Supplementary Canons. Canons of Saint John the Faster

Canon 1

Whoever has irrationally denied Christ, without any compulsion, may, according to canon 73 of Basil the Great, be granted communion only when at the point of death, and no one may release him from this penance, nor may anyone dare to show him any indulgence. (Saint Gregory of Nyssa, however, having set forth in order everything concerning apostates, subjects to the same penalty those who, without any compulsion, pass from the faith into error, prescribing that the duration of the penalty is to be measured by the duration of the sinner’s life; but those who did this because they were compelled by others he subjects to the penance appointed for fornication, that is, nine years. The council of Ancyra, the hieromartyr Peter of Alexandria, and Basil the Great in his canon 81 divide apostates in this same way.) — But today the church chiefly follows what the holy patriarch of Constantinople Methodius established and determined, and accordingly deals in general with those who are found, in one way or another, in this transgression. According to that determination of St. Methodius, if someone, while still a child, was seized by the impious and, out of fear, or ignorance, or lack of understanding of the faith, was compelled to deny the faith, and afterward, upon becoming an adult, turns again to the Christian life and enters the catholic church with repentance and confession, let him hear, every day from a priest, up to the seventh day, the four appointed prayers, and on the eighth day let him be washed; then let him take off his clothing and gird himself with a linen cloth, and then let him be anointed with holy chrism, in the very same manner as those newly baptized, and after that let him be granted holy communion; and for another eight days let him be continually in the churches at the holy services, just as those newly baptized. This same mercy shall also be granted to one who was seized by the impious as already an adult, and who was compelled by torments to deny his faith. Except that such a person must, before all else, fast for two periods of forty days, abstaining from meat, cheese, and eggs, and, on three days each week, from wine and oil as well, and during this holy time let him pray and prostrate himself as much as he is able. Then, when this period of two times forty days is completed, let him for seven days hear daily the prayers of propitiation, and on the eighth day, as with the one mentioned above, let him be washed and anointed, and be granted communion of the holy mystery, and for another eight days let him be present at the church services. But a terrible penalty awaits the one who denied the faith without any compulsion whatsoever; yet by God’s ineffable love for mankind, such a one too must be mercifully treated. Let such a person, then, fast for two years, abstaining from meat, cheese, and eggs, and, on three days each week, from oil and wine as well, performing each day, according to his strength, one or two hundred prostrations. When the two years are completed, let him too, for seven days, hear the prayers of propitiation, and for the rest let him be dealt with as has been said above.

(Basil the Great 3, 73, 81, 84; Peter of Alexandria 1–14; Gregory of Nyssa 2).

