Commonitorium of Saint Vincent of Lérins
Instrument of Knowledge of the Deposit of the Faith
Its relation with the Rules of Faith
Table of Contents:
Introduction
- The Commonitorium: context and general content
- The rules of faith according to Saint Vincent
- The trinitarian criterion: quod ubique, quod semper, quod ab omnibus
- This criterion as an instrument for discerning the infallible
- Links with the doctrine of infallibility defined at Vatican I
Conclusion
Principal references
Introduction
Faithful to Catholic doctrine as transmitted by the holy Fathers and confirmed by the ecumenical councils up to the twentieth century, it is fitting to examine with care the writings that illuminate the rules of faith and the mechanisms by which the Church discerns infallible truth.
Among these writings, the Commonitorium of Saint Vincent of Lérins (died before 450) occupies an eminent place. Composed around 434, this treatise — often described as an “aide-mémoire” or warning — aims to fortify the faithful against heretical novelties by recalling the immutable criteria of Catholic Tradition.
This study proposes to analyse the Commonitorium in its relation to the rules of faith, and more particularly to the notion of infallibility. The emphasis will be placed especially on the idea that the celebrated trinitarian criterion
“quod ubique, quod semper, quod ab omnibus” (what has been believed everywhere, always and by all)
constitutes a precious instrument for discerning what belongs to the infallible teaching of the Church.
The deepest foundation of this instrument of infallibility is the promise of Our Lord Jesus Christ: “portae inferi non praevalebunt adversus eam” — “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” — (Mt 16, 18). Thus, when the entire Church — of former times as of today, and from everywhere — teaches or believes the same thing, she cannot err; otherwise the Lord’s promise would be without force, which is impossible.
- The Commonitorium: context and general content
Saint Vincent of Lérins, Provençal monk and theologian, wrote his Commonitorium primum (the second is lost, except for its final recapitulation) in the context of the Christological controversies of the fifth century, marked notably by Nestorianism and other errors. Retired to the island of Lérins, he composed this work as a personal aide-mémoire, but intended for the edification of the whole Church. The complete title in the PL (Patrologia Latina) is “S. Vincentii Lirinensis Commonitorium primum, Peregrini pro Catholicae fidei antiquitate et universitate adversus prophanas omnium Haereticorum novitates” (First Commonitorium of Saint Vincent of Lérins, of Peregrinus, for the antiquity and universality of the Catholic faith against the profane novelties of all heretics), underlining its anti-heretical purpose.
The work enjoys an ancient and explicit recognition, attested by Gennadius of Marseilles, who presents Vincent as a priest of Lérins learned in the holy Scriptures and qualifies his writing composed under the name of Peregrinus as “validissima disputatio”, that is, a “most powerful argumentation” against the heretics (Gennadius of Marseilles, De viris illustribus, chap. 64).
Saint Vincent presents this rule as a teaching he had received from numerous men eminent in holiness and doctrine: “Saepe igitur magno studio et summa attentione perquirens a quamplurimis sanctitate et doctrina praestantibus viris […] huiusmodi semper responsum ab omnibus fere retuli.” — “Having often inquired, with great care and the greatest attention, of numerous men eminent in holiness and doctrine […], I always received from almost all the same answer.” — (Commonitorium, 2, 4).
In the edition reproduced by the Patrologia Latina, the Commonitorium is divided into thirty-three chapters: the Commonitorium primum comprises chapters 1 to 28; of the Commonitorium secundum, lost in its greater part, there remains only the final recapitulation, divided into chapters 29 to 33. After an introduction (ch. 1) in which the author invokes Scripture to justify his undertaking – “Interroga patres tuos, et dicent tibi; seniores tuos, et adnuntiabunt tibi” — “Ask thy fathers, and they will declare to thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee” (Commonitorium, 1, 1, taking up Dt 32, 7). –, he sets forth a general rule for distinguishing Catholic truth from error (ch. 2-3). The following chapters apply this rule to specific heresies, insisting on the authority of councils and Fathers. Chapter 28 specifies the use of the consensus of the Fathers against heretical novelties; chapter 29 recapitulates the doctrine set forth in the two Commonitoria.
The Commonitorium is therefore not a systematic treatise, but a practical guide. It belongs to the logic of reason enlightened by faith: as Saint Thomas Aquinas will later teach in the Summa Theologica (2-2, q. 1, a. 9), the Catholic faith rests on a divine deposit that must be conserved integrally, without innovation. The Commonitorium was transmitted and reproduced in the patristic collections, notably in the Patrologia Latina, t. 50, col. 637-686. Its doctrine on Scripture, ecclesiastical Tradition and the consensus of the Fathers presents a certain doctrinal concordance with the decrees of the fourth session of the Council of Trent, without an explicit citation of the Commonitorium by the Council being affirmed here (Council of Trent, session 4, 8 April 1546; DS 1501 and 1507).
