|
CLERICAL
OATH I,
N., with a firm faith believe and profess each and everything which is
contained in the Creed which the United Roman-Ruthenian Church maketh
use of. To wit:
I believe in one God, The Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And
in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Only-begotten Son of God. Born of the
Father before all ages. God of God, Light of Light, true God of true
God. Begotten, not made, of one substance with the Father. By whom all
things were made. Who for us men and for our salvation came down from
heaven. And became incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary: and
was made man. He was also crucified for us, suffered under Pontius
Pilate, and was buried. And on the third day He rose again according to
the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of
the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the
dead and His kingdom will have no end. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord
and Giver of life, Who proceeds from the Father and the Son. Who
together with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, and who
spoke through the prophets. And one holy, Catholic and Apostolic
Church. I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins and I await
the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.
The Apostolic and Ecclesiastical traditions
and all other observances and constitutions of that same Church I
firmly admit to and embrace. I accept this Church as a canonical
Orthodox and Catholic Church of Ancient Origins, tracing its unbroken
lineage to Jesus Christ and the founding of the Christian church on
earth; and that this Church is a derivative Patriarchate of the Roman,
Russian, Syrian, Greek, and American patriarchates.
I also accept the Holy Scripture according to
that sense which holy mother the Church hath held, and doth hold, and
to whom it belongeth to judge the true sense and interpretations of the
Scriptures. Neither will I ever take and interpret them otherwise than
according to the unanimous consent of the Fathers.
I also profess that there are truly and
properly Seven Sacraments of the New Law, instituted by Jesus Christ
our Lord, and necessary for the salvation of mankind, though not all
are necessary for everyone; to wit, Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist,
Penance, Extreme Unction, Holy Orders, and Matrimony; and that they
confer grace; and that of these, Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders
cannot be repeated without sacrilege. I also receive and admit the
accepted and approved ceremonies of the Catholic Church in the solemn
administration of the aforesaid sacraments.
I embrace and accept each and everything
which has been defined and declared in the Holy Council of Trent
concerning original sin and justification.
I profess, likewise, that in the Mass there is
offered to God a true, proper, and propitiatory sacrifice for the
living and the dead; and that in the most holy sacrament of the
Eucharist there is truly, really, and substantially, the Body and
Blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ;
and that a conversion takes place of the whole substance of the bread
into the Body, and of the whole substance of the wine into the Blood,
which conversion the Catholic Church calleth Transubstantiation. I also
confess that under either species alone Christ is received whole and
entire, and a true sacrament.
I steadfastly hold that there is a Purgatory,
and that the souls therein detained are helped by the suffrages of the
faithful. Likewise, that the saints, reigning together with Christ, are
to be honored and invoked, and that they offer prayers to God for us,
and that their relics are to be venerated. I most firmly assert that
the images of Christ, of the Mother of God, ever virgin, and also of
other Saints, ought to be kept and retained, and that due honor and
veneration is to be given them.
I also affirm that the power of indulgences
was left by Christ in the Church, and that the use of them is most
wholesome to Christian people.
I acknowledge the supreme teaching authority
of the Apostolic, Orthodox, and Catholic Church; and I also acknowledge
the Prince-Bishop of Rome-Ruthenia as spiritual successor to Pope St.
Leo X and spiritual successor to Saint Peter the Apostle; Legate of
Jesus Christ, Roman-Ruthenian Pope and Catholicos, Supreme Pontiff of
the United Roman-Ruthenian Church. Furthermore I acknowledge the Holy
Apostolic See thereof, viz., the Holy Apostolic See of Sts. Peter,
Andrew, Stephen, and Mark, by its right of succession and its
preservation of Orthodoxy, is the true visible head of all Latin
Christians, in addition to all others under her sacred mantle of care;
and thus has been returned the core of the Latin Church to true and
authentic Orthodoxy. And, I acknowledge as true and valid all contained
in the Apostolic Constitution Fides Petraque.
I likewise undoubtedly receive and profess all
other things delivered, defined, and declared by the sacred Canons, and
general Councils, and particularly by the holy Council of Trent, and
the supreme authority of the Roman-Ruthenian Pope within the United
Roman-Ruthenian Church, speaking likewise within that context
with infallible teaching; with the United Roman-Ruthenian Church being
an autocephalous patriarchate and sovereign entity equal to other
autocephalous Patriarchates, including Constantinople, the Vatican,
Alexandria, and others. I also acknowledge the Sovereign status of the
Pontifical Imperial State of Rome-Ruthenia as in ecclesiastical
sovereignty, the sovereign of which is the Roman-Ruthenian Pope.
Furthermore, I condemn, reject, and
anathematize all things contrary thereto, and all heresies which the
Church hath condemned, rejected, and anathematized. I agree and consent
to be bound by the Canon law and other directives and regulations of
the United Roman-Ruthenian Church, this oath being taken as permanent,
binding, and irrevocable. I accept the supreme authority of the Church
and the Holy Apostolic See as above any other authority and pledge my
allegiance to the Church above any civil nation or state, organization,
or other worldly entity; believing that the doctrine and law of the
Church is above that of the civil state, and that all civil states must
be subject to the Church.
This true Orthodox and Catholic faith, outside
of which no one can be saved, which I now freely profess and to which I
truly adhere, I do so profess and swear to maintain inviolate and with
firm constancy with the help of God until the last breath of life. And
I shall strive, as far as possible, that this same faith shall be held,
taught, and professed by all those over whom I have charge. I, N., do
so pledge, promise, and swear, so help me God and these Holy Gospels of
God.
