The Presbyters Project

LXVIII. De eo quod non liceat super monumenta mortuorum missas tenere.

Non oportet clericos ignaros et praesumptores super monumenta in campo ministeria portare aut distribuere sacramenta, sed aut in ecclesia aut in basilica ubi martyrum reliquiae sunt depositae ibi pro defunctis oblationem offerri.

(ed. Barlowe 1950: 140)

LXVIII. That it is not allowed to celebrate mass on the tombs of the dead.

Ignorant and presumptuous clerics shall not hold services at the tombs in the fields, or distribute there sacraments, but the sacrifice for the dead shall be offered either in a church, or in a basilica where relics of the martyrs are placed.

(trans. M. Szada)

Discussion:

Cf. canon 39 of the Council of Laodicea (the end of the 4th c.).

Place of event:

Region

Iberian Peninsula

City

Braga

About the source:

Author: Martin of Braga
Title: Collectio orientalium canonum, seu Capitula Martini, Capitula Martini, Collection of the Eastern canons
Origin: Braga (Iberian Peninsula), Laodicea (East)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

In the manuscript tradition the canons of the Second Council of Braga (Iberian Peninsula) in AD 572 are followed by the Eastern canons collected and translated into Latin by Martin of Braga (Iberian Peninsula). He was using a Greek collection, impossible to identify with any of the collections known today, which gathered the canons of the several Eastern councils. Martin quotes also the canons of the First Council of Toledo AD 400. Martin dedicated his work to Bishop Nitigisius of Lugo (Iberian Peninsula). Those two bishops met on the Second Council of Braga, and possibly the collection was composed for this occasion (Barlowe 1950: 84-87).

Edition:

C. Barlowe ed., Martini episcopi Bracarensis opera omnia, New Haven 1950.

Categories:

Described by a title - Clericus

Ritual activity - Eucharist

Ritual activity - Praying for the dead

Devotion - Veneration of saints and relics

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: M. Szada, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER1147, http://presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1147