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and having taken gladiators for this purpose, he went. But when he came near, he waited outside the range of missiles; for he had gout and could neither fight, nor pursue or flee. And while the soldiers and gladiators were occupied in taking the temple, some of the Hellenists, learning that he was alone, went out from the part of the area that was free from fighting; and suddenly coming upon him, they seized him and throwing him on a pyre, they killed him. And for the present, they escaped notice. But when in time they were discovered, the children of Marcellus were eager to avenge their father, but the provincial synod forbade it, not considering it just to exact punishment for such an end, for which it was fitting for the one who thus died, and his family and friends, to give thanks, as he had been counted worthy to die for God. And so these things were. 7.16.1 Meanwhile, Nectarius, who was in charge of the church of Constantinople, was the first to not permit the presbyter appointed over the penitents to continue; and nearly all the bishops everywhere followed his example. What this is, or where it began, or for what reason it ceased, others perhaps say otherwise; but I will relate it as I understand it. For since not to sin at all required a nature more divine than human, and God commanded to grant pardon to those who repent and sin often, and since in asking for forgiveness it is necessary to confess the sin, it seemed burdensome, as was likely, to the priests from the beginning to declare sins as in a theater with the multitude of the church as witness; so they appointed for this purpose a presbyter of the most excellent conduct, who was both discreet and wise. 7.16.3 To him those who had sinned went and confessed their deeds; and he, imposing for each person's sin whatever penance should be done or paid, would dismiss them to exact the penalty from themselves. 7.16.4 But the Novatians, who have no doctrine of repentance, had no need of this; but among the other sects this still prevails, and it is carefully observed also in the churches throughout the West, and especially in that of the Romans. 7.16.5 For there the place for those who are in penance is conspicuous; they stand downcast and as if in mourning, and when the divine liturgy is finished, not having partaken of what is lawful for the initiated, with wailing and lamentation they cast themselves prostrate on the ground. 