CIRCUMINSESSIONE (circuminsessio, circumincessio). — A word of Greek derivation, denoting the mutual indwelling of the three persons of the Most Holy Trinity, each of whom resides in the other two, according to the formula of the Council of Florence, drawn from St. Fulgentius (De fide ad Petrum, chap. 1, no. 4: PL 65, 674): « Pater est totus in Filio, totus in Spiritu Sancto; Filius totus est in Patre, totus in Spiritu Sancto; Spiritus Sanctus totus est in Patre, totus in Filio » (Denz-U, 704). This truth, explicitly revealed in Sacred Scripture (Io. 10:38; 14:11; 17:21; I Cor. 2:10-11) and universally attested by tradition, is based on the numerical unity of the divine essence and presupposes the real distinction of the persons from one another, as well as a certain vital circle, which entails the vital origin of one person from another and the vital return of the proceeding person to its principle. Thus the Son proceeds from the Father, returns to the Father, and dwells in the bosom of the Father. The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, to whom he returns and in whom he resides.
This latter, dynamic aspect of c. is expressed more clearly by the Greek word περιχώρησις (περιχώρησι = circling around) and by the Latin word circumincessio (circum-incedere = to move, to proceed around), whereas circuminsessio emphasizes the static aspect of the same truth (circum-in-sedere = to sit in, to sit around). Περιχώρησι is used for the first time by St. Gregory Nazianzen (Ep., 101: PG 37, 182), but only to denote the mutual interpenetration of the two natures in Christ. As a Trinitarian term, περιχώρησις is not found before St. John Damascene (De fide orthod., I, 8, 14: PG 94, 820). Its Latin translation, circumincessio, due to Burgundio of Pisa (d. 1194), is used neither by Peter Lombard nor by St. Thomas, whereas it occurs frequently in the works of St. Bonaventure and the other Franciscan authors. Later this word was replaced by circuminsessio, which is found for the first time in Henry of Ghent (d. 1293), after whom it was used universally, even outside the Franciscan school. C. summarizes the entire Trinitarian doctrine and constitutes the briefest refutation of all errors concerning this mystery.