Disobedience to the regulations of the Church might be followed by excommunication. It was a punishment which cut off the offender from all Christian fellowship. He could not attend religious services nor enjoy the sacraments so necessary to salvation. If he died excommunicate, his body could not be buried in consecrated ground. By the law of the state he lost all civil rights and forfeited all his property. No one might speak to him, feed him, or shelter him. This terrible penalty, it is well to point out, was usually imposed only after the sinner had received a fair trial and had spurned all entreaties to repent. [12]
INTERDICT
The interdict, another form of punishment, was directed against a particular locality, for the fault of some of the inhabitants who could not be reached directly. In time of interdict the priests closed the churches and neither married the living nor buried the dead. Of the sacraments only Baptism, Confirmation, and Penance were permitted. All the inhabitants of the afflicted district were ordered to fast, as in Lent, and to let their hair grow long in sign of mourning. The interdict also stopped the wheels of government, for courts of justice were shut, wills could not be made, and public officials were forbidden to perform their duties. In some cases the Church went so far as to lay an interdict upon an entire kingdom, whose ruler had refused to obey her mandate. [13] The interdict has now passed out of use, but excommunication still retains its place among the spiritual weapons of the Church.
162. THE SECULAR CLERGY
THE SECULAR AND REGULAR CLERGY
Some one has said that in the Middle Ages there were just three classes of society: the nobles who fought; the peasants who worked; and the clergy who prayed. The latter class was divided into the secular [14] clergy, including deacons, priests, and bishops, who lived active lives in the world, and the regular [15] clergy, or monks, who passed their days in seclusion behind monastery walls.
POSITION OF THE CLERGY
It has been already pointed out how early both secular and regular clergy came to be distinguished from the laity by abstention from money-making activities, differences in dress, and the obligation of celibacy. [16] Being unmarried, the clergy had no family cares; being free from the necessity of earning their own living, they could devote all their time and energy to the service of the Church. The sacrament of Ordination, which was believed to endow the clergy with divine power, also helped to strengthen their influence. They appeared as a distinct order, in whose charge was the care of souls and in whose hands were the keys of heaven.
PARISH PRIESTS
An account of the secular clergy naturally begins with the parish priest, who had charge of a parish, the smallest division of Christendom. No one could act as a priest without the approval of the bishop, but the nobleman who supported the parish had the privilege of nominating candidates for the position. The priest derived his income from lands belonging to the parish, from tithes, [17] and from voluntary contributions, but as a rule he received little more than a bare living. The parish priest was the only Church officer who came continually into touch with the common people. He baptized, married, and buried his parishioners. For them he celebrated Mass at least once a week, heard confessions, and granted absolution. He watched over all their deeds on earth and prepared them for the life to come. And if he preached little, he seldom failed to set in his own person an example of right living.