Of Simony, Which God Forbids

The masters define simony in this way: Simonia est studiosa voluntas emendi vel vendendi spirituale vel annexum spirituali. A person commits simony by selling or buying a spiritual thing, or a thing annexed to the spiritual, through a bargain of gift, promise, service, prayers, undue petitions, or any other temporal thing. Both God and nature deny that a spiritual thing may be exchanged for, or bought with, a corporeal and temporal thing, whatever its price and worth may be, as will be explained below. This sin is called simony because, in the time of the apostles, the false and disloyal Simon Magus offered a great sum of money to the apostles, supposing that by it he could obtain the grace

of the law within them, and he understood that he might obtain the grace so that he could sell it to others and so recover much of his wealth. But, as a figure of all those who sell or buy spiritual things, both he and his money were cursed by the mouth of Saint Peter; and because he was the first in the New Testament who wished to buy a spiritual thing, this species or kind of theft is called simony throughout the whole holy Church, on account of the accursed Simon, who is the figure of all the damned simoniacs. By selling or buying a spiritual thing one should understand every bargain or contract that is not made simply and purely for the love of God, but is made chiefly for gifts, prayers, services, or for any other temporal thing. Likewise, by selling or buying spiritual things one is to understand here the grace of the Holy Spirit and the virtues that are in the soul, the spirit of prophecy, the office of preaching, the celebration of the divine office in the church, and the administration of the holy sacraments. By things annexed to the spiritual one is to understand burial places, tithes, chalices, corporals, towels, albs, and other vessels or hallowed vestments, which may be sold or exchanged to other churches, though not at a higher price because they are hallowed; otherwise it would be simony. Likewise cures, prebends, canonries, chapels, the right of patronage considered simply in itself, the right to receive tithes and oblations on account of a benefice of the church, and the authority or office to serve a cure or other prebend of the church: all these things have an annexation to holy orders, and they may not be sold in the manner described above without there being simony, which is a capital crime according to the law and is likened to heresy, ut habet i. ca. q. i. Qui studet, et Thomas iii. iiii. By this crime the whole holy order

...governance of the Church is perverted, and it shall go from bad to worse as the great and excessive tribulation of the Church draws near. You will find many examples of simony in the sixth commandment of the Exemplaire, fol. 85a, b, c. Quere per tabulam.

Of the Manners of Simony That God Forbids

It is written in Acts 8: Pecunia tua tecum sit in perditionem. Saint Peter said to Simon Magus, “May your money perish with you.” These words may here be taken and likewise understood of all simoniacs, as has been said above; but one should understand that the sin of simony takes many forms according to the variety of people who improperly meddle in spiritual matters, as some particular cases will be set out hereafter.

First, a man who receives holy orders, or who enters into any benefice of the Church by giving or promising, whether by himself or through another, gold or silver or anything else, is suspended by written law, Extra de simonia, Tanta, t.i.; ca. i, q., Reperiuntur. And if in such a condition he then officiates at the divine mysteries, he is irregular and may not be absolved unless he resigns the benefice, or unless he has a dispensation from [the pope]. It is written in John 10: Qui non intrat per hostium in ovile ovium sed ascendit aliunde, ille fur est et latro; qui autem intrat per hostium, ipse pastor est ovium. That is to say: he who does not enter by the door, that is, by Jesus Christ, into the sheepfold, that is, into the ecclesiastical Church, in order to govern the people, but enters by some way other than the door, who is Jesus Christ, he is a secret thief or a

...a waylayer on the road.

Second, a clerk who makes a pact with a churchman or another in order to obtain his title, promising that he will never demand anything inasmuch as it suffices him that the matter may go through, is deprived of the orders he receives, in such a way that no one may dispense him but the [pope], according to the law, Extra de simonia, Per tuas.

