Chap. V Of the Dignity of the Sacrament, and of the Priestly State
The Voice of the Beloved.
1. If thou hast the purity of an angel, and the sanctity of St. John the Baptist, thou wouldst not be worthy to receive or handle this sacrament:
For this is not due to any merits of men, that a man should consecrate and handle the Sacrament of Christ, and receive for his food the bread of angels.
Great is this mystery, and great the dignity of priests, to whom that is given which is not granted to angels:
For priests alone, rightly ordained in the Church, have power to celebrate and consecrate the body of Christ.
The priest indeed is the minister of God, using the word of God, and by the command and institution of God: but God himself is there the principal author and invisible worker, to whom is subject all that he wills, and to whom obeys all that he commands.
2. Thou must therefore give more credit to an omnipotent God, in this most excellent sacrament, than to thy own sense, or any visible sign:
And therefore thou art to approach to this work with fear and reverence.
Take heed to thyself, and see what kind of ministry has been delivered to thee by the imposition of the bishop’s hands.
Lo! thou art made a priest, and art consecrated to say Mass: see now that in due time thou faithfully and devoutly offer up sacrifice to God, and that thou behave thyself in such manner as to be without reproof:
Thou hast not lightened thy burthen, but art now bound with a stricter band of discipline, and art obliged to a greater perfection of sanctity.
A priest ought to be adorned with all virtues, and to give example of a good life to others;
His conversation should not be with the vulgar and common ways of men, but with the angels in heaven, or with perfect men upon earth.
3. A priest, clad in his sacred vestments, is Christ’s vicegerent, to pray to God for himself, and for all the people, in a suppliant and humble manner:
He has before and behind him the sign of the cross of the Lord, that he may always remember the passion of Christ:
He bears the cross before him in his vestment, that he may diligently behold the footsteps of Christ, and fervently endeavour to follow them:
He is marked with the cross behind, that he may mildly suffer, for God’s sake, whatsoever adversities shall befal him from others:
He wears the cross before him, that he may bewail his own sins; and behind him, that, through compassion, he may lament the sins of others, and know that he is placed, as it were, a mediator betwixt God and the sinner:
Neither ought he to cease from prayer and oblation, till he be favoured with the grace and mercy which he implores.
When a priest celebrates, he honours God, he rejoices the angels, he edifies the Church, he helps the living, he obtains rest for the dead, and makes himself partaker of all that is good.