Page:The Nestorians and their rituals, volume 1.djvu/193

"Wherefore we the Fathers, in the unity of the Spirit, have met together, and have agreed together in one opinion, and have permitted that, on the decease of the Head of the Metropohtans and Bishops, who is set over the Eastern flock of the churches of Ctesiphon, the protected city, in which is the magnificent cathedral church, his successor in the supremacy shall not go up to Antioch. This decree we have made with one accord, in behalf of Christianity, to prevent the Heads thereof from being despised, as a protection to them, and for fear of the opposition of kings, and that the faith may not be endangered, that he who is to be made Patriarch shall be elected by his Metropolitans, Bishops, and flock. This is our opinion, and ordinance, and will, respecting the flock of the Head whose See shall be Seleucia and Ctesiphon, which is the borders of Karak in the plain of Seleucia, in the great church: that he be the Head, the Patriarch, over all the Bishops of the East, and its dependencies; and that his See be as one of the Four Sees, and the last of them, of which one is the See of Matthew the Evangelist; the other that of Mark, who also wrote as he did; and the third the See of Luke, the learned and acute, who completed the exposition of our Lord's Gospel and birth; and the fourth the See of John, the bold, who revealed the mystery of the Eternal Filiation, and was filled with the graces of the Spirit. To him shall appertain the consecration of Metropolitans, the benediction of Bishops, the administration of the affairs of the flock, the ordination of the Heads in the Eastern borders, in Athoor, and Media, and Persia; all these Sees shall be subject to him, shall submit to his authority, listen to his orders, and do his bidding. And when this Head, who is made Patriarch by his Metropolitans and Bishops, shall depart out of this world to the kingdom above, the Bishops shall not proceed to elect any one to the Patriarchate, unless there be one or two Metropolitans present, since it is not for the children to beget their fathers, neither is the perfect blessed by the lesser, even as Abraham, though he was great in the sight of God, did not refuse to be blessed by Melchisedec (upon whom be peace!); but Abraham (upon whom be peace!) humbled himself to him, bowed his head, and received a blessing from Melchisedec, to whom also he gave tithes of his sheep, because he