- The rules of faith according to Saint Vincent
Saint Vincent distinguishes two principal sources for strengthening the faith: the authority of the divine Law, that is, Scripture, and the Tradition of the Catholic Church (ch. 2, n. 4-5). Recognising that Scripture, however perfect it may be, remains subject to multiple interpretations – as shown by the heresies of Novatian, Sabellius, Arius or Nestorius –, he insists on the necessity of an interpretive “line” conformed to the ecclesial sense: “Propheticae et apostolicae interpretationis linea secundum Ecclesiastici et Catholici sensus normam dirigatur” (ch. 2, n. 5) (The line of prophetic and apostolic interpretation must be directed according to the norm of the ecclesiastical and Catholic sense).
This rule resembles the “rules of faith” (regulae fidei) already formulated by earlier Fathers, as in Irenaeus of Lyons (Adversus haereses, 1, 10, 1) or Tertullian (De praescriptione haereticorum, 13). In Saint Vincent, however, it culminates in the criterion of catholicity: that is true which is universal, ancient and unanimously professed by all.
These three notes — universality, antiquity, consensus — form an indissoluble whole, which guarantees fidelity to the apostolic deposit. The Council of Trent teaches, moreover, concerning apostolic traditions: “nec non traditiones ipsas, tum ad fidem, tum ad mores pertinentes, tamquam vel oretenus a Christo, vel a Spiritu Sancto dictatas, et continua successione in Ecclesia catholica conservatas, pari pietatis affectu ac reverentia suscipit et veneratur” — “as well as the traditions themselves, pertaining either to faith or to morals, as received orally from Christ or dictated by the Holy Spirit, and conserved in the Catholic Church by a continuous succession, the holy Council receives and venerates them with an equal sentiment of piety and reverence” — Council of Trent, fourth session, Decretum de libris sacris et de traditionibus recipiendis, 8 April 1546, DS 1501.
The rules of faith are therefore not arbitrary, but objective: they measure conformity to the living Tradition of the Church, mystical body of Christ.
- The trinitarian criterion: quod ubique, quod semper, quod ab omnibus
The heart of the Commonitorium resides in chapter 2, n. 5, where Saint Vincent formulates the trinitarian criterion:
“In ipsa item Catholica Ecclesia magnopere curandum est ut id teneamus quod ubique, quod semper, quod ab omnibus creditum est. Hoc est etenim vere proprieque catholicum, quod ipsa vis nominis ratioque declarat, quae omnia fere universaliter comprehendit. Sed hoc ita demum fiet, si sequamur universitatem, antiquitatem, consensionem.”
Translation: “Likewise, in the Catholic Church itself, the greatest care must be taken to hold that which has been believed everywhere, always, by all. For that is properly and truly catholic, as the very force of the name and the reason of the thing declare, which comprehends almost universally all things. But this will be accomplished thus only if we follow universality, antiquity, consensus.”
– Quod ubique, that which is believed everywhere: geographical and ecclesial universality. True faith is professed by the universal Church; it cannot be reduced to a local community separated from the universal faith. Saint Vincent asks: “Quid igitur tunc faciet Christianus catholicus, si se aliqua Ecclesiae particula ab universalis fidei communione praeciderit? Quid utique nisi ut pestifero corruptoque membro sanitatem universi corporis anteponat?” — “What then will the Catholic Christian do, if some part of the Church cuts itself off from the communion of the universal faith? What will he do, if not prefer the health of the whole body to the pestiferous and corrupted member?” — Saint Vincent of Lérins, Commonitorium, ch. 3, § 7; PL 50, col. 641.
– Quod semper, that which is believed always: antiquity. If a new contagion were to defile the entire Church, the faithful should then cling to antiquity: “Tunc item providebit ut antiquitati inhaereat, quae prorsum jam non potest ab ulla novitatis fraude seduci” — “Then he will likewise take care to cling to antiquity, which now can no longer be seduced by any fraud of novelty” — Saint Vincent of Lérins, Commonitorium, ch. 3, § 7; PL 50, col. 640.
