Archbishop Jaenberht Against Uncanonical Roman Encroachment

 

The 785 Synod of Caelchythe in England is sometime called the "Legatine Synod" because legates of Pope St. Adrian were called to preside [specifically Bishop Gregory of Ostia, and another Bishop, Theophylact]. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Jaenberht, and other Bishops, were, of course, present.

One issue that arose was what happened if the Church of Old Rome were to grant privileges to churches or sees which ran contrary to the Canons? The Fathers of Caelchythe stated the following in Canon 8:

"That ancient privileges conferred on churches by the holy Roman see be preserved. BUT if any have been granted contrary to the canonical institutes, in compliance with wicked men, LET THEM BE CANCELLED."
https://books.google.com/books?id=pdQGAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA270&dq=That+ancient+privileges+conferred+on+churches+by+the+holy+Roman&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwipo7XTuvjWAhVBbiYKHRrOC0wQ6AEIMTAC#v=onepage&q=That%20ancient%20privileges%20conferred%20on%20churches%20by%20the%20holy%20Roman&f=false

Letter of the German Bishops Against Hildebrand ['Gregory VII']

 

Letter of the Bishops to Gregory VII., Jan. 24, 1076.

We, Siegfried archbishop of Mainz, Udo of Treves, William of Utrecht, Herrman of Metz, Henry of Laudun, Ricbert of Verdun, Bibo of Touts, Hozemann of Spires, Burkhard of Halberstadt, Werner of Strasburg, Burkhard of Basel, Otto of Constance, Adalbero of Wurzburg, Rodbert of Bamberg, Otto of Ratisbon, Ellinard of Frising, Odalric Of Eichstadt, Frederick of Munster, Eilbert of Minden, Hezil of Hildesheim, Benno of Osnabruck, Eppo of Naples. Imadus of Paderborn, Tiedo of Brandenburg, Burkhard of Ijausanne, Bruno of Verona: to brother Hildebrand.

Bishop Ulrich of Imola's "Apology (Defense) of the Married Clergy)

 

Apology of the married clergy

a real letter from XI century

by Ulrich, Bishop of Imola

________________________________

ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND THE LETTER

We know very few things concerning the author of this letter-apology. Ulrich was bishop of Imola (near Ravenna, Italy) from 1053 to 1074, year of his death. In AD 1059 the bishop wrote this letter to Pope Nicholas II, in order to defend his married clergy from the new pro-celibate reforms in the breast of the Roman Church. The epistle's style is redundant and rethoric, typical of some Patristics. In the letter many public people are called to remembrance but without their name, perhaps to not scandalize the Pope, or maybe for they were already well known to the corrispondent.

ULRICH - BY GOD'S GRACE BISHOP OF IMOLA

TO HIS HOLYNESS NICHOLAS THE SECOND, POPE OF OLD ROME

Me, Ulrich, bishop by name, son in love but servant in fear, to the guardian of the Roman See.

As I Had found no sense of the measure, oh father and lord, in your decrees on the continence of clerics, which had recently come to me, fear and sadness troubled me a single feeling. Fear, since it is written: "the opinion of those who command, both right and wrong, must be respected" (St. Gregory the Great, Homily in Evang., II 26,6). In fact, I was worried for those who find it difficult to stick to the Scriptures, because they, who barely obey a just prescription, once they have transgressed the unjust - an oppressive, indeed intolerable disposition of their pastor - would no longer feel bound from the commandments. I was sad and in pain as I thought how much the members needed their head, invalidated by such a large body. What is more serious, what is more worthy of the compassion of the whole Church than you, bishop of the highest See, which is called to herd everyone, you have lost the sense of moderation (1)? And not just from this you have deviated, when you wanted to force the clerics to abandon the marriage with a certain violence, while you should have only exhorted them. Is it not, in the judgment of all the masters of the faith, violence that compels us to obey arbitrary decisions, taken against the gospel rule and the teaching of the Holy Spirit? Since there are plenty of examples of the Old and New Testaments in favor of moderation, you know, after all, and I beg your paternity of not bothering to have anyone mentioned in these pages.

Translation of Hincmar of Rheims' 852 Capitularies Now Available Online

 

The 852 Capiularies promulgated by Archbishop Hincmar of Rheims are translated online for free here:

http://hincmar.blogspot.com/2016/03/hincmar-of-rheims-first-episcopal.html

The advice given by Archbishop Hincmar in 852 for the conduct of priests is as valuable and necessary now as it was then.

In regards to the Eulogia [Antidoron], express mention is made in Capitulary 7. The oblations of bread which were not used for the Consecration, and therefore, were unconsecrated, but left over, were blessed to be given out at the end of Mass:

"That the priest should cut up in a clean and suitable container the oblations which were offered by the people and were left over after consecration, and the bread which the faithful brought to church, or his own bread. After the service of Mass, those who were not prepared for Communion may take them as gifts [*eulogia*], on every Sunday and on feast days. And let the priest bless it with these words before he gives it out as *eulogia *to those who take it, and let him take care the crumbs do not carelessly fall out:

PRAYER
“O Lord, holy Father, omnipotent eternal God, deign to bless this bread with your holy and spiritual blessing, so that to all those eating it with faith, reverence and gratitude to you, it shall be the safety of mind and body, and a defence against all diseases and all attacks of their enemies. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your son, the bread of life, who descended from heaven and gives life and salvation to the world, and lives and reigns with you as God, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen.”