Post by reality on Aug 29, 2022 5:05:59 GMT
ON REFORMATION
SECOND DECREE
The same sacred and holy Synod, the same legates also presiding, purposing to prosecute, unto the praise of God, and the increase of the Christian religion, the work which It hath begun touching residence and reformation, has thought good to ordain as follows,-saving always, in all things, the authority of the Apostolic See.
CHAPTER I.
Who is capable of governing Cathedral churches.
No one shall be assumed unto the government of Cathedral churches, but one that is born of lawful wedlock, is of mature age, and endowed with gravity of manners, and skill in letters, agreeably to the constitution of Alexander III., which begins, Cum in cunctis, promulgated in the Council of Lateran.
CHAPTER II.
The holders of several Cathedral churches are commanded to resign all but one, in a given manner and time.
No one, by whatsoever dignity, grade, or pre-eminence distinguished, shall presume, in contravention of the institutes of the sacred canons, to accept and to hold at the same time several Metropolitan, or Cathedral, churches, whether by title, or in commendam, or under any other name whatsoever; seeing that he is to be accounted exceedingly fortunate whose lot it is to rule one church well and fruitfully, and unto the salvation of the souls committed to him. But as to those who now hold several churches contrary to the tenor of the present decree, they shall be bound, retaining the one which they may prefer, to resign the rest, within six months if they are at the free disposal of the Apostolic See, in other cases within the year; otherwise those churches, the one last obtained only excepted, shall be from that moment deemed vacant.
CHAPTER III.
Benefices shall be conferred solely on capable individuals.
Inferior Ecclesiastical Benefices, especially such as have the cure of souls, shall be conferred on persons worthy and capable, and who can reside on the spot and exercise personally the said cure; in accordance with the Constitution of Alexander IIl., in the Council of Lateran, which begins, Quia nonnulli; and that other of Gregory X., published in the General Council of Lyons, which begins, Licet Canon. A collation, or provision, made otherwise, shall be wholly annulled: and let the ordinary collator know, that he will himself incur the penalties set down in the Constitution of the General Council (of Lateran), which begins, Grave nimis.
CHAPTER IV.
The retainer of several Benefices contrary to the Canons, shall be deprived thereof.
Whosoever shall for the future presume to accept, or to retain at the same time several cures, or otherwise incompatible Ecclesiastical Benefices, whether by way of union for life, or in perpetual commendam, or under any other name or title whatsoever, in contravention of the appointment of the sacred Canons, and especially of the Constitution of Innocent III., beginning, De multa, shall be ipso jure deprived of the said benefices, according to the disposition of the said constitution, and also by virtue of the present Canon.
CHAPTER V.
The holders of several Benefices with cure of souls shall exhibit their dispensations to the Ordinary, who shall provide the churches with a Vicar, assigning a suitable portion of the fruits.
The Ordinaries of the places shall strictly compel all those who hold several cures, or otherwise incompatible, Ecclesiastical Benefices to exhibit their dispensations; and they shall otherwise proceed according to the Constitution of Gregory X., published in the General Council of Lyons, beginning Ordinarii, which (Constitution) this holy Synod thinks ought to be renewed, and doth renew; adding further, that the said Ordinaries are by all means to provide, even by deputing fit vicars and by assigning a suitable portion of the fruits, that the cure of souls be not in any way neglected, and that the said benfices be nowise defrauded of the services due to them: no appeals, privileges, or exemptions whatsoever, even with a commission of special judges, and inhibitions from the same, being of avail to any one in the matters aforenamed.
CHAPTER VI.
What unions of Benefices shall be accounted valid.
Unions in perpetuity, made within forty years, may be examined into by the Ordinaries, as delegated by the Apostolic See, and such as shall have been obtained by surreption or obreption shall be declared null. Now those are to be presumed to have been surreptitiously obtained, which having been granted within the aforenamed period, have not as yet been carried into effect wholly, or in part, as also those which shall henceforth be made at the instance of any person soever, unless it shall be certain that they have been made for lawful, or otherwise reasonable causes, which are to be verified before the Ordinary of the place, those persons being summoned whose interests are concerned: and therefore (such unions) shall be altogether of no force, unless the Apostolic See shall have declared otherwise.
CHAPTER VII.
United Ecclesiastical Benefices shall be visited: the cure thereof shall be exercised even by perpetual vicars; who shall be deputed thereunto with a portion, to be assigned even upon a specific property.
Ecclesiastical Benefices with cures, which are found to have been always united and annexed to Cathedral, Collegiate, or other churches, or to monasteries, benefices, colleges, or other pious places of what sort soever, shall be visited every year by the Ordinaries of those places; who shall apply themselves sedulously to provide that the cure of souls be laudably exercised by competent vicars, and those even perpetual, unless the said Ordinaries shall deem it expedient for the good of the churches that it be otherwise,-which (vicars) shall be deputed thereunto by those Ordinaries, with a provision consisting of a third part of the fruits, or of a greater or less proportion, at the discretion of the said Ordinaries, which (portion) is to be assigned even upon a specific property; no appeals, privileges, exemptions, even with a commission of judges, and inhibitions from the same, being of any avail in the matters abovenamed.
CHAPTER VIII.
Churches shall be repaired: the cure of souls sedulously discharged.
The Ordinaries of the places shall be bound to visit every year, with apostolic authority, all churches whatsoever, in whatsoever manner exempted; and to provide by suitable legal remedies that whatever needs repairs, be repaired; and that those churches be not in any way defrauded of the Cure of souls, if such be annexed thereunto, or of other services due to them;-all appeals, privileges, customs, even those that have a prescription from time immemorial, commission of judges, and inhibitions from the same, being utterly set aside.
CHAPTER IX.
The duty of consecration not to be delayed.
Those who have been promoted to the greater churches shall receive the rite of consecration within the time prescribed by law, and any delays granted, extending beyond the period of six months, shall be of no avail to any one.
CHAPTER X.
When a See is vacant, Chapters shall not grant 'reverends' to any unless straitened because of a Benefice obtained, or about to be obtained: various penalties on contraveners.
It shall not be lawful for Chapters of churches, when a see is vacant, to grant,-whether by ordinance of common law, or by virtue of any privilege or custom whatsoever,-a license for ordination, or letters dimissory, or "reverend," as some call them, within a year from the day of that vacancy, to any one who is not straitened (for time), by occasion of some ecclesistical benefice received, or about to be received. Otherwise, the contravening Chapter shall be subjected to an ecclesiastical interdict; and the persons so ordained, if they have been constituted in minor orders, shall not enjoy any clerical privilege, especially in criminal causes; whilst those constituted in the greater orders shall be, ipso jure, suspended from the exercise thereof, during the pleasure of the next appointed prelate.
CHAPTER XI.
Faculties for promotion shall not avail any one without a just cause.
Faculties, for being promoted (to orders) by any prelate whatsoever, shall be of no avail but to those who have a lawful cause-which is to be expressed in their letters-why they cannot be ordained by their own bishops; and even then they shall not be ordained but by a bishop who is resident in his own diocese, or by him who exercises the pontifical functions for him, and after having undergone a previous careful examination.
CHAPTER XII.
Faculties for not being promoted shall not exceed a year.
Faculties granted for not being promoted (to orders) shall avail for a year only, except in the cases by law provided.
CHAPTER XIII.
Individuals by whomsoever presented shall not be instituted without being previously examined and approved of by the Ordinary; with certain exceptions.
Persons presented, or elected, or nominated by any ecclesiastics soever, even by Nuncios of the Apostolic See, shall not be instituted, or confirmed in, or admitted to any ecclesiastical benefices whatsoever, even under the plea of any privilege soever, or custom, which may even have a prescription from time immemorial, unless they shall have been first examined, and found fit, by the Ordinaries of the places. And no one shall be able to screen himself, by means of an appeal, from being bound to undergo that examination. Those, however, are to be excepted, who are presented, elected, or nominated by universities, or by colleges for general studies.
CHAPTER XIV.
The civil causes of exempted persons which may be taken cognizance of by bishops.
In the causes of exempted persons, the Constitution of Innocent IV., beginning Volentes, set forth in the general Council of Lyons, shall be observed,-which Constitution this sacred and holy Synod hath thought ought to be renewed, and doth hereby renew it; adding further, that, in civil causes relative to wages, and to persons in distress, clerics, whether Seculars, or Regulars who live out of their monasteries,-howsoever exempted, and even though they may have upon the spot a special judge deputed by the Apostolic See; and in other causes, if they have no such judge,-may be brought before the Ordinaries of the places, and be constrained and compelled by course of law to pay what they owe; no privileges, exemptions, commissions of conservators, and inhibitions therefrom, being of any force whatever in opposition to the (regulations) aforesaid.
