Principal Catholic Practices - Chapter 8 - Priesthood

Chapter 8 - The Bridge-Builders

Preparation for the Priesthood. Minor and Major Orders.

Before Redemption a vast chasm yawned between heaven and earth. It was impossible for man to enter the heaven for which he was made. But when the Saviour reestablished friendly relations between God and the world, when He, in the name of man, atoned for the sins of humanity, He instituted the sacraments as the sacred means whereby human beings could bridge the chasm and attain to God and happiness. However, it was His will that a separate class of human beings should be ordained as ministers of these sacraments. They are the priests, the bridge-builders.

To the average non-Catholic the name priest means nothing; and he will persist in calling our priests preachers. But to the instructed Catholic the priesthood is a glorious heritage, a gift of God, a boon to the human race.

It is not our purpose to bring forward the indisputable proofs upon which the Catholic Church builds her claims to the authenticity of her priesthood. Suffice it to say that no truth in history is more firmly established than the fact that Our Lord instituted a sacrifice and commanded His apostles to continue it; and that the earliest symbols and engravings in the catacombs at Rome give undeniable evidence of the priestly character of the first ministers of the Church.

In this chapter our aim will be to make our kind readers more familiar with that wonderful sacrament. Holy Orders, and with the stages of preparation that lead the candidate for the priesthood to its sublime grace and power.

The priest is, indeed, the bridge-builder; for he, in the name of Jesus Christ, daily offers the exalted sacrifice that binds together heaven and earth. But the priest is not selected at random from among the laity. After God Himself has chosen His minister, the Church is careful to lead him step by step through the various stages of preparation and ordination until she invests him with the stole and chasuble and charges him to offer up the Great Sacrifice as a priest of God.

As a lad of fourteen or fifteen years the chosen one enters college for his preliminary training. The first six years are spent in the study of those languages, arts, and sciences which not only equip him for the university or seminary, but also primarily tend to develop his character and broaden his vision. All the faculties of his soul, his memory, understanding, and will power, are carefully unfolded so that he may be fully qualified to assume the burdens of the lofty station in life to which he has been called.

The work of developing character is further augmented in the study of philosophy. With trained memory, sharpened intellect, and cultured strength of will, he is in a position to reason properly and arrive at logical conclusions. His course of philosophy completed, and equipped with the methods and manner of correct reasoning, he is admitted to the noblest of all studies, theology, the science of God.

The last years of his preparation for the priesthood draw the candidate nearer and nearer to God. if he has a true vocation, the hard work and study of these years will be fully compensated for by the joy and happiness that he discovers in knowing God better.

He is now gradually approaching the time when the Church takes a direct hand in his affairs and segregates him from the laity. This first step to Holy Orders' is called tonsure.

The tonsure is a solemn ceremony of the Church by which a baptized person is publicly selected from the laity and destined for the service of God. It is not an ordination; for the cleric has no powers or jurisdiction in the Church.

The bishop usually administers the tonsure during Mass, immediately after the Introit (Entrance). This circumstance is very significant. The young aspirant is about to enter upon a life of sacrifice. If he expects anything else, the priesthood is not his vocation. He approaches the bishop, wearing a black cassock, carrying a surplice over his left arm, and holding a burning candle in his right hand. His change of dress indicates that he is about to renounce the world to accept Christ as his legacy.

Kneeling in a semi-circle the candidates surround the bishop, who sits on the faldstool and wears the insignia of his office. Every candidate is called by name, to which he responds. The ceremony that follows is noteworthy. The bishop cuts the hair of the candidate's head in the form of a cross; i.e., in front, in back, and then on both sides. He also cuts off some of the hair at the crown of the head. Whilst this rite is being performed the aspirant recites the fifth verse of the fifteenth Psalm:

"The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup: it is Thou that wilt restore my inheritance to me."

The cutting of the hair signifies that the cleric despises the vanity of the world, but also that he accepts the crown of the Saviour, the crown of thorns.

After the candidate has received the tonsure, the bishop takes the surplice from his left arm and invests him with it, saying: "May God clothe thee with a new man, who is created according to God in justice and the holiness of truth."

After the tonsure has been conferred, there are seven sacred rites before the aspirant is fully ordained as a priest. The first four of these offices, doorkeeper, reader, exorcist, and acolyte, are called minor orders. They are not sacraments or parts of sacraments, but sacramentals. Sub-deaconship, deaconship, and priesthood are called major orders. Holy Orders is only one sacrament, but it has three degrees, the first of which is the diaconate, the second is that of the priesthood, and the third or highest is the dignity of bishop.

