Правило 65 Василия Великого

He who has repented of sorcery or poisoning, may spend the time prescribed for a murderer in repentance, with a distribution in accordance with how he convicted himself of each sin. (Trul. 61, 65; Laod. 36; Basil the Great. 72, 83; Gregory of Nyssk. 3). The same punishment as for murder, i.e. This rule also subjects persons involved in magic or poisoning to twenty years of penance, if they promptly confessed their sin and repented of it, for if these persons did not confess it themselves, but were exposed by others, then in this case they were subject to excommunication for life, and only before death, if they repented, could they be awarded Holy Communion. The same punishment is prescribed for the laity by Rules 64 and 65 of the Council of Trullo, but for members of the clergy - eruption. The severity of the punishment is explained by the fact that by magic and poisoning the culprit seeks to destroy a person’s spiritual abilities, and, consequently, cause him spiritual death, just as a murderer causes physical death to another. The first (magic) consisted of invoking evil spirits and incantations to do evil to one’s neighbor, and the other (poisoning) consisted of using various harmful herbs to harm and deprive neighbors of the ability to think. Byzantine legislation, for criminals of this category, prescribes the death penalty 104. See my op. “Tsrkveno executed right”, p. 370. You might be interested in: