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The most original and constant accompanying prayer seems to be (a) a collect, as in the ordination of a presbyter, for the infusion of 'sacerdotal grace, the virtue of the divine benediction,' followed by (b) the Consecratio. In this God is invoked as having instituted all the symbolism of the old priesthood; because all that was there symbolized by outward decoration is to be realized in our priesthood by spiritual endowment; it is no longer the 'honor vestium,' but the 'splendor animarum.' Therefore He is implored to grant ut quicquid illa velamina in fulgore auri, in nitore gemmarum et multimodi operis varietate signabant, hoc in horum moribus clarescat.' Then there is a prayer that the unction of the Spirit (accompanying, as other MSS. specify, the symbolic external unction) may flow down abundantly upon those who are being ordained, "ut tui Spiritus virtus et interiorum ora repleat et exteriora circumtegat"; that they may be endowed with faith, love, peacefulness; [that they may be true evangelists; that they may have the ministry of reconciliation, in word and in the power of signs and wonders (signorum et prodigiorum); that their preaching may have power; that God will give them the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and they may use them rightly, "to edification and not to destruction"; that what they bind on earth may be bound in heaven, etc.; that whose sins they retain may be retained, and whose sins they remit may be remitted; that whom they bless may be blessed, and whom they curse may be cursed; that they may feed and perfect their flock; that they may have all zeal and right judgment;] that God may give them the episcopal see (cathedra) for ruling His Church, be to them authority and power and strength, and multiply His blessing upon them.' The part of the prayer enclosed in brackets [ ] is in the Gelasian Sacr. (Murat. .c. i. p. 625) and in the Missale Francorum (Morinus .c. p. 266), but not in the Leonine (Murat. .c. i. p. 422) or Gregorian Sacr. (ib. ii. p. 358). Omitting this part of the prayer, we have in the whole rite no specification of the special function of sacrifice or of the power of the keys.

Later on there are a number of additions to the rite, connected with the giving of the ring, pastoral staff, etc. The enthronization of the bishop would probably have formed part of the rite from the beginning; see Martene's Ord. i. and ii. (l.c. ii. pp. 88, 90).

Hittorp. p. 167: 'Dicit libellus, secundum cuius ordinem celebratur ordinatio apud quosdam, ut duo episcopi teneant evangelium, etc.' It occurs in the Missale Francorum (Morinus l.c. p. 261), and in the Ordo Romanus (ap. Hittorp. p. 100). But it is omitted in one form given in the Ordo (ib. p. 96); and we find (pseudo) Albinus Flaccus, de Div. Off. ap. Hittorp. p. 74, protesting thus: 'illud vero (here follows the canon) non reperitur in auctoritate veteri neque nova, sed neque in Romana traditione.'

Y

D.

I. CANON XIII OF ANCYRA.

II. CHOREPISCOPI.

(See p. 141.)

I. THIS canon has been commonly quoted (see Dr. Lightfoot Dissert. p. 232) in this form: χωρεπισκόποις μὴ ἐξεῖναι πρεσβυτέρους ἢ διακόνους χειροτονεῖν, ἀλλὰ μὴν μηδὲ πρεσβυτέροις πόλεως χωρὶς τοῦ ἐπιτραπῆναι ὑπὸ τοῦ ἐπισκόπου μετὰ γραμμάτων ἐν ἑκάστῃ παροικία 'It is not allowed to country bishops to ordain presbyters or deacons, nor even to city presbyters, except permission be given in each parish by the bishop in writing.' In this form it recognises implicitly the power of presbyters to ordain under certain circumstances. But is this the right reading? The manuscripts and versions, Greek and Latin, of the Canons of Ancyra, and especially of the 13th canon, have recently been the subject of a very thorough examination by the Rev. R. B. Rackham in the Studia Biblica et Ecclesiastica, vol. iii. (Oxford, 1891), pp. 139, 194. There is appended a collation of the Syriac and Armenian versions. Mr. Rackham concludes in favour of the reading I have translated in the text: . . . ἀλλὰ μὴν μηδὲ πρεσβυτέρους πόλεως . . . ἐν ἑτέρᾳ παροικίᾳ.

This conclusion is strengthened by the Syriac and Armenian versions for πρεσβυτέρους. But the Syriac at least support ἑκάστῃ instead of ἑτέρα.

