[That a Layman Ought Not to Do Any Office of the Priesthood: He Ought Neither to Baptize, Nor Offer, Nor Lay on Hands, Nor Give the Blessing. ]
X. Neither do we permit the laity to perform any of the offices belonging to the priesthood; as, for instance, neither the sacrifice, nor baptism, nor the laying on of hands, nor the blessing, whether the smaller or the greater: for “no one taketh this honour to himself, but he that is called of God.” 36 Heb. v. 4. For such sacred offices are conferred by the laying on of the hands of the bishop. But a person to whom such an office is not committed, but he seizes upon it for himself, he shall undergo the punishment of Uzziah. 37 2 Chron. xxvi.
[10] Ἀλλ' οὔτε λαϊκοῖς ἐπιτρέπομεν ποιεῖν τι τῶν ἱερατικῶν ἔργων, οἷον θυσίαν ἢ βάπτισμα ἢ χειροθεσίαν ἢ εὐλογίαν μικρὰν ἢ μεγάλην. «Οὐχ ἑαυτῷ γάρ τις λαμβάνει τὴν τιμήν, ἀλλ' ὁ καλούμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ.» Διὰ γὰρ τῆς ἐπιθέσεως τῶν χειρῶν τοῦ ἐπισκόπου δίδοται ἡ τοιαύτη ἀξία. Ὁ δὲ μὴ ἐγχειρισθεὶς ταύτην, ἀλλ' ἁρπάσας αὐτὴν ἑαυτῷ, τὴν τιμωρίαν τοῦ Ὀζία ὑποστήσεται.