place was allow'd them above the Laity, but under the Clergy of the Church who were of the same Rank. As for Example; If this Stranger call'd himself a Bishop, he was put below the Bishops who were knownto be such, and above the Priests: If he call'd himself a Priest, he was plac'd the last of the Priests, and immediately before the Deacons. According to this Notion it will be easie to conceive what it was to reduce one to the Communion of Strangers.
In the third Canon it is ordain'd, That if the Bishops excommunicate any Innocent Persons, or those whose Faults are very slight, and will not receive them, tho they importunately desire it, they shall be admonish'd by the neighbouring Bishops to do it; and if they will not yield to this Advice, the other Bishops may grant the Communion to such Persons, until such time as a Council do meet; lest these Excommunicated Persons happening to die, should encrease his sin who Excommunicated them. This is an Exception to the General Rule, which forbids Bishops to receive those who have been Excommunicated by their Brethren.
The fourth Canon De••lares, That the Clergy or Secular Persons who shall take or retain such things, as are given by Testament, or otherwise, to Churches or Monasteries, shall be separated from the Church, and look'd upon as Murderers of the Poor, necatores pauperum.
The fifth reduces also to the Communion of Strangers, a Clergy-man who shall take any thing from the Church.
The sixth declares, That such things as are given to Bishops by Strangers, ought to be look'd upon as the Goods of the Church, because it is to be presum'd that those who make these Donations, do it for the good of their Soul, pro redemptione animae suae; and that 'tis just, that as the Bishop enjoys what is given to the Church, so what is given to the Bishop should belong to the Church: Never∣theless it excepts such things as are given in Trust, whether to the Bishop or to the Church.
The seventh forbids to alienate the Revenues of the Church, and if there be any necessity, that then this shall be prov'd in the presence of two or three neighbouring Bishops, and attested by their Sub∣scription. Nevertheless it allows the Bishop to give liberty to Slaves, to grant them some little pit∣tance, and to dispose of the Profits of such things as are of little consequence.
The eighth pronounces Excommunication against a Clergy-man who has recourse to a Secular Judge, to cover himself from the Prosecution of his Bishop, and against the Judge who protects him.
The ninth ordains, That the Laws of the Pope's Innocentius and Siricius about the Celibacy of Priests and Deacons shall be observ'd.
The tenth forbids the Clergy to cohabit with, or frequent the Company of strange Wo∣men.
The eleventh forbids them to keep Women that are slaves, or made free, to serve them.
The twelfth ordains Fasting all the days of Lent except Sundays.
The thirteenth enjoyns, That the Creed shall be taught in the Church to the Catechumens that are Competentes, in the Week before the Sunday of the Resurrection.
The fourteenth, That the Altars shall be consecrated, not only by the Unction of Chrysm, but also by the Sacerdotal Benediction.
The fifteenth enjoyns Penitents at such time as they desire Penance, to receive Imposition of Hands from the Bishop, and to put a Hair-cloth upon their Head. It adds, That if they do not cut off their Hair, and change their Habit, they shall be thrown out of the number of the Penitents; that if they do not Penance as they should, they shall not be received to the Communion; that Penance ought not easily to be granted to young People, because of the frailty of their Age, but the Viaticum, i. e. the Absolution must be granted to all in a case of Extremity.
The sixteenth forbids to ordain Deacons who are not yet five and twenty years old. If those to be Ordain'd are married, they must not be Ordain'd, unless Security be given that their Wives are resolv'd to live in Celibacy, and that they will no more dwell together under the same Roof.
The seventeenth forbids to Ordain one a Priest before the Age of thirty years.
The eighteenth declares, That Lay-men who do not Communicate at Christmas, Easter, and Whit-sunday, shall not be look'd upon as Catholicks.
The nineteenth forbids to give the Veil to Nuns before the Age of forty.
The twentieth declares, That the Clergy who suffer their Hair to grow, shall be shav'd even a∣gainst their will by the Order of the Arch-deacon, and enjoyns them to have their Shoes and Clothes suitable to their Condition.
The one and twentieth permits particular Persons to have Chappels in their Country-Houses re∣mote from Parishes, and there to read the Offices of the Festivals, except those of Easter, Christmas, Epiphany, Ascension, Whitsunday, the Nativity of St. John, and the other great Festivals, on which Clergy men are forbidden to read the Service in them, without a particular leave from the Bi∣shop.
The two and twentieth forbids Curats, and other Ecclesiastical Persons, to alienate the Possessions of the Church which they enjoy.
The three and twentieth prescribes to the Bishop to observe the Order of Age among the Clergy, except one of them deserves to be humbled, because he will not do what the Bishop commands him: yet it permits him, if he that is most ancient be not so fit for business, to choose him for Arch-deacon when he shall think most proper for it.