Canons

• First Council of Nicaea, Canon 1 — If any one in sickness has been subjected by physicians to a surgical operation, or if he has been castrated by barbarians, let him remain among the clergy; but, if any one in sound health has castrated himself, it…vatican.va
• First Council of Nicaea, Canon 2 — Forasmuch as, either from necessity, or through the urgency of individuals, many things have been done contrary to the Ecclesiastical canon, so that men just converted from heathenism to the faith, and who have been…vatican.va
• First Council of Nicaea, Canon 3 — The great Synod has stringently forbidden any bishop, presbyter, deacon, or any one of the clergy whatever, to have a subintroducta dwelling with him, except only a mother, or sister, or aunt, or such persons only as…vatican.va
• First Council of Nicaea, Canon 4 — It is by all means proper that a bishop should be appointed by all the bishops in the province; but should this be difficult, either on account of urgent necessity or because of distance, three at least should meet…vatican.va
• First Council of Nicaea, Canon 5 — Concerning those, whether of the clergy or of the laity, who have been excommunicated in the several provinces, let the provision of the canon be observed by the bishops which provides that persons cast out by some…vatican.va
• First Council of Nicaea, Canon 6 — Let the ancient customs in Egypt, Libya and Pentapolis prevail, that the Bishop of Alexandria have jurisdiction in all these, since the like is customary for the Bishop of Rome also. Likewise in Antioch and the other…vatican.va
• First Council of Nicaea, Canon 7 — Since custom and ancient tradition have prevailed that the Bishop of Ælia [i.e., Jerusalem] should be honoured, let him, saving its due dignity to the Metropolis, have the next place of honour.vatican.va
• First Council of Nicaea, Canon 8 — Concerning those who call themselves Cathari, if they come over to the Catholic and Apostolic Church, the great and holy Synod decrees that they who are ordained shall continue as they are in the clergy. But it is…vatican.va
• First Council of Nicaea, Canon 9 — If any presbyters have been advanced without examination, or if upon examination they have made confession of crime, and men acting in violation of the canon have laid hands upon them, notwithstanding their…vatican.va
• First Council of Nicaea, Canon 10 — If any who have lapsed have been ordained through the ignorance, or even with the previous knowledge of the ordainers, this shall not prejudice the canon of the Church; for when they are discovered they shall be deposed.vatican.va
• First Council of Nicaea, Canon 11 — Concerning those who have fallen without compulsion, without the spoiling of their property, without danger or the like, as happened during the tyranny of Licinius, the Synod declares that, though they have deserved…vatican.va
• First Council of Nicaea, Canon 12 — As many as were called by grace, and displayed the first zeal, having cast aside their military girdles, but afterwards returned, like dogs, to their own vomit, (so that some spent money and by means of gifts…vatican.va
• First Council of Nicaea, Canon 13 — Concerning the departing, the ancient canonical law is still to be maintained, to wit, that, if any man be at the point of death, he must not be deprived of the last and most indispensable Viaticum. But, if any one…vatican.va
• First Council of Nicaea, Canon 14 — Concerning catechumens who have lapsed, the holy and great Synod has decreed that, after they have passed three years only as hearers, they shall pray with the catechumens.vatican.va
• First Council of Nicaea, Canon 15 — On account of the great disturbance and discords that occur, it is decreed that the custom prevailing in certain places contrary to the Canon, must wholly be done away; so that neither bishop, presbyter, nor deacon…vatican.va
• First Council of Nicaea, Canon 16 — Neither presbyters, nor deacons, nor any others enrolled among the clergy, who, not having the fear of God before their eyes, nor regarding the ecclesiastical Canon, shall recklessly remove from their own church,…vatican.va
• First Council of Nicaea, Canon 17 — Forasmuch as many enrolled among the Clergy, following covetousness and lust of gain, have forgotten the divine Scripture, which says, “He hath not given his money upon usury,” and in lending money ask the hundredth…vatican.va
• First Council of Nicaea, Canon 18 — It has come to the knowledge of the holy and great Synod that, in some districts and cities, the deacons administer the Eucharist to the presbyters, whereas neither canon nor custom permits that they who have no…vatican.va
• First Council of Nicaea, Canon 19 — Concerning the Paulianists who have flown for refuge to the Catholic Church, it has been decreed that they must by all means be rebaptized; and if any of them who in past time have been numbered among their clergy…vatican.va
• First Council of Nicaea, Canon 20 — Forasmuch as there are certain persons who kneel on the Lord’s Day and in the days of Pentecost, therefore, to the intent that all things may be uniformly observed everywhere (in every parish), it seems good to the…vatican.va

Editor's excursus

• First Council of Nicaea, Excursus on the Use of the Word “Canon.” — Κανών, as an ecclesiastical term, has a very interesting history. See Westcott’s account of it, On the New Testament Canon, p. 498 ff. The original sense, “a straight rod” or “line,” determines all its religious…vatican.va
• First Council of Nicaea, Excursus on the Word Προσφέρειν — The idea of the whole transaction of the Supper as a sacrifice, is plainly found in the Didache, (c. 14), in Ignatius, and above all, in Justin (I. 65f.) But even Clement of Rome presupposes it, when (in cc. 40–44)…vatican.va
• First Council of Nicaea, Excursus on the Extent of the Jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome Over the Suburbican Churches — Although, as Hefele well says, “It is evident that the Council has not in view here the primacy of the Bishop of Rome over the whole Church, but simply his power as a patriarch,” yet it may not be unimportant to…vatican.va
• First Council of Nicaea, Excursus on the Rise of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem — The narrative of the successive steps by which the See of Jerusalem rose from being nothing but Ælia, a Gentile city, into one of the five patriarchal sees is sad reading for a Christian. It is but the record of…vatican.va
• First Council of Nicaea, Excursus on the Chorepiscopi — There has been much difference of opinion among the learned touching the status of the Chorepiscopus in the early Church. The main question in dispute is as to whether they were always, sometimes, or never, in…vatican.va
• First Council of Nicaea, Excursus on the Public Discipline or Exomologesis of the Early Church — In the West there existed always many cases of public penance, but in the East it is more difficult to find any traces of it, after it was abolished by the Patriarch Nectarius in the person of the Grand Penitentiary.vatican.va
• First Council of Nicaea, Excursus on the Communion of the Sick — There is nothing upon which the ancient church more strenuously insisted than the oral reception of the Holy Communion. What in later times was known as “Spiritual Communion” was outside of the view of those early…vatican.va
• First Council of Nicaea, Excursus on the Translation of Bishops — There are few points upon which the discipline of the Church has so completely changed as that which regulated, or rather which forbade, the translation of a bishop from the see for which he was consecrated to some…vatican.va
• First Council of Nicaea, Excursus on Usury — The famous canonist Van Espen defines usury thus: “Usura definitur lucrum ex mutuo exactum aut speratum;” and then goes on to defend the proposition that, “Usury is forbidden by natural, by divine, and by human law.…vatican.va
• First Council of Nicaea, Excursus on the Deaconess of the Early Church — It has been supposed by many that the deaconess of the Early Church had an Apostolic institution and that its existence may be referred to by St. Paul in his Epistle to the Romans (xvi. 1) where he speaks of Phœbe as…vatican.va
• First Council of Nicaea, Excursus on the Number of the Nicene Canons — There has come down to us a Latin letter purporting to have been written by St. Athanasius to Pope Marcus. This letter is found in the Benedictine edition of St. Athanasius’s works (ed. Patav. ii. 599) but rejected…vatican.va