The Living Tradition An Orthodox Archive of the Church Fathers and Early Church

The First Council of Nicaea

Canon XI

Those who lapsed without compulsion under Licinius are to be dealt with mercifully: three years as hearers, seven as prostrators, two communicating in prayers without oblation.

  • Canonical normEstablished by a received canon of a council, or of a Father whose canons the Church has received. Canons are applied within the Church's pastoral and conciliar life; a canon is not a rule a reader applies to themselves or to anyone else.
  • Pastoral applicationHow a teaching is ordinarily applied in practice, under the guidance of a priest and bishop. Never a substitute for that guidance.

Primary evidence verified Content last reviewed 2026-08-29

What still needs checking (2)
  • Confirm the pastoral note against an official Orthodox canonical source or a qualified Orthodox canonist.
  • Add a second independent modern translation of the canon for comparison.

Report an accuracy issue on this page

Read aloud. Your browser speaks the page using the voices installed on this device. Nothing is uploaded — the text never leaves your computer. Voice quality varies by browser and device.

Canon XI — conciliar text

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 no clemency, they shall be dealt with mercifully. As many as were communicants, if they heartily repent, shall pass three years among the hearers; for seven years they shall be prostrators; and for two years they shall communicate with the people in prayers, but without oblation.

Henry R. Percival (ed.), The Seven Ecumenical Councils of the Undivided Church, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. XIV (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1900). Public domain.

Ancient Epitome, as printed in the same edition

As many as fell without necessity, even if therefore undeserving of indulgence, yet some indulgence shall be shown them and they shall be prostrators for twelve years.

A Byzantine-era summary carried in the canonical collections. It is a witness to how the canon was read, not the canon itself.

Plain-language summary — this project's words, not the canon's

Those who fell without compulsion, without confiscation, without danger — as happened under Licinius — deserve no clemency, and the council nevertheless directs that they be treated mercifully. Those who had been communicants are to spend three years among the hearers, seven as prostrators, and two years communicating with the people in prayers but without the offering.

The fourth-century problem

The persecution under Licinius produced apostasy that was not extracted by torture or the threat of ruin. The council names that circumstance precisely, because the degree of coercion mattered to how the case was judged.

Twelve years is a long time. It is also, as the canon says in as many words, mercy — the alternative positions in circulation included permanent exclusion.

Canonical principle

Repentance is real, is worked out over time within the Church, and is aimed at restoration. The graded stations are not a punishment scale but a path back.

The council also weighs coercion. What was done under torture and what was done for convenience are not treated identically, and the canons distinguish them consistently.

Key vocabulary

hearers
Penitents permitted to stand inside the church door and hear the Scriptures and sermon, then dismissed.
prostrators
Penitents who knelt within the church and received the bishop's prayer, but did not communicate.
without oblation
Present for the prayers with the faithful, but not receiving communion. Percival's notes discuss the Greek phrase at length.

What kind of canon this is

  • disciplinary

Percival's edition groups the Nicene canons without formal classification. The kinds named above are this project's analysis, offered so that a reader can see which parts of a canon are principle and which are the arrangement of a particular century.

Later interpretation and reception

Percival prints a long excursus on the public discipline of the early Church with this canon, setting out the stations of penance and their history. The system did not survive unchanged.

The phrase without oblation — communicating in prayers but not receiving — is explained in Percival's notes with reference to canon V of Ancyra, where the matter is treated at length.

  • Canon XII, on soldiers who returned to the army.
  • Canon XIII, on communion for the dying.
  • Canon XIV, on lapsed catechumens.
  • Canon V of Ancyra.

  • The First Council of Nicaea

    The council that confessed the Son to be of one substance with the Father, addressed the date of Pascha, and issued twenty disciplinary canons. It did not decide which books belong to the Bible.

    Council

  • Repentance

    From the ancient penitential stations to the sacrament of confession as it is practised now.

    Theme

  • Repentance and confession

    From the ancient penitential stations to the sacrament as it is practised now.

    Lesson

Your notes

Stored in this browser only. Never uploaded, never visible to anyone else, and marked as your own words if you add this page to a study packet.

Sources for this page

  1. Tier C The Seven Ecumenical Councils of the Undivided Church Henry R. Percival (ed.); Philip Schaff and Henry Wace (series eds.) Canon XI of Nicaea annotated edition of conciliar texts The conciliar text as archived here. Source record
  2. Tier C The Seven Ecumenical Councils of the Undivided Church Henry R. Percival (ed.); Philip Schaff and Henry Wace (series eds.) Ancient Epitome of Canon XI, with Percival's notes annotated edition of conciliar texts Nineteenth-century editorial apparatus and Byzantine canonists. Source record

Tiers are explained in the methodology. No page on this site has been reviewed or approved by any bishop, priest, synod or seminary.