CHAPTER XV.
Ordinaries shall take care that all manner of hospitals, even those exempted, be faithfully governed by their adminstrators.
The Ordinaries shall take care that all hospitals whatsoever be faithfully and diligently governed by their own administrators, by what names soever called, and in what way soever exempted: observing herein the form of the Constitution of the Council of Vienne, which begins, Quia contingit, which this holy Synod hath thought fit to renew, and doth hereby renew, together with the derogations therein contained.
INDICTION OF THE NEXT SESSION
This sacred and holy Synod hath also resolved and decreed that the next ensuing Session be held and celebrated on Thursday, the fifth day after the coming Sunday in Albis (Low Sunday), which will be the twenty-first of the month of April of the present year, MDXLVII.
BULL WITH FACULTY TO TRANFER THE COUNCIL
Paul, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to our venerable brother Giammaria, bishop of Palaestrina, and to our beloved sons, Marcellus of the title of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem, priest, and Reginald of Saint Mary in Cosmedin, deacon, cardinals, our Legates, a latere, and those of the Apostolic See, health and apostolical benediction.
We, by the providence of God, presiding over the government of the universal Church, though with merits unequal thereunto, account it a part of our office that, if anything of more than common moment have to be settled touching the Christian commonweal, it be done not only at a suitable season, but also in a convenient and fit place. Wherefore, whereas We lately, with the advice and consent of our venerable brethren the cardinals of the holy Roman Church,-upon hearing that peace had been made between our most dear sons in Christ, Charles the Emperor of the Romans, ever august, and Francis the most Christian King of the French,-took off and removed the suspension of the celebration of the sacred oecumenical and universal Council, which we had on another occasion, for reasons then stated, indicted with the advice and consent aforesaid, for the city of Trent, and which was, for certain other reasons at that time also named, suspended, upon the like advice and consent, unto another more opportune and suitable time to be declared by us: being ourselves unable, from being at that time lawfully hindered, to repair to the above-named city in person, and to be present at that Council, We, by the same advice, appointed and deputed you as Legates a latere on our behalf and that of the Apostolic See, in that Council; and we sent you unto that same city as angels of peace, as in divers our letters thereupon is more fully set forth: wishing to provide seasonably that so holy a work as the celebration of such a Council may not be hindered through the incommodiousness of the place, or otherwise in any other manner, We, of our proper motion, and certain knowledge, and the plenitude of apostolic authority, and with the advice and consent aforesaid, by the tenor of these presents do, with apostolic authority, concede to you all together, or to two of you, upon the other being detained by a lawful impediment, or maybe absent therefrom, full and unrestrained power and faculty, to transfer and change, when soever you shall see cause, the aforesaid Council from the city of Trent to any other more Convenient, suitable, or safe City, as to you shall seem fit, and to suppress and dissolve that which is held in the said city of Trent; as also to prohibit, even under ecclesiastical pains and censures, the prelates and other members of the said Council, from proceeding to any further measures therein in the said sity of Trent; and also to continue, hold, and celebrate the same Council in the other city as aforesaid unto which it shall have been transferred and changed, and to summon thereunto the prelates and other members of the said Council of Trent, even under the pain of perjury and of the other penalties named in the letters of Indiction of that Council; to preside and proceed, in the Council thus translated and changed, in the name and by the authority aforesaid, and to perform, regulate, ordain, and execute the other things mentioned above, and the things thereunto necessary and suitable in accordance with the contents and tenor of the previous letters which have been on other occasion addressed unto you: declaring that We will hold as ratified and pleasing whatsoever by you shall have been done, regulated, ordained, in the matters aforesaid, and will, with God's help, cause it to be inviolably observed; any apostolical Constitutions and ordinances, and other things whatsoever to the contrary notwithstanding. Wherefore, let no one soever infringe this letter of our grant, or with rash daring go contrary thereto. But if any one shall presume to attempt this, let him know that he will incur the indignation of Almighty God, and of the blessed Peter and Paul, His apostles.
Given at Rome, at St. Peter's, in the year of the Lord's Incarnation MDXLVII, on the eighth of the calends of March, in the eleventh year of our Pontificate.
FAB. BISH. OF SPOL. B. MOTTA.
CONCERNING THE TRANSLATION OF THE COUNCIL
Celebrated on the eleventh day of the month of March, in the year MDXLVII. Doth it please you to decree and declare, that, from the foregoing statements and other allegations, a disease of the kind stated is so plainly and notoriously certain, that the prelates cannot without danger of their lives remain in this city, and that therefore they cannot and ought not to be detained therein against their wills? And considering moreover the withdrawal of many prelates since the Session last held, and the protests made in the general congregations by very many other prelates, who wish by all means to depart hence through fear of the said disease, who cannot justly be detained; and by whose departure the Council would either be dissolved, or, from the small number of the prelates, its beneficial progress be hindered; and considering also the imminent danger to life, and the other notoriously true and legitimate reasons alleged in the said congregations by certain of the Fathers; doth it please you, in like manner, to decree and declare, that, for the preservation and prosecution of the said Council, and for the safety of the lives of the said prelates, this Council be transferred for a time to the city of Bologna, as being a place better provided, more healthy, and fit, and that the translation have effect from this day forth, and that the Session, already indicted for the twentyfirst of April ought to be celebrated, and be celebrated, there on that appointed day; and that the further matters be proceeded with in order, until it shall seem expedient, to our most holy Lord and to the sacred Council, that the said Council may, and ought to, be brought back to this, or to some other place, taking council also thereupon with the most invincible Emperor, the most Christian king, and with the other Christian kings and princes?
They answered: It pleaseth us.
FOR THE PROROGATION OF THE SESSION
Celebrated at Bologna, on the twenty-first day of the month of April, MDXLVII.
This sacred and holy, ecumenical and general Synod, which lately was assembled in the city of Trent, and is now lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost at Bologna, the same most reverend Lords Giammaria del Monte, bishop of Palaestrina, and Marcellus, of the title of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem, priest, cardinals of the holy Roman Church, and Legates apostolic a latere, presiding therein in the name of our most holy Father in Christ, and Lord, Paul III., by the providence of God, Pope; considering that, on the eleventh day of the month of March of the present year, in a general and public Session celebrated in the said city of Trent, in the usual place, all the formalities being observed in the usual manner; (the Synod) ,-for causes then pressing, urgent, and legitimate, and with the interposition also of the authority of the holy Apostolic See, specially also granted to the said most reverend Presidents,-decreed and ordained, that the Council was to be transferred, as it did transfer it, from that place to this city, and likewise that the Session,-indicted there for this twenty-first day of April, that Canons touching the matters of the Sacraments and of Reformation, whereon It had purposed to treat, might be established and promulgated,-ought to be celebrated in this city of Bologna; and considering that some of the Fathers who have been accustomed to be present at this Council,-being some engaged in their own Churches during these last days of the great week (of Lent), and of the Paschal solemnity, and some also detained by other hindrances, -have not as yet come hither, but who nevertheless, it is to be hoped, will shortly be present; and that, from this cause, it has happened that the said matters of the Sacraments and of Reformation could not be examined and discussed in an assembly of prelates as numerous as the holy Synod desired: wherefore, to the end that all things may be done with mature deliberation, with due dignity and gravity, (the Synod) hath resolved, and doth resolve, that it is good, opportunie, and expedient, that the aforenamed Session, which, as has been said, was to have been celebrated on this day, be deferred and prorogued, as it is now deferred and prorogued, to the Thursday within the approaching octave of Pentecost, for the expediting of the matters aforesaid; which day It has deemed, and deems, to be most opportune for the business to be transacted, and most convenient especially for the Fathers who are absent; adding however, that this holy Synod may and can, even in a private congregation, limit and abridge the said term, at Its will and pleasure, as It shall think expedient for the business of the Council.
FOR THE PROROGATION OF THE SESSION
Celebrated at Bologna on the second day of the month of June, MDXLVII.
