Migne Reading Room
PL 3 · cols. 1033–1036
Pseudo-Stephanus, Appendix: epistolae decretales S. Stephano ascriptae (ad Hilarium episcopum; de expulsione episcoporum)
Letter I
APPENDIX.
APPENDIX.
EPISTOLAE DECRETALES S. STEPHANO ADSCRIPTAE.
DECRETAL LETTERS ASCRIBED TO ST STEPHEN.
EPISTOLA I.
LETTER I.
AD HILARIUM EPISCOPUM.
TO BISHOP HILARY.
ARGUMENTUM. — Qui sint infames, et qui ad gradus ecclesiasticos vel ad accusationem non sint admittendi. De reverentia praepositis exhibenda, et de vestimentis ministrorum, ut sacrata sint.
ARGUMENT. — Who are infamous, and who are not to be admitted to ecclesiastical grades or to accusation. On the reverence to be shown to superiors, and on the vestments of the ministers, that they be consecrated.
DILECTISSIMO FRATRI ATQUE FAMILIARI AMICO HILARIO, STEPHANUS EPISCOPUS, INTIMAE CHARITATIS SALUTEM.
TO HIS MOST BELOVED BROTHER AND INTIMATE FRIEND HILARY, BISHOP STEPHEN, GREETING OF INMOST CHARITY.
Quanquam sperem (S. Leo, epist. 46) dilectionem tuam ad omne opus bonum esse devotam, tamen pro familiaritate, qua nobis conjunctus esse cognosceris, ut tua efficacior fiat industria, congruum nobis visum est has fraternitatis litteras tuae dilectioni debere dirigere. Monemus te, frater charissime, semper in bonis manere, et a malis cavere; cum bonis et rectae fidei ac sanctae conversationis hominibus assidue esse, et a perversis, ac fratrum insidiatoribus, nisi ut eos convertas, et ad concordiam reducas, separari; quoniam, ut ait Apostolus corrumpunt bonos mores colloquia mala (I Cor. XV). Et ipsa per se Veritas dicit: Si oculus tuus scandalizaverit te, erue eum et projice abs te. Et si manus tua scandalizaverit te, abscinde eam, et projice abs te. Similiter et de pede agendum est, quia melius est tibi, luscum aut claudum intrare in regnum coelorum quam duos oculos, aut duas manus, aut duos pedes habentem mitti in gehennam ignis (Matth. XVIII; Marc., IX). Et in Ecclesiastico invenitur libro: In bonis viri inimici illius: In tristitia vero et in malitia illius amicus agnitus est. In labiis suis indulcat inimicus, et in corde suo insidiatur, ut subvertat te in foveam. Et, Qui tetigerit picem, inquinabitur ab ea. Et, Qui communicaverit superbo, induetur superbia. Pondus super se tollit, qui honestiori se communicat. Ditiori te ne fueris socius. Quid communicabit cacabus ad ollam? Quando se colliserint, confringetur. Dives injuste aget et fremet, pauper autem laesus tacebit. Si largitus fueris, assumet te; et si non habueris, derelinquet te. Si habes, convivet tecum, et evacuabit te, et ipse non dolebit super te; si necessarius illi fueris, supplantabit te, et subridens
Although I hope (St Leo, Letter 46) that your Love is devoted to every good work, yet on account of the intimacy by which you are known to be joined to us, so that your diligence may become more effective, it has seemed fitting to us that we ought to direct this fraternal letter to your Love. We admonish you, dearest brother, always to abide in good things and to beware of evil things; to be constantly with men who are good and of right faith and holy manner of life, and to be separated from the perverse and from those who lie in wait for the brethren, unless it be to convert them and bring them back to concord; since, as the Apostle says, evil conversations corrupt good morals (1 Cor. 15:33). And the Truth Himself says in His own person: If your eye scandalizes you, pluck it out and cast it from you. And if your hand scandalizes you, cut it off and cast it from you. Likewise must one do concerning the foot, for it is better for you to enter one-eyed or lame into the kingdom of heaven than, having two eyes, or two hands, or two feet, to be cast into the gehenna of fire (Matt. 18; Mark 9). And in the book Ecclesiasticus it is found: In the good things of a man [are] his enemies: but in his sorrow and in his malice a friend is known. With his lips the enemy speaks sweetly, and in his heart he lies in wait, to overthrow you into a pit. And: He who touches pitch shall be defiled by it. And: He who has fellowship with the proud shall put on pride. He takes a burden upon himself who has fellowship with one more honourable than himself. Do not be the companion of one richer than yourself. What fellowship shall the kettle have with the pot? When they knock together, it will be broken. The rich man will act unjustly and will roar, but the poor man, when wronged, will keep silent. If you are bountiful, he will take you up; and if you have nothing, he will forsake you. If you have, he will live with you, and will empty you, and he himself will not grieve over you; if you are needful to him, he will supplant you, and smiling
Editors' notes and page, col. 1033
Footnotes
Variae lectiones.
