In canon 1 of Synod of Antioch in Encaeniis (AD 341), we read:
Whosoever shall presume to set aside the decree of the
holy and great Synod which was assembled at Nice in the presence of the pious
Emperor Constantine, beloved of God, concerning the holy and salutary feast of
Easter; if they shall obstinately persist in opposing what was [then] rightly
ordained, let them be excommunicated and cast out of the Church; this is said
concerning the laity. But if any one of those who preside in the Church,
whether he be bishop, presbyter, or deacon, shall presume, after this decree,
to exercise his own private judgment to the subversion of the people and to the
disturbance of the churches, by observing Easter [at the same time] with the
Jews, the holy Synod decrees that he shall thenceforth be an alien from the
Church, as one who not only heaps sins upon himself, but who is also the cause
of destruction and subversion to many; and it deposes not only such persons
themselves from their ministry, but those also who after their deposition shall
presume to communicate with them. And the deposed shall be deprived even of that
external honour, of which the holy Canon and God's priesthood partake. (NPNF2
14:108)
We find the interesting note from Van
Espen:
From this canon it
appears that the fathers did not deem laymen deserving of excommunication who
merely broke the decrees, but only those who "obstinately persist in opposing
the decrees sanctioned and received by the Church; for by their refusal to obey
they are attempting to overturn." And this being the case, why should such
not be repelled or cast forth from the Church as rebels?
Finally this Canon
proves that not only bishops and presbyters, but also deacons were reckoned
among them who, "preside in the Church." An argument in favour of the
opinion that the deacons of that time were entrusted with hierarchical
functions.
It is curious that as
a matter of fact the entire clergy and people of the West fell under the
anathema of this canon in 1825, when they observed Easter on the same day as
the Jews. This was owing to the adoption of the Gregorian calendar, and this
misfortune while that calendar is followed it is almost impossible to prevent.
(There seems but little doubt that the Gregorian Calendar will be introduced
before many years into Russia.) (Ibid.)