— This and the other canons of John the Faster, which we present here according to the Athenian Syntagma, are not, in their text, exactly identical to those canons which the Faster himself composed. The canons themselves, or more precisely the Kanonikon of the Faster, in its original wording most likely no longer exists today. This Kanonikon was a manual for confessors in imposing the appropriate penances for various sins, and nearly every confessor copied out this same book for himself, adding in the course of copying other canons as well for cases which John himself had perhaps not foreseen. From the work of these various confessors it came about, over the course of time, that the Faster’s kanonikon eventually lost its original form, and among the many differing recensions of this book it was no longer known which was the original, and which was to be regarded as the true Kanonikon of the Faster. On this account many had already begun to abandon this kanonikon, and it began to lose its former authority. In the fourteenth century Matthew Blastares restored the former importance of the Faster’s book. He compiled from that book a rather extensive synopsis (in 48 canons) and appended it at the end of his alphabetical Syntagma. This synopsis of Blastares, like his Syntagma itself, gained general recognition in the Eastern Church, and through this synopsis the canons of John the Faster once again came into general use. — This synopsis of Blastares is found in a great many old Greek manuscripts, and it is from one such manuscript that it was printed in the Athenian Syntagma. There the canons of the Faster are given with the title which we have reprinted in footnote 97 on page 37 of Book I. And according to this same synopsis, the canons of the Faster are also found in Old Serbian manuscripts of Blastares’ Syntagma, as noted by Professor T. D. Florinsky in his book Monuments of the Legislative Activity of Tsar Dušan of the Serbs and Greeks (Kiev, 1888, p. 309 and following). — From this remark, which we have found it necessary to place right at the beginning of these canons of the Faster, the individual canons will also be understood which, in their text, are not entirely the Faster’s own. All the canons of the Faster are divided into three groups. This division follows the one set out by Gregory of Nyssa in his first canon, according to the three movements of the human soul: the rational, the desiring, and the irascible (τὸ λογιστικόν, ἐπιθυμητικόν καὶ θυμοειδές), from which various sins may arise. And just as Gregory of Nyssa mentions, in order, the sins corresponding to these movements of the soul, so too do the canons of the Faster. In the original of Blastares’ synopsis of the Faster’s kanonikon, the respective groups of canons also have titles, in keeping with this same division: the first group entitled ‘concerning sins of the rational part’ (περὶ τοῦ λογιστικοῦ [μέρους τῆς ψυχῆς] ἁμαρτήματα), and containing, as in Gregory of Nyssa, canons on sins against the faith (canons 1 and 2); the second group, ‘concerning the desiring part’ (περὶ τοῦ ἐπιθυμητικοῦ μέρους), containing the canons (4–30) on sins against morals; and the third group, ‘concerning the irascible part of the soul’ (περὶ τοῦ θυμικοῦ τῆς ψυχῆς μέρους), setting out the canons (31–48) on sins against love of neighbor. Except for seven canons, all the rest in this synopsis of the kanonikon derive from John the Faster; and of these seven, canons 1, 2, and 16 contain interpolations by Blastares, while canons 22, 23, 26, and 27 were composed by Blastares himself. This (1st) canon is divided into two parts. The first part, in which the canons of the council of Ancyra and of the fathers Peter of Alexandria, Basil the Great, and Gregory of Nyssa are mentioned, concerning those who denied the Christian faith, belongs to John the Faster, who holds that the ordinance of these canons should be followed in imposing penance when an apostate returns to the church in repentance. The second part of the canon belongs to Blastares, who added to the Faster’s canon the decree of the council of Constantinople under Patriarch Methodius (842–846) concerning the manner of receiving into the church those who had denied Christ—a decree which was in force in Blastares’ own time.

Canon 2

Those who practice divination and sorcery are subjected by the divine Basil, in his canon 65, to the same penalty as murderers, which lasts twenty years; likewise, in canon 72, those who believe diviners, or simply incline to their side. Gregory of Nyssa, for his part, in his canon 2 (3), according to his own division of sins, directs that those who, defiling our faith, resort to sorcerers, are to be punished as apostates; but those who turn to sorcerers out of faintheartedness or under someone’s compulsion, he directs to be subjected to the penalty of adulterers. And canon 61 of the sixth council condemns the latter to a six-year penalty. Canon 24 of the council of Ancyra, however, extends the penance for such persons to only five years—in connection with which canon 36 of the council of Laodicea should be read, which sets out the difference on this matter in detail. But John the Faster, for those who practice divination and sorcery, shortened the repentance to three years, provided it is shown that they fast diligently every day and content themselves every day, after the ninth hour, with only dry and hard food, while performing, each day, two hundred and fifty prostrations, devoutly touching the ground with their forehead. He subjects to this same penalty also the women who prepare amulets and practice sorcery.

(Trullo 61, 65; Ancyra 24; Laodicea 36; Basil the Great 7 …)

— This canon was composed by Blastares according to the corresponding original canon of John the Faster. At the beginning it mentions the canons of the councils and fathers against those who practice sorcery, and then it relates what the Faster established against such sinners.

