Pecham, Ignorantia sacerdotum: Council of Lambeth, canon 9 (Latin) (1281)

Canon 9: Of the Ignorance of Priests

The ignorance of priests plunges the people into error; and the stupidness of clerks who are commanded to instruct the faithful in the catholic faith does rather mislead than teach them. Some who preach to others do not visit the places which most of all want light; as the prophet says, "The little ones asked bread, and there was no man to break it to them"; and another cries, "The poor and needy seek water, their tongue is dry for thirst."

As a remedy for these mischiefs we ordain and enjoin that every priest who presides over a people do four times in the year, that is, once a quarter, on some one or more solemn days, by himself or by some other, expound to the people in the vulgar tongue, without any fantastical affectation of subtilty, the fourteen articles of faith, the ten commandments of the decalogue, the two precepts of the Gospel, or of love to God and man, the seven works of mercy, the seven capital sins, with their progeny, the seven principal virtues, and the seven sacraments of grace. And that ignorance may be no man's excuse, though all ministers of the Church are bound to know them, we have here briefly summed them up.

The Fourteen Articles of Faith

Ye are to know then that there are seven articles of faith belonging to the mystery of the Trinity; four of them do belong to the Deity intrinsically, three of them to its operations. The first is the unity of the divine essence in the indivisible Trinity of the Three Persons, as it is said, "I believe in one God." 2. To believe the Father to be God unbegotten. 3. To believe the Son to be God only-begotten of God. 4. To believe the Holy Ghost to be God neither begotten nor unbegotten, but proceeding both from Father and Son. 5. To believe that the creation of every creature, visible and invisible, is from the entire indivisible Trinity. 6. Is the sanctification of the Church by the Holy Ghost and by the sacraments of grace, and by all those things in which the Christian Church communicates together: by which we understand that the Church by the Holy Ghost with her sacraments and laws is sufficient for the salvation of every man, though he be a sinner to never so great a degree, and that out of the Church is no salvation. 7. Is the consummation of the Church in eternal glory, both as to soul and body, which is truly to be raised up again; and by the rule of contraries the eternal damnation of the wicked.

The other seven articles belong to Christ's humanity. 1. Is His Incarnation, or assuming of flesh of the glorious Virgin only, by the Holy Ghost. 2. Is the nativity of God Incarnate from the incorrupted Virgin. 3. Is the true passion of Christ, and His dying on the cross under the tyrant Pilate. 4. Is the descent of Christ into Hell (for the conquering of it) as to His soul, while His Body rested in the grave. 5. Is the true resurrection of Christ. 6. Is His true ascent into heaven. 7. Is the sure expectation of His coming to judgment.

The Ten Commandments and the Two Precepts of the Gospel

And there are ten commandments of the Old Testament, three whereof respect God and are called commandments of the first table, seven respect man and are called those of the second table. In the first all idolatry is forbidden, "Thou shalt have," &c. In this is implicitly forbidden all sorcery, incantation, superstitious characters, and such figments. In the second, "Thou shalt not take the name," &c., principally all heresy is forbidden, secondarily all blasphemy, and irreverent naming of God, especially in perjury. In the third, "Remember that thou keep," &c., the Christian worship is enjoined, to which laymen as well as clerks are bound: and here we are to know that the obligation to observe the legal Sabbath, according to the form of the Old Testament, is at an end, together with the other ceremonies in that law: to which in the New Testament hath succeeded the custom of spending the Lord's day, and other solemn days appointed by authority of the Church, in the worship of God: and the manner of spending these days is not to be taken from the superstition of the Jews, but from canonical institutes.

The first commandment of the second table is "to honour father and mother." In which we are explicitly commanded to honour our parents both in temporals and spirituals; implicitly to honour all men as their degree deserves. Yet not only our carnal father and mother, but our spiritual is here understood, so that "father" signifies the prelate of the Church, whether mediate or immediate; "mother" signifies the Church, which hath all true catholics for her sons.

The second is, "Thou shalt not kill," in which all unlawful murder of any one by consent, word, deed, or approbation is explicitly forbidden; implicitly all unjust hurt done to another: he kills spiritually who does not relieve the indigent, as they do also who detract from, oppress, or injure the innocent.

The third is, "Thou shalt not commit adultery." Here adultery is explicitly forbidden, implicitly fornication, which is explicitly forbidden in Deuteronomy xxiii. 17, where it is said, "There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a whoremonger of the sons of Israel"; and all mixture of man and woman, unless when excused by the good designs of matrimony; as also all voluntary pollution by what means soever designedly procured.

