1

we find the first mention in the writings of St. Cyprian, and whose services he employed to keep up a communication with his Church during his exile, but who had no existence in the Eastern Church till the fourth century, did not at first enjoy the privilege of taking any direct part in the celebration of the divine mysteries, their office having been confined to the duty of guarding the church-doors during religious service." The lectors, who are undoubtedly of earlier origin than any of the other minor orders,3 were intrusted with the custody of the Sacred Books, and with the office of reading appropriate passages from them to the people. The acolyths, of whom we find mention only in the records of the Western Church, accompanied and served bishops and priests. The exorcists, who, that the Church might glory in their ministry, were selected with great care from among Christians of the most manly and sturdy faith, had the care of the energumens, from whom, by the laying on of hands, they had the power of expelling the evil spirit. The janitors were charged with the duty of keeping the door during divine service, and enjoined not to allow any to enter, except such as were entitled to that privilege. Although there were at this time other and inferior offices of the ministry, and even in the episcopate different ranks of varying jurisdiction, it is nevertheless true again contradicted by can. 51 of Basil and can. 5 of the fourth synod of Carthage. However, as v. Drey surmises (in his "New Inquiry into the Constitutions and Canons of the Apostles," p. 140, etc.), a distinction must probably be made between χειροτονία and χειροθεσία. This latter expression is used in an ordination, in which there is really no question of a formal imposition of hands; as, for instance, cap. 22, it is used in the ordination of lectors: 'Avaγνώστην προχείρισαι, ἐπιθεὶς αὐτῷ τὴν χεῖρα καὶ ἐπευξάμενος πρὸς τὸν θεόν λέγε· ὁ Dɛòç ỏ aiwvios k. 7. 2.—Choose the lector, impose hands on him, and, praying to God, say, "O, eternal God," etc.

1 Cyprian. Didicimus a Crementio subdiacono, ep. 2, ep. 3, ep. 29, 30. Litterae tuae quas per Herennianum hypodiaconum, etc., ep. 79.

2 Constitutiones Apost. VIII. 11. From a faulty reading of the thirty-third canon of the synod of Elvira (305), v. Drey wished to conclude that, as early as the beginning of the fourth century, the subdeacons enjoyed the privilege of serving at the altar; but the correct reading does not mention the subdeacons: Placuit in totum prohiberi episcopis, presbyteris et diaconibus vel omnibus clericis positis in ministerio abstinere se, etc. (Mansi, T. II., p. 11. Harduin, T. I., p. 254.)

3 Tertull. de praescr., c. 41, p. 247.

that the divinely appointed orders of the hierarchy suffered neither increase nor change.

3

1

Christian communities in the neighborhood of cities were always anxious to connect themselves with those of whom the urban bishop had the immediate care (napoia); while those who lived at a distance, were provided for by the bishop, who gave them into the care of a priest or deacon,2 whose appointment was sometimes permanent, and sometimes only temporary. The Council of Antioch, held in the latter half of the third century (A. D. 269), makes mention of the sees of bishops lying very close to each other, and the Council of Ancyra (A. D. 314) passed special decrees relative to the jurisdiction of chorepiscopi (niozono tys zápas). These, though frequently having the care of several parishes, were always subject to the bishop of the city, from whom they derived their present jurisdiction. The canons of the Church, moreover, provided but one bishop for every diocese, who should receive consecration at the hands of two or three bishops of the same province, and was under obligation of residing in a city within his jurisdiction; while, on the other hand, the chorepiscopi could not confer any but the minor orders. We may fairly and justly conclude from what has been said, that most of these chor

1Justin. apol. I. 67.

4

2 Cyprian. Et credideram quidem presbyteros et diaconos, qui illic praesentes sunt, monere vos et instruere plenissime circa evangelii legem. ep. 10, p. 51. Concil. Illiberit. (306), can. 77. Si quis diaconus regens plebem sine episcopo vel presbytero aliquos baptizaverit, episcopus eos per benedictionem perficere debebit. Mansi, T. II., p. 18. Harduin, T. I., p. 258. The latter places this council in the year 313.

