BESANÇON - Alms table (5th–6th centuries), with the Constantinian monogram and the inscription: « Hoc signum praestat populis caelestia regna ».
between eternity and time, is the firstborn of all creatures and the immanent force that unites them all. The Virgin shares in this prerogative; the Eucharist must be regarded as the everlasting communion between the Son and the Mother. Christ, moreover, pours out the Holy Spirit upon all creation; consequently, all beings enjoy a real, though diverse, participation in the Spirit, which in man constitutes the third constitutive principle (trichotomy) and the ultimate basis of the supernatural. If the Spirit-Love, immanent in beings, circulates back within them, leading them back to God, then beings are good; if it does not circulate back, they are evil. Thus human history is explained by the opposing circulation of the Holy Spirit (city of God) and of the evil spirit (city of Satan). The Christian must develop within himself the circulation of the Holy Spirit through the Sacraments; thus he will attain perfection.
This system, at variance with the patristic-scholastic tradition but strongly organic, captivated many pious and unwary souls. B. had numerous disciples, gathered in small circles in the cities where he resided, especially in the diocese of Brescia. Despite the suspicion surrounding them and the abjurations to which they were subjected, they remained most faithful to their “angelic father.”