Epistola I Ad Himerium Episcopum

The Letters and Decrees of Pope Siricius. (Constant. Epist. Rom. Pont. vol. I, col. 623.) Letter I. Pope Siricius to Himerius, Bishop of Tarragona. I. Concerning Arians (the Hispana collection adds: by Catholics) not being rebaptized. — II. That except at Easter and Pentecost (unless necessity demands) baptism should not be celebrated. III. Concerning apostates (the Hisp. coll. adds: to be separated from the Church). — IV. That it is not lawful to marry another’s betrothed. V. Concerning those who (the Hisp. coll. adds: having received) penance have not kept it at all. VI. Concerning monks and virgins who do not keep their vow. VII. Concerning incontinent clerics (the Hisp. coll.: ministers). VIII. What sort of men ought to attain to the office of the clergy. IX. Concerning the conduct of clerics (or: At what age they should be promoted). X. Concerning those advanced in years (the Hisp. coll.: Concerning those who, being advanced in years, are converted to sacred service). XI. That a cleric who has married a second wife should be deposed (the Hisp. coll.: Concerning clerics who pass to second marriages, that they be deposed). XII. What women ought to live with clerics. XIII. Concerning the promotion of monks (the Hisp. coll.: their profession to the clergy). XIV. That a penitent should not become a cleric (the Hisp. coll.: Concerning clerics, that they should not receive penance through the imposition of a priest’s hand). XV. That if, through ignorance of the matter, a penitent, or a digamist, or the husband of a widow have been made a cleric, they should not be promoted (the Hisp. coll.

Concerning penitents, or bigamists, or husbands of widows, that they not be permitted to be admitted to the clerical order. Siricius to Himerius, Bishop of Tarragona. Siricius signifies his ordination, as was fitting. His care, and that support from Peter. The report of your fraternity, directed to our predecessor of holy memory, Damasus, found me already established in his see, because the Lord so ordained. When we read it more carefully in a gathering of the brethren, we found so many things worthy of reproach and correction as we would wish to know as praiseworthy. And because it was necessary for us to succeed to his labors and cares, to whom by the grace of God we have succeeded in honor, I do, as was fitting, first by the announcement of my advancement, not deny a suitable response to your consultation on each point, as the Lord has deigned to inspire, because by consideration of our office, it is not for us to dissimulate, it is not for us to be free to be silent, to whom a greater zeal for the Christian religion falls. We bear the burdens of all who are weighed down; nay rather, the blessed apostle Peter bears these in us, who protects and guards us as heirs of his administration in all things, as we trust.

CHAPTER I.—2. The Decrees of Liberius. The Manner of Receiving Heretics into the Church. First, on the front of your letter you indicated that very many baptized by the impious Arians are hastening to the Catholic faith, and that some of our brethren wish to baptize them again: which is not permitted, since the Apostle forbids this (Ephesians 4:5), and the canons contradict it, and after the annulled Council of Ariminum, the general decrees sent to the provinces by my predecessor of venerable memory, Liberius, prohibit it. We, as established in the synod, join those whom we, along with Novatians and other heretics, to the assembly of Catholics solely through the invocation of the sevenfold Spirit and the imposition of the bishop's hand, which the entire East and West also observe: from which path it is least fitting for you to deviate hereafter, if you do not wish to be separated from our college by synodal sentence. CHAPTER II.—3. The Times and Rites for Receiving Baptism. To Whom Baptism Is to Be Conferred Immediately. Next follows the reprehensible and corrigible confusion regarding those to be baptized, as it pleases each one, which by our fellow priests, as we say with distress (On Consecration, Dist. 4, c.

