Apropos
From the May AD 1994
Our Lady of the Rosary
Parish Bulletin
Selections from the
Scripture, the Fathers,
Doctors, Popes, and other great spiritual writers appropriate to the Church in
our time.
"How, in a concise way, I might be able to discern the
truth of the Catholic Faith from the falsity of heretical corruption."
With great zeal and full attention I often inquired from
many men, outstanding in sanctity and doctrinal knowledge, how, in a concise
way, I might be able to discern the truth of the Catholic Faith from the falsity
of heretical corruption. From almost all of them I always received that if I or
someone else wanted to expose the frauds of the heretics and to escape their
snares and to remain sound in the integrity of the faith, I had, with the help
of the Lord, to fortify that faith in a twofold manner: first by the authority
of the divine law; and second, by the tradition of the Catholic Church. In the
Catholic Church itself, every care should be taken to hold fast to what has been
believed everywhere, always, and by all. This is truly and properly
"Catholic" as indicated by the force and etymology of the name itself,
which comprises everything truly universal. This general rule will be truly
applied if we follow the principles of universality, antiquity, and consent. We
do so in regard to universality if we confess that faith alone to be true which
the entire Church confesses all over the world. We do so in regard to antiquity
if we in no way deviate from those interpretations which our ancestors and
fathers have manifestly proclaimed as inviolable. We do so in regard to consent
if, in this very antiquity, we adopt the definitions and propositions of all, or
almost all, the bishops and doctors. What, therefore, will the Catholic
Christian do if some members of the Church have broken away from the communion
of universal faith? What else, but prefer the sanity of the body universal to
the pestilence of the corrupt member? What if a new contagion strives to infect
not only a small part but the whole Church? Then he will endeavor to adhere to
the antiquity which is evidently beyond the danger of being seduced by the
deceit of some novelty.
--- St. Vincent of Lerens, Commonitories, Anno Dómini 434