7.16.6 Opposite them, the bishop, running up in tears, likewise falls upon the ground; and with loud crying the whole multitude of the church is also filled with tears. After this, the bishop is the first to rise and raises up those who are lying down, and having prayed as is fitting for sinners who are penitent, he sends them away. 7.16.7 And each one, voluntarily afflicting himself either by fasting or by not bathing or by abstinence from food or by other things which have been commanded, awaits the time for as long as the bishop has appointed for him; and at the appointed time, having discharged the sin as if it were a debt by the punishment, he is released from the sin and assembles with the people. These things the priests of the Romans have observed from the beginning even down to our time. 7.16.8 But in the church of Constantinople, the presbyter appointed over the penitents was functioning, until a certain woman of noble birth, who had been commanded by this presbyter to fast and supplicate God for the sins which she reported, and for this reason was staying in the church, charged that she had been debauched by a deacon. At which the multitude, when they learned of it, were enraged as the church had been outraged. And the greatest slander fell upon the clergy. And Nectarius, being at a loss what to do about what had happened, removed the fornicator from the diaconate. But when some advised that each one be permitted to partake of the mysteries according to his own conscience and as he might have confidence, he abolished the presbyter of penitence. 7.16.10 And from that time this has continued to prevail, since antiquity, I think, and the gravity and exactness associated with it, had begun little by little to slide into an indifferent and careless custom; since formerly, as I suppose,

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καὶ μονομάχους παραλα7.15.14 βὼν ἐπὶ τοῦτο ᾔει. πλησίον δὲ γενόμενος ἔξω βελῶν περιέμενεν· ἦν γὰρ ποδαλγὸς καὶ οὔτε μάχεσθαι οὔτε διώκειν ἢ φεύγειν ἠδύνατο. ἠσχολημένων δὲ τῶν στρατιωτῶν καὶ μονομάχων περὶ τὸ ἑλεῖν τὸν ναόν, μαθόντες αὐτόν τινες τῶν ῾Ελληνιστῶν μεμονῶσθαι, καθ' ὃ μέρος ἐλεύθερον ἦν μάχης τὸ χωρίον, ἐξῆλθον· ἐξαπίνης τε ἐπιστάντες συνελάβοντο αὐτὸν καὶ πυρᾷ 7.15.15 ἐμβαλόντες ἀνεῖλον. καὶ πρὸς τὸ παρὸν ἔλαθον. ἐπεὶ δὲ τῷ χρόνῳ ἐφωράθησαν, οἱ μὲν Μαρκέλλου παῖδες τιμωρεῖν τῷ πατρὶ ἐσπούδαζον, ἡ δὲ ἀνὰ τὸ ἔθνος σύνοδος διεκώλυσε, μὴ δίκαιον νομίσασα τοιαύτης τελευτῆς τιμωρίαν λαμβάνειν, ἐφ' ᾗ προσῆκε χάριν ὁμολογεῖν τὸν ὧδε θανόντα καὶ γένος αὐτοῦ καὶ φίλους, ὡς ὑπὲρ θεοῦ ἀποθανεῖν ἠξιωμένον. καὶ τὰ μὲν οὕτως ἔσχεν. 7.16.1 ᾿Εν τούτῳ δὲ τὸν ἐπὶ τῶν μετανοούντων τεταγμένον πρεσβύτερον οὐκέτι συνεχώρησεν εἶναι πρῶτος Νεκτάριος ὁ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν Κωνσταντινουπόλεως ἐπιτροπεύων· ἐπηκολούθησαν δὲ σχεδὸν οἱ πανταχῇ ἐπίσκοποι. τοῦτο δὲ τί ποτέ ἐστιν ἢ πόθεν ἤρξατο ἢ κατὰ ποίαν αἰτίαν ἐπαύσατο, ἄλλοι 7.16.2 μὲν ἴσως ἄλλως λέγουσιν· ἐγὼ δὲ ὡς οἶμαι ἀφηγήσομαι. ἐπεὶ γὰρ τὸ μὴ παντελῶς ἁμαρτεῖν θειοτέρας ἢ κατὰ ἄνθρωπον ἐδεῖτο φύσεως, μεταμελομένοις δὲ καὶ πολλάκις