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The Sacrament of Holy Orders
HOLY
ORDERS is a sacrament by which the
priestly authority and power are conferred upon the recipient, together
with a special grace enabling him to exercise his office properly.
Under the ancient dispensation God
appointed the tribe of Levi to serve in the Ark of the Covenant, and the
family of Aaron to attend to the sacred sacrifices. That priesthood of
the Old Law, however, was only a shadow and figure of the priesthood under
the New Dispensation. As there was to be a new sacrifice, so there should
be a new priesthood established. This new priesthood Christ really did
set up, conferring it directly upon His apostles, and indirectly upon
their successors in the ministry, through the Sacrament of Holy Orders.
He established this sacrament when, at the celebration of the Last Supper,
He commanded His apostles, saying: "Do this for a commemoration of Me"
(Luke xxii. 19). In these words He bestowed on them and their successors
the right and power to do what He Himself did, namely, to convert bread
into His body and wine into His blood, thus founding an ever-enduring
priestly office. After His Resurrection He completed the institution of
the sacrament, by saying: "As the Father hath sent Me, I also send you.
Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are
forgiven them," etc.; and again just before His Ascension, when He said:
"Going therefore, teach ye all nations," etc. (Matt. xxviii. 19). In
these words Christ gave to the apostles and their successors authority
over the religious and moral body of the Church, thereby delivering to
them all the powers which appertain to the priestly office, and also
supplying them with the graces necessary for a worthy discharge of their
office. Hence St. Paul says repeatedly, that with the outward and visible
laying on of hands there is joined an effectiveness of grace for the
exercise of the sacerdotal duties, which cannot be accomplished by an
apostle, but only by Christ, the dispenser of graces. "Neglect not," says
St. Paul, "the grace that is in thee, which was given thee with the
imposition of hands of the priesthood" (Tim. iv. 14).
Therefore, the priestly authority is
not derived from the congregation; it is bestowed upon the priest by God.
The priest is not a hireling. He is selected by God. Hence St. Paul
writes: "Neither doth any man take the honor to himself, but he that is
called by God, as Aaron was" (Heb. v. 4).
The apostles administered Holy Orders
by the imposition of hands and by prayer only. In very early times,
however, the Church added the anointing and the passing of the priestly
symbols and appointed set forms of words to be uttered by the ordaining
bishop at each act.
Bishops only are authorized to
administer the Sacrament of Holy Orders, for they are the only successors
of the apostles, and receives this right through their Episcopal
consecration.
Holy Orders increases sanctifying
grace in its recipient. It adorns his soul, now clothed with this
sanctifying grace, with clearer light, deeper charity, and higher
sanctity. It confers upon him the grace to exercise properly the
functions of the priesthood and to discharge faithfully its onerous
duties, to undergo cheerfully all its struggles and privations, and, if
need be, to lay down his life in the sacred service.
Holy Orders imprints upon its
recipient an enduring mark as a consecrated servant of the Lord. It
distinguishes him from the rest of the faithful, and can be received only
once.
Once a man has received Holy Orders he
can never lose such consecration. If he have the misfortune to fall away
even from the faith, he does not lose the priestly power, and may exercise
all the priestly functions as soon as he becomes properly reconciled to
the Church. Even though he be not reconciled to the Church, he may, when
there is danger of death, and no other priest can be had, hear the
confession of the dying person, and administer valid absolution.
The Sacrament of Holy Orders is
divided into seven grades, of which the first four are called minor, the
last three sacred orders. The first are adapted to the lower, the latter
to the higher functions of the Church. The four minor orders are the
Ostiarius, or Porter; Reader, or Lector; Exorcist; Acolyte, or server at
the altar.
These various orders are administered
with prayer and the presentation of the articles pertaining to the office.
The Ostiarius, or Porter, receives the
key of the Church, because he is commissioned to guard the house of God.
The Lector, or Reader, whose duty it
is to read extracts from Holy Scripture during religious worship, receives
a book prepared for this purpose.
To the Exorcist, who is to exorcise
evil spirits from those who are possessed, is given a book containing the
exorcisms.
To the Acolyte, or server at the
altar, are given an unlighted candle and an empty cruet, because he must
accompany the priest to the altar, see that the candles are lighted, and
wine and water provided for the Mass.
Tonsure, which consists of cutting
portions of the hair and the investiture with the clerical garb—and the
four minor orders do not bind one irrevocably to the priestly calling; the
candidate, if he wishes, can return to the world before receiving the
higher orders.
The three higher orders are the
subdeaconship, the deaconship, and the priesthood.
The subdeacon must serve the priest
and deacon at Mass; bring the chalice and bread to the altar; pour water
into the chalice; sing the Epistle; and wash the linen used upon the
altar. On account of this intimate association with the holy sacrifice,
it becomes the duty of the subdeacon to remain forever in the service of
the Church, to live in celibacy and chastity, and recite the breviary. He
is clothed with the amice, the alb, the maniple, and the tunic.
The deaconship is an apostolical
office, and of divine institution (Acts vi. 1-7); it gives authority to
preach, to baptize with ceremonial, to administer holy communion, to be
the immediate assistant of the priest at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass,
and also to sing the Gospel. The deacon is invested with the stole, which
he wears across the breast, from the left shoulder to the right side, and
the dalmatic. The book of the Gospels is also presented to him.
To the priesthood alone belongs the
power to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and administer the
other sacraments, with the exception of Confirmation and Holy Orders. The
visible signs of ordination for the priesthood are the imposition of hands
and the prayer of the bishop, and the presentation of the chalice with
bread and wine, followed by various significant ceremonies.
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