This therefore excludes recent doctrines that do not take root in the apostolic past. Homogeneous development of dogma, for its part, is permitted and even desired, but it never constitutes a true innovation. The Commonitorium primum expresses it in chapter 23: “ut annis scilicet consolidetur, dilatetur tempore, sublimetur aetate” (so that it may be consolidated with the years, extended with time and elevated with age). Saint Vincent explains the legitimate development of Catholic dogma: it must be consolidated with the years, extended with time and elevated with age, but always “in eodem scilicet dogmate, eodem sensu eademque sententia” (in the same dogma, in the same sense and in the same judgment). It is an organic growth, similar to that of a living organism, which never alters the sense or the substance of the faith transmitted by the Apostles.
In the present crisis, this criterion serves above all to reject radically all the novelties that have arisen after 1964, without any concession to a pretended “development” of which the modernists abuse.
– Quod ab omnibus (that which is believed by all): consensus. It is not a purely subjective consensus, but the agreement of the doctors and the councils, expressed “openly, frequently, persistently” (Commonitorium, 3, 8). A single isolated Father, or a province fallen into error, therefore does not command adhesion.
This triptych is therefore not a mere rhetorical formula, but a true logical norm: it applies the Thomistic principle of certainty by the causes, where evidence proceeds from the unanimity of the Church divinely assisted.
- This criterion as an instrument for discerning the infallible
The central idea is the following: the “quod ubique, quod semper, quod ab omnibus” (that which is believed everywhere, always and by all) constitutes a practical instrument for discerning what is infallible, that is, what is protected by the assistance of the Holy Spirit against all error in matters of faith and morals. Infallibility is therefore not an abstract privilege, but a concrete grace at the service of the deposit (1 Tm 6, 20), discernible precisely by this criterion.
First, Saint Vincent presents it as a rampart against error: “Quid igitur tunc faciet Christianus catholicus, si se aliqua Ecclesiae particula ab universalis fidei communione praeciderit?” (Commonitorium, 3, 7). “What then will the Catholic Christian do, if some part of the Church cuts itself off from the communion of the universal faith?”. He answers: “Quid utique nisi ut pestifero corruptoque membro sanitatem universi corporis anteponat?” — “What to do, if not prefer the health of the whole body to the pestiferous and corrupted member?” — (Commonitorium, 3, 7), because the infallible is precisely that which unites the Church in one body (1 Co 12, 12-27).
On the theological plane, this agrees exactly with the teaching of the first Vatican Council: “Porro fide divina et catholica ea omnia credenda sunt, quae in verbo Dei scripto vel tradito continentur et ab Ecclesia, sive solemni iudicio sive ordinario et universali magisterio, tamquam divinitus revelata credenda proponuntur.” — “All those things must be believed with divine and Catholic faith which are contained in the word of God, written or handed down, and which are proposed by the Church as divinely revealed, either by a solemn judgment or by her ordinary and universal magisterium.” — First Vatican Council, dogmatic constitution Dei Filius, chapter 3, 24 April 1870; DS 3011. See also Pius IX, letter Tuas libenter to the Archbishop of Munich-Freising, 21 December 1863; DS 2875-2880.
- Links with the doctrine of infallibility defined at Vatican I
The first Vatican Council cited Saint Vincent of Lérins and the Commonitorium explicitly, even taking up textually his doctrine of the homogeneous development of dogma: “Crescat igitur et multum vehementerque proficiat, tam singulorum, quam omnium, tam unius hominis, quam totius Ecclesiae, aetatum ac saeculorum gradibus, intelligentia, scientia, sapientia; sed in suo dumtaxat genere, in eodem scilicet dogmate, eodem sensu, eademque sententia.” — “Let there be growth then and let there progress widely and vigorously, through the degrees of ages and centuries, the intelligence, the science and the wisdom, both of each and of all, both of the individual man and of the whole Church, but only according to their proper nature, that is, in the same dogma, in the same sense and in the same judgment.” — First Vatican Council, dogmatic constitution Dei Filius, chapter 4, 24 April 1870; DS 3020, with the Council’s explicit reference: “Vinc. Lir. Common. n. 28”; Saint Vincent of Lérins, Commonitorium, chapter 23 in the division reproduced by the Patrologia Latina, PL 50, col. 667-668.
