St. Vincent of Lérins

V Century

Born into a noble Gallic family, Vincent may have been the brother of St. Lupus of Troyes and may have served in the army before entering the monastery of Lérins. He became a priest and is said to have educated Sts. Salonus and Veranus, the sons of Eucherius of Lyons. Known for his spiritual learning and command of dogma, Vincent wrote the Commonitorium (literally, memorandum), in which he presents the criteria for establishing the correctness of theological opinion---such have been believed everywhere, always, by the community of believers. He also presents the relationship between scripture and the church: scripture is the ground of the Christian faith, and the church's authority interprets the scripture. The work was published c. 434 under the pseudonym Peregrinus, Pilgrim.
Vincent was alarmed by some of the extreme arguments advanced against Pelagianism, and considered Augustine an innovator whose thinking is not completely consonant with the criteria for orthodoxy (especially on the issue of predestination). As a result, Vincent was attacked by St. Prosper of Aquitaine as a semi-Pelagian. His writings, however, are in accord with the conventional Eastern Orthodox theological position, and have enjoyed more popularity in Eastern than Western circles. Even in the West, however, he is venerated as a saint; his feast day is 24 May.
Karen Rae Keck and Norman Hugh Redington

About:

Wikipedia entry
1912 Catholic Encyclopedia: (Read with caution)
Klaus-Gunther Wesseling: Vinzenz von Lerin. From Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon, 1997. --- Bautz
"Orthodox America" synaxarion entry
ECOLE Glossary entry

Gennadius of Marseilles: De viris illustribus, 65. --- SPL

His most famous saying: "Quod ubique, quod semper, quod ab omnibus". --- Orthodoxy is what is has been believed "everywhere, always, and by all", and therefore is termed "catholic" or universal.

St. Vincent and the Controversy with St. Augustine:

William O'Connor: Saint Vincent of Lerins and Saint Augustine -- was the Commonitorium of Saint Vincent of Lerins intended as a polemic treatise against Saint Augustine and his doctrine of predestination? (1964). Rome : Officium Libri Catholici, 1964.
WORKS:
- Commonitoria II pro Catholicæ fidei antiquitate et universitate (Two Aids for Remembering the Antiquity and Universality of the Catholic Faith). PL 50:637. St. Vincent's most important work, emphasizing the synergy of faith and works in opposition to predestinationism. It was written under the pseudonym "Peregrinus" or "A Pilgrim". As the title implies, there were originally two books, but the second was somehow lost or stolen in the author's lifetime. The last five chapters of the existing text are all that survives of it, or, according to other sources, are St. VIncent's own summation of it from memory.
  - Commonitory: Heurtley translation. --- SPL

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