earlier authority than that of Innocent III., in the thirteenth century; and the Vigils of the great festivals are all later than the tenth century. It was Mamert, bishop of Vienne in Gaul, who, about 463, first instituted the fast of Rogation, that is, the prayers that are made three days before the feast of Ascension, that is, the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before Holy Thursday; which was expressly contrary to the order established in the ancient church, forbidding all fasting between Easter and Pentecost. This fast of Rogation was generally received in the West presently after the time of this Mamert. The bishop of Venice added the processions to them, in imitation of the Lustrationes Ambervales of the Heathens, which were made round their fields, in order to render them fruitful; and these were attended with much intemperance and disorder, being made, no doubt, in all respects, after the Pagan manner. 3 lowed, first by the church of Clermont in Auvergne, then by all their neighbours, and afterwards throughout all Gaul. In 801, Leo III. confirmed this fast, and made it universal.4 The fast of Ember Weeks, or JejvMia quatuor temporum, was probably instituted a little before Leo the Great, in the middle of the fifth century. But others think that it is not quite certain that he speaks of it. Some say that Pope Gelasius having ordered that the ordination of priests and deacons should be on the four weeks of Ember, or ember days, viz. the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after the first Sunday in Lent, after Whitsunday, after the fourteenth of September, and the thirteenth of December, and this ceremony being always conducted with fasting and prayer, it came to be a custom to fast at that time.7 It was upon the idea of the spiritual benefit that would arise from visiting the church of St. Peter at Rome, and Alcinus Avitus, who succeeded Hesy- also in imitation of the Jewish jubilee, chius, the immediate successor of Ma- and the secular games among the Romert, in the church of Vienne, describes mans, that the popish jubilee is founded. the occasion of instituting this ast in This festival, which is celebrated with his homily on the Rogation. E there the utmost pomp and magnificence, was says that the city of Vienne had suf- instituted by Boniface VIII., in the fered much by fire, thunderstorms, earth- year 1300, in consequence, as it is said, quakes, extraordinary noises in the of a rumour, the origin of which is not night, prodigies, signs in the heavens, wild beasts, and other calamities; that on this the bishop of the city ordered the people to fast three days with prayer and repentance, that, by the example of the Ninevites, they might avert the judgments of God. He says that thereupon the anger of God was appeased, and that in commemoration of it, Mamert ordered this fast to be observed every year. His example was soon fol 1 Sueur, A. D. 392. (P.) 2 Ibid. (P.) 3 See Tibullus, L. ii. El. ii. Virgil, Ecl. line 74, 75. "Il y avoit parmi les anciens Romains un jour dedié pour faire ces processions, assavoir le 25 d'Avril, qu'ils nommoient Rubigalia, c'està-dire, la fête des nielles, parce qu'ils faisoient des sacrifices et des prières aux Dieux, y afin qu'ils conservassent les bleds de cet accident là. Dans l'Eglise Romaine on fait la même cérémonie le même jour qui est la Fête de S. Marc." Les Conformitez des Cérémonies, pp. 95. 96. known, which was spread among the inhabitants of Rome, in 1299, that all who within the limits of the following year, should visit the church of St. Peter, would receive the remission of all their sins; and that this privilege would be annexed to the same observance every hundredth year. 8 4 Sueur, A. D. 462, 463. (P.) ? Hist. of Ancient Ceremonies, p. 67. (P.) The successors of Boniface added a number of new rites and inventions to this superstitious institution, and finding by experience that it added lustre to the Church of Rome, and increased its revenue, they made its return more frequent. In 1350, Clement VI. ordered that the jubilee should be celebrated every fifty years, on pretence that the Jews did the like, and Paul II., in the fifteenth century, reduced the term to twenty-five years. This year of jubilee is called a holy year; but, as the author of the Histoire des Papes observes, it should rather be called the year of sacrilege, impiety, debauch and superstition.2 Many of these festivals have been retained by the reformers, especially those of Easter, Whitsuntide and Christmas, and, like the Papists, they observe them with more strictness than they do the Sundays. Our Established Church has by no means thrown off the popish superstition with respect to fasting. The fast days in the Church of England, are all the Fridays in the year except Christmas-day, all the days in Lent, i Hist. of Ancient Ceremonies, p. 67. (P.) which, besides Fridays, are thirty-three, six more in the Ember weeks, three Rogation days, and the thirtieth of January. The sum of all the festival days is thirty-one. And if to these we add the ninety-five fast days, fifty-two Sundays, and twenty-nine saints' days, all the days in year appropriated to religious exercises, besides vigils, will be one hundred and seventy-eight; and making allowance for some of them interfering with others, they will be about one hundred and seventy.3 In so little esteem, however, are these observances held by the more enlightened members of the established church, that there can be no doubt but that, when any reformation takes place, a great retrenchment will be made in this article.4 Pierce's Vindication, p. 508. (P.) * The Ecclesiastical Commissioners, in 1889; proposed to the Convocation "a new calendar," in which were "omitted all the Legendary Saint*' Bays, and others not directly referred to in the service book," and "that a rubric be made, declaring the intention of the Lent Fasts, to consist only in extraordinary, acts of devotion, not in distinction of meats." Calamy, Abridgment of Baxter, &c. Ed. 2, I. p. 453. "Our C lend r, ever man of judgm nt ill allow, does greatly n ed re isi g nd refor ing. The observations upon the subject are so well known, that they need not be here repeated." Free and Cand. Bisquii. 