Of the minor orders, that of doorkeeper is a sacred rite by which the cleric receives the authority to care for the sanctity of the house of God and the proper discipline in carrying out the services prescribed by the Church. The reader is given the authority and the office of reading the Sacred Scriptures to the faithful and of instructing catechumens and children in the rudiments of faith.

The third of the minor orders confers a power upon the cleric which he may not use until he has attained to the priesthood. It is the authority to exorcise; i.e., expel evil spirits from things and persons. The reason for the restriction of this power will be apparent, for those in minor orders are not yet irrevocably bound to the clerical state.

The office of acolyte confers upon the candidate the right to care for the lights of the church and prepare the wine and water for the eucharistic sacrifice.

The minor orders serve to emphasize the tremendous dignity of the priesthood, and in this manner lead the aspirant step by step to the consummation of his holy resolve, granting him abundant time for inquiry into the sincerity of his vocation.

We now come to the major orders, and it will be our endeavor to explain them at length, unfolding the full beauty and significance of these rites.

Sub-deaconship, although placed by the Council of Trent among the major orders, is not a sacrament, but a sacramental instituted by the Church. However, this is a most sacred ordination and is, in reality, the most important step taken by the cleric in his climb to the lofty heights of Holy Orders. For here he breaks forever with the world by taking upon himself the obligation of celibacy and the duty of daily reciting the holy office of the breviary. Even though he should discover his unworthiness or lack of vocation, once he has received sub-deaconship he remains in the clerical state forever, and is bound to its obligations. Therefore the bishop, at this solemn moment, calls upon all the candidates to weigh well the consequences of the step that they are about to take, so that if there should be one present who is not called by God, he may still turn back.

The candidates approach the bishop, wearing the humeral over their shoulders, the long white alb and the cincture. After the preliminary prayers and admonitions, the bishop kneels down, whilst the candidates prostrate themselves completely on the floor. The solemn Litany of the Saints is then intoned. Toward the end of the litany, the bishop rises and begs God to bless, sanctify, and consecrate the aspirants. He kneels down again until the litany is finished. At the end all rise; the bishop takes his seat and the candidates kneel before him.

The formula of the ordination consists in the following: The bishop hands an empty chalice and patena to each candidate, which the latter touches with his right hand. Then the archdeacon holds before them the cruets with wine and water and the tray, which similarly are touched. In observing these ceremonies, the bishop pronounces the words which confer upon the candidate the right to assist at the altar in the sacrifice of the Mass. Next he places the sub-deacon's humeral over his head; and the maniple is put on his left arm. The maniple is a symbol of hard work and sacrifice in the service of the Lord. These ceremonies conclude the first of the major orders.

If there are men in the priesthood who are unhappy because of lack of vocation, it can be nobody's fault but their own. For the Church is most zealous in striving to accept only those who are called by God. Thus before major orders she prescribes that all candidates make a spiritual retreat in order that the fear of God may deter them from seeking Holy Orders out of any other than spiritual motives.

The young cleric who has been ordained a sub-deacon, if he is sincere in his vocation, impatiently awaits the day when he is to receive the first degree of the sacrament of the priesthood; namely, deaconship. "The ordination of deacons is not only a sacred ordination in the restricted sense of the word like the ordination of sub-deacons, but like the ordination of priests and the consecration of bishops, is a sacramental rite, a true and real sacrament of the New Testament instituted by Jesus Christ."

The ordination of deacons is, therefore, a sacramental rite whereby the candidate is authorized to assist bishops and priests in the holy sacrifice of the Mass, to read the Gospel, and, if permission is granted by the bishop, to baptize, preach, and give holy communion to the faithful.

Let us now accompany the candidates as, with hearts filled with joy and souls purified in grace, they draw near to the altar to receive this sacrament.

After the bishop has finished reading the Epistle of the Mass, the archdeacon calls to all the candidates to approach. They come forward clothed with the humeral, alb, cincture, and maniple, holding a burning candle in the right hand, while on the left arm they carry the stole and dalmatic. Again they kneel before the bishop in a semicircle. The arch-deacon, in the name of the Church, begs the bishop to elevate the sub-deacons to the dignity of the diaconate. But the bishop, mindful of the responsibility that rests upon him, puts the question: "Do you know them to be worthy?" And the archdeacon responds: "As far as human frailty can tell, I know and testify that they are worthy of the burdens of this office." A long preparation has preceded this all-important step of the candidates; testimonials of character are required from every institution in which the candidates have studied, as well as from every bishop in whose diocese they have sojourned for six months. Accordingly the archdeacon speaks in the name of all those who have carefully guided the candidates in their preparation. Even at this solemn moment the Church would hold back those who are not called by God. For the bishop calls upon any one present who objects to the ordination of any of the candidates to make known his objection.