Variant readings.
¹ ‹anchor: induetur superbia› · call in col 1033 Al. induet superbiam.
Another reading: "induet superbiam" (he will put on pride).
² ‹anchor: seductus in stultitia› · call in col 1034 Al. stultitiam.
Another reading: "stultitiam" (folly).
³ ‹anchor: et eas in oblivionem (call before "eas")› · call in col 1034 Al. ne.
Another reading: "ne".
⁴ ‹anchor: ex aequo› · call in col 1034 Fort. aequo, ut in vulgata vers.
Perhaps "aequo", as in the Vulgate version.
⁵ ‹anchor: simile sibi conjungitur› · call in col 1034 Al. conjungetur.
Another reading: "conjungetur" (will be joined).
⁶ ‹anchor: homo simili sibi sociatur› · call in col 1034 Al. sociabit.
Another reading: "sociabit" (will associate).
⁷ ‹anchor: Si communicabit› · call in col 1034 Al. sicut.
Another reading: "sicut" (as).
Variorum notae.
Notes of various editors.
(printed under page 568)
(1) ‹anchor: EPISTOLA I. (call printed before the heading)› · call in col 1033
Haec et sequens, non secus ac praecedentes, adulterinae viris eruditis consentur.
This letter and the next, no less than the preceding ones, are judged spurious by learned men.
(printed under page 568)
Page
- running head: 1033 EPISTOLÆ DECRET[ALES] (cut off at the image edge)
- marginal letters: A ‹EPISTOLA I.› (letter stands beside the right column's first line); B ‹sime, semper in bonis manere›; C ‹tia illius amicus agnitus est›
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- misprints kept as printed: note (1) "consentur" (for censentur)
- other: full-width lines "APPENDI[X]" and "EPISTOLÆ DECRETALES S. STEP[HANI]" stand above both columns under the running head, cut off, not set; editors' matter set: Argumentum (Qui sint infames); UNSURE: HILARIUM/HILARIO read where the low-resolution type looks like B; "tuus", "colloquia" and "largitus" read from blurred type (could appear as tuas, colloquta, largitur); "coelorum" (Q1) read as the œ ligature from low-resolution type; column ends with "subridens", no hyphen; Variae lectiones and Variorum notae at the page foot not set
- running head: 1033 EPISTOLAE DECRETALES. 1034
- marginal letters: A ‹(1) EPISTOLA I.›; B ‹sime, semper in bonis manere, et a malis cavere ;› (Q2: stands at this line, not at "lectioni debere dirigere"); C ‹tia illius amicus agnitus est. In labiis suis indulcat›; D (none)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- Q2: "largitus" set (the low-resolution italic s reads like r here, as in "assumet" on the same line); no comma printed after "Apostolus" at the line end; UNSURE (Q2): the heading's last word (ADSCRIPTAE / ASCRIPTAE) is cut off at the image edge and was not verified
- Q3a: the heading's last word is printed ADSCRIPTÆ (seen in the col 1034 image); ADSCRIPTAE as set is correct. The calls ², ³, ⁴ stand in col 1034 (anchors filled in).
