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→Canon 13 of St. Basil
=== Canon 13 of St. Basil ===
''"Our Fathers did not consider the killings committed in the course of wars to be classifiable as murders at all, on the score, it seems to me, of allowing a pardon to men fighting in defense of sobriety and piety. Perhaps, though, it might be advisable to refuse them communion for three years, on the ground that they are not clean-handed."''
:St. Basil references the beginning of this canon to St. Athanasius in order to clarify and accurately interpret what was meant in his [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf204.xxv.iii.iv.iii.html the ''Letter to Amun''] [[Rudder | (The Rudder)]]. St. Basil the Great did not count the ''"shedding of blood"'' committed during wars as murder, but he does require the penitent to abstain from partaking of the Eucharist for three years. Although three years may seem harsh to us today, Fr. McGuckin states that this ''"was actually a commonly recognized sign of merciful leniency in the ancient rule book of the early Church."''
=== Canon 83 of the Holy Apostles ===