If the silence that follows gives testimony of the worthiness of the candidates, the bishop proceeds to charge the young sub-deacons with the importance of the office they are about to assume. In unmistakable terms he emphasizes the duty of pure and chaste lives, if they would take part and be ministers of the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

Thereupon the aspirants prostrate themselves while the solemn Litany of the Saints is recited. And again, as in the ordination of sub-deacons, the bishop implores God to bless, sanctify and consecrate the prospective deacons.

After several beautiful prayers for the blessing of God upon the candidates, the most inspiring act of the sacred rite takes place. The bishop lays his hands upon the head of each candidate, thus performing the essential ceremony of ordination. The bishop, standing erect and with hands elevated, intones the magnificent Preface, in which he thanks God joyfully for the increase in the number of His servants. He breaks off the Preface, and lays his hands upon every candidate, saying: "Receive the Holy Ghost for thy strength, and to resist the devil and his temptations. In the name of the Lord." He then extends his hand over the newly-ordained deacons and begs God to send them the Holy Ghost with His seven gifts. The beautiful Preface is finished. The deacons are now invested in the garb of their office. The bishop lays the stole over the candidate's left shoulder, saying: "Receive the chaste stole from the hand of God: fulfill thy ministry: for God is powerful and can give thee His grace: Who lives and reigns for ages and ages. Amen." He then clothes the deacon with the dalmatic, saying: "May the Lord invest thee with the garb of salvation and the vestment of joy, and may the dalmatic (the emblem) of justice always surround thee. In the name of the Lord. Amen." Finally the bishop holds forth the Gospel, which the deacon touches with his right hand, while the bishop says: "Receive the power to read the Gospel in the Church of God for the living and for the dead. In the name of the Lord. Amen."

Prayers for the newly-ordained deacons complete the sacred rite of the first degree of the great sacrament.

And now, dear reader, we have come to the solemn hour for which the cleric has prayed and labored for so many years. Can you begin to realize with what burning desire he enters the sanctuary to be anointed as a priest of God? Can you experience only a part of the joy that sends his pure young blood rushing through his veins? Twelve long years have passed, years of trials, of temptations and of hard work, and now the coveted goal has been reached; he stands before the bishop to receive the greatest power that can be bestowed upon a human being.

We have seen the beautiful garland of ceremonies woven by the Church around the first degree of the priesthood; we shall behold an even greater display of ceremonial grandeur unfolded in the second degree, the priesthood itself.

Those to be ordained appear before the bishop in the vestments of deacons, carrying on their left arm a folded chasuble, and in the right hand a burning candle. As in the ordination of deacons, the worthiness of the candidates is investigated.

The bishop then addresses those who are to receive the sacrament. He calls upon them to realize the importance of the authority that they are about to receive; and to persevere in wisdom, good morals, and justice. Thereupon all aspirants prostrate themselves while the litany is recited. The blessing of the bishop, toward the end of the litany, is carried out as in the other major orders.

Now the important moment has arrived. Whilst the angels of heaven look on in reverential awe, the sacred rite of ordination begins. Without speaking a word the bishop lays both hands upon the head of each candidate. All priests who are present follow his example. What an inspiring spectacle! No word, no hymn, no sweet tone of the organ breaks the solemn stillness; but through the very stillness the hearts of the bishop, priests, and candidates are crying aloud to God to send the Holy Ghost upon the young men in consecration.

Then the bishop and priests extend their right hand over the aspirants, while the bishop prays that God may shower His heavenly gifts upon those whom He has elected to the priesthood. Various orations for the young priests are said, culminating in the beautiful and soul-thrilling Preface.

The bishop, seated on the faldstool and wearing his miter, lays the stole upon the breast of each candidate in the form of a cross, saying, "Accept the yoke of the Lord; for His yoke is sweet, and His burden light." He then invests all with the chasuble, the back of which is rolled together, saying, "Receive the sacerdotal vestment, by which love is understood; for God is powerful to give thee love and a perfect work." The bishop then rises and prays that the priests of the Church may attain to perfect manhood and Christian perfection, which is dependent upon regular spiritual exercises and daily meditation.