Canon 3

This shortening by us (says John the Faster) of the time of repentance should not seem to those who judge correctly to be without foundation. For, since neither in the great father Basil, nor in our older divine fathers, is any fast prescribed for sinners, nor any vigil, nor any number of prostrations, but only exclusion from holy communion, it has seemed to us that, for those who repent sincerely and are ready to subdue their body by strict discipline and to order their life in a manner that offsets their former vice, it is fitting, according to the kind and degree of their abstinence, to measure and shorten the time of repentance accordingly. For example, if someone vows not to drink wine on certain days, we agree that the penance established by the fathers for his transgression be reduced by one year; likewise, if someone vows to abstain from meat for a set time, we agree that his penance be reduced by another year; or to abstain from cheese and eggs, or from fish and oil, we agree that for abstaining from each such thing his penance be reduced by one year each. The same should be done when someone, by frequent prostrations, seeks to propitiate God for himself, or shows a fervent and unforced willingness to give alms. And we shall shorten the penalty still more, when we see that, after his sin, the person concerned devotes himself to a devout and solitary life.

(1 Ecum. 12; 4 Ecum. 16; Trullo 102; Ancyra 5; Basil the Great 74).

— Between the penances for various sins prescribed by John the Faster, and the penances prescribed by the councils and fathers of earlier times in their canons, a great difference is observed. The latter penances are strict, while the Faster’s are much milder for individual sins. So that this should not strike the zealots of the fathers’ institutions as objectionable, the Faster found it well to explain this matter in this canon of his, in order to justify why in his canons he shortens the time of repentance by half, and sometimes by more than half. He points out that Basil the Great and the other holy fathers, for various sins, prescribed only the exclusion of the sinner concerned from holy communion (μόνη τῆς ἱερᾶς ἀποχὴ κοινωνίας) for a longer or shorter time, and did not take into account fasting, vigil, and prostrations as kinds of penance which, given the sinner’s sincere repentance, might allow him to be granted communion sooner than he would otherwise be granted it, were he not to submit to fasting, vigil, and prostrations. This circumstance the Faster now stresses here, and says that if he shortens the time of repentance for certain sinners who subdue their body and submit to fasting, prayer, and prostrations, he permits them to be granted holy communion even before the time prescribed by the older canons—which do not mention these means of repentance—and that this shortening of time by him must be regarded as entirely well-founded by everyone who wishes to judge rightly (τοῖς ὀρθῶς λογιζομένοις), the more so since Basil the Great himself authorizes this in his canon 74; and after this the Faster gives an example of how this shortening of the time of repentance can and should be carried out according to the kind of penance of the sinner concerned. In any case, this shortening of the time of repentance, of which the Faster speaks, applies only to certain specific sins, whereas for all other, graver sins he regards as binding those penances that are prescribed in the older canons; and he regards these penances as binding also for those sins for which he prescribes milder penances in his kanonikon, if the person concerned does not diligently fulfill, with regard to fasting and prostrations, the prescriptions of his canons, as we shall see further on. This altogether reasonable and well-founded judgment of John the Faster was nevertheless not to the liking of the strict zealots of the old prescriptions on penances, who even pointed out that such great indulgence toward sinners was ruinous for many. To the question of the monks of Mount Athos to the patriarch of Constantinople Nicholas (1086–1111), whether the Faster’s kanonikon should be followed in imposing penances, Nicholas answered, as we shall see further on, in the sense we have just stated; he answered that this kanonikon, by its great indulgence, had ruined many. Little by little this opinion of John’s canons changed, and they passed into general use in the Eastern Church, so that today confessors in Greece are bound to impose penances at confession only according to these canons.

Canon 4

The impression of an unclean thought upon the heart cannot be subject to penance, if the sin has not been committed.

— According to this canon no penance whatsoever is imposed on a man who does not nurture unclean thoughts within himself—even though they may occur to him—but struggles against them and in the end overcomes them.

Canon 5

An unclean thought (in which the heart also shares) is cleansed by twelve prostrations.

— If an unclean thought takes hold also of a man’s heart and develops in his soul, so that he becomes inclined to sin, then such a man must undergo penance, that he may cleanse his soul.

Canon 6

In the struggle against the passions a man may earn either a reward or a punishment. He will earn a reward if in the struggle against the passions he does not yield to them but conquers them, and he will incur punishment if he does not have the strength to resist them, but allows them to overcome him. The punishment shall be measured according to the gravity of the sin.

