Less than three years after this successful encounter with the barbarians, in 455 Leo's powerful services were again brought into requisition by the State. That year the licentious Valentinian was murdered at the instigation of an enraged husband, Maximus, who subsequently compelled the widow, Eudoxia, to marry him. Eudoxia, however, discovering the part Maximus had taken in Valentinian' s death, invited the Vandals under Genseric to invade Italy. Maximus himself was put to death before the invaders reached Rome: but, when they did arrive, the panic-stricken citizens again threw themselves into the hands of Leo, who at the head of the clergy went forth to meet the foe outside the city. Once more his intercession in some measure prevailed, but not sufficiently to prevent the city being pillaged fourteen days.
We now return to more purely religious matters. In 457 Marcian died (his wife having pre-deceased him four years), and was succeeded by a Thracian, named Leo. Fresh outbreaks immediately took place both at Constantinople and at Alexandria: at the former place they were soon stopped, but at Alexandria they were more serious and prolonged. The disaffected monks set up one of their number, Timothy Aelurus (or the Cat) in opposition to Proterius, who was soon after foully murdered int he baptistery, to which he had fled. This flagrant outrage at once aroused the bishop of Rome to fresh energy in every direction: by his promptitude the new Emperor was stirred to action, among the other means employed being a re-statement of the Faith in a long epistle with a catena of patristic authority, sometimes called "the Second Tome." Aelurus was deposed and banished, and another Timothy, surnamed Solophaciolus, of well- approved orthodoxy, elected into his place. This satisfactory 17 consummation was effect in 460, while a no less orthodox successor, named Gennadius, had been found two year before, when Anatolius died, for the See of Constantinople. Thus Leo's joy was full at last, as his latest letters testify. Late in the year 461 he died, after a rule of twenty-one years, during which he had won at least one great victory for the Faith, and had given the See of Rome a prestige, which may be said to have lasted even to the present day.
His body was buried in the church of S. Peter's since which time it has been thrice moved to different positions, once towards the end of the 7th century by Pope Sergius, again in 1607, after the re-building of the church in its present form, and lastly in 1715. As "saint" and "confessor" from the earliest times, as "doctor of the church" since 1754, he is commemorated in the East on Feb. 18, in the West on April 11.
"It will not be wholly out of place," says Mr. Gore, "to mention that tradition looks back to Leo as the benefactor of many of the Roman churches: he is said to have restored their silver ornaments after the ravages of the Vandals, and to have repaired the basilicas of S. Peter and S. Paul, placing a mosaic in the latter, which represented the adoration of the four and twenty elders: we are told also that he built a church of S. Cornelius, established some monks at S. Peter's instituted guardians for the tombs of the Apostles, and erected a fountain before S. Paul's, where the people might wash before entering the church."
The only writings of Leo which are generally accepted as authentic are his numerous Sermons and Letters. Certain anti- Pelagian treatises and a long tract upon Humility in the form of a letter to Demetrias, a virgin, have been ascribed to him; but the most important work of all the doubtful ones is a "Sacrementary," which is one of the earliest extant of the Roman church, and is sometimes held to be Leo's composition or compilation. Many of the collects and prayers which it contains bear a remarkable resemblance to his teaching, and may well have come from his pen: there is indeed good reason for the opinion that the Collect proper, which is a distinct feature of the Western Church, owes it origin to Leo.
As a theologian Leo is thoroughly Western in type, being not speculative but dogmatic: no one was better suited in God's Providence to give the final completeness to the Church's Doctrine of the Incarnation than this clear-sighted, unimaginative, and persistent bishop of Rome. His theological position on the cardinal doctrines of the Faith is identical with that of the Athanasian symbol, to the language of which his own language often bears a close resemblance. With his theory of the Pope as universal Ruler of the Church in virtue of his being the successor of S. Peter, the vast majority of English-speaking people will have but little sympathy: and yet it can but be admired from an objective standpoint as a bold, grand, and almost original conception. And there are no doubt many smaller points of detail in his writings connected more with discipline than with doctrine, which will now be reckoned if not as actually objectionable, at least as arising from forgotten needs or belonging to a bygone system: among these may be instanced his objection to slaves as clergy and to the celebration of the Eucharist more than once in one day except on festivals, where the church is too small to hold all the worshippers at once: his advocacy of the innovation of private instead of public confession for ordinary penitents, and on the other hand his insisting on the old rule the baptism should be administered only twice a year (at Easter and at Whitsuntide): and again the somewhat undue prominence that he gives to fasting and almsgiving as being on a level with prayer for Lenten or Ember exercises, and to the intercessions of the saints — particularly of the patron saints of Rome, SS. Peter, Paul, and Lawrence. And yet at the same time there is very much more to be thankful for as instructive than to object to as obsolete or dangerous. For on the negative side we have no trace after all of the later direct invocation of the Saints, nor of the modern cultus of the B.V.M. and of relics, while among the many positive good points in his teaching must be reckoned his most proper theory of a bishop as not only the channel of divine grace in virtue of ordination (sacerdos) but also the overseer of the flock (episcopus), in virtue of the people's choice and approval, which is essential to his office; his strong condemnation of the practice of usury in laity as well as clergy; his high appreciation of coporate even more than individual action among the faithful; the thoroughly practical view he always puts before us of the Christian life; and above all the "singularly Christian" character of all his sermons, in which Christ is the Alpha and Omega of all his thoughts and of all his exhortations. These are some of the benefits which Leo has conferred upon the Church, and which have rightfully earned for him the title "Great."
