Presbyters Uniwersytet Warszawski
ID
ER 923
Canon 15 of the Council of Agde (Gaul, AD 506) requires penitents to receive the imposition of hands and a hair shirt from a priest.
[Titulum secundum cod. A] XV. De paenetentibus.
[Titulum secundum cod. R] XV. Qualiter petentibus paenitentia detur et iouenilibus non facile nisi morte uicina tribuenda.
[Titulum secundum coll. Hispanam] XV. Qualiter maiores qualiter minores poenitentiam accipiant.
 
Paenitentes, tempore quo paenitentiam petunt, impositionem manuum et cilicium super caput a sacerdote sicut ubique constitutum est, consequantur; et si aut comas non deposuerint, aut uestimenta non mutauerint, abiiciantur et nisi digne paenituerint, non recipiantur. Iuuenibus etiam paenitentia non facile committenda est propter aetatis fragilitatem. Viaticum tamen omnibus in morte positis non negandum.
 
(ed. Munier 1963: 201, 220, 222, 224)
[Title according to cod. A] XV. On penitents.
[Title according to cod. R] XV. In what way the penance should be imposed and that it should not be imposed on the young except in situations when their death is imminent.
[Title according to the Hispana collection] XV. In what way accept penitence the old and in what way the young.
 
Penitents, at the time when they ask for penance, should obtain from the priest the imposition of hands on their head and a hair shirt. And if they do not cut their hair or change their vestments, they will be cast away and not received again until they do penance in a fitting manner. Moreover, the penance should not be heedlessly imposed on the young due to the frailty of their age. However, viaticum should be never refused to those lying on their deathbed.
 
(trans. J. Szafranowski)

Place of event:

Region
  • Gaul
City
  • Agde

About the source:

Title: Council of Agde, Concilium Agathense anno 506
Origin: Agde (Gaul)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian
The Council of Agde was held in September of 506 under the auspices of Cesarius, bishop of Arles, and with the permission of the Visigothic King Alaric. The first 47 canons are considered genuine, since only those are present in the oldest codices. The rest, present in some manuscripts, must have been taken from the other council acts, especially those of the Council of Epaone in 517. This council was attended by 24 bishops, and 8 presbyters and 2 deacons, who represented their bishops. More on the council, see Klingshirn 1994, 97-104.
Edition:
Ch. Munier ed., Concilia Galliae a. 314-a. 506, Corpus Christianorum. Series Latina 148, Turnhoult 1963.
Bibliography:
W.E. Klingshirn, Caesarius of Arles: the making of a Christian community in late antique Gaul, Cambridge 1994.

Categories:

Described by a title - Sacerdos/ἱερεύς
    Ritual activity - Imposition of hands
      Ritual activity - Reconciliation/Administering penance
        Equal prerogatives of presbyters and bishops
          Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: J. Szafranowski, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER923, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=923