Fear and Duty
of the Priesthood
March 26, 2012
As you will see below in the early Church Catholics were ordained priests
or bishops even if they did not want the ordination. In fact, Saint Ambrose was
held down as the Bishop ordained him. In the early Church the priesthood was so
reverenced no one felt worthy enough to be a priest. After being ordained Saint
Ambrose wrote a long document on the personal virtues a person should have to
become a priest and why he did not think he deserved to be one. This document
became mandatory reading in all seminaries for 1500 years. I wanted to publish
this but it is just too long, so I felt it better to show the following:
1. How many saints feared becoming
priests,
2. St. Ambrose on the Eucharist,
3. St. Ambroses letter to the
Emperor on the power of the priesthood, and
4. Saint Alphonsus Liguori on the dignity
of the priesthood.
I
hope after reading this you have a reverence for the highest office in the
world and that priests will understand
the great dignity and power of their office and not treat it commonly.
1. The Priesthood Appears to the Saints
a Formidable Charge
ST. CYPRIAN said, that all those that had the true spirit of
God were, when compelled to take the
order of priesthood, seized with fear and trembling, as if they saw an enormous
weight placed on their shoulders, by which they were in danger of being crushed
to death. "I see," said St.
Cyril of Alexandria, "all the Saints frightened at the sacred ministry, as at an immense charge." St. Epiphanius
writes, that he found no one willing to be ordained a priest. A Council held in Carthage ordained that
they that were thought worthy, and refused to be ordained, might be compelled
to become priests. St. Gregory Nazianzen says: "No one rejoices when he is
ordained priest."
In his life of
St. Cyprian, Paul the Deacon states that when the Saint heard that his bishop
intended to ordain him priest, he through humility concealed himself." It is related in the life of St. Fulgentius,
that he too, fled away and hid himself.
St. Athanasius also, as Sozomen relates, took flight in order to escape the priesthood. St. Ambrose, as he himself attests, resisted for a long time before
he consented to be ordained. St. Gregory,
even after it was made manifest by miracles that God wished him to be a priest,
concealed himself under the garb of a
merchant, in order to prevent his ordination. To avoid being ordained, St. Ephrem
feigned madness; St. Mark cut off his thumb; St. Ammonius
cut off his ears and nose, and because the people insisted on his ordination,
he threatened to cut out his tongue, and thus they ceased to molest him. It
is known to all, that St. Francis
remained a deacon, and refused to ascend to the priesthood, because he learned
by revelation, that the soul of a priest should be as pure as the water that
was shown to him in a crystal vessel. The Abbot Theodore was only a deacon,
but he would not exercise the duties of the Order he had received because
during prayer he was shown a pillar of fire, and heard the following words: " If you have a heart as inflamed as this
pillar, you may then exercise your Order." The Abbot Motues
was a priest, but always refused to offer the holy Mass, saying that he had
been compelled to take holy Orders, and that because
he felt himself unworthy, he could not celebrate.
Formerly there
were but few priests among the monks, whose lives were so austere; and the monk
who aspired to the priesthood was considered to be a proud man. Hence, to try
the obedience of one of his monks, St.
Basil commanded him to ask in public the Order of priesthood; his
compliance was regarded as an act of heroic obedience, because by his obedience
in asking to be ordained priest he, as it were, declared himself to be a man
filled with the spirit of pride. But how, I ask, does it happen that the
Saints, who live only for God, resist their ordination through a sense of their
unworthiness, and that some run blindly to the priesthood, and rest not until
they attain it by lawful or unlawful means? Ah, unhappy men! says
St. Bernard, to be registered among the priests of God shall be for them the
same as to be enrolled on the catalogue of the damned. And
why? Because such persons are generally called to the
priesthood, not by God, but by relatives, by interest, or ambition. Thus
they enter the house of God, not through the motive that a priest should have,
but through worldly motives. Behold why the faithful are abandoned, the Church
dishonored, so many souls perish, and with them such priests are also damned.
II
What is the End of the
Priesthood
God wills that
all men should be saved, but not in the same way. glory
As in Heaven He has distinguished different degrees of, so on earth He has
established different states of life, as so many different ways of gaining
Heaven. On account of the great ends for which it has been instituted, the priesthood
is of all these the most noble, the most exalted and
sublime. What are these ends? Perhaps
the sole ends of the priesthood are to say Mass, and to recite the Office,
and then to live like seculars? No, the end for which God has instituted the
priesthood has been to appoint on earth public persons to watch over the honor
of His Divine majesty, and to procure the salvation of souls. For every high
priest, says St. Paul,
taken from among men, is ordained for men in the things that appertain to God,
that he may offer up gifts and sacrifices for sins: who can have compassion on
them that are Ignorant and that err. To execute the office of
the priesthood and to have praise. "That is," says Cardinal
Hugo, "to perform the office of praising God." And Cornelius ą Lapide says: "Just as it is the office of the Angels
to praise God without ceasing in Heaven, so it is the office of priests to
praise God without ceasing on earth."
Jesus Christ has made priests, as it were, His
co-operators in procuring the honor of His eternal Father and the salvation of
souls, and therefore, when He ascended into Heaven, he protested that He left
them to hold his place, and to continue the work of redemption which He had
undertaken and consummated. "He made them," says St. Ambrose,
"the vicars of his love." And Jesus Christ
Himself said to His disciples: As the Father hath sent Me, I also send you. I
leave you to perform the very office for which I came into the world; that is,
to make known to men the name of My Father. And addressing His eternal Father,
He said: I have glortfled Thee on earth . . . I
have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do . .
