[16]. Anast. ep. 2.
His Letter to the
Metropolitans of
Illyricum.
The same Year Celestine writ to Perigenes of Corinth, Donatus of Nicopolis in Epirus, and Basil of Larissa in Thessaly, all Three Metropolitans of Illyricum, recommending to them an intire Submission to the See of Rome, and to that of Thessalonica; Rufus, who presided there, having been appointed by him to determine, in his Name, all Disputes that might arise among them. He lets them know, that, in virtue of the Submission, which they owed to the See of Thessalonica, and he required of them, they were to ordain no Bishops, assemble no Councils, without the Knowledge and Consent of Rufus; which was restraining to the See of Thessalonica, that is, engrossing to himself (for the Bishop of Thessalonica acted only as his Vicar), the Privileges, which the Council of Nice had granted to all Metropolitans. It is observable, that in this very Letter Celestine affects an intire Obedience to the Canons of the Church. We ought, says he, to subject our Will to the Rules, and not the Rules to our Will; we ought to conform to the Canons, and strictly observe what they prescribe[[1604]]. But he did not govern himself by this Maxim upon other Occasions.
He complains of
several Abuses that
prevailed in some
Churches of Gaul.
The following Year 428, he wrote a long Letter to the Bishops of the Provinces of Vienne and Narbonne, against several Abuses that prevailed in those Parts. This Letter he begins quite in the Style of a modern Pope: As I am, says he, appointed by God to watch over his Church, it is incumbent upon me every-where to root out evil Practices, and introduce good ones in their room; for my Pastoral Vigilance is restrained by no Bounds, but extends to all Places, where Christ is known and adored. Thus, under the Name of Pastoral Vigilance he extends, at once, his Authority and Jurisdiction over all the Churches of the Christian World. The first Abuse he complains of was a particular Dress assumed by some Bishops, wearing, in Imitation of the Monks, a Cloke and Girdle. |Bishops not distinguished formerly by their Dress from the Laity.| With this Novelty Celestine finds great Fault, and exhorts the Bishops to distinguish themselves from the People by their Doctrine, and not by their Garments, by the Sanctity of their Manners, and not by the Mode of their Dress, by the internal Purity of their Souls, and not by the external Attire of their Bodies. What a large Field would the so many different and ridiculous Habits of the Monks and Friers, the costly Attire of Bishops and Cardinals, and, above all, the gorgeous and stately Apparel of Celestine’s own Successors, have opened for his Zeal, had he lived in our Days! He pleasantly adds, that if they understood, in a literal Sense, the Words of our Saviour, Let your Loins be girded about[[1605]], they ought to interpret other Passages after the same manner, and never appear without Lamps and Staves in their Hands. And was not this condemning, at least ridiculing, the Monkish Habits, an essential Part of which is the Girdle[[N72]]? The other Abuses, which Celestine wanted to have redressed, have nothing new in them, or that has not been mentioned before in this History; and therefore I omit repeating them here.
[N72]. From this Passage it is manifest, that in those Days the Bishops, and other Ecclesiastics, were not yet distinguished by their Dress from the Laity, at least when they were not actually discharging the Functions of their Office. Whether they used even then any particular Dress or Attire, may be justly questioned. Dionysius Exiguus thinks they did not[[1]]; and F. Sirmond is of the same Opinion. For, according to Sirmond, the Ecclesiastics used no other Dress in the Church, but that which they wore daily out of the Church. However, as they reserved the best Habits they had for the Sacred Functions, and used them on no other Occasion, when Modes in Dress began to alter, the Fashion changed before they were worn out. Thus, by Degrees, the Dress, which they used in the Church, varied from their common Dress, as well as from that of the People; the new Habits for the Service of the Church being made after the Mode of the antient, in which they were accustomed to perform their Functions. Anastasius, Platina, and Baronius, give us particular Accounts, I may say, the History of every Part of the Mass-Priest’s Dress, instituted, according to them, and used long before this time.
[1]. Biblioth. Jur. Can. per Justel. t. 1. p. 210.