Honoratus a Sancta Maria (1651–1729) was a French
Discalced Carmelite, known as a prolific controversialist. His
secular name was Blaise Vauxelles (or Vauxelle, Vauzelle), and he was known also by the French version of his name in religion, Honoré de Sainte-Marie.
Life
He was born at
Limoges, 4 July 1651. Blaise Vauxelles took his vows as Honaratus at
Toulouse, 8 March 1671. On completing his course of studies he decided on the missionary life, and was accordingly sent to
Malta to prepare for the East. But the superiors detained him there as a sub-prior, and at the expiration of his term of office he returned to France without having been to the missions. He successively filled the posts of professor of philosophy and theology, prior, provincial, and visitor general. He died at
Lille, 1729.
Works
He dealt with the burning religious questions of his time:
Quietism,
Jansenism,
Gallicanism; but also with
Cartesianism in philosophy, and
rationalism in the relationship of scripture and history. during his life he was accused of not always applying the rules of criticism he himself had established.
His works may be divided into various classes.
Philosophical
Disputationes philosophicæ (Clermont, 1686) against
Descartes and
Gassendi
Theological
Propositiones theologicæ (Perpignan, 1689), an exposition of the
Apostles' Creed from the dogmatic, scholastic, and historical point of view
Dissertations on Grace and Predestination, unpublished
A Treatise on Indulgences and the Jubilee (Bordeaux, 1701), reprinted at Clermont and in Belgium in preparation for the Jubilee of 1725
Dissertation apologétique (Bordeaux, 1701), in defence of the Examen de la théologie mystique of
Jean Chéron, Calced Carmelite (1596–1673), which had been attacked by a Franciscan
On Contemplation (Paris, 1708) from the dogmatic and practical point of view, a defence of the Carmelite tradition of
mysticism,[1] giving a complete chain of utterances of the
Church Fathers and ecclesiastical writers, in two volumes. This work was translated into Italian and Spanish; a continuation of it appeared in 1713 under the title The Motives and Practice of Divine Love.
A Problem addressed to the Learned (Paris, 1708), an examination and rejection of the claims of Denis the Areopagite to the authorship of the works commonly attributed to him
Polemical
His polemical works are largely directed against
Jansenism:
four volumes in defence of the Constitution Unigenitus (anonymous); the first two appeared in 1710, the others in 1722
Notes on the writings of Jansenius, Saint-Cyran, Arnauld, Quesnel, Petitpied and others (Ypres, 1724)
Reply to theExamen théologiqueby a Jansenist (anonymous, 1723)
Defence of the Encyclical of Benedict XIII of 1 Oct. 1724, on the teaching of
Augustine of Hippo and
Thomas Aquinas (Brussels, 1725)
a letter arguing that a certain miracle said to have happened at the Corpus Christi procession in Paris (31 May 1725) had not been wrought in favour of those who refused to sign the bull Unigenitus
a letter addressed to a certain abbé on the necessity of subscribing to the bull Unigenitus
a collection of dissertations on the same Constitution (Brussels, 1727).
Historical and critical
Theologiæ positiones (Toulouse, 1706), containing a solution of chronological and other difficulties to be met with in the Bible, a prelude to the author's major work on criticism
Historical and critical dissertations on the orders of knighthood (Paris, 1718, also in Italian, Brescia, 1761)
the Life of St. John of the Cross (Tournai, 1727), written on the occasion of the canonization of the saint
a critical edition of a manuscript of
Flodoardus, with notes and dissertations, which, however, the author did not live to carry through the press
Réflexions sur les règles et l'usage de la critique, three volumes (Paris, 1712, 1717, and Lyons, 1720). This work has been several times reprinted, appeared also in Latin, Italian, and Spanish, and is the one by which Honoratus is best known;[2]
Denuntiatio historiæ ecclesiasticæ (anonymous, 1726). While the Réflexions were chiefly directed against
Tillemont, this work takes Fleury to task for his Gallicanism
A treatise on the so-called Mass of Flacius Illyricus, of which Honoratus had already spoken in the Réflexions, unpublished.