Dictionary of Christian Biography and Literature to the End of the Sixth Century/Vigilantius
Vigilantius (1), a presbyter of Comminges
and Barcelona, known by his protests against
superstitious practices in the church. He
was born c. 370 at Calagurris, near Comminges
(Convenae), a station on the great Roman
road from Aquitaine to Spain (Itiner. Antonin.
quoted in Gilly's Vigilant. p. 128). His father
probably kept the statio or place of refreshment
there; and Vigilantius was apparently
brought up as an inn-keeper and wine-seller
"Iste Caupo Calagurritanus," Hieron. cont.
Vig. 1), but had from the first an inclination
to learning. Sulpicius Severus, who had
estates in these parts, took him into his
service, and probably baptized him. It is
certain that in 395 he was sent with letters
from Sulpicius to Paulinus, then recently
settled at Nola (Paul. Ep. i. 11), by whom he
was treated as a friend. Paulinus speaks of
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reports the care with which he had watched
him during illness, refusing to let him depart
till well. On his return to Severus, then
living at Elusa in Gaul, he was ordained; and,
having a desire for learning and a wish to visit
Jerusalem, set forth by way of Nola. His
father, it seems, had died, since he was wealthy
enough to have many notaries in his employ
(Hieron, Ep. lxi. 4), and he was the proprietor
of the inn at Convenae (ib. lxi. 3; cont.
Vig. i.). Paulinus gave him a very honourable
introduction to Jerome (Hieron. Ep. lxi.
3), then living at Bethlehem, where he was
received with great respect (lviii. 11). He
remained there a considerable time, staying
partly with Jerome, but partly, it is supposed,
with others, possibly with Rufinus (Hieron.
Apol. iii. 11). The schism between the monasteries
of Bethlehem and the bp. of Jerusalem
was at its height; and probably in connexion
with this Vigilantius had his first disagreement with Jerome (Hieron. Ep. lxi. 1; Apol.
iii. 19). Origenism, which had caused the
schism, and with which Vigilantius afterwards
connected Jerome's name, was, no doubt, the
subject of this disagreement. But Vigilantius
was brought to confess himself in the wrong
and to ask pardon (Hieron. Ep. lxi. end). He
was an inmate of Jerome's monastery on the
occasion of a tremendous storm with earthquake
and eclipse (cont. Vig. ii.). He was for
a time favourably impressed by what he saw
at Bethlehem, and on one occasion, when
Jerome was preaching upon the reality of the
body at the resurrection, sprang up, and with
applause of hands and feet saluted Jerome as
champion of orthodoxy (Ep. lxi. 3). But the
extremes of asceticism, the corruption produced
by indiscriminate almsgiving, and the
violence, perhaps the insincerity, of Jerome's
dealing with the question of Origen
[HIERONYMUS, § Origenism] produced a reaction against
Jerome. Vigilantius begged to be dismissed,
and left in great haste (Ep. cix. 2) without
giving any reason. He bore Jerome's reply
to Paulinus at Nola (Ep. lxi. 11); but his
journey home was first by Egypt (ib. 1; cont.
Ruf. iii. 12), "by Hadria and the Cottian
Alps" (Hieron. Ep. cix. 12). He landed
probably at Naples, and, after visiting Nola,
went home by the land route, staying a considerable
time at various places. His account
of what he had seen in the East, which was
related to Jerome either by report or by some
writing of Vigilantius to or about Jerome, provoked a reply (Ep. lxi.), wherein Jerome shews
a jealous sensitiveness for his own orthodox
reputation, and treats him with contempt,
declaring that he had never understood the
points in dispute (lxi. 1). On his return to
Gaul, Vigilantius settled in his native country.
