The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1903-10-31
to form Him in others. We refer,

to form Him in others. We refer,
venerable brethren, to the priests, be-
cause those who are invested With
the priesthood must know that
amongst the people with whom they
Paul declared he had received in those
touching words: My little children,
| of whom l am in labor again until
Christ be formed in you" (Gal. IV:10.
But how can they perform such duty
unless they themselves have first put
on Christ, and put Him on in such IL
way us to be able to say with the
Apostle, II live, now not l; but Christ
| liveth in me" Gal. ii 2O). For me to
live in Christ philip 1:2D. For this
reason, although the eNhcrtation to
proceed unto perfect man, unto the
measure of the age of the fullnessr of
Christ (IGphes. w: 13), is addressed to
all, nevertheless it is directed before
others to those who exercise the sacer-
dotal ministry; who are therefore
called another Christ not only on
account Of the communication of DOW
er, but also for the imitation of good
works by which they shall carry mark
ed upon them the image of Christ
This being so, venerable brethren,
what great solictude you should show
i'll forming the clergy to sanctity of
life; every other task should be sub
ordinate to this. Accordingly your
principal diligence should be exerted
in so arranging and ruling your semin-
aries that they be notable both for the
excellence Of the teaching and the in
tegrty Of morals Look upon the
seminary as the delight of your
hearts, and in favoring it omit nothing
that the Council of Trent determined
upon with such great foresight
When the time is come at which the
young candidates are to be promoted
| to the Holy Orders do not forget
what st. Paul wrote to Timothy
Impose not hands lightly on any
man" q Tim. V:22), bearing we'll in
mind that as the priests are, so, gen
orally speaking, will be the faithful.
Take not heed therefore, of individual
| interests, but think solely of God and
the Church and the eternal welfare of
souls in order that you may not. in the
warning words of the Apostle. "bc
partakers of other mems sins q Tim.
N:29. Moreover, let your care be no
less with regard to tile young priests
who have already come forth from the
seminary. We earnestly eXhort you to
take them often to your bosom, which
| ought to burn with heavenly fire, com
municatc that fire to them and inflame
them so that they may desire nothing
but to gain souls for God. We, ven
cradle brethren. shall take great care
that the members of the clergy be not
dra wn into the sllarcs of Il certain new
and deceptive science which does not
SAVIOR of Christ, and which with mark
ed ana subtle arguments endeavors to
introduce the errors of rationalism or
semi-rationalism, against which the
Apostle warned Timothy to be on his
guard, writing to him: keep that
which is committed to thy trust avoid
| ing the profane novelties of words and
oppositions of knowledge falsely SO
called, which some promising have er-
red concerning the faith" q Tim.
VI:2O-2D. This, however, does not
prevent us from considering worthy of
praise those who devote themselves to
the study of useful doctrine in every
kind of science i'll order to be the bet
ter prepared to defend the truth and
to rpfute the culumnies of the enemies
of the faith. Still, we cannot con-
ccive, but rather openly proclaim the
fact that our preference is for those
who, whilst giving attention to ecclesi-
astical and literary erudition, dedi-
cate their lives more closely to the
welfare Of souls in the exercise of
those ministerial duties which are the
proper functions Of priest Jealous
for the divine honor. 1--WE have great
sadness and continual sorrow in our
heart" when We find that the lahientu
ton Of Jeremiah applies also to our
age: "t1,he little ones have asked for
bread and there WINS none to break 1t
unto them" G4ament. IVA. For there
are not wanting clefgymen who, suit!
Ing their own taste, devote themselves
to works Of more apparent than solid
usefulness; but not perhaps so ntmer.
GUS are those who, Following the ex-
ample OF Christ take to themselves
the words Of the prophet--"The spirit
of the IIortl is upon me, wherefore He
hath anointet1 nie to prehch the Gospel
to the poor. He hath sent me to heal
! the cbntrite OF heart, to prehch deliv-
erancc to the captives and sight to the
blind" duke IV:1S-19). Who does
not see, venerable brethren, that as
men are led chiefly by reason and lib
erty, religious education Is the princi-
pal way OF restoring the authority Of
God over human souls? How many
are there who hate Christ and detest
the Church and the Gospel more
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