THE VINCENTIAN CANON

434

(1) I have continually given the greatest pains and diligence to inquiring, from the greatest possible number of men outstanding in holiness and in doctrine, how I can secure a kind of fixed and, as it were, general and guiding principle for distinguishing the true Catholic Faith from the degraded falsehoods of heresy. And the answer that I receive is always to this effect; that if I wish, or indeed if anyone wishes, to detect the deceits of heretics that arise and to avoid their snares and to keep healthy and sound in a healthy faith, we ought, with the Lord's help, to fortify our faith in a twofold manner, firstly, that is, by the authority of God's Law, then by the tradition of the Catholic Church.

(2) Here, it may be, someone will ask, Since the canon of Scripture is complete, and is in itself abundantly sufficient, what need is there to join to it the interpretation of the Church? The answer is that because of the very depth of Scripture all men do not place one identical interpretation upon it. The statements of the same writer are explained by different men in different ways, so much so that it seems almost possible to extract from it as many opinions as there are men. Novatian expounds in one way, Sabellius in another, Donatus in another, Arius, Eunomius and Macedonius in another, Photinus, Apollinaris and Priscillian in another, Jovinian, Pelagius and Caelestius in another, and latterly Nestorius in another. Therefore, because of the intricacies of error, which is so multiform, there is great need for the laying down of a rule for the exposition of Prophets and Apostles in accordance with the standard of the interpretation of the Church Catholic.

(3) Now in the Catholic Church itself we take the greatest care to hold that which has been believed everywhere, always and by all. That is truly and properly 'Catholic,' as is shown by the very force and meaning of the word, which comprehends everything almost universally. We shall hold to this rule if we follow universality [i.e. oecumenicity], antiquity, and consent. We shall follow universality if we acknowledge that one Faith to be true which the whole Church throughout the world confesses; antiquity if we in no wise depart from those interpretations which it is clear that our ancestors and fathers proclaimed; consent, if in antiquity itself we keep following the definitions and opinions of all, or certainly nearly all, bishops and doctors alike.

(4) What then will the Catholic Christian do, if a small part of the Church has cut itself off from the communion of the universal Faith? The answer is sure. He will prefer the healthiness of the whole body to the morbid and corrupt limb. But what if some novel contagion try to infect the whole Church, and not merely a tiny part of it? Then he will take care to cleave to antiquity, which cannot now be led astray by any deceit of novelty. What if in antiquity itself two or three men, or it may be a city, or even a whole province be detected in error? Then he will take the greatest care to prefer the decrees of the ancient General Councils, if there are such, to the irresponsible ignorance of a few men. But what if some error arises regarding which nothing of this sort is to be found? Then he must do his best to compare the opinions of the Fathers and inquire their meaning, provided always that, though they belonged to diverse times and places, they yet continued in the faith and communion of the one Catholic Church; and let them be teachers approved and outstanding. And whatever he shall find to have been held, approved and taught, not by one or two only but by all equally and with one consent, openly, frequently, and persistently, let him take this as to be held by him without the slightest hesitation.

DECREES-SYNOD of UTRECHT

1763

The Archbishop of Utrecht, the Bishop of Haarlem. and the Bishop of Deventer, convened with their clergy in a lawful Provincial Synod (1763) representing the Roman Catholic Church in Holland:

• Secured the rights of all the clergy in lawful obedience to their lawfully constituted Ordinaries;

• Formally recited the Nicene Creed;

• Anathematized all the errors and heresies which the Council of Trent had anathematized;

• Adopted Bossuet's Exposition of the Faith as the expression of its own faith;

• Condemned the opinion of LeClerc that the Five Propositions attributed to Jansen contained the Catholic Faith on the question of grace

• Condemned as heretical the Five Prepositions of the "so-called Jansenists”;

• Condemned LeClerc's account of the Schism between Rome and Constantinople;

• Condemned LeClerc's opinion that the Church is never infallible except when it is assembled in Ecumenical Councils;

• Condemned the opinion that bishops and priests are equal;

• Renewed its adhesion to the creed of Pius IV;

• Condemned various errors in doctrine taught by Hardouin and Berruyer;

• Condemned errors in moral theology taught by Pichon;

• Condemned several works on Probabilism;

• Rejected the power of the Pope to dispense subjects from their civil allegiance, and that in certain cases regicide was permissible;

• Asserted the Divine right of kings;

• Passed twenty-four canons on discipline among which the following may be found, (that those who neglected the opportunity of being confirmed risked their salvation).

