A Noble Task: Entry Into the Clergy in the First Five Centuries by Lewis J. Patsavos (review)

from the importance of avoiding even the impression of proselytism, the question of when Protestants may receive the Eucharist in a Catholic church is particularly neuralgic and the main preoccupation of most of the local and regional norms that have appeared since the council. This question becomes particularly acute in the case of mixed marriages when the two spouses are linked by a common baptism and the sacrament of matrimony, but cannot ordinarily share in the supreme sacrament of unity. While reception of the Eucharist by the non-Catholic spouse cannot become routine or ordinary, Ruyssen does appear to support the provisions of some local and regional norms that allow for such reception on a wider range of exceptional occasions such as major life events and feast days such as Christmas and Easter. Overall this is an engrossing study with a wealth of documentation that would be extremely useful for canonists or ecumenists interested in the norms regarding communicatio in sacris with other Christians. Ruyssen has done a great service in bringing together the wide range of material on this issue that remains at the center of relations among Christians today. Ronald G. Roberson, CSP Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Washington, DC A NOBLE TASK: ENTRY INTO THE CLERGY IN THE FIRST FIVE CENTURIES by Lewis J. Patsavos. Brookline, MA: Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 2007. Today’s human sensitivity to the historical dimensions of life makes us especially aware of the importance of understanding our past in view of a more meaningful approach to the problems of the present and the future . The rediscovery of the positive value of history for the Church and her communication of Christ’s message has been quite evident in the last fifty years or so. Emphasis on the Church as the people of God and on the necessity of creatively reading the ‘signs of the times’ testifies to a more enlightened appreciation of the Church’s historical dimension. Consequently , it seems only fitting that the historical dimension of the various ecclesiastical disciplines including canon law be explored more fully during our time. 492 the jurist There has been renewed emphasis on the necessity of dialogue within the Christian communities. There has been a greater stress on the necessity of every baptized member of the Church playing a vital part in her life and mission. A new appreciation of the Church as a koinoniacommunio has given rise to various attempts at creating new ecclesiastical structures. Such structures are to be ordered to provide for the systematic utilization of the talents of all the Christian faithful, clergy as well as laity. Reading the work of Dr. Patsavos, Professor of Canon Law and Director of Field Education at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, Massachusetts, one is struck in particular by two points. The first is the remarkably high standard that was expected in the first centuries from members of the clergy and candidates for ordination. The second is the way in which the church fathers and the early synods were flexible in their specific ordinances and directives. Bishops and councils left room for adaptation according to the situation of particular individuals and the pastoral needs of local communities. In their eyes, persons mattered more than rules. They kept in mind the words of the Apostle Paul to the Christians of Rome, “You are ruled by God’s kindness and not by the law” (Romans 6:14). The prayer used at ordination—bishop, presbyter, deacon—in the Christian East expresses the Church’s standpoint in the first centuries. With his hand resting on the candidate’s head, the ordaining bishop says: “The divine grace, which heals what is weak and supplies what is lacking , ordains this man . . . Let us therefore pray for him, that the grace of the all-holy Spirit may come upon him . . . “ (Archieratikon/Pontificale). A Noble Task was the original title of a doctoral dissertation written in Greek and submitted to the School of Theology at theAthens University. The goal of this study was to contribute to the spiritual nurture of the clergy, and it has been translated into English for a larger readership...