. I have manifested Thy name to the men. He then prayed for His priests: I
have given them Thy word . . . Sanctify them in truth . . . As Thou hast
sent Me into the world, I also have sent them. Thus,
priests are placed in the world to make known to men God and His perfections,
His justice and mercy, His commands, and to procure the respect, obedience, and
love that He deserves. They are appointed to seek the lost sheep, and when
necessary, to give their lives for them. This is the end for which Jesus Christ has come on earth, for which He has
constituted priests: As the Father hath sent Me, I also send you.
III
Principal
Duties of the Priest
Jesus came into
the world for no other purpose than to light up the fire of Divine love. I
am come to cast fire on the earth, and what will I but that it be kindled.
And the priest must labor during his whole life, and with his whole strength,
not to acquire riches, honors, and worldly goods, but to inspire all with the
love of God. "Therefore," says the author of the Imperfect Work,
"has Christ sent us not that we
may do what is to our profit, but what is for the glory of God. True love does
not seek its own advantage, but it wishes in all things only what is the good
pleasure of the person loved."
In the Book of
Leviticus the Lord says to His priests: I have separated you from other people,
that you should be Mine. Mark the words that
you should be Mine; that you may be employed in
My praises, devoted to My service, and to My love: "The co-operators and
dispensers of My Sacraments," says St. Peter Damian. "Mine,"
says St. Ambrose, "that you may be the guides and the rulers of the flock
of Christ." "Mine,"
for, according to the same Doctor, the minister of the altar belongs not to
himself, but to God.
The Lord
separates His priests from the rest of his people in order to unite them
entirely to Himself. Is it a small thing unto you that the God of Israel hath
separated you from all the people, and joined you to Himself.
If, said the Redeemer, any man minister unto Me, let
him follow Me. Let him follow Me. He should follow
Jesus Christ by shunning the world,
by assisting souls, by promoting the love of God, and extirpating vice. The
reproaches of them that reproached thee have fallen upon Me.
The priest, who is a true follower of Jesus Christ,
regards injuries done to God as offered to himself.
Seculars, devoted to the world, cannot render to God the veneration and the
gratitude that are due to Him: hence, says a learned author, Father Frassen, it has been necessary to select certain persons,
that by the fulfilment of their peculiar office and
obligations they may give due honor to the Lord. In every government ministers
are appointed to enforce the observance of the laws, to remove scandals, to
repress the seditious, and to defend the honor of the king. For all these ends
the Lord has constituted priests the officers of His court. Hence St. Paul has said:
"Let us exhibit ourselves as the ministers of God." Ministers of
state always endeavor to procure the respect due to their sovereign, and to
extend his glories; they always speak of him in terms of praise, and should
they bear a word against their master, with what zeal do they reprove the
author of it? They study to gratify his inclinations, and even expose their
life in order to please him.
Is it thus that
priests act for God? It is certain that they are His
ministers of state: by them are managed all the interests of His glory. Through
them sins should be removed from the world: this is the end for which Jesus Christ has died. Crucified, that
the body of sin may be destroyed. But on the day of
judgment how can the Judge acknowledge as His true minister the priest
who, instead of preventing the sins of others, is the first to conspire against
Jesus Christ? What would you say of
ministers who should neglect to attend to the interests of their sovereign and
should refuse to assist him when he stood ill need of their aid? But what would
you say if these ministers also spoke against their master, and endeavored to
deprive him of his throne by entering into an alliance with his enemies?
Priests are the ambassadors of God, says the Apostle: For Christ we are ambassadors. They are His co-adjutors in procuring the salvation of souls: For we are
God's co-adjutors. For this end Jesus Christ gave them the Holy Ghost, that they might
save souls by remitting their sins. He breathed on them, and He said to them: Receive
ye the Holy Ghost: whose sins you shall forgive, they
are forgiven them. Hence the theologian Habert
has written that the essence of the priesthood consists in seeking ardently to
procure first the glory of God, and then the salvation of souls."
The business,
then, of every priest is to attend, not to the things of the world, but to the
things of God: He is ordained in the things that appertain to God. Hence St. Silvester ordained that for ecclesiastics the days of the
week should be called Ferię, or vacant or free days;
and he says: "It is every day that the priest, free from earthly
occupations, should occupy himself entirely with God." By this he meant
that we, who are ordained priests, should seek nothing but God and the
salvation of souls, an office which St. Denis called "
the most Divine of all the Divine offices." St. Antonine
says that the meaning of sacerdos is sacra docens, one that teaches sacred things. And Honorius of Autun says that presbyter signifies prębens
iter, one that shows the way. Hence St. Ambrose calls
priests "the guides and rectors of Ihe flock of Christ." And St. Peter calls ecclesiastics a
kingly priesthood, a holy nation, a purchased people. A people destined to
acquire not riches, but souls. St. Ambrose calls the sacerdotal office "an
office that should acquire not money, but souls." Even the Gentiles wished
their priests to attend only to the worship of their gods, and therefore they
would not permit them to hold the office of secular magistrates.
Hence, speaking
of priests, St. Gregory says, with tears, it is our duty to abandon all earthly
business in order to attend to the things of God, but we do the very contrary,
"for we desert the cause of God and devote all our care to the things of
the earth." After being appointed by God to attend only to the advancement
of His glory, Moses spent his time in settling the disputes of the people. Jethro rebuked him for his conduct, saying: Thou art spent
with foolish labor . . . Be thou to the people in the things that pertain to
God. But what would Jethro say if he saw our priests
employed in mercantile affairs, acting as the servants of seculars, or occupied
in arranging marriages, but forgetful of the works of God; if, in a word, he
saw them seeking, as St. Prosper says, "to advance in wealth, but not in
virtue, and to acquire greater honors, but not greater sanctity!"
