Abridgment of Ecclesiastical Laws, Treatise · Chapter 6
CHAP. VI.
Of Conſecration▪
1. What Conſecration ſignifies; the Ancient Rites and Ceremonies thereof under the Law; who they were to whom it belonged.
2. Conſecration, as ſpecially Applicable to Biſhops.
3. An Ancient Canon touching the Conſecration of Churches.
4. The Form of Conſecration of Churches by the Juſtinian Law, the Rites and Ceremonies therein uſed by the Greek and Latin Churches.
5. Conſecration of Biſhops how neceſſary by the Imperial Law, Conſonant to the practice of the Greek and Latin Churches.
6. Conſecration of Biſhops is Character Indelebilis at the Common Law.
7. Who firſt Conſecrated Churches; who firſt took the ſtyle of Pope; The Original of Godfathers and Godmothers in Baptiſm.
8. In caſe of Tranſlations of Biſhops no need of new Conſecrations; Requiſites to Creation and Tranſlation of Biſhops according to the Common Law of England.
1. CONSECRATION here chiefly refers either to Biſhops or Churches: The Civil as well as Canon Law takes notice of botha…. 3. ſi quando, C. de Bon. vac. & 24. q. 1. c. Pudenda, & Jul. Patric. in Verſion. Nov. 6.. It ſignifies a Dedication to God; Juſtinian in his Novel's makes uſe of the word, thereby ſignifying an Impoſition of hands bdict. Nov. 6.: For in this manner (ſays that Book of great Antiquity, entituled foreign) began Biſhops to be Conſecrated. It is a kind of Separation of perſons Ec…cſiaſtical from the Laity, and of things Sacred from Prophane, for the eſpecial uſe and ſervice of God. The word in the Hebrew ſignifies a Filling of the hand, thereby intimating that under the Law in the Conſecration of any, there was a giving them or Putting into their hands things to offer, whereby they were admitted to their Prieſtly OfficecExod. 29. 9.. In this Conſecration the holy Unction was uſed, or the holy Oyl or holy Ointment, which was not to be applied to any Prophane or Civil uſe, but to be appropiated to the Sons of Aaron; only whereas Kings were and are to be Anointed, that is to be underſtood, as by eſpecial command from Godd1 King. 19. 15, 16. & 1 King. 1. 39. & 1 Sam. 16. 12. Pſal. 89. 20., as an Exception to the Sacerdotal practice, and as a Conſecrating them to the Government; in relation whereto a King is a Mixt perſon under a double capacity, Eccleſiaſtical and Civil, as next under God the Supream in Church and State within his own Dominions. And although under the Levitical Law there was an Anointing Oyl common to the High Prieſt with the Inferiour PrieſtseExod. 29. 20.; yet the High Prieſt had a Conſecration peculiar to himſelf, which was by the pouring out the precious Oyntment upon his headfLev. 8. 12. Exod. 29. 7. Pſal. 133. 2.. In imitation whereof are Kings at this day anointed to the Regal Authority.
(2.) The import of this word [Conſecration] as practicable in all Ages, ſpecially refers to Archbiſhops and Biſhops, and with us conſiſts in certain Benedictions and Ceremonies peculiarly requiſite thereunto; And when after Election and Confirmation the perſon is Conſecrated and Inveſted, he is then compleat Biſhop, as well to Temporalties as Spiritualties, and then the power of the Guardian of the Spiritualties doth ceaſe. Being Conſecrated he may confer Holy Orders upon others, and may Conſecrate Churches and Chappels, which before he could not. Anſelm Archbiſhop of Canterbury deprived divers Prelates for receiving Inveſture of King H. 1. but after they were reſtored ex gratia. Speed 436. The Roman Synod made a Cannon, that Inveſture belongs to the Pope; yet H. 1. uſed to give Inveſture, as he did to Ralph, Archbiſhop of Canterbury. Sp. 440. b.
(3.) Touching the Conſecration of Churches, the Learned Sir H. Spelman makes mention of a very Ancient Canon made by the Synod held at Celichyth,Celichyth. in the year 816. under Wulfred Archbiſhop of Canterbury, and Preſident of the ſaid Synod, Kenulph King of Morcia being threat alſo perſonally preſent; The Canon is to this purpoſe, viz. Wherever a Church is built or erected, let it be Sanctified by the Biſhop of the proper Dioceſs: Let it have a Benediction from himſelf, and be ſprinkled with Holy Water, and ſo be made a compleat Church, in ſuch manner as is preſcribed in the Miniſterial Book. Afterwards, let the Euchariſt, which is Conſecrated by the ſame Biſhop, be together with other Reliques repoſited and laid up in a Cheſt, and kept and preſerved in the ſame Church. And we Ordain and Command, that every Biſhop take care that the Saints, to whom their Churches are dedicated reſpectively, be painted on the Church-walls, or in Tables, or on the AltarsgSpelm. Conſil. Synod. Celichyth. Can. 2..