but it is presumed not by any authority of reason, but by sheer temerity, that countless people, as you assert, indiscriminately and freely receive the mystery of baptism on the feasts of the Nativity of Christ, or the Epiphany, and also on the festivals of the Apostles or Martyrs; whereas this privilege, both among us and in all churches, is especially reserved for the Lord's Day together with its Pentecost and Easter; on which days alone in the year it is fitting that the general sacraments of baptism be administered to those flocking to the faith, and only to those who have given their names forty or more days beforehand and have been purified by exorcisms, daily prayers, and fasts; so that the apostolic precept (1 Cor. 5:7) may be fulfilled, that the old leaven having been purged, a new mixture may begin. Therefore, just as we say that the sacred reverence of Easter is in no way to be diminished, so for infants who by reason of age cannot yet speak, or for those who in any necessity have need of the holy water of baptism, we wish that help be given with all speed; lest it tend to the ruin of our souls if, by denying the saving font to those who desire it, each one departing from this world should lose both the kingdom and life.

Whoever falls into the danger of shipwreck, an enemy attack, the uncertainty of a siege, or the desperation of any bodily illness, and has sought help for themselves with the sole aid of faith, shall obtain the rewards of the desired regeneration at the very moment they ask. Let it suffice that there has been error in this matter up to now; from now on, all priests who do not wish to be torn away from the solidity of the apostolic rock, upon which Christ built the universal Church (Matt. 16:18), shall hold to the aforementioned rule. Chapter III.—4. Apostates are to be cut off from the body of Christ, but pardon is not to be denied to penitents at the end of life. It has also been added that certain Christians, passing over into apostasy—which it is impious to say—and defiled by the worship of idols and the contamination of sacrifices, are to be cut off from the body and blood of Christ, by which they were once redeemed through rebirth. And if, repenting, they should ever turn to lamentation, they are to perform penance as long as they live, and at their very end the grace of reconciliation is to be granted to them; because, with the Lord teaching, we do not wish the death of a sinner, but only that he convert and live (Ezek. 18:23).

CHAPTER IV.—5. No one is permitted to take another's betrothed as a wife. You have inquired concerning the marriage bond, whether a girl betrothed to one man can be taken in marriage by another. We forbid this entirely, in every way: because that blessing which the priest bestows upon the bride-to-be is, among the faithful, akin to a kind of sacrilege if it is violated by any transgression. CHAPTER V.—6. You have set forth the matter of penance. Concerning these, your love has not unsuitably believed the apostolic see should be consulted: those who, having performed penance, like dogs and swine returning to their former vomit and wallows, have again sought the military belt, theatrical pleasures, new marriages, and forbidden intercourse—whose professed incontinence after absolution has betrayed them as sons. Concerning these, because they no longer have the refuge of penance, we have decided to decree this: that they be joined to the faithful only by prayer within the church, that they be present at the sacred celebration of the mysteries, although they do not deserve it, but that they be separated from the banquet of the Lord's table; so that, at least by this stricture, corrected, they may both chastise their own errors in themselves and give an example to others, so that they may be drawn back from obscene desires. Nevertheless, because they have fallen through carnal frailty, we wish them to be supported by the viaticum gift, through the grace of communion, when they begin to depart to the Lord.

We decree that this rule is also to be observed concerning women who, after penance, have bound themselves to such pollutions (Zacharias, pope, epistle 7, ch. 36). CHAPTER VI.—7. Those who are to be punished: monks or nuns who violate their vow of chastity. Moreover, you have complained that certain monks and nuns, having cast aside their profession of holiness, have sunk into such great lasciviousness that they first mingled in illicit and sacrilegious contagion secretly, as if under the pretext of monasteries; and later, driven to the precipice by despair of conscience, they openly procreated children from their illicit embraces—which both public laws and ecclesiastical laws condemn. We therefore command that these shameless and detestable persons be expelled from the assembly of monasteries and from the gatherings of churches: so that, confined in their own prisons, lamenting so great a crime with continuous weeping, they may be purified by the refining fire of penitence, so that at least at the point of death, by the sole consideration of mercy, indulgence may come to their aid through the grace of communion.

