Opening Prayer
Lord, I reflect on the variety of errors that arise from private interpretation, where the depth of Scripture leads different men to contradictory ends. Because one person understands the words in one way and another in another, I acknowledge the strategic need for a sure and universal rule of faith.
Let the standard of the Church’s Tradition be the guard of my heart, fortifying my belief against the frauds and snares of error. Grant that I may continue sound and complete in the Catholic faith, which has been believed everywhere, always, and by all.
Amen.
Matthew 13:10-17
10And his disciples came and said to him: Why speakest thou to them in parables? 11Who answered and said to them: Because to you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven: but to them it is not given. 12For he that hath, to him shall be given, and he shall abound: but he that hath not, from him shall be taken away that also which he hath. 13Therefore do I speak to them in parables: because seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. 14And the prophecy of Isaias is fulfilled in them, who saith: By hearing you shall hear, and shall not understand: and seeing you shall see, and shall not perceive. 15For the heart of this people is grown gross, and with their ears they have been dull of hearing, and their eyes they have shut: lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. 16But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. 17For, amen, I say to you, many prophets and just men have desired to see the things that you see, and have not seen them, and to hear the things that you hear and have not heard them.
St. Vincent of Lérins
St. Vincent of Lérins provides the sure and universal rule: “Whether I or anyone else should wish to avoid the snares of heretics… we must fortify our own belief in two ways: first, by the authority of the Scripture, and then, by the Tradition of the Catholic Church”. St. Vincent explains that because one person understands words one way, and another in another, we need a “rule for right understanding”. We are not orphans; we have a “standard of Tradition” to guide us.
St. Vincent of Lérins posits that while the canon of Scripture is complete, the “depth of Holy Scripture” means it is susceptible to as many interpretations as there are interpreters. He reminds us that the “canon of Scripture” is sufficient, but only when interpreted through the “authority of the Church”.
“Fortify your belief by joining the authority of the Scripture with the Tradition of the Catholic Church to avoid the snares of error.”
— St. Vincent of Lérins
Mary and the Magisterium
St. Vincent of Lérins famously argued that we must “fortify our belief” through both the Scripture and the Tradition of the Catholic Church. Mary embodies this “unchanging standard” as the Archetype of the Church. She is the protector against the “frauds and snares” of heresy, representing the sensus fidelium—the sure and universal rule that protects the faithful from being tossed about by a “variety of errors” in private interpretation.
- Am I "confused by the contradictory interpretations of Scripture" I see around me?
- Do I "fortify my belief" by using both Scripture and Sacred Tradition?
Closing Prayer
Thank You, Lord, for the gift of your inspired Scriptures and the gift of Your Church’s authoritative Tradition.
Amen.