Fourth is, "Thou shalt not steal," in which is explicitly forbidden all laying of hands on what belongs to another, without consent of the owner; implicitly all injurious usurpation of what belongs to another, whether by fraud, usury, violence or terror.

Fifth is, "Thou shalt not pronounce false testimony against thy brother or neighbour," in which it is explicitly forbidden to testify what is false to the hurt of another; implicitly to testify what is false for the advantage of an unworthy man: all lies are here forbidden, especially such as are hurtful.

Sixth is, "Thou shalt not covet the house of thy neighbour." To supply the sense, you must say "to his wrong"; and in this commandment is forbidden implicitly the coveting the immoveable goods of another, especially of a catholic.

Seventh is, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant," &c., where all coveting the possessions of another is forbidden, with respect to moveables.

The gospel adds two commandments to these ten, viz. the love of God, and our neighbour. He loves God who keeps the commandments aforesaid out of love, not out of fear of punishment. But a man ought to love his neighbour as himself: where the particle "as" does not import equality, but conformity, that is, for good, and not for evil: "as thyself," that is, spiritually, not carnally, as carnally implies somewhat vicious: "as thyself," that is, in prosperity and adversity, in health and sickness. "As yourself" in respect to temporals, so as to love every man more than all temporal abundance: "as yourself," insomuch as to love your neighbour's soul, and the eternal salvation of it, more than your own temporal life, as you ought to prefer the life of your own soul to your carnal life: "as yourself," so as to succour every man in case of necessity, as you desire to be succoured yourself.

The Seven Works of Mercy

Six works of mercy are manifest from St. Matthew's gospel: to feed the hungry, to give drink to the thirsty, to entertain the stranger, to clothe the naked, to visit the sick, to comfort the prisoner. The seventh is inferred from Tobit, which is to bury the bodies of the dead.

The Seven Capital Sins

The seven capital sins are pride, envy, anger, carelessness, covetousness, gluttony, luxury. Pride is a love of one's own excellency; from whence springs boasting, ostentation, hypocrisy, schism, and the like. Envy is the hatred of another man's felicity, from whence comes detraction, murmuring, dissension, perverse judgment, and the like. Anger is a desire of revenge, and of hurt to another, which when it rests in the heart, produces hatred, persecution in word and deed, blows, slaughter, and the like. Carelessness is a loathing of spiritual good, insomuch that a man delights not in God nor divine praises, and it is attended with laziness, cowardice, despair, and the like. Covetousness is an immoderate love of plenty, whether in moveables or immoveables, and that either in getting or keeping them: from whence comes fraud, theft, sacrilege, simony, and all filthy lucre.

Gluttony is an immoderate love of the pleasures of taste in eating or drinking: and there are five ways of sinning in it: 1. As to time, when one eats too early, too late, or too often. 2. In quality, when delicate meats are studied. 3. In quantity, when one eats or drinks too much, which is the vilest kind of gluttony, when the body is made heavy, the inward or outward sense is obstructed, or the bodily health impaired. 4. In greediness, or voracity. 5. Niceness in cookery in order to excite a gluttonous appetite; which is sometimes summed up in this verse: "too soon, too dainty, too much, too eagerly, too studiously." Luxury ought not to be explained; the stench whereof infects the common air.

The Seven Principal Virtues

The principal virtues are seven: faith, hope, and charity, which regard God, and are called theological; prudence, temperance, justice, and fortitude, by which a man is ordered towards himself and his neighbour. It is an act of prudence to choose what is good; of justice to do what is right; of temperance, not to be ensnared with pleasures; of fortitude, not to desist from doing good on account of straits and difficulties: and these are called cardinal, that is, principal virtues, because the other virtues are derived from these. Of which at present we will no longer treat, because we are labouring for the simple only.

The Seven Sacraments of Grace

There are seven sacraments of grace, of which the prelates of the Church are dispensers, and five thereof every Christian ought to receive, viz. baptism, confirmation, penance, eucharist in its proper season, and extreme unction: which last ought to be given to them only who seem to be in danger of death, and to them let it, if possible, be given while they have a sound mind and reason: and we advise it to be given to them that are in a frenzy, or alienation of mind (if they had before a due care of their salvation) with good assurance. For we believe, and have learned by experience, that the receiving thereof contributes to their getting a lucid interval, or at least to their spiritual good, that is, increase of grace, upon condition that they be sons of predestination, how frantic soever they be.

There are two other sacraments, order and matrimony: the first is proper for the perfect; the other, in the times of the New Testament, to the imperfect only. And yet we believe it confers graces (if it be contracted with a sincere mind) by its sacramental virtue.