Third, two beneficed persons who agree together in this form—”let us exchange benefices, but inasmuch as your benefice is better than mine, I shall give you such a sum of money”—commit simony here, even though the one may grant a pension to the other without simony. And if they make the said exchange simply, without either demanding anything of the other, but they make gifts or promises to the patron in order to obtain his good will toward it, this too is simony in the same way; for since we may not make the exchange together without the consent of the bishop, let us both labor to obtain his consent. Such a pact would not be simoniacal if it were made simply, without any gift, and the said consent were not obtained by way of simony. Likewise, to renounce any benefice on such a condition and pact that it should be given to a particular person is simony, when the renunciation is not made to a person who is worthy to have it, simply and purely for the love of God. It is read in John 10: Ego sum ostium ovium; per me si quis introierit salvabitur, et pascua inveniet. Our Lord Jesus says, “I am the door of the sheepfold; if anyone enters by me, he shall be saved, and he shall find pasture within.” Simony is committed and done sometimes as much by the person

...as on the part of the one who gives the benefice or of the one who receives it; sometimes on the part of one alone; and sometimes neither by the one nor by the other. For example, suppose someone gives something to the bishop’s attendants in order to move the bishop to grant some benefice. The bishop, who knows nothing of the gift, would by this means make over the benefice, yet such a grant would still be simoniacal. But only the person who made the gift to the bishop’s attendants would be in mortal sin and a simoniac in that respect. And the man beneficed in this way, without his own knowledge, would be bound—once it came to his knowledge—to renounce the said benefice and the other present revenues belonging to it; but he is not bound to restore the revenues already spent during the time of his ignorance. To know clearly when a man commits simony in granting benefices, or when someone renounces his benefice, or when someone gives a benefice, or when someone receives it, one must look at and consider the conditions, the circumstances, and the causes, and whether there are gifts, promises, or entreaties from lords or friends, and so forth. Moreover, one must above all consider the final end at which the man intends to arrive; for if the conditions and the purpose are entirely for the love of God, he has rightly entered the benefice by the door. But if a man enters a benefice otherwise than through God, simony is to be feared, for he has not entered by the door.

F. Again, that it is a grave sin to sell a benefice may be seen clearly in the example of King Jeroboam, who sold bishoprics and dignities. For this God was angered against him, so much so that he was degraded and

stripped, both he and his lineage, as it is written in 1 Kings 13: Quicunque valebat implebat manu hieroboam et fiebat sacerdos excelsorum, and so forth. Quere lxxxv.c.

G. Again, we read in 2 Maccabees 4 how King Antiochus sold to Jason the dignity of being high priest (that is, bishop), and harm came to him for it. The prophet Isaiah says in his fifth chapter: Ue qui iustificatis impium, pro muneribus et iustitiam iusti aufertis ab eo—”Cursed are you who justify the wicked for gifts and take away the justice of the just.” Those who enter into benefices wrongfully by the force and power of princes or great lords, or by threats, complaints, or by their entreaties and petitions, and not by the door, which is Jesus Christ, are thieves. For through fear of the power or favor of these lords, just right is corrupted, the good are driven out, and the unworthy are beneficed—and harm comes to them. We have an example in 1 Maccabees 7, of how the accursed Alchimus was made high priest by King Demetrius. He did many evils. And the said Alchimus died in a cursed state, as it is written in 1 Maccabees 9. This example is recorded later on. Quere lxxxv.h.

C. Again, some enter into a benefice wrongfully through flatteries, false interpretations, and deceptions. And inasmuch as they do not enter by the door, which is Jesus Christ, they are thieves.

C. Again, those bishops and prelates who pay their servants for their salaries and services by giving them some benefice or prebend, chapel, or dignity—where it is so that the reason is payment and not the love of God—commit simony. But it is written in canon law that when a bishop considers the prudence of his clerk, the worthiness of his service, the

...his integrity, holiness, and goodness, and that he is of great merit. On account of the goodness that he sees and knows in him, he should grant him a benefice in that church, and this is not simony but rather well done. For in the courts of prelates one ought to put the clerks to the test. Likewise, in directing one’s charity, one should give first to one’s own household before strangers, provided they are equally worthy.

People say that those who give, or procure, or improperly make prayers and petitions in order to obtain benefices for their kinsmen, servants, or other friends are simoniacs and should be excommunicated, according to what Saint Thomas says, and likewise the synod: Si quis avaritia ductus amore servitio vel precibus episcopalem vel sacerdotalem acceperit dignitatem: et in vitam reliquerit eumque in asperam penitentiam mors non invenerit in eternum peribit. i.q.i.ca. Si quis. That is: if anyone has obtained an episcopal or sacerdotal dignity led by avarice, by love, by service, or by entreaties, and has not relinquished it during his life, and at death has not found himself in sharp penance, he shall pay for it everlastingly. In granting a benefice to someone of one’s own blood, even though there be no simony, since there is no sale, there is nevertheless sin, which may be reckoned in three ways: either because he loves his own flesh too tenderly, or because he covets to give a thing improperly to his kinsman, or because he squanders the spiritual thing by giving it to one who is unworthy. And it would seem that he would be guilty of simony in this if he had regard to how his kinsman gains temporal profit through the spiritual office, inasmuch as he is a kinsman, for he would then receive something that should not be due to him. It is nonetheless simony to have regard that his kinsman gains the temporal profit just as if he

