The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1902-05-31

his hands with the Oil of chrlsm and
gives him the paten with the host and
the chalice with the wine in these
words: Receive the power of Offering
sacrifice to God and of celebrating
Mass for the living and the dead.
The avocation of a college professor
does not ordinarily fit. him to analyze
the human heart; still venture to say
that the organ of affection in the hl,
man breast gives in lifetime only
three mighty throbs. The first great
word or letter deals the dizzy blow of
fathers or mothers deslth-when the
first and closest fiber is plucked from
the heart forever. The second thrill Is
as old as that which Adam felt when
he first awOke to the sight of the
"fairest of her daughters, Eve;" that
which, in any generation under any
sky. needs not the art of Shakespeare
nor the rhetoric of Romeo to recognize.
The third thrill is that felt by the
young priest when, for the first time,
the red wine in the chalice trembles
under his STOPPING lips into the Blood
of Jesus Christ.
The sound of low, sweet whisper
Floats DER little bread,
And trembles around Il chalicc,
And the priest bows down his head.
He has bee me an awful sacrilicer. Il
mediator between God and man.
Last of all, the bishop laying hands
| on him says: Receive the Holy Ghost,
whose sins thou shalt forgive, they are
forgiven, ana whose sins thou shalt
retain. they are retained. He is made
Il forgiven of sin, Il sharcr in a power
divine. He acquires the widest patent,
the most radical of charters: he be-
comes the healer of the only human
maady in whose presence science
stands as IL little child.
know Of no words which better
describe the consolat'ol o confession
than those of Cardinal Newman: "lIOw
many are the souls in distress, anxiety
or loneliness. whose one need is to find
Il being to whom they can pour out
their feelings unleartl by the world?
Tell them cut they must; they cannot
tell them out to those whom they see
every hour. They want to tell them
and not to tell them; and they want To
tell them out. yet be as if they be not
told; they wish to tell them to enc
who is strong enough to b ar them,
yet not too strong to dcspisc them; they
wish to tell them to one who can at
once advise and symlntlliZe with them
they wish to relieve themselves of a
load. to gain sol;lce. to receive the
assurance that there is one who thinks
of them, and one to whom in thought
they can recur, to whom tn v can b..
take themselves if necessary, from
time to time, while they are in the
world"
Such is the most consoling tn )ugl
not the most sublime p liver of the
priest. He is called prrsDyter Ct elder
not SO much by maturity of years as by
the gravity of his character; for, IN
the language of Wisdom, 'nll age Is
venerable not because it is prolonged
or rcckoned by numbering Of years
but it is the feelings of Il man that
are safe and the period of old age is {;
blamclcss life" He is called s,crrdoS
because he is Il giver of sacred things
a dispenser Of the mysteries of God
He has the indclhle seal of Holy Or
ters. This seal has a manifold value:
it is an ornament 20 the soul; it makes
THE priest another Christ; it tiistin
cuisines him from others in the sight
of God; it is the pledge of sacred
rights and powers; it is burned into the
very essence of the soul. Such is tho
pricstly character That character
may he sorcly married: it may be treat
cd. alas, With attempted suicide, but il
can never be dcstroycd-no, never
Even Judas still hears ringing in his
ears: "'llhou art II lr.est forever. &c
cording to the order Of Mclchiscle ch.
TO bear this burden is the cst dill
cult of human tasks: to bear it we.
the noblcst of human struggles. There
is no greater happiness than that of {;
good priest. as there is no greater dig
nifty among men. Kings and prime,
have tremblcl before THE priest: PEG
pies love and reverence him. But h,
is the same, he Sustains the same char
nctcr whether the faithful doft thei
hats as he passes by. or the intidt
SuecrS ut him as Il medieval hummer
He may not have much mere worlll.
lore, but neither had the twelve apps
ties. He may he provincial and rude
of speech. but SO were the men o
Galilec. He may be of lowly birth
but SO were Peter and james and John
lie may not he to the manner born
but where society expects refinement
humanity awaits salvation. He is un
fcttcrcl by carnal ties, and vet he i
the father Of his flock; he is the frcn'
of no man and vet the contidant of all
have traced thus far the stages
the powers and the status of priest