has not liv'd in Continence, and who had Children before the Law which the Bishops of Lusitania made upon this Subject: They im∣pose upon them, no other Penalty, but that they shall not be capa∣ble of rising to a higher Dignity.
The 2d. Canon forbids the ordaining of a Person who has done publick Penance: It adds, That if necessity require, he may be made a Porter or at most a Reader; but upon Condition, that he neither read the Epistles, nor Gospels, and that if any such Person has been ordain'd Deacon, he shall be only in the rank of Sub-Deacons, without being capable of laying on of Hands or touching Holy Things. 'Tis observed afterwards, that a Penitent is he who having done publick Penance after his Baptism, for Murder, or some other Crime of like Nature, has been publickly re∣concil'd at the Altar of God.
The 3d. Canon declares, That if a Reader marry a Widow, he cannot be advanc'd to higher Orders, and that at most he shall only be a Sub-Deacon.
The 4th. That a Sub-Deacon who marries again, shall be put in the rank of Porters or Readers, without being capable of reading the Epistles or Gospels; That he who shall marry a third time shall be separated from the Church for the space of two Years, and after he is reconcil'd, he shall never rise higher than the rank of Lay-men.
The 5th. deprives a Clergy-man of Ecclesiastical Orders, who being design'd for the Service of some Church in the City or Country, shall not be present at the Sacrifice which is made there every Day.
The 6th. forbids Virgins consecrated to God to have any familiarity with Ecclesiastical Men, who are not of their near Kindred.
The 7th. gives leave to Clergy-men who have Wives that do not behave themselves well, to bind them and shut them up in their Houses, and forbids them to eat with them till they have done Penance.
The 8th. excludes those from Holy Orders who have been in the Wars after they have received Baptism.
The 9th. forbids Virgins and Widows, to pray with Strangers in their Houses, except in the presence of the Bishop, a Priest or a Deacon.
The 10th. declares, That those must not be ordain'd, who have a dependence upon some Family, or who are engag'd in some Farm, unless those upon whom they depend, consent to it.
The 11th. declares, That if a Man in power has robbed a Clergy-man or a poor Monk, and will not appear before the Bishop to give an account of what he has done, he ought to be excommunicated till he restores the Goods which do not belong to him.
The 12th. forbids to receive a Clergy-man from another Bishop, unless he be a Schismatick, and declares all those Excommunicated who separate from Catholicks to join with Schismaticks.
The 13th. Ordains, That those who come to Church and do not receive the Communion shall be admonish'd, that they must either communicate, or be put in the Rank of Penitents, and if they will do neither, they shall be excommunicated.
The 14th. Ordains, That he shall be driven away as a Sacrilegious Person, which having received the Eucharist from the hand of the Bishop, does not eat it.
The 15th. declares, That we must neither eat nor converse with a Lay-man or Clergy-man who is excommunicated.
The 16th. imposes a Penance of 10 Years for Adultery.
The 17th. declares, That he who has a Concubine and a Wife both together, ought to be excom∣municated, but that he ought not to be excommunicated who has only a Concubine; so that it is ne∣cessary for every one that is a Member of the Church, to satisfy himself either with one Wife or one Concubine. This Canon may give some trouble to those, who know not that the Word Concubine, which is at present odious, was formerly taken for a Woman, to whom the Marriage-Promise was given, tho' she was not married with all the Solemnities which the Laws required in Marriage; as St. Austin has explain'd it in the 5th. Chap. of the Book about the Advantages of Marriage.
The 18th. declares, That we ought not to communicate with the Widow of a Bishop, a Priest or a Deacon, if she marries again, and that she ought not to be reconciled until the Point of death.
The 19th. inflicts the same Penalty upon the Daughter of a Bishop, a Priest, or a Deacon, who marries after she has been consecrated to God.
The 20th. is expressed in these Words: Altho it is observed almost every where, not to conse∣crate Chrism without the Bishop, yet because we are informed that in some places the Priests do con∣secrate it, we have ordain'd that for the future, none but the Bishop shall consecrate the Holy Chrism, and that he shall send it through all his Diocess. And to the end that this Canon may be put in execution, every Church shall send to the Bishop a Deacon or Sub-deacon about Easter, that he may fetch Chrism for that day. 'Tis certain that the Bishop can consecrate Chrism at all times, which the Priests cannot do without the Authority and Permission of the Bishop. The Deacons cannot admi∣nister the Holy Chrism, 'tis only lawful for the Priests to do it in the absence of the Bishop, or by his Order, if he be present.
These are the Ecclesiastical Canons which were made at the end of the Fourth Century, and the be∣ginning of the Fifth.