According to theologians, the young men have, by the imposition of hands and the accompanying prayers of the bishop, received the Holy Ghost and the full character and power of the priesthood. But even as the rose reveals its full splendor and releases its delightful fragrance by unfolding its tender petals, so also, the following inspiring ceremonies unfold the real grandeur and sublimity of the Catholic priesthood.

The priest receives the authority to bless, to sacrifice and to forgive sins. Accordingly, the sacred rites of ordination are divided into three parts.

The bishop intones the Veni Creator, which is continued by the choir, whilst he, sitting on the faldstool and wearing his miter, consecrates the hands of each new priest. Having dipped his thumb in holy oil, he draws a line on the hands of the candidate, from the thumb of the right hand to the index-finger of the left hand, and from the thumb of the left hand to the index-finger of the right. He then anoints the palms of both hands. The anointing is accompanied by the words conferring the power to bless and consecrate. The bishop then lays the hands of each candidate together to be bound with a linen cloth by one of the assistants.

How becoming that the hands of the priest are blessed and consecrated, those hands which daily hold the sacred body of Our Lord, the hands raised so often in blessing and in administering the sacraments! No wonder that in Catholic countries the faithful, upon meeting a priest, grasp and kiss his hand.

The bishop now expressly confers upon the newly-ordained priests the most exalted power of their office; namely, that of offering the unbloody sacrifice of the Mass. The Ordinary holds a chalice with wine and a patena with an unconsecrated host before each candidate, which the latter touches while the bishop says: "Receive the power to offer sacrifice to God and to celebrate Masses for the living and the dead. In the name of the Lord. Amen." So great and so far-reaching in its importance before God is the power of the priest, that we can readily imagine that the angels in heaven intone a joyous Te Deum and fill the celestial realms with their songs of praise, when again the sublime power is conferred upon a human being.

After the preceding ceremony the linen cloths are taken from the hands of the young priests, the oil is wiped from their hands, and they immediately proceed to exercise the sacerdotal power which they possess. For, together with the bishop, they offer up the sacrifice of the Mass, The Ordinary says all the prayers in a loud voice, whilst the new priests say them with him. And thus they are, in reality, offering up their first holy Mass.

After the Offertory, the young men approach the bishop, who sits on the faldstool before the altar, offer him a burning candle, and kiss his ring. They thereby consecrate themselves to the service of the Church, and acknowledge their subordination to the bishop's authority. Just before communion, the bishop bestows the kiss of peace upon one of the newly-ordained, and he in turn gives it to the others.

After the kiss of peace the bishop administers holy communion to all the ordained. What sacred emotions fill their hearts and animate their souls as they receive the sacred body of Our Lord, which they for the first time, together with the bishop, have called into sacramental existence!

After Mass the bishop, who is a teacher and guardian of faith, stands before the altar wearing his miter and holding his shepherd's staff, whilst the newly-ordained recite the Apostles' Creed.

Then singly they kneel before the bishop, who lays both hands on the head of every one, saying: "Receive the Holy Ghost, whose sins you shall forgive, are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, are retained."

All the powers of the priesthood have now been conferred upon the candidates. Burning with the zeal of the Holy Ghost, they are now prepared to go forth and labor unceasingly for the greater glory of God. However, if their efforts should be fruitful and pleasing to God, they must follow the direction of their bishop. Consequently, we see the bishop taking the hands of each newly-ordained priest in his own, while he puts the question: "Do you promise me and my successors reverence and obedience?" The priest answers: "I promise." The bishop then gives him the kiss of peace.

The ceremonies that follow consist in a succession of prayers for the ordained and counsels and warnings to live according to their holy state.

After the bishop has imposed upon all the duty of saying three Masses, the Last Gospel is read.

The inspiring and sublime rite is ended. The newly-ordained priests possess power and authority far above that of the angels. We readily understand why good Catholics have such reverence for their priests. For they see in them, not merely men of learning or wisdom; but with the eyes of faith, they see that indelible mark which God Himself has impressed upon the priest's soul, the sign that he has been raised above his fellow-men to a dignity and authority which only the angels can fully estimate.

- from The Principal Catholic Practices: A Popular Explanation of the Sacraments and Catholic Devotions by Father George Thomas Schmidt, 1920

Click on below links for previous chapters

Chapter 1 - The first and most necessary Sacrament

Chapter 2 - Confirmation

Chapter 3 - Confession

Chapter 4 - Attending Mass

Chapter 5  - Eucharist

Chapter 6 - Matrimony

Chapter 7 - Extreme Unction