Although this sacred and holy, oecumenical and general Synod hath decreed, that the Session which was to have been celebrated, in this illustrious city of Bologna, on the twenty-first day of the month of April last, on the subject of the Sacraments and of Reformation, in accordance with the decree promulgated in public Session in the city of Trent, should be deferred and prorogued to this present day, for certain reasons, and especially on account of the absence of some of the Fathers, who it was hoped would in a short time be present; wishing, however, even yet to deal kindly with those who have not come, the same sacred and holy Synod, lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost, the same cardinals of the holy Roman Church, and Legates of the Apostolic See, presiding therein, resolves and decrees, that the said Session, which It had decreed to celebrate on this the second day of the month of June of this present year 1547, be deferred and prorogued, and It doth hereby defer and prorogue it, to the Thursday after the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which will be the fifteenth of September next; for the expediting of the aforesaid and other matters; yet so, however, that the prosecution of the discussion and examination, as well of those things which relate to dogmas, as of those which regard reformation, shall not meanwhile be suspended; and that the said holy Synod freely may and can, at Its will and pleasure, even in a private congregation, abridge or prorogue the said term.
On the fourteenth day of September, MDXLVII, in a general Congregation held at Bologna, the Session, which was to have been held on the following day, was prorogued during the good pleasure of the sacred Council.
BULL FOR THE RESUMPTION OF THE COUNCIL OF TRENT, UNDER THE SOVEREIGN PONTIFF, JULIUS III
Julius, bishop, servant of the servants of God, for the future memory hereof.
Whereas, in order to remove the dissensions touching our religion, which for a long time have prevailed in Germany to the disturbance and scandal of the whole Christian world, it seems good, opportune, and expedient,-as also our most dearly beloved son in Christ, Charles the Emperor of the Romans, ever august, has caused to be signified to us by his letters and ambassadors,-to bring back to the city of Trent, the sacred, oecumenical, (and) general Council indicted by our predecessor, Pope Paul III., of happy memory, and begun, regulated, and continued, by Us, who then enjoyed the honour of the Cardinalate, and conjointly with two other Cardinals of the holy Roman Church, presided in the name of our said predecessor, in the said Council, wherein several public and solemn Sessions were held, and several decrees promulgated as well on the subject of faith as of Reformation, and also many things relating to both subjects examined and discussed;-We,-unto whom, as Sovereign Pontiff for the time, it appertains to indict and direct general Councils,-that we may, unto the praise and glory of Almighty God, procure the peace of the Church and the increase of the Christian faith and of the orthodox religion, and may, as far as in us lies, consult with fatherly care for the tranquillity of Germany,-a province indeed which, in times past, was never second to any in Christendom, in cultivating true religion, and the doctrine of the sacred Councils and holy Fathers, and in exhibiting due obedience and reverence to the chief Pontiffs, the vicars on earth of Christ our Redeemer; hoping that, by the grace and bounty of God, all Christian kings and princes will approve of, favour and aid our just and pious wishes herein:
We, by the bowels of the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, exhort, require, and admonish our venerable brethren the patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, and our beloved sons the abbots, and all and each of the others, who of right, or custom, or privilege, ought to be present at General Councils, and whom our said predecessor, in his letters of indiction and any others soever made and published on this subject, willed to be present at the Council, to convene and assemble, where there is no lawful impediment, in the same city of Trent, and to apply themselves without any delay whatever to the continuation and prosecution of the said Council, on the next ensuing calends of May, which day we appoint, determine on, and assign, after mature deliberation, and of our own certain knowledge, and the plenitude of apostolic authority, and with the advice and consent of our venerable brethren the Cardinals of the said holy Roman Church, for resuming and prosecuting the said Council in the state wherein it now is.
For We shall make it our special care, that, at the same time, in the said city, there be always present our Legates, through whom,-if we shall be unable, on account of our age, state of health, and the necessities of the Apostolic See, to be personally present,-we shall, under the guidance of the Holy Ghost, preside over the said Council; any translation and suspension of the said Council, and any other things whatsoever to the contrary notwithstanding, and especially those things which it was the will of our predecessor should not create any obstacle, as expressed in his letters aforesaid, which, with all and each of the clauses and decrees therein contained, we will and decree to continue in force, and we do, as far as there is need thereof, hereby renew them; declaring moreover null and void whatsoever may be attempted, wittingly or ignorantly, by whatsoever person, or by whatsoever authority, against these presents. Let no one, therefore, infringe this our letter of exhortation, requisition, monition, statute, declaration, renewal, will, and decree, or with rash daring go contrary thereunto. But if any one shall presume to attempt this, let him know that he will incur the indignation of Almighty God, and of His blessed apostles, Peter and Paul.
Given at Rome, at St. Peter's, in the year MDXLVIII of our Lord's Incarnation, on the eighteenth of the calends of December, in the first year of our Pontificate.
M. CARDINAL CRESCEN. ROM. AMASEUS.
FOR RESUMING THE COUNCIL
Of the sacred and holy, oecumenical and general Council of Trent, celebrated on the calends of May, MDLI, being the first held under the Sovereign Pontiff, Julius III.
Doth it please you, unto the praise and glory of the holy and undivided Trinity, Father, and Son, and Holy Ghost, for the increase and exaltation of the Christian faith and religion, that the sacred, oecumenical, and general Council of Trent be, agreeably to the form and tenor of the letters of our most holy lord, resumed, and that further matters be proceeded with?
They answered: It pleaseth us.
INDICTION OF THE NEXT SESSION
Doth it please you that the next ensuing Session be held and celebrated on the ensuing calends of September?
They answered: It pleaseth us.
Being the second under the Sovereign Pontiff, Julius III., celebrated on the first day of September, MDLI.
The sacred and holy, oecumenical and general Synod of Trent,-lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost, the same Legate and nuncios of the Apostolic See presiding therein,-having, in the Session last held, decreed, that this next Session was to be on this day celebrated, and that further matters were to be proceeded with; whereas It has hitherto delayed to proceed, on account of the absence of the illustrious German nation,-whose interests are principally concerned,-and on account of the assemblage of the Fathers not being numerous; now rejoicing in the Lord, and giving deserved thanks to that same Almighty God, for the arrival, a little before this day, of our venerable brethren and sons in Christ, the Archbishops of Mayence and Treves,-electoral princes of the holy Roman Empire,-and also of several other bishops of that country and of other provinces; and conceiving a firm hope that very many other prelates, both of Germany and of other nations, will, impelled by the requirements of their office and by this example, in a few days arrive; (the Synod) indicts the next session for the fortieth day from this present, which will be the eleventh of October next:-and prosecuting the said Council in the state wherein it now is, whereas in the preceding Sessions decrees were passed touching the seven sacraments of the New Law in general, and on baptism and confirmation in particular, It resolves and decrees, that It will discuss and treat of the sacrament of the most holy Eucharist, and also, as regards Reformation, of the other matters which relate to the more easy and commodious residence of prelates. And It admonishes and exhorts all the Fathers, that, after the example of our Lord Jesus Christ, they meanwhile give themselves to fasting and prayer, so far at least as human weakness will permit, that so God, who is blessed for evermore, being at length appeased, may vouchsafe to bring back the hearts of men to the acknowledgment of His own true faith, to the unity of holy mother Church, and to the rule of righteous living.
CONCERNING THE MOST HOLY SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARIST
FIRST DECREE
Being the third under the Sovereign Pontiff, Julius III., celebrated on the eleventh day of October, MDLI.
The sacred and holy, oecumenical and general Synod of Trent,-lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost, the same Legate, and nuncios of the Apostolic See presiding therein, although the end for which It assembled, not without the special guidance and governance of the Holy Ghost, was, that It might set forth the true and ancient doctrine touching faith and the sacraments, and might apply a remedy to all the heresies, and the other most grievous troubles with which the Church of God is now miserably agitated, and rent into many and various parts; yet, even from the outset, this especially has been the object of Its desires, that It might pluck up by the roots those tares of execrable errors and schisms, with which the enemy hath, in these our calamitous times, oversown the doctrine of the faith, in the use and worship of the sacred and holy Eucharist, which our Saviour, notwithstanding, left in His Church as a symbol of that unity and charity, with which He would fain have all Christians be mentally joined and united together. Wherefore, this sacred and holy Synod delivering here, on this venerable and divine sacrament of the Eucharist, that sound and genuine doctrine, which the Catholic Church,-instructed by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and by His apostles, and taught by the Holy Ghost, who day by day brings to her mind all truth, has always retained, and will preserve even to the end of the world, forbids all the faithful of Christ, to presume to believe, teach, or preach henceforth concerning the holy Eucharist, otherwise than as is explained and defined in this present decree.
CHAPTER I.
On the real presence of our Lord Jesus Christ in the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist.