had it himself. When a man grants a benefice, he should consider whether the person to whom the gift is made is worthy of it, and that it be given simply and purely for the love of God. We read in Matthew 10 how our Lord said, Gratias date (“Give freely”), which is expounded in two ways: either when a man sets no condition of sale, or when a man has regard in giving to nothing but God alone, or to grace alone. And therefore he who gives to his kinsman does not give in such a manner, even though God has said, Gratis date. Likewise, whoever would give to his kinsman without simony must see that the person be worthy of it, and that the gift be made purely for the love of God, as it is said, Ut intret per ostium: id est Christum in ovile ovium (“that he may enter by the door, that is, by Christ, into the sheepfold”). Our Lord Jesus Christ gave the dignity and government of the Church to Saint Peter, and not to Saint John nor to his other kinsmen, giving us the example that we should do likewise. So too, when the apostles chose Matthias and Joseph the Just, so that one of the two might be apostle in the place of Judas, Sors cecidit super Mathiam (“the lot fell upon Matthias”)—for Joseph was a kinsman of Jesus. We read in the second book of Kings, Quia infidelis est episcopus qui nepotulo suo confert prelationem cum sciat enim inhabilem et sciat totum pondus prelii versum super prelatum. That is to say: the bishop is unfaithful who confers prelacy or a dignity upon his little nephew, when it is so that he knows him to be too weak to fight, and that he knows that all the country and the brunt of the battle fall upon the prelate. This is an example that a man should not appoint anyone by reason of carnal entreaties. Quere lxxxv.f. God also gives us a clear example that we should not raise up our kinsmen to spiritual dignity if they

When the wife of Zebedee, Jesus’s aunt, prayed to him that her two children, Saint James and Saint John, the cousins of our Lord, might be seated, the one on his right hand and the other on his left hand, his answer was: Nescitis quid petatis. They were unworthy to be placed near him, and so God said to her, “You do not know what you are asking. You may indeed endure suffering as I do, but to set you on my right hand is not mine to give you: sed quibus paratum est a patre meo”—that is, to those who are worthy.

Fourthly, those who make a pact to give a certain sum in order to be received into a monastery so well endowed that it is sufficient to support and provide both for those already there and for those they will receive—these are simoniacs. And likewise those who carry out such a reception, or who give counsel or consent to it, where there is no custom to the contrary that might excuse the sin.

Fifthly, the clergy of the Church should administer the sacraments and the burials without making any pact or demand for money; otherwise there is simony. But once they have done their duty, the laity should compensate them according to the ancient customs; otherwise one may have them brought before the bishop according to the law. Extra De symonia ad apostolicam. The sacraments of the Church should not be sold, for that would be simony. Our Lord showed this clearly to his apostles when he said to them, in Matthew 10: Infirmos curate mortuos suscitate: leprosos mundate: demones eijcite: gratis accepistis: gratis date. The Gospel says: heal the

sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out the devils; you have received it for nothing, so give it for nothing. It is also written: administer to the people, taking nothing for it, the Eucharist, that is, the sacrament of the altar; hear confession, taking nothing; baptize, taking nothing; give to all people for nothing, after the Apostle. Unde augustinus dicit. Gratis eucharistiam plebi ministrate: gratis confitemini: gratis baptisate secundum apostolum: cunctis gratis date.

