Note 8 — Chapter I · The Gregorian Church

There are several very curious usages practiced by the married priest. He is recruited from all classes of society, but more often there is a succession from father to son.8 The conditions demanded, besides parochial election, are acquaintance with ecclesiastical and liturgical matters, an exemplary life, and the consent of his wife. After his ordination he must fast for forty days. He then prepares himself for his first mass by a life of retreat in the church, restricting himself to a vegetable diet for twenty-four hours.9 The wife, who enjoys a certain precedence in society, observes a customary abstinence in the absence of her husband. One week or at least three days before the celebration of the mass, he keeps away from home, passing the nights within the church. He may engage in domestic or even professional work so long as this does not interfere with the duties of his calling. Should his wife die, he may not marry again unless he lays aside his priestly robe, nor may a priest ever marry a widow. These practices are not dead letters, except that the custom of sojourning within the church for three nights before mass has, in Constantinople at least, been reduced to a single night.