CHAPTER VII.—8. The Incontinence of Clerics. Let us now come to the most sacred orders of clerics, whom we find, to the injury of the venerable religion, so trampled and confused throughout your provinces—as your Charity has informed us—that we must say with the voice of Jeremiah: "Who will give water to my head, or a fountain of tears to my eyes? and I will weep for this people day and night" (Jer. 9:1). If, therefore, the blessed Prophet says that tears cannot suffice him for lamenting the sins of the people, how great a grief can strike us when we are compelled to deplore the crimes of those who are in our own body!—especially those upon whom, according to the blessed Paul, daily urgency and care for all churches incessantly falls. "For who is sick, and I am not sick? Who is scandalized, and I am not burned?" (2 Cor. 11:29). For we have learned that very many priests of Christ and Levites, after long periods from their consecration, have produced offspring both from their own wives and from foul intercourse, and they defend their crime by this prescription: that in the Old Testament the faculty of begetting is recorded as granted to priests and ministers.

The authority of the Old Testament is vainly alleged. Let him who is a follower of lusts and a teacher of vices now tell me: if he thinks that in the law of Moses the reins of luxury were everywhere loosened for the sacred orders by the Lord, why does He warn those to whom the holy of holies was entrusted, saying: "Be holy, because I, the Lord your God, am holy" (Leviticus 20:7)? Why also were the priests commanded to dwell far from their own homes, in the temple, during their year of service? For this reason, namely, that they might not be able to engage in carnal commerce even with their wives, so that, shining with integrity of conscience, they might offer an acceptable gift to God. For them, after the completion of their time of service, marital intercourse had been relaxed only for the sake of succession, because no one except from the tribe of Levi had been commanded to be admitted to the ministry of God. Priests and deacons are bound by an indissoluble law of continence. Hence the Lord Jesus, when He had illumined us with His advent, testifies in the Gospel that He came to fulfill the Law, not to dissolve it. And therefore He wished the form of chastity to radiate from the Church, whose spouse He is (Matthew 5:27), so that on the day of judgment, when He comes again, He may find her without spot or wrinkle, as He instituted through His Apostle (Ephesians 5:27).

We are all, priests and levites alike, bound by an indissoluble law to these healings, so that from the day of our ordination we consecrate both our hearts and our bodies to sobriety and chastity, provided that in all things we please our God in the sacrifices we offer daily. But those who are in the flesh, as the vessel of election says, cannot please God. You, however, are no longer in the flesh, but in the spirit, if indeed the spirit of God dwells in you (Rom. 8:8-9). And where can it dwell, except in bodies that are, as we read, holy? For those who have lapsed through ignorance, honor is preserved; otherwise for others. And because some, as your holiness reported, of whom we speak, lament that they have lapsed through ignorance, we declare that mercy is not to be denied them on this condition: that without any increase of honor, they persevere in the office in which they were discovered for as long as they live, provided that thereafter they strive to show themselves continent. But those who rely on the excuse of an illicit privilege, claiming that this was granted to them by the old law, should know that they have been deposed from all ecclesiastical honor, of which they have made unworthy use, by the authority of the apostolic see, and can never again touch the venerable mysteries, from which they have themselves deprived themselves while gaping after obscene desires.

And because present examples warn us to be cautious for the future: any bishop, presbyter, or deacon who, which we do not desire, should henceforth be found to be such, let him now understand that every avenue of indulgence through us is barred to him; because wounds that have not felt the healing of poultices must be cut out with the knife. CHAPTER VIII.—12. A twice-married priest or deacon shall not be ordained. We have also learned that men of unexamined life, who have even had multiple marriages, freely and licitly aspire to the aforementioned dignities, as each one pleases. This we impute not so much to those who attain these positions through immoderate ambition, as specifically to the metropolitan bishops, who, by conniving at forbidden practices, as far as in them lies, despise the precepts of our God. And to say nothing of what we more deeply suspect, where is that which our God established through the law given by Moses, saying, "My priests shall marry only once" (Leviticus 21:13, 14)? and in another place: "A priest shall take a virgin as wife, not a widow, not a divorced woman, not a harlot" (Ezekiel 44:22)? Following this, the Apostle, turned from persecutor to preacher, commanded that a man of one wife (1 Timothy 3:2) should be made both priest and deacon. All these things are so despised by the bishops of your regions as if they had been established to the contrary.