Canon 7

He who yields to unclean thoughts has thereby brought punishment upon himself, and is not without guilt.

— This canon is an explanation of the preceding three canons (4, 5, and 6), and states that a man is himself to blame if he incurs punishment, since he did not have the strength to set virtue against the passions, for he has deserved the punishment himself.

Canon 8

He who is defiled in sleep by an emission is deprived of communion for one day, and shall be reckoned cleansed of the impurity if he reads the fiftieth psalm and performs forty-nine prostrations.

(Dionysius of Alex. 4; Athanasius 1; Timothy of Alex. 19)

Canon 9

He who, while awake, is defiled by an emission must be kept from communion until the seventh day, and each day must read the fiftieth psalm and perform forty-nine prostrations.

(Dionysius of Alex. 4; Athanasius 1; Timothy of Alex. 12)

Canon 10

He who commits self-abuse is subjected to a penance of forty days, which he shall spend in dry-eating, performing a hundred prostrations each day.

Canon 11

When two persons commit impurity with one another, since they have thereby committed a twofold self-abuse, they are subjected to the aforementioned penance for eighty days.

Canon 12

If some cleric has fallen into the passion of self-abuse before his ordination to the priesthood, and fears that on this account he may perhaps not be received into the priesthood, let him be freely received, but only after he has undergone sufficient penance. But if after ordination he falls into this, let his priestly service be suspended for a year, and when he has undergone the appropriate penance, let him again be received into the priesthood. But if, even after confessing his sin, he falls a second and a third time, he must be deprived of the priesthood and placed in the rank of readers.

Canon 13

A woman is also subjected to the penance for self-abuse who kisses a man and comes into contact with him, even though she is not defiled.

Canon 14

The 4th canon of St Gregory of Nyssa deprives a fornicator of the Holy Mysteries for nine years, while the 59th canon of Basil the Great does so for seven years.

Canon 15

The 21st canon of Basil the Great prescribes that he who has a wife and commits fornication deserves a greater punishment than one who has no wife and falls into that passion.

(Basil the Great 9, 19, 21, 26, 84, 37, 39, 58, 59, 77, …)

Canon 16

The 60th canon of Basil the Great subjects monks, as well as consecrated women, to the penance for adultery for fornication, because they have broken their bond with their spiritual bridegroom Christ; while the 44th canon of the Council in Trullo commands that a monk who commits fornication be punished no more severely than a layman. We, however (says John the Faster), consider that everyone who commits fornication shall not commune for two years, provided he is willing each day, after the ninth hour, to content himself with dry food and to perform two hundred and fifty prostrations. If he is unwilling to do this, let him fulfil the entire time of penance which the Fathers have prescribed.

(IV Ecum. 16; Trullo 44; Ancyra 19; Carthage 16; Basil the Great 6, 18, 19, 20, 44, 60)

— Blastares added to this canon of the Faster the ordinance of the 44th canon of the Council in Trullo, and this explains the mention of the Faster within the text of the canon.

Canon 17

Defilements that occur by force, from violent men or masters, [the Fathers] determined are not subject to condemnation, and this was specifically determined by Basil the Great in his 49th canon.

(Ancyra 11; Gregory of Neocaesarea 2; Basil the Great 30, 49)

Canon 18

For clerics who commit fornication, the 32nd canon of Basil the Great commands that they be deposed, but not excommunicated.

(Ap. 25, 29, 30; I Ecum. 9; Trullo 4, 21; Neocaesarea 1, …)

Canon 19

Concerning those in a second marriage, Basil the Great says in his 4th canon that some prescribed one year of penance, others two years; those in a third marriage, however, are excommunicated for three or four years; and from custom, he says, we have adopted the practice of excommunicating those in a third marriage for five years, but their marriage is not to be dissolved, if they have no children from the earlier marriages.