1760, Ed. 2, p. 154. departures from the Christian system tenance of the civil powers, and, therepromoted each other. SECTION I. fore, that people of all ranks, and of all characters, would naturally crowd into it. On these accounts they found it necessary to have a very regular system of discipline. In general, we find that, about the THE HISTORY OF CHURCH DISCIPLINE, IN third and fourth centuries, Christians THE TIME OF THE CHRISTIAN FATHERS. distinguished four orders of penitents. The first stood at the entrance of the In the purer ages of the church, the church, begging in the most earnest offences which gave public scandal were manner the prayers of all that went few; but when they did happen, they in. The second were admitted to were animadverted upon with great enter, and to hear the lectures that rigour. For, as many enormities were laid to the charge of Christians, they the exposition of the Scriptures, but were given to the catechumens, and were exceedingly solicitous to dive by they were dismissed, together with the just cause of obloquy. It is, indeed, catechumens, before the celebration of probable, that some time after the the eucharist. The third lay prostrate apostolic age, the morals of the Chris- in a certain place in the church, tians in general were more strict than covered with sackcloth, and after rewe find, by the writings of the apos- ceivind the menedicthod of the bishop, tles, they were in their own times. Nor and the imposition of hands, were also is it to be wondered at, when we con- dismissed before the celebration of the sider that the whole body of the Gentile eucharist. The fourth order attended Christians, being then newly converted that celebration, but did not partake from Heathenism, must have retained of it. Penitents having passed through many of their former habits, or have all these orders, were admitted to easily relapsed into them. communion by the imposition of the Afterwards, most of the cases of hands of the bishop, or of a priest, in scandal we meet with relate to the the presence of the whole congregabehaviour of Christians in the time of tion. persecution, from which many shrunk If any persons relapsed into the or fled, in a manner that was exceedsame fault for which they had been ingly and justly disapproved by the excommunicated, or excluded from the more severe. Consequently, after a persecution, there was much to do congregation of the faithful, they were not re-admitted to communion, except about the benedmiction to the privi- an the article of death; but towards leges of church communion, of those the end of the seventh century the who repented of their weakness; and ancient discipline began to be relaxed it was a great part of the business of in this respect, and they admitted the councils in the fourth and fifth centuries (which was after the estab- offence. In all times there were some persons to communion after a second lishment of Christianity) to settle crimes for which no repentance could rules concerning the degrees of pen- make atonement, so that persons who ance, and the method of receiving had been once guilty of them could never penitents into the church. Indeed, be admitted to the peace and communbesides the cases of those who had shrunk from persecution, the governors of Christian churches at that time must have had many offences of other kinds to animadvert upon; considering that Christianity had then the coun ion of the church. These were murder, adultery, and apostacy. In this manner, at least, were these crimes stigmatized, in many churches. • Sueur, A. D. 213. (P.) But about the third century, Pope Zephyrinus began to relax a little of this discipline, admitting adulterers to communion after some years of penance, in which he was vehemently opposed to Tertullian. However, in the time of Cyprian, the penalties imposed by the bishop, which were always a public appearance for a certain time in the character of penitents, were often relaxed, or abridged, at the intreaty of the confessors, or those who had been destined to martyrdom; and this was called indulgence, of the abuse of which we shall see enough in a later period. But at this time there was not much to complain of in this business, except the improper interference of these confessors, and the too great influence which they were allowed to have in such cases. Equally innocent was the business of confession, as it was first begun; but we see in the course of this history, that it is no uncommon thing for an innocent beginning to lead to a fatal catastrophe. The apostle Paul exhorts Christians to confess their sins one to another; and our Saviour assures us that we must forgive, as we hope to be forgiven. Upon this was grounded the custom of the primitive churches, to require every person who was excommunicated, to make a public confession of his guilt before he was re-admitted to Christian communion. In some cases, also, a public confession prevented excommunication. It was, likewise, the custom for many conscientious persons to confess their private sins to some of the priests in whom they could put the greatest confidence, and whose advice and prayers they wished to have; and what was at first a voluntary thing, was afterwards, but indeed long