When any priest sells or trades in masses, or sings a mass for money, and the final cause of his delight in it is that he may receive the said money, it is simony, and he sins mortally. Unde augustinus. Qui precise unam missas vel plures per pecunijs celebrat damnationem sibi eternam preparat. He who sings a mass, or many, for money prepares for himself eternal damnation. And it is to be noted here that temporal things should never be the end of spiritual things, though they may well be motivating causes. Unde hec est falsa. The priest is bound to give spiritual things so that he may obtain temporal things. Sed hec est vera. The layman is bound to give temporal things in return for spiritual things, not buying them—for they should not be sold as a man sells meat upon the stall. The grace of God that is in the sacrament is beyond price and does not fall under any price, for a man has nothing with which he might buy it. But inasmuch as the servants of God cannot labor in spiritual things without having their living and sustenance, God wills that a man give them something to live on when

they have performed their duty. Hence Paul, 1 Corinthians 9: Qui altari deserviunt cum altari participant, ita et Dominus ordinavit his qui evangelium annunciant de evangelio vivere. Those who serve at the altar shall be partakers of the altar, in such a way that God has ordained that those who preach the gospel should live by the gospel—not that they should sell it, for that would be simony, as has been said.

Sixth, mark well that no man should presume to perform the office of priests and of those who are in holy orders; for if he does so wrongly, the same will befall him as befell King Uzziah. For after he had coveted and presumed to perform the office, and had taken the censer and burned incense and threatened the priests because they opposed him, leprosy clung to him there in the precinct within the house of God, etc., as it is written, 2 Chronicles 26. See 85.g.

Seventh, a man should not sell the gifts of grace, nor the virtues that are in the soul, nor knowledge, for that would be simony. Augustinus says: Spectat ad officium vestrae dignitatis gratis pete tibi dona dare gratis: sed si uni fidei munera vendatis in cursores Giezi lepra vos sciatis. It belongs to the office of your dignity to give gifts freely to those who ask for grace; but if you in any way sell the gifts of faith, know that you fall under the leprosy of Gehazi. So says Saint Augustinus to the ministers of the church. Gehazi was the disciple of Elisha, who took a great gift from the rich man Naaman because his master had healed him of his leprosy. And therefore the said prophet Elisha said to Gehazi: Lepra Naaman adhereat tibi et semini tuo. The leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and

to your offspring. And so it came to pass, as it is written in 2 Kings 5. For he had received a gift for the grace of the Holy Spirit. See further 85.b.

A question, in order to understand whether an advocate may sell the knowledge by which he handles the just cause. The answer: he should not sell the knowledge, but he may sell the labor and toil of his body that he undertakes in studying, in pleading, and in defending the just cause. For God says in the gospel that the workman is worthy of his food and of his wages. Matthew 10: Dignus est enim operarius cibo suo. And Luke 10: Dignus est enim operarius mercede sua. But if the advocate were to sell the knowledge by way of sale, or had it in his mind with the intention to sell it, he would be a simoniac before God. It is written, Proverbs 23: Veritatem eme et noli vendere sapientiam et doctrinam et intelligentiam, etc. Buy the truth, and do not sell wisdom, doctrine, and understanding.

Likewise, knowledge that is sold does harm, as has been said; and if it is given, it grows and also multiplies; and if it is hidden, it serves no purpose. Hence: Unde scientia quae data est crescit: crescere nescit si taceatur. And one reads in Ecclesiasticus 20: Sapientia absconsa est et thesaurus invisus: quae utilitas in utrisque. Sequitur: Melior est qui celat insipientiam suam homo qui abscondit sapientiam suam. Wisdom hidden is a treasure in which a man does not see what profit there is in the one or in the other. Better is he who hides his folly than the man who hides his wisdom. And one reads in Ecclesiasticus 3: Non abscondas sapientiam tuam in decore eius, in lingua enim agnoscitur sapientia: et sensus et scientia et doctrina in verbo sensati. You shall not hide your wisdom in its splendor; for wisdom is surely known in the tongue, and the wit

and the knowledge and the teaching, in eloquence and in words of wisdom. An advocate ought to be truthful and to uphold the truth. He ought also to keep and defend the just cause so that it does not come to harm. And afterward he may take a fee for the labor of his body, as has been said, without exceeding the bounds of reason. Many do exceed them, demanding and taking salaries and fees outrageously, more than they ought, and more than they have earned. And therefore they ought to dread damnation, for they are not just and do not fulfill justice within themselves when they desire to have things they have not earned and which do not belong to them.

