The Presbyters Project

II.2. De regulis clericorum.

(1) His igitur lege patrum cauetur ut a uulgari uilta seclusi a mundi uoluptatibus sese abstineant, non spectaculis non pompis intersint, conuiuia publica fugiant, priuata non tantum pudica sed et sobria colant.

Vsuris nequaquam incumbant, neque turpium occupationes lucrorum fraudisque cuiusquam studium appetant, amorem pecuniae quasi materiam cunctorum criminum fugiant; saecularia officia negotiaque abiciant, honorum gradus per ambitiones non subeant; (2) pro beneficiis medicinae dei munera non accipiant.

Dolos et coniurationes caueant; odium, aemulationem, obtrectationem atque inuidentiam fugiant; non uagis oculis, non infreni lingua aut petulanti tumidoque gestu incedant, sed pudorem ac uerecundiam mentis simplici habitu incessuque ostendant; obscenitatem etiam uerborum sicut et operum penitus execrentur; (3) uiduarum ac uirginum uisitationes frequentissimas fugiant, contubernia extranearum feminarum nullatenus appetant; castimoniam quoque inuiolati corporis perpetuo conseruare studeant aut certe unius matrimonii uinculo foederentur; senioribus quoque debitam praebeant oboedientiam, neque ullo iactantiae studio semetipsos adtollant.

Postremo in doctrina, in lectionibus, psalmis, hymnis, canticis exercitio iugi incumbant.

Tales enim esse debent qui que diuinis cultibus sese mancipandos student, scilicet ut dum scientiae operam dant doctrinae gratiam populis administrent.

(ed. Lawson 1989: 53-54)

II.2 Rules of Clerics.

(1) Clerics, therefore, secluded from ordinary life, are warned by the law of the fathers that they ought to keep themselves free from the sensual pleasures of the world, that they are not to take part in spectacles or parades, that they are to flee from public banquets, that they are to live a private life, not only chaste but sober.

They shall never be inclined to usury, they should never strive for occupations of shameless profits and the pursuit of deceptions of any kind, and they should flee the love of money as the root of all evils. They should give up secular offices and business; they should not seek after positions of honor through ambitions. (2) They should not accept gifts for the benefits of divine healing.

They should beware of trickeries and conspiracies. They should flee hatred, rivalry, detraction, and jealousy. They should not go about with wandering eyes, nor unbridled or petulant tongue and inflated manner, but they should show modesty and reverence of mind, walking in a simple manner. They should completely disavow obscenity both of words and of actions. (3) They should avoid overly frequent visits of widows and virgins; they should in no way seek the companionship of unrelated women. They should strive to perserve chastity, perpetually inviolate of body, or at least they should be bound by the bond of one marriage. They should offer the obedience owed to their elders, and they should not exalt themselves by any desire to show off.

Finally, they should apply themselves to continual training in doctrine, in readings, psalms, hymns, and canticles.

They ought to be such people who strive to have delivered themselves up to divine worship, so that as they give effort to knowledge they may administer the grace of their learning to the people.

(trans. Knoebel 2008: 68-69)

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:

Family life - Marriage

Sexual life - Sexual abstinence

Entertainment - Feasting

Entertainment - Spectacles

Described by a title - Clericus

Ritual activity - Divine office/Liturgy of the hours

Public functions and offices before ordination

Economic status and activity - Loans

Economic status and activity - Indication of wealth

Economic status and activity - Gift

Conflict

Relation with - Woman

Education

Public functions and offices after ordination

Impediments or requisits for the office - Profession/Career

Theoretical considerations - On priesthood

Devotion - Donations and offerings

Devotion - Reading the Bible and devotional literature

Pastoral activity - Teaching

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: M. Szada, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER1285, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1285