ἁμαρτάνουσι συγγνώμην νέμειν ὁ θεὸς παρεκελεύσατο, ἐν δὲ τῷ παραιτεῖσθαι συνομολογεῖν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν χρεών, φορτικὸν ὡς εἰκὸς τοῖς ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἱερεῦσιν ἔδοξεν ὡς ἐν θεάτρῳ ὑπὸ μάρτυρι τῷ πλήθει τῆς ἐκκλησίας τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἐξαγγέλλειν· πρεσβύτερον δὲ τῶν ἄριστα πολιτευομένων ἐχέμυθόν τε καὶ ἔμφρονα ἐπὶ τούτῳ τετάχασιν. 7.16.3 ᾧ δὴ προσιόντες οἱ ἡμαρτηκότες τὰ βεβιωμένα ὡμολόγουν· ὁ δὲ πρὸς τὴν ἑκάστου ἁμαρτίαν ὅ τι χρὴ ποιῆσαι ἢ ἐκτῖσαι ἐπιτίμιον ἐπιτιθεὶς ἀπέλυε παρὰ 7.16.4 σφῶν αὐτῶν τὴν δίκην εἰσπραξομένους. ἀλλὰ Ναυατιανοῖς μέν, οἷς οὐ λόγος μετανοίας, οὐδὲν τούτου ἐδέησεν· ἐν δὲ ταῖς ἄλλαις αἱρέσεσι εἰσέτι νῦν τοῦτο κρατεῖ, ἐπιμελῶς δὲ καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἀνὰ τὴν δύσιν ἐκκλησίαις φυλάτ7.16.5 τεται καὶ μάλιστα ἐν τῇ ῾Ρωμαίων. ἐνθάδε γὰρ ἔκδηλός ἐστιν ὁ τόπος τῶν ἐν μετανοίᾳ ὄντων· ἑστᾶσι δὲ κατηφεῖς καὶ οἱονεὶ πενθοῦντες, ἤδη δὲ πληρωθείσης τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ λειτουργίας, μὴ μετασχόντες ὧν θέμις μύσταις, 7.16.6 σὺν οἰμωγῇ καὶ ὀδυρμῷ πρηνεῖς ἐπὶ γῆν ῥίπτουσι σφᾶς. ἀντιπρόσωπος δὲ δεδακρυμένος ὁ ἐπίσκοπος προσδραμὼν ὁμοίως ἐπὶ τοῦ ἐδάφους πίπτει· σὺν ὀλολυγῇ δὲ καὶ τὸ πᾶν τῆς ἐκκλησίας πλῆθος δακρύων ἐμπίμπλαται. τὸ μετὰ τοῦτο δὲ πρῶτος ὁ ἐπίσκοπος ἐξανίσταται καὶ τοὺς κειμένους ἐξανίστησι, καὶ ᾗ προσῆκεν ὑπὲρ ἡμαρτηκότων μεταμελουμένων εὐξάμενος ἀπο7.16.7 πέμπει. ἑκοντὶ δὲ ταλαιπωρούμενος ἕκαστος ἢ νηστείαις ἢ ἀλουσίαις ἢ ἐδεσμάτων ἀποχῇ ἢ ἑτέροις οἷς προστέτακται περιμένει τὸν χρόνον, εἰς ὅσον αὐτῷ τέταχεν ὁ ἐπίσκοπος· τῇ δὲ προθεσμίᾳ, ὥσπερ τι ὄφλημα διαλύσας τῇ τιμωρίᾳ, τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἀνίεται καὶ μετὰ τοῦ λαοῦ ἐκκλησιάζει. τάδε 7.16.8 μὲν ἀρχῆθεν οἱ ῾Ρωμαίων ἱερεῖς ἄχρι καὶ εἰς ἡμᾶς φυλάττουσιν. ἐν δὲ τῇ Κωνσταντινουπόλεως ἐκκλησίᾳ ὁ ἐπὶ τῶν μετανοούντων τεταγμένος πρεσβύτερος ἐπολιτεύετο, εἰσότε δὴ γυνή τις τῶν εὐπατριδῶν ἐπὶ ἁμαρτίαις αἷς προσήγγειλε προσταχθεῖσα παρὰ τούτου τοῦ πρεσβυτέρου νηστεύειν καὶ τὸν θεὸν ἱκετεύειν, τούτου χάριν ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ διατρίβουσα, 7.16. ἐκπεπορνεῦσθαι παρὰ ἀνδρὸς διακόνου κατεμήνυσεν. ἐφ' ᾧ τὸ πλῆθος μαθὸν ἐχαλέπαινεν ὡς τῆς ἐκκλησίας ὑβρισμένης. μεγίστη δὲ διαβολὴ τοὺς ἱερωμένους εἶχεν. ἀπορῶν δὲ ὅ τι χρήσαιτο τῷ συμβεβηκότι Νεκτάριος ἀφείλετο τῆς διακονίας τὸν ἡταιρηκότα. συμβουλευσάντων δέ τινων συγχωρεῖν ἕκαστον, ὡς ἂν ἑαυτῷ συνειδείη καὶ θαρρεῖν δύναιτο, κοινωνεῖν τῶν 7.16.10 μυστηρίων, ἔπαυσε τὸν ἐπὶ τῆς μετανοίας πρεσβύτερον. καὶ ἐξ ἐκείνου τοῦτο κρατοῦν διέμεινεν, ἤδη τῆς ἀρχαιότητος, οἶμαι, καὶ τῆς κατ' αὐτὴν σεμνότητος καὶ ἀκριβείας εἰς ἀδιάφορον καὶ ἠμελημένον ἦθος κατὰ μικρὸν διολισθαίνειν ἀρξαμένης· ἐπεὶ πρότερον, ὡς ἡγοῦμαι,