In Pastor aeternus (ch. 4 ; DS 3074), one reads:
“Itaque Nos traditioni a fidei Christianae exordio perceptae fideliter inhaerendo, ad Dei Salvatoris nostri gloriam, religionis Catholicae exaltationem et Christianorum populorum salutem, sacro approbante Concilio, docemus et divinitus revelatum dogma esse definimus: Romanum Pontificem, cum ex Cathedra loquitur, id est, cum omnium Christianorum Pastoris et Doctoris munere fungens, pro suprema sua Apostolica auctoritate doctrinam de fide vel moribus ab universa Ecclesia tenendam definit, per assistentiam divinam, ipsi in beato Petro promissam, ea infallibilitate pollere, qua divinus Redemptor Ecclesiam suam in definienda doctrina de fide vel moribus instructam esse voluit; ideoque eiusmodi Romani Pontificis definitiones ex sese, non autem ex consensu Ecclesiae irreformabiles esse.”
Translation: “Adhering therefore faithfully to the Tradition received from the beginning of the Christian faith, for the glory of God our Saviour, for the exaltation of the Catholic religion and the salvation of Christian peoples, with the approval of the sacred Council, we teach and define as a divinely revealed dogma that the Roman Pontiff, when he speaks ex cathedra, that is, when, exercising the office of pastor and doctor of all Christians, by virtue of his supreme apostolic authority he defines a doctrine concerning faith or morals to be held by the universal Church, possesses, by the divine assistance promised to him in the person of blessed Peter, that infallibility with which the divine Redeemer willed that His Church should be endowed in defining a doctrine concerning faith or morals. Consequently, such definitions of the Roman Pontiff are irreformable of themselves, and not from the consent of the Church.”
Here, papal infallibility places itself entirely at the service of Tradition: the Pope does not reveal “new doctrine”, in accordance with the Council’s declaration: “Neque enim Petri successoribus Spiritus Sanctus promissus est, ut eo revelante novam doctrinam patefacerent, sed ut eo assistente traditam per Apostolos revelationem seu fidei depositum sancte custodirent et fideliter exponerent.” — “For the Holy Spirit was not promised to the successors of Peter so that, by His revelation, they might make known a new doctrine, but so that, with His assistance, they might holy keep and faithfully expose the revelation transmitted by the Apostles, that is, the deposit of faith.” — (First Vatican Council, Pastor aeternus, chap. 4 ; DS 3070). This doctrine thus agrees with that of Saint Vincent, without this passage of Pastor aeternus citing the Commonitorium expressly. The first Vatican Council moreover mentions expressly the unanimous consensus of the Fathers in Dei Filius: “nemini licere contra hunc sensum, aut etiam contra unanimem consensum Patrum ipsam Scripturam sacram interpretari” — “it is permitted to no one to interpret sacred Scripture contrary to this sense, or even contrary to the unanimous consent of the Fathers” — First Vatican Council, dogmatic constitution Dei Filius, chapter 2, 24 April 1870; DS 3007.
Thus, Vatican I completes what Saint Vincent had initiated: infallibility is the divine guarantee of the traditional consensus, discernible by the quod ubique, quod semper, quod ab omnibus (that which is believed everywhere, always and by all).
Conclusion
The Commonitorium of Saint Vincent of Lérins thus remains a beacon for the Catholic Church, teaching that the rules of faith are verified by universality, antiquity and consensus. His triple criterion constitutes a prudent rule and a sure instrument for identifying the infallible: that which is believed everywhere, always and by all bears the mark of the Holy Spirit. In these times when novelties threaten, let us recall, with Saint Vincent:
“Tunc item providebit ut antiquitati inhaereat, quae prorsum jam non potest ab ulla novitatis fraude seduci.”
Translation: “Then he will likewise take care to cling to antiquity, which now can absolutely no longer be seduced by any fraud of novelty.”
Saint Vincent of Lérins, Commonitorium primum, chapter III, Patrologia Latina, t. 50, col. 641.
Everything that, after 1964, departs from the “quod ubique, quod semper, quod ab omnibus” (that which is believed everywhere, always and by all) must therefore be rejected as novelty.
May this study fortify souls in the certain and immutable faith of our Fathers.
Principal references:
– Saint Vincent of Lérins, Commonitorium, in Jacques-Paul Migne, Patrologiae cursus completus, Series Latina, t. 50, col. 637-686.
– First Vatican Council, dogmatic constitution Pastor aeternus, 18 July 1870, in Heinrich Denzinger and Adolf Schönmetzer, Enchiridion symbolorum, definitionum et declarationum de rebus fidei et morum, nos 3050-3075, 34th edition, Freiburg im Breisgau, Herder, 1967.
– Jean-Baptiste Franzelin, S.J., Tractatus de divina traditione et scriptura, Romae, Ex Typographia Polyglotta S. C. de Propaganda Fide, 1882, 742 p. [original Latin text].