In the first place, the holy Synod teaches, and openly and simply professes, that, in the august sacrament of the holy Eucharist, after the consecration of the bread and wine, our Lord Jesus Christ, true God and man, is truly, really, and substantially contained under the species of those sensible things. For neither are these things mutually repugnant,-that our Saviour Himself always sitteth at the right hand of the Father in heaven, according to the natural mode of existing, and that, nevertheless, He be, in many other places, sacramentally present to us in his own substance, by a manner of existing, which, though we can scarcely express it in words, yet can we, by the understanding illuminated by faith, conceive, and we ought most firmly to believe, to be possible unto God: for thus all our forefathers, as many as were in the true Church of Christ, who have treated of this most holy Sacrament, have most openly professed, that our Redeemer instituted this so admirable a sacrament at the last supper, when, after the blessing of the bread and wine, He testified, in express and clear words, that He gave them His own very Body, and His own Blood; words which,-recorded by the holy Evangelists, and afterwards repeated by Saint Paul, whereas they carry with them that proper and most manifest meaning in which they were understood by the Fathers,-it is indeed a crime the most unworthy that they should be wrested, by certain contentions and wicked men, to fictitious and imaginary tropes, whereby the verity of the flesh and blood of Christ is denied, contrary to the universal sense of the Church, which, as the pillar and ground of truth, has detested, as satanical, these inventions devised by impious men; she recognising, with a mind ever grateful and unforgetting, this most excellent benefit of Christ.
CHAPTER II.
On the reason of the Institution of this most holy Sacrament.
Wherefore, our Saviour, when about to depart out of this world to the Father, instituted this Sacrament, in which He poured forth as it were the riches of His divine love towards man, making a remembrance of his wonderful works; and He commanded us, in the participation thereof, to venerate His memory, and to show forth his death until He come to judge the world. And He would also that this sacrement should be received as the spiritual food of souls, whereby may be fed and strengthened those who live with His life who said, He that eateth me, the same also shall live by me; and as an antidote, whereby we may be freed from daily faults, and be preserved from mortal sins. He would, furthermore, have it be a pledge of our glory to come, and everlasting happiness, and thus be a symbol of that one body whereof He is the head, and to which He would fain have us as members be united by the closest bond of faith, hope, and charity, that we might all speak the same things, and there might be no schisms amongst us.
CHAPTER III.
On the excellency of the most holy Eucharist over the rest of the Sacraments.
The most holy Eucharist has indeed this in common with the rest of the sacraments, that it is a symbol of a sacred thing, and is a visible form of an invisible grace; but there is found in the Eucharist this excellent and peculiar thing, that the other sacraments have then first the power of sanctifying when one uses them, whereas in the Eucharist, before being used, there is the Author Himself of sanctity. For the apostles had not as yet received the Eucharist from the hand of the Lord, when nevertheless Himself affirmed with truth that to be His own body which He presented (to them). And this faith has ever been in the Church of God, that, immediately after the consecration, the veritable Body of our Lord, and His veritable Blood, together with His soul and divinity, are under the species of bread and wine; but the Body indeed under the species of bread, and the Blood under the species of wine, by the force of the words; but the body itself under the species of wine, and the blood under the species of bread, and the soul under both, by the force of that natural connexion and concomitancy whereby the parts of Christ our Lord, who hath now risen from the dead, to die no more, are united together; and the divinity, furthermore, on account of the admirable hypostatical union thereof with His body and soul. Wherefore it is most true, that as much is contained under either species as under both; for Christ whole and entire is under the species of bread, and under any part whatsoever of that species; likewise the whole (Christ) is under the species of wine, and under the parts thereof.
CHAPTER IV.
On Transubstantiation.
And because that Christ, our Redeemer, declared that which He offered under the species of bread to be truly His own body, therefore has it ever been a firm belief in the Church of God, and this holy Synod doth now declare it anew, that, by the consecration of the bread and of the wine, a conversion is made of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord, and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of His blood; which conversion is, by the holy Catholic Church, suitably and properly called Transubstantiation.
CHAPTER V.
On the cult and veneration to be shown to this most holy Sacrament.
Wherefore, there is no room left for doubt, that all the faithful of Christ may, according to the custom ever received in the Catholic Church, render in veneration the worship of latria, which is due to the true God, to this most holy sacrament. For not therefore is it the less to be adored on this account, that it was instituted by Christ, the Lord, in order to be received: for we believe that same God to be present therein, of whom the eternal Father, when introducing him into the world, says; And let all the angels of God adore him; whom the Magi falling down, adored; who, in fine, as the Scripture testifies, was adored by the apostles in Galilee.
The holy Synod declares, moreover, that very piously and religiously was this custom introduced into the Church, that this sublime and venerable sacrament be, with special veneration and solemnity, celebrated, every year, on a certain day, and that a festival; and that it be borne reverently and with honour in processions through the streets, and public places. For it is most just that there be certain appointed holy days, whereon all Christians may, with a special and unusual demonstration, testify that their minds are grateful and thankful to their common Lord and Redeemer for so ineffable and truly divine a benefit, whereby the victory and triumph of His death are represented. And so indeed did it behove victorious truth to celebrate a triumph over falsehood and heresy, that thus her adversaries, at the sight of so much splendour, and in the midst of so great joy of the universal Church, may either pine away weakened and broken; or, touched with shame and confounded, at length repent.
CHAPTER VI.
On reserving the Sacrament of the sacred Eucharist, and bearing it to the Sick.
The custom of reserving the holy Eucharist in the sacrarium is so ancient, that even the age of the Council of Nicaea recognised that usage. Moreover, as to carrying the sacred Eucharist itself to the sick, and carefully reserving it for this purpose in churches, besides that it is exceedingly conformable to equity and reason, it is also found enjoined in numerous councils, and is a very ancient observance of the Catholic Church. Wherefore, this holy Synod ordains, that this salutary and necessary custom is to be by all means retained.
CHAPTER VII.
On the preparation to be given that one may worthily receive the sacred Eucharist.
If it is unbeseeming for any one to approach to any of the sacred functions, unless he approach holily; assuredly, the more the holiness and divinity of this heavenly sacrament are understood by a Christian, the more diligently ought he to give heed that he approach not to receive it but with great reverence and holiness, especially as we read in the Apostle those words full of terror; He that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself. Wherefore, he who would communicate, ought to recall to mind the precept of the Apostle; Let a man prove himself. Now ecclesiastical usage declares that necessary proof to be, that no one, conscious to himself of mortal sin, how contrite soever he may seem to himself, ought to approach to the sacred Eucharist without previous sacramental confession. This the holy Synod hath decreed is to be invariably observed by all Christians, even by those priests on whom it may be incumbent by their office to celebrate, provided the opportunity of a confessor do not fail them; but if, in an urgent necessity, a priest should celebrate without previous confession, let him confess as soon as possible.
CHAPTER VIII.
On the use of this admirable Sacrament.
Now as to the use of this holy sacrament, our Fathers have rightly and wisely distinguished three ways of receiving it. For they have taught that some receive it sacramentally only, to wit sinners: others spiritually only, those to wit who eating in desire that heavenly bread which is set before them, are, by a lively faith which worketh by charity, made sensible of the fruit and usefulness thereof: whereas the third (class) receive it both sacramentally and spiritually, and these are they who so prove and prepare themselves beforehand, as to approach to this divine table clothed with the wedding garment. Now as to the reception of the sacrament, it was always the custom in the Church of God, that laymen should receive the communion from priests; but that priests when celebrating should communicate themselves; which custom, as coming down from an apostolical tradition, ought with justice and reason to be retained. And finally this holy Synod with true fatherly affection admonishes, exhorts, begs, and beseeches, through the bowels of the mercy of our God, that all and each of those who bear the Christian name would now at length agree and be of one mind in this sign of unity, in this bond of charity, in this symbol of concord; and that mindful of the so great majesty, and the so exceeding love of our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave His own beloved soul as the price of our salvation, and gave us His own flesh to eat, they would believe and venerate these sacred mysteries of His body and blood with such constancy and firmness of faith, with such devotion of soul, with such piety and worship as to be able frequently to receive that supersubstantial bread, and that it may be to them truly the life of the soul, and the perpetual health of their mind; that being invigorated by the strength thereof, they may, after the journeying of this miserable pilgrimage, be able to arrive at their heavenly country, there to eat, without any veil, that same bread of angels which they now eat under the sacred veils.
But forasmuch as it is not enough to declare the truth, if errors be not laid bare and repudiated, it hath seemed good to the holy Synod to subjoin these canons, that all, -the Catholic doctrine being already recognised,-may now also understand what are the heresies which they ought to guard against and avoid.