"Oh! what an abuse," exclaims Father John d 'Avila, "to make Heaven subordinate to
earth!" "What a misery," says St. Gregory, "to see so many
priests seeking, not the merits of virtue, but the goods of this life!"
Hence, says St. Isidore of Pelusium,
in the very works of their ministry they regard not the glory of God, but the
reward annexed to them. [Many other things that might be added to this chapter
are omitted because they are contained in the following chapter, which treats
of the offices of a priest.]
2.
Saint Ambrose on the Eucharist
We saw the
Prince of Priests coming to us, we saw and heard Him
offering His blood for us. We follow, inasmuch as we are able, being priests;
and we offer the sacrifice on behalf of the people. And even if we are of but
little merit, still, in the sacrifice, we are honorable. For
even if Christ is not now seen as
the one who offers the sacrifice, nevertheless it is He Himself that is offered
in sacrifice here on earth when the body of Christ
is offered. Indeed, to offer Himself He is made visible in us, he whose
word makes holy the sacrifice that is offered. (Commentaries on Psalms
38:25)
A priest must
offer something in sacrifice and according to the Law he must enter the holy
place through blood. Therefore, because God had repudiated the blood of bulls
and of rams, it was necessary for this Priest, as you have read, to enter into
the Holy of Holies, penetrating the heights of heaven, by means of His own
blood, so that He might become an eternal oblation for our sins. Priest and
Victim, therefore, are one and the same. But the priesthood and the sacrifice
are a duty of the human condition; for like a lamb He was led to the slaughter,
and He is a priest according to the order of Melchisedech.
(The Faith 3:11:87)
"My flesh
is truly food and My blood is truly drink." You
hear Him speak of His flesh, you hear Him speak of His blood, you know the
sacred signs of the Lord's death; and do you worry about His divinity? Hear His
words when he says: "A spirit has not flesh and bones." As often as
we receive the sacramental elements which through the mystery of the sacred
prayer are transformed into the flesh and blood of the Lord, we proclaim the
death of the Lord. (The Faith 4:10:124)
Perhaps you may
be saying: I see something else; how can you assure me that I am receiving the
Body of Christ? It
but remains for us to prove it. And how many are the examples we might
use! Let us prove that this is not what nature has shaped it to be, but what
the blessing has consecrated; for the power of the blessing is greater than
that of nature, because by the blessing even nature itself is changed...Christ is in that Sacrament, because it is the Body
of Christ; yet, it is not on that
account corporeal food, but spiritual. Whence also His Apostle says of the
type: "For our fathers ate spiritual food and drank spiritual drink"
(1 Cor 10:2-4; 15:44). For the body of God is a
spiritual body. (The Mysteries 9:50; 9:58)
But if the
blessing of man had such power as to change nature, what are we to say of that
divine consecration where the very words of the Lord and Saviour
operate? For that sacrament which you receive is made what it is by the word of
Christ. But if the word of Elijah
had such power as to bring down fire from heaven, shall not the word of Christ have power to change the nature of the
elements? You read concerning the making of the whole world: "He spoke and
they were made, He commanded and they were created." Shall not the word of
Christ, which was able to make out
of nothing that which was not, be able to change things which already are into
what they were not? For it is not less to give a new nature to things than to
change them. (The Mysteries, par. 52)
You may perhaps
say: "My bread is ordinary." But that bread is bread before the words
of the Sacraments; where the consecration has entered in, the bread becomes the
flesh of Christ. And let us add
this: How can what is bread be the Body of Christ? By the consecration.
The consecration takes place by certain words; but whose words? Those of the Lord Jesus. Like all the rest of the things
said beforehand, they are said by the priest; praises are referred to God,
prayer of petition is offered for the people, for kings, for other persons; but
when the time comes for the confection of the venerable Sacrament, then the
priest uses not his own words but the words of Christ.
Therefore it is the word of Christ
that confects this Sacrament....Before it be
consecrated it is bread; but where the words of Christ
come in, it is the Body of Christ.
Finally, hear Him saying: "All of you take and eat of this; for this is My
Body." And before the words of Christ
the chalice is full of wine and water; but where the words of Christ have been operative it is made the Blood of Christ, which redeems the people. (The Sacraments
4:4:14; 4:5:23)
3.
Letter 21 Saint Ambrose Letter to the Emperor
but
also sanctioned by his laws, that, in a matter of faith, or any ecclesiastical
ordinance, he should judge who was not unsuited by office, nor disqualified by
equity, for these are the words of the rescript. That
is, it was his desire that priests should judge concerning priests. Moreover,
if a bishop were accused of other matters also, and a
question of character was to be enquired into, it was also his will that this
should be reserved for the judgment of bishops.
3. Who, then,
has answered your Clemency contumaciously? He who desires that you should be
like your father, or he that wishes you to be unlike him? Unless,
perhaps, the judgment of so great an Emperor seems to any persons of small
account, whose faith has been proved by the constancy of his profession, and
his wisdom declared by the continual improvement of the State.
4. When have
you heard, most gracious Emperor, that laymen gave judgment concerning a bishop
in a matter of faith? Are we so prostrate through the flattery of some as to be
unmindful of the rights of the priesthood, and do I think that I can entrust to
others what God has given me? If a bishop is to be taught by a layman, what
will follow? Let the layman argue, and the bishop listen, let the bishop learn
of the layman. But undoubtedly, whether
we go through the series of the holy Scriptures, or
the times of old, who is there who can deny that, in a matter of faith,in a
matter I say of faith,bishops are wont to judge of Christian
emperors, not emperors of bishops.
