Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us sinners!

Short Nomokanon #

From the canons and commandments of the holy apostles and the holy fathers, a proper enactment in the form of questions of confession

Canon 1 #

Every Orthodox Christian must have a spiritual father, to whom he should frequently confess all his sins and from whom he should receive not only spiritual healing, but also complete forgiveness of them before God. For whoever lives in the world and does not have a spiritual father causes great harm to his soul; such a person would have been better never to have been born, according to the expression in chapter 61 of The Son of the Church. Confession should begin from adolescence, as each becomes aware of good and evil, according to the fourth response of Ioann the Prisoner to Bishop Kavasilas of Dyrrhachium: for males from fourteen years old, and for females from twelve (cf. Matthew’s Canon Law). But if the children are more discerning, they should be confessed from ten years old, according to the 18th response of Timothy of Alexandria. The 209th canon of printed nomokanons cites the 48th response of Theodore Balsamon to Mark of Alexandria, where he commands both males and females to be confessed from six years old (these responses of Balsamon are in Book 5 of Sebast Armenopoulos).

Canon 2 #

Whoever does not observe a penance—that is, the prohibition given by his spiritual father to cease from a sin which separates him from holy communion—such a one, according to Canons 44 and 85 of Basil the Great, is to be completely excommunicated until he ceases from his sin.

Canon 3 #

Whoever has renounced Christ of his own will, let him, even after repenting, be excluded from Communion for his whole life, and only be permitted to commune at the end. But if he renounced Christ out of fear of torture, let him commune after eleven years of repentance. And if he endured torments for Christ but, being unable to endure to the end, denied Christ, let him commune after three years of repentance. See Canons 73 and 81 of Basil the Great, also all the canons of Peter of Alexandria, the first nine canons of the Council of Ancyra, and the second canon of Gregory of Nyssa.

Canon 4 #

Whoever practices sorcery in any manner, knowingly believing that demonic powers are at work, is to be excommunicated for twenty years as a murderer, according to Canons 65 and 72 of Basil the Great. But whoever engages in sorcery through self-deception, deluding both himself and others under the illusion that he acts by divine revelation, and likewise all those who go to sorcerers with full trust to receive some benefit from them, are to be excommunicated for six years according to Canon 83 of Basil the Great and Canon 61 of the Sixth Ecumenical Council. Whoever went to a sorcerer only once, and without knowing that he operated through demons, is to receive a lesser penance—less than six years—according to Balsamon’s commentary on Canon 61 of the Sixth Council and Canon 83 of Basil the Great. According to Canon 24 of the Council of Ancyra, one who goes to a sorcerer out of disbelief that Christ is God is excommunicated as a deliberate apostate from the faith. But those who go to sorcerers out of faintheartedness, due to illness or other distress, hoping to receive some benefit, are judged as apostates from Christ who did not endure suffering for Him. This includes also those who practice astrology—assigning good and evil to certain numbers.

Canon 5 #

To smoke or sniff tobacco is highly blameworthy. The pious Russian Tsars Mikhail Fyodorovich and Alexei Mikhailovich strictly forbade this under penalty of death (Law Code of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, issued in the year 7156 [1648], chapter 25). And in the book On the Faith, published with the blessing of the Moscow Patriarch Joseph, in chapter 15 on drunkenness, it is written: “Along with the pleasures and amusements of drunkenness arose the demonic tobacco, in which above all men have been harmed and do not wish to come to their senses.” Here tobacco is called “demonic” not because it literally came from a demon—for every creature, whether visible or intelligible, is created by God—but tobacco is called “demonic” because it was the devil who taught man to use it unnaturally. Human nature needs to eat and drink through the mouth, but the human nose, by nature, requires no nourishment and does not need to inhale stinking smoke. Just as people corrupted by demons are taught unnatural carnal perversions in the manner of Sodom, so too are they driven by demons to sniff and smoke tobacco. And if one considers the harm done to others, sodomites corrupt only themselves by mutual consent, but tobacco users cause countless offenses to others through careless handling of fire, causing not only personal harm but fires, and beyond that polluting the air with tobacco smoke. Therefore, in confined spaces with little air, they become intolerably burdensome to others. For this reason, they ought to be subject to ecclesiastical penance no less than sodomites.

Canon 6 #

The Holy Church observes the Forty-Day Fast (Great Lent) before Pascha because Christ, according to the evangelists, fasted forty days for our salvation; and also every Wednesday and Friday throughout the year, because the Jews took counsel to deliver the Lord to death on Wednesday and crucified Him on Friday. Furthermore, the Holy Church observes the Fast of the Holy Apostles from the Sunday of All Saints (after the Descent of the Holy Ghost) until the feast of the chief apostles Peter and Paul; the Fast of the Most Holy God-bearer from the first of August until Her Dormition; and the Nativity Fast from November 15 until the Nativity of Christ.

All these Church fasts, abstaining from meat and dairy, are obligatory for all Orthodox Christians, with the only exceptions being the two weeks of dispensation during Pentecost (after Pascha) and the two weeks preceding the Great Lent, as well as the twelve days after the Nativity of Christ, which include the feast of Theophany. As for fish, oil, and wine, their usage is conditional: during the Great Lent and the Dormition Fast, and on Wednesdays and Fridays during the two “meatless” weeks (those following the Fast of the Apostles and the Dormition), such foods are not permitted except on feast days specified in detail by the Church’s Ustav (rule of services).

During the Fast of the Apostles and the Nativity Fast, and apart from feast days, there are also specific days when fish, oil, and wine are permitted, including Wednesdays and Fridays in the meat-eating periods of Pentecost and after the Nativity. This is also outlined in detail in the Church’s Ustav.

Whoever, apart from bodily infirmity, permits himself to disregard these commonly established fasts while in sound mind, is, according to the 19th canon of the Council of Gangra, under a curse (anathema); and according to the 69th canon of the Holy Apostles, clergy are to be deposed and laypeople excommunicated. According to the 5th canon of Patriarch Nicephorus of Constantinople, a priest who does not fast on Wednesdays and Fridays is unworthy to receive Holy Communion. As for the infirm, although exemption is permitted, it does not extend to meat or dairy, but only to oil and wine, according to Aristenos’ interpretation of the 69th canon of the Apostles. Balsamon also allows fish in such cases, and Timothy of Alexandria permits food and drink beyond the usual fasts according to each person’s strength (see his Canons 8 and 10).

Canon 7 #

The week of Holy Pascha, from the Day of Christ’s Resurrection until Thomas Sunday, should be celebrated free from work, with devotion to prayer and the reading of Scripture, as enjoined by the 66th canon of the Sixth Ecumenical Council. Furthermore, every Sunday of the year should be similarly observed, as decreed by the 29th canon of the Council of Laodicea and the First Canon of Theophilus of Alexandria. As a day of joy, it is to be observed without kneeling in prayer or fasting. However, during fasting periods, it is not permitted to eat meat or dairy, according to the 20th canon of the First Ecumenical Council, Canons 56 and 90 of the Sixth Council, and Canon 15 of Peter of Alexandria.

If someone fasts with dry food on this day, a clergyman is to be deposed and a layman excommunicated, according to the 64th canon of the Holy Apostles. The Church Ustav also prescribes the solemn celebration of other great feasts of the Lord, of the Most Holy God-bearer, and of notable saints, which is currently universally practiced in our Holy Christian Church.

Canon 8 #

Whoever, without urgent necessity or serious obstacle, fails to attend the Church assembly for prayer three Sundays in a row is, if he is a clergyman, to be deposed; and if a layman, to be excommunicated, according to the 90th canon of the Sixth Ecumenical Council. The 159th canon of the Nomokanon also excommunicates anyone who does not honor Sundays and feast days but instead performs ordinary work on those days.

Canon 9 #

One who has vowed to abstain from eating pork is not approved by Basil the Great in his 28th canon. He advises Amphilochius to instruct the faithful to refrain from such irrational vows and forbids insisting on their fulfillment. He concludes: “Nothing of God’s creation is to be rejected, but received with thanksgiving.” Similarly, in our times many make such vows—such as not to eat potatoes or similar things. Such irrational vows must be avoided, and if anyone makes them, they should not be compelled to fulfill them.

Canon 10 #

Whoever denies the hope of salvation to those who eat meat (excluding strangled or idolatrously offered meats), such a one is accursed according to the second canon of the Council of Gangra.

Canon 11 #

Whoever denies entry into the Kingdom of God to those who reverently cohabit in lawful marriage is accursed, according to Canons 1, 4, and 14 of the Council of Gangra, and is entirely rejected from the Church according to the 15th canon of the Holy Apostles.

Canon 12 #

Whoever has castrated himself—or someone else—apart from a medical condition requiring it, is, if a clergyman, to be deposed, and if a layman, excommunicated for three years, and in addition must never be ordained. However, if someone was forcibly castrated, or did so due to a medical condition, or is a natural eunuch, he is not punished and may, if found worthy, be ordained to the clergy. See the canons: Holy Apostles 21–24, and Canon 8 of the Council in Trullo (the Quinisext Council).

If the eunuchs are clergy, then according to Aristenos’ interpretation of Canon 5 of the Sixth Ecumenical Council, they are forbidden to cohabit with women, except for those beyond suspicion. Balsamon likewise extends this prohibition to laymen who are eunuchs.