SECOND DECREE
The same sacred and holy Synod, the same legates also presiding, purposing to prosecute, unto the praise of God, and the increase of the Christian religion, the work which It hath begun touching residence and reformation, has thought good to ordain as follows,-saving always, in all things, the authority of the Apostolic See.
CHAPTER I.
Who is capable of governing Cathedral churches.
No one shall be assumed unto the government of Cathedral churches, but one that is born of lawful wedlock, is of mature age, and endowed with gravity of manners, and skill in letters, agreeably to the constitution of Alexander III., which begins, Cum in cunctis, promulgated in the Council of Lateran.
CHAPTER II.
The holders of several Cathedral churches are commanded to resign all but one, in a given manner and time.
No one, by whatsoever dignity, grade, or pre-eminence distinguished, shall presume, in contravention of the institutes of the sacred canons, to accept and to hold at the same time several Metropolitan, or Cathedral, churches, whether by title, or in commendam, or under any other name whatsoever; seeing that he is to be accounted exceedingly fortunate whose lot it is to rule one church well and fruitfully, and unto the salvation of the souls committed to him. But as to those who now hold several churches contrary to the tenor of the present decree, they shall be bound, retaining the one which they may prefer, to resign the rest, within six months if they are at the free disposal of the Apostolic See, in other cases within the year; otherwise those churches, the one last obtained only excepted, shall be from that moment deemed vacant.
CHAPTER III.
Benefices shall be conferred solely on capable individuals.
Inferior Ecclesiastical Benefices, especially such as have the cure of souls, shall be conferred on persons worthy and capable, and who can reside on the spot and exercise personally the said cure; in accordance with the Constitution of Alexander IIl., in the Council of Lateran, which begins, Quia nonnulli; and that other of Gregory X., published in the General Council of Lyons, which begins, Licet Canon. A collation, or provision, made otherwise, shall be wholly annulled: and let the ordinary collator know, that he will himself incur the penalties set down in the Constitution of the General Council (of Lateran), which begins, Grave nimis.
CHAPTER IV.
The retainer of several Benefices contrary to the Canons, shall be deprived thereof.
Whosoever shall for the future presume to accept, or to retain at the same time several cures, or otherwise incompatible Ecclesiastical Benefices, whether by way of union for life, or in perpetual commendam, or under any other name or title whatsoever, in contravention of the appointment of the sacred Canons, and especially of the Constitution of Innocent III., beginning, De multa, shall be ipso jure deprived of the said benefices, according to the disposition of the said constitution, and also by virtue of the present Canon.
CHAPTER V.
The holders of several Benefices with cure of souls shall exhibit their dispensations to the Ordinary, who shall provide the churches with a Vicar, assigning a suitable portion of the fruits.
The Ordinaries of the places shall strictly compel all those who hold several cures, or otherwise incompatible, Ecclesiastical Benefices to exhibit their dispensations; and they shall otherwise proceed according to the Constitution of Gregory X., published in the General Council of Lyons, beginning Ordinarii, which (Constitution) this holy Synod thinks ought to be renewed, and doth renew; adding further, that the said Ordinaries are by all means to provide, even by deputing fit vicars and by assigning a suitable portion of the fruits, that the cure of souls be not in any way neglected, and that the said benfices be nowise defrauded of the services due to them: no appeals, privileges, or exemptions whatsoever, even with a commission of special judges, and inhibitions from the same, being of avail to any one in the matters aforenamed.
CHAPTER VI.
What unions of Benefices shall be accounted valid.
Unions in perpetuity, made within forty years, may be examined into by the Ordinaries, as delegated by the Apostolic See, and such as shall have been obtained by surreption or obreption shall be declared null. Now those are to be presumed to have been surreptitiously obtained, which having been granted within the aforenamed period, have not as yet been carried into effect wholly, or in part, as also those which shall henceforth be made at the instance of any person soever, unless it shall be certain that they have been made for lawful, or otherwise reasonable causes, which are to be verified before the Ordinary of the place, those persons being summoned whose interests are concerned: and therefore (such unions) shall be altogether of no force, unless the Apostolic See shall have declared otherwise.
CHAPTER VII.
United Ecclesiastical Benefices shall be visited: the cure thereof shall be exercised even by perpetual vicars; who shall be deputed thereunto with a portion, to be assigned even upon a specific property.
Ecclesiastical Benefices with cures, which are found to have been always united and annexed to Cathedral, Collegiate, or other churches, or to monasteries, benefices, colleges, or other pious places of what sort soever, shall be visited every year by the Ordinaries of those places; who shall apply themselves sedulously to provide that the cure of souls be laudably exercised by competent vicars, and those even perpetual, unless the said Ordinaries shall deem it expedient for the good of the churches that it be otherwise,-which (vicars) shall be deputed thereunto by those Ordinaries, with a provision consisting of a third part of the fruits, or of a greater or less proportion, at the discretion of the said Ordinaries, which (portion) is to be assigned even upon a specific property; no appeals, privileges, exemptions, even with a commission of judges, and inhibitions from the same, being of any avail in the matters abovenamed.
CHAPTER VIII.
Churches shall be repaired: the cure of souls sedulously discharged.
The Ordinaries of the places shall be bound to visit every year, with apostolic authority, all churches whatsoever, in whatsoever manner exempted; and to provide by suitable legal remedies that whatever needs repairs, be repaired; and that those churches be not in any way defrauded of the Cure of souls, if such be annexed thereunto, or of other services due to them;-all appeals, privileges, customs, even those that have a prescription from time immemorial, commission of judges, and inhibitions from the same, being utterly set aside.
CHAPTER IX.
The duty of consecration not to be delayed.
Those who have been promoted to the greater churches shall receive the rite of consecration within the time prescribed by law, and any delays granted, extending beyond the period of six months, shall be of no avail to any one.
CHAPTER X.
When a See is vacant, Chapters shall not grant 'reverends' to any unless straitened because of a Benefice obtained, or about to be obtained: various penalties on contraveners.
It shall not be lawful for Chapters of churches, when a see is vacant, to grant,-whether by ordinance of common law, or by virtue of any privilege or custom whatsoever,-a license for ordination, or letters dimissory, or "reverend," as some call them, within a year from the day of that vacancy, to any one who is not straitened (for time), by occasion of some ecclesistical benefice received, or about to be received. Otherwise, the contravening Chapter shall be subjected to an ecclesiastical interdict; and the persons so ordained, if they have been constituted in minor orders, shall not enjoy any clerical privilege, especially in criminal causes; whilst those constituted in the greater orders shall be, ipso jure, suspended from the exercise thereof, during the pleasure of the next appointed prelate.
CHAPTER XI.
Faculties for promotion shall not avail any one without a just cause.
Faculties, for being promoted (to orders) by any prelate whatsoever, shall be of no avail but to those who have a lawful cause-which is to be expressed in their letters-why they cannot be ordained by their own bishops; and even then they shall not be ordained but by a bishop who is resident in his own diocese, or by him who exercises the pontifical functions for him, and after having undergone a previous careful examination.
CHAPTER XII.
Faculties for not being promoted shall not exceed a year.
Faculties granted for not being promoted (to orders) shall avail for a year only, except in the cases by law provided.
CHAPTER XIII.
Individuals by whomsoever presented shall not be instituted without being previously examined and approved of by the Ordinary; with certain exceptions.
Persons presented, or elected, or nominated by any ecclesiastics soever, even by Nuncios of the Apostolic See, shall not be instituted, or confirmed in, or admitted to any ecclesiastical benefices whatsoever, even under the plea of any privilege soever, or custom, which may even have a prescription from time immemorial, unless they shall have been first examined, and found fit, by the Ordinaries of the places. And no one shall be able to screen himself, by means of an appeal, from being bound to undergo that examination. Those, however, are to be excepted, who are presented, elected, or nominated by universities, or by colleges for general studies.
CHAPTER XIV.
The civil causes of exempted persons which may be taken cognizance of by bishops.
In the causes of exempted persons, the Constitution of Innocent IV., beginning Volentes, set forth in the general Council of Lyons, shall be observed,-which Constitution this sacred and holy Synod hath thought ought to be renewed, and doth hereby renew it; adding further, that, in civil causes relative to wages, and to persons in distress, clerics, whether Seculars, or Regulars who live out of their monasteries,-howsoever exempted, and even though they may have upon the spot a special judge deputed by the Apostolic See; and in other causes, if they have no such judge,-may be brought before the Ordinaries of the places, and be constrained and compelled by course of law to pay what they owe; no privileges, exemptions, commissions of conservators, and inhibitions therefrom, being of any force whatever in opposition to the (regulations) aforesaid.
