Order of Celtic Benedictines Doctrine1

The Order of Celtic Benedictines

Prayer is the Test of Everything. If Prayer is Right, Everything is Right - St. Theophan the Recluse

Decree on Religious Doctrine - 1

Statements

The Order of Celtic Benedictines holds the following as essential and canonical doctrines.

Essential Doctrines

§ I. Salvation

We affirm the necessity of personal commitment to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. It is by Grace that we are saved through faith in Christ. Good works are a fruit of that faith and therefore indicative of God’s Grace in the life of every Born-Again Christian (See Eph. 2:8-10; Matthew 13:18-23; James 2:14;17).

§ II. Scripture and Tradition

We affirm that the Sacred Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the true and inspired written revelation of God, containing all things essential to salvation.

We affirm that Sacred Tradition is the unwritten revelation of God to us through Apostolic Succession and the teachings of the Seven Ecumenical Councils of the Universal Christian Church and is necessary for true and proper interpretation of the Scriptures. The unity of Holy Scripture and Sacred Tradition must be maintained and safeguarded for the one and the same Holy Spirit speaks through both.

§ III. The Church

The Universal Christian Church as the Body of Christ and the Household of God is the pillar and ground of all Truth (1 Tim. 3:15) built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the Cornerstone (Eph. 2:19-20). For the first 1500 years of Christianity the Church was Orthodox and Catholic. We therefore affirm the words of St. Cyprian (A.D. 200-258, Bishop of Carthage and Martyr): “He who has not the Church for his mother, has not God for his Father.”

§ IV. Of the Authority of the Church

We affirm that the Church has power to decree Rites and Ceremonies, and authority in Controversies of Faith: and yet it is not lawful for the Church to ordain anything that is contrary to God’s written revelation, neither may it so expound one place of Scripture, that it be contrary to another. Wherefore, although the Church be a witness and a keeper of Holy Writ, yet, as it ought not to decree anything against the same, so besides the same ought it not to enforce anything to be believed for necessity of Salvation.

§ V. The Creeds

We affirm and profess the Nicene, Apostle’s, and Athanasian Creeds as ancient, true and sufficient statements of the Christian Faith. These express our belief in One God in Three Persons – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Anything outside of this is heresy.

We agree with our Orthodox brethren, that the addition of the Filioque (the assertion that the Holy Spirit proceeds both from the Father and the Son) in the Nicene Creed is an innovation and not part of the original text of the Creed as it was solemnly and infallibly approved by all of Christendom in Ecumenical Council. However, we do not see this as an issue vital to salvation nor as a reason for division. Therefore, the usage or omission of the Filioque may be left to the discretion of the local Ordinary. (See Articles II. III. IV.)

§ VI. Apostolic Succession

We declare our belief in the necessity of the government of the Church by Apostolic Successors. The primacy of Episcopal Government being Conciliar rather than Papal, as it was in the Ancient and Undivided Christian Church prior to 1054AD. That is to say, all bishops are equal in authority. One bishop cannot speak for all others; all bishops must speak for themselves. As St. Jerome says, “We must not believe that the city of Rome is a different church from that of the whole world. Gaul, Britain, Africa, Persia, the East, India, all the barbarous nations, adore Jesus Christ and observe one and the same rule of truth. If one is looking for authority, the world is greater than one city. Wherever there is a Bishop, be he at Rome or at Eugubium, at Constantinople or at Rhegium, at Alexandria or at Tanis, he has the same authority, the same merit, because he has the same priesthood. The power that riches give, and the low estate to which poverty reduces, render a Bishop neither greater or less.”

§ VII. Of Bishops

The Bishop of the Order of Celtic Benedictines is fully and validly vested in Apostolic Succession.

The primary lines coming through the See of Rome via +Carlos Duarte Costa and through the ancient See of Antioch via +Joseph Rene Vilatte. There are many other lines of Succession as well, including the Patriarchal See of Constantinople through +Aftimios Ofiesh.

§ VIII. Catholicity

We declare that we are Orthodox Anglo-Catholic Catholic, which means we derive our spiritual heritage from the Church of England, the Old Catholic See of Utrecht and are orthodox in Christian Faith and Moral.

We use the word Catholic in our formal title as an expression of the universality of the Ancient and Historic Christian Faith that comes to us from the Apostles, as well as an emphasis of our connection to that Ancient and Catholic Faith, of which, as far as the usage of the term applies, Rome holds no copyright.

(See Article V. One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic.)

§ IX. The Councils

We declare our belief in the dogmatic decrees of the Seven Ecumenical Councils of the Ancient and Undivided Christian Church (the Council of Nicea - 325 AD; Constantinople - 381 AD; Ephesus - 431 AD; Chalcedon - 451 AD; Constantinople II - 533 AD; Constantinople III – 680 AD; Nicea II – 787 AD.) to be infallible and therefore binding on all Orthodox/Catholic/Anglican Christians. That is not to say, however, that certain dogmatic decrees proclaimed and taught by the See of Rome are unworthy of belief; just that they are not binding on all of Christendom.

§ X. The Papacy

We revere the Pope as being the Successor of St. Peter, Bishop of Rome, Patriarch of the West and First among Equals. Of this there is no doubt. But there is a great deal of difference between primacy and infallibility. Hence, we cannot accept the doctrine of Papal Infallibility, since this was not proclaimed by the whole of Christendom in full Ecumenical Council, but only proclaimed by councils of Rome and therefore only binding on Roman Catholics. We give due honor and respect to the office and authority of the Holy Father as we do all other Bishops and Patriarchs of Christendom.

