Question — Decretum of Gratian
Question IV
GRATIAN. That it is not lawful for them to be adorned with splendid and bright garments is commanded in the Seventh Synod, in which it was established thus, [c. 16]:
GRATIANUS. Quod uero fulgidis et claris uestibus eis ornari non liceat, in septima Sinodo iubetur, in qua sic statutum est: [c. 16.]
Friedberg, col. 857/858
C. I. Let clerics who live wantonly in ointments and bright and splendid garments be corrected.
All ostentation and bodily adornment is foreign to the consecrated order. Therefore those bishops or clerics who adorn themselves with splendid and bright garments ought to be corrected. But if they persist in this, let them be subjected to a penance. Likewise also those who are anointed with ointments. § 1. But since, when a root of bitterness sprang up, contamination was produced in the catholic church by heretics who calumniated Christians, those who received this not only abominated pictorial representations but also rejected all reverence, offending those who live religiously and piously; and through this there is fulfilled in them what is written: “The worship of God is an abomination to the sinner.” Therefore, if any are found deriding those who are clothed in cheap and religious garments, let them be corrected by a penance. § 2. For in ancient times every consecrated man conducted himself in modest and cheap clothing. Indeed, everything that is adopted not for its necessity but for its beauty bears the reproach of pride, as the great Basil says. Nor did anyone put on a garment variegated from silken weavings, nor did they attach ornaments of various colors at the extremity of their garments. For they had heard that “those who are clothed in soft garments are in the houses of kings.”
C. I. Corripiantur clerici, qui in unguentis et claris uestibus et fulgidis lasciuiunt.
Omnis iactantia et ornatura corporalis aliena est a sacrato ordine. Eos ergo episcopos uel clericos, qui se fulgidis et claris uestibus ornant, emendari oportet. Quod si in hoc permanserint, epithimio contradantur. Similiter et eos, qui unguentis unguntur. §. 1. Quoniam uero radice amaritudinis exorta contaminatio facta est in ecclesia catholica, Christianos calumpniantium hereticorum, hii, qui hanc receperunt, non solum imaginarias scripturas abhominati sunt, sed et omnem reuerentiam repulerunt, eos, qui religiose ac pie uiuunt, offendentes, ac per hoc conpletur in eis quod scriptum est: "Abhominatio est peccatoris Dei cultus," igitur si inuenti fuerint deridentes eos, qui uilibus et religiosis uestimentis amicti sunt, per epithimium corrigantur. §. 2. Priscis enim temporibus omnis sacratus uir cum mediocri ac uili ueste conuersabatur. Omne quippe, quod non propter necessitatem suam, sed propter uenustatem accipitur, elationis habet calumpniam, quemadmodum magnus ait Basilius. Sed neque ex sericis texturis uestem quis uariatam induebat, neque apponebant uariorum colorum ornamenta in summitate uestimentorum. Audierant enim, quia "qui mollibus uestiuntur in domibus regum sunt."
Friedberg, col. 857/858
C. II. Let clerics, whether walking on a journey or dwelling elsewhere, use garments suitable to themselves.
Likewise from the Sixth Synod, [c. 27]. Let none of those who are numbered in the clergy have an unbecoming garment, whether dwelling in a city or walking on a journey, but let him use the robes that have been granted to clerics. But if anyone shall have done any such thing, let him be suspended for one week.
C. II. Clerici siue in itinere ambulantes, siue alibi degentes, congruis sibi uestibus utantur.
Item ex VI. Sinodo. [c. 27.] Nullus eorum, qui connumerantur in clero, uestimentum indecens habeat, siue in ciuitate degens siue in itinere ambulans, sed stolis utatur, que concessae sunt clericis. Si uero quis tale quid fecerit, per unam ebdomadam suspendatur.
Friedberg, col. 857/858
C. III. Let clerics use garments suitable to their order, not secular garments.
Likewise Pope Zacharias, [in the Roman Synod, c. 3]. Let bishops, priests, and deacons not use secular garments, but only, as is fitting, a priestly tunic; nor, when they walk in a city, on a road, or in public squares, are they to presume to walk without a covering, except if they are walking on a long journey, because just as a woman praying in churches with her head unveiled dishonors her head, according to the voice of the Apostle, so a priest without a covering dishonors his priesthood. But if he shall rashly presume to act contrary to the statutes, let him be deprived of communion until he hastens to fulfill what has been established.
C. III. Non secularibus uestibus, sed ordini suo conuenientibus clerici utantur.
Item Zacharias Papa. [in Sinodo Romana, c. 3.] Episcopi, presbiteri, diaconi, secularibus indumentis non utantur, nisi, ut condecet, tunica sacerdotali; sed neque dum ambulauerint in ciuitate, aut in uia, aut in plateis, sine operimento presumant ambulare, preterquam si in itinere longo ambulauerint, quia sicut mulier orans in ecclesiis non uelato capite deturpat caput suum, iuxta Apostolicam uocem, ita sacerdos sine operimento deturpat sacerdotium suum. Quod si temere presumpserit contra statuta agere, communione priuetur, donec que statuta sunt adinplere maturet.
Friedberg, col. 857/858
C. IV. Let priests not appear outside their houses without their proper attire.
Likewise Pope Leo, [IV, in the Roman Synod, c. 12]. It is in no way fitting for priests to appear outside their houses without priestly attire, lest they suffer injuries like one of the secular persons. One found acting contrary to this is either to desist or to be subjected to canonical discipline.
C. IV. Extra domos sine proprio ornatu sacerdotes non appareant.
Item Leo Papa. [IV. in Sinodo Romana, c. 12.] Sine ornatu sacerdotali extra domos sacerdotes apparere nullo modo conuenit, ne, ut aliquis secularium, iniurias patiantur. Contrarius denique inuentus aut desinat, aut canonicae subiaceat disciplinae.
Friedberg, col. 857/858
C. V. On the same.
Likewise Innocent II, [in the Lateran Council, c. 4]. We command that bishops as well as clerics strive to please God and men in the state of their mind and the habit of their body, and that they not offend the sight of those beholding them—whose form and example they ought to be—by excess, the cut or color of their garments, or their tonsure, but rather display what befits their holiness. But if, after being admonished by the bishops, they are unwilling to amend, let them lack ecclesiastical benefices.
C. V. De eodem.
Item Innocentius II. [in Concilio Lateranensi, cap. 4.] Precipimus, ut tam episcopi quam clerici in statu mentis, in habitu corporis, Deo et hominibus placere studeant, et nec in superfluitate, fissurae, aut colore uestium, nec in tonsura intuentium (quorum forma et exemplum esse debent) offendant aspectum, sed potius quod eorum deceat sanctitatem. Quod si moniti ab episcopis emendare noluerint, ecclesiasticis careant beneficiis.
Friedberg, col. 859/860