19 Manuscripts I. At the Vatican, (a) Of the Sermons. (I) Codd. 3835 and 6 are two volumes in Roman Character of a Lectionary of about the 8th century; the second volume contains the "Tome" (which in the 8th and 9th centuries used to be read in the Church offices before Christmas): 3828, a parchment (10th century), also a lectionary: 1195, a parchment folio (11th century), a lectionary containing inter alia some of Leo's homilies: 1267, 8 and 9 of the same character (1 1th century): 1270 contains the Sermon de Festo Petri cathedrae (now xiv. in Migne's Appendix), from which Cacciari restored Quesnel's imperfect edition of it to its present state: 1271 and 2 are also lectionaries: 4222 in Lombardic characters (9th century), a lectionary: 5451 in Roman characters (12th century), a lectionary: 6450 parchment (12 century): a lectionary containing the sermon de Festo Petri cathedrae in the form found and printed by Quesnel; 6451 similar: it contains sermons de Quadragesima and others: 6454 similar.
(b) Of the Letters: these are mostly rather late (i.e. about 12th or 13th century): but (I) 1322 is of an older date, and contains besides the epistles, all the acts of the Council of Chalcedon: 5759 is earlier than the 9th century; it used to belong to the monastery of S. Columban at Bobbio, and contains 31 letters: 5845 is very ancient, and according to Cacciari, Lombardic: it contains 24 letters.
(c) Letters and Sermons together, of these there are nine collections in the Vatican, of which 548 and 9 contain the sermon de Absalom which is condemned by Cacciari. The Regio-Vaticanus codex 139 is a fine collection of Leo's works (12th century).
II. At other places ( 1.) The codex Urbinas 65 is thought to be a copy of the Regio-Vaticanus 139 made in the 14th century.
(2.) Codex Grimanicus is a MS. on which Quesnel lays great stress: Quesnel assigns it to the ninth century; it contains 107 letters, of which 28 had never been printed before Quesnel.
20 (3.) The Thuanei: (a) 129 contains 123 letters: (b) 780 contains the Tome: (c) 729 contains the spurious de vocatione gentium and some epistles.
(4.) The Corbeienses are old.
(5.) The Taurinensis 29 D. iv. is a fine 13th century MS. containing 52 letters.
(6.) The Florentinus codex belongs to the 13th century also.
(7.) Ratisbonensis 113 DD. AA., in the monastery of S. Emeramus, contains 72 letters: it is said to date from about 750 A.D.
(8.) The two Bergonenses are of 12th century, and contain 12 sermons.
(9.) Two Chigiani also of 12th century contain 4 sermons.
(10.) The Padilironenses contain 9 sermons and the Tome.
(11.) There are three Patavini, of which two contain the Tome.
(12.) Vallicellani: these are a number of 11th or 12th-century codices.
There are also the Veneti, the Vercellenses, the Veronenses, etc.
N.B. The foregoing account is taken from Schonemann's Notitia Historico- Literaria (1794), and the translator has no means of knowing whether it is still correct (1890).
