Pearls from the Pedalion: Introduction (continued)

Go to Part I.

From the Editor:

This is the second of a two-part introduction to the Pedalion and this article series "Pearls from the Pedalion." In this post, we read the explanation given by St. Nikodemos to the faithful on defining what a canon actually is, and the authority they possess among other authoritative sources of Church life. Lastly, and of great value, are the axioms which St. Nikodemos developed that help us understand what criteria make up whether something is "canonical" or not. In subsequent articles in this series "Pearls from the Pedalion" we will raise pertinent and relevant canonical decisions for our current times.

PART II:

PROLEGOMENA IN GENERAL BY ST. NIKODEMOS

St. Nikodemos of Mt. Athos

PROLEGOMENA

IN GENERAL

TO THE SACRED CANONS

What a Canon is

A canon, according to Zonaras (in his interpretation of the 39th letter of Athanasius the Great), properly speaking and in the main sense of the word, is a piece of wood, commonly called a rule, which artisans use to get the wood and stone they are working on straight. For, when they place this rule (or straightedge) against their work, if this be crooked, inwards or outwards, they make it straight and right. From this, by metaphorical extension, votes and decisions are also called canons, whether they be of the Apostles of the ecumenical and regional Councils or those of the individual Fathers, which are contained in the present Handbook: for they too, like so many straight and right rules, rid men in holy orders, clergymen and laymen, of every disorder and obliquity of manners, and cause them to have every normality and equality of ecclesiastical and Christian condition and virtue.

“That the divine Canons must be kept rigidly by all. For those who fail to keep them are made liable to horrible penances.”

“These instructions regarding Canons have been enjoined upon you by us, O Bishops. If you adhere to them, you shall be saved, and shall have peace; but if you disobey them, you shall be sorely punished, and shall have perpetual war with one another, thus paying the penalty deserved for heedlessness.” (The Apostles in their epilogue to the Canons.)

“We have decided that it is right and just that the canons promulgated by the holy Fathers at each council hitherto should remain in force”. (Canon 1 of the Fourth Ecumenical Council.)

A Stern Reminder of the Apostles: “It has seemed best to this holy Council that the 85 Canons accepted and validated by the holy and blissful Fathers before us, and handed down to us, moreover, in the name of the holy and glorious Apostles, should remain henceforth certified and secured for the correction of souls and cure of diseases. Of the four ecumenical councils according to name. Of the regional councils by name, and of the individual Fathers by name. And that no one should be allowed to counterfeit or tamper with the aforementioned Canons or to reject them.”

“If anyone be caught innovating or undertaking to subvert any of the said Canons, he shall be responsible with respect to such Canon and undergo the penance therein specified in order to be corrected thereby of that very thing in which he is at fault”. (Canon 2 of the Second Ecumenical Council.)

“Rejoicing in them like one who has found a lot of spoils, we gladly embosom the divine Canons, and we uphold their entire tenor and strengthen them all the more, so far as concerns those promulgated by the trumpets of the Spirit of the renowned Apostles, of the holy ecumenical councils, and of those convened regionally… And of our holy Fathers… And as for those whom they consign to anathema, we anathematize them, too; as for those whom they consign to deposition or degradation, we too depose or degrade them; as for those whom they consign to excommunication, we too excommunicate them; and as for those whom they condemn to a penance, we too subject them thereto likewise”. (Canon 1 of the Seventh Ecumenical Council.)

“We therefore decree that the ecclesiastical Canons which have been promulgated or confirmed by the four holy councils, namely, that held in Nicaea, and that held in Constantinople, and the first one held in Ephesus, and that held in Chalcedon, shall take the rank of laws.” (Novel 131 of Justinian.)

“We therefore decree that the ecclesiastical Canons which have been promulgated or confirmed by the seven holy councils shall take the rank of laws.” (Note.—The word “confirmed” alludes to the canons of the regional councils and of the individual Fathers which had been confirmed by the ecumenical councils, according to Balsamon.) “For we accept the dogmas of the aforesaid holy councils precisely as we do the divine Scriptures, and we keep their Canons as laws.” (Basilica, book fifth, Title III, ch. 2, in Photius Title I, ch. 2.)

