Christopher Wendt: Good evening, everyone. Welcome to our October broadcast. Welcome to all members of the Confraternity of Our Lady of Fatima and all guests. Your Excellency, we greet you as well.
His Excellency: Thank you.
Tonight’s broadcast is going to be a catechism lesson on the Holy Priesthood, part two. It is also the time when we celebrate the anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun, and many of you are making the consecration. We are so happy about that and are making the consecration with you, giving everything to Our Lady. With that, Your Excellency, could you please start us off with a prayer?
His Excellency: In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
Pater noster, qui es in caelis, sanctificetur nomen tuum. Adveniat regnum tuum. Fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caelo et in terra. Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie, et dimitte nobis debita nostra sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris. Et ne nos inducas in tentationem, sed libera nos a malo. Amen.
In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
Christopher Wendt: Before we begin the lesson, I just want to recommend that you get a copy of His Excellency’s book, Credo. You can find it on Amazon or through Sophia Press. If you don’t have a copy of it on your bookshelf, you should really consider getting one. We live in very confusing times, with a lot of doctrinal confusion and even heresy out there. Credo is a great resource if you have questions about true Faith. And with that, we will turn things over to you, Your Excellency. Thank you.
His Excellency: Now we would like to reflect today on the priesthood, specifically the sacrament of Holy Orders and the meaning of the Catholic priesthood. The saying of Saint John Mary Vianney is well known: “Oh, how great is the priesthood. It can be properly understood only in heaven. If one were to understand it on this earth, one would die not of fright, but of love.” These are the words of Saint John Mary Vianney. To be an authentic and truly happy priest, one must understand fully the essence, dignity, and spiritual beauty of the priesthood of Christ.
The Church teaches us in the Council of Trent that sacrifice and priesthood are, by the ordinance of God, so united that both have existed in every law. Therefore, in the New Testament, the Catholic Church has received, by the institution of Christ, the holy and visible sacrifice of the Eucharist.
It must also be confessed that there is in the Church a new, visible, and external priesthood into which the old has been translated. This was instituted by the same Lord, our Savior, and the apostles and their successors in the priesthood were given the power of consecrating, offering, and administering His Body and Blood, as well as forgiving and retaining sins. This is shown clearly by the Sacred Scriptures and has always been taught by the tradition of the Catholic Church, as stated by the Council of Trent.
Saint Thomas Aquinas provides the following theological explanation of the priesthood of Christ. He says: “The office proper to a priest is to be a mediator between God and the people, insofar as he bestows divine things on the people.” Therefore, sacerdos in Latin means priest, referring to a giver of sacred things. “They shall seek the law at the priest’s mouth,” says the Prophet Malachi. Again, the priest offers up the people’s prayers to God and, in a manner, makes satisfaction for their sins.
Therefore, the Apostle says about a priest: “Every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in the things that pertain to God, that he may offer up gifts and sacrifices for sins” (Letter to the Hebrews). This is most fitting to Christ, for through Him gifts are bestowed on men. According to the Second Epistle of Saint Peter, “By Christ, God has given us most great and precious promises, that by these you may be made partakers of the divine nature.”
Moreover, Christ reconciled the human race to God. As it is written in the Letter to the Colossians: “In Christ it has well pleased the Father that all fullness should dwell and through Him to reconcile all things unto Himself.” Therefore, it is most fitting that Christ should be a priest, as Saint Thomas Aquinas affirms.
Let us now consider the functions of the priesthood. The office of a priest is to offer sacrifice to God and to administer the sacraments of the Church. This is shown clearly in the ceremonies used at his ordination. When ordaining a priest, the bishop first imposes hands on him, as do all the other priests present. Then he places a stole on his shoulders and arranges it over his breast in the form of a cross, signifying that a priest is clothed with power from on high. This enables him to carry the cross of Christ our Lord and the sweet yoke of God’s law, and to teach this law not only by words but also by the example of a most holy and virtuous life.
The bishop next anoints the hands of the ordinand with holy oil and then gives him the chalice with wine and the paten with the host, saying at the same time, “Receive the power to offer sacrifice to God and to celebrate Masses, both for the living and for the dead.” In the old rite of ordination, the bishop places his hands a second time on the head of the person already ordained, saying, “Receive the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them, and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained,” thus communicating to him that divine power of forgiving and retaining sins which were given by our Lord to His disciples.