Canon 13 #

Oaths in general are forbidden to Orthodox Christians, and even more so those made with evil intent must be condemned, according to Canon 21 of Basil the Great. If anyone becomes entangled in such an oath, it is better not to fulfill it, and instead to bear a penance for breaking it as prescribed by one’s spiritual father. If, however, an oath becomes necessary for some compelling reason, it should be expressed only with the affirming or denying words commanded by Christ: “Yea, yea; Nay, nay” (Matthew, Gospel reading 14). One must never swear by pagan customs, such as by the sun or other created things, which is strictly forbidden by Canon 94 of the Sixth Ecumenical Council and Canon 18 of Basil the Great. Those who engage in such pagan oaths are judged as apostates from the faith in Christ and are excommunicated. However, depending on the intent: if one speaks such an oath out of sincere but misguided pagan belief and does so voluntarily, he is excommunicated for 12 years; if done without belief, merely to deceive the ungodly, or if compelled by torture or grave threats, then the excommunication is for 8 years.

Canon 14 #

Whoever swears before God to do something and then breaks the oath is excommunicated from Holy Communion for 10 or 12 years. Those who break such an oath under compulsion are excommunicated for 6 years, according to Canons 64 and 82 of Basil the Great. Clergy who do so are deposed according to Canon 25 of the Holy Apostles.

Canon 15 #

Whoever prays with someone who is excommunicated is himself excommunicated, according to Canon 10 of the Holy Apostles and Canon 2 of the Council of Antioch. Whoever enters a heretical church to pray is, if clergy, deposed, and if a layman, excommunicated, according to Canon 65 of the Holy Apostles. Likewise, even outside their churches, those who pray with heretics are excommunicated. Clergy who accept heretics as fellow ministers of the Church, or accept their offerings and baptisms, are deposed according to Canons 45 and 46 of the Holy Apostles. Canon 9 of Timothy of Alexandria forbids heretics even from being present at the Divine Liturgy unless they promise to repent and renounce their heresy. Canon 6 of the Council of Laodicea forbids those persisting in heresy from even entering the House of God—that is, the holy church. Likewise, Orthodox Christians are forbidden to visit heretical cemeteries or so-called “martyr shrines” and to pray there with them, according to Canons 9 and 33 of the same Laodicean Council. “Those who brought their children to a Varangian priest for prayer shall serve a six-week penance, for they are as though of two faiths”—so declares Canon 16 of Elias, Archbishop of Novgorod (Russian Historical Library, vol. 6, p. 60).

Canon 16 #

It is improper to receive blessings from heretics, for they are vain words rather than true blessings, according to Canon 32 of the Council of Laodicea. Under “blessings” of heretics are also understood prosphora consecrated by them, as interpreted by Aristenos.

Canon 17 #

Prosphora offered for the sacrifice at the holy altar are to be consumed only by clergy and the faithful. They are not to be given to catechumens, according to Canon 8 of Theophilus of Alexandria. Therefore, they must not be given to anyone outside communion with the Holy Church.

Canon 18 #

Whoever does not make the sign of the Cross and bless with two fingers is anathema, having received this from the Jacobite heresy. This is established in the Great Book of Needs (Большой Требник) and in many ancient written Nomokanons, and in Chapter 31 of the Stoglav Council.

Canon 19 #

The abiding presence of Christ with us, according to His infallible promise, “I am with you always, even unto the end of the world,” is, according to the testimonies of Patriarch Germanus of Constantinople and Symeon of Thessalonica in their commentaries on the Divine Liturgy, not only invisible by His Divinity, but also visible by His Humanity in the Most Pure Mysteries of His Body and Blood. Therefore, those who do not confess the eternal existence of these Most Pure Mysteries are anathematized, according to the rite received in rejection of the Jacobite heresy, as expressed in the following: “Whosoever does not confess the undefiled sacrifice to be the true Body of our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema.”

Canon 20 #

Canon 77 of the Council of Carthage commands that we deal gently and peacefully with the restless and violent heretics called Donatists, so that God may grant them repentance unto the knowledge of the truth and that they may escape from the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will. This rule is also most useful for us to remember when dealing with those of other confessions.

Canon 21 #

Whoever unjustly offends or slanders the Tsar or a prince, if he is a clergyman, is to be deposed; and if a layman, excommunicated, according to Canon 84 of the Holy Apostles.

Canon 22 #

The fifth commandment of God in the Law says: “Honor thy father and thy mother, that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest live long upon the earth.” Therefore, if any children, under the pretense of piety, forsake their parents—especially believing parents—and do not render them due honor, let them be anathema, according to Canon 16 of the Council of Gangra. Yet the honoring of parents must not lead to the violation of piety.

Canon 23 #

Whoever abandons and fails to provide for his children or does not raise them, as much as possible, in proper piety, but under the pretense of asceticism neglects them, such a one is accursed, according to Canon 15 of the Council of Gangra.

Canon 24 #

Whoever, under the pretense of piety, despises his master and shirks the duties owed to him, is accursed, according to Canon 3 of the Council of Gangra.

Canon 25 #

Adorning the hair on the head with special refinements is forbidden by the 96th canon of the Sixth Ecumenical Council, and those who disobey this prohibition are excommunicated. Zonaras, the interpreter of the sacred canons, in his commentary on this 96th canon, mentions various fashions involving the growing out and embellishment of long hair. Regarding the beard, however, these fashion-followers behave in the opposite way:
“As soon as youthful fuzz appears, they immediately shave it off so that it does not turn into hair, but so that the smoothness of their face stands out, and they might appear like women, delicate and effeminate.”
He also makes several observations about grooming the beard—its shaving and trimming—and concludes that the fathers of the council chastise such behavior with fatherly rebuke and impose excommunication on those who transgress. He laments that in his time, even clergy were negligent in observing this council’s canon.

The Stoglav Council, in its 41st chapter, renewed the prohibition of the Sixth Ecumenical Council regarding shaving the beard, though it incorrectly referenced Canon 11 instead of Canon 96—an error that caused the rule to be neglected by the careless. But that Canon 96 of the Sixth Council refers both to elaborate hairstyles and to beard shaving is affirmed not only by Zonaras and the Stoglav, but also by Matthew Blastares (Matthew the Canonist) who interprets it in the same sense. The Nomokanon, in its Canon 174, likewise testifies that beard shaving and fashion-forward hair arrangements are forbidden under penalty of excommunication.

Even before the Sixth Ecumenical Council, there was already prohibition on this matter. In chapter 3 of the Constitutions of the Holy Apostles, book one, it is written:
“For you, a believer and a man of God, it is not permitted to grow your hair long and gather it together,”
that is, to braid or curl it with combs or styling, or to dye it. This is also forbidden by the Law, which says in Deuteronomy:
“Ye shall not make for yourselves any growth or curls of hair.”
One should not damage the hair of the beard either, nor alter the natural appearance of man. The Law says:
“Do not shave your beards,”
because being beardless is something the Creator God deemed fitting for women, but unseemly for men. Therefore, you who shave your beard to appear attractive are, as one who opposes the law, abominable before God, who made you in His own image and likeness.
“If you wish to please God, abstain from what He hates, and do not do what displeases Him.”

These words from the Apostolic Constitutions were cited also by St. Epiphanius of Cyprus in his condemnation of the heresy of the Messalians (Panarion, Heresy 60, or 80 according to another count, chapters 6 and 7). This same excerpt from Epiphanius was quoted by St. Nikon of Black Mountain in his 37th homily interpreting the commandments of the Lord.

Even though the Sixth Ecumenical Council, in its second canon, set aside the Apostolic Constitutions as a universal rule of guidance for the Church, it nevertheless restated their substance in its 96th canon concerning hair adornment. Therefore, these words from the Apostolic Constitutions cannot be suspected as distorted by non-Orthodox, but are indeed apostolic in origin.

And St. Paul says of women:
“Every woman who prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoreth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven. For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered” (1 Corinthians 11:5–6).
St. John Chrysostom, interpreting this, says that the Apostle commands that the woman be veiled not only during prayer, but at all times (26th Homily on 1 Corinthians 11:4).

In the Trebnik of Gedeon Balaban, Bishop of Lviv, in the “Commandments of the Holy Fathers,” on folio 669, it is written:
“If a woman cuts her hair not in the fear of God, but apart from entering into monastic life, she is anathematized. For it is not commanded by God for a woman to cut her hair, except when she enters the monastic life. But if by some demonic temptation she cuts her hair, she is to be excluded from the Church and Communion for one year and must repent.”

Canon 26 #

Singing should be offered to God with contrition and great attentiveness, not with disorderly shouting or unnatural howling, nor with anything unfitting or unharmonious with the Church’s order, according to the 75th canon of the Sixth Ecumenical Council.
And according to the canons of the Council of Gangra, those who scorn others for wearing ordinary bridal garments, or who affect overly simple and foreign clothing, are condemned, while those who dress in soft and luxurious garments are likewise condemned and rejected, according to its Canon 21.

Canon 27 #

The Cross is not to be written on the ground or anywhere it might be trampled underfoot. If so written, it should be erased, and whoever disobeys this is excommunicated, according to Canon 73 of the Sixth Ecumenical Council.

Canon 28 #

Eating things strangled, animals that died by wild beasts, or carrion is forbidden. If a priest does so, he is deposed according to Canon 63 of the Holy Apostles; if a layman, he is excommunicated. The same condemnation applies to those who seek to consume animal blood in any form, according to Canon 67 of the Sixth Ecumenical Council.

Canon 22 of the Seventh Ecumenical Council speaks prophetically:
“Woe to those who eat amid shameful spectacles, or with satanic songs and lewd chanting.”
It forbids those in holy orders and monastics from eating alone with women, except in exceptional circumstances and only with reverent persons; it also forbids them from entering taverns except during necessary travel. Those who disobey are excommunicated according to Canon 54 of the Holy Apostles.