“The third provision of Title II of the Novels commands the Canons of the seven councils and their dogmas to remain in force, in the same way as the divine Scriptures.” (In Photius, Title I, ch. 2.)

“Leo the Wise (in book fifth of the Basilica, Title III, ch. 1) says: ‘I accept the seven holy ecumenical councils as I do the holy Gospel’.”

“It has been prescribed by the holy Fathers that even after death those men must be anathematized who have sinned against the faith or against the Canons (Fifth Ecumenical Council in the epistle of Justinian, page 392 of the second volume of the conciliars). See a fearful discourse, beloved one.”

“Anathema on those who hold in scorn the sacred and divine Canons of our sacred Fathers, who prop up the holy Church and adorn all the Christian polity, and guide men to divine reverence.” (Council held in Constantinople after Constantine Porphyrogenitus, page 977 of the second volume of the conciliars, or, in other words, the Volume of the union.)

“That the divine Canons override the imperial laws.”

“In Act 4 of Canon 4 it is written; and the most glorious rulers have said: It pleased the most divine Despot of the inhabited earth (i.e., Marcian) not to proceed in accordance with the divine letters or pragmatic forms of the most devout bishops, but in accordance with the Canons laid down as laws by the holy Fathers. The council said: ‘As against the Canons, no pragmatic sanction is effective. Let the Canons of the Fathers remain in force.’ And again: ‘We pray that the pragmatic sanctions enacted for some in every province to the detriment of the Canons may be held in abeyance incontrovertibly; and that the Canons may come into force through all… all of us say the same things. All the pragmatic sanctions shall be held in abeyance. Let the Canons come into force… In accordance with the vote of the holy council, let the injunctions of Canons come into force also in all the other provinces’.”

“It has seemed best to all the holy ecumenical council that if anyone offers any form conflicting with those now prescribed, let that form be void.” (Canon 8 of the Third Ecumenical Council.)

“Pragmatic forms opposed to the Canons are void.” (Book first, Title II, ordinance 12. Photius, Title I, ch. 2.)

St. Photius the Great

“For those Canons which have been promulgated, and supported, that is to say, by emperors and holy Fathers, are accepted like the divine Scriptures. But the laws have been accepted or composed only by the emperors; and for this reason they do not prevail over and against the divine Scriptures nor the Canons.” (Balsamon, comment on the above ch. 2 of Photius.)

“Do not talk to me of external laws. For even the publican fulfills the outer law, yet nevertheless he is sorely punished” (Chrysostom, Sermon LVII, on the Gospel of St. Matthew); and again: “For emperors often fail to adapt all the laws to advantage” (Sermon VI, on the statues).

“Blastaris says, however, that laws that tend to favor piety lend a great impulse (i.e., aid or help) to the divine Canons, on the one hand, by concurring with them and affording them support, and, on the other hand, by supplying things that they may be lacking in some place or other.” (ch. 5 of canto XX.)

“That the divine Canons override even the Rituals, when the latter happen to be at variance with them, especially if individual or regional.”

For Blastaris says: “From the Novel 131 of Justinian you can tell that rituals made by the Ktitoros in the monasteries are to be tolerated or welcomed unless they are opposed to the Canons somewhere.” (ch. 16 of canto XXX.)

AXIOMS APPLICABLE TO DIVINE CANONS

Note, however, that in order to understand the present Canons more easily, one ought to be acquainted with these axioms, which are applicable to all the Canons, namely:

(a)        Canons differ from definitions, from laws, from decrees, and from decretals, epistles (or what are often called simply decretals). For the Canons of the Synods contain mainly, not dogmas of the faith (exceptionally, though, in rare instances they do), but the normality (or good order) and proper state of the Church.

The definitions of the Synods contain mainly dogmas of the faith alone. Notwithstanding that canons are sometimes improperly called definitions, as is plain from what is said in various canons of other synods, and especially in the fifth Canon of that held at Carthage, and in the records thereof, where it is said that the twenty “definitions,” i.e., the twenty Canons, of the Synod held in Nicaea, were read.

Canons differ from laws, in that what are properly so called are the civil laws and external laws of kings and emperors. Canons, on the contrary, are internal and ecclesiastical and possess a validity superior to that of laws of all kinds that emanate from human sources, as we shall state herein below apart from the present observation.

