St. Basil in his Third Canonical Epistle, Can. 69. * 1.1 had appointed something of this kind in these terms, If a Reader has known his Sweetheart before Marriage, he shall be suspended from his Office for a year, at the Expiration whereof he shall do his Duty, without being capable of ad∣vancement. By this may be seen, he would have de∣creed against Lay People which should have commit∣ted the like Offence, the pains expressed in our Dis∣cipline. The Frier Blastares which I have often cited, especially on the XX. Article of this Chapter, will, * 1.2 that the Punishment of Fornicators be given to those that have known each other before they have been lawfully Marryed.
Cardinal Borrome in the Second Council he caused to be held at Millan in the year 1569, * 1.3 remits the Abso∣lution of the Sin now treated of to the Bishop, because 'tis frequently committed, and prescribes severe Pen∣nance for those that are guilty of it; which he repeats again in the Sixth Council Assembled at the same place Thirteen Years after the Second.