Distinction XV

GRATIAN. Part I. Thus far we have discussed natural law and positive law or custom, assigning the difference by which they are distinguished from one another. Now let us turn the pen to ecclesiastical enactments, briefly assigning their origin and authority insofar as we are able to gather them from the books of the holy fathers.

The canons of general councils—as Isidore says in Book VI of the Etymologies, c. 16—began from the times of Constantine. For in the preceding years, while persecution raged, no faculty at all was given for teaching the peoples. Hence Christianity was torn into diverse heresies, because bishops had no permission to assemble in one place until the time of the aforesaid emperor. For he gave Christians the faculty to gather freely. Under him also, the holy fathers, assembling from the whole world at the Council of Nicaea, handed down, according to the evangelical and apostolic faith, the creed second after that of the Apostles. §1. Among the other councils, four are venerable synods that principally embrace the whole faith, like the four Gospels or the same number of rivers of paradise. §2. The first of these, the Nicene synod of 318 bishops, was held while Constantine Augustus was emperor; in it the blasphemy of Arian unbelief, which Arius himself asserted concerning the inequality of the Holy Trinity, was condemned, and through a creed the same holy synod defined the Son of God as consubstantial with God the Father. §3. The second synod, of 150 fathers, was gathered at Constantinople under Theodosius the Elder. Condemning Macedonius, who denied that the Holy Spirit is God, it demonstrated that the Holy Spirit is consubstantial with the Father and the Son, giving the form of the creed that the whole confession of Greeks and Latins proclaims in the churches. §4. The third synod, the first at Ephesus, was promulgated by 200 bishops under Theodosius the Younger, Augustus. It condemned with a just anathema Nestorius, who asserted two persons in Christ, demonstrating that the one person of the Lord Jesus Christ remains in two natures. §5. The fourth synod, of Chalcedon, was held by 630 priests under the prince Marcian. In it, by one judgment of the fathers, it condemned Eutyches, abbot of Constantinople, who pronounced that there is one nature of the Word of God and the flesh; Dioscorus, his defender and former bishop of Alexandria; and, again, Bishop Nestorius himself together with the other heretics. The same synod proclaimed that Christ the Lord was born from the Virgin in such a way that in him we confess the substance of both the divine and the human nature. §6. These are the four principal synods, most fully proclaiming the nature of the faith. But if there are also any councils that the holy fathers, filled with the Spirit of God, sanctioned, they remain established with every force after the authorities of these four; their acts are set down and contained in this work. §7. Synod is interpreted from Greek as company or assembly. The name council, however, is drawn from Roman custom. For at the time when a cause was conducted, all assembled in one place and treated it with a common intention. Hence concilium is said from common intention, as though consilium; consilium as though considium, with the letter d passing into l. Or concilium is said from common intention because all direct the whole gaze of the mind toward one thing; for the eyebrows are the supercilia of the eyes. Hence those who disagree with one another do not conduct a council, because they do not think as one. An assembly, moreover, is a meeting or gathering, from coming together, that is, from assembling in one place. Hence it is also called a meeting because men meet there. Just as a meeting is an assembly, so also a council is named from the association of many into one. Blessed Gregory also writes concerning the four councils, saying [Book I of the Register, epistle 24]:

Just as I confess that I receive and venerate the four books of the holy Gospel, so also the four councils: namely the Nicene, in which the perverse dogma of Arius is destroyed; also the Constantinopolitan, in which the error of Eunomius and Macedonius is convicted; also the first Ephesian, in which the impiety of Nestorius is judged; and the Chalcedonian, in which the depravity of Eutyches and Dioscorus is rejected. I embrace these with complete devotion and guard them with the most entire approval, because in them, as upon a squared stone, the structure of the holy faith rises, and the norm of every life and action exists. §1. I also venerate the fifth council, in which the letter said to be that of Ibas, full of error, is rejected; Theodore is convicted of having fallen into the unbelief of impiety by separating the person of the mediator of God and men into two substances; and the writings of Theodore, through which the faith of blessed Cyril is reproved and which were brought forth with the boldness of madness, are refuted. All persons whom the aforesaid venerable councils reject, I reject; those whom they venerate, I embrace. For because they were established by universal consent, whoever presumes either to absolve those whom they bind or to bind those whom they absolve destroys himself and not them. Pope Gelasius also writes concerning the same matters [in the council held at Rome with seventy bishops], saying:

After those Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments that we regularly receive, the holy Roman Church also does not prohibit these from being received: the holy Nicene synod of 318 fathers, with Maximus Constantine Augustus acting as mediator, in which the heretic Arius was condemned; the holy Constantinopolitan synod, with Theodosius the Elder, Augustus, acting as mediator, in which the heretic Macedonius received his due condemnation; the holy first Ephesian synod, in which Nestorius was condemned with the consent of most blessed Pope Celestine, with Cyril, prelate of the see of Alexandria, and Bishop Arcadius, sent from Italy, acting as mediators; the holy Chalcedonian synod, with Marcian Augustus and Anatolius, bishop of Constantinople, acting as mediators, in which the Nestorian and Eutychian heresy, together with Dioscorus and his accomplices, was condemned. But if there are also any councils instituted thus far by the holy fathers, after the authority of these four we decree that they are both to be guarded and received. §1. It must now be added concerning the works of the holy fathers that are received in the Catholic Church. §2. The works of blessed Cyprian, martyr and bishop of Carthage. §3. Likewise the works of blessed Gregory Nazianzen, bishop. §4. Likewise the works of blessed Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria. §6. Likewise the works of blessed John, bishop of Constantinople. §9. Likewise the works of blessed Hilary, bishop of Poitiers. §10. Likewise the works of blessed Ambrose, bishop of Milan. §11. Likewise the works of blessed Augustine, bishop of Hippo. §12. Likewise the works of blessed Jerome, priest. §13. Likewise the works of blessed Prosper, a most religious man. §14. Likewise the epistle of blessed Pope Leo sent to Bishop Flavian; if anyone disputes its text down to one iota and does not reverently receive it in all things, let him be anathema. §15. Likewise we decree that the works and treatises of all orthodox fathers who departed in no respect from the fellowship of the holy Roman Church, nor were separated from its faithful preaching, but by the grace of God were participants in its communion until the last day of their life, are to be read. §16. Likewise the decretal epistles that the most blessed popes gave at diverse times from the city of Rome for the consolation of diverse fathers are to be reverently received.

[PALEA. §17. Likewise the acts of the holy martyrs, who shine with the manifold torments of tortures and the marvelous triumphs of confessions. Who among Catholics doubts that this is so, that they suffered still greater things in their contests, and that they endured all things not by their own strength but by the grace and assistance of God? But according to ancient custom these are not read in the holy Roman Church without special caution, because the names of those who wrote them are utterly unknown, and because things superfluous, or less suited than the order of the matter was, are thought to have been written by unbelievers or unlearned persons—as with the passions of a certain Quiricus and Julitta, Gregory, and others of this kind, which are reported to have been written by heretics. For this reason, as was said, they are not read in the holy Roman Church, lest even a slight occasion for mockery arise. We nevertheless, together with the aforesaid Church, venerate with every devotion all the martyrs and their glorious contests, which are known to God more than to men. §18. Likewise we receive with every honor the lives of the fathers Paul, Antony, Hilarion, and all the hermits, provided that the most blessed man Jerome wrote them. §19. Likewise the acts of blessed Sylvester, prelate of the apostolic see: although we do not know the name of the one who wrote them, we nevertheless know that they are read by many Catholics in the city of Rome, and many churches imitate this from ancient usage. §20. Likewise the writings concerning the discovery of the Lord’s holy cross and other writings concerning the discovery of the head of blessed John the Baptist are indeed recent revelations, and some Catholics read them; but when these come into the hands of Catholics, let the judgment of blessed Paul the Apostle precede: “Test all things; hold what is good.” §21. Likewise Rufinus, a religious