The Presbyters Project

II.1. De clericis.

(1) Itaque omnes qui in ecclesiastici ministerii gradibus ordinati sunt generaliter clerici nominantur.

Cleros autem uel clericos hinc appellatos doctores nostri dicunt, quia Mathias sorte electus est quem primum per apostolos legimus ordinatum. Sic et omnes, quos illis temporibus ecclesiarum principes ordinabant, sorte elegebant. Nam "cleros" sors interpretatur; unde et hereditas grece "cleronomia" appellatur, et heris "cleronomos". (2) Proinde ergo cleros uocari aiunt eo quod in sorte hereditatis domini dentur, uel pro eo quod ipse dominus sors eorum sit, sicut de eis scriptum est loquente domino: Ego hereditas eorum. Vnde oportet ut qui deum hereditatem possident absque ullo inpedimento saeculi deo seruire studeant, et pauperes spiritu esse contendant, ut congrue illud psalmistae dicere possint: Dominus pars hereditatis meae.

(ed. Lawson 1989: 53)

II.1. Clerics.

(1) All who are ordained in grades of ecclesiastical ministry are generally called clerics.

Our teachers say that clerics, or those henceforth called clerics, are so named beacause we read that Matthias, chosen by lot, was the first who was ordained by the apostles [see Acts 1:26]. Also all those whom the leaders of the churches ordained in those times were chosen by lot. For "cleros" is translated as lot. Hence also inheritance is called kleronomia in Greek, and an heir kleronomos. (2) In like manner, therefore, they say that clerics are named by the fact that they are provided for in the "portion" of the Lord's inheritance, or by the fact that the Lord himself is their lot, as it is written concerning them, the Lord speaking: "I am your share and your possession" [Num 18:20]. Therefore it is fitting that those who possess God as their inheritance endeavor to serve God without any worldly impediment, and that they strive to be "poor in spirit" [Matt 5:3], so that they might be able to say, in accord with the psalmist: "The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot" [Ps 15(16):5].

(trans. Knoebel 2008: 68; slightly altered M. Szada)

Place of event:

Region

Iberian Peninsula

City

Seville

About the source:

Author: Isidore of Seville
Title: De ecclesiasticis officiis, On the Ecclesiastical Offices, De origine officiorum
Origin: Seville (Iberian Peninsula)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

Isidore was born probably ca 560, he became the bishop of Seville in 600, and he held that office to his death in AD 636. He wrote several works, among them the De ecclesiasticis officiis composed certainly after AD 598 (the composition of the Moralia in Job by Gregory the Great which are used by Isidore in the books 5 and 6). We cannot establish another terminus ante quem than the year of death of Isidore, although some scholars proposed that the De ecclesiasticis officiis were written before the composition of Chronicon in AD 615 (Lawson 1989: 13*-14*). The argument is based on the assumption that the list of Isidore`s writings composed by Braulio, bishop of Saragossa is ordered chronologically, but, as was demonstrated by its most recent editor (Martin 2006: 64-73), most certainly it is not the case.

Isidore composed the treatise at the request of Bishop Fulgentius of Écija (see the dedicatory letter at the beginning of the book). The De ecclesiasticis officiis is also one of the most important sources for the early Spanish liturgy.

Edition:

C.M. Lawson ed., Sancti Isidori episcopi Hispalensis de ecclesiasticis officiis, Corpus Christianorum. Series Latina 113, Turnhout 1989

Translation:

Isidore of Seville, De ecclesiasticis officiis, translation and introduction by T.L. Knoebel, Ancient Christian Writers 61, New York 2008

Categories:

Described by a title - Clericus

Theoretical considerations - On priesthood

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: M. Szada, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER1284, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1284