4. The Emperour Juſtinian in his care of the Church, hath preſcirbed a Form of Conſecration thereof in this manner, viz. his Law is, That none ſhall preſume to erect a Church, until the Biſhop of the Dioceſs hath been firſt acquainted therewith, and ſhall come the lift up his hands to Heaven, and Conſecrate the place to God by Prayer: and erect the Symbole of our Salvation, viz. the venerable and truly precioas Rood hAuth. de Monach. §. illud igitur. Coll. 1. vid. Novell. 123, 131.. Likewiſe among other Ceremonies of Conſecrating Churches, the laying of the firſt Stone was of Ancient uſe in the Greek Church, as may be obſerved out of their Euchologue, where it is ſaid, That the Biſhop, after ſome other Rites performed, ſtanding in the place where the Holy Altar ſhall be ſet, ſaith certain Prayers, which being ended, he giveth tho Ite Miſſa eſt, and then taketh up one of the Stones, and having cut a Croſs upon it, himſelf with his own hands layeth it upon the Groundwork, as the firſt Foundation-ſtone; then be pronounceth the foreign, &c. and ſo the Workmen begin the Building. The like Ceremonies are uſed in the Latin Church at this day at the Conſecration of Churches, as appears by their PontificaleiPontificale, pag. 281. per Clement. 8. An. 5565. There is this further touching the Conſecration of Churches in the Euchologue of the Greek Church, That the Biſhop having on his Formilities, fumeth the Ground-work or Foundation with his Iacenſe Circular-wiſe, then the Singing-men ſay a kind of Collect for the Saint to whoſe Name the Church is Dedicated, and ſome other Services as the Chaunter ſhall appoint. So that although the Patron might chuſe the Ground, yet the Prelate was to come and Conſecrate it; the Patron might bring the Stones, but the Biſhop laid the Foundation; the Workmen might with the Materials make a Houſe, but the Biſhop by Conſecration made it a Church; It was but the dead body of a Temple, till it received the being of a Church by the influence of the Dioceſan. Thence it was that the priviledge of a new Church followed not the Building, but the Conſecration thereof, as was well obſerved by that Devout and Learned King Alured in the fifth Canon of his Eccleſiaſtical Laws, where he ſaith That if a man purſued by his Enemy flie to the Temple, no man ſhall thence take him away for the ſpace of ſeven days; which Law was yet made under a Caution, That this freedom ſhall not be granted to any Church, but ſuch as ſhall be Conſecrated by the Biſhop.
(5.) Conſecration relating to the perſon, office, and dignity of a Biſhop (as in the former part of this Chapter) was by the Imperial Law ſo neceſſary to the making him a Biſhop compleat, as that without it his Election and Confirmation would not have entituled him to any Church that ſhould be new erected within his Dioceſs, whereunto he being Conſecrated, had a right and Title; as is evident not only by the Emperours Novel, but alſo more peculiarly acknowledged by the foreign, or the ſetting up of the Croſs behind the Altar when he made the Conſecration. Thus the Eucholgue for the Greek Church. The like alſo is obſerved in the Latin, where the Ceremonies are more tedious and elaborate. By the ſetting up of the ſaid foreign, the Right of the new Church was conveyed to the Patriarch or Biſhop as by an eſpecial Title, and that not only by the Euchologue in the Greek, but alſo by the Emperour's Novel in the Latin Church: Concerning which Right and the Conveyance thereof by the foreign. Obſervable to this purpoſe is that Synodical Sentence given by Germanus, Patriarch of Conſtantinople, againſt John Archbiſhop of Lepanto, touching certain Epiſcopal Monaſteries, whereon he had illegally fixed his Croſs under pretence of a Right to the ſamekJus Graec. Lat. To. 1. Synod. 1. 232, 233, &c.
(6.) This Conſecration, ſpecially as it refers to Biſhops, is Character indelebilis, inſomuch that although it ſhould ſo happen, that for ſome juſt cauſe he ſhould be depoſed or removed from the See, or ſuſpended ab Officio & Beneficio, both from his Spiritual Juriſdiction, as to the exerciſe and execution thereof, as alſo from the Temporalties and profits of the Biſhoprick; yet he ſtill retains the Title of a Biſhop, for that it is ſuppoſed the Order it ſelf cannot abſolutely be taken from himl21 H. 6. 3. by Markham. King H. 1. baniſhed Thurſtan, Archbiſhop of York, for five years, for receiving Conſecration from the Pope. Speed 440. b. 458. b.
