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 NOVATIAN

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NOVATIAN

society known :is tho Salvulion Army may he marrif-d by any duly appointed male commissioner or staff officer of the society. No person shall otiiciate at the solemnization of any marriage unless publication has been made of the banns of the marriage or a licence has been obtained for the solemnization of the marriage. The banns shall be published in any church at the place in which one of the parties resides by the officiating clergyman in an audible voice during the time of Divine service, and if there is more than one public service in the church on cm h SuikImv, .such i)ublication shall be made at three >rM r:il -. r\ iics held on two or more Sundays; otherwise the pubUL-aliou may be at two several services on two Sundays. Every marriage shall be solenmized in the presence of at least two witnesses. After the solemnization of the marriage the clergyman solemnizing the same shall make out a certificate containing the date of the marriage, the place thereof, the date of the publication of the banns, the clmrch in which and the clergyman by whom the banns were published, the names of the witnesses and his own name, and the religious denomination to which he belongs. The marriage register giving the above particulars, and also the names, ages, residences, etc., of the parties and their parents shall also be filled up. Returns in the prescribed form shall be made by the clergyman to the nearest issuer of marriage licences within ten days after the solemnization. Forms for that purpose are furnished by the issuer of marriage licences. Large penalties are provided for solemnizing marriage without banns of marriage or licence, for refusing to publish the banns, for solemnizing under an illegal licence, and for failing to return the marriage register.

XII. Divorce. — In Xova Scotia there is a court for divorce and matriinnnial causes, and it has juris- diction over all matters relating to prohibited mar- riages and divorce, and may declare any marriage null and void for impotence, adultery, cnielty, or kindred within the degrees prohibited in an Act made in the thirty-second year of King Henry the Eiglith, entitled "An Act concerning pre-contracts, and touching degrees of Consanguinity"; and whenever a sentence of divorce shall be given, the court may pronounce such determination as it shall think fit on the rights of the parties or either of them to courtesy or dower. In the provinces of the dominion in which no divorce courts exist, applications for divorce are made to Parliament and the evidence is taken and considered by the members of the Senate of Canada. In Nova Scotia there is an appeal from the decision of the judge of the Divorce Court to the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia sitting in banco. When the final decree is for the dissolution of the marriage, the statute enables either of the parties to marry again as if the prior marriage had been dissolved by death; but no clergyman shall be liable to any penalty for refusing to solemnize the marriage of either of the parties who have been divorced. In cases of divorce the wife and husband are not competent to testify, but in proceedings by the wife, on account of adultery coupled with cruelty, the husband and wife are com- petent and compellable to give evidence of or relating to such cruelty.

XIII. RELir.iors Orders, Schools, etc. — Sev- eral of the public schools of the province are taught by members of the religious orders. In such cases the teai'hers must be licen.sefl in the same way as other public teachers, and they are paid out of the public funds. Besides the public schools there are many ex- cellent private schools taught by members of religious orders. These do not receive any assistance from the public trea.sury. The public schools are maintained by a grant from the government and by local taxation upon the property holders of the section or munici- pality. They are otherwise free and all children of Echool age are entitled to be admitted to them.

Brown, llislnry of the Ishiul of Cope Breton (London, 1869); the work.s of P.^rkman (Huston. l.SSL'-l): Cai.kin, llintory of Canada (Halifax. 1907): Roberts. Ihslory of Canada (Boston, 1897); Calkin. School Geoi/raphy of the Il'orW (Halifax, 1878); Revised Statutes of Canada (Ottawa. 190R) ; Slalutes of Nova Scotia (various dates); Statutes of Canada (variovis dates): Revised Stat- utes of Nova Scotia (Halifax. 1900). For further bibliography see Halifax, Archdiocese of.

Joseph A. Chisholm.

Novatian and Novatianism — Novatian was a schismatic of the third centurj', and founder of the sect of the Novatians; he Wiis a Roman priest, and made himself antipope. His name is given as Nova- tus (Nooi^dTos, Euscbius; Noi/dTos, Socrates) by Greek writers, and also in the verses of Damasus and Pru- dentius, on account of the metre.

Biography. — We know little of his life. St. Cor- nelius in his letter to Fabius of Antioch relates that Novatian was possessed by Satan for a season, ap- parently while a catechumen ; for the exorcists attended him, and he fell into a sickness from which instant death was expected; he was, therefore, given baptism by af- fusion as he lay on his bed. The rest of the rites were not supplied on his recovery, nor was he confirmed by the bishop. "How then can he have received the Holy Ghost? " asks Cornelius. Novatian was a man of learning and had been trained in literary composition. Cornelius speaks of him sarcastically as "that maker of dogmas, that champion of ecclesiastical learning". His eloquence is mentioned by Cyprian (Ep. Ix, .3), and a pope (presumably Fabian) promoted him to the priesthood in spite of the protests (according to Cor- nelius) of all the clergy and many of the laity that it was uncanonical for one who had received only clinical baptism to be admitted among the clergy. The story told by Eulogius of Alexandria that Novatian was Archdeacon of Rome, and was made a priest by the pope in order to prevent his succeeding to the papacy, contradicts the evidence of Cornelius and supposes a later state of things when the Roman deacons were statesmen rather than ministers. The anonymous work "Ad Novatianum" (.\iii) tells us that Novatian, "so long as he was in the one house, that is in Christ's Church, bewailed the sins of his neighbours as if they were his own, bore the burdens of the brethren, as the Apostle e.xhorts, and strengthened with consolation the backsliding in heavenly faith."

The Church had enjoyed a peace of thirty-eight years when Decius issued his edict of persecution early in 250. Pope St. Fabian was martyred on 20 Jan., and it was impossible to elect a successor. Cornelius, writing in the following year, says of Novatian that, through cowardice and love of his life, he denied that he was a priest in the time of persecution; for he was exhorted by the deacons to come out of the cell, in which he had shut himself up, to assist the brethren as a priest now that they were in danger. But he was angry and departed, saying he no longer wished to be a priest, for he was in love with another philosophy. The meaning of this story is not clear. Did Novatian wish to eschew the active work of the priesthood and give himself to an ascetic life?

At all events, during the persecution he certainly wrote letters in the name of the Roman clergy, which were sent by them to St. Cyprian (Epp. xxx and xxxvi). The letters arc concerned with the question of the Lapsi (q. v.), and with the exaggerated claim of the martyrs at Carthage to restore them all without penance. The Roman clergy agree with Cyprian that the matter must be settled with moderation by coun- cils to be held when this should be possible; the elec- tion of a new bishop must be aw'aitcd; proper severity of discipline must be preser\'ed, such as had always dis- tinguished the Roman Church since the days when her faith was praised by St. Paul (Rom., i, S), but cruelty to the repentant must be avoided. There is evi- dently no idea in the minds of the Roman priests that restoration of the lapsed to communion is impossible