§ XI. The Sacraments

We affirm all seven of the Traditional, Scriptural Sacraments, these being:

Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Penance, Anointing of the Sick, Matrimony, Holy Orders.

(1) The Sacrament of Baptism

We believe that Baptism in the Trinitarian formula is the first and foremost Sacrament of Christian Initiation. Baptism is birth into the new life in Christ. In accordance with the Lord’s will, it is necessary for salvation (Mt. 3:11. Acts 2:38; 22:13-16. Rom. 6:3-4. 1Pet. 3:20-21), as is the Church itself, which we enter by Baptism. The fruit of Baptism, or baptismal grace, is a rich reality that includes the forgiveness of original sin and all personal sins, birth into the new life by which man becomes an adoptive son of the Father, a member of Christ and a temple of the Holy Spirit. By this very fact the person baptized is incorporated into the Church, the Body of Christ, and made a sharer in the priesthood of Christ. Since earliest times, Baptism has been administered to children (sometimes called Christening), for it is a grace and a gift of God that does not presuppose any human merit; children are baptized in the faith of the Church. Entry into Christian life gives access to true freedom. Those who die for the Faith, those who are Catechumens, and all those who, without knowing of the Church but acting under the inspiration of grace, seek God sincerely and strive to fulfill His will, are saved even if they have not been water baptized (re: Baptism of Desire, Baptism of Blood).

The Sacrament of Confirmation / Chrismation

We affirm that Baptism, the Eucharist, and the sacrament of Confirmation together constitute the sacraments of Christian Initiation, whose unity must be safeguarded. The reception of the sacrament of Confirmation is necessary for the completion of baptismal grace (Acts 8:14-17). Confirmation perfects Baptismal grace; it is the sacrament which gives the Holy Spirit in order to root us more deeply in the divine filiation, incorporate us more firmly into Christ, strengthen our bond with the Church, associate us more closely with her mission, and help us bear witness to the Christian Faith in words accompanied by deeds.

The Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.

We affirm that the liturgical celebration of the Holy Eucharist is the heart and summit of the Church’s life. The Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist completes Christian Initiation; for through Holy Communion, the whole of the ascetic and mystical life of the Christian Believer, which is the deepening and realization of our Eucharistic union with Christ the Saviour, is fully manifested. “For in this sacrament we attain God Himself, and God Himself is made one with us in the most perfect of all possible unions … This is the final mystery: beyond this it is not possible to go, nor can anything be added to it” (Nicolas Cabasilas, Orthodox Liturgist).

We state our firm belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. This means that after the consecration, the bread and wine are changed and become in very truth the Body and Blood of Christ: they are not mere symbols, but the reality. This is a Divine Mystery, therefore we state that the word “transubstantiation” is not to be taken to define the manner in which the bread and wine are changed into the Body and Blood of the Lord; for this none can understand but God; but only thus much is signified, that the bread, truly, really, substantially, and in full essence becomes the very true Body of the Lord, and the wine the very Blood of the Lord. “If you inquire how this happens, it is enough for you to learn that it is through the Holy Spirit … we know nothing more than this, that the word of God is true, active, and omnipotent, but in its manner of operation unsearchable” (John of Damascus).

We thus state our firm belief in the sacrificial nature of the Holy Eucharist:

“As it is a Commemoration and Representation of Christ’s death, so it is a Commemorative Sacrifice. As we receive the symbols and the mystery, so it is a Sacrament. In both capacities, the benefit is next to infinite. First, for whatsoever Christ did at the Institution, the same He commanded the Church to do in remembrance and repeated rites; and Himself also does the same thing in Heaven for us, making perpetual intercession for His Church, the Body of His redeemed ones, by representing to His Father His Death and Sacrifice. There He sits, a High Priest continually, and offers still the same one perfect Sacrifice; that is, still represents it as having been once finished and consummate, in order to perpetual and never failing events. And this also His ministers do on earth. They offer up the same Sacrifice to God, the Sacrifice of the Cross by prayers, and a commemorating rite and representment, according to His holy Institution … Our very holding up of the Son of God and representing Him to His Father is the doing an act of mediation and advantage to ourselves in the virtue and efficacy of the Mediator. As Christ is a Priest in Heaven for ever and yet does not sacrifice Himself afresh, nor yet without a Sacrifice could He be a Priest, but by a daily ministration and intercession represents His Sacrifice to God and offers Himself as sacrificed, so He does upon earth by the ministry of His servants. He is offered to God; that is, He is by prayers and the Sacrament represented or offered up to God as sacrificed, which in effect is a celebration of His Death, and the applying it to the present and future necessities of the Church as we are capable by a ministry like to His in Heaven. It follows, then, that the celebration of this Sacrifice be in its proportion an instrument of applying the proper Sacrifice to all the purposes which it first designed. It is ministerially and by application an instrument propitiatory; it is eucharistical; it is an homage and an act of adoration; and it is impetratory and obtains for us and for the whole church all the benefits of the Sacrifice, which is now celebrated and applied. That is, as this rite is the remembrance and ministerial celebration of Christ’s Sacrifice, so it is destined to do honour to God, to express the homage and duty of His servants, to acknowledge His supreme dominion, to give Him thanks and worship, to beg pardon, blessings, and supply of all our needs. And its profit is enlarged not only to the persons celebrating, but to all to whom they design it, according to the nature of sacrifices and prayers and all such solemn actions of religion” (Jeremy Taylor, Anglican Bishop of Down and Connor, from The Great Exemplar).

Because Christ Himself is present in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, He is to be honored and adored. To visit Christ in the Blessed Sacrament is a proof of gratitude, an expression of love, and a duty of adoration toward Our Lord.