spem dabit, narrans tibi bona, et dicet: Quid opus est tibi? Et confundet te in cibis suis, donec te exinaniat bis et ter; et in novissimo deridebit te. Postea videns, derelinquet te, et caput suum movebit ad te. Humiliare Deo et exspecta manus ejus. Attende, ne seductus in stultitia humilieris. Noli esse humilis in sapientia tua, ne, humiliatus, in stultitiam seducaris. Advocatus a potentiore, discede: ex hoc enim magis te advocabit. Ne improbus sis, ne impingaris, et ne longe sis ab eo, et eas in oblivionem. Ne retineas ex aequo loqui cum illo, et ne credas multis verbis illius. Ex multo enim loquela tentabit te, et subridens interrogabit te de absconditis tuis. Immitis animus illius conservabit verba tua, et non parcet de malitia et de vinculis. Cave tibi, et attende diligenter auditui tuo, quoniam cum subversione tua ambulas. Audiens vero illa quasi in somnis, vide et vigilabis. Omni vita tua dilige Deum, et invoca illum in salute tua. Omne animal diligit simile sibi, sic et omnis homo proximum sibi. Omnis caro ad similem sibi conjungitur, et omnis homo simili sibi sociatur. Si communicabit lupus agno aliquando, sic peccator justo. Quae communicatio sancto homini ad carnem? Aut quae pax bona diviti ad pauperem? Venatio leonis, onager in eremo; sic pascua divitum sunt pauperes. Et sicut abominatio est superbo humilitas, sic execratio diviti pauper. Dives commotus confirmatur ab amicis; humilis autem cum ceciderit, expelletur et a notis. Diviti decepto multi recuperatores; locutus est superba, et justificaverunt illum: humilis deceptus est, insuper et arguitur. Locutus est sensate, et non est datus ei locus. Dives locutus est, et omnes tacuerunt, et verbum illius usque ad nubes perducent. Pauper locutus est, et dicunt: Quis est hic? Et si offenderit, subvertent illum. Bona est substantia cui non est peccatum in conscientia, et nequissima paupertas in ore impii. Cor hominis immutat faciem illius, sive in bona, sive in mala. Vestigium boni cordis et faciem bonam difficile invenies, et cum labore (Eccli., XII, XIII). Hoc, frater, cave tibi, et post concupiscentias tuas non vadas (Eccli., XXIII, 30).
he will give you hope, telling you good things, and will say: What do you need? And he will put you to shame with his meats, until he empties you twice and thrice; and in the end he will mock you. Afterwards, seeing you, he will forsake you, and will shake his head at you. Humble yourself to God and wait for His hands. Take heed lest, being led astray into folly, you be humbled. Do not be humble in your wisdom, lest, being humbled, you be led astray into folly. If you are invited by one more powerful, withdraw: for by this he will invite you the more. Do not be importunate, lest you be thrust back, and do not be far from him, lest you go into forgetfulness. Do not hold to speaking with him as an equal, and do not believe his many words. For by much talk he will tempt you, and smiling he will question you about your hidden things. His cruel mind will keep your words, and he will not spare in malice and in bonds. Beware for yourself, and attend diligently to what you hear, since you walk with your own overthrow. But hearing those things as in sleep, see, and you will awake. All your life love God, and call upon Him for your salvation. Every living creature loves its like, so also every man his neighbour. All flesh is joined to its like, and every man is associated with one like himself. If the wolf shall at any time have fellowship with the lamb, so shall the sinner with the just. What fellowship has a holy man with flesh? Or what good peace has the rich man with the poor? The wild ass in the desert is the lion's prey; so the poor are the pasture of the rich. And as humility is an abomination to the proud, so is the poor man an execration to the rich. The rich man, when shaken, is upheld by his friends; but the humble man, when he has fallen, will be driven away even by those who know him. When a rich man has been deceived, there are many to restore him; he has spoken proud things, and they have justified him: the humble man has been deceived, and moreover he is rebuked. He has spoken sensibly, and no place has been given him. The rich man has spoken, and all have kept silent, and they will carry his word up to the clouds. The poor man has spoken, and they say: Who is this? And if he stumbles, they will overthrow him. Good is substance to him who has no sin on his conscience, and most wicked is poverty in the mouth of the ungodly. A man's heart changes his countenance, whether for good or for evil. The trace of a good heart and a good countenance you will find with difficulty, and with labour (Sir. 12, 13). Beware of this for yourself, brother, and do not go after your lusts (Sir. 18:30).