• Decreed that there should be no music during the Mass from the Elevation of the Host to the Lord's Prayer;

• Decreed that marriages between Catholics and non-Catholics, even when performed without the forms required by the Council of Trent, were valid, but, on the part of the Catholic partner, sinful.

FORMULARY of UTRECHT

1823

The Archbishop of Utrecht, the Bishop of Haarlem and the Bishop of Deventer promulgated a formulary (1823) known as the Formulary of Utrecht:

______________________________________________

We accept with the greatest willingness, and without any exception whatever, all the articles of the Holy Catholic Faith; we will neither hold nor teach, now or afterwards, any other opinions than those which have been decreed, determined and published by our Mother, the Holy Church, conformably to Holy Scripture, tradition, the acts of the Ecumenical Councils, and those of the Council of Trent.

We reject and condemn everything opposed to them, especially all heresies, without any single exception, which the Church has rejected and condemned; we also detest every schism which may separate us from the communion of the Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Church and of its visible head on earth; in particular we reject and condemn the Five Propositions condemned by the Holy See, which are stated to be found in the book of Jansenius called The Augustinus.

We promise as well for the future as for the present, fidelity, obedience and submission, in all things to His Holiness the present Pope Leo XII, and to his successors, according to the canons of the Church; and also to maintain respectfully, to teach and to maintain in accordance with the same canons, the decrees and Constitutions of the Apostolic See.

DECLARATION of AUTONOMY

1910

We the undersigned Bishop, on behalf of our clergy and laity of the Catholic Church of England, hereby proclaim and declare the autonomy and independence of our portion of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. We are in no way whatever subject to or dependent upon any foreign See, nor do we recognize the right of any members of the religious bodies known as 'Old Catholics' on the Continent, to require submission from us to their authority or jurisdiction, or the decrees, decisions, rules or assemblies, in which we have neither taken part nor expressed agreement.

We had supposed and believed that the Faith, once delivered to the Saints, and set forth in the decrees of the Councils accepted as Ecumenical no less in the West than in the East, would have continued unimpaired, whether by augmentation or by diminution, in the venerable Church of the Dutch Nation.

We anticipated that the admirable fidelity with which the Bishops and Clergy of that Church had adhered to the Faith and handed it down, untarnished by heresy, notwithstanding grievous persecution during so many centuries, would never have wavered.

Unfortunately, however, we discover with dismay, pain, and regret that the standards of orthodoxy, laid down of old by the Fathers and Councils of the East and West alike, having been departed from in various particulars by certain sections of Old Catholicism, these departures, instead of being checked and repressed, are, at least tacitly, tolerated and acquiesced in without protest, by the Hierarchy of the Church of the Netherlands.

In order to avoid misapprehension, we here specify nine of the points of difference between Continental Old Catholics and ourselves:

(1) Although the Synod of Jerusalem, held under Dositheus in 1672, was not an Ecumenical Council, its decrees are accepted by the Holy Orthodox Church of the Orient as accurately expressing its belief, and are in harmony with the decrees of the Council of Trent on the dogmas of which they treat. We are in agreement with the Holy Orthodox Church, regarding this Synod, Hence, we hold and declare that there are Seven Holy Mysteries or Sacraments instituted by Our Divine Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, therefore all of them necessary for the salvation of mankind, though all are not necessarily to be received by every individual, e.g. Holy Orders and Matrimony. Certain sections, if not all, of the Old Catholic bodies, reject this belief and refuse to assent to the decrees of the Holy Synod of Jerusalem.

(2) Moreover, some of them have abolished the Sacrament of Penance by condemning and doing away with auricular confession; others actively discourage this salutary practice; others, again, whilst tolerating its use, declare the Sacrament of Penance to be merely optional, therefore unnecessary, and of no obligation, even for those who have fallen into mortal sin after Baptism.

(3) In accordance with the belief and practice Of the Universal Church, we adhere to the doctrine of the Communion of Saints by invoking and venerating the Blessed Virgin Mary, and those who have received the crown of glory in heaven, as well as the Holy Angels of God. The Old Catholics in the Netherlands have not yet altogether abandoned this pious and helpful custom, but, in some other countries, invocation of the Saints has been totally abolished by the Old Catholics.

