De Ritibus Ecclesiasticis
Rites That Serve Good Order
Church rites should be kept when they serve tranquility and good order without sin.
Regarding ecclesiastical rites, those rites are to be observed which can be kept without sin, and which serve tranquility and good order in the Church — such as certain holy days, festivals, and similar practices.
Warning Against Burdening Conscience
Believers are warned not to treat such rites as necessary for salvation.
Yet people are warned about such things, so that their consciences won't be burdened, as if such worship were necessary for salvation.
Human Traditions Opposed to the Gospel
Human traditions meant to merit grace or make satisfaction for sins are useless and opposed to the Gospel.
People are also warned that human traditions, instituted to please God, to merit grace, and to make satisfaction for sins, are opposed to the Gospel and the teaching of faith.1 And so vows and traditions about foods and days, and so on — when they are instituted to merit grace and to make satisfaction for sins, they are useless and against the Gospel.2
Read the original Latin
De ritibus Ecclesiasticis docent, quod ritus illi servandi sint, qui sine peccato servari possunt, et prosunt ad tranquillitatem et bonum ordinem in Ecclesia, sicut certae feriae, festa et similia.
De talibus rebus tamen admonentur homines, ne conscientiae onerentur, tanquam talis cultus ad salutem necessarius sit.
Admonentur etiam, quod traditiones humanae institutae ad placandum Deum, ad promerendam gratiam et satisfaciendum pro peccatis, adversentur Evangelio et doctrinae fidei. Quare vota et traditiones de cibis et diebus, etc. institutae ad promerendam gratiam, et satisfaciendum pro peccatis, inutiles sint, et contra Evangelium.
Notes
- 1 ↩The clause adversentur Evangelio is read as a passive assertion ('are opposed to the Gospel'), though the manuscript form is uncertain; it could also mean 'they would set themselves against the Gospel.' The sense of conflict between such traditions and the Gospel is clear either way.
- 2 ↩The final et before 'contra Evangelium' is read adversatively ('and yet / and indeed against the Gospel') rather than purely additive, since it introduces the negative judgment that follows.
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