I. Quod vero consuluisti Sedem apostolicam,
I. But as to your having consulted the Apostolic See,
Editors' notes and page, col. 1034
Footnotes
(2) ‹anchor: consuluisti Sedem› · call in col 1034
Quod vero consuluisti Sedem. Qui hic a Stephano ob infamiam, bigamiam, defectum corporis aut animi, irregulares esse declarantur, hos ad suscipiendos ordines sacros inhabiles et incapaces esse debere. Apostolorum Constitutionibus et Canonibus, jam diu ante hunc Pontificem constitutum (continues)
"As to your consulting the See." That those whom Stephen here declares irregular on account of infamy, bigamy, or defect of body or mind ought to be unfit and incapable of receiving holy orders, had been established by the Constitutions and Canons of the Apostles long before this Pontiff (continues)
(printed under page 568)
Page
- running head: …OLAE DECRETALES. 1034 (cut at the left edge of the image)
- marginal letters: A ‹spem dabit, narrans tibi bona›; B ‹Audiens vero illa quasi in somnis›; C ‹est sensate, et non est datus ei locus›
- old-edition numerals: 999 after ‹similem›
- other: full-width lines not set: "APPENDIX." and "DECRETALES S. STEPHANO ADSCRIPTAE." above both columns, cut at the left edge. "Ex multo enim loquela": multo as printed (Vulgate has multa), unsure whether a misprint. "homo simili" in "omnis homo simili sibi sociatur" is damaged type in the image, read as homo. The reference is printed "XXIII, 30", but the verse is Sir. 18:30; kept as printed. Variae lectiones and Variorum notae at the page foot are not set.
- running head: 1033 EPISTOLAE DECRETALES. 1034
- marginal letters: A ‹spem dabit, narrans tibi bona, et dicet›; B ‹auditui tuo, quoniam cum subversione tua ambulas.›; C ‹est sensate, et non est datus ei locus.›; D (none)
- old-edition numerals: 999 after ‹similem›
- misprints kept as printed: "(Eccli., XXIII, 30)" for XVIII, 30 (Q3a: the source had been set to XVIII; set back as printed; the English gives the true verse, Sir. 18:30)
- Q3a: the calls ² (after "stultitia"), ³ (before "eas") and ⁴ (after "aequo") of the Variae lectiones printed under page 568 stand in this column; the notes are kept in n1033.
qui sunt infames, aut qui ad gradus ecclesiasticos non sunt admittendi, et nosse te credimus, et pro auctoritate Sedis apostolicae te informare non denegamus. Infames autem esse eas personas dicimus quae pro aliqua culpa notantur infamia (6. q. 1, et in Decret. Ivo. lib. IV), id est omnes qui christianae legis normam adjiciunt, et statuta ecclesiastica contemnunt; similiter fures, sacrilegos, et omnes capitalibus criminibus irretitos; sepulcrorum quoque violatores, et apostolorum atque successorum eorum, reliquorumque Patrum statuta libenter violantes, et omnes qui adversus Patres (Anianus in sent. Pauli libri I, tit. II, const. II, tit. XXXIX. Cod. Theod.) armantur, qui in omni mundo infamia notantur. Similiter et incestuosos, homicidas, perjuros, raptores (Proclus ad Domnum Hadr. coll. cap. XVII), maleficos, veneficos, adulteros, de bellis fugientes, et qui indigna sibi petunt loca tenere, aut facultates Ecclesiae abstrahunt injuste, et qui (Anianus in const. VIII. tit. XXXIX, libris IX Cod. Theod.) fratres calumniantur aut accusant, et non probant; vel qui contra innocentes principum animos ad iracundiam (Cod. Theod. lib. IX, tit. I, cap. XI. Hadr. coll. XLVIII) provocant; et omnes anathematizatos, vel pro suis sceleribus ab Ecclesia pulsos, et omnes quos ecclesiasticae (Anianus, const. III, tit. XXXIX, libri IX, Cod. Theod.) vel saeculi leges infames pronuntiant. Hos vero non (Hadr. coll. CXIX) ad sacros Ordines licet promovere, nec servos ante legitimam libertatem, nec poenitentes, nec bigamos, nec eos qui curiae deserviunt, vel qui
