Folio 350

Alexander VII, 1655-1667

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ALEXANDER VII 1655-1667

The Meaning of the Words of Cornelius Jansen 1

[From the Constitution "Ad sacram beati PETRI Sedem," Oct. 16, 1656]

1098. (6) We declare and define that these five propositions have been taken from the book of the aforementioned Cornelius Jansen, Bishop of Ypres, entitled AUGUSTINUS, and in the sense understood by that same Cornelius condemned.

Formulary of Submission Proposed for the Jansenists 2

[From the Constitution, "Regiminis apostolicis," Feb. 15, 1665]

1099. "I, N., submit to the apostolic Constitution of INNOCENT X, dated May 31, 1653, and to the Constitution of ALEXANDER VII, dated Oct. 16, 1656, Supreme Pontiffs, and I reject and condemn with a sincere heart, just as the Apostolic See has condemned them by the said Constitutions, the five propositions taken from the book of Cornelius Jansen, entitled Augustinus, and in the sense understood by that same author, and so I swear: So help me God, and this holy gospel of God." 3

The Immaculate Conception of the B.V.M.4

[From the Bull "Sollicitudo omnium eccl.," Dec. 8, 1661]

1100. (1) The devotion to the most blessed Virgin Mary is indeed of long standing among the faithful of Christ who believe that her soul, from the first instant of its creation and infusion into her body, was preserved immune by a special grace and privilege of God from the stain of original

  1. DuPl III, II 281 b (445 b); Viva I 513 b f.; BR(T) 16, 247 a; NBR 6, 47 b.—When, after the propositions of Jansenism had been condemned by the Supreme Pontiffs, the Jansenists returned to that sophistry, so as to say that these were indeed to be condemned, and that the meaning was not Jansen's, Alexander VII made these declarations. ↩

  2. DuPl III, II 315 b (446 b); Viva I 514 b; BR(T) 17, 336 b; MBR 6, 212 a. ↩

  3. When some Belgian priests had made certain additions to the formulary, Innocent XII in a brief (Feb. 6, 1694), after confirming the Constitution of Innocent X and Alexander VII, forbade that this be done, and ordered that the formulary be taken by all in the obvious sense; but in a second brief (Nov. 24, 1696) declared that he by no means detracted from the Constitution of Alexander VII by this decree. Finally, Clement XI in the Constitution, "Vineam Dominis," which we offer below [see note 1350], closed every way to the subterfuges of the Jansenists as concerns dogmatic fact, and renewed the Constitutions of Innocent X and of Alexander VII. ↩

  4. BR(T) 16, 739 b; MBR 6, 152. ↩