Editions 1. The earliest important edition is P. Quesnei's (pretre de Voratoire), Paris, 1675, Lyons, 1700, of which Migne's Diet, de Bibliogr. catholique says, 'on reproche aux editions du P. Quesnel un grand nombre de falsifications, par lesquelles le P. Quesnel se proposait notamment d'affaiblir V autorite pontificale...L' edition que I'ou doit aujourd'hui preferer, est (naturally enough!) celle qui a ete publiee par M. I'abbe Migne sous le titre d' 2. Oeuvres tres completes de Saint Leon le Grand publiees d'apres l' edition desfreres Ballerinii et celle de Paschase Quesnel enrichees de prefaces, d'avertissements et de commentaires, suivies des exercices de Cacciari sur toutes les aeuvres de saint docteur. Paris 1846.
21 3. P. Cacciari (a carmelite) brought out editions at Rome, 1751 and 1753- 5, the latter with dissertations.
4. The edition of the brothers P. and H. Ballerinii (Jesuists), Venice, 1753- 7, was a recension of Quesnel's second edition with copious dissertations and notes.
5. H. Hurter. S.J., has published selections of Sermons and Letters in vols, xiv., xxv. and xxvi. of his SS. PP. opuscula selecta, 1871-4.
Translations 1. Bright' s Leo on the Incarnation, London, 1862 (2nd edn. enlarged, 1886, in which the Tome is translated), consists of xviii. sermons translated and the Tome in Latin, with many valuable notes.
2. Reithmayr's Bibliothek (1869) contains a German translation.
3. Dr. Neale's History of the Alexandrian Patriarchate embodies a translation of the Tome.
4. Dr. Heurtley published a version of the Tome in 1886.
Authorities and materials The chief ancient and mediaeval authorities for the life and times of Leo the Great are such works as Prosper 's, and Idatius' Chronicles, Iornandes de rebus Geticis, Anastasius Bibliothecarius Historia de vitis Romanorum Pontificum (9th cent.), the Historia Miscella (10th cent.), etc..
Among lives may be mentioned the following: — La vie et religion de deux bons popes Leon premier et Gregoire premier par Pierre Du Moulin (the younger: a pro testant theologian), Sedan, 1650. 12mo. Qu E s N E L ' s valuable Dissertatio de vita et rebus gestis S. Leonis Magni, originally included in his edition of Leo and re-printed by Migne in Vol. ii. of his edition with the Ballerinii' s annotations and critical remarks, Paris, 1675, Lyons, 1700. Histoire du Pontifical de Saint Leon le Grand par Monsr. L. Maimbourg La Haye, 1687. The Bollandists' Life by Canisius (Acta Sanctorum), April, vol. ii. pp. 14-22. Alphonsi Ciaconii Vitae Pontificum (Tom. I, pp. 303-314), Rome, 1677, 4to. Le Nain De Tillemont, Memoires pour servir a I'histoire Ecclesiastique (vol. xv. pp.
22 414-832-934), Paris, 1711. Breve Descrizione delta vita di S. Leone Primo di Gabrielle Bertazzolo: Mantova, 1727. Memoire istoriche di Sa. Leone Papa daTEOFiio Pacifico: Brescia, 1791, 8v0. Du Pin, L.E., History ofEcc. writers (Eng. Edn. vol. I, pp. 464-480), Dublin, 1722. C. Oudinus, de Scriptoribus Ecclesiae (vol. I. pp. 1271-5), Leipzig, 1722. Wilhelm Amadeus Arendt {Roman Catholic), Leo der Grosse und seine Zeit, Mains, 1835, 8vo. Eduard Perthel, Pabst Leo's I. Leben und Lehren, Jena, 1843, 8vo. (a counterblast to No. 11, and no less exaggerated and prejudiced in statement). A. de Saint-Chron, Histoire du pontificat de Saint Leon le Grand, Paris, 1 846. F. Bohringer, die Kirche Xti und ihre Zeugen (vol. I part 4, pp. 170-309), Zurich, 1845. Charles Gore 's Life of Leo the Great (S.P.C.K.); also his article in Smith's Diet, of Christian Biogr. The article in Herzo g 's Real-Encyklopadie of which a condensed English edition was edited by Dr. Philip Schaff at New York in 1883. Other more general accounts of his times will be found in I'abbe Fleury, Histoire du Xtianisme (vol. ii. pp. 384-480), Paris, 1836. Bright 's History of the Church from 313-451 (chaps, xiv., xv.), Oxford and London, 1860. Histoire Universelle de I'Eglise catholique (15th edn., vol. 4, pp. 461-575), Paris, 1868. A short account of Leo's writings is given in Alzog 's Grundriss der Patrologie, 78, pp. 368-375: a most exhaustive one in Ceillier 's Histoire generate des Auters sacres (new edition) (vol. x., pp. 169-276), 1858-1869. Bahr 's Geschichte der Romischer Literatur- Supplement Band. II. Abtheilung (pp. 354-362), im Abendland, vol. I, p. 448, may also be consulted; and Ebert 's Allgemeine Geshcichte der Literatur des Mittelalters.