who are infamous, or who are not to be admitted to ecclesiastical grades, we both believe that you know, and by the authority of the apostolic See we do not refuse to instruct you. Now we say that those persons are infamous who are marked with infamy for some fault (6. q. 1, and in the Decretum of Ivo, bk 4), that is, all who cast off the rule of the Christian law and despise the ecclesiastical statutes; likewise thieves, the sacrilegious, and all who are entangled in capital crimes; also violators of tombs, and those who wilfully violate the statutes of the apostles and of their successors and of the other Fathers, and all who take up arms against the Fathers (Anianus on the Sentences of Paul, book 1, tit. 2, const. 2, tit. 39, Cod. Theod.), who are marked with infamy throughout the whole world. Likewise also the incestuous, murderers, perjurers, ravishers (Proclus to Domnus, Hadr. coll. ch. 17), sorcerers, poisoners, adulterers, deserters from wars, and those who seek to hold places unworthy of them, or unjustly take away the resources of the Church, and those who (Anianus on const. 8, tit. 39, book 9 Cod. Theod.) slander or accuse brethren and do not prove it; or who provoke the minds of princes to anger against the innocent (Cod. Theod. bk 9, tit. 1, ch. 11; Hadr. coll. 48); and all who have been anathematized, or driven out of the Church for their crimes, and all whom the ecclesiastical (Anianus, const. 3, tit. 39, book 9, Cod. Theod.) or secular laws pronounce infamous. These, however, it is not lawful (Hadr. coll. 119) to promote to sacred Orders, nor slaves before lawful freedom, nor penitents, nor bigamists, nor those who serve the curia, or who
Editors' notes and page, col. 1035
Footnotes
Variae lectiones.
Variant readings.
⁸ ‹anchor: nec servos› · call in col 1035 Alias non ordines nec servos.
Otherwise: "non ordines nec servos" (not orders, nor slaves).
Variorum notae.
Notes of various editors.
(printed under page 569)
Page
- running head: 1035 S. STEPHANI PAPÆ ET (cut off at the image's right edge)
- marginal letters: A ‹qui sunt infames, aut qui ad gradus›; B ‹coll. cap. XVII), maleficos, veneficos›; C ‹fuit, ut patet Canonibus Apostolorum› (in the Variorum notae); D ‹cratae virgines sint, contingantur› (in the Variorum notae)
- old-edition numerals: 1000 after ‹raptores›
non sunt integri corpore, aut sanam non habent mentem vel intellectum, aut inobedientes sanctorum decretis existunt, aut furiosi manifestantur: hi omnes nec ad sacros gradus debent provehi nec isti, nec liberti, neque suspecti; nec rectam fidem vel dignam conversationem non habentes, summos sacerdotes possunt accusare.
are not whole in body, or do not have a sound mind or understanding, or are disobedient to the decrees of the saints, or show themselves to be raging mad: all these ought not to be advanced to the sacred grades, nor these, nor freedmen, nor the suspect; nor can those who do not have the right faith or a worthy manner of life accuse the high priests.
II. Sed et qualiter obedientia (S. Greg. Epist. X, lib. IV) vel reverentia sit praepositis exhibenda, ex tuis quoque subjectis ipse non ambigis, In qua re valde et utile, si id, quod disciplinae vigor imponit, nullo cogente, humilitas laudanda servaverit (Idem epist. XXXIV, ejusdem libri). Omnipotens Deus, in cujus manu sunt omnia, de quo scriptum est: Non est sapientia, non est consilium contra Dominum (Prov. XXVIII), ipse te, tuosque, et divina et apostolicae Sedis instituta illibata servare, et nos atque omnes fideles ad potiora semper conscendere, et de die in diem deteriora cavere, et meliora ac Deo placita sectari atque perficere concedat.
