Appendix 3 English translation of the earliest version of the Admonitio Synodalis
This is a sermon addressed by a bishop to priests with pastoral responsibilities. It seems to have been created around 900 and was frequently copied thereafter. This translation is based on the edition of the earliest form of the Admonitio in C. West, ‘The Earliest Form and Function of the “Admonitio synodalis”’, Frühmittelalterliche Studien 57 (2023), pp. 373‒80. For a French translation, see O. Guyotjeannin (ed.), Le Moyen Âge (Ve–XVe siècle), Archives de l’Occident 1 (Paris: Fayard, 1992), pp. 203‒9.
1 Dearest brother priests of the Lord, you are the co-workers of our [episcopal] order.
2 For we, although unworthy, hold the place of Aaron, and you the place of Eleazar and Ithamar.
3 We act on behalf of the 12 Apostles, you are in the form of the 70 disciples.
4 We are your shepherds, but you are the shepherds of the souls committed to you.
5 We shall give account for you to the great shepherd the Lord Jesus Christ, you will give account for the communities commended to you.
6 And so, dearest ones, perceive the danger you are in.
7 We, therefore, admonish and beseech you, that you commit to memory what we suggest to you, and that you take care to carry it out in practice.
8 In the first place we admonish that your life and behaviour should be flawless, that is your cell should be by the church, and that you should not have any women in your homes.
9 Wake up every night for nocturns.
10 Chant the divine office at the set hours.
11 Carry out the celebration of mass religiously.
12 Take the body and blood of the Lord with fear and reverence.
13 Wash and clean the holy vessels with your own hands.
14. Let no one sing the Mass who is not fasting.
15 Let no one sing [the Mass] who is not in communion.
16 Let no one sing [the Mass] without the amice, alb, stole, fanon and chasuble.
17 Let these vestments be clean, and not used for any other purpose.
18 Let no one dare to sing the Mass in his alb, which he uses for his own purposes.
19 Let no one dare to sing the Mass over a wooden or glass chalice.
20 Let no woman approach the altar of the Lord, nor touch the chalice of the Lord.
21 Let the corporal cloth be spotlessly clean.
22 Let the altar be covered with clean linen.
23 Let nothing be placed upon the altar other than the relic box and relics, or perhaps the four gospels, or the pyx with the Lord’s body as viaticum for the sick.
24 Let everything else be put away in a clean place.
25 Let everyone have a complete missal, lectionary and antiphonary.
26 Let a place be prepared in the sacristy or by the altar, where water can be poured away when the holy vessels are washed.
27 And let a clean vessel filled with water hang there, so the priest can wash his hands after communion.
28 Let the churches be properly roofed and enclosed.
29 Let the churchyard be fenced.
30 Let no one sing the Mass outside the church, at home or in unconsecrated places.
31 Let no one sing the Mass alone.
32 Let every priest have a cleric or scholar, who reads the epistles or lesson, and responds in the Mass, and with whom he can sing the psalms.
33 Visit the sick and reconcile them, and anoint them with holy oil like the Apostle, and give them communion with your own hands.
34 And let no one dare to give the communion to a layman or to a woman to take away for the sick.
35 Let none of you demand a price or a gift for baptizing children or reconciling the sick or burying the dead.
36 Watch out that no child dies without baptism through your negligence.
37 Let none of you be drunk and litigious, since it is not fitting for a servant of God to litigate.
38 Let no one bear weapons in a quarrel, for our weapons should be spiritual ones.
39 Let no one train a dog or a bird for pleasure.
40 Do not drink in taverns.
41 Let each of you teach his community about the Gospel or apostolic letters on Sundays and feast days, as much as he knows.
42 You must preach the word of the Lord.
43 Take care of the poor, the pilgrims and the orphans, and invite them to your dinner.
44 Be hospitable so that others may take from you a good example.
45 Every Sunday, make some holy water before mass, so the people can be sprinkled, and have a vessel for this purpose alone.
46 Do not give the holy vessels and vestments to a merchant or tavern keeper in pledge.
47 Let none of you on account of some gift lead an unworthy penitent to reconciliation and give him proof of reconciliation.