His work against superstitious practices was written c. 403. We may presume that his intercourse with Severus, Paulinus, and Jerome furnished the principal motives and materials for it. Similar practices no doubt arising in a grosser form in his own neighbourhood among a population emerging from heathenism provoked his protest against the introduction of heathen ceremonial into Christian worship. The work is only known to us through the writings of Jerome, of whose unscrupulousness and violence in controversy we have many proofs. Nothing of the kind appears in the quotations from the book of Vigilantius, which, considering the extreme difficulty of his position in the rising flood of superstition, we must presume to have been a serious and faithful protest. It was not written hastily, under provocation, such as he may have felt in leaving Bethlehem, but after the lapse of six or seven years. His own bishop (Hieron. Ep. cix. 1) and others in his neighbourhood (cont. Vig. ii.) approved his action, and he was apparently appointed after the controversy to a church in the diocese of Barcelona (Gennad. ut infra).
The points against which he argues are four: (1) The superstitious reverence paid to the remains of holy men, which were carried round in the church assemblies in gold vessels or silken wrappings to be kissed, and the prayers in which their intercession was asked; (2) the late and frequent watchings at the basilicas of the martyrs, from which scandals constantly arose, the burning of numerous tapers, which was a heathen practice, the stress laid on the miracles performed at the shrines, which, Vigilantius maintained, were of use only to unbelievers; (3) the sending of alms to Jerusalem, which might better have been given to the poor in each diocese, and generally the monkish habit of divesting oneself of possessions which should be administered as a trust by the possessor; and (4) the special virtue attributed to the unmarried state. Vigilantius held that for the clergy to be married was an advantage to the church; and he looked upon the solitary life as a cowardly forsaking of responsibility.
The bishop of the diocese (possibly Exuperius of Toulouse, known to have had communications with pope Innocent about this time on points of discipline) strongly favoured the views of Vigilantius, and they began to spread widely in S. Gaul. The clergy who were fostering the practices impugned by him found their people imbibing his opinions, and two of them, Desiderius and Riparius, wrote to Jerome, representing the opinions of Vigilantius and asking for his advice. Jerome answered Riparius at once (Ep. 109, ed. Vall.), expressing chagrin and indignation but without
sober argument. He declares that no adoration was paid to martyrs, but that their relics were honoured as a means of worshipping God. He expresses wonder that the bishop of the diocese should acquiesce in Vigilantius's madness. It was a case for such dealing as that of Peter with Ananias and Sapphira. He offered to answer more fully if the work of Vigilantius were sent him. This offer was accepted. Through their friend Sisinnius, Riparius and Desiderius sent the book in the latter part of 406 (Pref. to Comm. on Zach.). Jerome gave little attention to it at first, but finding Sisinnius obliged to leave Bethlehem in haste, sat down, and in one night wrote his treatise contra Vigilantium. This treatise has less of reason and more of mere abuse than any which he wrote. He throughout imputes to his adversary extreme views, which it may certainly be assumed he did not hold.
What effect was produced by this philippic is unknown. Possibly Exuperius, if Vigilantius was in his diocese, by degrees changed towards him, and that it was on this account that Vigilantius passed into the diocese of Barcelona, where Gennadius places him. Jerome in his Apology (iii. 19) expressly repels the imputation of having asserted that the character of Vigilantius had been stained by communion with heretics. But the official leaders of the church came to reckon as enemies those whom Jerome had so treated, and Vigilantius was by degrees ranked among heretics. The judgment of Gennadius (de Sc. Eccl. 35) is: "Vigilantius the presbyter, a Gaul by birth, held a church in the Spanish diocese of Barcelona. He wrote with a certain zeal for religion; but was led astray by the praise of men, and presumed beyond his strength; and being a man of elegant speech but not trained in discerning the sense of the Scriptures, interpreted in a perverse manner the second vision of Daniel, and put forth other works of no value, which must be placed in the catalogue of heretical writings. He was answered by the blessed presbyter Jerome." This judgment lasted long. In 1844 Dr. Gilly, canon of Durham, published a work on Vigilantius and his Times (Seeley), bringing together all the known facts, and shewing the true significance of his protest by describing the life of Severus, Paulinus, and Jerome from their own writings.
[W.H.F.]