Renouncing Heresy

 Recent Vatican statements have, I suspect, unsettled many people. 

If anyone wished to renounce any involvement in false teaching from foreign parts, I suggest the use of the following liturgical formulae, taken from the old Profession of Faith, which used to be made publicly by converts.

(1) Veni Creator, followed by the Collect for Pentecost Sunday.

(2) "I, NN, holding in my hand God's holy Gospels and enlightened by divine grace, [publicly] declare that I accept the Faith which is taught by the Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Church. I believe that Church to be the one true Church which Jesus Christ set up here on earth; to which I make my submission with all my heart."

(3) The 'Apostles' Creed' used to follow; while, surely, the 'Nicene' or 'Athanasian Creed' might suitably now be used.

(4) Then EITHER ... "I believe that seven sacraments were instituted by Jesus Christ for the salvation of mankind: Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Holy Order, and Matrimony.

"I believe that the Bishop of Rome is the Vicar of Jesus Christ on earth, that he is the supreme visible Head of the whole Church, and that he teaches infallibly what we must believe and do for salvation.

"I also believe everything which the Holy, Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Church defines and declares that we must believe. To her I give my whole allegiance and I reject every error and schism which she condemns.

"So help me God, and these His holy Gospels which I touch with my hand."

OR ... "I profess that I believe: One only God in three divine persons, distinct from and equal to each other--that is to say, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

"The Catholic doctrine of the Incarnation, Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ; and the personal union of the two Natures, the divine and the human; the Divine Maternity of the most holy Mary, together with her most spotless virginity; and also her Immaculate Conception; and her bodily Assumption into heaven.

"The true, real and substantial presence of the Body of Our Lord Jesus Christ, together with His Soul and Divinity, in the most holy Sacrament of the Eucharist. 

"I also believe in Purgatory, the resurrection of the dead, and everlasting life. 

"The primacy, not only of honour, but also of jurisdiction, of the Roman Pontiff, successor of St Peter, prince of the apostles, Vicar of Jesus Christ;

"The veneration of the Saints and of their images;

"The authority of apostolic and ecclesiastical traditions, and of the Holy Scriptures, which we must interpret and understand only in the sense which our holy Mother the Catholic Church has held, and does hold, to whom alone it belongs to judge of their meaning and interpretation; 

"And everything else that has been defined and declared by the sacred Canons and by the General Councils, especially by the holy Council of Trent, and by the Council of the Vatican."

(5) "With a sincere heart, therefore, and with unfeigned faith, I detest and abjure every error heresy and sect opposed to the said Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Church. So help me God, and these His holy Gospels which I touch with my hand."

(6) Finally, the Te Deum and the Collect for Trinity Sunday.  

Although these formulae are traditional, and in the 1956 English edition of the Rituale Romanum, it is in a personal capacity that I suggest this use of them.