They ought also to be afraid if they have hated and broken justice, judgment, the good cause, and the good right in order to receive gifts; for they sin mortally and incur a curse. Hence, Isaiah 5: Ve qui iustificatis impium pro muneribus: et iustitiam iusti aufertis ab eo. They ought also to be afraid if they have no will to plead, to counsel, and to defend the causes of the poor as they do those of the rich, because the poor have no goods to give them. It is written in Ecclesiasticus: In iudicando esto pupillis misericors ut pater et eris tu velut altissimi filius obediens et miserebitur tibi. In judgment be merciful to orphans, like a father, and you shall be obedient; and as the son of the most high God, he shall have mercy on you. Likewise, if these advocates have made bad causes appear good through their tricks, deceits, and subtleties, and cause the good right to be lost, they sin and are unjust and corrupters of justice. And if they have knowingly fostered, defended, and upheld what they know to be wrong, it is without doubt a great sin to uphold disloyalty, wrong, and injustice. And in

so doing the advocate makes himself culpable and implicates himself together with the wrongdoer. By this he is deserving of punishment and sins mortally. Hence Paul, Romans 1: Non solum qui faciunt peccata: sed qui consentiunt facientibus digni sunt morte. Not only those who commit the sins, but also those who consent to the doers, are worthy of death. These sin mortally; yet one should understand that the said advocates also commit simony, etc.

An example of how the devil carried away in body and in soul a cursed, covetous, thieving advocate. Quere lxxxi.c. Another example, of an insatiable advocate who pleaded a case for a man who did not bring him money to his liking: he wronged him, took the documents, tore up the papers, and trampled on them in contempt, saying, “Villain, there is your lawsuit, you who brought me nothing but this.” The good man, weeping, excused himself by his poverty. But, to be brief, soon afterward the advocate died wretchedly. Likewise, the master of a school should not sell knowledge, but only the labor that he expends with his body; and the same goes for others of his kind. Quia omnis operarius dignus est mercede sua: ut dictum est. Likewise, preachers should not sell the knowledge they utter in preaching with the ultimate aim of gaining temporal profit, or in like manner to win human favor or for vainglory and not for charity and the reconciliation of poor sinners; for in doing so they commit simony. But inasmuch as they have taken bodily pains to study, to preach, and to travel, they may accept what men and women give them for the support of their living. Quia deus ordinavit his qui evangelium annuntiant de evangelio vivere, ut dicitur. Corinth.

And Augustinus says: Non debemus evangelizare ut vivam, sed vivere ut evangelizem. We should not preach the gospel in order to live, but rather live in order to preach. Likewise we should preach so that the reward of our preaching is not the food we crave and desire, but the necessary thing that follows from it—that is, the maintenance in temporal goods that a preacher requires. As Augustinus also says: Evangelizare debemus ut non sit merces predicationis cibus qui appetitur, sed necessarium quod sequitur, id est sustentatio in temporalibus que necessaria est predicatori. So too those clerics who refrain from preaching, from teaching, from rebuking, and from correcting vices out of any favoritism, or out of false affection, or out of fear, or for any other useless reason—and who likewise keep silent about what they see and hear—the prophet Isaiah calls them dogs that will not bark, that is, that will not preach. As Isaiah says: Canes muti non valentes latrare. Sequitur: Omnes in viam suam declinaverunt, unusquisque ad avaritiam suam, a summo usque ad novissimum. A dog that does not bark to defend its master is no good to him; no more is a preacher to God who is mute in defending the truth. And therefore he is called a dog. And one reads in Jeremiah 4: Sapientes sunt ut faciant mala, bene autem facere nescierunt. They are wise to do evil, but not to do good. There is an example in the gospel of the man who hid his talent: he was called a wicked and slothful servant, and it was commanded that the talent be taken away from him. Whence Matthew says: Auferte ab illo talentum. And inasmuch as the abundance of the darkness of sin has overshadowed the truth of the commandments of God in the greater part of the Christian people living at this day, no one could suffice to write

in particular about the cunning deceit of this condemned sin of simony. But these things, briefly spoken here, are enough for people of good conscience to make them inquire more fully into the occasions and various ways in which this matter may befall or happen to them. Moreover, simoniacal people should dread malediction and excommunication. They should also dread irregularity, which will not be expounded here for the sake of brevity. They should also dread to be found guilty in the judgment before God. They should also dread to lose the joys of paradise. They should also dread punishment and damnation. There is an example of a man who was damned and who held many benefices: Quere lxxxv.e. Another example, of how few curates are saved: Quere lvi.g. They should also dread to be sent to abide in the fire of hell forever. As for those who have offended through simony, if they turn to penance they shall have grace and mercy. They should also give alms, for that is a good remedy.