And because we must not be negligent concerning usurpations of this kind, lest the just voice of the indignant Lord rebuke us, saying: "You saw the thief, and you ran with him, and you placed your portion with adulterers" (Psalm 49:18), we decree by a general pronouncement what must henceforth be followed and what must be avoided by all churches. CHAPTER IX.—13. The Age of Those to Be Ordained. Whoever, therefore, has devoted himself to the service of the Church from his infancy, before the years of puberty he ought to be baptized and joined to the ministry of lectors. Upon reaching adolescence, up to the thirtieth year of age, if he has lived in a praiseworthy manner, content with one wife only, and that one whom he received as a virgin through the common blessing of a priest, he ought to be an acolyte and subdeacon; afterwards, he may proceed to the grade of deacon, if he first proves himself worthy by preceding continence. If he ministers laudably there for more than five years, he may suitably attain the presbyterate. Then, after ten years, he will be able to attain the episcopal chair, provided that throughout these times the integrity of his life and faith has been approved.

CHAPTER X.—14. Whoever, already advanced in age, prompted by a conversion to a better purpose, hastens to pass from the lay state to sacred military service, will obtain the fruit of his desire in no other way than if, at the time he is baptized, he is immediately joined to the number of lectors or exorcists, provided, however, that it is established that he has had or has one wife, and that he received her as a virgin. When he has been initiated, after completing two years, for another five years he shall become an acolyte and subdeacon, and thus, if he is judged worthy through these times, he may be promoted to the diaconate. Then, with the passage of time, if the election of the clergy and people commends him, he will not undeservedly obtain the presbyterate or episcopate. CHAPTER XI.—15. Any cleric, indeed, who marries either a widow or certainly a second wife, shall be immediately stripped of every privilege of ecclesiastical dignity, with only lay communion granted to him; and he will be able to possess this only if he afterwards commits nothing on account of which he might lose it.

CHAPTER XII.—16. We do not permit women to reside in the homes of clerics, except only those whom the Synod of Nicaea allowed to dwell with them for reasons of necessity (Canon 3. See Council of Carthage III, canon 17). CHAPTER XIII.—17. We also desire and wish that monks—provided they are commended by gravity of character and by a holy discipline of life and faith—be admitted to the offices of clerics; but in such a way that those who are under thirty years of age be promoted through the individual minor orders, as time advances, and thus attain to the insignia of the diaconate or presbyterate by consecration at a mature age. Nor shall they ascend by a leap to the summit of the episcopate, unless the same periods which we have prescribed above for each dignity have been observed in their case. CHAPTER XIV.—18. No cleric is permitted to perform penance. It was also fitting for us to provide that, just as no cleric is permitted to perform penance, so also after penance and reconciliation no layman may ever be allowed to obtain the honor of the clerical state; because, although they may be cleansed of all contagion of sins, they ought never to receive the instruments of the sacraments to be administered, who were once vessels of vices.

CHAPTER XV.—19. And because in all these matters which come under censure, the sole excuse of ignorance is put forward—to which, for the present, we are necessarily bound to show clemency out of regard for piety alone—let every penitent, every bigamist, every husband of a widow who has crept into the sacred militia unduly and unsuitably understand that pardon is granted to him by us on this condition: that he must count it a great benefit if, with all hope of advancement removed, he remains in the order in which he is found, in perpetual stability. The chief bishops of all provinces shall know hereafter that if they presume to admit any such persons to sacred orders, a fitting sentence will be pronounced by the Apostolic See both against themselves and against the status of those whom they have promoted contrary to the canons and our prohibitions. That Himerius may make these statutes known to the other churches. We have set forth, I believe, most beloved brother, all the matters that have been brought into complaint; and to each of the issues which you referred through our son Bassianus, presbyter, to the Roman Church—as to the head of your body—we have returned, I think, sufficient answers.

