Parabolani
Parabolani
(Greek: pairabolos, reckless)
Members of a brotherhood who in the early Church voluntarily undertook the care of the sick and the burial of the dead, and constituted a bodyguard for the bishop. Probably organized during the great plague in Alexandria under Dionysius the Great, they received their name from the fact that they risked their lives in exposing themselves to contagious diseases. They had neither orders nor vows but were enumerated among the clergy and enjoyed clerical privileges and immunities. Their presence at public gatherings or in the theaters was forbidden by law. The Parabolani are not mentioned after Justinian’s time.
Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary
Parabolani
paraboloi, parabalanoi
The members of a brotherhood who in the Early Church voluntarily undertook the care of the sick and the burial of the dead. It has been asserted, though without sufficient proof, that the brotherhood was first organized during the great plague in Alexandria in the episcopate of Dionysius the Great (second half of third century). They received their name from the fact that they risked their lives (paraballesthai ten zoen) in exposing themselves to contagious diseases. In addition to performing works of mercy they constituted a bodyguard for the bishop. Their number was never large. The Codex Theodosianus of 416 (xvi, 2, 42) restricted the enrolment in Alexandria to 500. A new law two years later increased the number to 600. In Constantinople the number was reduced according to the Codex Justinianus (I, 2, 4) from 1100 to 950. The Parabolani are not mentioned after Justinian’s time. Though they were chosen by the bishop and always remained under his control, the Codex Theodosianus placed them under the supervision of the Prœfectus Augustalis. They had neither orders nor vows, but they were enumerated among the clergy and enjoyed clerical privileges and immunities. Their presence at public gatherings or in the theatres was forbidden by law. At times they took a very active part in ecclesiastical controversies, as at the Robber Synod of Ephesus.
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BINTERIM, Denkwürdigkeiten der chriskath. Kirche, VI, 3, 30; BINGHAM, Antiquities, II, 37.
PATRICK J. HEALY. Transcribed by Douglas J. Potter Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XICopyright © 1911 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, February 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia
Parabolani
a term applied in the ancient Christian Church to those who employed themselves in visiting the sick. The name may have been given to them because they exposed themselves to danger by such services, just as the Greeks applied a kindred term ( from to put one’s life in jeopardy; comp. Php 2:30) to those who hired themselves out to fight with wild beasts in the amphitheater; and the former office was considered, especially in times of public pestilence, as a work of similar danger. The Parabolani belonged to the inferior clergy, and consisted of a kind of brotherhood, who were under the supervision of the bishop. They seem to have originated at Alexandria. They did not confine themselves to their legitimate sphere, but took an interest in ecclesiastical matters, frequently as supporters of the bishops to whose diocese they belonged. Thus the Parabolani appeared at the Robber Synod in Ephesus (449). At Alexandria they were, during the 4th century, in a sense the bodyguard of the patriarch. By imperial edict their number was limited there to five hundred, which was, however, in 418, during an epidemic, temporarily increased to six hundred. See Julius, An Essay on the Public Care for the Sick as produced by Christianity (1825).