Dictionary
A modern dictionary of Catholic terms, both common and obscure. Find accurate definitions of words and phrases.
HORMISDAS, FORMULA OF
The doctrinal statement drawn up by Pope St. Hormisdas in 519, declaring the necessity of agreeing with the See of Peter to preserve the true faith. The formula condemns a series of heretics and has been used by subsequent general councils as a standard of orthodoxy. "The first condition of salvation," states the formula, "is to keep the norm of the true faith and in no way to deviate from the established doctrine of the Fathers . . . And their truth has been proved by the course of history, for in the Apostolic See the Catholic religion has always been kept unsullied" (Denzinger 363).
All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.