Now we urge your fraternal spirit more and more to observe the canons and to uphold the decretal constitutions, so that these responses we have written to your inquiries may be brought to the attention of all our fellow bishops—not only those who are established in your diocese, but also to all the Carthaginians, Baeticans, Lusitanians, and Gallaecians, as well as those who border your provinces on this side and that. Let these things, which have been arranged by us in a salutary ordinance, be sent with the prosecution of your letters. And although it is not permissible for any priest of the Lord to be ignorant of the statutes of the apostolic see or the venerable definitions of the canons, nevertheless it will be more useful, and, on account of the antiquity of your priesthood, can be quite glorious for your love, if those things which have been written to you in a special name but in a general sense are, through the solicitude of your unanimity, brought to the notice of all our brothers: so that what has been salubriously established by us not inconsiderately but providently, with excessive caution and deliberation, may remain inviolate, and that the door to all future excuses—which will already be able to lie open to no one before us—may be blocked. Given on the third day before the Ides of February, under the consulship of Arcadius and Bauto.

APPENDIX. From a very ancient codex of Corbie. And because whenever religion is at issue, it is fitting that bishops judge; if at any time a dispute arises between two churches, the ecclesiastical cause shall be brought before a synod or at least before the metropolitan. Nothing shall be allowed to be suspended before the prince on any account: but what is transacted between bishops shall be terminated by the judgment of bishops. If it should happen that a simple successor is found in a church, so that those things which were acquired or contributed by the previous bishop are lost through the tepidity of simplicity, and the church loses through the simplicity of the pontiff what it had gained through the prudence of his predecessor; when a dispute of this kind has arisen between church and church, if at some time a more prudent successor should follow, the opportunity of making a claim shall not be denied to him: because, according to the statutes of the canons, one church never creates a prejudice against another church at any time; nor can charity be divided, which is both united and diffused throughout the whole world.

The same chapter interpolated, as it exists both in the Germanensis manuscript, chapter 21, and in the Colbertinus 1868, ascribed to Siricius. If at any time a dispute arises between two churches, the ecclesiastical cause shall be referred to the synod or to the metropolitan. No one is permitted, for any reason, to suspend the matter before the prince; but what is transacted between bishops shall be terminated by the judgment of bishops. Just as reverence is due to innocent priests, so also moderate punishment is due to the laicized and deposed. For just as those serving God and shining with the integrity of the divine priesthood not only provide an ornament to their own life, but also an example to the subject and obedient people, so those whose sins are more unworthy under the profession of integrity, if they are proven to be excluded and degraded by bishops, shall under no circumstances be received by other bishops. If it should ever happen that a simple successor bishop is found in a church, so that those things which were acquired or conferred upon the church by the previous bishop are taken away through the tepidity of the simple one, and the church loses through the simplicity of the pontiff what it had acquired through the prudence of the predecessor; when a dispute of this kind has arisen between one church and another, whenever a more prudent successor succeeds, the opportunity to suggest [the matter] to him shall not be denied: because, according to the statutes of the canons, a church at no time creates a prejudice against another church; nor can charity be divided, which is united and diffused throughout the whole world.

The same, expressed briefly and summarily, as it is cited in another ancient collection of canons. In the Letter of Pope Siricius. If the property of a church has been lost through a simple bishop, access for making a report shall not be denied to his successor, and, according to the judgment of the canons, no prejudice shall ever be done to the church: because it is one, diffused throughout the whole world.