S
"Vincent of Lerins, Commonitorium (434 AD) (ed. Moxon, Cambridge Patristic Texts)
"II. (1) I have therefore continually given the greatest pains and diligence to enquiring, from the greatest possible number of men outstanding in holiness and in doctrine, how I can secure a kind of fixed and, as it6 were, general and guiding principle for distinguishing the true Catholic Faith from the degraded falsehoods of heresy. And the answer I receive is always to this effect; that if I wish, or indeed if any one 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, by the authority of God's Law, then by the tradition of the Catholic Church. ...
"III. (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. ..."
(pages 83-85: Documents of the Christian Church. Second Edition. Selected and Edited by Henry Bettenson. New York: Oxford University Press, 1963: 1967 edition.).
God bless us to believe in the Catholic Faith believed in always, everywhere, and by everyone (according, for example, to Christ in John 15:26). In Erie PA Scott R. Harrington
"II. (1) I have therefore continually given the greatest pains and diligence to enquiring, from the greatest possible number of men outstanding in holiness and in doctrine, how I can secure a kind of fixed and, as it6 were, general and guiding principle for distinguishing the true Catholic Faith from the degraded falsehoods of heresy. And the answer I receive is always to this effect; that if I wish, or indeed if any one 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, by the authority of God's Law, then by the tradition of the Catholic Church. ...
"III. (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. ..."
(pages 83-85: Documents of the Christian Church. Second Edition. Selected and Edited by Henry Bettenson. New York: Oxford University Press, 1963: 1967 edition.).
God bless us to believe in the Catholic Faith believed in always, everywhere, and by everyone (according, for example, to Christ in John 15:26). In Erie PA Scott R. Harrington