48 Let none of you demand interest, or act as an officer of his lord.
49 Know that the properties and items that you acquire after the day of your ordination belong to the church.
50 Let no one obtain a church without our knowledge and consent.
51 Let no one obtain a church through the power of secular men.
52 Let no one take someone else’s church through money.
53 Let no one leave the church to which he is assigned and move to another for the sake of gain.
54 Let no one hold multiple churches without the help of other priests.
55 In no way should a single church be divided between many people.
56 Let no one accept someone else’s parishioner at Mass, unless he is travelling or has been legally summoned there.
57 Let no one sing Mass in someone else’s parish without the permission and invitation of its own priest.
58 Let no one take a tithe that belongs to someone else.
59 Let no one invite a penitent to eat meat and drink wine, unless he immediately gives alms for it.
60 Let no one presume to carry out baptism except on the Easter and Pentecost vigils, unless out of fear of death.
61 Let everyone have their own font, and if they cannot have a stone font, then let him have another vessel prepared for this, and not used for anything else.
62 Watch out that you have taught all your parishioners the creed and the Lord’s Prayer.
63 Teach that fasting should absolutely be observed by your congregations for the four times and the rogations and the greater litanies.
64 Invite your congregation to confession on the fourth ferial before Lent, and give them a penance according to the quality of their wrongdoing, not according to your instinct but as it is written in a penitential.
65 Admonish all the faithful to come for the communion of the body and blood of the Lord three times a year, that is at Christmas, Easter and Pentecost.
66 Exhort the married men to abstain from their wives at fixed times.
67 Hand out the offerings to the people after the Mass on feast days.
68 Let nobody set off on a journey without a stole.
69 Let none of you wear laymen’s clothing.
70 Let no one dare to sell or exchange or by any ingenuity alienate the property or possessions or dependents of the church.
71 Teach that Sundays and other feast days should be observed from dawn to dusk without any servile work.
72 Forbid women from singing and chanting in the churchyard.
73 Forbid through the affirmation of Almighty God the devilish songs and laughing that the rabble is accustomed to perform for the dead at night
74 Do not communicate with the excommunicated.
75 Let no one dare to sing a Mass for them.
76 And announce this to the congregation entrusted to you.
77 Let none of you go to weddings.
78 Declare to everyone that no one should take a wife without a public wedding.
79 Prohibit all forms of marital abduction, and that no one should marry someone close to them in blood, and that no one should marry someone betrothed to another.
80 Make swineherds and other herdsmen come to Mass on Sundays.
81 Let godfathers teach their godchildren, or have them taught, the creed and the Lord’s prayer.
82 Let the chrism always be under lock and key, or under a seal, because of those who are not faithful.
83 We wish to know about each priest, whether he was born from free parents or from a servile condition, whether he was born in our diocese, and at which place he is titled.
84 If he is a slave, let him show his charter of freedom. If he is from another diocese, let him show his letters of commendation, which are called formata.
85 We take care to advise you about the ministry committed to you, that each one of you should have a written copy of an exposition on the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer, according to the tradition of the orthodox fathers, and should fully understand it, and by preaching from it should instruct the people committed to him.
86 Let him understand well the prayers of the Mass and the preface to the canon of the Mass, and the canon itself, and be able to say it from memory and clearly.
87 Let him be able to read the Epistles and the Evangeliary well and explain it at least according to the letter.
88 Let him know how to pronounce the words of the Psalms and the distinctions regularly and sincerely, with the customary chant.
89 Let him hold in his memory the sermon of Bishop Athanasius about belief in the Holy Trinity, which begins ‘Whosoever wishes to be saved’, and let him understand its meaning and know how to explain it in common words.
90 Let him be able to say clearly the exorcisms and prayers for making a catechumen, and for consecrating a font, and the other prayers for male and female, both in the plural and the singular.
91 Likewise let him know well how to read the order for baptism, for strengthening the sick, also the order for reconciliation following the role canonically ascribed to him, and the order for anointing the sick and the prayers appropriate to that requirement.
92 Likewise let him know the order and prayers for the funeral for the dead.
93 Likewise let him know by memory the exorcisms and blessings of the salt and the water.
94 Let him know the night and day chant.
95 Let him know the lesser computus, that is the epacts, concurrent rules, paschal dates and the rest.
96 Let him have a martyrology and a penitential, and so on.
97 Concerning ordinations, know for certain that in no way will people be promoted by us unless they have spent time either in our city or in a monastery and have learned their letters, and seem suitable for ecclesiastical office.
98 See whether, without knowledge of what we have mentioned here, you are able to carry out your ministry, to lead your community to eternal life and to bring them before Christ.
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