5. You will, by
the favour of God, attain to a riper age, and then
you will judge what kind of bishop he is who subjects the rights of the
priesthood to laymen. Your father, by the favour of
God a man of riper age, used to say: It is not my business to judge between
bishops. Your Clemency now says: I ought to judge. And he, though baptized in Christ, thought himself unequal to the burden of
such a judgment, does your Clemency, who have yet to earn for yourself the
sacrament of baptism, arrogate to yourself a judgment concerning the faith,
though ignorant of the sacrament of that faith?
6. I can leave
it to be imagined what sort of judges he will have chosen, since he is afraid
to publish their names. Let them simply come to the Church, if there are any to
come; let them listen with the people, not for every one to sit as judge, but
that each may examine his own disposition, and choose whom to follow. The
matter is concerning the bishop of that Church: if the people hear him and
think that he has the best of the argument, let them follow him, I shall not be
jealous.
7. I omit to
mention that the people have themselves already given their judgment. I am
silent as to the fact that they demanded of your father him whom they now have.
I am silent as to the promise of your father that if he who was chosen would
undertake the bishopric there should be tranquillity.
I acted on the faith of these promises.
8. But if he
boasts himself of the approval of some foreigners, let him be bishop there from
whence they are who think that he ought to receive the name of bishop. For I
neither recognize him as a bishop, nor know I whence he comes.
4289. And how, O Emperor, are
we to settle a matter on which you have already declared your judgment, and
have even promulgated laws, so that it is not open to any one to judge
otherwise? But when you laid down this law for others, you laid it down for
yourself as well. For the Emperor is the first to keep the laws which he
passes. Do you, then, wish me to try how those who are chosen as judges will
either come, contrary to your decision, or at least excuse themselves, saying
that they cannot act against so severe and so stringent a law of the Emperor?
10. But this
would be the act of one contumacious, not of one who knew his position. See, O
Emperor, you are already yourself partially rescinding your law, would that it were not partially but altogether! For I
would not that your law should be set above the law of God. The law of
God has taught us what to follow; human laws cannot teach us this. They usually
extort a change from the fearful, but they cannot inspire faith.
11. Who, then,
will there be, who when he reads that at one instant through so many provinces
the order was given, that whoever acts against the Emperor shall be beheaded,
that whoever does not give up the temple of God shall at once be put to death;
who, say, is there who will be able either alone or with a few others to say to
the Emperor: I do not approve of your law? Priests are not allowed to say this,
are then laymen allowed? And shall he judge concerning the faith who either hopes for favour or is
afraid of giving offense?
12. Lastly,
shall I myself choose laymen for judges, who, if they upheld the truth of their
faith, would be either proscribed or put to death, as that law passed
concerning the faith decrees? Shall I then expose these men either to denial of
the truth or to punishment?
13. Ambrose is
not of sufficient importance to degrade the priesthood on his own account. The
life of one is not of so much value as the dignity of all priests, by whose
advice I gave those directions, when they intimated that there might perchance
be some heathen or Jew chosen by Auxentius, to whom I
should give a triumph over Christ,
if I entrusted to him a judgment concerning Christ.
What else pleases them but to hear of some insult to Christ?
What else can please them unless (which God forbid) the Godhead of Christ should be denied? Plainly they agree well
with the Arian who says that Christ
is a creature, which also heathen and Jews most readily acknowledge.
14.
This was decreed at the Synod of Ariminum, and
rightly do I detest that council, following the rule of the Nicene Council,
from which neither death nor the sword can detach me, which faith the father of
your Clemency also, Theodosius, the most blessed Emperor, both approved and
follows.
The Gauls hold this faith, and Spain, and keep
it with the pious confession of the Divine Spirit.
15. If anything
has to be discussed I have learned to discuss it in church as those before me
did. If a conference is to be held concerning the faith, there ought to be a
gathering of Bishops, as was done under Constantine,
the Prince of august memory, who did not promulgate any laws beforehand, but
left the decision to the Bishops. This was done also under Constantius,
Emperor of august memory, the heir of his father's
dignity. But what began well ended otherwise, for the Bishops had at first
subscribed an unadulterated confession of faith, but since some were desirous
of deciding concerning the faith inside the palace, they managed that those
decisions of the Bishops should be altered by fraud. But they immediately
recalled this perverted decision, and certainly the larger number at Ariminum approved the faith of the Nicene Council and condemned
the Arian propositions.
16. If Auxentius appeals to a synod, in order to discuss points
concerning the faith (although it is not necessary that so many Bishops should
be troubled for the sake of one man, who, even if he were an angel from heaven,
ought not to be preferred to the peace of the Church), when I hear that a synod
is gathering, I, too, will not be wanting. Repeal, then, the law if you wish
for a disputation.
17. I would
have come, O Emperor, to your consistory, and have made these remarks in your
presence, if either the Bishops or the people had allowed me, but they said
that matters concerning the faith ought to be treated in the church, in
presence of the people.
18. And I wish,
O Emperor, that you had not given sentence that I
should go into banishment whither I would. I went out daily. No one guarded me.
You ought to have appointed me a place wherever you would, for I offered myself
for anything. But now the clergy say to me, "There is not much difference
whether you voluntarily 429leave the altar of Christ or betray it, for if you leave it you will
betray it."
19. And I wish
it were clearly certain to me that the Church would by no means be given over
to the Arians. I would then willingly offer myself to the will of your piety.