The question of reading is, no doubt, an obscure one. Accepting Mr. Rackham's conclusion as to the reading, I should still venture to think that (at least in the case of such Greek as the Canons of Ancyra present to us) ¿\\à μǹv μŋdè may be translated 'no nor (town presbyters) either,' rather than 'not even,' as Lightfoot insists, and Mr. Rackham assents, that it must be. In Constit. Apost. ii. 45: kai μǹ ἐρχέσθω ἐπὶ κριτήριον ἐθνικόν. ἀλλὰ μὴν μηδὲ ἀνέχεσθε κοσμικούς ἄρχοντας κατὰ τῶν ἡμετέρων δικάζειν (quoted by Routh), the phrase does not mean, I think, 'do not even,' but ‘nay, do not.' Cf. canon 13 of Neo Cesarea: ἐπιχώριοι πρεσβύτεροι . . . προσφέρειν οὐ δύνανται . . . οὔτε μὴν (no nor) ἄρτον διδόναι. For οὐ . . . οὐδὲ and οὐ . . . OUTE, see Winer, Gr. of N. T. Greek (ed. Moulton, 1882) p. 612.

...

Mr. Rackham translates: Chorepiscopi may not ordain (any) presbyters or deacons (of town or country),-but not even town presbyters (in their own parish) without the permission of their (town) bishops in writing-in another parish '—¿lλà μǹv to ypaμμáтwv being an afterthought.

II. CHOREPISCOPI were country bishops ordained to supervise the scattered flock in rural districts-'vicarii episcoporum,' as Isidore of Seville calls them. We begin to hear of them in the East as established institutions early in the fourth century: first in the canon of Ancyra just discussed. Later they had a great development in the West also. The tenth canon of Antioch, A.D. 341, indicates (a) that they might be ordained by the one bishop alone, who presided over the adjacent town church; (b) that they might ordain to the minor orders, but not to the diaconate or presbyterate without the leave of the bishop under whom they served. It limits their power thus: εἰ καὶ χειροθεσίαν εἶεν ἐπιokótwv elλnpótes, i.e. as Dionysius Exiguus adds in his trans. ‘ut episcopi consecrati sunt.' We find them present at councils voting and signing, presumably with the assent of their superior bishops; see Bingham Ant. ii. 14. 10; Morinus de Sacr. Ord. p. iii. ex. iv. 1. 12. Athanasius classes them with bishops in Apol. c. Ar. 85: 'Mareotis is a district (xúpa) of Alexandria, and there has never been in the district (xwpa) a bishop or chorepiscopus,' but only presbyters subject to the bishop of Alexandria. An ordination by a chorepiscopus is recorded in Hist. Lausiac. cvi, ap. Migne Patrol. Lat. lxxiii. p. 1193. Isidore, de Eccl. Off. ii. 6, describes them thus: 'Chorepiscopi, id est vicarii episcoporum, iuxta quod canones ipsi testantur, instituti sunt ad exemplum lxx seniorum tanquam sacerdotes propter sollicitudinem pauperum. Hi in vicis et villis instituti gubernant sibi conmissas ecclesias, habentes licentiam constituere lectores, subdiaconos, exorcistas. Presbyteros autem et diaconos ordinare non audeant praeter conscientiam episcopi in cuius regione praeesse noscuntur. Hi autem a solo episcopo civitatis cui adiacent ordinantur.'

'Later, in the awful collapse of discipline which characterized the Frankish kingdom, they were indefinitely multiplied: wandering bishops ordained wandering clergy, and neither bishops nor clergy were easily brought to acknowledge a superior.'2 Isidore speaks bitterly of this state of things (de Eccl. Off. ii. 3): 'Duo sunt genera clericorum: unum ecclesiasticorum sub regimine episcopali degentium : alterum acephalorum... quem sequantur ignorantium. Hos... solutos atque oberrantes sola turpis vita complectitur et vaga quorum quidem sordida atque infami numerositate, satis superque nostra pars occidua polluitur. '3 1 Cf. Conc. Neo Caes. c. 14. Rabanus Maurus (de Inst. Cler. i. 5 ap. Hittorp. p. 315) adds: 'ne eis [sc. pauperibus qui in agris et villis consistunt] solatium confirmationis deesset.'

2 Hatch Growth of Church Institutions p. 159.

3 Morinus (l.c. c. 5 § 4) finds in the circumstances of his own day a parallel to the ancient appointment of chorepiscopi in a way which led to their abuse: 'ut nunc, in Germania potissimum, ditissimi et principes illi episcopi titularibus episcopis [utuntur] . . . qui pauca mercede contenti dioecesis onera ferunt, quamdiu veri episcopi Endymionis somnum dormiunt.'