OATH
AGAINST MODERNISM
I,
N., firmly embrace and accept each and every definition that has been
set forth and declared by the unerring teaching authority of the
Church, especially those principal truths which are directly opposed to
the errors of this day. And first of all, I profess that God, the
origin and end of all things, can be known with certainty by the
natural light of reason from the created world (see Rom. 1:90), that
is, from the visible works of creation, as a cause from its effects,
and that, therefore, his existence can also be demonstrated: Secondly,
I accept and acknowledge the external proofs of revelation, that is,
divine acts and especially miracles and prophecies as the surest signs
of the divine origin of the Christian religion and I hold that these
same proofs are well adapted to the understanding of all eras and all
men, even of this time. Thirdly, I believe with equally firm faith that
the Church, the guardian and teacher of the revealed word, was
personally instituted by the real and historical Christ when he lived
among us, and that the Church was built upon Peter, the prince of the
apostolic hierarchy, and his successors for the duration of time.
Fourthly, I sincerely hold that the doctrine of faith was handed down
to us from the apostles through the orthodox Fathers in exactly the
same meaning and always in the same purport. Therefore, I entirely
reject the heretical' misrepresentation that dogmas evolve and change
from one meaning to another different from the one which the Church
held previously. I also condemn every error according to which, in
place of the divine deposit which has been given to the spouse of
Christ to be carefully guarded by her, there is put a philosophical
figment or product of a human conscience that has gradually been
developed by human effort and will continue to develop indefinitely.
Fifthly, I hold with certainty and sincerely confess that faith is not
a blind sentiment of religion welling up from the depths of the
subconscious under the impulse of the heart and the motion of a will
trained to morality; but faith is a genuine assent of the intellect to
truth received by hearing from an external source. By this assent,
because of the authority of the supremely truthful God, we believe to
be true that which has been revealed and attested to by a personal God,
our creator and lord.
Furthermore, with due reverence, I submit and adhere with
my whole heart to the condemnations, declarations, and all the
prescripts contained in the encyclical Pascendi and in the decree
Lamentabili, especially those concerning what is known as the history
of dogmas. I also reject the error of those who say that the faith held
by the Church can contradict history, and that Orthodox and Catholic
dogmas, in the sense in which they are now understood, are
irreconcilable with a more realistic view of the origins of the
Christian religion. I also condemn and reject the opinion of those who
say that a well-educated Christian assumes a dual personality-that of a
believer and at the same time of a historian, as if it were permissible
for a historian to hold things that contradict the faith of the
believer, or to establish premises which, provided there be no direct
denial of dogmas, would lead to the conclusion that dogmas are either
false or doubtful. Likewise, I reject that method of judging and
interpreting Sacred Scripture which, departing from the tradition of
the Church, the analogy of faith, and the norms of the Apostolic See,
embraces the misrepresentations of the rationalists and with no
prudence or restraint adopts textual criticism as the one and supreme
norm. Furthermore, I reject the opinion of those who hold that a
professor lecturing or writing on a historico-theological subject
should first put aside any preconceived opinion about the supernatural
origin of Orthodox and Catholic tradition or about the divine promise
of help to preserve all revealed truth forever; and that they should
then interpret the writings of each of the Fathers solely by scientific
principles, excluding all sacred authority, and with the same liberty
of judgment that is common in the investigation of all ordinary
historical documents.
Finally, I declare that I am completely opposed to the
error of the modernists who hold that there is nothing divine in sacred
tradition; or what is far worse, say that there is, but in a
pantheistic sense, with the result that there would remain nothing but
this plain simple fact-one to be put on a par with the ordinary facts
of history-the fact, namely, that a group of men by their own labor,
skill, and talent have continued through subsequent ages a school begun
by Christ and his apostles. I firmly hold, then, and shall hold to my
dying breath the belief of the Fathers in the charism of truth, which
certainly is, was, and always will be in the succession of the
episcopacy from the apostles. The purpose of this is, then, not that
dogma may be tailored according to what seems better and more suited to
the culture of each age; rather, that the absolute and immutable truth
preached by the apostles from the beginning may never be believed to be
different, may never be understood in any other way.
I promise that I shall keep all these articles faithfully,
entirely, and sincerely, and guard them inviolate, in no way deviating
from them in teaching or in any way in word or in writing. Thus I
promise, this I swear, so help me God.
APPLICATION
OATH
I,
N., the undersigned, do hereby attest that, to the best of my
knowledge, that the information provided in this form and any other
accompanying documentation is correct, complete, true, and accurate. I
understand that all information is subject to verification, and I give
my consent that authorized representatives of the Holy Apostolic See,
United Roman-Ruthenian Church and Pontifical Imperial State of
Rome-Ruthenia may contact any such person as is necessary to verify the
information if deemed necessary. Due to the nature of the Church as a
religious organization, I understand that I may become privy to
knowledge of a confidential nature. Therefore, I agree that I will
maintain any such information in a confidence. I further understand and
acknowledge that clergy and staff hold a special position and hence
have a special responsibility of conduct. I understand that being in
Holy Orders is a gift from God, not a right, and that serving with
faculties as a cleric is also a privilege governed by the
ecclesiastical authority of the Church. I understand that, if I am
admitted as a Postulant or Cleric, I will be subject in Church matters
to the authority of His Apostolic Highness the Most Holy
Roman-Ruthenian Pope and other officials of the Church, and also to the
Code of Canon Law of the United Roman-Ruthenian Church, as also
outlined in the Clerical Oath. I promise at all times to do my best to
conduct myself according to the high expectations of the clergy.
See also the Agreement of Ecclesiastical Service and Non-Political Engagement.
[Return
to the Vocations Page]
|