afterwards, imposed as a positive duty. Confession was also much encouraged by another circumstance. Many canons made a difference in the degree and time of penance, between those who had accused themselves, and those against whom their crimes were proved. Many persons, therefore, to prevent the se verer penalty, came of their own accord to confess their sins; and this was much encouraged, and the virtue of it magnified by the writers of those times. This confession was, originally, always made in public, but some inconveniences being found to attend this (especially when the crimes affected other persons, or the state) a private confession was appointed instead of it. In this case the bishop either attended himself, or appointed some particular priest, who from this office got the title of penitentiary priest, to receive these confessions. The difficulty of re-admission to the privileges of church communion was, in general, very great, and the penances imposed were exceedingly rigorous, and this, in the end, was one great cause of the total relaxation of all discipline. Novatian particularly distinguished himself by refusing to admit to communion any who had been guilty of the greater crimes, especially that of apostacy, leaving them to the judg ment of God only. This arose from the rigour of Tertullian and the Montanists; and it is observable that the Church of Rome still keeps up this rigorous discipline in cases of heresy, the relapsed being delivered to the secular arm, without being admitted to penance. It was ordained by the Council of Nice, that those who apostatized before baptism should not be admitted to the communion of the church till after three years of penance, but if they had been of the faithful, the penance was to continue seven years. Basil decided, that for the crime of fornication, a man ought to do penance four years. Others for the same offence imposed a penance of nine years, and for adultery eighteen years. Hitherto we have seen nothing but rigour; and the relaxation did not begin by lessening the time of penance (except in those cases in which the confessors had improperly interfered), i Sueur, A. D. 325. (P.) 2 Basnage, Hiatoire, I. p. 189. (P.) but first in the manner of making the confession, then in the place of penance, and lastly, in the commutation of it. After the persecution under the emperor Decius, the orthodox bishops, Socrates says, appointed that the penitents should make their confessions to one particular priest, and that they should make a public confession of such things only as should be thought proper for public hearing. This custom continued in the Eastern church till the year 390, when Nectarius, the bishop of Constantinople, abolished the office of penitentiary priests, on account of a woman having been enticed to commit adultery with a deacon of the church, whilst she stayed to perform the duties of fasting and prayer, which had been enjoined her.> From this time all confessions, public and private, seem to have been discontinued in the Greek church; and at this day, it is said, that the Greeks make confession to God only. In the Western church public confession continued till the fifth century, but at that time those offenders who had been used to make public confession of their crimes, were allowed by Leo the Great to confess them privately to a priest appointed for that purpose. By this means a great restraint upon vice was taken away, and the change was as pleasing to the sinner, as it was advantageous to the priests in several respects. Of this, many persons at that time were sufficiently aware; and we find that in 590, a council held at Toledo, forbade con were suffered to do penance secretly in some monastery, or other private place, in the presence of a few persons, at the discretion of the bishop, or of the confessors, after which absolution also was given in private. This was the only method which they ventured to take with those who would not submit to the established rules of the church. "But in the seventh century, all public penance for secret sins was taken quite away. Theodore, archbishop of Canterbury, is reckoned the first of all the bishops of the Western church" who established this rule.* 66 Had Christians contented themselves with admonishing and finally excommunicating those who were guilty of notorious crimes, and with requiring public confession, with restitution in case of injustice, and left all private offences to every man's own conscience, no inconvenience would have arisen from their discipline. But, by urging too much the importance of confession, and by introducing corporeal austerities, as fasting, &c., as a proper mode of penance, and then changing these for alms, and, in fact, for money, in a future period, they paved the way for the utter ruin of all good discipline, and at length brought it to be much worse than a state of no discipline at all. However, we have yet seen but the first steps in this fatal progress. SECTION II. fession to be made privately to a priest, OF THE STATE OP CHURCH DISCIPLINE and ordered that it should be made according to the ancient canons. To confession in private soon succeeded the doing penance in private, which was another great step towards the ruin of the ancient discipline, which required, indeed, to be moderated, but in a different manner. the fifth century, however, penitents 1 See Burnet, Art, xxv. Ed. 4, pp. 253, 254. In IN THE DARK AGES, ASD TILL THE We have seen several symptoms of the change and decay of discipline in the last period; but in this we shall see the total ruin of it, in consequence of the increased operation of the same causes, and the introduction of several new ones. » Burnet, p. 346. (P.) Art. xrv. Ed. 4, p. 254. |