Chapter I. Holiness of Life

THE sacredness of the duties which a cleric has to perform, and especially the service of the altar, require in him an internal holiness so that he may perform his duties worthily. ‘‘ Let them therefore be holy, because I also am holy, the Lord, who sanctify them.”¹ ‘This holiness must show itself in the exercise of all Christian virtues so that the cleric may be an example to those whom he is called upon to instruct and guide on the way to heaven. As the Council of Trent said: “ There is nothing which is so constant a lesson in piety and the worship of God as the life and example of those who have dedicated themselves to the divine service. For since they have been taken from worldly affairs and placed in a higher position, the faithful look upon them as models for their imitation. And so it becomes the clergy who have been set aside for the service of God so to order their lives and morals that in their dress, demeanour, walk, speech, and everything about them, nothing may be seen but what is serious, modest, religious spirit. and breathes the Let them avoid even slight defects, which in them would not be slight, so that their actions may win the veneration of all.”² This holiness of life is very frequently inculcated on the clergy in the councils and synods.³ Their occupations, if worthily performed, are means of sanctifying them and uniting them with God, and, moreover, the Church does what she can to secure the same end by prescribing the daily recitation of the divine office, and spiritual retreats at stated times (Can. 125, 126).

¹ Lev. xxi 8.

² Sess. 22, c. 1, de Ref.

³ 1 West., d. 24; 4 West., d. 12.

Great personal sanctity becomes the cleric, and is required if he is to perform his duties worthily. It is a disputed question among theologians whether the inferior clergy are as such in a state of perfection. It is allowed by all that bishops are in the state of practising perfection, inasmuch as they are in a permanent condition of life which is devoted to procuring the sanctification of those committed to their charge. Religious, too, by their vows assume the obligation of aiming at perfection, and in religious life find the means of acquiring it. Both bishops and religious, then, are in the state of perfection. St Thomas and many other theologians deny that the secular clergy inferior to bishops are in the state of perfection, properly so called. The chief reason is because their condition of life has not the permanence required for a state in the technical sense, and although they are occupied in labouring for the sanctification of others, like bishops, yet they do this rather as officials and helpers of bishops, not entirely in their own name and of their own authority. As the learned Suarez admits, the controversy is rather about words than things, and we may accept his conclusion that because the higher secular clergy are bound by vow to continence, and partake also in the duties of bishops, they may be said to be in an inchoate state of acquiring and practising perfection.¹

¹ Suarez, De Rel. 3, lib. 1 c. 17.