of the same metropolis of Alexandria; of Gennadius, patriarch of the God-preserved imperial city; moreover the canons set forth by Cyprian, archbishop of the country of the Africans, and martyr, and by the synod under him,(309) which have been kept in the country of the aforesaid bishops and only according to the custom delivered down to them. And that no one be allowed to transgress the aforesaid canons, or to receive other canons besides them, supposititiously set forth by some who have attempted to make a traffic of the truth. But should any one be convicted of innovating upon them, or attempting to overturn any of the aforementioned canons, he shall be condemned to receive the penalty which the canon imposes and so to be cured of his transgressions.

Canon 13. On the Marriage of the Clergy.

The following canon permits subdeacons and priests if married before ordination to continue to live in marriage relations with their wives. But they are not allowed to marry a second time or to marry a widow. Neither are bishops to remain married; but if they are married when elected, their wives must enter a monastery at a distance. With this canon should be compared the earlier legislation of Nicaea, v. supra, 78, and also the law of Justinian, v. supra, 94.

Since we know that it is handed down in the canonical discipline in the Roman Church that those who are about to be deemed worthy of ordination to the diaconate or presbyterate should promise no longer to live maritally with their wives, we, pursuing the ancient rule of apostolic discipline and order, will that henceforth the lawful marriage of men in holy orders remain firm, by no means dissolving their union with their wives, nor depriving them of intercourse with each other at a convenient season.… Therefore, if any one shall have dared, contrary to the Apostolic Canons, to deprive any one in holy orders, that is, any presbyter, deacon, or subdeacon, of cohabitation and intercourse with his lawful wife, let him be deposed; likewise also if any presbyter or deacon, on pretence of piety, puts away his wife, let him be excluded from communion; but if he persists let him be deposed.

Canon 36. On the Rank of the Patriarchal Sees.

Rome always rejected the claim of Constantinople to rank as second. Cf. Leo's opinion, v. supra, 87.

Renewing the enactments of the one hundred and fifty Fathers assembled in the God-preserved and imperial city, and the six hundred and thirty assembled at Chalcedon, we decree that the see of Constantinople shall enjoy equal privilege with the see of Old Rome, and in ecclesiastical matters shall be as highly regarded as that is, and second after it. And after this [Constantinople] shall be ranked the see of the great city of Alexandria, and after that the see of Antioch, and after that the see of Jerusalem.

Canon 37. On Bishops of Sees among Infidels.

This canon is cited here, though not entering into the controversy between the East and the West, because it is significant of the changed position of the Eastern Church at this time, due to the Moslem and other conquests. The Monophysite bishops in Egypt and Syria were not molested by the Moslems. This canon marks the beginning of the practice of ordaining bishops in partibus infidelium.

Since at different times there have been invasions of the barbarians, and consequently very many cities have come into the possession of the infidels, so that as a consequence the prelate of a city may not be able, after he has been ordained, to take possession of his see and to be settled in it in sacerdotal order, and so to perform and manage, according to custom, the ordinations and all other things which appertain to the bishop; we, preserving the honor and veneration of the priesthood, and in nowise wishing to make use of the heathen injury to the ruin of ecclesiastical rights, have decreed that they who have been thus ordained, and for the aforesaid causes have not settled in their sees, may be kept from any prejudice from this thing, so that they may canonically perform the ordination of the different clerics and use the authority of their offices according to proper limits, and that whatever administration proceeds from them may be valid and legitimate. For the exercise of his office shall not be circumscribed by reason of necessity, when the exact observance of the law is circumscribed.

Canon 55. On Fasts in Lent.

As stated in the canon, this enactment is aimed at the Roman usage, and refers to the 64th Apostolic Canon, which Rome rejected. For the Apostolic Canons, see ANF, VII, 504.

Since we have learned that in the city of the Romans, in the holy fast of Lent, they fast on the Sabbaths(310) contrary to the traditional ecclesiastical observance, it seemed good to the holy synod that also in the Church of the Romans the canons shall be in force without wavering which says: If any cleric shall be found to fast on Sunday or on the Sabbath except on one occasion only,(311) he shall be deposed; and if a layman he shall be excommunicated.

Canon 67. On Eating Blood.

This canon is less distinctly aimed at Rome. In the West the prohibition against eating blood seems to have been little observed, as it had been given another interpretation. At the time of the Second Trullan Council the practice was very common. Augustine, it might be said, did not consider the apostolic command as binding except in the special circumstance in which it was issued. Cf. Augustine, Contra Faustum, 32:13.