Ad episcopos qui sunt in Libya et Pentapoli OF THE SAME TO THE BISHOPS IN LIBYA AND PENTAPOLIS 4

[Introduction]

Care must be taken of everything useful and necessary for the edification of the peoples, which also contributes

to the good repute of the holy churches; for it is written, that you make the sons of Israel devout. Therefore, fathers of the monasteries throughout the province of the Thebaid, devout men and 282 of admirable conduct, came to Alexandria, and when asked by me about the state of the monasteries there, they informed me that many are scandalized for such a reason.

(a) Concerning not ordaining without examination. Some who have recently married and, as it were, just come down from the bridal chambers, lay hold of some of the most God-beloved bishops, and with perhaps no one reporting their circumstances, are ordained clerics, or at least presbyters.

(b) Concerning those who come out of monasteries and are ordained. But certain others, being expelled from the monasteries themselves as disorderly, again rush into ordinations, and having become clerics, they enter even into the very monasteries from which they have been cast out, and wish to offer the sacrifice and to fulfill all that it is the custom for clerics to do; and they do these things, so that some of those who know them refuse 283 the assemblies and do not endure to commune while those men are ministering.

(c) Concerning how and when one ought to ordain, and whom one ought to examine. Since, therefore, as I said, all things must be done by us for the edification of the peoples, let your Piety observe these things; and if anyone is to be ordained a cleric, let his life be scrutinized, both whether he has a wife or not, and how or when he married her, and if he has abstained; and if he is not one of those who has been cast out either by another most God-fearing bishop or from the monasteries; and then let him ordain him, having been found beyond reproach.

For thus we shall keep both our own conscience pure and the holy and venerable liturgy beyond reproach. 5 Concerning catechumens and penitents, if they should approach their end. But if any who have been censured on account of faults should endure separation, 284 then, when they are about to die, being catechumens, let them be baptized, and let them not depart from human affairs without a share of grace, that is, without communion; for this also seems to be in keeping with the ordinances of the church. Greet the brotherhood with you; the brotherhood with us greets you in the Lord.

Ad episcopos qui sunt in Libya et Pentapoli ΤΟΥ ΑΥΤΟΥ ΤΟΙΣ ΚΑΤΑ ΛΙΒΥΗΝ ΚΑΙ ΠΕΝΤΑΠΟΛΙΝ ΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΟΙΣ ∆

[Προοίμιον]

Παντὸς τοῦ χρησίμου καὶ ἀναγκαίου πρὸς οἰκοδομὴν τῶν λαῶν, τελοῦντος

δὲ καὶ εἰς ὑπόληψιν τῶν ἁγίων ἐκκλησιῶν, φροντίδα ποιεῖσθαι χρή· γέγραπται γάρ, ὅτι εὐλαβεῖς ποιεῖτε τοὺς υἱοὺς Ἰσραήλ. Μοναστηρίων τοίνυν πατέρες τῶν κατὰ τὴν Θηβαίων ἐπαρχίαν, ἄνδρες εὐλαβεῖς καὶ 282 οὐκ ἀθαύμαστον ἔχοντες πολιτείαν , ἐλθόντες ἐν Ἀλεξανδρείᾳ, ἐρωτώμενοί τε παρ' ἐμοῦ τὴν κατάστασιν τῶν αὐτόσε μοναστηρίων, ἐδίδασκον ὅτι σκανδαλίζονται πολλοὶ διὰ τοιαύτην αἰτίαν.

(α) Περὶ τοῦ ἀνεξετάστως μὴ χειροτονεῖν. Νεωστὶ γεγαμηκότες τινὲς καὶ οἷον ἐξ αὐτῶν καταβάντες τῶν νυμφώνων, συναρπάζουσί τινας τῶν θεοφιλεστάτων ἐπισκόπων, καὶ οὐδενὸς τάχα που τὰ κατ' αὐτοὺς ἀπαγγέλλοντος, χειροτονοῦνται κληρικοί, ἢ γοῦν πρεσβύτεροι.

(β) Περὶ τῶν ἐκ μοναστηρίων ἐξερχομένων καὶ χειροτονουμένων. Ἕτεροι δέ τινες ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν μοναστηρίων ὡς ἄτακτοι ἐκβαλλόμενοι, πάλιν ὑποτρέχουσι τὰς χειροτονίας, καὶ γενόμενοι κληρικοὶ εἰσέρχονται καὶ ἐν αὐτοῖς τοῖς μοναστηρίοις, ὅθεν ἐκβέβληνται, καὶ βούλονται προσφέρειν καὶ ὅσα κληρικοῖς ἔθος πληροῦν· καὶ ταῦτα δρᾶν, ὡς καί τινας τῶν εἰδότων αὐτοὺς παραιτεῖ 283 σθαι καὶ τὰς συνάξεις καὶ μὴ ἀνέχεσθαι κοινωνεῖν λειτουργούντων ἐκείνων.

(γ) Περὶ τοῦ πῶς καὶ πότε δεῖ χειροτονεῖν καὶ τίνα δεῖ ἐξετάζειν. Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν πρὸς οἰκοδομήν, ὡς ἔφην, τῶν λαῶν πάντα χρὴ πράττεσθαι παρ' ἡμῶν, ἐπιτηρείτω ταῦτα ἡ θεοσέβεια ὑμῶν· καὶ εἰ μέλλοι τις χειροτονεῖσθαι κληρικός, περιεργαζέσθω τὸν βίον αὐτοῦ, καὶ πότερόν ποτε γαμετὴν ἔχει ἢ οὔ, καὶ πῶς ἢ πότε ἠγάγετο, καὶ εἰ ἀπέσχετο· καὶ εἰ μή τίς ἐστι τῶν ἐκβεβλημένων ἢ παρ' ἑτέρου θεοσεβεστάτου ἐπισκόπου ἢ ἐκ μοναστηρίων· καὶ τότε χειροτονείτω, ἀδιάβλητον εὑρεθέντα.

Τηρήσομεν γὰρ οὕτω καθαρὸν καὶ τὸ ἑαυτῶν συνειδὸς καὶ ἀδιάβλητον τὴν ἱερὰν καὶ σεπτὴν λειτουργίαν. Ε Περὶ τῶν κατηχουμένων καὶ μετανοούντων, εἰ τοῦ τέλους ἐγγίζοιεν. Ἐὰν δὲ χωρισμὸν ὑπομείνωσί τινες ἐπιτιμηθέντες πταισμάτων ἕνεκα, 284 εἶτα μέλλωσι τελευτᾶν, κατηχούμενοι ὄντες, βαπτιζέσθωσαν, καὶ μὴ ἀποδημείτωσαν τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων ἀμέτοχοι τῆς χάριτος, ἤγουν ἀκοινώνητοι· δοκεῖ γὰρ προσέχειν καὶ τοῦτο τοῖς τῆς ἐκκλησίας θεσμοῖς. Προσείπατε τὴν παρ' ὑμῖν ἀδελφότητα· ὑμᾶς ἡ σὺν ἡμῖν ἐν κυρίῳ προσαγορεύει.