(7.) It appears by good Chronology, that the firſt that ever Conſecrated Churches was Euginus, who was a Greek, and Prieſt of Rome, and was the firſt that ever ſtyled himſelf Pope, An. 154. who wrote de Trinitate & Vnitate Dei. He was the firſt that Decreed, that Churches ſhould be Conſecrated, with the conſent of the Metropolitan or Biſhop; and that there ſhould be one God-father, and one Godmother at BaptiſmmPlat. Berg. Chriſp. Iſaacs. Sat. Ephem.
(8.) In a Caſe of Tranſlation the Biſhop need not to be Conſecrated de Novo, as in caſe of CreationnCaſe Evans & Aſcough. Latch. Rep. Anciently and according to the Canon Law, and where the Pope's Spiritual power and authority was in force, Biſhops were not ſo much by Election as by Poſtulation, and then the ſaying was Electus Poſtulando, & Poſtulatus obligando; and in that caſe the Elected was a Biſhop preſently, without either Confirmation or Conſecration, only by the Aſſent of the SuperiouroSum. Roſell. Poſtulation, & ut. Si quis Panorm. 2. p. 100 Before Conſecration the Biſhop hath not actual poſſeſſion, although he hath a Freehold in Law after Conſecration: But in caſe of Tranſlation there is not any new Election, nor may the Dean and Chapter pray a Congé d'Eſtire; but they ſignifie to the King how their Biſhoprick is void, & ideo humilime Poſtulamus Humbricenſem Epiſcopum fore Epiſcopum noſtrum, and that is called, Poſtulation; and then if the King grant it, he is the Biſhop. Trin. 21 Jac. B. R. Sir Jo. Vaughan's Caſe verſ. Aſcough, Roll. Rep. Poſtulatio eſt alicujus perſonae ad dignitatem, vel Societatem Fraternam, Canonica facta vocatio: vel eſt perſonae, quae eligi non poteſt, ad eligendum petitio. Cap. innotuit, §. habito. de Elect. The Biſhop of St. P. was choſen Biſhop of Trevers, and had the aſſent of the Pope, and when he came there he found another in poſſeſſion; whereupon he would have returned to his former Biſhoprick, but could not, becauſe it was void before by the conſent of the Superiour. And in the Caſe of Evans and Aſcough, it was ſaid, That a Biſhop hath been Summoned to Parliament before by Confirmation; but, as Jones there ſaid, That was after his Poſſeſſions or Temporalties were reſtored to him. And Caltheep there ſaid, That in the Caſe of Tranſlation of a Biſhop there are five things to be performed, 1. The Chapters Intimation of the death of their Biſhop, praying Congé d'Eſtire. 2. Congé al eux d'Eſtire. 3. A Certificate of the Election. 4. The Aſſent of the Biſhop and the King. 5. The Writ to the Archbiſhop to Confirm and Inſtall him; becauſe in ſuch caſe of Tranſlation he ſhall not be Conſecrated de Novo, as aforeſaid. But Conſecration is neceſſary to the making of him a Biſhop who was none before, and is the fourth Act in order to a Biſhop, according to the enumeration of theſe ſteps and degrees thereunto, which in the ſaid caſe of Evans and Aſcough is mentioned by Whitlock; where he faith, That in the making of a Biſhop when a Biſhoprick is void, the courſe is, (1.) To obtain a Congé d'Eſtire. 2. The Kings Letters Miſſive, whom they ſhall abuſe. 3. VponUpon the Election three Inſtruments thereof; one whereof to the party Elected, another to the Archbiſhop, a third to the King, certifying him of the Election, and then there is an act of Aſſent to the Election, which cannot be without his Aſſent. 4. The Kings Writ to the Archbiſhop to Conſecrate and Inſtall the perſon Elected. 5. Then the Archbiſhop iſſues forth a general Citation, and therein doth prefix a certain day for the Confirmation, which is done accordingly, and then be is Conſecrated. Then the new Biſhop ſwears Fealty to the King, which being done the King orders him his Temporalties: ſo that there are three principal Acts required to the making of a Biſhop; The Election is as the Sollicitation, the Confirmation is the Contract, the Conſecration is the Conſummation of the Marriage: Anſwerable whereunto, ſaid Doderidge in the Caſe aforeſaid, are the Acts of making a Parſon; As 1. Preſentation, whereto anſwers the Election of a Biſhop: 2. Admiſſion, to which Confirmation anſwers: 3. Inſtitution, which is as the Conſecration; and Induction as the Reſtitution of the Temporaltiespin dict. Caſe Evans & Aſcough. The Spiritual Marriage between the Church and the Biſhop initurper Electionem, Contrabitur per Confirmationem, & Conſummatur per Conſecrationem; and the Reſtitution of the Temporalties is as the bringing home of the Wiſe.