Canon VI.
If
any one shall hold private
assemblies outside of the Church, and, despising the canons, shall
presume to perform ecclesiastical acts, the presbyter with the consent
of the bishop refusing his permission, let him be anathema.
Notes.
Ancient Epitome of Canon VI.
Whoso privately gathers a religious meeting let him be
anathema.
Hefele.
Both these canons, [V. and VI.] forbid the existence of
conventicles, and conventicle services. It already appears from
the second article of the Synodal Letter of Gangra, that the
Eustathians, through spiritual pride, separated themselves from the
rest of the congregation, as being the pure and holy, avoided the
public worship, and held private services of their own. The
ninth, tenth, and eleventh articles of the Synodal Letter give us to
understand that the Eustathians especially avoided the public services,
when married clergy officiated. We might possibly conclude, from
the words of the sixth canon:
μὴ συνόντος
τοῦ
πρεσβυτέρου
κατὰ γνώμην
τοῦ
ἐπισκόπου
, that
no priest performed any part in their private services; but it is more
probable that the Eustathians, who did not reject the priesthood as
such, but only abhorred the married clergy, had their own unmarried
clergy, and that these officiated at their separate services. And
the above-mentioned words of the canon do not the least contradict this
supposition, for the very addition of the words
κατὰ γνώμην
τοῦ
ἐπισκόπου
indicate that the sectarian priests who performed the services of the
Eustathians had received no permission to do so from the bishop of the
place. Thus did the Greek commentators, Balsamon, etc., and
likewise Van Espen, interpret this canon.
The meaning of this canon is very obscure. The
Latin reads
non conveniente presbytero, de episcopi sententia
;
and Lambert translates “without the presence of a priest, with
consent of the bishop.” Hammond differs from this and
renders thus, “without the concurrence of the presbyter and the
consent of the bishop.” I have translated literally and
left the obscurity of the original.