Правило 7 Феофила Александрийского

Let this be the rule for those who are ordained. Let the entire council of clergy agree and elect, and then let the bishop test the chosen one, and with the consent of the priesthood, let him perform the ordination in the midst of the church, in the presence of the people, and with the proclamation of the bishop, if the people can testify about him. Let no ordination take place in secret. For when the church is in the world, then it is fitting for ordinations to take place in the church in the presence of saints. In places where there are like-minded heretics who were in communion, ordinations should be performed only after testing by truly Orthodox clergy, also in the presence of a bishop, and when he is proclaimed to the people present, only in such a way that no deviation from the right path follows. (Ap. 2; I Universe 9; Basil the Great 89). This rule says essentially the same thing that Basil the Great, in his letter to the chorebishops, otherwise the 89th rule, says about the election and installation of presbyters and other clergy. All the clergy (παν τό ίερατεΐον) must agree and choose (συμφωνειν και αιρεΐσθαι) the person to be ordained; when a given person receives the votes of all members of the clergy of the subject church, then the bishop subjects him to a test (δοκιμάζειν) in order to personally verify whether he is worthy of the rank. If the bishop is convinced of the merits of the candidate and therefore agrees with the opinion of the clergy, then he proceeds to ordain him, moreover, in the middle of the church (έν μέση τη εκκλησία) and in the presence of the people (παρόντος του λαού), so that when the bishop will proclaim that the candidate is worthy of the priestly rank, and the people could confirm this (ει και ο λαός δύναται αοτω μαρτυρεΐν). So, in order for a candidate for the priesthood to be worthy of ordination, it is necessary, according to the rule, that the clergy of the given church come to an agreement and elect the candidate, then that the local bishop test and confirm the election, and that, finally, at the very moment of ordination, the people in the church testify with their voice that the one proclaimed by the bishop as a worthy candidate is really worthy of ordination. this should be so, says the rule, “so that no deviation from the right path follows” (ίνα μή περιδρομή τις γένηται), Τ. e, so that no deception occurs during ordination and an unworthy candidate does not become a priest. While requiring that ordination be performed openly, the rule prohibits it from being performed secretly: κειροτονία δέ λαθραίως μή γινέσθω. This injunction dates back to the first centuries of the church; we already find it in the Apostolic Decrees (VIII, 4); and insofar as it concerned the ordination of presbyters and deacons, it concerned even more the consecration of bishops. Gregory the Theologian, in a dispute about the see of Constantinople, accuses Maximus of Constantinople most of all of the fact that he was not ordained bishop publicly in the church before the people, but in a private house, which served as a place for entertainment (χοραυλου λοπρόν οικητήριον) 145 . But Socrates says the same about Ursinus, who sought to take the Roman see from Damasus, that he was ordained illegally ουκ εν εκκλησία, αλλ' εν άποκρυφω τόπω 146. And this general instruction of the church was subsequently included in the episcopal rite of ordination, that the bishop must proclaim that the candidate for the priesthood is worthy of ordination, to which, after the sacred persons, the people present in the church, together with the singers, answer: άξιος, worthy. Carm. de vita sua [Migne, s. g., t. 37, col. 1092]. Hist. eccl. IV, 29 [Migne, s. g., t. 67, col. 541–4]. You might be interested in: