Section — Koch–Preuss
Section 7: Holy Orders
The Sacrament of Holy Orders (sacramentum ordinis) confers special graces as well as rights and prerogatives. It likewise imposes certain vocational duties and assigns to the recipient a permanent place in the ecclesiastical hierarchy (ordo). By means of this Sacrament the Catholic Church preserves and propagates the priesthood, to which are entrusted the ordinary preaching of the Gospel and the administration of the Sacraments.1 From the nature of this Sacrament flow the following duties for clerics in particular and the faithful in general.
1 Matt. XXVIII, 18 sqq.; John XX, 21 sqq.; 1 Cor. IV, 1 sq.
1. Duties of Those Who Are Ordained
The candidate for Holy Orders must first of all have a true vocation for the clerical state. "They are said to be called by God," says the Roman Catechism, "who are called by the lawful ministers of the Church" 2 (external vocation).
2 Cat. Rom., P. II, c. 7, qu. 3. J. Coppin, La Vocation, Bruxelles 1903, pp. 427 sqq.; A. Mulders, La Vocation au Sacerdoce, Bruges 1925; Vermeersch-Kempf, Relig. and ECcles. Vocation, St. Louis 1925.
The candidate must, secondly, be actuated by pure motives in choosing the clerical state; that is to say, he must desire to promote the glory of God and cooperate in the salvation of souls, to the exclusion of all worldly motives, such as ambition, greed, a desire to rule, etc. Only of those who embrace the ecclesiastical state at the call of God and for the purpose of serving Him can it be truly said that they "enter the Church by the door." "He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up another way [for the sake of gain or advancement], the same is a thief and a robber/' and commits a sacrilege.3
3 John VIII, 49 sq.; X, 10; XVII, 4; Eph. IV, 11 sqq.; 2 Tim. II, 10; 1 Pet. V, 1 sqq. —Cat. Rom., P. II, c. 7, qu. 4.
The candidate for Holy Orders must, third, be properly prepared for the dignity and holiness of the priesthood. The required preparation is twofold, intellectual and moral. The intellectual preparation as a rule is provided by the seminary, and consists in acquiring the knowledge and mental attainments necessary for the performance of clerical duties. The moral preparation is partly mediate and partly immediate. The mediate preparation for the priesthood consists in acquiring the virtues necessary for its fruitful exercise by prayer, obedience, purity, mortification, etc. The immediate preparation consists in the performance of certain prescribed exercises, —a spiritual retreat, receiving the Sacraments of Penance and the Holy Eucharist, etc.4 Moral and mental fitness, as well as an ardent love for the ecclesiastical state constitute what may be styled internal vocation.
4 St. Thomas, Summa Theol., 3a, Suppl., qu. 36, art. 1-2. —Cat. Rom., P. II, c. 7, qu. 26 sq.
It goes without saying that the canonical conditions prescribed for the reception of major Orders must be conscientiously complied with.5
5 Jos. Laurentius, S.J., Inst. Iuris Eccles., 2nd ed., pp. 47 sqq.
- DUTIES OF THE FAITHFUL WITH REGARD TO THIS SACRAMENT. —Every Catholic is personally interested in a worthy and competent priesthood, and hence all are in duty bound to cooperate with the Church in providing this necessary instrument for the salvation of souls. The laity can do this, first, by following Christ's advice to ask God to send competent laborers into His vineyard. 6 Prayers to this effect should be said especially on ember days. Second, by contributing to the erection and support of seminaries, by aiding poor students, by inducing their sons to enter the service of the Church, or at least not preventing them from entering that service when they show signs of a true vocation. Third, by upholding the dignity of the priesthood, respecting their pastors,7 protecting them against insult, providing for their wants, —in fine, by honoring and supporting the priesthood in spite of the physical and moral defects of its representatives.
7 Ecclus. VII, 31 sqq.; Gal. IV, 14 sqq.; 1 Thess. V, 12-13; 1 Tim. V, 17. —S. Greg. VII. Registr., I. VIII, epist. 21: "If we are commanded to honor carnal fathers and mothers, how much more spiritual ones?" (Migne, P. L., CXLVIII, 601).
"None but those who love scandal," says Bishop Linsenmann, "will contribute to the fall of a weak priest and then abandon him to his fate. By honoring its priests a congregation not only gives proof of its high character, but lends them moral support, and in return receives moral support from them." 8 To the unfaithful or renegade priest, on the other hand, may be applied the French proverb: " Men profit by treason, but despise the traitor." 9 Don Bosco advises Catholics to be silent rather than speak ill of a priest St. Vincent de Paul says: " Consider the matter as we will, brethren, we can contribute to no higher cause than the training of a worthy priesthood." 10 The duties of those who have received Holy Orders are treated in “Special Morals.”11
8 Linsenmann, Lehrbuch der Moraltheologie, p. 240.
9 "On profite de la trahison, et l’on déteste le traître."
10 Cfr. J. Gretser, S.J., Maecenas Studiosorum Pauperum, Augsburg 1620.
11 See Exposition of Christian Doctrine by a Seminary Professor, Vol. III.—J. Kinane, "Clerical Obligations" (under the new Code of Canon Law), in the Irish Eccles. Record, Fifth Series, Vol. XI, No. 606, pp. 468 sqq.