The Canons of the Great Fathers
The Canons of the Great Fathers
In the previous issue we published the Church canons concerning the Ecumenical and Local Councils, and now we publish the canons of the Great Fathers.
1. The Apostolic Canons:
127 canons in two collections.
One consists of 71 canons, and the other of 56 canons. These canons were sent in groups by Clement, and were therefore sometimes known by his name. There is also an abridgment of them in the Canons of Apolides.
There is also the Didascalia (Teachings of the Apostles), which includes 38 chapters, most of them concerning pastoral care along with many ecclesiastical matters.
2. The Canons of the Fathers of Alexandria:
These are approved within the canons of the Universal Apostolic Church for all churches, and they are the most well-known.
(a) The canons of Saint Dionysius (Pope 14): four canons in his epistle to Anba Basilios, Bishop of the Five Western Cities.
(b) The canons of Peter, the Seal of the Martyrs (Pope 17): fifteen canons concerning those who denied the faith during the persecutions and their repentance.
(c) The canons of Saint Athanasius (Pope 20).
(d) The canons of Saint Timothy (Pope 22): eighteen answers to questions that were addressed to him during his attendance at the Council of Constantinople in the year 381, which the Christian world regarded as canons.
(e) The canons of Saint Theophilus (Pope 23): fourteen canons published by the canonical collection.
(f) The canons of Saint Cyril the Great (Pope 24): he has canons in his epistles, and his anathemas against Nestorius are also considered canons.
3. The Canons of Other Great Fathers:
(a) The canons of Saint Basil the Great, which are in two collections: one pertaining to his monastic canons, and the other pertaining to general ecclesiastical canons. Most of the latter are found in his epistles to Amphilochius, Bishop of Iconium. They were published by the Monastery of the Syrians.
(b) The canons of Saint Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa: eight canons found in his epistle to Letoius, Bishop of Melitene.
(c) The canons of Saint Gregory the Theologian.
(d) The canons of Saint John Chrysostom.
Canonical Collections
The ecclesiastical canons in our Coptic Church were collected into well-known compilations, the most important of which are the book Al-Majmūʿ Al-Ṣafawī by Ibn al-ʿAssāl, and the book Miṣbāḥ al-Ẓulmah by Ibn Kabar.
However, these collections included the canons recognized by all the churches, together with forged canons attributed to the Apostolic Fathers, and forged canons attributed to the Council of Nicaea.
They also included some “Royal Canons” issued by Roman emperors such as Justinian.
Other attempts were made to collect the Church canons, as occurred during the era of Pope Cyril III, known as Ibn Laqlaq, which became known as the “Canons of Ibn Laqlaq.”
Then came canons during the era of Pope Gabriel ibn Turaik.
An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, published in Al-Kirāzah Magazine – Tenth Year – Issue Fifty-Two – dated 28 December 1979.
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