(Ap. 17; I Ecum. 8; Trullo 3, 87; Ancyra 19; Neocaesarea …)

Canon 20

The 4th canon of Gregory of Nyssa deprives an adulterer of communion for eighteen years, while the 58th canon of Basil the Great permits him to commune after fifteen years; the 20th canon of the Council of Ancyra, however, states that the penance may be completed after seven years. But we consider that an adulterer may be deemed worthy of communion after three years, if he is willing each day, after the ninth hour, to content himself with dry food and to perform two hundred and fifty prostrations. If he is unwilling to do this, he must wait until the time established by the Fathers has elapsed.

(Basil the Great 9, 21, 31, 35, 36, 46, 48, 58, 71, 80; Gregory of Nyssa 4)

Canon 21

He cannot enter the priesthood whose wife has been caught in adultery, as the 8th canon of the Council of Neocaesarea states. It commands that he must either put away the wife caught in adultery after her husband’s ordination, or he himself must renounce the priesthood.

(Ap. 18; Trullo 3, 6, 13, 26; Neocaesarea 8; Basil the Great 27)

Canon 22

The 98th canon of the Council in Trullo condemns as an adulterer everyone who wishes to take as his lawful wife a maiden who is betrothed to another.

(Trullo 98; Ancyra 11; Basil the Great 22, 69)

Canon 23

If an Orthodox man takes a heretical wife, or vice versa, the 72nd canon of the Council in Trullo commands that such a marriage is to be dissolved as unlawful. Should the persons concerned nonetheless remain in such a marriage, they are to be excommunicated.

(IV Ecum. 14; Trullo 72; Laodicea 10, 81; Carthage 21)

— Both these canons (22 and 23) were inserted by Blastares into the synopsis of the Faster’s canonical code.

Canon 24

Among those who defile their own blood, he who commits fornication with his own sister is, according to Basil the Great, deprived of communion for fifteen years. But we ordain that such a man may be deemed worthy of communion after three years, if he fasts every day and contents himself only in the evening with dry food, and performs five hundred prostrations.

(Basil the Great 67, 68, 75; Gregory of Nyssa 11)

Canon 25

He who commits fornication with his daughter-in-law must, according to Basil the Great, be deprived of communion for eleven years; but we say, only for two years, if he is willing each day to content himself with dry food after the ninth hour and to perform three hundred prostrations. If he is unwilling to carry this out, let him fulfil the entire time of repentance established by the Fathers.

(Ap. 19; Trullo 26, 54; Neocaesarea 2; Basil the Great 23, 97, …)

Canon 26

The same penances ought also to apply to one who, while remaining in the marital bond with his wife, is carried away by passion with his mother-in-law, in accordance with the rule that what was fixed at the beginning must remain unmoved, whatever may happen. But the holy and divine council now ordains that those who commit such an accursed sin must remain without communion for six years, or must be subjected to the following rule: for the first six months they must abstain entirely from cooked food, coming continually when the holy services are held in church, unless prevented by some illness or unavoidable necessity, and must stand outside the church and with tears beg God to forgive them their sin; nor may they receive the antidoron during this time, nor drink holy water, should this occur on the eve of Theophany, but may only devoutly eat plain bread in honor of the Holy Trinity and as a pledge of God’s love for mankind; likewise they may not kiss the holy icons, but only their base, and this in complete pious fear. And for all six years they must perform a hundred prostrations every day, except on Saturday and Sunday, and every Wednesday and Friday they must keep a xerophagic fast, without fish, wine, or oil. For two years (after those first six months) they may stand in the church, but behind the chanters, and listen to the divine hymns. For the remaining three and a half years they may stand in the church together with the faithful and pray with them, and when the sixth year is completed, they may then be deemed worthy of communion. But they must also do this besides: give alms as much as they are able, especially on the aforementioned fast days, that is, Wednesdays and Fridays; and in particular, distribute to the poor all that they had been permitted to eat before falling under the penalty, and urge the poor to pray for them; also every week, if possible, send an offering to church for a liturgy—and abstain from lies and from oaths, which often lead to the breaking of an oath. Should they by chance fall into a serious illness, let them then be deemed worthy of divine communion; should they recover, let them be again at that degree of penance at which they stood before the communion granted them out of necessity, and let them strive, with as contrite a heart as with abundant tears, to wash away as much as possible the grave sin of the soul.

