[Constitutiones synodales ecclesiae Constantiensis, 1481]

absolve and bind at the whim of their own will. And thus, they do not hesitate to confer that saving viaticum the Eucharist given to the dying of our pilgrimage upon those who, rejecting their own priests, are not at all absolved, which does not profit unless they are first cleansed from the stain of crimes. And this happens to the peril of their own souls and of those who, not discerning this, receive them indiscreetly. And thus, their said priests, who bound their own soul by receiving the care of souls for them, while they are thus withdrawn from them, not knowing the state of the sick, cannot heal what is in them, nor solidify the infirm, nor bind the broken. And so, while they do not apply the necessary remedies of care, the lesion expands through the maladies gaining strength until death. Hence, no priest can give an account to the supreme judge for souls thus perishing. Considering the statutes of our fathers who set limits for the holy church of God and for ecclesiastical persons, which it is not allowed to transgress, we firmly inhibit under the duty of the oath which they took in the reception of their orders, and under the determination of divine judgment, all priests, as well religious as secular, of whatever order, condition, or status they may be, living in our city and diocese, that no one presume to receive for confession or to offer the ecclesiastical sacrament to a foreign parishioner whose care has been committed to another by the bishop or the local archdeacon or his vicar, except for the cause of necessity which has no law, unless license has been sought and obtained from the proper priest. Since it is of certain and undoubted law that such a person cannot be absolved from such a crime, or bound, we command this to be profoundly instilled into the order of the church instituted by the greater and holy fathers through divine providence, which we command to be published by all parish priests on all Sundays and feast days before their congregations.

To the same

Moreover, we have learned that some non-curate priests perform the obsequies of the deceased against the will of their subjects, solely on Sundays or feast days, neglecting the services of the feast or Sunday masses of the dead, seeking their own temporal gain more than the salvation of souls. Wishing therefore to obviate such abuses, we strictly inhibit and command that the aforementioned non-curates henceforth do not presume to attempt the aforementioned. And unless a reasonable cause exists, they shall conform themselves to the services of the festivities, celebrating high masses of the same, just as they wish to avoid correction and due penalty and our grave indignation.

To the same

Because we have learned by truthful report that the common people in many places subject to us rarely attend divine office, mass, and the preaching of the word of God on Sundays and feast days, although according to the order and statute of our holy mother church they ought to attend on those days so that they may be informed there of divine precepts and evangelical doctrines. We, wishing to obviate this disease and to provide for the salvation of souls, by these presents we will and ordain, strictly commanding and exhorting all curate priests of our diocese, that they should exhort and admonish their flocks and parishioners who have reached the years of discretion, under penalty of excommunication, that henceforth they should strive to attend the office of the mass in their churches on all Sundays and feast days, and diligently listen to the preaching of the word of God, unless one is excused by a legitimate impediment and reasonable cause. Nor should they depart from such office before the priest's blessing until it is completed, and otherwise run about dishonestly, making genuflections out of reverence for the most divine sacrament again while the host...