Such, then, are the special and principal functions of the priestly order.
Let us now look at the degrees of the priesthood, first, the priests. Although the priestly order is one, it has two degrees of dignity and power. The first degree is that of those who are simply called priests, and the second degree is that of the bishops.
The bishops are placed over their various dioceses to govern not only the ministers of the Church but also all the faithful, and to promote their salvation with supreme vigilance and care. Sometimes a bishop does not have the care of a specific diocese but is entrusted with a special duty in the Church, such as a papal nuncio, apostolic administrator, or auxiliary bishop. Hence, in Sacred Scripture, they are often called pastors of the sheep. Their office and duty have been well described by Saint Paul in his sermon to the Ephesians, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles. Saint Peter also speaks to them; the Prince of the Apostles lays down a divine rule for the episcopal office. If bishops strive to conform their actions according to this rule, there can be no doubt that they will be good pastors and will also be esteemed as such.
Bishops are also called pontiffs, which literally means “bridge builder,” for they serve as a bridge between the people and God.
Let us now consider the minister of Holy Orders who confers the sacrament of holy ordination. It is to the bishop alone that the administration of the sacrament of Holy Orders belongs. This is easily proven by the authority of Holy Scripture, by the most ancient and certain tradition, by the testimony of the Fathers of the Church and the councils, and by the constant usage and practice of the Church.
Permission has been granted in some cases to priests who do not possess the episcopal character, or to abbots, to administer those orders that are minor and not sacramental. This is done in accordance with the apostolic tradition that has always been observed in the Church. Bishops are normally consecrated by three bishops; however, for a valid episcopal consecration, it is sufficient that there be only one ordaining bishop, as has occurred during times of persecution in the underground Church.
Let us now consider the recipient of Holy Orders and the qualifications for the priesthood. The first and most necessary quality required in a man who is to be ordained a priest is the holiness of life. He must be recommended by the integrity of life and morals. This is essential because, by seeking or permitting his ordination while conscious of mortal sin, a man renders himself guilty of a new and enormous crime, sacrilege.
Secondly, the priest is bound to give others an example of a holy and innocent life.
Next, there must be competent knowledge. In the second place, it is required of the priest not only that he possess the knowledge necessary for the use and administration of the sacraments, but also that he be well-versed in the science of Holy Scripture so as to be able to instruct the people in the mysteries of the Christian faith. He must also be trained in the precepts of the Divine Law and in sacred theology, so that he may lead the people to virtue and piety.
The priest’s duties are twofold. The first is to administer the sacraments properly. The second is to instruct the people entrusted to him in the holy Catholic doctrine. Hence the words of the Prophet Malachi: “The lips of the priest shall keep knowledge, and they shall seek the law at his mouth.”
So says the Prophet Malachi, because he declares that the priest is an angel of the Lord of hosts. To fulfill the first of these duties, it is enough for him to be endowed with a moderate share of knowledge. But as for the second, it is not merely ordinary knowledge, but a very special knowledge in theology and Christian doctrine that is required.
At the same time, it should be remembered that a profound knowledge of abstract questions is not always demanded of a priest in an equal degree. It is sufficient that each priest knows all that is necessary for the discharge of his office as a priest and as a teacher of the Catholic faith.
Let us now consider the effects of Holy Orders.
This sacrament confers a special power with reference to the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist and the absolution of sinners in the Sacrament of Penance. This power is also called a spiritual character because those who have been ordained are distinguished from the rest of the faithful by an indelible interior mark impressed on the soul. By this mark, they are dedicated to divine worship and enabled to consecrate the body and blood of Christ by offering, in an unbloody manner, Christ’s sacrifice of the Cross to God. They are also empowered to impart absolution to sinners in the Sacrament of Penance and to administer the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, or Extreme Unction, a sacrament interiorly linked to the Sacrament of Penance.
It is this grace which the Apostle seems to have referred to when he said to Timothy, “Neglect, not the grace that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the imposition of the hands of the priesthood,” and again, “I admonish thee that thou stir up the grace of God which is in thee by the imposition of my hands.” So says Saint Paul to Timothy.
This sacrament also confers on the soul of him who has ordained the grace of sanctification, fitting and qualifying him for the proper discharge of his functions and for the administration of the sacraments.