(Basil the Great 87)

— This too is one of those canons which Blastares himself inserted into the synopsis of the Faster’s canonical code. To the same penance which Basil the Great prescribes for one who commits fornication with his daughter-in-law (Basil the Great, canon 76), Blastares states that one who commits fornication with his mother-in-law ought likewise to be subject. But he immediately adds a synodal ordinance which reduced the eleven-year penance prescribed by Basil the Great to six years, and says that this ordinance was, in his own time—that is, in the fourteenth century—still in force. This synodal ordinance was established in the year 1232, under Patriarch Germanus II of Constantinople.

Canon 27

This same penalty applies also to sorcerers, to adulterers, to murderers, and to all who fall into grave transgressions—but according to zeal and disposition toward repentance, this same penalty is both shortened and increased.

— The note on the preceding canon (26) applies also to this canon.

Canon 28

The 2nd canon of St Dionysius, and likewise the 7th canon of Timothy, reminds women who are in their courses that they may not touch anything that is holy. This the old Law also prescribes; and it likewise forbids them to come together with their husbands, for from this it happens that what is sown becomes sickly and weak—and it was for this reason that the divine Moses stoned the father of a certain cripple, because that same father, on account of his wife’s incontinence, did not wait until she was purified. We command that every woman who during the time of her impurity disregards the law and approaches the divine mysteries be deprived of communion for forty days.

(Laodicea 44; Dionysius of Alex. 2; Timothy of Alex. 6, 7)

Canon 29

He who commits impurity with another male is, according to the 4th canon of Gregory of Nyssa, deprived of communion for eighteen years. But we have ordained that such a man be deprived of communion for three years, provided he prays contritely and fasts, and in the evening contents himself with dry food, and performs two hundred prostrations each day. If he is not diligent in this, let him complete the fifteen years of punishment.

(Basil the Great 7, 69; Gregory of Nyssa 4)

Canon 30

He who, while still a child, was defiled by someone cannot enter the priesthood, because although, being a minor, he did not sin, his body has been marred and rendered unfit for sacred service. But if, as a child, impurity was done to him between the thighs, he cannot, after the appropriate penance, be prevented from entering the priesthood.

(Gregory of Nyssa 4)

Canon 31

The old Law commands that a murderer be punished with death; but Basil the Great, by his 56th canon, deprives the offender of communion for twenty years for every voluntary killing, and for ten years for every involuntary killing. We, however, deprive of communion (for five years for voluntary killing, and for involuntary) for three years, if he who kills with his own hand fasts every day until evening, and in the evening contents himself with dry food, and performs three hundred prostrations. But if he is negligent in this, let him fulfil what the Fathers ordain. The 22nd canon of the Council of Ancyra, however, says that an earlier ordinance prescribes that those who commit involuntary homicide are to be kept from communion for seven years, while by another ordinance they must be without communion for five years.

(Ap. 65; Trullo 91; Ancyra 21, 22, 23; Basil the Great 2, …)

— In the Athenian Syntagma it is stated only: ‘we, however, deprive of communion for three years (εἰς τριετίαν).’ Since from such a text it cannot be understood who is subject, according to the Faster, to the three-year penance—the voluntary or the involuntary homicide—and since this very canon means to give an ordinance on that point, we have supplemented this text according to the Pedalion, where it stands: τὸν ἑκούσιον μὲν φόνον εἰς πενταετίαν, τὸν ἀκούσιον [εἰς τριετίαν]—and we have placed this in brackets in our translation of this canon.

Canon 32

Basil the Great, by his 13th canon, deprives of communion for three years those who have killed in wars, and likewise by his 55th canon those who rise up against robbers to repel them; clerics, however, he subjects to deposition.

(Gregory of Nyssa 5)

Canon 33

Concerning those women who artificially destroy the fetus in their womb, and who give or take various drugs in order to poison their offspring, so that the fetus may not come to maturity, Basil the Great, in his 2nd and 8th canons, says that they are liable to the penalty for homicide; but we ordain that such women be subjected at most to a five-year or a three-year penalty.