However, Christian captives are permitted to eat from the hands of pagans, provided the food is not idolatrous, according to Canon 1 of Gregory of Neocaesarea.

Canon 29 #

Those who indulge in games and drunkenness—if they are clergy—are to be deposed; if laymen, they are to be excommunicated, according to Canons 42 and 43 of the Holy Apostles.

Canon 30 #

According to Canon 71 of the full Greek collections (or Canon 60 in the Slavonic Kormchaia) of the Council of Carthage, and Canon 15 of the Sixth Ecumenical Council, it is forbidden to attend brutal spectacles (such as beast-fights), theatrical performances, and any shameful entertainment, mockery, or dancing at public shows. Those who participate in such things—if clergy—are to be deposed; if laymen, excommunicated.

Canon 31 #

Whoever mocks the deaf, the blind, or the lame—if he is clergy, is to be deposed; if a layman, excommunicated—according to Canon 57 of the Holy Apostles.

Canon 32 #

Whoever engages in shameful or disreputable games—if a clergyman, is to be deposed; if a layman, excommunicated—according to Canon 50 of the Sixth Ecumenical Council and Canons 42 and 43 of the Holy Apostles.

Canon 33 #

Wearing masks or disguises (such as in masquerades), or dressing up in another’s likeness—as some foolishly do even now during the Nativity celebrations—is strictly forbidden by Canon 62 of the Sixth Ecumenical Council. Those who disobey—if clergy, are to be deposed; if laymen, excommunicated.

Canon 34 #

It is forbidden to look upon images presented on boards or other surfaces which enchant the sight, corrupt the mind, and incite impure passions—according to Canon 100 of the Sixth Ecumenical Council. Those who make such images are to be excommunicated.

Canon 35 #

No woman is to sleep in a men’s monastery, nor any man in a women’s monastery. Whoever does so is to be excommunicated—according to Canon 47 of the Sixth Ecumenical Council.

Canon 36 #

Those who bathe in public baths together with women—if clergy, are to be deposed; if laymen, excommunicated—according to Canon 77 of the Sixth Ecumenical Council.

Canon 37 #

A deacon or priest who defiles himself with his mouth only is forbidden from serving at the holy altar, according to Canon 75 of Basil the Great. Commentators on the sacred canons interpret such oral defilement in various ways: from a lustful kiss with another man’s wife, to kissing one another’s shameful parts, or if someone attempted to fornicate with a virgin but left the bed without corrupting her.

Canon 38 #

If one preparing for Holy Communion experiences seminal emission during the night, he must examine his conscience to determine whether it occurred from lustful thoughts about a woman, from gluttony or drunkenness, or whether it was merely a natural excess. In the first case, he must refrain from receiving the Holy Mysteries; in the last case, he may partake. See Canons 4 of Dionysius, 12 of Timothy, and the accompanying letter of Balsamon.

Canon 39 #

One who enters into lawful marriage is not subject to penance, for as the Apostle says:
“Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled; but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge” (Hebrews, reading 333).
However, marriage is not permitted for virgins who have dedicated themselves to God, nor to monks and nuns, according to Canons 15 and 16 of the Fourth Ecumenical Council, and Canons 6 and 18 of Basil the Great.
Likewise, presbyters, deacons, and subdeacons may not marry after ordination, according to Canon 26 of the Holy Apostles and Canons 3 and 6 of the Sixth Ecumenical Council.
A bishop, after ordination, may not only not marry, but may not even continue cohabitation with a wife from a former marriage, according to Canon 12 of the Sixth Ecumenical Council.
If any of the above enters into marriage—if clergy, they are to be deposed; if a monk, nun, or consecrated virgin, they are excommunicated until they dissolve the forbidden union. After that, they must bear the penance prescribed for fornicators, according to Canons 18, 19, and 60 of Basil the Great, and for those with a second marriage, according to Canon 19 of the Council of Ancyra.

Canon 40 #

A man who enters into a second marriage is to be excommunicated for one or two years, depending on his age and circumstances, according to Canon 4 of Basil the Great. One who enters a third marriage is excommunicated for three or four years. But multiple marriages—meaning a fourth or more—are called beastly acts, entirely foreign to the human race, and thus wholly inadmissible in the Holy Church. Canon 80 of Basil the Great commands such unions to be dissolved, and the parties subjected to four years of penance. Zonaras, interpreting this canon, believes even longer periods of exclusion are implied; Balsamon suggests no less than eight years. The Nomokanon, in its Canon 178, also imposes an eight-year excommunication in such cases.

Canon 41 #

Those who unite their servants in marriage without sacred prayers do not establish a God-loving marriage, but rather affirm a sinful union:
“Those whom God has not joined together through sacred prayers are joined together in sin.”
So states the new law of Emperor Alexios Komnenos in the Kormchaia, chapter 43, folio 336. And Metropolitan Ioann of Russia, called a prophet of Christ and living in the year 1080 A.D., in his 30th ecclesiastical canon, also excommunicates those living in marriage without a sacred nuptial blessing, as fornicators. Metropolitan Photius ordered a three-year penance for such people, and only afterward, if they wish to live together, they may be crowned in marriage (Russian Historical Library, vol. 6, p. 272). Likewise, Archbishop Sava of Serbia permitted such people to be married, and if they had children, to be crowned together with them (Ancient Writings, Life of Sava).

Canon 42 #

Marriage between an Orthodox Christian and a heretic is forbidden by Canon 72 of the Sixth Ecumenical Council. Those who violate this are to be excommunicated, unless the heretical party converts and accepts Orthodoxy, according to Canon 14 of the Fourth Ecumenical Council and Canon 31 of the Council of Laodicea.

Canon 43 #

Marriage within blood or spiritual kinship is not permitted, according to Canons 53 and 54 of the Sixth Ecumenical Council, Canon 2 of Neocaesarea, Canons 23, 78, and 87 of Basil the Great, Canon 11 of Timothy, and Canon 13 of Theophilus. According to Church tradition passed down to us, the boundaries of kinship are as follows: blood kinship is prohibited up to the eighth degree, second cousins up to the sixth, and third cousins up to the fourth degree. In these latter cases, care must be taken to avoid any confusion of family roles (e.g., so that a father does not become a brother-in-law to his son, or a nephew to his uncle). If a marriage has occurred within one prohibited degree, it may be corrected by two years of penance and abstaining from meat, according to the Kormchaia, folio 562. By analogy, similar correction may apply in other kinship categories when only one degree is exceeded. However, if the unlawfulness exceeds one degree, such a marriage is not accepted by the Church unless the couple separates. Even then, they must undergo penance as for incest, according to Canon 177 of the Nomokanon. The limit for spiritual kinship applies to the children of godparents, just as with blood kinship up to the eighth degree. However, not all early Church fathers agreed fully on this. Some required the eighth degree only among children of the godparent and his godson, while for other children of godparents they required that the degree not be closer than the fourth, as stated in the Kormchaia, folios 542–543.

Canon 44 #

Whoever abducts a woman for marriage is anathematized according to Canon 27 of the Fourth Ecumenical Council and is not to be received into repentance until he returns the abducted woman to her parents, according to Canon 22 of Basil the Great. If the woman was already betrothed to another, he must return her to her lawful fiancé, according to Canon 11 of the Council of Ancyra. Such offenders are to be treated with the same penance as adulterers, according to Canon 98 of the Sixth Ecumenical Council.

Canon 45 #

If a lawful marriage has been established, it is not to be dissolved, even if the husband beats his wife, squanders her possessions, or if the wife is possessed, according to Canon 9 of Basil the Great and Canon 15 of Timothy of Alexandria. But if they do separate, they may not remarry other people, but must either remain as they are or be reconciled to each other, according to Canon 115 (or 102 in the Slavonic Kormchaia) of the Council of Carthage.

Canon 46 #

Anyone who has taken as wife a widow, a woman dismissed from marriage, or a woman from a public theatre may not be made bishop, priest, or deacon, according to Canon 18 of the Holy Apostles. Likewise, if after ordination, the wife of a clergyman commits adultery and he does not separate from her, he is to be deposed, according to Canon 8 of the Council of Neocaesarea.

Canon 47 #

Married couples must abstain from marital relations by mutual agreement when preparing to receive Holy Communion. For, according to Canon 5 of Timothy of Alexandria, anyone who sleeps with his wife on the night before Communion is to be excommunicated. They must also abstain on Sundays and great feast days, according to Canon 63 of the Nomokanon, and during the woman’s period of purification from her customary flow, according to Canon 7 of Timothy and Canon 2 of Dionysius, both archbishops of Alexandria. The Great Ustav (Typikon) also prescribes such abstinence during the entire Holy Forty Days (Great Lent) and other fasting periods, during which marriage ceremonies are also not permitted.

Canon 48 #

A sodomite, as well as a woman who engages in unnatural acts with men, a bestialist, or one who lies with birds, is condemned as an adulterer, according to Canons 7, 62, and 63 of Basil the Great, Canon 4 of Gregory of Nyssa, and Canons 22, 26, and 41 of the Nomokanon. Canon 16 of the Council of Ancyra excommunicates those who committed bestiality before the age of twenty for fifteen years, though allows leniency based on the zeal of the penitent. But after the age of twenty—and especially if married—the excommunication is extended to thirty years. And if such a person is around fifty years old and has a wife, he is excommunicated for the rest of his life and may only be granted Communion at his end.