II. But how obedience (St Gregory, Epist. 10, bk 4) or reverence is to be shown to superiors, you yourself are also in no doubt from your own subjects. In this matter it is very useful if praiseworthy humility, with no one compelling it, has kept what the vigour of discipline imposes (the same, epist. 34 of the same book). May Almighty God, in Whose hand are all things, of Whom it is written: There is no wisdom, there is no counsel against the Lord (Prov. 28), Himself grant that you and yours keep unimpaired both the divine institutions and those of the apostolic See, and that we and all the faithful may always climb to better things, and from day to day beware of worse things, and follow and accomplish better things and those pleasing to God.
III. Vestimenta vero ecclesiastica, quibus Domino ministratur, cultusque divinus omni cum honorificentia et honestate a sacerdotibus reliquisque Ecclesiae ministris celebratur, et sacrata debent esse et honesta. Quibus aliis in usibus, cum Deo, ejusque servitio consecrata et dedicata sint, nemo debet frui quam ecclesiasticis et Deo dignis officiis. Quae nec ab aliis debent contingi aut ferri nisi a sacratis hominibus, ne ultio quae Balthazar regem percussit, super haec transgredientes et talia praesumentes veniat divina, et corruere eos
III. But the ecclesiastical vestments with which the Lord is ministered to, and with which divine worship is celebrated with all honour and decency by the priests and the other ministers of the Church, ought to be both consecrated and decent. Since they have been consecrated and dedicated to God and to His service, no one ought to enjoy them in other uses than ecclesiastical offices worthy of God. These ought not to be touched or carried by others except by consecrated men, lest the divine vengeance that struck King Balthazar come upon those who transgress these things and presume such things, and lest it make them fall
Editors' notes and page, col. 1036
Footnotes
(3) ‹anchor: sacrata debent› · call in col 1036
Vestimenta.... sacrata esse debent. Circa vestimenta quibus utuntur ministri sacri, plura comstituuntur. Primum, ut vestes quibus sacerdotes, diaconi, reliquique Ecclesiae ministri sacri in ministeriis sacris utuntur, ab illis quibus communiter induuntur, sint distinctae. Alterum, ne quis iisdem extra sacrum ministerium utatur vel induatur. Tertium, ut ordinarie per episcopalem, vel saltem sacerdotis alicujus super hac re privilegium habentis, benedictionem sint consecratae, juxta ritum ab Ecclesia praescriptum. Quartum, ne a laicis hominibus contingantur. Horum quaedam ab antecessoribus pontificibus constituta, hoc decreto duntaxat confirmantur. Nam Anacletus papa, Clementis successor, prima decretali epistola haec ait: Episcopus ministros secum habeat sacris indutos vestimentis. Soter, nec a laicis, etiamsi sacratae virgines sint, contingantur, constituit, Vide quae diximus in notis ad Vitam Sixti et Soteris. Haec autem bene et recte constituta esse probatur exemplo Veteris Testamenti, in quo Deus propria et sancta vestimenta instituit, quibus sacerdotes et ministri Dei in templo et sacrificiis Domini uterentur, ut constat Exodi cap. XXVIII. Multo magis igitur, ut recte colligit Ivo Carnotensis, epist. CXXIV, in lege nova sacerdotes ad divinum cultum ac ministerium recte peragendum, et praesertim ad corpus et sanguinem Domini consecrandum sacris vestibus uti oportuit. Quae vero primorum saeculorum Pontificibus auctoribus recte constituta sunt, non modo posterioribus hisce, sed etiam anterioribus saeculis, recepta fuisse testatur Hieronymus in capite LIV Ezech., ubi dicit: Religio divina alterum habitum habet in ministerio, alterum in usu vitaque communi. Item epistola III ad Heliodorum, refert Nepotianum, morti vicinum, avunculo dixisse: Hanc tunicam qua utebar in ministerio Christi, mitte dilectissimo mihi aetate patri, fratri, collegae, etc.; ubi Marian. Victorius vestem illam casulam vel planetam fuisse interpretatur. Similiter Chrysostomus, homil. LXXXIII in Matth., vestium sacrarum mentionem facit; et in liturgia ponit orationes, quas dicit sacerdos cum sacras vestes induit. Joannes Diaconus, lib. II Vitae Gregorii, cap. 57, refert Gregorium papam, inter alia dona, misisse in Angliam vestimenta sacerdotalia et clericalia. Theodoretus, lib. II Hist., cap. 27., meminit cujusdam vestis sacrae quam Constantinus Macario episcopo misit. Adde quod, libro I contra Pelagium, scribit Hieronymus, episcops, presbyteros atque omnem clerum in sacrificii administratione candidis vestibus uti solitos fuisse. Itaque hoc de sacris vestimentis Stephani decretum, non tantum ab ipso ipsiusque quibusdam antecessoribus bene ac convenienter promulgatum est, sed etiam toto pene terrarum orbe omnibus saeculis receptum fuit, ac proinde eorumdem usus, quasi indifferens sit non nisi ab haereticis rejicitur vel plane negligitur. SEVERIN. BIN.
