Do the Canons Say Nothing About Laymen & Shaving Beards Off?

[Matthew]

Much to my surprise, I found that the Stoglav Council of 1551 has much to say about this issue. The council must have exercised a good deal of discernment, wisdom, and been reflective of True Orthodoxy when one considers the members that formed the judgements of the council. The Orthodox Wiki says this concerning it:

The Stoglavy sobor (also known as the Council of the Hundred Chapters) became perhaps the brightest phenomenon of the history of the ancient Russian Orthodox Church. At this sobor were present Macarius, Metropolitan of Moscow, Philip, the future prelate of Moscow, Maxim the Greek, Gury and Barsonufius of Kazan, Akaki the bishop of Tver and others. Many of these persons have been proclaimed saints later on.
http://orthodoxwiki.org/Old_Believers#T ... or_of_1551

Concerning LAYMEN, then, on the shaving of beards, the “crew cut” (which involves shaving the sides of the head), and about foreign immodest fashions (for example, leotards for men, which put their buttocks and bulging crotch in full view, common at that time in the courts of heretical Roman Catholic and Protestant lands):

Code: Select all

 [color=#800000][i]Our sins desire the weakness, negligence, and insufferableness which have presently overwhelmed the world. Those men who call themselves Christians, men of thirty years of age, even the aged, shave their heads, cut their beards and moustaches, and wear the kinds of clothing worn by the heretics. How can we even call them Christians?[/i][/color]

— (Le Stoglav, ou les Cent Chapitres; E. Duchesne, Librairie Ancienne Honore Champion, Paris, 1920; Chap. 5, Question 25, p.42)

Again, Chapter 50 of the Stoglav Council (quoted below in its entirety) goes at great length to remove all doubt on the matter of Laymen and shaving or even simply trimmed beards, saying,

Code: Select all

 [i][color=#800000]The holy canons forbid Orthodox Christians from shaving their beards, or cutting their moustaches. It is a practice foreign to Orthodoxy: it is a Latin heresy, a corrupt legacy of Emperor Constantinos Kovalinos. The apostolic rules, and the Fathers severely prohibit and condemn it.

 The rule of the Holy Apostles is thus conceived: He who shaves off his beard and dies in that condition is deprived of the funeral [lit. in the French, the mass] and of the [memorial] prayers of the service of forty days. We do not bear their body into the church, offer prayer intentions, neither prosphoras, nor light candles [on their behalf]: he will be regarded as an infidel, since that custom [of shaving] came to us from the heretics. The 11th Canon of the Sixth Council of Trullo also passes judgement on this subject [in a similar fashion through the related issue of Christians who frequented the assembly of the Jews]. What? Does not the Old Testament also condemn those who shave off their beards? “Do not shave off your beards; such is proper to women but out of place for men. Such has God, who made man in his own image, so decreed on this matter.” “Let no razor touch your beard, for this practice is repugnant to God”, said Moses.[/color][/i] [The preceding quotes of the Old Testament appear to be commentary on Lev. 19:27 from the Apostolic Constitutions].

 [color=#800000][i]This practice was instituted by Emperor Constantinos Kovalinos. Everyone knows how he was accustomed to shaving-off the beards of his heretical servants. Therefore you who, following their example, in order to satisfy your fantasies, overthrow the law, you will be hated by God, in whose image you were made. If you wish to please God, stop sinning. In regard to this, God himself made his prohibition known to Moses; the Holy Apostles forbid this practice; the Holy Fathers curse and expel from the Church those thus guilty. By reason of this strict defence, the Orthodox must renounce this practice. Therefore you, venerable protopresbyters, and you, priests, instruct all Orthodox Christians that they abandon all these disastrous and forbidden practices, that they may thereby live in purity, in repentance, and in practising all the virtues.

 As for you, all you Orthodox, honour and listen to the voice of your spiritual fathers; in the name of God, obey them in everything, and respect them for God has placed them in authority over you. “Anything bound on earth shall be bound in heaven.” Honour, therefore, and heed your spiritual fathers, in the name of the authority which they have of God. And you, spiritual fathers, exercise extreme vigilance.

 Recall the words of Christ: “You are the salt of the earth. If the light is obscured, how great that darkness will be! If the salt loses its savour, it is cast out and trodden underfoot.” Likewise say Sts. Gregory the Theologian and Dionysios the Areopagite: “The priest must both be a light, and illumine others. The priest must both be a saint, and sanctify others.” “Ye are seraphim in the flesh,” writes St. John Chrysostom, “you must in no point commit a fault. For this reason did God bestow upon your great and fearsome ministry the authority to bind and to loose, and to feed the spiritual flock of Christ.”