23 LETTERS LETTER I TO THE BISHOP OF AQUILEIA I. Through the negligence of the authorities the Pelagian heresy has been spreading in his province.
From the account of our holy brother and fellow-bishop Septimus which is contained in the subjoined letter, we have understood that certain priests and deacons and clergy of various orders in your province who have been drawn in by the Pelagian or Caelestian heresy, have attained to catholic communion without any recantation of their peculiar error being required of them; and that, whilst the shepherds set to watch were fast asleep, wolves clothed in sheep-skins but without laying aside their bestial minds have entered into the Lord's sheep-fold: and that they make a practice of what is not allowed even to non-offenders by the injunctions of our canons and decrees: to wit that they should leave the churches in which they received or regained their office and carry their uncertainty in all directions, loving to continue wandering and never to remain on the foundations of the Apostles. For without being sifted by any test or bound by any previous confession of faith, they make a great point of their right to the privilege of going to one house after another under cover of their being in communion with the Church, and corrupting the hearts of many through men's ignorance of their false name. And yet I am sure they could not do this, if the rulers of the churches had exercised their rightful diligence in the matter of receiving such, and had not allowed any of them to wander from place to place.
24 24 II. He orders a provincial synod to be convened to receive the recantation of the heretics in express terms.
Accordingly, lest this should be attempted any further, and lest this pernicious habit, which owes its introduction to certain persons' negligence, should result in the overthrow of many souls, by this our authoritative injunction we charge you, brother, to give diligence that a synod of the clergy of your province be convened, and all, whether priests or deacons or clerics of any rank who have been re-admitted from their alliance with the Pelagians and the Caelestians into catholic communion with such precipitation that they were not first constrained to recant their error, be now at least forced to a true correction, which can advantage themselves and hurt no one, since their deceitfulness has in part been disclosed. Let them by their public confession condemn the authors of this presumptuous error and renounce all that the universal Church has repudiated in their doctrine: and let them announce by full and open statements, signed by their own hand, that they embrace and entirely approve of all the synodal decrees which the authority of the Apostolic See has ratified to the rooting out of this heresy. Let nothing obscure, nothing ambiguous be found in their words. For we know that their cunning is such that they reckon that the meaning of any particular clause of their execrable doctrine can be defended if they only keep it distinct from the main body of their damnable views.
III. The Pelagian view of God's grace is unscriptural.
And when they pretend to disapprove of and give up all their definitions to facilitate evasion through their complete art of deception, unless their meaning is detected, they make exception of the dogma that the grace of God is given according to the merits of the recipient. And yet surely, unless it is given freely, it is not a gift, but a price and compensation for merits: for the blessed Apostle says, "by grace ye have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves but it is the gift of God; not of works lest any should perchance be exalted. For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus in good works, which God prepared that we should walk in them." Thus every bestowal of good works is of God's preparing: because a man is justified by grace rather than by his own excellence: for grace is to every one the source of righteousness, the source of good and 25 the fountain of merit. But these heretics say it is anticipated by men's natural goodness for this reason, that that nature which (in their view) is before grace conspicuous for good desires of its own, may not seem marred by any stain of original sin, and that what the Truth says may be falsified: "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost."
IV. Prompt measures are essential.
You must take heed, therefore, beloved, and with great diligence make provision that offenses which have long been removed be not set up again through such men and that no seed of the same evil spring up in your province from a doctrine which has once been uprooted: for not only will it take root and grow, but also will taint the future generations of the Church with its poisonous exhalations. Those who wish to appear corrected must purge themselves of all suspicion: and by obeying us, prove themselves ours. And if any of them decline to satisfy our wholesome injunctions, be he cleric or layman, he must be driven from the society of the Church lest he deal treacherously by others' safety as well as forfeit his own soul.