CHAPTER XV.
Ordinaries shall take care that all manner of hospitals, even those exempted, be faithfully governed by their adminstrators.
The Ordinaries shall take care that all hospitals whatsoever be faithfully and diligently governed by their own administrators, by what names soever called, and in what way soever exempted: observing herein the form of the Constitution of the Council of Vienne, which begins, Quia contingit, which this holy Synod hath thought fit to renew, and doth hereby renew, together with the derogations therein contained.
INDICTION OF THE NEXT SESSION
This sacred and holy Synod hath also resolved and decreed that the next ensuing Session be held and celebrated on Thursday, the fifth day after the coming Sunday in Albis (Low Sunday), which will be the twenty-first of the month of April of the present year, MDXLVII.
BULL WITH FACULTY TO TRANFER THE COUNCIL
Paul, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to our venerable brother Giammaria, bishop of Palaestrina, and to our beloved sons, Marcellus of the title of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem, priest, and Reginald of Saint Mary in Cosmedin, deacon, cardinals, our Legates, a latere, and those of the Apostolic See, health and apostolical benediction.
We, by the providence of God, presiding over the government of the universal Church, though with merits unequal thereunto, account it a part of our office that, if anything of more than common moment have to be settled touching the Christian commonweal, it be done not only at a suitable season, but also in a convenient and fit place. Wherefore, whereas We lately, with the advice and consent of our venerable brethren the cardinals of the holy Roman Church,-upon hearing that peace had been made between our most dear sons in Christ, Charles the Emperor of the Romans, ever august, and Francis the most Christian King of the French,-took off and removed the suspension of the celebration of the sacred oecumenical and universal Council, which we had on another occasion, for reasons then stated, indicted with the advice and consent aforesaid, for the city of Trent, and which was, for certain other reasons at that time also named, suspended, upon the like advice and consent, unto another more opportune and suitable time to be declared by us: being ourselves unable, from being at that time lawfully hindered, to repair to the above-named city in person, and to be present at that Council, We, by the same advice, appointed and deputed you as Legates a latere on our behalf and that of the Apostolic See, in that Council; and we sent you unto that same city as angels of peace, as in divers our letters thereupon is more fully set forth: wishing to provide seasonably that so holy a work as the celebration of such a Council may not be hindered through the incommodiousness of the place, or otherwise in any other manner, We, of our proper motion, and certain knowledge, and the plenitude of apostolic authority, and with the advice and consent aforesaid, by the tenor of these presents do, with apostolic authority, concede to you all together, or to two of you, upon the other being detained by a lawful impediment, or maybe absent therefrom, full and unrestrained power and faculty, to transfer and change, when soever you shall see cause, the aforesaid Council from the city of Trent to any other more Convenient, suitable, or safe City, as to you shall seem fit, and to suppress and dissolve that which is held in the said city of Trent; as also to prohibit, even under ecclesiastical pains and censures, the prelates and other members of the said Council, from proceeding to any further measures therein in the said sity of Trent; and also to continue, hold, and celebrate the same Council in the other city as aforesaid unto which it shall have been transferred and changed, and to summon thereunto the prelates and other members of the said Council of Trent, even under the pain of perjury and of the other penalties named in the letters of Indiction of that Council; to preside and proceed, in the Council thus translated and changed, in the name and by the authority aforesaid, and to perform, regulate, ordain, and execute the other things mentioned above, and the things thereunto necessary and suitable in accordance with the contents and tenor of the previous letters which have been on other occasion addressed unto you: declaring that We will hold as ratified and pleasing whatsoever by you shall have been done, regulated, ordained, in the matters aforesaid, and will, with God's help, cause it to be inviolably observed; any apostolical Constitutions and ordinances, and other things whatsoever to the contrary notwithstanding. Wherefore, let no one soever infringe this letter of our grant, or with rash daring go contrary thereto. But if any one shall presume to attempt this, let him know that he will incur the indignation of Almighty God, and of the blessed Peter and Paul, His apostles.
Given at Rome, at St. Peter's, in the year of the Lord's Incarnation MDXLVII, on the eighth of the calends of March, in the eleventh year of our Pontificate.
FAB. BISH. OF SPOL. B. MOTTA.
CONCERNING THE TRANSLATION OF THE COUNCIL
Celebrated on the eleventh day of the month of March, in the year MDXLVII. Doth it please you to decree and declare, that, from the foregoing statements and other allegations, a disease of the kind stated is so plainly and notoriously certain, that the prelates cannot without danger of their lives remain in this city, and that therefore they cannot and ought not to be detained therein against their wills? And considering moreover the withdrawal of many prelates since the Session last held, and the protests made in the general congregations by very many other prelates, who wish by all means to depart hence through fear of the said disease, who cannot justly be detained; and by whose departure the Council would either be dissolved, or, from the small number of the prelates, its beneficial progress be hindered; and considering also the imminent danger to life, and the other notoriously true and legitimate reasons alleged in the said congregations by certain of the Fathers; doth it please you, in like manner, to decree and declare, that, for the preservation and prosecution of the said Council, and for the safety of the lives of the said prelates, this Council be transferred for a time to the city of Bologna, as being a place better provided, more healthy, and fit, and that the translation have effect from this day forth, and that the Session, already indicted for the twentyfirst of April ought to be celebrated, and be celebrated, there on that appointed day; and that the further matters be proceeded with in order, until it shall seem expedient, to our most holy Lord and to the sacred Council, that the said Council may, and ought to, be brought back to this, or to some other place, taking council also thereupon with the most invincible Emperor, the most Christian king, and with the other Christian kings and princes?
They answered: It pleaseth us.
FOR THE PROROGATION OF THE SESSION
Celebrated at Bologna, on the twenty-first day of the month of April, MDXLVII.
This sacred and holy, ecumenical and general Synod, which lately was assembled in the city of Trent, and is now lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost at Bologna, the same most reverend Lords Giammaria del Monte, bishop of Palaestrina, and Marcellus, of the title of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem, priest, cardinals of the holy Roman Church, and Legates apostolic a latere, presiding therein in the name of our most holy Father in Christ, and Lord, Paul III., by the providence of God, Pope; considering that, on the eleventh day of the month of March of the present year, in a general and public Session celebrated in the said city of Trent, in the usual place, all the formalities being observed in the usual manner; (the Synod) ,-for causes then pressing, urgent, and legitimate, and with the interposition also of the authority of the holy Apostolic See, specially also granted to the said most reverend Presidents,-decreed and ordained, that the Council was to be transferred, as it did transfer it, from that place to this city, and likewise that the Session,-indicted there for this twenty-first day of April, that Canons touching the matters of the Sacraments and of Reformation, whereon It had purposed to treat, might be established and promulgated,-ought to be celebrated in this city of Bologna; and considering that some of the Fathers who have been accustomed to be present at this Council,-being some engaged in their own Churches during these last days of the great week (of Lent), and of the Paschal solemnity, and some also detained by other hindrances, -have not as yet come hither, but who nevertheless, it is to be hoped, will shortly be present; and that, from this cause, it has happened that the said matters of the Sacraments and of Reformation could not be examined and discussed in an assembly of prelates as numerous as the holy Synod desired: wherefore, to the end that all things may be done with mature deliberation, with due dignity and gravity, (the Synod) hath resolved, and doth resolve, that it is good, opportunie, and expedient, that the aforenamed Session, which, as has been said, was to have been celebrated on this day, be deferred and prorogued, as it is now deferred and prorogued, to the Thursday within the approaching octave of Pentecost, for the expediting of the matters aforesaid; which day It has deemed, and deems, to be most opportune for the business to be transacted, and most convenient especially for the Fathers who are absent; adding however, that this holy Synod may and can, even in a private congregation, limit and abridge the said term, at Its will and pleasure, as It shall think expedient for the business of the Council.
FOR THE PROROGATION OF THE SESSION
Celebrated at Bologna on the second day of the month of June, MDXLVII.