(4) Although it may be permissible and , indeed, very desirable, in some countries, and' under certain circumstances, to render the Liturgy into the vernacular languages, we consider it to be neither expedient nor tolerable that individuals should compose new liturgies, according to their own particular views, or make alterations, omissions and changes in venerable rites to suit their peculiar fancies, prejudices or idiosyncrasies. We lament the mutilations of this kind which have occurred among the Old Catholics in several countries and regret that no two of the new liturgies composed and published by them are alike, either in form or in ceremony. In all of them the ancient rubrics have been set aside, and the ceremonies and symbolism with which the Sacred Mysteries of the Altar have been reverently environed for many centuries, have, either wholly or in part, been ruthlessly swept away. The Rite of Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament has also been almost universally abolished among the Old Catholics.

(5) In accordance with the primitive teaching of the Church of the Netherlands, which prevailed until a very recent date, we consider it a duty on the part of Western Christians to remember His Holiness the Pope as their Patriarch in their prayers and sacrifices. The name of His Holiness should, therefore, retain its position in the Canon of the Mass, where, as we observed at our consecration in Utrecht, it was customary, and remained so until a recent date in the present year (1910), for the celebrant to recite the name of our Patriarch in the usual manner in the Mass and in the Litany of the Saints. The publication of a new vernacular Dutch Liturgy in the present year causes us to regret that the clergy of Holland are now required to omit the name of His Holiness in the Canon of the Mass. Happily, only a small number of other alterations in the text of the Canon have, so far, been introduced. These include the omission of the title, 'ever Virgin' whenever it occurs in the Latin Missal. Such alterations pave the way for others of an even more serious nature, which may be made in the future, and, as we think, are to be deplored.

(6) Following the example of our Catholic forefathers, we venerate the adorable Sacrifice of the Mass as the supreme act of Christian worship instituted by Christ Himself. We grieve that the Old Catholic clergy, in most countries, have abandoned the daily celebration Of Mass, and now limit the offering the Christian Sacrifice to Sundays and a few of the greater Feasts. The corresponding neglect of the Blessed Sacrament, and infrequency of Holy Communion, on the part of the laity, are marked.

(7) In accordance with Catholic custom and with !he decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, we hold that the honor and glory of God are promoted and increased by the devout and religious use of holy pictures, statues, symbols, relics, and the like, as aids to devotion, and that, in relations to those they represent, they are to be held in veneration. The Old Catholics have, generally speaking, preferred to dispense with such helps to piety.

(8) We consider that the Holy Sacraments should be administered only to those who are members of the Holy Catholic Church, not only by Baptism, but by the profession of the Catholic Faith in its integrity. Unhappily, we find persons who are not Catholics are now admitted to receive Holy Communion in all Old Catholic places of worship on the Continent.

(9) The Old Catholics have ceased to observe the prescribed days of fasting and abstinence, and no longer observe the custom of receiving Holy Communion fasting.

For these and other reasons, which it is unnecessary to detail, we, the undersigned Bishop, desire, by these presents, to declare our autonomy and our independence of all foreign interference in our doctrine, discipline and policy. In necessaries unitas, in dubiis libertas, in omnibus caritas.

+Arnold Harris Mathew

December 29, 1910

The Feast of St. Thomas of Canterbury

STATEMENT of BELIEF

1911

DOGMATIC ARTICLES

1) The Way of Salvation

Eternal Salvation is promised to mankind only through the merits of Our Savior, Jesus Christ, and upon condition of obedience to the teaching of the Holy Gospel, which requires Faith, Hope and Charity, and the due observance of the ordinances of the Orthodox and Catholic Religion.

2) Faith, Hope and Charity

Faith - is a virtue infused by God, whereby man accepts, and believes without doubting, whatever God has revealed in the Church concerning true Religion.

Hope - is a virtue infused by God, and following upon Faith; by it man puts his entire trust and confidence in the goodness and mercy of God, through Jesus Christ, and look for the fulfillment of the Divine promises made to those who obey the Gospel.

Charity - is a virtue infused by God, and likewise consequent to Faith, whereby man, loving God above all things for His own sake and his neighbor as himself for God's sake, yields up his will to a joyful obedience to the revealed will of God in the Church.

3) The Church

God has established the Holy Catholic Church upon earth to be the pillar and the ground of the revealed Truth; and has committed to her the guardianship of the Holy Tradition, and the power of binding and loosing.