(Ap. 65; Trullo 91; Ancyra 21, 22, 23; Basil the Great …)

Canon 34

A woman who has unintentionally miscarried her child is subjected to a penance of one year.

(Ap. 65; Trullo 91; Ancyra 21, 22, 23; Basil the Great 2, …)

Canon 35

A woman who falls asleep upon her infant and thereby smothers it may be deemed worthy of communion only after three years, abstaining on appointed days from eating cheese, and diligently performing the other works of repentance. If this happened through the negligence or incontinence of the parent, then it is judged as intentional homicide; but if it happened without explicit fault, then it may be excused, yet he must nonetheless be subjected to a fitting penance, because it occurred on account of other sins.

Canon 36

A woman who abandons a newborn child, and it perishes through her negligence, is liable to the penalty for intentional homicide.

(Basil the Great 32, 52)

Canon 37

If, through the negligence of the parents, a child dies without baptism, the parents are deprived of communion for three years, and during this time must content themselves with dry food, and by prostrations, weeping, and as much almsgiving as possible strive to propitiate God toward themselves. If the child is only seven days old and dies without baptism, the parents are deprived of communion for about forty days and must confine themselves during that time to dry food and perform forty prostrations each day.

Canon 38

A nun who learns from others of an adultery or the defilement of a child, and does not report it to the superior, is subjected to the same penance as if she had committed it herself, according to the 71st canon of Basil the Great.

(Basil the Great 71)

Canon 39

The Law punishes as a murderess every woman who casts away her child near the entrance of a church, even though someone afterward takes up that child and adopts it.

(Basil the Great 33, 52)

Canon 40

Robbers are subjected to the condemnation for murder, because they employ killing in carrying out their business.

Canon 41

A thief, if he confesses his sin himself, is, according to the 61st canon of Basil the Great, excommunicated for one year; but if he was convicted of it, he is excommunicated for two years. We, however, deprive of communion for about forty days one who repents on his own, and for six months one who is convicted of theft, provided that during that time he contents himself with dry food after the ninth hour and performs a hundred prostrations each day.

(Basil the Great 61; Gregory of Neocaesarea 3, 4, 5; Gregory of Nyssa 6)

Canon 42

He who is caught stealing common property—what is called grand larceny—cannot enter the priesthood. And if he is caught in this after he has entered the priesthood, he is deprived of the priesthood according to the 25th canon of the Holy Apostles.

(Ap. 25, 72; Protodeutera 10; Gregory of Nyssa 6)

Canon 43

The 66th canon of Basil the Great commands that he who digs up graves and plunders them must remain without communion for ten years. But we leave him without communion for one year, if in the meantime he contents himself with dry food after the ninth hour and performs two hundred prostrations each day.

(Basil the Great 66; Gregory of Nyssa 7)

Canon 44

For the theft of sacred things St Gregory of Nyssa prescribes a lesser penalty than for adultery; in general the penalty is three years.

(Ap. 25, 38, 72, 173; Antioch 25; Protodeutera 10; Gregory of Neocaesarea 8; Cyril of Alex. 2)

Canon 45

The 82nd canon of Basil the Great commands that those who were compelled to break an oath must be deprived of communion for three years; those who did so under no compulsion at all must be deprived of communion for ten years. We, however, think that they should be deprived of communion for one year, if they content themselves with dry food after the ninth hour and perform two hundred and fifty prostrations each day.

(Ap. 25; Trullo 94; Basil the Great 10, 17, 29, 64, 82)

Canon 46

Neither a laywoman nor a nun should be excommunicated from the church, but only from communion, whatever sin she may have committed; for the canon says that we act thus because many women have killed themselves out of shame—likewise neither a presbyter nor a deacon, according to the saying: vengeance shall not rise up the second time (Nahum 1:9).