Canon 49 #

If spouses secretly commit adultery against one another, they are to be corrected by the penance of excommunication: according to Canon 4 of Gregory of Nyssa, for eighteen years; and according to Canons 7 and 85 of Basil the Great, for fifteen years. But if they repent with tears, then—following Canon 20 of the Council of Ancyra, Canon 87 of the Sixth Ecumenical Council, and Canon 77 of Basil the Great—the penance may be reduced to seven years.

Canon 50 #

One who commits masturbation is to be given a penance of eating dry food (xerophagy) for forty days and performing 100 prostrations per day, according to Canon 58 of the Nomokanon. If he is unable to do this, he is excommunicated from Communion for a year. If the offender is a monk, the penance lasts sixty days. If two people engage in mutual masturbation, the penance is eighty days or a two-year excommunication, according to Canon 59 of the Nomokanon. If one abandons this sin and confesses it with repentance…

(Note: the final sentence of Canon 50 was truncated in the original. It likely intended to say that if one ceases the sin and repents, the penance can be reduced by discretion of the spiritual father.)

Canon 51 #

Fornication is defined as intercourse with a woman outside of lawful marriage. However, if a man engages with another man’s wife, this is adultery, which is a greater sin than fornication, being doubly grievous.
The penance for fornication is nine years according to Canon 4 of Gregory of Nyssa, and for adultery eighteen years. However, the spiritual father may shorten the penance depending on the zeal of the penitent. According to Canons 58 and 9 of Basil the Great, the fornicator is excommunicated for seven years, the adulterer for fifteen.
Balsamon comments that in practice, these penances are rarely fulfilled strictly, for no one is healed in full accordance with them. Were it not for the ineffable mercy of the all-compassionate God, no flesh would be saved.
Canon 22 of Basil the Great notes that his predecessors assigned four years’ excommunication for fornicators. For one who fornicates with a single woman and lives with her as his wife, Basil’s Canon 38 prescribes a three-year penance. The same is assumed under Canon 26, as interpreted by Balsamon.
One who corrupts his betrothed before marriage is excommunicated for one year, according to Canon 69 of Basil the Great.

Clergy who fall into fornication are deposed from holy orders, according to Canon 25 of the Holy Apostles; and under Canon 1 of the Council of Neocaesarea, are also excommunicated from Communion for four years.
Basil the Great, in Canons 32 and 51, says that no second punishment is to be laid on them after deposition, quoting the prophetic word: “Affliction shall not rise up the second time” (Nahum 1:9). Deposition alone suffices, provided they cease from sin.

A girl who is violated by force is not blamed as a fornicator, but is considered guiltless, according to Canon 49 of Basil the Great. But her violator is judged as a fornicator. If he is not married, he must be compelled to marry her—even if she is poor—according to Canon 67 of the Holy Apostles.

The Law of Moses (Deuteronomy 22:23–30) teaches thus regarding the violation of a virgin:

If a man is found lying with a married woman, both shall be put to death…
If it is a betrothed virgin and she is violated in the city, both are to be stoned…
But if she is found in the field and cries out, and there is no one to help her, only the man shall be put to death, for the woman is guiltless.
If a man finds a virgin not betrothed and rapes her, he shall pay fifty silver shekels to her father and take her as wife, and may never put her away.
A man shall not take his father’s wife, nor uncover his father’s bed.

Similarly, women who live in chastity but are taken captive and defiled suffer no penance for this, according to Canon 2 of Gregory of Neocaesarea.
However, if a nun, virgin, or pious woman is violated by her master, she is to undergo 14 days of xerophagy and 100 prostrations per day, or be barred from Communion for one year, according to Canon 66 of the Nomokanon.
If the woman had not previously lived chastely, she is to be treated as a harlot.
A virgin who marries without her father’s consent is considered a harlot, according to Canons 38 and 42 of Basil the Great. Her marriage is only recognized if she is reconciled with her parents.

Adulterous women are to be excluded only from Communion, not set in the place of penitents, so as not to expose their sin publicly before their husbands, according to Canon 34 of Basil the Great.

A man who corrupts a girl under 12 years of age is excommunicated for 12 years, according to Canon 40 of the Nomokanon, derived from Matthew the Canonist, who quoted John the Faster.

Canon 52 #

Those who keep prostitutes for the destruction of souls are, if clergy, deposed and excommunicated; if laymen, excommunicated, according to Canon 86 of the Sixth Ecumenical Council.

Canon 53 #

One who commits incest with his sister or stepmother is excommunicated for 20 years, according to Canons 67 and 78 of Basil the Great.
If the sister is a half-sister (either paternal or maternal), or if the sin is with one’s daughter-in-law (son’s wife), the excommunication is for 12 years, according to Canons 75 and 76 of the same.
One who lives with the sister of his first wife and then marries another woman is treated as an adulterer. Basil the Great, in Canon 79, says such a one is excommunicated for seven years—but in Canon 58 he sets the term for adultery at 15 years.
One who lies with his brother’s wife or mother-in-law’s sister is excommunicated for 10 years, according to Canons 32 and 33 of the Nomokanon.
One who fornicates with a cousin is excommunicated for 9 years, according to Canon 34 of the Nomokanon.
One who lies with his godmother (the woman who sponsored him) receives the same penance as fornicators, per Canon 53 of the Sixth Ecumenical Council, or 11 years according to Canon 35 of the Nomokanon.

Canon 54 #

One who defiles himself with a virgin consecrated to God, or with a nun, or with a priest’s wife or a deaconess, is to be deposed if he is in holy orders, and if a layman, he is to be excommunicated, according to the 4th canon of the Sixth Ecumenical Council. And if he even joined with her in a lawful marriage, then upon dissolution thereof, he is condemned as an adulterer according to canons 69 and 76 of the Nomokanon.

Canon 55 #

Contained above in Canon 48.

Canon 56 #

A layman who steals and repents on his own is barred from Holy Communion for one year; if he is caught and convicted, then for two years, according to the 61st canon of Basil the Great. And according to the 6th canon of Gregory of Nyssa, those who secretly steal and confess it to a priest must heal their sickness either by distributing their possessions to the poor or by bodily labor for their sustenance and almsgiving to those in need. But if the theft was not secret but by robbery, he falls under the same penance as a murderer. And if clerics are caught stealing in secret, they are deposed according to the 25th canon of the Holy Apostles, but not excommunicated. A friend of a thief, as a thief, is barred from Communion for one year, according to the 46th canon of the Nomokanon.

Canon 57 #

He who plunders the goods of Christians suffering calamity—whether from captivity, fire, or shipwreck—is to be cast out from the Church, according to the 3rd canon of Gregory of Neocaesarea. And the passion of avarice is called the mother of all evils, according to the 5th canon of the Council of Carthage. No one in the clergy is permitted to give anything out at interest. Avarice is healed by condemning the guilty to give away their property to the poor, according to the 6th canon of Gregory of Nyssa. And if they voluntarily return what they took to its rightful owner, they are received into repentance among the kneelers, according to the 9th canon of Gregory of Neocaesarea. But if they are convicted after denying it, they are not even to be counted among the hearers of Scripture, but are to be utterly cast out.

Canon 58 #

A robber and a voluntary murderer are judged alike, according to the 6th canon of Gregory of Nyssa and the 56th of Basil the Great; both are to be excommunicated for 20 years.

Canon 59 #

He who merely takes stones or memorial markers from graves—although it is quite dishonorable—is forgiven without penance due to common custom. But he who digs up and removes the very remains of the dead to take something from them is subjected to the penance of a fornicator according to the 7th canon of Gregory of Nyssa, though the spiritual father may reduce this if he sees fervent repentance in the penitent. According to the 66th canon of Basil the Great, such a person must not commune for ten years. The 48th canon of the Nomokanon reduces this penance even to a single year if the penitent agrees to eat dry food at the ninth hour and make 200 prostrations daily. But if he will not accept this discipline, then he is to be subjected to the full ten-year excommunication prescribed by Basil.

Canon 60 #

He who steals wax or oil from the church must be excommunicated until he returns fivefold to the church, according to the 72nd canon of the Holy Apostles. If someone appropriates a church vessel or a curtain from the temple of the Lord, he is to be punished by excommunication, according to the 73rd canon of the Holy Apostles. The 10th canon of the Council of Trullo (Second Council in Constantinople) deposes clerics for this offense and excommunicates laymen. As for the duration of the excommunication for those who repent of this sacrilege, Gregory of Nyssa in his 8th canon says that the term established by our fathers is less than for adultery.

Canon 61 #

If anyone reproaches his neighbor, let him first be reconciled with him, and endure three days of dry eating as penance, according to the 125th canon of the Nomokanon. If someone grieves his parents and repents, and the parent who was grieved forgives him, still he is to be suspended as appropriate. If he strikes his parents and repents, the bishop shall assign him a penance as he sees fit, according to the 128th canon of the Nomokanon. If someone insults a priest, let him be suspended for one year; if he strikes a priest, let him be suspended for three years, even if the priest forgives him, according to the 126th canon of the Nomokanon. If anyone persists in obscene or vulgar speech, he is to be cut off from Communion and from all holy things of the Church, according to the testament of Photius, Metropolitan of Kiev (Russian Historical Library, vol. 6, p. 174).

Canon 62 #

If anyone from the clergy offends a bishop, he is to be deposed. If anyone from the lower clergy offends a presbyter or deacon, he is to be excommunicated from Church communion, according to the 55th and 56th canons of the Holy Apostles. It is evident from this that laymen also shall not escape excommunication if they scorn and offend bishops, priests, or deacons.