In the ep. Synodi Antioch, quoted by Euseb. h. e. VIII. 30, n. 6: ¿ñiokótovs τῶν ὁμόρων ἀγρῶν τε καὶ πρεσβυτέρους κ. τ. λ. The bishops also and priests of the neighboring districts, etc.

4 Concil. Ancyran., can 13: χωρεπισκόπους μὴ ἐξεῖναι πρεσβυτέρους ἢ διακόνους Xεipotovεiv.-Chorepiscopis non licere presbyteros aut diaconos ordinare. (Mansi, T. II., p. 517. Harduin, T. I., p. 275.) The Conc. Neocaesar., can. 13, compared them to the seventy assistants of Moses. Cf. Mansi, T. II., p. 546. Later, in the synod of Laodicaea (between 343-381), can. 57, it was ordained that each bishop should have his see in a city. Cf. Hefele, Hist. of the Councils, Vol. I., p. 747. When Phillips (Canon Law, Vol. II., p. 95 sq.) attributes to all the episcopal character, he does so without sufficient ground. Cf. Natalis Alexander, appendix to dissertat. 44 of his h. e., saec. IV.

episcopi were but simple priests, in the enjoyment of extensive faculties, although in particular cases they may have been recognized, and have actually assumed the functions and authority of regularly appointed bishops.

§ 84. Education, Election, Ordination, and Support of the Clergy.

In the early days of the Church, the clergy were fitted for their office, not by a regular course of studies, but by exercise in those ecclesiastical functions which they would hereafter be called upon to discharge. An acquaintance with the history of the life and mission of the Son of God, and an ability to explain to the people the truths these implied, and their consequences, and awake in their hearts a lively faith in the coming of Christ, were deemed sufficient qualifications, if accompanied with exemplary conduct, for entering upon the discharge of ecclesiastical duties. In the first teachers of Christianity, the gifts of supernatural grace supplied many defects of theological training. It would seem that, of all the Apostles, St. Paul and St. John had the largest number of followers. Those of the former are mentioned in the New Testament.

Polycarp, Ignatius, and Papias were instructed at Ephesus by St. John, and these, in turn, trained others, principally by exercising them in the functions of the sacred ministry, as they themselves had been schooled. The early Christian writers, and particularly the apologists, were perfectly conversant with the doctrine of Christ previously to their reception into the Church. At this period, also, the Christian youth enjoyed the advantages afforded by the Catechetical School of Alexandria, and of the schools established at Caesarea, Antioch, and Rome, in which they might prepare themselves for the work of the sacred ministry. Even the Apostles saw the need, and suggested the propriety, of a thorough training for those destined to hold the offices of bishop, priest, and deacon, and recommended great prudence in their selection. And, in matter of fact, such as were raised to these high dignities, had been long known, both to the higher clergy and to the people, by long residence, and by having

passed through the lower orders of the ministry. The people had a voice in the choice, not only of priests and deacons, but also in that of the inferior orders of the clergy-such, for example, as the lectors. The election of bishops, as became the importance of so great a dignity, was surrounded with circumstances of great formality and jealous precaution, and, we may add, only those of advanced age, of proved virtueascetics and confessors of tried courage and strong faith having been usually preferred-were selected to fill so responsible an office. They received their appointment, comformably to the example of the Apostles in the case of Matthias,2 through the suffrages of the clergy of the episcopal city, which, however, required the concurrence of the provincial bishops and the consent of the people. The people continued to take part in the election of bishops, though the mode of procedure varied to suit the circumstances of time and place, as long as the great majority of Christians was composed of persons who had embraced Christianity with a single-minded earnestness and purity of purpose, whose highest ambition was to behold the Church prosperous and glorious, and who, therefore, had no interested or selfish ends to serve.