Hence at the restoration of discipline, which marks the age of Charles the Great, the chorepiscopi were the subjects of strong animadversion. Their usurpation of authority led to a disparagement of their original position. Papal decisions—not however that of Pope Nicholas, A.D. 864-pronounced them mere presbyters. Hence later Roman Catholic writers, e.g. Morinus and others, have argued in this sense. The papal authority constitutes their real argument— 'efficacissimum argumentum,' as says Morinus. However, he also argues—(i) That they are compared to the seventy elders, which is the comparison appropriated to presbyters. Yes: to presbyters as assistants. This is the point of the comparison, and it holds for chorepiscopi also. Further, it is well known that the Old Testament anologies are loosely applied. (ii) That ordinations of bishops by one bishop were not tolerated, while chorepiscopi were so ordained. Yes: this, however, was a matter of provincial discipline-to secure the assent of the provincial bishops. But the chorepiscopi were an inferior sort of bishops with only a local, not a provincial or catholic, position. Morinus, however, does not hold them to have been presbyters pure and simple but a sort of middle order: 'non sunt presbyteri simplices, sed inter episcopatum, et presbyteratum media dignitas' (l.c. c. 5 § 12). The view given above of the position of the chorepiscopi may be described as the ordinary view. It seems to be the only one supported by the evidence. Dr. Lightfoot, in his Dissert. p. 233, represents them as a survival of the original presbyter-bishops, but this theory has no evidence except such as is derived from the misread canon of Ancyra. The eastern chorepiscopi of later days were confessedly only presbyters. Further information (with reference to their privileges, uses, etc., and their suppression) can be found in Bingham l.c.; Morinus l.c.; and Dict. Chr. Biog. s.v.

E.

SUPPOSED ORDINATIONS BY PRESBYTERS IN EAST AND WEST.

(See pp. 149, 151.)

EASTERN CHURCH.

THE only case of such an ordination alleged in the East is that of Paphnutius. Dr. Hatch (B. L. p. 108, n.52, 1st edition only) spoke of this formerly as the clearest case . . . maintainable on the evidence.' Cassian, writing his Memoirs

But it will not at all bear examination.

1 Hatch .c. p. 28 f.

3 See Morinus .c. c. 2, §§ 6-11.

2 See Bingham .c. §§ 2, 3.

of Oriental hermits at Marseilles about A.D. 422, tells us that the presbyter-abbot Paphnutius, 'promoted' one of his companions on account of his conspicuous virtue, first to the diaconate, and then to the presbyterate (Collat. iv. I: 'a Paphnutio presbytero... [Danielis] ad diaconii est praelatus officium . . . eum presbyterii honore provexit [Paphnutius]'). This is taken to mean that he ordained him, and Cassian is supposed to mention it without surprise.

...

But (1) it is most improbable that Cassian, writing when and where he did, should mention such an act as if it were nothing surprising. He himself was in intimate relations with bishops in the West and knew well the difference between a monk and an ecclesiastical officer. See xi. 2 and his dedication to bks i. and xi.

(2) We have other evidence of the sense in which an abbot could promote to church offices. He could do it in the same sense as persons in power of any sort in the Church, as, for instance, a Prime Minister or patron of our day. He could get him ordained at his nomination. So we have a provision in the rule of St. Benedict (cap. 62) for abbots selecting worthy monks and getting them ordained. It should be noticed that this power of 'nominating' seems to have been a special privilege of the Alexandrian clergy: see Socr. H. E. i. 9 (the synodal letter from the Council of Nicaea to the Church of Alexandria) πpoxεLρίζεσθαι ἢ ὑποβάλλειν ὀνόματα.

(3) The narrative of the abbot Ammonius, a friend of the older Athanasius (Hist. Laus. xii, ap. Migne Patrol. Lat. lxxiii. pp. 11031104), shows how utterly distinct, in the minds of the Egyptian monks, was the conception of a bishop from that of an abbot; an attempt was made to induce Ammonius to be ordained bishop and he resisted to death. The same broad distinction appears in Athanasius' letter to Dracontius.

(4) We are then bound to interpret the words in the present passage in the sense of 'nomination,' if they will admit of it. And they will do so without any difficulty. Instances are frequent in which influential laymen are said even to ordain' church officers, where there can be no doubt that what is meant is to appoint or get ordained; the laity of Oxyrinchus in Arian days 'episcopum sibi per tunc temporis episcopos catholicos ordinavit' (Marcell. et Faust. Lib. Prec. ap. Migne Patrol. Lat. xiii. p. 101); again, without any explanation, Gregory of Tours Hist. Franc. viii. 22: 'Rex pollicitus fuerat se nunquam ex laicis episcopum ordinaturum.' Otto III says 'Sylvestrum papam elegimus et . . . ordinavimus et creavimus' (Gieseler E. H. Eng. trans. ii. p. 358, n.28). St. Cyprian, as will be seen, uses constituo and facio in the sense of procuring the appointment; cf. Bright Early Eng. Ch. History p. 134, from whom most of these instances are

taken.