Canon 63 #

Those who voluntarily kill are excommunicated from Holy Communion for life, according to the 22nd canon of the Council of Ancyra. If they repent, they are only to be communed at the time of death. According to the 5th canon of Gregory of Nyssa, they are excommunicated for 27 years, though it is permitted for the spiritual father to reduce the term to 24, 21, 18, or even 15 years depending on the zeal of the penitent. But the 56th canon of Basil the Great assigns a strict 20-year excommunication without exceptions. Involuntary manslayers are excommunicated for five years according to the 23rd canon of the Council of Ancyra, and according to the 5th canon of Gregory of Nyssa are given the same penance as for fornication, though here too a reduction is allowed if the spiritual father sees great zeal. According to the 57th canon of Basil the Great, the involuntary killer is to be excluded from Communion for ten years. All canons agree that such a person may not be ordained. However, soldiers who kill enemies in war are not counted as murderers but are deemed worthy of praise. Yet Basil the Great in his 13th canon advises that even such men, as having unclean hands, be kept from Communion for three years—but Zonaras and Balsamon note that this advice was not followed by the Church, which always communed valiant soldiers and did not bar them from the priesthood. Poisoners are judged as voluntary murderers, according to the 65th canon of Basil the Great.

Canon 64 #

He who abandons his children and does not feed them or raise them to proper piety, but neglects them, is accursed, according to the 15th canon of the Council of Gangra. And he who neglects to baptize his infant, and it dies unbaptized, shall not receive Communion for three years, making 200 prostrations daily, and fasting on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of each week, except in weeks when fasting is not prescribed, according to the 67th canon of the Nomokanon. But if the parents seek baptism from a priest and the priest is negligent, then the sin is upon the priest, and he is subject to the same canon. St. John Chrysostom says: “If even one person departs from this life unpartaken of the Mysteries, has not the priest ruined all his salvation?” (3rd Moral Homily on the Acts of the Apostles).

Canon 65 #

According to the custom established from ancient times in the Churches of God, as testified by Basil the Great in his 89th Canon, the ministers of the Church were to be received only after strict examination, and all their conduct was to be diligently investigated—whether they are not slanderers, not drunkards, not inclined to strife, whether they instruct their youth, that they might be able to fulfill the holy office, without which no one shall see the Lord. Therefore, the following may not be ordained to sacred ministry: fornicators, according to the 3rd and 6th Canons of Theophilus; those twice married or who have had concubines, according to the 17th Canon of the Holy Apostles and the 12th of Basil the Great; those who have married a widow, a woman divorced from wedlock, or a harlot, according to the 18th Canon of the Holy Apostles, the 8th of the Council of Neocaesarea, and the 3rd of the Sixth Ecumenical Council; those who live together without marriage alone in one house with women who are not their kin, according to the 5th Canon of the Sixth Ecumenical Council; those who have intentionally castrated themselves, according to the 22nd Canon of the Holy Apostles; those who take usury, i.e., interest—unless they beforehand completely renounce such a practice—according to the 44th Canon of the Holy Apostles, the 17th of the First Ecumenical Council, the 10th of the Sixth Ecumenical Council, the 4th of the Council of Laodicea, the 5th and 12th of Carthage, the 4th of Basil the Great, and the 6th of Gregory of Nyssa; diviners by numbers, sorcerers, and astrologers, according to the 36th Canon of Laodicea; a slave who has not received his freedom from his master, according to the 22nd Canon of the Holy Apostles; one who has fallen into heresy, according to the letter of Athanasius to Rufinus; and one possessed by a demon, according to the 79th Canon of the Holy Apostles. All the above-listed offenses disqualify from receiving sacred orders. And if a priest is already ordained and later found guilty of any of these, he is to be deposed from the priesthood according to the 9th Canon of the First Ecumenical Council. Therefore, it is clear that even if one commits any of these offenses after ordination, he is likewise to be deposed.

Canon 66 #

If any one of the clergy, out of fear of someone or something, renounces his rank, he shall not afterward be received again into the priesthood, according to the 62nd Canon of the Holy Apostles.

Canon 67 #

He who does not attend the church’s prayer gatherings for three consecutive weeks—if he be a clergyman, is to be deposed; if a layman, he is to be excommunicated, according to the 80th Canon of the Sixth Ecumenical Council.

Canon 68 #

A bishop or presbyter who neglects the clergy under his care or the people, and does not instruct them in piety—especially on the Lord’s Day—is to be first suspended; and if he continues in such negligence, he is ultimately to be deposed, according to the 58th Canon of the Holy Apostles and the 19th of the Sixth Ecumenical Council.

Canon 69 #

A bishop or presbyter who does not baptize with triple immersion but with single immersion or by pouring, is to be deposed, according to the 50th Canon of the Holy Apostles.

Canon 70 #

A bishop or presbyter who rebaptizes someone who truly has received baptism is to be deposed, according to the 47th Canon of the Holy Apostles and the 59th of the Council of Carthage. The Nomokanon, in its Canons 201, 202, and 203, lists three cases in which true baptism may be repeated:

1. When someone, due to captivity or some other cause, does not know whether he has been baptized, and has no reliable testimony of it—such a person is to be baptized.

2. When it comes to the complete baptism of Muslims (Agareni), even if they had been baptized in infancy by Christian priests. For when the Muslims had dominion over Christian lands, they sometimes compelled Christian priests to baptize their children, alleging that unbaptized children gave off a stench, which ceased after baptism. Therefore, they accepted baptism solely to remedy a bad odor, and such baptism, being without faith, was not recognized as true baptism—according to the conciliar definition of Patriarch Luke, recorded in chapter 3 of Matthew the Canonist, Composition 2.

3. When certain audacious persons, having no ordination to the priesthood, called themselves priests or bishops and performed baptisms according to the Church rite—once their imposture was discovered, their baptisms were to be repeated.

Other than these three cases, baptisms performed by Orthodox clergy are not to be repeated.

As for which heretics are to be baptized again and which are to be received by chrismation, the Nomokanon does not go into detail, but refers those interested to the second chapter of Composition 1 in Matthew the Canonist. There, Matthew explains that the 7th Canon of the Second Ecumenical Council provides clear law on how to receive those who return from heresy, dividing heretics into two categories: some are to be anointed with holy chrism, and others are to be baptized:

“The Arians, Macedonians, Sabellians, Novatians (who call themselves ‘pure’), the Quarto-decimans (also called ‘Tetradites’ or ‘Fourteeners’), and the Apollinarians—since their baptisms are, in form, according to the sacred rites—are not to be baptized again, but are to be anointed with chrism, after anathematizing their heresy.
The Eunomians (who baptize with a single immersion), the Montanists (called Phrygians), and the Sabellians (who teach that the Son is the same as the Father), as well as sincere pagans who are inclined toward truth, are to be baptized, either because they were never baptized at all, or were baptized improperly and not according to the rites of the Orthodox Church. Therefore, they are not reckoned among those enlightened by the holy fathers.”

This interpretation of the 7th Canon of the Second Ecumenical Council is also confirmed by John Zonaras in the Threefold Commentary (Trekhtolkovaya Kormchaya). The above guidance from the Nomokanon aligns with the ancient manuscript tradition, which differs from the printed editions published in Kiev and Moscow in the numbering of the canons. Specifically, this guidance corresponds to Canons 206, 207, and 209 in the manuscript Nomokanons. However, in the printed editions, an explanatory addition concerning emergency baptisms performed by laypersons caused significant confusion, making it difficult—if not impossible—for one unfamiliar with the ancient manuscripts to grasp the true meaning of these canons.

Canon 71 #

Disorderly shouting and unnatural cries during church prayers are strictly forbidden by the 75th Canon of the Sixth Ecumenical Council and by the interpretation of Balsamon on the 15th Canon of the Council of Laodicea.

Canon 72 #

It is not proper for a priest to celebrate the Divine Liturgy on the same day when, without great necessity, he has suffered a nocturnal temptation in sleep, according to the 158th Canon of the Nomokanon.

Canon 73 #

If a priest intends to celebrate the Liturgy, he must abstain from relations with his wife on the preceding night, according to the 13th Canon of the Sixth Ecumenical Council, the 4th, 34th, and 81st Canons of the Council of Carthage, the 3rd of Dionysius, and the 5th and 13th of Timothy, Archbishop of Alexandria.

Canon 74 #

If a priest celebrates the Liturgy while holding enmity against someone, he is forbidden to celebrate for sixty days, according to the 124th Canon of the Nomokanon. Likewise, bishops and presbyters who are under canonical judgment are to be removed from service, according to the 90th and 98th Canons of the Council of Carthage.

Canon 75 #

If a priest knowingly blesses a forbidden marriage—be it due to blood relation, spiritual kinship (godparenthood), fourth marriage, or early age (for example, if the man is under fifteen or the woman under thirteen)—he is to be deposed, according to the 53rd Canon of the Nomokanon.

Canon 76 #

It is forbidden to chant the funeral service over a suicide, unless it is evident that he was not in his right mind. But if he was mentally deranged, such a death is not held against him; however, it is necessary for the priest to carefully investigate the matter, according to the 14th Canon of Timothy of Alexandria.

Canon 77 #

If a presbyter or deacon is excommunicated by his bishop, he is not to be received into communion by others, except by the one who excommunicated him—unless the bishop who excommunicated him dies, according to the 32nd Canon of the Holy Apostles. The 19th Canon of the Nomokanon draws from this a general prohibition, that no spiritual father may absolve anyone bound by another spiritual father.