V. The canons must be enforced against clerics who wonder from one church to another.
We admonish you also to restore to full working that part of the discipline of the Church whereby the holy Fathers and we have often in former times decreed that neither in the grade of the priesthood nor in the order of the diaconate nor in the lower ranks of the clergy, is any one at liberty to migrate from church to church: to the end that each one may persevere where he was ordained without being enticed by ambition, or led astray by greed, or corrupted by men's evil beliefs: and thus that if any one, seeking his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ, neglect to return to his own peoples and church, he may be reckoned out of the pale both in respect of promotion and of the bond of communion. But do not doubt, beloved, that we must be somewhat sorely moved if, as we think not, our decrees for the maintenance of the canons and the integrity of the faith be neglected: because the short-comings of the lower orders are to be laid at the door of none so much as of those slothful and remiss rulers who often foster much pestilence by shrinking from the application of a stringent remedy.
26 LETTER H To SEPTIMUS, BISHOP OF ALTINUM (Caution must be observed in receiving Pelagians back, and clergy must stay in the church of their ordination.)
LETTER m FROM PASCHASINUS, BISHOP OF LILYBAEUM (About the keeping of Easter in 444; recommending the Alexandrine calculation.)
27 LETTER IV TO THE BISHOPS APPOINTED IN CAMPANIA, PICENUM, ETRURIA, AND ALL THE PROVINCES Leo, bishop of the city of Rome, to all the bishops appointed in Campania, Picenum, Etruria, and all the provinces, greeting in the Lord.
I. Introduction.
As the peaceful settlement of the churches causes us satisfaction, so are we saddened with no slight sorrow whenever we learn that anything has been taken for granted or done contrary to the ordinances of the canons and the discipline of the Church: and if we do not repress such things with the vigilance we ought, we cannot excuse ourselves to Him who intended us to be watchmen, for permitting the pure body of the Church, which we ought to keep clean from every stain, to be defiled by contact with wicked schemers, since the framework of the members loses its harmony by such dissimulation.
II. Slaves and serfs (coloni) are not to be ordained.
Men are admitted commonly to the Sacred Order who are not qualified by any dignity of birth or character: even some who have failed to obtain their liberty from their masters are raised to the rank of the priesthood, as if sorry slaves were fit for that honor; and it is believed that a man can be approved of God who has not yet been able to approve himself to his master. And so the cause for complaint is twofold in this matter, because both the sacred ministry is polluted by such poor partners in it, and the rights of masters are infringed so far as unlawful possession is rashly taken of them. From these men, therefore, beloved brethren, let all the priests of your province keep aloof; and not only from them, but from others also, we wish you to keep, who are under the bond of origin or other condition of service: unless perchance the request or consent be intimated of those who claim some authority over them. For he who is to be enrolled on the 28 divine service ought to be exempt from others, that he be not drawn away from the Lord'S camp in which his name is entered, by any other bonds of duty.
III. A man who has married twice or a widow is not eligible as a priest.
Again, when each man's respectability of birth and conduct has been established, what sort of person should be associated with the ministry of the Sacred Altar we have learnt both from the teaching of the Apostle and the Divine precepts and the regulations of the canons, from which we find very many of the brethren have turned aside and quite gone out of the way. For it is well known that the husbands of widows have attained to the priesthood: certain, too, who have had several wives, and have led a life given up to all licentiousness, have had all facilities put in their way, and been admitted to the Sacred Order, contrary to that utterance of the blessed Apostle, in which he proclaims and says to such, "the husband of one wife," and contrary to that precept of the ancient law which says by way of caution: "Let the priest take a virgin to wife, not a widow, not a divorced woman." All such persons, therefore, who have been admitted we order to be put out of their offices in the church and from the title of priest by the authority of the Apostolic See: for they will have no claim to that for which they were not eligible, on account of the obstacle in question: and we specially claim for ourselves the duty of settling this, that if any of these irregularities have been committed, they may be corrected and may not be allowed to occur again, and that no excuse may arise from ignorance: although it has never been allowed a priest to be ignorant of what has been laid down by the rules of the canons. These writings, therefore, we have addressed to your provinces by the hand of Innocent, Legitimus and Segetius, our brothers and fellow-bishops: that the evil shoots which are known to have sprung up may be torn out by the roots, and no tares may spoil the Lo rd 'S harvest. For thus all that is genuine will bear much fruit, if that which has been wont to kill the growing crop be carefully cleared away.
IV. Usurious practices forbidden for clergy and for laity.
This point, too, we have thought must not be passed over, that certain possessed with the love of base gain lay out their money at interest, and wish to enrich themselves as usurers. For we are grieved that this is 29 practiced not only by those who belong to the clergy, but also by laymen who desire to be called Christians. And we decree that those who have been convicted be punished sharply, that all occasion of sinning be removed.
V.A cleric may not make money in another's name any more than in his own.
