The Council of Chalcedon
Neither presbyter, deacon, nor any of the ecclesiastical order shall be ordained at large, nor unless the person ordained is particularly appointed to a church in a city or village, or to a martyry, or to a monastery. And if any have been ordained without a charge, the holy Synod decrees, to the reproach of the ordainer, that such an ordination shall be inoperative, and that such shall nowhere be suffered to officiate.
Source details
A.D. 451 · Canon 6 (451)
Checked word-for-word against Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Vol. 14 · 2026-07-26