man, published very many books of ecclesiastical work and also translated some writings; but because blessed Jerome faulted him in certain things concerning freedom of choice, we think those things that we know the aforesaid blessed Jerome thought. This applies not only to Rufinus, but also to all whom the man so often remembered reproved out of zeal for God and the religion of the faith. §22. Likewise we receive as to be read certain works of Origen that the most blessed man Jerome does not reject; but we say that all the rest are to be refused together with their author. §23. Likewise the chronicle of Eusebius of Caesarea and the books of his Ecclesiastical History: although in the first book of his narrative he grew lukewarm, and afterward wrote one book in praise and excuse of the schismatic Origen, nevertheless, because of the singular knowledge of matters that pertain to instruction, we do not say that they are altogether to be refused. §24. Likewise we praise Orosius, a most learned man, because he arranged a history very necessary for us against the calumnies of the pagans and wove it together with marvelous brevity. §25. Likewise we bring forth with distinguished praise the venerable man Sedulius’s paschal work, which he composed in heroic verses. §26. Likewise we do not despise but marvel at Juvencus’s laborious work. §27. But the Catholic and apostolic Roman Church in no way receives things written or preached by heretics or schismatics. Of these we believe that a few which have come to memory and are to be avoided by Catholics should be added. §28. First, we confess that the synod of Rimini, gathered by Caesar Constantius, son of Constantine, with the prefect Taurus acting as mediator, was condemned from then, is now, and will be forever. §29. Likewise the itinerary in the name of Peter the Apostle, which is called the eighth book of Saint Clement, is apocryphal. §30. The acts in the name of Andrew the Apostle, apocryphal. §31. The acts in the name of Philip the Apostle, apocryphal. §32. The acts in the name of Peter the Apostle, apocryphal. §33. The acts in the name of Thomas the Apostle, apocryphal. §34. The Gospel in the name of Thaddaeus, apocryphal. §35. The Gospel in the name of Thomas the Apostle, which the Manichaeans use, apocryphal. §36. The Gospel in the name of Barnabas, apocryphal. §37. The Gospel in the name of Bartholomew the Apostle, apocryphal. §35. The Gospel in the name of Andrew the Apostle, apocryphal. §39. The Gospels that Lucian falsified, apocryphal. §40. The Gospels that Hesychius falsified, apocryphal. §41. The book on the infancy of the Savior, apocryphal. §42. The book on the nativity of the Savior, on holy Mary, and on the midwife of the Savior, apocryphal. §43. The book that is called The Shepherd, apocryphal. §44. All the books that Leucius, disciple of the devil, made, apocryphal. §45. The book that is called The Foundation, apocryphal. §46. The book that is called The Treasure, apocryphal. §47. The book that is called On the Daughters of Adam, or Genesis, apocryphal. §48. The cento concerning Christ, joined together from Virgilian verses, apocryphal. §49. The book that is called The Acts of Thecla and Paul the Apostle, apocryphal. §50. The book that is called Of Nepos, apocryphal. §51. The book of proverbs written by heretics and marked with the name of Saint Xystus, apocryphal. §52. The revelation that is called that of Paul the Apostle, apocryphal. §53. The revelation that is called that of Thomas the Apostle, apocryphal. §54. The revelation that is called that of Stephen, apocryphal. §55. The book that is called The Passing of Holy Mary, apocryphal. §56. The book that is called The Penance of Adam, apocryphal. §57. The book in the name of Ogias the Giant, who is reported by heretics to have fought with a dragon after the flood, apocryphal. §58. The book that is called The Testament of Jacob, apocryphal. §59. The book that is called The Penance of Origen, apocryphal. §60. The book that is called The Penance of Saint Cyprian, apocryphal. §61. The book that is called The Penance of Jannes and Mambres, apocryphal. §62. The book that is called The Lots of the Apostles, apocryphal. §63. The book of Lusana, apocryphal. §64. The book of the canons of the Apostles, apocryphal. §65. The book Physiologus, which was written by heretics and marked beforehand with the name of blessed Ambrose, apocryphal. §66. The history of Eusebius Pamphilus, apocryphal. §67. The works of Tertullian or Africanus, apocryphal. §68. The works of Postumianus and Gallus, apocryphal. §69. The works of Montanus, Priscilla, and Maximilla, apocryphal. §70. All the works of Faustus the Manichaean, apocryphal. §71. The works of the other Clement of Alexandria, apocryphal. §72. The works of Cassian, priest of the Gauls, apocryphal. §73. The works of Victorinus of