But if I only am guilty of disturbance, why is there a command to invade all
other churches? I would it were established that no one should trouble the
churches, and then I could wish that whatever sentence seems good should be
pronounced concerning me.
20. Vouchsafe,
then, O Emperor, to accept the reason for which I could not come to the
consistory. I have never learned to appear in the consistory except on your
behalf, and I am not able to dispute within the palace, who
neither know nor wish to know the secrets of the palace.
21. I, Ambrose,
Bishop, offer this memorial to the most gracious Emperor, and most blessed
Augustus Valentinian.
4. "The Dignity and Duties of the
Priest" (excerpt) by St. Alphonsus Liguori
Idea of the Priestly Dignity
In his epistle to the Christians
of Smyrna, St. Ignatius, Martyr, says that the priesthood is the most sublime
of all created dignities: "The apex of dignities is the priesthood."
St. Ephrem calls it an infinite dignity: "The
priesthood is an astounding miracle, great, immense, and infinite." St. John Chrysostom says, that
though its functions are performed on earth, the priesthood should be numbered
among the things of Heaven." According to Cassian,
the priest of God is exalted above all earthly sovereignties, and above all
celestial heights-----he is inferior only to God. Innocent III says that the
priest is placed between God and man; inferior to God, but superior to man. St.
Denis calls the priest a Divine man. Hence he has called the priesthood a
Divine dignity. In fine, St. Ephrem says that the
gift of the sacerdotal dignity surpasses all understanding. For us it is enough
to know, that Jesus Christ has said
that we should treat his priests as we would his own person: "He tkat heareth you, heareth Me; he tkat despiseth you, desptseth
Me." Hence St. John Chrysostom
says, that "he who honors a priest, honors Christ,
and he who insults a priest, insults Christ."
Through respect for the sacerdotal dignity, St. Mary of Oignies
used to kiss the ground on which a priest had walked.
II
Importance of the Priestly Office
The dignity of the priest is estimated from the exalted nature of his
offices. Priests are chosen by God to manage on earth all his concerns and
interests. " Divine," says St. Cyril of Alexandria, "are the
offices confided to priests." St. Ambrose has called the priestly office a
Divine profession. A priest is a minister destined by God to be a public
ambassador of the whole Church, to honor Him, and to obtain His graces for all
the faithful. The entire Church cannot give to God as much honor, nor obtain so
many graces, as a single priest by celebrating a single Mass; for the greatest
honor that the whole Church without priests could give to God would consist in
offering to Him in sacrifice the lives of all men. But of what value are the
lives of all men compared with the sacrifice of Jesus Christ,
which is a sacrifice of infinite value? What are all men before God but a
little dust? As a drop of a bucket, as a little dust. They are but a mere
nothing in His sight: All nations are before Him as if they had no being at
all. Thus, by the celebration of a single Mass, in which he offers Jesus Christ in sacrifice, a priest gives greater honor to
the Lord, than if all men by dying for God offered to Him the sacrifice of
their lives. By a single Mass, he gives greater honor to God than all the
Angels and Saints, along with the Blessed Virgin Mary, have given or shall give
to Him; for their worship cannot be of infinite value, like that which the
priest celebrating on the altar offers to God. Moreover, in the holy Mass, the
priest offers to God an adequate thanksgiving for all the graces bestowed even
on the Blessed in Paradise; but such a
thanksgiving all the Saints together are incapable of offering to Him. Hence it
is, that on this account also the priestly dignity is
superior even to all celestial dignities. Besides, the priest, says St. John Chrysostom, is an ambassador of the whole
world, to intercede with God and to obtain graces for all creatures.. The priest, according to St. Ephrem,
"treats familiarly with God." To priests every door is open. Jesus
has died to institute the priesthood. It was not necessary for the Redeemer to
die in order to save the world; a drop of His Blood, a single tear, or prayer,
was sufficient to procure salvation for all; for such a prayer, being of
infinite value, should be sufficient to save not one but a thousand worlds. But
to institute the priesthood, the death of Jesus Christ
has been necessary. Had he not died, where should we find the victim that the
priests of the New Law now offer? a victim altogether
holy and immaculate, capable of giving to God an honor worthy of God. As has
been already said, all the lives of men and Angels are not capable of giving to
God an infinite honor like that which a priest offers to Him by a single Mass.
III
Grandeur of the Priestly Power
The dignity of the priest is also estimated from the power that he has
over the real and the mystic body of Jesus Christ.
With regard to the power of priests over the real body of Jesus Christ, it is of faith that when they pronounce the
words of consecration the Incarnate Word has obliged Himself to obey and to
come into their hands under the Sacramental Species. We are struck with wonder
when we hear that God obeyed the voice of Josue-----The
Lord obeying the voice of man-----and made the sun stand when He said move not,
O sun, towards Gabaon . . . and the sun stood still.
But our wonder should be far greater when we find that in obedience to the
words of his priests-----HOC EST CORPUS MEUM-----God Himself descends on the
altar, that He comes wherever they call Him, and as often as they call Him, and
places Himself in their hands, even though they should be His enemies. And
after having come, He remains, entirely at their disposal; they move Him as
they please, from one place to another; they may, if they wish, shut Him up in
the tabernacle, or expose Him on the altar, or carry Him outside the church;
they may, if they choose, eat His flesh and give Him for the food of others.
"Oh, how very great is their power," says St. Laurence Justinian,
speaking of priests. "A word falls from their lips and the body of Christ is there substantially formed from the matter
of bread, and the Incarnate Word descended from Heaven, is found really present
on the table of the altar! Never did Divine goodness give such power to the
Angels. The Angels abide by the order of God, but the priests take Him in their
hands, distribute Him to the faithful, and partake of Him as food for themselves."
