The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1890-02-01
Cardinal Manning on The Priesthood.


For as much as no act can be more
excellent than the conservation OF the
Body of Jesus Christ, there can be no
order higher than the priesthood. Every
priest, morning by morning offers to
the Father the eternal oblation Of Jesus
Christ The sacerdotal character I'M
pressed upon the priest in ordination is
a participation Of the priesthood OF
Christ, aud the closest confguration to
Him IN His office of mediator. St.
Joseph was the foster father, the
guardian of the Divine Infant. The
priest is in the truest sense Of the word
the guardian of his Lord, and no greater
glory can be laid upon him; no relation
more intimate, close and ceaseless can
be conceived, The guardianship of the
Blessed Sacrament is in the priest. The
key of the tabernacle Is committed to
his trust. 1t may be said of him, as his
Maker, that he openeth and no man
shutteth. he shutteth and no man
openeth. The power inherent in the
priesthood is not human but divine.
The words they speak in Holy Mass
during conservation are not theirs but
Christ's. "Thls is NY Body has no
equal except 'slet the light be-" The
other words do not create but they con-
tribute or bring upon the altar, the
presence of the Incarnate Word. This
is a power not creative but Of omnlpo
tence. Next to the Incarnation there
is no action so transcendent, so purely
divine; as the conservation and the
Holy Sacrifice. 1t is the continuity of
the Incarnation and Oblation of the
3 lncarnate Son. The voice that speaks
the word IS human; the words and the
effects are of the Almighty power Of
God. The priest is the servant, friend
and companion of his Divine Master.
Peter, James and John were of all the
disciples nearest to our Saviour upon
earth, so are His priests among the
faithful now. All the day long they
are near to Him. Ali their life is re-
lated to him. From Him they go out in
the morning and to Him they return at
night. seven times day they rise in
mind and heart to the King of the
Saints, to the heavenly court. But they
are nearest to God in Holy Mass. That
relation is OF a true, substantial and
living contact, as real as when st. John
lay ON his bosom at supper. More real
than the earth under our feet which
will pass away in the presence OF the
Incarnate Word which will never pass
away. If as they hold the Blessed
Sacrament in their hands mans eyes
were opened like the ewes Of Cleophas
at Emmaus they should know that be-
You'd this sacramental and substantial
contact there is nothing more Intimate,
except union with Him in the light of
glory, The priest stands between the
living and the dead, charged with his
priestly Office which angels fear to bear.
They are ambassadors from God having
the credentials Of divine embassy
with express conditions on which to call
upon men to reconcile themselves with
Him, and with a discretion to judge and
to decide who do and who do not come
within the terms and conditions Of their
commission. They are fellow workers
with God in the field Of the world aud
in the vineyard OF the Church. They
are sewers and reapers, Thew are SOW
ers who cast the seed Of the word upon
all lands and besides all waters. They
are reapers who go weeping in the
midst of a barren and diving world,
who shall one day come with JOY bring
ing their sheaves with them. They
are the fathers OF the people. The
title Of father is the first, the chief,
n the highest, the most potent and most
persuasive, the "a ost honorable Of all
h the Titles Of q priest. He may receive
/ from the world and from its fountains
of honor many n James, from the schools
of learning many degrees, but none
! has so deep as high q sense a father,
and none bat the spiritual fatherhood
will pass into eternity. w hen this title
goes, the conscious ess OF paternal re
Iation IS flrst obsc ured, then foI tten,
and ii the end lost. There il nc Office
higher DO power greater than tlls Office &c q
s and power of Il priest, IA hsSorder 81.
divine actio ssiit places tlle n re
SAspect to the pow of az next
stp theI Blessed N Il illl||E