Vol. 1 - History of the Catholic Church from Renaissance to French Revolution

the regulation for allowing or refusing the administrations of the
sacraments was a matter to be determined by the bishops, though any
person who considered himself aggrieved by their action might appeal
against the abuse of ecclesiastical power. This decree was registered
by the Parliament (1757), whereupon the Archbishop of Paris was
allowed to return. From that time Jansenism declined rapidly in
France, but the followers of the sect united with the Gallicans of the
Parliament to enslave the Church, and with the Rationalists to procure
the suppression of the Jesuits, whom they regarded as their most
powerful opponents.

Many of the Jansenists fled to Holland, where the Gallicans were only
too willing to welcome such rebels against Rome. The old Catholic
hierarchy in Holland had been overthrown, and the Pope was obliged to
appoint vicars apostolic to attend to the wants of the scattered
Catholic communities. One of these appointed in 1688 was an Oratorian,
and as such very partial to Quesnel and the Jansenists. Owing to his
public alliance with the sect he was suspended from office in 1702 and
deposed in 1704, but not before he had given Jansenism a great impetus
in Holland. About seventy parishes and about eighty priests refused to
recognise his successor, and went over to the Jansenist party. In 1723
a body of priests calling themselves the Chapter of Utrecht elected
Steenhoven as Archbishop of Utrecht, and a suspended bishop named
Varlet, belonging formerly to the Society for Foreign Missions,
consecrated him against the protests of the Pope. Supported by the
Calvinist government the new archbishop maintained himself at Utrecht
till his death, when he was succeeded by others holding similar views.
Later on the Bishoprics of Haarlem (1742) and of Deventer were
established as suffragan Sees to Utrecht. The Catholics of Holland
refused to recognise these bishoprics as did also the Pope, whose only
reply to their overtures was a sentence of excommunication and
interdict. The Jansenist body of Holland, numbering at present about
six thousand, have maintained their separate ecclesiastical
organisation until the present day. They resisted the establishment of
the hierarchy in Holland (1853), opposed the definition of Papal
Infallibility, and allied themselves definitely with the old Catholic
movement in Germany.
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[1] Ingold, /Bossuet et la jansenisme/, 1904.

[2] Denzinger, 11th edition, n. 1350.

[3] Denzinger, op. cit., nos. 1351-1451.

[4] Matthieu, /Histoire des miracles et des convulsionnaires de St.
Medard/, 1864.

(d) Quietism.

Molinos, /Guida spirituale/, 1681. /Oeuvres spirituelles de Madame
Guyon/, 42 vols., 1713. Guerrier, /Madame Guyon/, 1881. Fenelon,
/Explication des maximes des Saints sur la vie interieure/, 1697.
Bossuet, /Sur les etats d'oraison/, 1696. Crousle, /Fenelon et
Bossuet/, 1896. Delmont, /Fenelon et Bossuet d'apres les derniers
travaux de la critique/, 1896.

Mysticism as implying the substantive union of the soul with God was
the distinguishing feature of the pantheistic religious creeds of
India, as it was also of some of the Greek philosophical systems. In
the Middle Ages, while many of the ablest exponents of Scholasticism
were also distinguished mystics, yet more than once Mysticism or the
theology of the heart, unrestrained by the guiding influence of the
theology of the intellect, fell into grievous errors akin to the
Pantheism of the Buddhists and the Stoics. Many of these Middle Age
mystics maintained that perfection consisted in the union of the soul
with God by quiet contemplation, so that those who reached that state
had no need of external aids to sanctity, such as good works, the
sacraments, or prayer; that they were under no obligation to obey any
law, ecclesiastical or divine, since their will was united to God's
will; and that they need make no effort to resist carnal thoughts or
desires, as these came from the devil and could not possibly stain the
soul. Such, however, was not the teaching of the great Spanish
authorities on mystical theology, Saint Teresa, Saint John of the
Cross, and Louis of Granada, whose works on spiritual perfection and
on the ways that lead to it have never been surpassed. But side by
side with this school of thought, another and less orthodox form of
mysticism manifested itself in Spain. Many of the sectaries, such as
the Alumbrados or Illuminati, carried away by pantheistic principles,
fell into error, and put forward under the guise of mystical theology
not a few of the extravagances that had been condemned by the Council
of Vienne (1311) and by the judgment of the universal Church.

Closely akin to the errors of this Spanish school was the doctrine
known as Quietism taught by Michael de Molinos (1640-96), a Spanish
priest, who having completed his studies at Valencia took up his
residence in Rome. He published a work entitled /Guida Spirituale/ in
1675, the ascetical principles of which attracted so much attention