 O ye priests, apply your remedy to this stain, to the full extent of your strength, for ye are the spiritual fathers by the will of Christ, and you will have to give an answer to God for their consubstantial and immortal souls at the second coming of Our Saviour Jesus Christ. If you improve them, you will enjoy all blessings. God will greatly reward you, and you will say with confidence on the day of Judgement, “Here I am, I and the children for which God made me responsible.” Thus you will then hear from Our Saviour Jesus Christ his tender and divine words, “Come, ye blessed of my Father. Enter into possession of the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world…” and so forth as it is written in the gospel.[/i][/color]

—(Le Stoglav, ou les Cent Chapitres; E. Duchesne, Librairie Ancienne Honore Champion, 1920; Chap. 50, pp. 104-106)

The council, which as noted above included the guidance of several Orthodox saints, forbids that any layman who dies beardless receive any benefits whatsoever of the Church, whether funeral or memorial rites. Not even the lighting of a candle. Essentially, these God-illumined men determined that any man who died beardless had died an apostate who had rejected the Orthodox Faith, and whose body itself was not even to be allowed within the walls of an Orthodox Church. Personally, I am shocked at the singular confidence, severity, seriousness, and finality with which the whole Church of Russia dealt with this issue which was then just appearing on the horizon of Orthodox Church life. This is how the True Orthodox at the time believed and judged regarding this issue before the entire nation later became clouded in mind. Having been slowly seduced by the enticements of licentiousness, and thereby inebriated to the point of senselessness, Russia was eventually reduced to the madness of the heretics, as we see has happened today where the Russian people for the most part are no modest than the Swedes or the "Baywatch" folks at Venice Beach, California. When this practice first began to arise in Russia the nation as a whole was utterly repulsed by the pride and perversion of it, because their minds were still pure, still Orthodox, still according to God and nature. Hence, they were unchecked by any hesitation when they utterly condemned it and rightly equated it with apostasy. At least, that is how it seems to me.

[Maria]

“Do not shave off your beards; such is proper to women but out of place for men."

Thankfully women can shave their beards. :shock:

[Maria]

Thanks for posting this.

From what I have heard from OCA members who have been at St. Vladimir Seminary, new seminarians are told in obedience to shave their beards and not sport long hair. This is in violation to the Church Councils. Even St. Nectarios of Aegina told his seminarians not to shave their facial hair. And these were seminarians, studying to be priests, not members of the laity.

The men among the laity are also to not to shave off their facial hair. Is the trimming beards and moustaches allowable for these men?

Much to my surprise, I found that the Stoglav Council of 1551 has much to say about this issue. The council must have exercised a good deal of discernment, wisdom, and been reflective of True Orthodoxy when one considers the members that formed the judgements of the council. The Orthodox Wiki says this concerning it:

The Stoglavy sobor (also known as the Council of the Hundred Chapters) became perhaps the brightest phenomenon of the history of the ancient Russian Orthodox Church. At this sobor were present Macarius, Metropolitan of Moscow, Philip, the future prelate of Moscow, Maxim the Greek, Gury and Barsonufius of Kazan, Akaki the bishop of Tver and others. Many of these persons have been proclaimed saints later on.
http://orthodoxwiki.org/Old_Believers#T ... or_of_1551

Concerning LAYMEN, then, on the shaving of beards, the “crew cut” (which involves shaving the sides of the head), and about foreign immodest fashions (for example, leotards for men, which put their buttocks and bulging crotch in full view, common at that time in the courts of heretical Roman Catholic and Protestant lands):

Code: Select all

 [color=#800000][i]Our sins desire the weakness, negligence, and insufferableness which have presently overwhelmed the world. Those men who call themselves Christians, men of thirty years of age, even the aged, shave their heads, cut their beards and moustaches, and wear the kinds of clothing worn by the heretics. How can we even call them Christians?[/i][/color]

— (Le Stoglav, ou les Cent Chapitres; E. Duchesne, Librairie Ancienne Honore Champion, Paris, 1920; Chap. 5, Question 25, p.42)

Again, Chapter 50 of the Stoglav Council (quoted below in its entirety) goes at great length to remove all doubt on the matter of Laymen and shaving or even simply trimmed beards, saying,

Code: Select all

 [i][color=#800000]The holy canons forbid Orthodox Christians from shaving their beards, or cutting their moustaches. It is a practice foreign to Orthodoxy: it is a Latin heresy, a corrupt legacy of Emperor Constantinos Kovalinos. The apostolic rules, and the Fathers severely prohibit and condemn it.