With regard to the mystic body of Christ,
that is, all the faithful, the priest has the power of the keys, or the power
of delivering sinners from Hell, of making them worthy of Paradise,
and of changing them from the slaves of Satan into the children of God. And God
Himself is obliged to abide by the judgment of His priests, and either not to
pardon or to pardon, according as they refuse or give absolution, provided the
penitent is capable of it. "Such is," says St. Maximus
of Turin,
"this judiciary power ascribed to Peter that its decision carries with it
the decision of God." The sentence of the priest precedes,
and God subscribes to it, writes St. Peter Damian. Hence, St John Chrysostom thus concludes: The sovereign Master
of the universe only follows the servant by confirming in Heaven all that the
latter decides upon earth." Priests are the dispensers of the Divine
graces and the companions of God." Consider the priests," says St.
Ignatius, Martyr, "as the dispensers of Divine graces and the associates
of God." "They are," says St. Prosper, "the glory and the
immovable columns of the Church; thay are the doors
of the eternal city; through them all reach Christ;
they are the vigilant guardians to whom the Lord has confided the keys of the
kingdom of Heaven; they are the stewards of the king's house, to assign to each
according to His good pleasure His place in the hierarchy."
Were the Redeemer to descend into a church, and sit in a confessional to administer the Sacrament of Penance, and a priest to
sit in another confessional, Jesus would say over each penitent, "Ego te absolvo," the priest
would likewise say over each of his penitents, "Ego te
absolvo," and the penitents of each would be
equally absolved. How great the honor that a king would confer on a subject
whom he should empower to rescue from prison as many as he pleased! But far
greater is the power that the eternal Father has given to Jesus Christ, and that Jesus Christ
has given to his priests, to rescue from Hell not only the bodies but also the
souls of the faithful: "The Son," says St. John
Chrysostom, "has put into the hands of the priests all judgment; for
having been as it were transported into Heaven, they have received this Divine
prerogative. If a king gave to a mortal the power to release from prison all
prisoners, all would pronounce such a one happy; but priests have received from
God a far greater power, since the soul is more noble
than the body."
IV
The Dignity of the Priest Surpasses all other Created
Dignities
Thus the sacerdotal dignity is the most noble of all the dignities in
this world." Nothing," says St. Ambrose,
"is more excellent in this world." It transcends, says St. Bernard,
"all the dignities of kings, of emperors, and of Angels." According
to St. Ambrose, the dignity of the priest as far exceeds that of kings, as the
value of gold surpasses that of lead. The reason is, because the power of kings
extends only to temporal goods and to the bodies of men, but the power of the
priest extends to spiritual goods and to the human soul. Hence, says St.
Clement, "as much as the soul is more noble than
the body, so much is the priesthood more excellent than royalty."
"Princes," says St. John
Chrysostom, "have the power of binding, but they bind only the bodies,
while the priest binds the souls." The kings of the earth glory in
honoring priests: "It is a mark of a good prince," says pope St. Marcellinus, "to honor the priests of God."
"They willingly," says Peter de Blois, "bend their knee before
the priest of God; they kiss his hands, and with bowed down head receIve his benediction." "The sacerdotal
dignity," says St. Chrysostom, "effaces the royal dignity; hence the
king inclines his head under the hand of the priest to receive his
blessing."
Baronius relates that when the Empress Eusebia sent for Leontius, Bishop
of Tripoli, he said that if she wished to see him, she should consent to two
conditions: first, that on his arrival she should instantly descend from the
throne, and bowing down her head, should ask his benediction; secondly, that he
should be seated on the throne, and that she should not sit upon it without his
permission: he added, that unless she submitted to these conditions he should
never go to the palace. Being invited to the table of the Emperor Maximus, St. Martin, in taking a draught, first paid a mark
of respect to his chaplain, and then to the emperor. In the Council of Nice,
the Emperor Constantine wished to sit in the last place, after all the priests,
and on a seat lower than that which they occupied; he would not even sit down
without their permission. The holy king St. Boleslans
had so great a veneration for priests, that he would
not dare to sit in their presence. The sacerdotal dignity also surpasses the
dignity of the Angels, who likewise show their veneration for the priesthood,
says St. Gregory Nazianzen. All the Angels in Heaven
cannot absolve from a single sin. The Angels guardian procure for the souls
committed to their care grace to have recourse to a priest that he may absolve
them: "Although," says St. Peter Damian, "Angels may be present,
they yet wait lor the priest to exercise his power,
but no one of them has the power of the keys-----of binding and of
loosening."
When St. Michael comes to a dying Christian who invokes his aid, the holy Archangel can chase away the devils, but he cannot free
his client from their chains till a priest comes to absolve him. After having
given the order of priesthood to a holy ecclesiastic, St. Francis de Sales
perceived, that in going out he stopped at the door as if to give precedence to
another. Being asked by the Saint why he stopped, he answered that God favored
him with the visible presence of his Angel guardian, who before he had received priesthood always remained at his right and
preceded him, but afterwards walked on his left and refused to go before him.
It was in a holy contest with the Angel that he stopped at the door. St.