4) The Creed

The Catholic Church has set forth the principal Doctrines of the Christian Faith in twelve articles as follows:

I - I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and of all things, visible and invisible;

II - And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all Ages, God of God, Light of Light. Very God of Very God, begotten, not made, of one substance with the Father, by Whom all things were made;

III - Who for us men and our salvation came down from heaven, and was Incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made Man;

IV - And was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, He suffered and was buried;

V - And the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures:

VI - And ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father;

VII - And He shall come again, with glory, to judge the living and the dead; Whose kingdom shall have no end;

VIII - And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord, and Giver of Life, Who proceedeth from the Father, Who with the Father and the Son together are worshipped and glorified, Who spoke to the prophets;

IX - And in One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church;

X - I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins;

XI - And I look for the Resurrection of the dead;

XII - And the Life in the world to come. Amen.

5) The Sacraments

The fundamental ordinances of the Gospel instituted by Jesus Christ as special means of conveying Divine grace and influence to the souls of men, which are commonly called Mysteries or Sacraments, are Seven in number, namely Baptism, Confirmation, the Holy Eucharist, Holy Orders, Matrimony, Penance and Unction.

Baptism - is the first Sacrament of the Gospel, administered by immersion in, or affusion with, water with the word, "I baptize thee in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit". It admits the recipient into the Church, bestows upon them the forgiveness of sins, original and actual, through the Blood of Christ, and causes in them spiritual change called Regeneration. Without valid Baptism, no other Sacrament can be validly received.

Confirmation - or Chrism is a Sacrament in which the baptized person, on being anointed with Chrism consecrated by the Bishops of the Church, with the imposition of hands, receives the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit to strengthen them in the grace which they received at Baptism, making them a stronger a perfect Christian and a good soldier of Christ.

Holy Orders - is a Sacrament in which the Holy Spirit, through the laying-on of hands of the Bishops, consecrates and ordains the pastors and ministers chosen to serve in the Church, and imparts to them special grace to administer the Sacraments, to forgive sins, and feed the flock of Christ

Matrimony - is a Sacrament in which the voluntary union of husband and wife is sanctified to become an image of the union between Christ and His Church; and grace is imparted to them to fulfill the duties of their estate and its great responsibilities both of each other and to their children.

Penance - is a Sacrament in which the Holy Spirit bestows the forgiveness of sins, by the ministry of the priest, upon those who, having sinned after Baptism, confess their sins with true repentance, and grace given to amend their lives thereafter.

Unction - is a Sacrament in which the priest of the Church anoint the sick with oil, for the healing of the infirmities of their souls, and if it should please God, those of their bodies also. The efficacy of the Sacraments depends upon the promise and appointment of God; howbeit they benefit only those who receive them worthily with faith, and with due preparation and disposition of mind.

6) Holy Scripture

The Scriptures are writings inspired by God, and given to the Church for her instruction and edification. The Church is therefore the custodian and the only Divinely appointed interpreter of holy Scriptures.

7) Tradition

The Apostolic and Ecclesiastical Traditions received from the seven General Councils and the early Fathers of the Church may not be rejected; but are to be received and obeyed as being both agreeable to holy Scripture and to that Authority with which Christ endowed His Church. Matters of discipline and ceremony do not rank on the same level with matters of Faith or Morals, but may be altered from time to time and from place to place by the Authority of the Church, according as the welfare and greater devotions of the faithful may be furthered thereby.

8) The Communion of Saints

There is a Communion of Saints in the Providence of God, wherein the souls of righteous people of all ages are united with Christ in the bond of faith and love. Wherefore it is pleasing to God, and profitable to all humans, to honor the Saints and to invoke them in prayer; and also to pray for the faithful departed.

9 Religious Symbol

The relics and representations of Saints are worthy of honor, as are also all other religious emblems; that our minds may be encouraged to devotion and to imitation of the deeds of the just. Honor shown to such objects is purely relative, and in no way implies a confusion of the symbol with the thing signified.

10) Rite and Ceremonies

 It is the duty of all Christians to join in the worship of the Church, especially in the holy Sacrifice of Mass, in accordance with our Lord's express command; and to conform to the ceremonies prescribed by holy Tradition for the greater dignity of that Sacrifice and for the edification of the faithful.

11) The Moral Law

All Christians are bound to observe the Moral Law contained in the Ten Commandments of the Old Testament, developed with greater strictness in the New, founded upon the law of nature and charity, and defining our duty to God and to mankind. The laws of the Church are also to be obeyed, as proceeding from that Authority which Christ has committed to her for the instruction and salvation of His people.