The following warning, also, we have thought fit to give, that no cleric should attempt to make money in another's name any more than in his own: for it is unbecoming to shield one's crime under another man's gains. Nay, we ought to look at and aim at only that usury whereby what we bestow in mercy here we may recover from the Lord, who will restore a thousand fold what will last for ever.
VI. Any bishop who refuses consent to these rules must be deposed.
This admonition of ours, therefore, proclaims that if any of our brethren endeavor to contravene these rules and dare to do what is forbidden by them, he may know that he is liable to deposition from his office, and that he will not be a sharer in our communion who refuses to be a sharer of our discipline. But lest there be anything which may possibly be thought to be omitted by us, we bid you, beloved, to keep all the decretal rules of Innocent of blessed memory, and also of all our predecessors, which have been promulgated about the orders of the Church and the discipline of the canons, and to keep them in such wise that if any have transgressed them he may know at once that all indulgence is denied him.
Dated 10th of October, in the consulship of the illustrious Maximus (a second time) and Paterius (A.D. 443).
LETTERV TO THE METROPOLITAN BISHOPS OF ILLYRICUM 30 (Appointing Anastasius of Thessalonica his Vicar in the province, and expressing his wishes about its government, for which see Letter VI.)
LETTER VI TO ANASTASIUS, BISHOP OF THESSALONICA Leo to his beloved brother Anastasius.
I. He is pleased to have been consulted by the bishops Illyricum an important questions.
The brotherly love of our colleagues makes us read with grateful mind the letters of all priests; for in them we embrace one another in the spirit as if we were face to face, and by the intercourse of such epistles we are associated in mutual converse. But in this present letter the affection displayed seems to us greater than usual: for it informs us of the state of the churches, and urges us to a vigilant exercise of care by a consideration of our office, so that being placed, as it were, on a watch-tower, according to the will of the Lord, we should both lend our approval to things when they run in accordance with our wishes, and correct, by applying the remedies of compulsion, what we observe gone wrong through any aggression: hoping that abundant fruit will be the result of our sowing the seed, if we do not allow those things to increase which have begun to spring up to the spoiling of the harvest.
II. Following the examples of his predecessors he nominates Anastasius Metropolitan of Illyricum.
Now therefore, dear brother, that your request has been made known to us through our son Nicolaus the priest, that you, too, like your predecessors, might receive from us in our turn authority over Illyricum for the observance of the rules, we give our consent and earnestly exhort that no concealment and no negligence may be allowed in the management of the churches situated throughout Illyricum, which we commit to you in our stead, following the precedent of Siricius of blessed remembrance, who 31 31 then, for the first time, acting on a fixed method, entrusted them to your last predecessor but one, Anysius of holy memory, who had at the time well deserved of the Apostolic See, and was approved by after events: that he might render assistance to the churches situated in that province whom he wished kept up to discipline. Noble precedents must be followed with eagerness that we may show ourselves in all things like those whose privileges we wish to enjoy. We wish you to imitate your last predecessor but one as well as of your immediate predecessor who is known equally with the former to have both deserved and employed this privilege: so that we may rejoice in the progress of the churches which we commit to you in our stead. For as the conduct of matters progresses creditably when committed to one who acts well and carries out skillfully the duties of the priestly position, so it is found to be only a burden to him who, when power is entrusted to him, uses not the moderation that is due.
III. Ordinees must be carefully selected with especial reference to the Canons of the Church.
And so, dear brother, hold with vigilance the helm entrusted to you, and direct your mind's gaze around on all which you see put in your charge, guarding what will conduce to your reward and resisting those who strive to upset the discipline of the canons. The sanction of God's law must be respected, and the decrees of the canons should be more especially kept. Throughout the provinces committed to thee let such priests be consecrated to the Lord as are commended only by their deserving life and position among the clergy. Permit no license to personal favor, nor to canvassing, nor to purchased votes. Let the cases of those who are to be ordained be investigated carefully and let them be trained in the discipline of the Church through a considerable period of their life. But if all the requirements of the holy Fathers are found in them, and if they have observed all that we read the blessed Apostle Paul to have enjoined on such, viz., that he be the husband of one wife, and that she was a virgin when he married her, as the authority of Go D 'S law requires, [then ordain them]. And this we are extremely anxious should be observed, so as to do away with all place for excuses, lest any one should believe himself able to attain to the priesthood who has taken a wife before he obtained the grace of Christ, and on her decease joined himself to another after baptism.
32