Although this sacred and holy, oecumenical and general Synod hath decreed, that the Session which was to have been celebrated, in this illustrious city of Bologna, on the twenty-first day of the month of April last, on the subject of the Sacraments and of Reformation, in accordance with the decree promulgated in public Session in the city of Trent, should be deferred and prorogued to this present day, for certain reasons, and especially on account of the absence of some of the Fathers, who it was hoped would in a short time be present; wishing, however, even yet to deal kindly with those who have not come, the same sacred and holy Synod, lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost, the same cardinals of the holy Roman Church, and Legates of the Apostolic See, presiding therein, resolves and decrees, that the said Session, which It had decreed to celebrate on this the second day of the month of June of this present year 1547, be deferred and prorogued, and It doth hereby defer and prorogue it, to the Thursday after the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which will be the fifteenth of September next; for the expediting of the aforesaid and other matters; yet so, however, that the prosecution of the discussion and examination, as well of those things which relate to dogmas, as of those which regard reformation, shall not meanwhile be suspended; and that the said holy Synod freely may and can, at Its will and pleasure, even in a private congregation, abridge or prorogue the said term.
On the fourteenth day of September, MDXLVII, in a general Congregation held at Bologna, the Session, which was to have been held on the following day, was prorogued during the good pleasure of the sacred Council.
BULL FOR THE RESUMPTION OF THE COUNCIL OF TRENT, UNDER THE SOVEREIGN PONTIFF, JULIUS III
Julius, bishop, servant of the servants of God, for the future memory hereof.
Whereas, in order to remove the dissensions touching our religion, which for a long time have prevailed in Germany to the disturbance and scandal of the whole Christian world, it seems good, opportune, and expedient,-as also our most dearly beloved son in Christ, Charles the Emperor of the Romans, ever august, has caused to be signified to us by his letters and ambassadors,-to bring back to the city of Trent, the sacred, oecumenical, (and) general Council indicted by our predecessor, Pope Paul III., of happy memory, and begun, regulated, and continued, by Us, who then enjoyed the honour of the Cardinalate, and conjointly with two other Cardinals of the holy Roman Church, presided in the name of our said predecessor, in the said Council, wherein several public and solemn Sessions were held, and several decrees promulgated as well on the subject of faith as of Reformation, and also many things relating to both subjects examined and discussed;-We,-unto whom, as Sovereign Pontiff for the time, it appertains to indict and direct general Councils,-that we may, unto the praise and glory of Almighty God, procure the peace of the Church and the increase of the Christian faith and of the orthodox religion, and may, as far as in us lies, consult with fatherly care for the tranquillity of Germany,-a province indeed which, in times past, was never second to any in Christendom, in cultivating true religion, and the doctrine of the sacred Councils and holy Fathers, and in exhibiting due obedience and reverence to the chief Pontiffs, the vicars on earth of Christ our Redeemer; hoping that, by the grace and bounty of God, all Christian kings and princes will approve of, favour and aid our just and pious wishes herein:
We, by the bowels of the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, exhort, require, and admonish our venerable brethren the patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, and our beloved sons the abbots, and all and each of the others, who of right, or custom, or privilege, ought to be present at General Councils, and whom our said predecessor, in his letters of indiction and any others soever made and published on this subject, willed to be present at the Council, to convene and assemble, where there is no lawful impediment, in the same city of Trent, and to apply themselves without any delay whatever to the continuation and prosecution of the said Council, on the next ensuing calends of May, which day we appoint, determine on, and assign, after mature deliberation, and of our own certain knowledge, and the plenitude of apostolic authority, and with the advice and consent of our venerable brethren the Cardinals of the said holy Roman Church, for resuming and prosecuting the said Council in the state wherein it now is.
For We shall make it our special care, that, at the same time, in the said city, there be always present our Legates, through whom,-if we shall be unable, on account of our age, state of health, and the necessities of the Apostolic See, to be personally present,-we shall, under the guidance of the Holy Ghost, preside over the said Council; any translation and suspension of the said Council, and any other things whatsoever to the contrary notwithstanding, and especially those things which it was the will of our predecessor should not create any obstacle, as expressed in his letters aforesaid, which, with all and each of the clauses and decrees therein contained, we will and decree to continue in force, and we do, as far as there is need thereof, hereby renew them; declaring moreover null and void whatsoever may be attempted, wittingly or ignorantly, by whatsoever person, or by whatsoever authority, against these presents. Let no one, therefore, infringe this our letter of exhortation, requisition, monition, statute, declaration, renewal, will, and decree, or with rash daring go contrary thereunto. But if any one shall presume to attempt this, let him know that he will incur the indignation of Almighty God, and of His blessed apostles, Peter and Paul.
Given at Rome, at St. Peter's, in the year MDXLVIII of our Lord's Incarnation, on the eighteenth of the calends of December, in the first year of our Pontificate.
M. CARDINAL CRESCEN. ROM. AMASEUS.
FOR RESUMING THE COUNCIL
Of the sacred and holy, oecumenical and general Council of Trent, celebrated on the calends of May, MDLI, being the first held under the Sovereign Pontiff, Julius III.
Doth it please you, unto the praise and glory of the holy and undivided Trinity, Father, and Son, and Holy Ghost, for the increase and exaltation of the Christian faith and religion, that the sacred, oecumenical, and general Council of Trent be, agreeably to the form and tenor of the letters of our most holy lord, resumed, and that further matters be proceeded with?
They answered: It pleaseth us.
INDICTION OF THE NEXT SESSION
Doth it please you that the next ensuing Session be held and celebrated on the ensuing calends of September?
They answered: It pleaseth us.
Being the second under the Sovereign Pontiff, Julius III., celebrated on the first day of September, MDLI.
The sacred and holy, oecumenical and general Synod of Trent,-lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost, the same Legate and nuncios of the Apostolic See presiding therein,-having, in the Session last held, decreed, that this next Session was to be on this day celebrated, and that further matters were to be proceeded with; whereas It has hitherto delayed to proceed, on account of the absence of the illustrious German nation,-whose interests are principally concerned,-and on account of the assemblage of the Fathers not being numerous; now rejoicing in the Lord, and giving deserved thanks to that same Almighty God, for the arrival, a little before this day, of our venerable brethren and sons in Christ, the Archbishops of Mayence and Treves,-electoral princes of the holy Roman Empire,-and also of several other bishops of that country and of other provinces; and conceiving a firm hope that very many other prelates, both of Germany and of other nations, will, impelled by the requirements of their office and by this example, in a few days arrive; (the Synod) indicts the next session for the fortieth day from this present, which will be the eleventh of October next:-and prosecuting the said Council in the state wherein it now is, whereas in the preceding Sessions decrees were passed touching the seven sacraments of the New Law in general, and on baptism and confirmation in particular, It resolves and decrees, that It will discuss and treat of the sacrament of the most holy Eucharist, and also, as regards Reformation, of the other matters which relate to the more easy and commodious residence of prelates. And It admonishes and exhorts all the Fathers, that, after the example of our Lord Jesus Christ, they meanwhile give themselves to fasting and prayer, so far at least as human weakness will permit, that so God, who is blessed for evermore, being at length appeased, may vouchsafe to bring back the hearts of men to the acknowledgment of His own true faith, to the unity of holy mother Church, and to the rule of righteous living.
CONCERNING THE MOST HOLY SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARIST
FIRST DECREE
Being the third under the Sovereign Pontiff, Julius III., celebrated on the eleventh day of October, MDLI.
The sacred and holy, oecumenical and general Synod of Trent,-lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost, the same Legate, and nuncios of the Apostolic See presiding therein, although the end for which It assembled, not without the special guidance and governance of the Holy Ghost, was, that It might set forth the true and ancient doctrine touching faith and the sacraments, and might apply a remedy to all the heresies, and the other most grievous troubles with which the Church of God is now miserably agitated, and rent into many and various parts; yet, even from the outset, this especially has been the object of Its desires, that It might pluck up by the roots those tares of execrable errors and schisms, with which the enemy hath, in these our calamitous times, oversown the doctrine of the faith, in the use and worship of the sacred and holy Eucharist, which our Saviour, notwithstanding, left in His Church as a symbol of that unity and charity, with which He would fain have all Christians be mentally joined and united together. Wherefore, this sacred and holy Synod delivering here, on this venerable and divine sacrament of the Eucharist, that sound and genuine doctrine, which the Catholic Church,-instructed by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and by His apostles, and taught by the Holy Ghost, who day by day brings to her mind all truth, has always retained, and will preserve even to the end of the world, forbids all the faithful of Christ, to presume to believe, teach, or preach henceforth concerning the holy Eucharist, otherwise than as is explained and defined in this present decree.
CHAPTER I.
On the real presence of our Lord Jesus Christ in the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist.