Let us now consider that the priest is a man of God. A Catholic priest must be a man of God, as Saint Gregory the Great so aptly said: a priest should be a block of salt, so that all who approach him may, as it were, by the touch of salt, be seasoned with the savor of eternal life. Thus, the priest is essentially a man of God.
Such must be the priest: one who lives inwardly with God, wholly focused on Him, yet hears all the needs of his neighbor, lends an ear to all, keeps his eyes open to all, and feels the sufferings of all without allowing anything to take hold of him, without any external concern altering his holiness or distracting him from his union with God.
If the priest truly venerates God, if he genuinely honors and reveres God’s majesty, and if he devoutly applies himself to the sacred liturgy as he ought, then he will place all his joy in it. He will delight in being able to promote the honor and glory of God, finding no greater satisfaction than to be a worthy instrument of divine praise, capable of continuing and even increasing the veneration that Jesus Christ Himself rendered to the Father.
If a priest, even without holding any particular office or having the direct care of souls, is nevertheless bound to all these duties simply by virtue of his priesthood, then what, indeed, is he not obliged to do in the name of that sacred character which he bears?
What holiness should he not pursue? What prayer should he not practice? What religious duties should he not render to God to fulfill his immense obligations?
A truly devout priest does not seek the gifts of God for himself alone. He is not possessive, like those who desire to receive their beloved’s favors exclusively. Rather, his entire concern is to do his duty before God. He occupies himself solely with honoring God, serving God, adoring God, and loving God purely.
It is rare to approach a holy priest without being touched by God in some way, without receiving grace through the presence and majesty of the God who dwells in him. For it is God who, through His priests, continues to act in His Church and to renew the face of the earth.
To renew priestly life today, marked as it is by an unprecedented crisis, we must revive a true love for priests. St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus expressed this profound insight:
“I understood that it was love alone that made the Church’s members act, that if love were ever to become extinct, apostles would no longer preach the Gospel, and martyrs would no longer shed their blood.”
One cannot love what one does not know; nor can one grow in love without growing in knowledge. The priest must always be deeply aware of his lofty identity, from which flows both his responsibilities and his joy. He must be able to say with conviction:
“I am a priest. What sweetness, what consolation.”
I am a priest; that is to say, I am God’s friend, God’s minister, God’s helper. I am a priest; that is to say, the defender of God’s rights, the custodian of God’s goods, and the dispenser of God’s mysteries. The vocation of every priest is contained in God’s eternal love, with which God the Father loved His incarnate Son and eternal High Priest, Jesus Christ. The renewal of priestly life is decidedly a work of grace that must be humbly and confidently implored by the whole Church. May God awaken in the souls of many young men a love for the priesthood and revive in priests their first love, so that they might faithfully cooperate with grace and be not only in name but in truth, men of God.
For the priest, filial devotion to Mary is not a simple act of piety; it is not accidental in his life. It is a duty and indispensable for the priest to grow in sanctity, be fruitful in his ministry, and be faithful to his duties until death. Devotion to Our Lady is essential, for as a priest he performs the offices of Mary towards the Incarnate Word. Only from her can the priest learn to treat Christ with dedicated, adoring love as he brings Him to birth on the altar and in souls. The priest must live in the midst of the world with no desire for its pleasures, to be a member of every family yet belonging to none, to share all sufferings, to heal all wounds, to go daily from man to God to offer Him homage and petition, and then to return from God to man to bring God’s pardon and hope. He must have a heart of iron for chastity and a heart of flesh for charity, to teach and instruct, to forgive and console, to bless and to be blessed forever.
O God, the priest is alive and belongs to You. The priest of Jesus Christ, as the famous 19th-century Dominican preacher in Paris, Lacordaire, said, experiences the most beautiful day when he first makes an act of perfect love for Jesus Christ and, secondly, gains one soul for God. The priesthood is the highest dignity on Earth; it surpasses that of kings and emperors, even of the angels themselves. Saint John Chrysostom remarks that the power of kings is only over the bodies of men, whereas that of priests is over their souls. Powers conferred on priests are not even accorded to angels. To what angel was it ever given to convert bread into the Body of the Lord by his word? And not all the angels together could grant pardon for a single sin. The office of a priest is concerned only with heavenly things. He stands between God and man, lays our petitions before the Most High, and conveys divine grace to us. He is a mediator between God and man, the angel of the Lord, the messenger
He is God’s representative, His ambassador. Therefore, whatever honor we show to the priest, we pay it to God Himself. Did not our Lord Himself say, “He that hears you hears me, and he that despises you despises me”? In fact, St. Peter Damian, an 11th-century saint, said that God actually follows the priest, for what he declares on Earth is ratified in heaven, in the sacrament of confession, in the consecration of the Eucharist, and at his word the second Person of the Holy Trinity becomes flesh beneath his hand, as in the Incarnation during the Eucharist. Hence, we do well to address the priest as Your Reverence. St. Francis of Assisi used to say that if he met an angel and a priest at the same time, he would greet the priest first. The priest’s office is also one of great difficulty. The obligations resting upon the priest are neither few nor light. He must recite the breviary daily, which cannot be done in less than an hour and a quarter.