Canons differ from decrees, in that, as Gratian (an Italian authority on Canon Law) teaches (in his “Division iii”), canons were adopted by a local (or partial) synod or were ordained or ratified by an ecumenical synod. A decree, on the other hand, is a decision pronounced by the Patriarch together with his synod, without being intended to advise or answer anyone. They differ furthermore from decretal epistles, in that the latter are prescribed either by a Pope or by a Patriarch, or in conjunction with his synod for the purpose of giving dogmatic advice.

(b)        One ought to know that so far as concerns canons that do not specify any penalty, for violation of them, they implicitly give the regional bishop or other prelate permission to fix a proper and suitable one dispassionately, wherever he sees fit, as Balsamon states in his interpretation in connection with the Sixth Ecumenical Synod. See also the penalties of John the Faster prescribed after his Canons and not mentioned in the other Canons.

(c)        One ought to know that the same sin is penalized in some Canons for a longer time, and by others for a shorter time, because, it is in proportion to the degree of repentance of a sinner that his penalty is prescribed to be more severe or lighter as the case may be (See also the Footnote to [Canon] 12 of the First), and in proportion to the greater or lesser growth and strength of the Church (see the Footnote of Basil the Great to [Canon] 13).

(d)        Everyone ought to know that, according to Chapter 4 of Title I of Photius, canons are not promulgated by a single bishop, but by the consensus and synod of the bishops; as Basil’s [Canon] 47 prescribes, saying: “a plurality of bishops must meet together,” and Gregory of Nyssa’s [Canon] 6, saying: “the opinion obtaining with us has not the authorization of canons.”

(e)          That when anyone is speaking out of the contents of synodal canons, his words are authoritative, according to Nyssa’s 6th canon.

(f)         That whoever acts in accordance therewith, is free from danger, according to Basil’s same Canon 47.

(g)        That whoever transgresses a synodal canon must be penalized as directed in the canon he transgresses, according to Canon 2 of the Sixth Ecumenical Synod. What are called synodal canons are, respectively, those promulgated by the ecumenical synods and indeed those promulgated by the regional synods, and, in addition thereto, those which have been written privately by certain saints.

Accordingly, those promulgated by regional synods, as well as those composed by individual saints, have indeed the power of ecumenical canons. For they were examined and sanctioned by ecumenical synods—I am referring to the fourth and the sixth and the seventh—as appears in the first canon of the Fourth and of the Seventh Ecumenical Synods and in Canon 2 of the Quinisext Synod.

(h)        That what is not explicitly stated must be judged and inferred from similar things stated in the canons. In this connection see the interpretations of Canon 15 of the Sixth Ecumenical Synod, or consult the writings of individual Fathers, or rely on the discernment by right reason.

(i)         That as for all rare actions out of economy, necessity or the bad state of things, and, in sum, all things done contrary to the canons, they are not to be construed as a law or canon or example of the Church. In this connection see the interpretation of Apostolic Canon 67. Note, too, that once this matter of economy or necessity has passed, the canons are again in force. See the Footnote to Canon 46 and Canon 13 of the First Ecumenical Synod.

(j)         That most of the penalties ordained by the canons, being in the third person, there being no one present to impose them, necessarily need the presence of a second person (which is the synod), in order to be enforced. In this connection see the Footnote to Apostolic Canon 3.

(k)        That the canons and laws were made with regard to common matters, and not to individual affairs, and for the most part with regard to eventualities, and not to cases that rarely follow.

(l)         That canons of ecumenical synods override those of regional, and those of regional override those of individual Fathers, especially when the latter have not been confirmed by an ecumenical synod. In this connection read the dictum of most holy Photius concerning this point and found in the third Footnote to Canon 13 of the Third Ecumenical Synod.

(m)        That wherever there is no canon or written law, good custom is to be followed when it has been sanctioned by right reason and many years’ prevalence, and is not contrary to any written canon or law, so that it takes the rank of a canon or law. In this connection see the Footnote to Canon 1 of the Synod of Sardica.

(n)         That neither a canon, nor a law, nor time, nor custom will sanction whatever has been wrongly decided and printed, according to jurists.