"The vestments ... ought to be consecrated." Concerning the vestments used by sacred ministers, several things are laid down. First, that the garments which priests, deacons and the other sacred ministers of the Church use in the sacred ministries be distinct from those they commonly wear. Second, that no one use or put them on outside the sacred ministry. Third, that they be consecrated, ordinarily by the bishop's blessing, or at least by that of some priest holding a privilege for the purpose, according to the rite prescribed by the Church. Fourth, that they not be touched by lay people. Some of these things, laid down by earlier pontiffs, are merely confirmed by this decree. For Pope Anacletus, Clement's successor, says in his first decretal letter: "Let the bishop have with him ministers clothed in sacred vestments." Soter laid down that they be not touched by lay people, even if they are consecrated virgins; see what we said in the notes on the Lives of Sixtus and Soter. That these things were well and rightly laid down is proved by the example of the Old Testament, in which God instituted proper and holy vestments for the priests and ministers of God to use in the temple and in the Lord's sacrifices, as appears from Exodus, chapter 28. Much more, then, as Ivo of Chartres rightly concludes (letter 124), was it fitting that under the new law priests should use sacred garments to perform divine worship and ministry rightly, and above all to consecrate the body and blood of the Lord. And that what was rightly laid down on the authority of the pontiffs of the first centuries was received not only in these later ages but in earlier ones too, Jerome testifies on chapter 54 [sic] of Ezekiel, where he says: "Divine religion has one dress in the ministry, another in ordinary use and life." Again, in his third letter, to Heliodorus, he relates that Nepotian, near death, said to his uncle: "Send this tunic, which I used in the ministry of Christ, to one most dear to me, a father in age, a brother, a colleague," etc.; where Marianus Victorius takes that garment to have been a chasuble or planeta. Likewise Chrysostom, in homily 83 on Matthew, mentions sacred vestments; and in the liturgy he gives the prayers which the priest says when he puts on the sacred vestments. John the Deacon, in book II of the Life of Gregory, chapter 57, relates that Pope Gregory sent priestly and clerical vestments to England among other gifts. Theodoret, History book II, chapter 27, mentions a sacred garment which Constantine sent to Bishop Macarius. Add that Jerome writes, in book I Against Pelagius, that bishops, priests and the whole clergy were accustomed to use white garments in administering the sacrifice. So this decree of Stephen on sacred vestments was not only well and fittingly promulgated by him and some of his predecessors, but was received in almost the whole world in every age; and so their use is rejected, as though indifferent, or plainly neglected, only by heretics. Severinus Binius.
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- running head: [...]NI PAPÆ ET MARTYRIS 1036 (left end cut off by the image edge)
- marginal letters: A non sunt integri corpore; B (Prov. XXVIII), ipse te; C uti oportuit (in the Variorum notae at the page foot); D quam Constantinus Macario (in the Variorum notae at the page foot)
- old-edition numerals: 1001 after honorificentia