12) The Monastic Estate

The monastic life, duly regulated according to the laws of the Church, is a salutary institution in strict accord with the holy Scriptures; and is full of profit to them who, after being carefully tried and examined, make full proof of their calling thereto.

ORGANIC ARTICLES

1) Head of the Church

The Foundation Head and Supreme Pastor and Bishop of the Church is our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, from Whom all Bishops and Pastors derive their spiritual powers and jurisdiction.

2) Obedience

By the law and institution of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Gospel, all Christians owe obedience and submission in spiritual things to them who have rule and authority within the Church.

3) Ministerial Authority

Our Lord Jesus Christ did not commit rule and authority within the Church to all the faithful indiscriminately, but only to the Apostles and to their lawful successors in due order.

4) Apostolic Succession

The only lawful successors of the Apostles are the Orthodox and Catholic Bishops, united by profession of the self-same Belief, participation in the same Sacraments, and by mutual recognition and Intercommunion. The Bishops of the Church, being true successors of the Apostles, are by Divine right and appointment the rulers of the Church.

In virtue of this appointment each individual Bishop is supreme and independent in that part of the Church which has been committed to his care, so long as he remains in Faith and Communion with the united company of Catholic Bishops, who cannot exclude any from the Church save only them who stray from the path of virtue or err in Faith.

By virtue of the same Divine appointment, the supreme Authority over the whole Church on earth belonging to the collective Orthodox and Catholic Episcopate. They alone from the highest tribunal in spiritual matters, from whose united judgment there can be no appeal; so that it is unlawful for any single Bishop, or any smaller group of Bishops apart from them, or for any secular power or state to usurp this authority, or for any individual Christian to substitute his own private judgment for that interpretation of Scripture or Authority which is approved by the Church.

5) Church Authority

The collective body of the Orthodox Catholic Episcopate, united by profession of the Faith, by the Sacraments, and by mutual recognition and Inter-communion, is the source and depository of all order, authority and jurisdiction in the Church, and is the centre of visible Catholic Unity; so that no Pope, Patriarch or Bishops, or any number of Bishops separated from this united body can possess any authority or jurisdiction whatsoever.

It is an act of schism to appeal from the known judgment of the Orthodox and Catholic Episcopate, however it may have been ascertained; or to appeal from any dogmatic decree of any General Council even though such appeal be to a future Council. For the Episcopate, being a continuation of the Apostolate, is clearly a Divine institution, and its authority is founded in Divine right. But General Councils are not of themselves of direct Divine appointment; and so Episcopate having clearly the Scriptural promise of Divine guidance into all Truth, cannot be hampered in the exercise of its authority by the necessity of assembling a General Council, which may obviously be rendered impossible through natural circumstances.

There have been seven General Councils only, which are recognized by the Whole of Catholic Christendom, held respectively in Nicaea (325 A.D.), Constantinople (381 A.D.), Ephesus (431 A.D.), Chalcedon (451 A.D.), Constantinople (553 A.D.), Constantinople (680 A.D.), and Nicaea (787 A.D.). At no other Councils was the entire body of the Orthodox and Catholic Episcopate representatively assembled; and the decrees and pronouncements of no others must of themselves be accepted as binding upon the conscience of the faithful.

STATEMENT of PRINCIPLES

1921

We adhere strictly to the Holy Catholic Faith, once and for all delivered to the Saints and set forth in Apostolic Tradition, the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, the def­initions of the Ecumenical Councils and the teachings of the Holy Scriptures and the Fathers.

We acknowledge the decrees of the Synod of Jerusalem of 1672 prescribing belief as de fide, in the seven Sacraments instituted by Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and in transubstantiation.

We practice the Veneration and Invocation of the Immaculate and Glorious Mother of God, of the angels and the Saints and prayers for the faithful departed.

The North American Old Roman Catholic Church is identical with the Roman Catholic Church in worship, faith, morals, etc., but differs from it in discipline as follows:

1. It acknowledges the primacy of the successor of St Peter, but is thoroughly American and loyal to Ameri­can ideals and institutions.

2. It has the Mass and other services in Latin, liturgical oriental, and in the language of the land where insti­tuted, that is English in America.

3. It advocates celibacy of the clergy, but does not expressly forbid the clergy to marry.

4. It ministers to anyone who requests its services, and any baptized Christian who lives according to its laws and regulations is welcomed to the movement.