Francis of Assisi
used to say, "If I saw an Angel and a priest, I would bend my knee first
to the priest and then to the Angel." Besides, the power of the priest
surpasses that of the Blessed Virgin Mary; for, although this Divine Mother can
pray for us, and by her prayers obtain whatever she wishes, yet she cannot
absolve a Christian from even the
smallest sin. "The Blessed Virgin was eminently more perfect than the
Apostles," says Innocent III. "It was, however, not to her, but only
to the Apostles, that the Lord intrusted the keys of
the kingdom of Heaven." St. Bernardine
of Sienna has written: "Holy Virgin, excuse me, for I speak not against
thee: the Lord has raised the priesthood above thee." The Saint assigns
the reason of the superiority of the priesthood over Mary; she conceived Jesus Christ only once; but by consecrating the Eucharist,
the priest, as it were, conceives Him as often as he wishes, so that if the
person of the Redeemer had not as yet been in the world, the priest, by
pronouncing the words of consecration, would produce this great person of a
Man-God. "O wonderful dignity of the priests," cries out St. Augustine; "in
their hands, as in the womb of the Blessed Virgin, the Son of God becomes
incarnate."
Hence priests are called the parents of Jesus Christ:
such is the title that St. Bernard gives them, for they are the active cause by
which He is made to exist really in the consecrated Host. Thus the priest may,
in a certain manner, be called the creator of his Creator, since by saying the
words of consecration, he creates, as it were, Jesus in the Sacrament, by
giving Him a Sacramental existence, and produces Him as a victim to be offered
to the eternal Father. As in creating the world it was sufficient for God to
have said, Let it be made, and it was created-----He spoke, and they were
made-----so it is sufficient for the priest to say, "Hoc est corpus meum," and behold
the bread is no longer bread, but the body of Jesus Christ.
"The power of the priest," says St. Bernardine
of Sienna, "is the power of the Divine person; for the transubstantiation
of the bread requires as much power as the creation of the world." And St. Augustine has
written, "O venerable sanctity of the hands! O happy function of the
priest! He that created [if I may say so] gave me the power to create Him; and
He that created me without me is Himself created by me!" "As the Word
of God created Heaven and earth, so," says St. Jerome, "the words of the priest
create Jesus Christ." "At
a sign from God there came forth from nothing both the sublime vault of the
Heavens and the vast extent of the earth; but not less great is the power that
manifests itself in the mysterious words of the priest." The dignity of
the priest is so great, that he even blesses Jesus Christ
on the altar as a victim to be offered to the eternal Father. In the sacrifice
of the Mass, writes Father Mansi, Jesus Christ is the principal offerer
and victim; as minister, He blesses the priest, but as victim, the priest
blesses Him.
V
Elevation or the Post Occupied by the Priest
The greatness of the dignity of a priest is also estimated from the high
place that he occupies. The priesthood is called, at the synod of Chartres, in 1550, the
seat of the Saints. Priests are called Vicars of Jesus Christ,
because they hold his place on earth. "You hold the place of Christ," says St. Augustine to them; "you are
therefore His lieutenants." In the Council of Milan, St. Charles Borromeo called priests the representatives of the person
of God on earth. And before him, the Apostle said: For Christ
we are ambassadors, God, as it were, exhorting by us. When He ascended into
Heaven, Jesus Christ left His
priests after Him to hold on earth His place of mediator between God and men,
particularly on the altar. "Let the priest," says St. Laurence
Justinian, " approach the altar
According to St. Cyprian, a priest at the altar performs the office of Christ. When, says St. Chrysostom, you have seen a
priest offering sacrifice,consider
that the hand of Christ is invisibly
extended. The priest holds the place of the Savior Himself, when, by saying
"Ego te absolvo,"
he absolves from sin. This great power, which Jesus Christ
has received from His eternal Father, He has communicated to His priests.
"Jesus," says Tertullian, "invests the
priests with His own powers." To pardon a single sin requires all the
omnipotence of God. "O God, Who chiefly manifestest
Thy almighty power in pardoning and showing mercy," etc., says the holy
Church in one of her prayers. Hence, when they heard that Jesus Christ pardoned the sins of the paralytic, the Jews
justly said: Who can forgive sins but God alone. But what only God can do by
His omnipotence, the priest can also do by saying "Ego te
absolvo a peccatis tuis;" for the forms of the Sacraments, or the words
of the forms, produce what they signify. What the priest does what is
wonderful, for by saying "Ego te absolvo" he changes the sinner from an enemy into the
friend of God, and from the slave of Hell into an heir of Paradise.
Cardinal Hugo represents the Lord addressing the following words to a priest
who absolves a sinner: "I have created Heaven and earth, but I leave to
you a better and nobler creation; make out of this soul that is in sin a new
soul, that is, make out of the slave of Satan, that the soul is, a child of
God. I have made the earth bring forth all kinds of fruit, but to thee I
confide a more beautiful creation, namely, that the soul should bring forth
fruits of salvation."
The soul without grace is a withered tree that can no longer produce fruit; but
receiving the Divine grace, through the ministry of a priest, it brings forth
fruits of eternal life, St. Augustine
says, that to sanctify a sinner is a greater work than to create Heaven and
earth. And hast thou, says Job, an arm like God, and canst thou thunder with a
voice like Him? Who is it that has an arm like the arm of God, and thunders
with a voice like the thundering voice of God? It is the priest, who, in giving
absolution, exerts the arm and voice of God, by which he rescues souls from
Hell. According to St. Ambrose, a priest, in absolving a sinner, performs the
very office of the Holy Ghost in the sanctification of souls.