In the first place, the holy Synod teaches, and openly and simply professes, that, in the august sacrament of the holy Eucharist, after the consecration of the bread and wine, our Lord Jesus Christ, true God and man, is truly, really, and substantially contained under the species of those sensible things. For neither are these things mutually repugnant,-that our Saviour Himself always sitteth at the right hand of the Father in heaven, according to the natural mode of existing, and that, nevertheless, He be, in many other places, sacramentally present to us in his own substance, by a manner of existing, which, though we can scarcely express it in words, yet can we, by the understanding illuminated by faith, conceive, and we ought most firmly to believe, to be possible unto God: for thus all our forefathers, as many as were in the true Church of Christ, who have treated of this most holy Sacrament, have most openly professed, that our Redeemer instituted this so admirable a sacrament at the last supper, when, after the blessing of the bread and wine, He testified, in express and clear words, that He gave them His own very Body, and His own Blood; words which,-recorded by the holy Evangelists, and afterwards repeated by Saint Paul, whereas they carry with them that proper and most manifest meaning in which they were understood by the Fathers,-it is indeed a crime the most unworthy that they should be wrested, by certain contentions and wicked men, to fictitious and imaginary tropes, whereby the verity of the flesh and blood of Christ is denied, contrary to the universal sense of the Church, which, as the pillar and ground of truth, has detested, as satanical, these inventions devised by impious men; she recognising, with a mind ever grateful and unforgetting, this most excellent benefit of Christ.
CHAPTER II.
On the reason of the Institution of this most holy Sacrament.
Wherefore, our Saviour, when about to depart out of this world to the Father, instituted this Sacrament, in which He poured forth as it were the riches of His divine love towards man, making a remembrance of his wonderful works; and He commanded us, in the participation thereof, to venerate His memory, and to show forth his death until He come to judge the world. And He would also that this sacrement should be received as the spiritual food of souls, whereby may be fed and strengthened those who live with His life who said, He that eateth me, the same also shall live by me; and as an antidote, whereby we may be freed from daily faults, and be preserved from mortal sins. He would, furthermore, have it be a pledge of our glory to come, and everlasting happiness, and thus be a symbol of that one body whereof He is the head, and to which He would fain have us as members be united by the closest bond of faith, hope, and charity, that we might all speak the same things, and there might be no schisms amongst us.
CHAPTER III.
On the excellency of the most holy Eucharist over the rest of the Sacraments.
The most holy Eucharist has indeed this in common with the rest of the sacraments, that it is a symbol of a sacred thing, and is a visible form of an invisible grace; but there is found in the Eucharist this excellent and peculiar thing, that the other sacraments have then first the power of sanctifying when one uses them, whereas in the Eucharist, before being used, there is the Author Himself of sanctity. For the apostles had not as yet received the Eucharist from the hand of the Lord, when nevertheless Himself affirmed with truth that to be His own body which He presented (to them). And this faith has ever been in the Church of God, that, immediately after the consecration, the veritable Body of our Lord, and His veritable Blood, together with His soul and divinity, are under the species of bread and wine; but the Body indeed under the species of bread, and the Blood under the species of wine, by the force of the words; but the body itself under the species of wine, and the blood under the species of bread, and the soul under both, by the force of that natural connexion and concomitancy whereby the parts of Christ our Lord, who hath now risen from the dead, to die no more, are united together; and the divinity, furthermore, on account of the admirable hypostatical union thereof with His body and soul. Wherefore it is most true, that as much is contained under either species as under both; for Christ whole and entire is under the species of bread, and under any part whatsoever of that species; likewise the whole (Christ) is under the species of wine, and under the parts thereof.
CHAPTER IV.
On Transubstantiation.
And because that Christ, our Redeemer, declared that which He offered under the species of bread to be truly His own body, therefore has it ever been a firm belief in the Church of God, and this holy Synod doth now declare it anew, that, by the consecration of the bread and of the wine, a conversion is made of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord, and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of His blood; which conversion is, by the holy Catholic Church, suitably and properly called Transubstantiation.
CHAPTER V.
On the cult and veneration to be shown to this most holy Sacrament.
Wherefore, there is no room left for doubt, that all the faithful of Christ may, according to the custom ever received in the Catholic Church, render in veneration the worship of latria, which is due to the true God, to this most holy sacrament. For not therefore is it the less to be adored on this account, that it was instituted by Christ, the Lord, in order to be received: for we believe that same God to be present therein, of whom the eternal Father, when introducing him into the world, says; And let all the angels of God adore him; whom the Magi falling down, adored; who, in fine, as the Scripture testifies, was adored by the apostles in Galilee.
The holy Synod declares, moreover, that very piously and religiously was this custom introduced into the Church, that this sublime and venerable sacrament be, with special veneration and solemnity, celebrated, every year, on a certain day, and that a festival; and that it be borne reverently and with honour in processions through the streets, and public places. For it is most just that there be certain appointed holy days, whereon all Christians may, with a special and unusual demonstration, testify that their minds are grateful and thankful to their common Lord and Redeemer for so ineffable and truly divine a benefit, whereby the victory and triumph of His death are represented. And so indeed did it behove victorious truth to celebrate a triumph over falsehood and heresy, that thus her adversaries, at the sight of so much splendour, and in the midst of so great joy of the universal Church, may either pine away weakened and broken; or, touched with shame and confounded, at length repent.
CHAPTER VI.
On reserving the Sacrament of the sacred Eucharist, and bearing it to the Sick.
The custom of reserving the holy Eucharist in the sacrarium is so ancient, that even the age of the Council of Nicaea recognised that usage. Moreover, as to carrying the sacred Eucharist itself to the sick, and carefully reserving it for this purpose in churches, besides that it is exceedingly conformable to equity and reason, it is also found enjoined in numerous councils, and is a very ancient observance of the Catholic Church. Wherefore, this holy Synod ordains, that this salutary and necessary custom is to be by all means retained.
CHAPTER VII.
On the preparation to be given that one may worthily receive the sacred Eucharist.
If it is unbeseeming for any one to approach to any of the sacred functions, unless he approach holily; assuredly, the more the holiness and divinity of this heavenly sacrament are understood by a Christian, the more diligently ought he to give heed that he approach not to receive it but with great reverence and holiness, especially as we read in the Apostle those words full of terror; He that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself. Wherefore, he who would communicate, ought to recall to mind the precept of the Apostle; Let a man prove himself. Now ecclesiastical usage declares that necessary proof to be, that no one, conscious to himself of mortal sin, how contrite soever he may seem to himself, ought to approach to the sacred Eucharist without previous sacramental confession. This the holy Synod hath decreed is to be invariably observed by all Christians, even by those priests on whom it may be incumbent by their office to celebrate, provided the opportunity of a confessor do not fail them; but if, in an urgent necessity, a priest should celebrate without previous confession, let him confess as soon as possible.
CHAPTER VIII.
On the use of this admirable Sacrament.
Now as to the use of this holy sacrament, our Fathers have rightly and wisely distinguished three ways of receiving it. For they have taught that some receive it sacramentally only, to wit sinners: others spiritually only, those to wit who eating in desire that heavenly bread which is set before them, are, by a lively faith which worketh by charity, made sensible of the fruit and usefulness thereof: whereas the third (class) receive it both sacramentally and spiritually, and these are they who so prove and prepare themselves beforehand, as to approach to this divine table clothed with the wedding garment. Now as to the reception of the sacrament, it was always the custom in the Church of God, that laymen should receive the communion from priests; but that priests when celebrating should communicate themselves; which custom, as coming down from an apostolical tradition, ought with justice and reason to be retained. And finally this holy Synod with true fatherly affection admonishes, exhorts, begs, and beseeches, through the bowels of the mercy of our God, that all and each of those who bear the Christian name would now at length agree and be of one mind in this sign of unity, in this bond of charity, in this symbol of concord; and that mindful of the so great majesty, and the so exceeding love of our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave His own beloved soul as the price of our salvation, and gave us His own flesh to eat, they would believe and venerate these sacred mysteries of His body and blood with such constancy and firmness of faith, with such devotion of soul, with such piety and worship as to be able frequently to receive that supersubstantial bread, and that it may be to them truly the life of the soul, and the perpetual health of their mind; that being invigorated by the strength thereof, they may, after the journeying of this miserable pilgrimage, be able to arrive at their heavenly country, there to eat, without any veil, that same bread of angels which they now eat under the sacred veils.
But forasmuch as it is not enough to declare the truth, if errors be not laid bare and repudiated, it hath seemed good to the holy Synod to subjoin these canons, that all, -the Catholic doctrine being already recognised,-may now also understand what are the heresies which they ought to guard against and avoid.