Canon 78 #

One who excommunicates someone from Holy Communion without a justified and blessed cause must himself refrain from Communion for one year, according to the 22nd Canon of the Nomokanon.

Canon 79 #

A priest who demands payment for administering the most pure Mysteries—the Body and Blood of Christ—is to be deposed, according to the 23rd Canon of the Sixth Ecumenical Council.

Canon 80 #

An adulterer or publicly known fornicator is not to be received into the church, nor are his offerings to be accepted, according to the 176th Canon of the Nomokanon. The Nomokanon references the 39th Canon of Basil the Great, which, while refusing entrance to a fornicator, does not mention the rejection of his offerings. Yet the offering of a fornicator is rejected from the altar of God according to the ordination scroll which the newly ordained priest takes from the altar at the time of his ordination, as recorded in the Kormchaya on folio 604.

Canon 81 #

If anyone reveals the sins confessed to him, he is to be forbidden from Communion for three years, receiving it only once a month, and must perform one hundred prostrations daily, according to the 120th Canon of the Nomokanon.

Canon 82 #

A bishop, presbyter, or deacon who gives himself over to games or drunkenness must either desist or be deposed, according to the 42nd Canon of the Holy Apostles.

Canon 83 #

If a cleric is found eating in a tavern, unless it be while traveling and compelled by necessity to lodge at an inn, he is to be excommunicated, according to the 54th Canon of the Holy Apostles and the 49th of the Council of Carthage. But if he himself is the proprietor of the tavern, he is to be deposed, according to the 9th Canon of the Sixth Ecumenical Council.

Canon 84 #

A bishop, presbyter, or deacon who adorns himself in bright clothing or anoints himself with perfumed oils is to cease from such sinful vanities. If he does not amend himself, he is to receive canonical suspension, according to the 16th Canon of the Seventh Ecumenical Council.

Canon 85 #

A bishop, presbyter, or deacon who takes upon himself secular business that is not proper for him must either cease or be deposed, according to the 6th Canon of the Holy Apostles. Among such activities is the leasing of property for profit, according to the 3rd Canon of the Fourth Ecumenical Council, the 10th of the Seventh Ecumenical Council, and the 19th of the Council of Carthage.

Canon 86 #

No one belonging to the church clergy may take usury from anyone to whom he lends. By “usury” is meant that increase which is now called interest. If anyone is convicted of this and does not desist, he is to be deposed from his clerical office, according to the 44th Canon of the Holy Apostles, the 17th of the First Ecumenical Council, the 10th of the Sixth, the 4th of Laodicea, and the 21st of Carthage. If a monk or nun takes usury, they are to be excommunicated from Holy Communion, according to the 138th Canon of the Nomokanon.

Canon 87 #

If any member of the clergy offends or causes trouble to a bishop, he is to be deposed, according to the 55th Canon of the Holy Apostles.

Canon 88 #

If a bishop, presbyter, or deacon strikes either a believing sinner or an unbeliever who has wronged him, he is to be deposed, according to the 29th Canon of the Holy Apostles and the 9th Canon of the Council in Trullo (Second Council in Constantinople).

Canon 89 #

Bishops and all who belong to the clergy must not leave any of their possessions to those who are not Orthodox Christians, even if they are relatives, nor are they to confirm such gifts by testament. If anyone leaves an inheritance to such persons, he is to be anathematized after his death, according to the 31st and 92nd Canons of the Council of Carthage.

Canon 90 #

Every person departing from this life should be given the Holy Gifts, even if he had been excommunicated, unless he departs in despair—then let him not be communed. Yet, if possible, the matter is to be judged by the bishop, according to the 13th Canon of the First Ecumenical Council, the 7th of the Council of Carthage, and the 5th of Gregory of Nyssa. But if the person is not in imminent danger and has not shown fruits worthy of repentance, he is not to be communed. For the Apostle declares that “he who eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks judgment to himself” (cf. 1 Corinthians 11). The 119th Canon of the Nomokanon strongly condemns those who commune the unworthy, calling them “murderers of souls.”

Canon 91 #

If the Holy Gifts—the Body of Christ—are somehow desecrated, they must not be thrown into a river or burned, but only be dissolved in sweet wine and consumed, according to the 20th response of Timothy of Alexandria. But if a priest, through negligence, spills the Holy Gifts, he must carefully gather them into a clean vessel and hide them in a holy place; and the soil on which they fell must be scraped up and burned, and the ashes cast into running water, according to the 155th Canon of the Nomokanon. For such an incident, the priest is to do penance by abstaining from serving the Liturgy for six months—or as the bishop shall decide, depending on the circumstances. Yet if there is a pressing need in the place where the priest serves, then his penance may consist of abstinence, prayer, and prostrations, without forbidding him from celebrating the Liturgy, as stated in the same Nomokanon on folio 58 following the canons.

Canon 92 #

If a priest does not observe the four fasts of the year, nor every Wednesday and Friday—except in weeks when fasting is specifically lifted, as indicated above in Canon 6—then he is not worthy to receive Communion, according to the 14th Canon of the Nomokanon, which is based on the 8th Canon of Nicephorus, Patriarch of Constantinople.

Canon 93 #

A man is not to be tonsured into monasticism before completing three years of testing in the monastery, unless he becomes gravely ill and begs for the tonsure, or if a certain man had lived very piously in the world, in which case six months of testing may suffice. If an abbot acts contrary to this, he is to be removed from his position, according to the 5th Canon of the Council in Trullo. Likewise, no one is to be tonsured either within or outside the monastery without being assigned a spiritual father—called the “Gospel Father”—who shall instruct him in the monastic rule; and whoever disregards this is to be deposed, according to the 2nd Canon of the Council in Trullo. Women may be tested for three months even in their own homes, according to the 81st Canon of the Nomokanon.

Canon 94 #

Celibate priests are not permitted to have women in their homes under any pretext, except for their mother, sister, or aunt, or other women above suspicion, according to the 3rd Canon of the First Ecumenical Council, the 5th of the Sixth, the 18th of the Seventh, and the 88th of Basil the Great. One who transgresses this is first suspended; and if he does not correct himself, he is to be deposed.

Canon 95 #

A hieromonk (monastic priest) is not to perform marriages or serve as a godparent to baptized children, according to the 85th Canon of the Nomokanon.

Canon 96 #

If a bishop is appointed to his see through bribery or gains the dignity with the help of secular authorities, he is to be deposed according to the 29th and 30th Canons of the Holy Apostles, the 2nd Canon of the Fourth Ecumenical Council, the 22nd of the Sixth, the 3rd, 5th, and 19th of the Seventh, and the explanation of Balsamon on the 90th Canon of Basil the Great. A fuller discussion may be found in the circular epistle of Gennadius of Constantinople.

Canon 97 #

If a bishop receives the great schema (is tonsured a great-schema monk) while holding episcopal office, he is no longer to serve as bishop, according to the 2nd Canon of the Council of Sofia. In the Slavonic Kormchaya, this canon is also interpreted to mean that presbyters and deacons who take monastic tonsure are likewise removed from sacred ministry. However, complete translations of the canons limit this only to bishops, excluding presbyters and deacons. Such is the interpretation of the canonists Zonaras, Balsamon, and Matthew the Canonist. In agreement with them, the All-Russian Stoglav Council decreed that widowed priests may be tonsured in monasteries and, if no canonical impediment exists, may serve again. See Stoglav chapters 77–81.

Canon 98 #

If a bishop ordains someone into holy orders for money, or demands something from those desiring ordination or monastic tonsure, he is to be deposed according to the same canons cited above in Canon 96.

Canon 99 #

The sins of priests and deacons which merit deposition must be judged by bishops; no spiritual father may absolve them. Just as he cannot ordain them, so also he cannot restore them to the priesthood once they have been deemed unworthy, according to the prologue of the Nomokanon. Likewise, bishops themselves must not leave such cases without judgment. For, as Theodore the Studite says: “The authority given to Church leaders is not for transgressing the canons, but to diligently observe what has been ordained, to follow what was handed down, and to bind and loose not recklessly, but according to truth, the canon, and the rule of the supreme law” (Nomokanon, folio 86). This same judgment is echoed by Zonaras and Balsamon in their interpretations of the 102nd Canon of the Sixth Ecumenical Council.

Canon 100 #

If a bishop receives a cleric (reader, subdeacon, etc.) from another diocese without a letter of dismissal from his own bishop, then both he and the one received are to be excluded from communion until the latter is returned to his rightful bishop, according to the 16th Canon of the First Ecumenical Council, the 20th of the Fourth, the 15th of the Council of Sardica, and the 65th, 91st, and 101st (105th) Canons of the Council of Carthage.

Canon 101 #

A bishop must not admit into communion one who was excommunicated by another bishop, according to the 16th Canon of the Holy Apostles, the 18th of the Sixth Ecumenical Council, the 13th of Sardica, and the 9th and 19th of Carthage. One who acts contrary to these canons is to be deposed.

Canon 102 #

If a bishop appoints a cleric to serve within another bishop’s diocese without that bishop’s consent, he is to be rebuked and corrected according to the 15th Canon of the Council of Sardica; but according to the 35th Canon of the Holy Apostles and the 13th and 22nd of Carthage, both he and the one he appointed are to be deposed.

