But we may be told that this refers to the heathen stage. In the year 1596 the Council of Aquileia decreed: Ad spectacula comædiorum, sive ad bancos circulatorum et bufforum in plateis, qui alias exemplum esse debent maturitatis et prudentiæ accedere et assistere clericos non decet.[1] The Council of Trent decrees as follows: "The Holy Synod ordains that those things which at other times have been decreed by Pontiffs and sacred Councils concerning the life, the dignity, the cultivation, the instruction of clerics are to be retained; as also the decrees concerning gaming, feasting, dances, dice, and sports and offences of all kinds; also as to the avoiding of secular business."[2]
10. "Having before our eyes the golden axiom of the sacerdotal life given by the Apostle, 'All things are lawful to me, but all things are not expedient;'[3] and again, 'All things are lawful to me, but all things do not edify:'[4] let priests direct all things to the good of others, and to the gaining of greater graces. Let them not too easily or too often go to places of public concourse and recreation, even though they be reputable, lest by wasting time they be suspected of an unsacerdotal spirit. Unless for duties of necessity or charity, let them return early at night-
- ↑ Conc. Aquil. cap. xi.
- ↑ Sess. xxii. c. i.
- ↑ 1 Cor. vi. 12.
- ↑ Ibid. x. 23.