Poitiers, apocryphal. §74. The works of Faustus of Riez in Gaul, apocryphal. §75. The works of Frumentius, apocryphal. §76. The epistle of Jesus to King Abgar, apocryphal. §77. The Passion of George, apocryphal. §78. The Passion of Quiricus and Julitta, apocryphal. §79. The writing that is called The Contradiction of Solomon, apocryphal. §80. All amulets that were written not, as they pretend, by the art of angels, but rather by that of demons, apocryphal. §81. These and all things similar to them that Simon Magus, Nicolaus, Cerinthus, Marcion, Basilides, Ebion, also Paul of Samosata, Photinus, Bonosus, and those who fell away in a similar error; also Montanus with his most obscene followers; Apollinaris, Valentinus or Manichaeus, Faustus, Sabellius, Arius, Macedonius, Eunomius, Novatus, Sabbatius, Celestius, Donatus, Eustathius, Jovinian, Pelagius, Julian and Latiensis, Celestinus, Maximinus, Priscianus from Spain, Lampedius, Dioscorus, Eutyches, Peter and another Peter, of whom one defiled Alexandria and the other Antioch; Acacius of Constantinople with his associates; and also all the heresies that they and their disciples or schismatics taught or wrote, whose names are by no means retained—we confess that these are not only rejected but even eliminated from the whole Roman and apostolic Church, and together with their authors and the followers of those authors condemned forever under the indissoluble bond of anathema. §82. Moreover, we have judged that it should be noted for the edification of the faithful which books are read by some in ecclesiastical offices throughout the cycle of the year—a rite that the apostolic Church does not reprove but follows. Some place the Pentateuch at Septuagesima until the fifteenth day before Easter; on the fifteenth day they place Jeremiah until the Supper of the Lord. At the Supper of the Lord they read three readings from the Lamentation of Jeremiah: “How the city sits alone,” etc.; three from Saint Augustine’s treatise on Psalm 54: “Hear my prayer, O God, and do not despise it”; and three from the Apostle, where he says in the epistle to the Corinthians: “When you come together into one place.” The second reading begins thus: “Likewise also the cup after he had supped,” etc. The third: “Concerning spiritual things, however, we do not wish you to be ignorant, brothers.” On the Parasceve, three readings from the Lamentation of Jeremiah; three from Saint Augustine’s treatise on Psalm 63: “Hear my prayer, O God, when I entreat”; and three from the Apostle, where he says in the epistle to the Hebrews: “Let us hasten to enter into that rest,” etc. The second reading: “For every pontiff.” The third: “Concerning whom our discourse is great.” On Holy Saturday, three readings from the Lamentation of Jeremiah the prophet; three from Saint Augustine’s treatise on the same Psalm 63: “Hear my prayer, O God, when I entreat”; and three from the Apostle, where he says in the epistle to the Hebrews: “Christ, standing by as pontiff of future good things.” The second reading: “For where there is a testament.” The third: “For the law, having a shadow of future good things.” At the Lord’s Easter, homilies pertaining to that day; during the week, homilies. On the octave of Easter they place the Acts of the Apostles, the canonical epistles, and the Apocalypse until the octave of Pentecost. On the octave of Pentecost they place the books of Kings and Chronicles until the Kalends of August. On the first Sunday of the month of August they place Solomon until the Kalends of September. On the first Sunday of September they place Job, Tobit, Esther, and Esdras until the Kalends of October. On the first Sunday of the month of October they place the book of Maccabees until the Kalends of November. On the first Sunday of the month of November they place Ezekiel, Daniel, and the minor prophets until the Kalends of December. On the first Sunday of the month of December they place Isaiah the prophet until the Nativity of the Lord. On the Nativity of the Lord they first read three readings from Isaiah. The first reading: “At the first time the land of Zebulun was lightened,” etc. The second: “Be consoled, be consoled.” The third: “Arise, arise.” Then sermons or homilies pertaining to that day are read. On the feast of Saint Stephen, a homily concerning that day. On the feast of Saint John, likewise. On the feast of the Innocents, likewise. On the feast of Saint Sylvester, likewise. On the octave of the Lord’s Nativity, a homily concerning that day. On the first Sunday after the Lord’s Nativity they place the epistles of Paul until Septuagesima. On Epiphany, three readings from Isaiah. The first reading begins: “All who thirst.” The second: “Arise, be illuminated, Jerusalem.” The third: “Rejoicing, I shall rejoice in the Lord.” Then sermons or homilies pertaining to that day are read.]