1

3

4

But the privilege which the people enjoyed of participating

1 Cyprian. ep. 34, ad clerum et plebem de Celerino lectore ordinato, p. 108.. 2 Acts i. 15-26.

St. Clement. of Rome (ep. I. ad. Corinth., c. 44) already says of the election of the bishop: συνευδοκησάσης τῆς ἐκκλησίας πάσης.—Comprobante universa ecclesia (with the approval of the whole Church). And Cyprian writes, ep. 68: Propter quod diligenter de traditione divina et apostolica observatione servandum est et tenendum, quod apud nos quoque et fere per provincias universas tenetur, ut ad ordinationes rite celebrandas, ad eam plebem, cui praepositus ordinatur, Episcopi ejusdem provinciae proximi quique conveniant, et Episcopus eligatur plebe praesente. Cf. Staudenmaier, Hist. of Episcopal Elections, p. 1-24.

4 The people in this case especially testified to the worthiness of him who was to be chosen; and on this account Cyprian says: Episcopus eligatur plebe praesente, quae singulorum vitam plenissime novit, et uniuscujusque actum de ejus conversatione perspexit, etc. Similarly in constitutt. Apost. VIII. 4: Ordinandum esse Episcopum inculpatum in omnibus, electum a populo ut praestantissimum. (Galland. T. III., p. 203. Mansi, T. I., p. 538.) Therefore, St. Cyprian says: Referimus ad vos Celerinum fratrem nostrum virtutibus pariter et moribus gloriosum, clero vestro non humana suffragatione, sed divina dignatione conjunctum, ep. 34.

in the election of the bishop and in other affairs of the community, gave them no right to assume either that he derived his authority from them, or that they could depose him. The episcopal order, on the contrary, was always regarded as having been established by direct appointment of Christ, while the grace of ordination was conferred by the Holy Ghost. Bishops, therefore, being the successors of the Apostles, and enjoying the fullness of Apostolic authority, claimed, and always received, the perfect obedience of the faithful in all things within the province of their ecclesiastical jurisdiction. It was, moreover, prescribed that the consecration of a bishop should be performed by two or three bishops of the province,1 and that his elevation to the episcopal office should be proclaimed to all the Christian communities within the limits of his jurisdiction, by special letters communicating the fact (litterae communicatoriae).

The selection of other ecclesiastics was principally confined to the bishops, who, however, availed themselves of the advice of the clergy, and consulted the wishes of the people.2

2

In the early ages of the Church, no special provision was made for the support of the clergy. Many ecclesiastics, imitating the example of St. Paul, worked at some craft, or followed some profession, and thus lived by the labor of their own hands. But many of the faithful, following the example of the Jews, who gave the tithes of all their goods and produce for the support of the priests and levites, and wishing

1 Canon Apost., can. 1: Ἐπίσκοπος χειροτονείσθω ὑπὸ ἐπισκόπων δύο ἢ τρίων. Let a bishop be ordained (consecrated) by two or three bishops. Mansi, T. I., p. 30. Harduin, T. I., p. 10. Concil. Arelat., can. 20: Infra tres (Episcopos) non audeat ordinare (Episcopum). Mansi, T. II., p. 473. Harduin, T. I., p. 266.

2On this point Cyprian says, in his 33d ep., directed to the priests, deacons, and faithful of Carthage: "In ordinationibus clericis, fratres carissimi, solemus vos ante consulere, et mores ac merita singulorum communi consilio ponderare. In the Constitutiones Apost. VIII. 16, we read in a prayer to be said at the ordination of a priest: ἔπιδε ἐπὶ τὸν δοῦλόν σου τοῦτον τὸν ψήφῳ καὶ κρίσει τοῦ κλήρου παντὸς πρεσβυτέριον ἐπιδοθέντα.-Look down upon thy servant, chosen for the priesthood by the suffrage and judgment of the whole clergy.

3 Levit. xxvii. 30 sq.; Num. xviii. 23 sq.; Deut. xiv. 22 sq.; 2 Chron. xxxi. 4 sq.