Canon 47

If something unclean falls into a well, or into oil, or into wine, and someone drinks or eats of it, let him abstain for three days from eating meat and cheese, and let him not commune for seven days.

(Ap. 63; Trullo 67; Gangra 2)

Canon 48

He who vomits after the divine communion, however this may have happened, is to be deprived of communion for forty days, and each day must read the fiftieth psalm and perform forty prostrations; for even if he knows that this did not happen through his own fault, he must still be subject to this penalty on account of his other, incidental sins.

In the Pedalion there are also found these further canons under the name of John the Faster, which we append, continuing the numbering above.

Canon 49

He who commits fornication with his stepmother is subjected to a penance of three years, and is obliged to fast every day, contenting himself only in the evening with dry food, and performing five hundred prostrations each day.

Canon 50

He who commits fornication with a mother and her daughter is subjected to a penance of four years, and must content himself with dry food every day after the ninth hour and perform three hundred prostrations.

Canon 51

He who commits the shameful act with two brothers is subjected to the same penance.

Canon 52

He who commits the shameful act with his son-in-law is subjected to a penance of four years, and must content himself with dry food every day after the ninth hour and perform two hundred prostrations.

Canon 53

He who commits the shameful act with his brother is subjected to a penance of eight years, and must content himself with dry food every day after the ninth hour and perform four hundred prostrations.

Canon 54

If an elder brother commits the shameful act against a younger one, and the younger does not do likewise, the elder brother is subjected to a penance of three years, and must content himself with dry food every day after the ninth hour and perform a hundred prostrations.

Canon 55

He who commits fornication with his own daughter only once is subjected to a penance of nine years; but if more than once, then for six and for seven years, contenting himself with dry food every day after the ninth hour and performing five hundred prostrations.

Canon 56

He who commits fornication with his own mother only once is subjected to a penance of seven years; but if more than once, then for twelve years, contenting himself with dry food every day after the ninth hour and performing five hundred prostrations.

Canon 57

He who commits fornication only once with a woman whom he held at the font [his godchild’s mother] is subjected to a penance of eight years; but if more than once, then for ten years, contenting himself with dry food every day after the ninth hour and performing five hundred prostrations.

Canon 58

He who commits fornication with the mother of his godchild is subjected to a penance of eight years, and must content himself with dry food every day after the ninth hour and perform three hundred prostrations.

Canon 59

He who repeatedly commits the shameful act with an animal, while having a wife, is subjected to a penance of eight years; but if he has no wife, and does this once, or twice, or at most three times, he is subjected to a penance of three years, contenting himself with dry food every day after the ninth hour, and performing three hundred prostrations. A woman is subjected to the same penalty, if she does this.

Canon 60

He who commits fornication with his cousin is subjected to a penance of two years, and must content himself with dry food every day after the ninth hour and perform five hundred prostrations.

Canon 61

He who commits fornication with a Jewish woman, or a Turkish woman, or likewise with a heretical woman—that is, a Latin or an Armenian—is subjected to a penance of four or five years, and must content himself with dry food every day after the ninth hour and perform two hundred and fifty prostrations.

Canon 62

If the wife of a presbyter or a deacon is caught in adultery, she is subject to a penance of three years, contenting herself with dry food every day after the ninth hour and performing three hundred prostrations; and such women are subjected to a heavier penance than other adulteresses because they are guilty of the spiritual death of their husbands, who on account of their wives’ adultery may be deprived of the priesthood—as indeed they are, if they wish to go on living with such adulterous wives. But if they wish to retain the priesthood, they must separate from them immediately after the adultery, in accordance with the 8th canon of the Council of Neocaesarea.

Canon 63

If a woman commits fornication with two brothers, she is subjected to a penance of three years, contenting herself every day after the ninth hour with dry food and performing two hundred prostrations.

Canon 64

If a woman commits fornication with a eunuch, she is subjected to a penance of three years, and must content herself every day after the ninth hour with dry food and perform three hundred prostrations.

Canon 65

He who acts against nature with his wife is subjected to a penance of eight years, contenting himself every day after the ninth hour with dry food and performing two hundred prostrations.