Page:The Nestorians and their rituals, volume 2.djvu/159

Rh departure hence, for there is no iniquity with ; but He is righteous and loveth righteousness." From Canon XVI. of the Apostolical Constitutions contained in the Sinhadòs.

The authority of the above Canon is confirmed by the following decree of a provincial Synod of the Nestorians, contained in the Sinhadòs.

"Par. XXVII. The early method of commemorating the dead according to the constitutions of the Apostles was, that there should be a commemoration on the third and on the ninth day. But now when those who weep are as though they wept not; and because of the little virtue, peace, and love existing, the ninth day has been given up and the seventh substituted in its stead. But in the Constitutions of the Apostles it is ordered that there should be a commemoration of the dead on the third day for the fulfilment of the scriptural rule: 'Mourn for men, as is right, a day or two days, and on the third day be comforted for the living;' &#91;Ecclus. xxxviii. 17;] and because our rose from the dead on the third day. They further direct that there should be a commemoration of the dead on the ninth day also, on the thirtieth day, and at the expiration of a year."

That after death the state of the soul is unalterably fixed for endless happiness or eternal misery, see also under Chap. xvi. §5, 7.

The reader is referred to the burial service of the Nestorians, given under Chap. xliv., for the nature of the prayers which are offered up in behalf of the dead.

Pardons or Indulgences, such as are fabricated and sold by the Church of Rome, are utterly repugnant to the doctrines maintained by Nestorians. This tenet, in its grossest form, is moreover unknown to the generality of the Chaldeans, many of whom will not believe that Rome has ever carried on so infamous a traffic.

The obtaining of Pardon or a relaxation from any positive Christian duty for money is thus censured by Mar Abd Yeshua: "These things will most assuredly result, if they are done in faith, and not after a worldly manner; for 'whatsoever is not of faith is sin.' Just as some, for lucre's sake, have made of