Title IX: On Judicial Vacations

Latin source headnote: On Sundays one ought not to trade, litigate, judge, or swear, but they ought to be celebrated from evening to evening.

From the Council at Compiègne.

We decree that all Sundays be observed from evening to evening with every reverence, and that persons abstain from every unlawful work, so that on them no market at all is held, nor any judicial hearing, nor is anyone judged to death or punishment, nor are oaths furnished except for peace or some other necessity.

Latin source headnote: The beginning and end of feasts ought to be determined according to their importance and the custom of the region. This is the first point. On the principal feasts and between Easter and Pentecost no solemn bending of the knees is made. If, however, clerics or bishops are then ordained, the knees are bent according to the manner of the ordination. This is the second point. The Roman Church does not keep a special feast of the Trinity; nevertheless, the custom of each church concerning this is preserved. This is the third point.

Alexander III.

Because in the region—(And below:) We wish your prudence to hold with certain knowledge that, although it is written, “From evening to evening you shall celebrate your sabbaths,” nevertheless the beginning and end of feasts ought to be considered according to their character and according to the custom of the various regions; and, just as the importance of the days requires them to be celebrated, so by true reason they appear to begin earlier and to end later. (And below:)

1. On Sundays, however, and on other principal feasts, or between Easter and Pentecost, a bending of the knees ought by no means to be made, unless someone out of devotion wishes to do this in private.

2. But at the consecrations of bishops and the ordinations of clerics, only the consecrator and the person consecrated may bend their knees, according as the manner of consecration requires.

3. Furthermore, according to the customs of various regions, the feast of the Holy Trinity has customarily been celebrated by some on the octave of Pentecost, by others on the first Sunday before the Advent of the Lord. The Roman Church, however, does not have it as its usage to celebrate a special feast of this kind at any time, since every day “Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,” and other similar things pertaining to the praise of the Trinity, are said. Wherefore, brother archbishop, we have by no means been able to give you a certain answer concerning the use of the pallium on the day on which the feast of the Holy Trinity is celebrated.

Latin source headnote: On account of the necessity of sustenance, it is permissible on feast days established in honor of God to attend to servile work, especially concerning a thing liable to perish with time. This is what it says.

The same, to the Archbishop of Trier.

Although the page of both the Old and the New Testament has specially assigned the seventh day to human rest, and the Church has decreed that both it and other days assigned to the Most High Majesty, as well as the birthdays of the holy martyrs, are to be observed, and that on these one must cease from every servile work, nevertheless we, to whom the governance of the Church has been entrusted by the Provider of all, are bound fittingly to provide for the faithful of Christ concerning those things which necessity requires, so that, if at any time it should happen that they attend, not to servile work—that is, to the doing of sin—but perhaps to seeking things necessary for food and clothing, we will that the providence of the Apostolic See come to their aid with its accustomed mercy. Hence indeed it is that, knowing from the reports of many that your region does not abound in many crops and that the sea, in which the people have customarily had their greater sustenance, has become more barren than usual, by the authority of blessed Peter and our own we grant that, on Sundays and other feast days, except on the greater solemnities of the year, if herrings have approached the land, it may be lawful for your parishioners, under the pressure of necessity, to attend to catching them, yet in such a way that, after the catch has been made, they make a fitting portion for the neighboring churches and the poor of Christ. If, however, those who are bound by a penance imposed upon them to pass certain days on bread and water do not have bread on which to feed, let them, if necessity requires, be refreshed with fish or other foods, moderate discretion nevertheless being employed, so that they use these not for delicacies, but only for necessary sustenance.

Latin source headnote: The three weeks during which the canon prohibits weddings from being held before the feast of John the Baptist are not continuous with the feast, but are understood to mean the week of the Ascension together with the two following weeks.

Clement III, otherwise Celestine III.

Your chaplain, brother bishop, proposed before us on your behalf that, since the canonical statutes declare that weddings ought by no means to be celebrated during the three weeks before the feast of the Nativity of blessed John the Baptist, some understand those weeks to be continuous without interruption. Others, however, wishing to make an interval between the feast and those weeks, say that this was established out of reverence for the feast of Pentecost, which is sometimes accustomed to fall within these weeks; and thus, beginning from the three Rogation Days before the Ascension of the Lord and extending to the eighth day after Pentecost, those weeks being counted, they do not permit weddings to be celebrated during that space of time alone, but by no means prohibit their celebration thereafter.

Therefore, because we were consulted as to which of these opinions appears the stronger, it appeared to us and our brothers that, although this has been the custom of the Roman Church, observed from long-past times, that at whatever time a marriage is contracted with a legitimate consent in the present tense intervening—nevertheless, because weddings are not permitted to be celebrated from Septuagesima until seven days after Pentecost, and afterward they are celebrated without distinction even within three weeks or more before the feast of Saint John, the latter opinion rests upon better and subtler reason. And whether, according to the canons, weddings are suspended from Septuagesima until after the octave of Easter, or, according to the custom of the Roman Church, until after the seven days of the feast of Pentecost, which has no octave, they may lawfully be celebrated on the following Sunday and thereafter.

Latin source headnote: On judicial vacations introduced in honor of God and the saints, judgment cannot be exercised, even with the consent of the parties, unless by reason of necessity or piety; the parties can, however, renounce judicial vacations introduced for the benefit of human beings.

Gregory IX.

He complained to us—(And below:) Although questions ought not to be prolonged but dispatched, nevertheless judicial clamor ought to be quieted on feast days, which are known to have been established out of reverence for God, namely: the Nativity of the Lord; Saint Stephen; John the Evangelist; the Holy Innocents; Saint Sylvester; the Circumcision; the Epiphany; the seven days of the Lord’s Passion; the Resurrection with the seven following days; the Ascension; Pentecost with the two days which follow; the Nativity of John the Baptist; all the feasts of the glorious Virgin; the Twelve Apostles, and especially Peter and Paul; blessed Lawrence; the Dedication of blessed Michael; the solemnity of All Saints; Sundays; and the other solemnities which the individual bishops, together with clergy and people, shall have determined are to be solemnly venerated in their dioceses. On these solemn judicial vacations it is assuredly fitting to abstain from things of this kind—unless necessity urges or piety counsels—to such a degree that, even if the parties consent, neither shall proceedings conducted be valid, nor a sentence which happens to be promulgated on days of this kind; although on judicial vacations which are granted on account of vintages or harvests because of human needs, proceedings may be conducted if this has proceeded from the will of the parties.