 The rule of the Holy Apostles is thus conceived: He who shaves off his beard and dies in that condition is deprived of the funeral [lit. in the French, the mass] and of the [memorial] prayers of the service of forty days. We do not bear their body into the church, offer prayer intentions, neither prosphoras, nor light candles [on their behalf]: he will be regarded as an infidel, since that custom [of shaving] came to us from the heretics. The 11th Canon of the Sixth Council of Trullo also passes judgement on this subject [in a similar fashion through the related issue of Christians who frequented the assembly of the Jews]. What? Does not the Old Testament also condemn those who shave off their beards? “Do not shave off your beards; such is proper to women but out of place for men. Such has God, who made man in his own image, so decreed on this matter.” “Let no razor touch your beard, for this practice is repugnant to God”, said Moses.[/color][/i] [The preceding quotes of the Old Testament appear to be commentary on Lev. 19:27 from the Apostolic Constitutions].

 [color=#800000][i]This practice was instituted by Emperor Constantinos Kovalinos. Everyone knows how he was accustomed to shaving-off the beards of his heretical servants. Therefore you who, following their example, in order to satisfy your fantasies, overthrow the law, you will be hated by God, in whose image you were made. If you wish to please God, stop sinning. In regard to this, God himself made his prohibition known to Moses; the Holy Apostles forbid this practice; the Holy Fathers curse and expel from the Church those thus guilty. By reason of this strict defence, the Orthodox must renounce this practice. Therefore you, venerable protopresbyters, and you, priests, instruct all Orthodox Christians that they abandon all these disastrous and forbidden practices, that they may thereby live in purity, in repentance, and in practising all the virtues.

 As for you, all you Orthodox, honour and listen to the voice of your spiritual fathers; in the name of God, obey them in everything, and respect them for God has placed them in authority over you. “Anything bound on earth shall be bound in heaven.” Honour, therefore, and heed your spiritual fathers, in the name of the authority which they have of God. And you, spiritual fathers, exercise extreme vigilance.

 Recall the words of Christ: “You are the salt of the earth. If the light is obscured, how great that darkness will be! If the salt loses its savour, it is cast out and trodden underfoot.” Likewise say Sts. Gregory the Theologian and Dionysios the Areopagite: “The priest must both be a light, and illumine others. The priest must both be a saint, and sanctify others.” “Ye are seraphim in the flesh,” writes St. John Chrysostom, “you must in no point commit a fault. For this reason did God bestow upon your great and fearsome ministry the authority to bind and to loose, and to feed the spiritual flock of Christ.”

 O ye priests, apply your remedy to this stain, to the full extent of your strength, for ye are the spiritual fathers by the will of Christ, and you will have to give an answer to God for their consubstantial and immortal souls at the second coming of Our Saviour Jesus Christ. If you improve them, you will enjoy all blessings. God will greatly reward you, and you will say with confidence on the day of Judgement, “Here I am, I and the children for which God made me responsible.” Thus you will then hear from Our Saviour Jesus Christ his tender and divine words, “Come, ye blessed of my Father. Enter into possession of the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world…” and so forth as it is written in the gospel.[/i][/color]

—(Le Stoglav, ou les Cent Chapitres; E. Duchesne, Librairie Ancienne Honore Champion, 1920; Chap. 50, pp. 104-106)

The council, which as noted above included the guidance of several Orthodox saints, forbids that any layman who dies beardless receive any benefits whatsoever of the Church, whether funeral or memorial rites. Not even the lighting of a candle. Essentially, these God-illumined men determined that any man who died beardless had died an apostate who had rejected the Orthodox Faith, and whose body itself was not even to be allowed within the walls of an Orthodox Church. Personally, I am shocked at the singular confidence, severity, seriousness, and finality with which the whole Church of Russia dealt with this issue which was then just appearing on the horizon of Orthodox Church life. This is how the True Orthodox at the time believed and judged regarding this issue before the entire nation later became clouded in mind. Having been slowly seduced by the enticements of licentiousness, and thereby inebriated to the point of senselessness, Russia was eventually reduced to the madness of the heretics, as we see has happened today where the Russian people for the most part are no modest than the Swedes or the "Baywatch" folks at Venice Beach, California. When this practice first began to arise in Russia the nation as a whole was utterly repulsed by the pride and perversion of it, because their minds were still pure, still Orthodox, still according to God and nature. Hence, they were unchecked by any hesitation when they utterly condemned it and rightly equated it with apostasy. At least, that is how it seems to me.