Canon 103 #

If a bishop suspends a cleric who has not been convicted of any sin, but solely because he supposedly confessed a sin to the bishop, and the suspended cleric denies ever making such a confession, the bishop is obliged to lift the suspension. If he refuses to do so, then according to the 147th Canon of the Council of Carthage, the bishop himself is to be excluded from communion by his fellow bishops until he restores the one unjustly suspended. Nor should a bishop suspend anyone merely based on slander, without proper investigation, as commanded in the 6th Canon of Theophilus.

Canon 104 #

If a bishop, for the sake of extorting gain, removes a cleric from office or closes a house of prayer or a monastery, he is himself to be suspended, according to the 4th Canon of the Seventh Ecumenical Council.

Canon 105 #

A presbyter is not to be ordained before the age of 30, nor a deacon before the age of 25, according to the 11th Canon of the Council of Neocaesarea and the 14th and 15th Canons of the Sixth Ecumenical Council. Anyone ordained before reaching this maturity is to be deposed.

Canon 106 #

A bishop may only dispose as his personal property that which he declared at his ordination, and may bequeath it as he wills, according to the 41st Canon of the Holy Apostles. But whatever property he receives through the Church is no longer considered his own, but is Church property. He must manage it in the fear of God, fulfilling his own needs not through indulgence, but only out of necessity, and should spend the greater part on the poor, on strangers, and for the maintenance of the church, according to the 24th and 25th Canons of the Council of Antioch and the 42nd of Carthage.

Canon 107 #

A bishop, presbyter, or deacon who does not provide for the needs of suffering and pious clerics from Church funds is to be deposed, according to the 59th Canon of the Holy Apostles. For the goods of the Church are most fittingly used for the poor, according to the 25th Canon of the Council of Antioch.

Canon 108 #

A bishop or presbyter who refuses to receive a penitent back into the Church after sincere repentance is to be deposed, according to the 52nd Canon of the Holy Apostles.

Canon 109 #

A bishop, presbyter, or deacon who strikes another person either by his own hand or by commanding someone else to do so is to be deposed, according to the 27th Canon of the Holy Apostles and the 9th of the Council in Trullo.

Canon 110 #

A bishop who takes upon himself secular duties or public responsibilities is to be deposed, according to the 6th Canon of the Holy Apostles.

Canon 111 #

A bishop who neglects or refuses to attend sacred councils of bishops when invited is to be deposed, according to the 40th Canon of the Council of Laodicea and the 87th of the Council of Carthage.

Canon 112 #

A bishop who, through cunning or ambition, strives to occupy another bishop’s see is to be excommunicated, and even at death is to be denied Communion, according to the 2nd Canon of the Council of Sardica.

Canon 113 #

A bishop, presbyter, or deacon who is given to gaming and drunkenness is to be deposed if he does not cease, according to the 42nd Canon of the Holy Apostles.

Canon 114 #

With all strength and might, archbishops and bishops are obligated to uphold and defend the sacred canons of the divine rules. They have been entrusted with the firm observance of these canons, so that nothing transgressed or forgotten or left uninvestigated be demanded of them on the day of judgment in torment. Those who guard the sacred canons shall be granted help from the Lord God; but those who transgress them shall bring upon themselves final condemnation, according to the conclusion of the second prologue, which arranged the canons into 14 headings, found in the Kormchaya, folio 25.

Canon 115 #

A monk must not leave his monastery and go to another, according to the 21st Canon of the Seventh Ecumenical Council, except for the following reasons: if the abbot is a heretic; if women are freely allowed to enter the monastery; if secular children are being educated there; or if someone is showing unrelenting enmity toward him and constantly mistreating him, such that no reconciliation is possible; or if his name becomes widely known and praised among many (causing danger of pride); or if he has fallen into temptation of fornication—according to the 112th Canon of the Nomokanon. But if anyone leaves his monastery, in which he was called, for any other reason—such as not enduring rebuke or hardship, or because he saw the brethren disturbed temporarily, or because of long services or sleeping on the ground or lack of washing, or because he considers himself superior to all, or because he seeks worldly peace and comforts, or because he was offended by the abbot or a brother—such a man, according to the 115th Canon of the Nomokanon, is terribly likened to Judas the traitor, who forsook Christ and His disciples, and according to the 4th Canon of the Fourth Ecumenical Council, he is to be excommunicated.

Canon 116 #

A monk who, being moved by some malice, transgresses the spiritual rule of his father is guilty both in life and in death, according to the 114th Canon of the Nomokanon. And if he resists the words of the abbot, elder, or his spiritual father—words spoken for his salvation—he is a resister of God, according to the 113th Canon of the Nomokanon. A monk is not to leave the monastery even for urgent necessity unless he has received the blessing of the one entrusted with the governance of the monastery. As for nuns, they are not permitted to go out alone under any circumstance, but only with other sisters appointed by the abbess, according to the 46th Canon of the Sixth Ecumenical Council.

Canon 117 #

A monk who plays the gusli (a stringed instrument) and often associates with laypeople is to be excommunicated for two months, performing 150 prostrations daily. If he dances or drinks in taverns, or commits any other disorderly conduct common among youths, he is to be excommunicated for three years, performing 1,000 prostrations daily, according to the declaration of the Nomokanon, which is appended at the end of the rule list. Except for extreme necessity during a distant journey, a monk is not permitted to enter a tavern, according to the 22nd Canon of the Seventh Ecumenical Council. Whoever disregards this is to be excommunicated. Moreover, even if he becomes drunk outside a tavern, he is to be suspended for five weeks, according to the 95th Canon of the Nomokanon.

Canon 118 #

Monks are to fast on Mondays throughout the year, just as they do on Wednesdays and Fridays. Additionally, apart from the common fasts, they should abstain from eating meat on all days, according to the 216th and 218th Canons of the Nomokanon.

Canon 119 #

If a monk kisses a woman or a youth, he is to refrain from Communion for forty days, according to the 130th Canon of the Nomokanon. For it is not fitting for him to kiss women or children—even on the day of the Resurrection of Christ—not even his own mother.

Canon 120 #

If a monk falls into fornication, he is to be excommunicated from Holy Communion—for seven years if he is of the lesser monastic habit, and for fifteen years if he is of the great schema.

Canon 121 #

A woman who deliberately destroys the child conceived in her womb is to be condemned as a murderer and excommunicated from Holy Communion for ten years, according to the 21st Canon of the Council of Ancyra and the 2nd of Basil the Great.

Canon 122 #

Under the same condemnation fall those who provide poisonous herbs to destroy the child conceived in the womb, according to the 71st and 72nd Canons of the Nomokanon.

Canon 123 #

If a woman miscarried unwillingly, she is to abstain from Holy Communion for one year, according to the 74th Canon of the Nomokanon.

Canon 124 #

If a woman abandons her infant in hopes that someone else will take it and raise it, she is to be excommunicated for ten years, according to the 73rd Canon of the Nomokanon.

Canon 125 #

If a woman gives birth while traveling and abandons her newborn so that it dies, she is guilty of murder, according to the 33rd Canon of Basil the Great. But if, due to captivity or other extreme necessity, she was unable to save both the child and herself, then she is not condemned, according to the 52nd Canon of Basil the Great. However, if she kills her child in her sleep, she is to be excommunicated for seven years, according to the 68th Canon of the Nomokanon.

A Consideration Concerning Prohibitions #

Basil the Great, in his 74th canon, speaks thus:

If any person, having fallen into great sins, confesses and becomes zealous in correction, then the one who has received from the love of mankind of God the authority to bind and loose shall not be deserving of condemnation if, seeing the fervent confession of the sinner, he becomes more merciful and shortens the penance. For the narratives of Holy Scripture show us that those who confess with great effort more readily receive the mercy of God.

And again in his 84th canon he declares:

We do not judge this matter according to time alone, but rather look to the manner of repentance. If some are held fast by their habits and prefer to serve the pleasures of the flesh rather than the Lord, and do not accept the Gospel way of life, then we have nothing in common with such people. For we are taught, among a disobedient and gainsaying people, to hear the words: “Save thyself, escape for thy life” (Genesis 19:17).

Matthew the Canonist cites a judgment of John the Faster regarding the shortening of penances in this way:

*In the excommunications of sinners from holy communion for a certain number of years, neither Basil the Great nor any of the other ancient and wondrous Fathers established for those being excommunicated any particular fast, nor vigils, nor prostrations, but only a withholding from holy communion. Yet to those who sincerely repent, who labor to weary the flesh by harsh living, and who conduct themselves virtuously in opposition to their former wickedness, it is appropriate to reduce the time of penance according to the measure of their abstinence, as follows:

Whoever vows to abstain from wine for a set period, let one year be subtracted from the prohibition prescribed by the paternal canons. If he vows not to eat meat for a designated time, let another year be removed. If he refrains from cheese and eggs, or from fish or oil, then for each act of abstinence let one year be subtracted. And not only by fasting, but also by frequent prostrations which render God merciful, the time of penance may be shortened—especially if someone vows to give alms not less than his ability permits. And if anyone shows zeal in adopting a God-loving monastic life, he shall receive forgiveness more swiftly.

Above all, if someone leads a life marked by suffering suitable to his former sins, then grant such a one forgiveness all the sooner.*

Such a reduction of penance is indicated even at the very beginning of the Nomokanon, and with even greater detail regarding this matter. However, the Nomokanon concludes the matter thus:

But if anyone is unwilling to perform the aforementioned virtues for the sake of lessening the penance, then let him fulfill in full the number of years of prohibition as prescribed in the canons. The number of years of prohibition is to be counted from the moment the individual begins to abstain from the sin, including also any time of such abstinence that might be found even before confession.

