Q. Did Vigilius advocate the Roman dogma of transubstantiation?
Vigilius, Bishop of Thapsus (c. 5th Century A.D.):
Christ said to his disciples: ‘If ye loved me, ye would rejoice; for I go unto my Father.’ And again he said: ‘It is expedient for you that I go; for if I go not, the Comforter shall not come to you.’ And yet surely the eternal Word of God, the Virtue of God, the Wisdom of God, was ever with his Father and in his Father, yea, even at the same time when he was with us and in us. For when he did mercifully dwell in this world, he left not his habitation or dwelling in heaven; for he is every where whole with his Father, equal in divinity, whom no place can contain. For the Son filleth all things, and there is no place that lacketh the presence of his divinity. From whence then and whither did he say that he would go? Or how did he say that he went to his Father, from whom, doubtless he never departed? But that was to go to the Father and to depart from us, even to take from this world that nature which he received of us. Thou seest therefore, that it was the property of that nature to be taken away and to go from us, which in the end of the world shall be rendered again to us, as the angels witnessed, saying: ‘This Jesus, which is taken from you, shall come again, like as you saw him going up into heaven.’ For look upon the miracle, look upon the mystery of both the natures. The Son of God, as concerning his humanity, went from us: as concerning his divinity, he said unto us, ‘Behold , I am with you all the days unto the world's end.’ And a little after he saith: ‘He is both with us, and he is not with us. For those whom he left, and went from them, as concerning his humanity, those he left not, nor forsook them not, as touching his divinity. For as touching the form of a servant (which he took away from us into heaven), he is absent from us; but by the form of God (which goeth not from us), he is present with us in earth; and nevertheless, both present and absent, he is all one Christ.’ (J. P. Minge, Patrologiæ Cursus Completus, [1863], Patrologiæ Latinæ, Tomus LXII, Vigilii Tapsensis, Contra Eutychetem, Lib. I, § VI, Col. 98-99). Here Trans. (Thomas Becon, The Catechism of Thomas Becon, S.t.p. Chaplain to Archbishop Cranmer, Prebendary of Canterbury, &c., Ed. John Ayre, [Cambridge University Press, 1844], p. 275). Here
If the Word and the flesh were both of one nature, seeing the Word is every where, why is not then the flesh every where? For when it was in earth, then verily it was not in heaven; and now, when it is in heaven, it is not surely in earth. And it is so sure that it is not in earth, that as concerning it we look for him to come from heaven, whom as concerning his eternal Word we believe to be with us in earth. Therefore by your doctrine (the author speaketh unto the heretic Eutyches, who taught that the divinity and humanity in Christ was but one nature), either the Word is contained in a place with his flesh, or else the flesh is every where with the Word. For one nature cannot receive in itself two diverse and contrary things. But these two things be diverse and far unlike, that is to say, to be contained in a place and to be every where. Therefore, inasmuch as the Word is every where, and the flesh is not every where, it appeareth plainly that one Christ himself hath in him two natures; and that by his divine nature he is every where, and by his human nature he is contained in a place; that he is created, and hath no beginning; that he is subject to death, and cannot die. Whereof one he hath by the nature of his Word, whereby he is God; and the other he hath by the nature of his flesh, whereby the same God is man also. Therefore one Son of God, the self-same was made the Son of man, and he hath a beginning of the nature of his flesh, and no beginning by the nature of his godhead. He is comprehended in a place by the nature of his flesh, and not comprehended in a place by the nature of his godhead. He is inferior to angels in the nature of his flesh, and is equal to his father in the nature of his godhead. He died by the nature of his flesh, and died not by the nature of his godhead. This is the faith and catholic confession, which the apostles taught, the martyrs did corroborate, and faithful people keep unto this day. (J. P. Minge, Patrologiæ Cursus Completus, [1848], Patrologiæ Latinæ, Tomus LXII, Vigilii Tapsensis, Contra Eutychetem, Lib. IV, § XIV-XV, Col. 126). Here Trans. (Thomas Becon, The Catechism of Thomas Becon, S.t.p. Chaplain to Archbishop Cranmer, Prebendary of Canterbury, &c., Ed. John Ayre, [Cambridge University Press, 1844], p. 279). Here
On John 6:
To believe on the Son of God, therefore, this is to see, this is to hear, this is to adore, this is to taste, this is to handle Him. (J. P. Minge, Patrologiæ Cursus Completus, [1863], Patrologiæ Latinæ, Tomus LXII, Vigilii Tapsensis, Contra Eutychetem, Lib. IV, § XXII, Col. 133). Here Trans. (J. H. Treat, The Catholic Faith; Or, Doctrines of the Church of Rome Contrary to Scripture and the Teaching of the Primitive Church, [1888], p. 204). Here
~ Soli Deo Gloria
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