[Matthew]

Thanks for posting this. ...The men among the laity are also to not to shave off their facial hair. Is the trimming beards and moustaches allowable for these men?

Yes, Maria, according to Clement of Alexandria, "The moustache which is dirtied in eating is to be trimmed." On the other hand, concerning trimming the edges of the beard, no, according to the Stoglavy and the Old Testament. The edges of the beard are not to be trimmed. The other thread has quotes about trimming as well as this one on the stoglavy sobor.

The councils show us what is praiseworthy and most excellent. I think that the TOC bishops of our time show us by their example of pastoral practice that trimming and even shaving are not something to be bent entirely out of shape about, as they allow shaven men to receive communion, even though the stoglavy sobor forbids such men to even be admitted into a service. I think the hour in which we are living makes the beard issue of non-essential nature. This is not to say that we are not to bother obeying this law of the Church. I only mean that economeia is being practiced in this hour due to the more destructive dangers we are facing and to focus on these more urgent things (to not be an ecumenist or new calendarist) is such a podvig and such a singular act of piety that God overlooks the beard which is lacking since TOC Laymen are already making a great victory of faith in identifying and rejecting the strong delusion of the Antichrist Ecumenist "gods". This is only my attempt to make sense of things, though. So what I have said here is only my best attempt to formulate some reasoned explanation to your question and some of the implications of the present situation in the face of such longstanding and canonical traditions which are largely not being obeyed even among men of the TOC. What I have said here may have detectable errors. For such, if there be any, I ask your forgiveness.

Symeon

[jgress]

I think it's hard in our culture even to see what the problem is. In a culture where being shaven is identified with effeminacy, then of course shaving would be sinful, since effeminacy is sinful. But in our culture, being shaven doesn't have those associations; in fact, among more conservative types (like my grandparents, who came of age in the late 1940s/early 1950s), wearing a beard is a sign of slovenliness and bad character, while being clean-shaven and neat is a sign of self-discipline and orderliness. Since self-discipline and orderliness are also virtues, it should follow that in such a culture, men should be shaven, if they are attempting to offer examples of Christian virtuous living.

One might object that since men naturally grow facial hair, that's a sign that men should wear beards. However, St Paul also commanded Christian men to cut their hair short, and this was the practice among the early Church Fathers (look at the icons; they all have short hair along with their beards). Yet men, like women, also grow long hair if it's not cut.

There is nothing intrinsically effeminate about shaving, and there is nothing intrinsically slovenly about wearing a beard. It depends on the culture and the associations that culture makes between some outward practice and the inward virtue. What doesn't depend on culture are the inward virtues themselves.

Here's an interesting description of why priests have always been clean-shaven in the West. Originally it was not because Western priests were effeminate; otherwise we wouldn't have so many Western saints before the schism. It was because, unlike in the East, wearing beards was associated with barbarism. Being clean-shaven was a sign of Christian orderliness and civilization. In the East, the struggle was against the effeminacy and decadence of late antique civilization; in the West, the struggle was in many ways the opposite, being the defense of the virtues of classical civilization, which Christianity inherited, against the wild and unrestrained barbarians.

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02362a.htm

[Maria]

Cleanliness at work also mandates that men shave or at least shave most of their face.
Firefighters especially those who serve as medics must shave their faces in order to wear masks.
MIlitia must also shave when wearing gas masks or medic masks.
Those in rescue operations especially in earthquake rubble must wear dust masks.

In the days of Ancient Christianity, I do not recall reading that there were inventions such as gas masks or surgical masks.

So, yes, with changes in practice, accommodations must be made, otherwise men would not be able to find jobs. This is why the church does grant economia.

[Barbara]

These days, with so many people out of work, maybe there will be a = pardon the expression -
renaissance of this beard=wearing style amongst serious Orthodox Christians.

If there is no demand from an employer to appear a certain way, then maybe those who
are thinking to get away from cities and even live a more desert-type of life could
feel free to wear beards and feel proud of that.

Interesting topic, comment.
Remarkable research, Icxpion !