But if those who are under a term of years fall again into the sins due to their evil habits—sins which incur further periods of prohibition—such persons are not to receive communion ever, unless after many years the spiritual father is convinced that they will sin no more, and upon their faithful observance of abstinence even for a single Lent (the Forty Days), he may allow them to commune during the three days of Holy Pascha. This is done to guard them from falling into greater spiritual recklessness due to their constant exclusion from the holy mysteries, as is indicated in the Great Euchologion (Trebnik), on folio 160, in the instruction to confessors before confession.

Note: The canons of the Council of Carthage, as found in the Slavonic Kormchaia, do not correspond numerically to those in the full Greek translation; in the Kormchaia they are numbered forward from around the 30s. But here, the canons of the Council of Carthage are numbered according to the full (Greek) translation, and not according to the Kormchaia. For the examination of those being ordained to the priesthood, see Canon 65.

Instruction to Confessors #

Let it also be known regarding this matter, that in our times there has arisen a custom: confessors, upon hearing a penitent’s admission of one sin or another—even one deserving, according to the holy canons, of long excommunication from Holy Communion—nonetheless respond to each confession with the phrase: “God will forgive.” And this practice has now become almost universal. Yet it is not attested in the Divine Scriptures, nor is it fully in agreement with the righteousness of God. For Christ granted His power on earth to forgive sins to the holy Apostles and to their successors in the following manner: “He breathed on the Apostles and said: Receive ye the Holy Ghost; whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained” (John 20:22–23).

Hence, they are to not only forgive sins but also to retain them, so long as a person remains in transgression of any of God’s commandments. Therefore, if a man confesses to a confessor a single transgression of the divine commandments, he has not thereby yet merited the remission of that sin. A sinner earns the forgiveness of his sin only when he not only turns away from evil, but also does good, as the prophet and king David has sung: “Turn away from evil and do good” (Psalm 33:14).

But the one who refuses to accept such a disposition, who persists in the sin of transgressing the commandments of God, according to the judgment of the holy canons is not to be admitted to Communion in the Holy Mysteries of the Body and Blood of Christ—and thereby remains held fast in his sins. And if such a one demands of his confessor that he say “God will forgive” in response to every transgression of God’s commandments, this is scarcely different from seeking a blessing for the future continuation of his iniquities, as the crude saying goes: “Now I’ve dumped all my sins on the priest.”

Such a man imagines that the confessor’s saying “God will forgive” proves that he has fully repented, even if he continues in his sinful deeds. Therefore, such persons ought first to be subjected to some sort of penance, and only then may the words “God will forgive” be said to them.

St. Nikon of the Black Mountain writes in the 14th discourse of his book Taktikon that:

In confession, one must examine carefully and not presumptuously pronounce forgiveness, lest by this one fall into heresies and other downfalls. For instance, the Messalian (or Euchite) heresy taught that sins could be forgiven without priestly authority or ordination, contrary to the proper rule.

Listen, my father, to this testimony from the Divine Scriptures: when God sent the prophet Nathan to rebuke King David for his sin, He sent an angel with him, lest the king become proud and refuse the rebuke—whereupon the angel would strike him down. But when the prophet rebuked him, and the king accepted the rebuke with repentance, the prophet saw the angel turn his weapon away, and thus dared to pronounce forgiveness.

Therefore, my father, even now the divine Fathers command that the priest should look for the fruits of repentance, and then pronounce forgiveness.

And again, we speak of those who presumptuously forgive sins for the sake of their own desires, and also of those who presumptuously receive such forgiveness. Let us bring forth an example from antiquity—of a certain magister and dux of Antioch, who was said to be taught from above. He was often accompanied by two renowned monks (priests) of that time, and he, being a man, would sometimes fall into temptation at night. Every time this happened, he would receive forgiveness from the monks without examination. But the prince, being discerning, reproached them, saying: “Why do you act thus, and forgive me before God Himself has forgiven me? Go, and find what penance applies.”

And after being told to recite Psalm 50 three times, make fifty prostrations, and abstain from Holy Communion for a single day, when he heard the excommunication and the penance, he made prostrations before all. Then, hearing the monks pronounce forgiveness, he said: “Now I know, fathers, that God has also forgiven me. Therefore, I beseech you, from now on, do not pronounce forgiveness before God Himself has forgiven, nor speak those words lightly.” (Taktikon, folio 70)

The same understanding—that we should not hasten to forgive before God forgives—is found in the following account concerning our holy father Gregory, Bishop of Agrigento. When he was falsely accused by a certain woman of fornication, she was tormented by a demon for two years and six months. At last, during a synodal trial, she was healed by the prayers of St. Gregory, and repented publicly, falling at his feet and saying with tears:

“Have mercy on me, O servant of God, and forgive me, a wretched sinner, for I have grievously wronged you. As the Lord my God liveth, I will not rise from thy feet until thou grant me forgiveness.”

And he answered her:

“It is not ours to forgive sins, but God’s alone, the all-wise One. It is for us to beseech Him for the forgiveness of sins.”

And so I shall entreat His mercy concerning you, that He may forgive your sins.” And he lifted her up from the ground.

According to this same teaching, the rite of confession is composed: after completing the inquiries about sins and hearing the general confession of the penitent, the priest-confessor is to implore the mercy of God upon the one who has sinned through the prayers of absolution, and then declare forgiveness in the following form:

“Child (or children), Christ invisibly forgiveth thee (or you), and I, a sinner.”

This declaration of forgiveness is sufficient for all that the penitent has confessed in his confession. And even this forgiveness is only truly effective for those who fulfill all the counsels of their confessor given to them on the basis of the holy canons—whatever they may be.

However, if due to certain circumstances, the canonical prescriptions are impossible to fulfill for a particular penitent, then even a single verbal confession of sins from a contrite heart may secure forgiveness of sins, as seen in Chapter 41 of the Kormchaia, in the discourse of the monk Nil to the presbyter Chariklius, who was harshly reproving those who had sinned.

Yet, even so, verbal confession of sins without replacing them with good deeds is more truly efficacious only for those departing from this life—when they are no longer able to do good works or even to continue in their former sins. And only when sin has ceased should verbal confession be deemed effective for all in general.

Admonition to Penitents #

Brethren, you have come to repent of your sins—therefore, understand the power of true repentance. Repentance is a sacrament of the Church; but every sacrament of the Church is called such precisely because, under some visible sign, the invisible grace of God is imparted.

In the sacrament of repentance, the visible sign is the voluntary confession of one’s iniquities to a priest, and the invisible grace bestowed is the forgiveness of those sins—according to the word of God spoken through the prophet: “I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for Mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. Put Me in remembrance; let us plead together: declare thou first thy iniquities, that thou mayest be justified” (Isaiah 43:25–26).

But true repentance does not consist merely in telling one’s sins to someone—it requires that they be confessed specifically to a priest of God, who, through the succession of ordination, bears that grace-filled gift of Christ through the Holy Spirit: “Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained” (John 20:22–23). And again: “Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 18:18).

Moreover, one must confess not in a casual or offhand manner—as if merely recounting a tale of one’s deeds—but with a sense of shame and grief over the sin, hating it so deeply that one resolves never again to return to it, neither in deed nor in thought. True forgiveness of sins consists not merely in the priest absolving the penitent, but in forgiving only when the penitent has demonstrated, in deed, that he has indeed forsaken the sin.

Yet sins are not all alike. This is why the holy Apostles and Fathers established rules indicating how Christ may receive repentant sinners into communion through His most pure Mysteries. These sacred canons prescribe the exclusion of law-breaking sinners from holy communion—some until they have shown heartfelt contrition and hatred of sin, and made a vow never to return to it. Others, even with such repentance, are excluded from Holy Communion for a certain number of years: partly to ensure they have truly renounced their evil habit, and also that by good deeds and the passage of time, the wrath of God, which they have aroused, may be appeased.

For grievous sinners who have done nothing to obtain the mercy of God, if they dare to approach the Holy Mysteries, only bring upon themselves even greater condemnation. As the Apostle says: “He that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself” (1 Corinthians 11:29).

Therefore, every one of you, brethren, who desires to obtain the forgiveness of sins, must declare them all sincerely to your spiritual father—exactly as they were committed, in form and in meaning, neither diminishing them nor placing the blame on others. One should not seek from the spiritual father permission to commune as the main goal, but rather a just penance for one’s sins—and not be grieved even if this penance must last several years. For when a man bears the penance or prohibition of his spiritual father zealously, then even without communion of the Holy Mysteries he becomes unassailable to the devil—as is testified in the Prologue for March 24.

Instruction For the Priest Confessor #

And you, O spiritual father, when you question the penitent, do so with humility. Question him about everything with love and gentleness. Do not show any sign of astonishment, no matter what the sin confessed may be.

If one is confessing for the first time, teach him how to respond to your questions. Say to him:

“I will ask you about sins that occur among mankind, and you should respond to each question. If your conscience bears witness to this sin in you, say: ‘I have sinned before God.’ And if your conscience does not accuse you, then say: ‘From this may the Lord preserve me.’”

In more serious sins, the confessor must even inquire into the manner of the sin: how it occurred—was it by accident or with prolonged intention, by free will or under compulsion? For the holy canons assign different penances depending on the nature of the transgression.

If it is a sin of the flesh, the confessor must take care to ask only about the time when the sin was committed, the place, and a general designation of the person involved—whether it was a layperson, or someone in monastic or clerical orders. But proper names should not be spoken, for the penitent comes to repent of his own sins, not to accuse or defame others.

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