Hence, in giving priests the power of absolving from sin, the Redeemer breathed
on them, and said to them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: whose sins you shall
forgive, they are foygiven, and whose sins you shall
retain, they are retained. He gave them his own Spirit, that is, the Holy
Ghost, the sanctifier of souls. and thus made them,
according to the words of the Apostle, His own co-adjutors:
We are God's co-adjutors. "On priests,"
says St. Gregory. "it is incumbent to give the
final decision, for by the right that they have received from the Lord they now
remit, now retain sins." St. Clement, then, had reason to say that the
priest is, as it were, a God on earth. God, said David, stood in the congregation
of the gods. These gods are, according to St.
Augustine, the priests of God. Innocent III has
written: "Indeed, it is not too much to say that in view of the sublimity
of their offices the priests are so many gods." VI. Conclusion. How great,
then, says St. Ambrose, the disorder to see in the same person the highest
dignity and a life of scandal, a Divine profession and wicked conduct! What,
says Salvian, is a sublime dignity conferred on an
unworthy person but a gem enchased in mire? Neither doth any man, says St. Paul, take the honor
to himself, but he that is called by God, as Aaron was. For Christ did not glorify Himself that He might be made
a high priest, but He that said unto Him: Thou art my Son, this day have I
begotten Thee. Let no one, he says, dare to ascend to the priesthood, without
first receiving, as Aaron did, the Divine call; for even Jesus Christ would not of Himself assume the honor of the
priesthood, but waited till His Father called Him to it.
From this we may infer the greatness of the sacerdotal dignity. But the greater
its sublimity, the more it should be dreaded. "For," says St. Jerome, "great
is the dignity of priests; but also, when they sin, great is their ruin. Let us
rejoice at having been raised so high, but let us be afraid of falling."
Lamenting, St. Gregory cries out: "Purified by the hands of the priest the
elect enter the Heavenly country, and alas! priests
precipitate themselves into the fire of Hell!" The Saint compares priests
to the Baptismal water which cleanses the Baptized from their sins, and sends
them to Heaven, "and is afterwards thrown into the sink."
Saint Ambrose
on the Eucharist
We saw the
Prince of Priests coming to us, we saw and heard Him
offering His blood for us. We follow, inasmuch as we are able, being priests;
and we offer the sacrifice on behalf of the people. And even if we are of but
little merit, still, in the sacrifice, we are honorable. For
even if Christ is not now seen as
the one who offers the sacrifice, nevertheless it is He Himself that is offered
in sacrifice here on earth when the body of Christ
is offered. Indeed, to offer Himself He is made visible in us, he whose
word makes holy the sacrifice that is offered. (Commentaries on Psalms
38:25)
A priest must
offer something in sacrifice and according to the Law he must enter the holy
place through blood. Therefore, because God had repudiated the blood of bulls
and of rams, it was necessary for this Priest, as you have read, to enter into
the Holy of Holies, penetrating the heights of heaven, by means of His own
blood, so that He might become an eternal oblation for our sins. Priest and
Victim, therefore, are one and the same. But the priesthood and the sacrifice
are a duty of the human condition; for like a lamb He was led to the slaughter,
and He is a priest according to the order of Melchisedech.
(The Faith 3:11:87)
"My flesh
is truly food and My blood is truly drink." You
hear Him speak of His flesh, you hear Him speak of His blood, you know the
sacred signs of the Lord's death; and do you worry about His divinity? Hear His
words when he says: "A spirit has not flesh and bones." As often as
we receive the sacramental elements which through the mystery of the sacred
prayer are transformed into the flesh and blood of the Lord, we proclaim the
death of the Lord. (The Faith 4:10:124)
Perhaps you may
be saying: I see something else; how can you assure me that I am receiving the
Body of Christ? It
but remains for us to prove it. And how many are the examples we might
use! Let us prove that this is not what nature has shaped it to be, but what
the blessing has consecrated; for the power of the blessing is greater than
that of nature, because by the blessing even nature itself is changed...Christ is in that Sacrament, because it is the Body
of Christ; yet, it is not on that
account corporeal food, but spiritual. Whence also His Apostle says of the
type: "For our fathers ate spiritual food and drank spiritual drink"
(1 Cor 10:2-4; 15:44). For the body of God is a
spiritual body. (The Mysteries 9:50; 9:58)
But if the
blessing of man had such power as to change nature, what are we to say of that
divine consecration where the very words of the Lord and Saviour
operate? For that sacrament which you receive is made what it is by the word of
Christ. But if the word of Elijah
had such power as to bring down fire from heaven, shall not the word of Christ have power to change the nature of the
elements? You read concerning the making of the whole world: "He spoke and
they were made, He commanded and they were created." Shall not the word of
Christ, which was able to make out
of nothing that which was not, be able to change things which already are into
what they were not? For it is not less to give a new nature to things than to
change them. (The Mysteries, par. 52)
You may perhaps
say: "My bread is ordinary." But that bread is bread before the words
of the Sacraments; where the consecration has entered in, the bread becomes the
flesh of Christ. And let us add
this: How can what is bread be the Body of Christ? By the consecration.
The consecration takes place by certain words; but whose words? Those of the Lord Jesus. Like all the rest of the things
said beforehand, they are said by the priest; praises are referred to God,
prayer of petition is offered for the people, for kings, for other persons; but
when the time comes for the confection of the venerable Sacrament, then the
priest uses not his own words but the words of Christ.
Therefore it is the word of Christ
that confects this Sacrament....Before it be
consecrated it is bread; but where the words of Christ
come in, it is the Body of Christ.
Finally, hear Him saying: "All of you take and eat of this; for this is My
Body." And before the words of Christ
the chalice is full of wine and water; but where the words of Christ have been operative it is made the Blood of Christ, which redeems the people. (The Sacraments
4:4:14; 4:5:23)