He is pledged to lifelong celibacy, chastity, and purity. He must visit the sick at any hour of the day or night and may be called upon to attend to the dying. He must bring the last sacraments to the dying, no matter how contagious the disease from which they suffer. He often sits for long hours in the confessional and must fast late due to late Masses. He is bound to renounce all worldly amusements and to be generous toward the poor. Priests ought to be the salt of the earth. It must also be noted that zealous priests today are frequently the objects of suspicion and persecution, and their apostolic labors are sometimes poorly rewarded. The world is inclined to treat priests very unfairly, especially in our day, attacking the Catholic priesthood. Yet nothing can take away the dignity attached to the priestly office, even from an unworthy priest, even a sinner.
Therefore, even pagan monarchs have been known to show veneration to the priests of God. When Alexander the Great was about to make a triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the high priest, accompanied by all the priests in their vestal vestments, went out to meet him to ask a favor. Alexander dismounted from his horse and immediately granted all that was requested. When his general expressed surprise, Alexander replied, “It is not the high priest to whom I pay homage, but to the true God whose servant he is.” In another case, Attila, the terrible king of the Huns, advancing upon Rome to plunder the city, allowed himself to be persuaded by Pope Saint Leo the Great to desist from his purpose. Yet Almighty God permits His priests to be encompassed with infirmity so that they may have greater compassion for those who are ignorant and sinful, as the Letter to the Hebrews says. How unworthy are those who publicize the misdeeds of a priest in an undue manner? St. Augustine asks, “Are we to think lightly of Christ and the apostles because there was a Judas among them? Who will show me any body of men upon earth who are without faults?” So, yes, a Catholic priest must be a man of God.
The priest must therefore be considered a true man of God, having no other interests than those of God Himself. The essence of the greatness of the priest, the basis and substance of his ministry and grace, is the sublime and divine union that Jesus enters into with the soul of the priest. This union is given so closely through the sacrament of ordination that the priest is called a second Christ, or alter Christus in Latin. The priest ought not to work as a mercenary but as a true son of his heavenly Father, who looks upon him as a second Christ, carrying on the work of the incarnate Son of God, and acting as an instrument of the Holy Ghost. Jesus Christ desires to continue in and through His priests the servitude in which He lived on earth and in which He still lives in the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist. The priest is to be a servant of Jesus Christ; that is, Christ desires the priest to be only a servant of God, a man of God, a servant to his brethren, in a word, the servant of all, but first of God, and a man of God.
Christopher Wendt: Thank you, Your Excellency, for this great lesson on the priesthood, such beautiful things. I wanted to ask, how many years, Your Excellency, have you been a priest?
His Excellency: Already 34 years.
Christopher Wendt: Oh, so wonderful. Thank you so much. I had the honor of being your acolyte one time at a private Mass early in the morning. I just remember you as a priest at that moment, even though it was just a quiet Mass, it was amazing. You were offering up Jesus in the traditional Latin Mass. It was such an honor. It was so priestly, so beautiful. Do you have any advice, Your Excellency? Many priests, like the lay faithful, are confused, don’t know what to do, and lack support from their bishops. What would you say to them?
His Excellency: The faithful must love the priests because they are their spiritual fathers and must help them. Even today, some priests are persecuted. The laypeople must give them the possibility to exercise their ministry. Of course, the priest must be submitted to Church authority. He cannot be his own pope and bishop. Even in persecuted situations within the Church, good priests must always seek some ecclesiastical superior or a community. If not a community, then at least a retired bishop or an elder priest to whom they submit their work, give an account, and from whom they receive counsel and advice. This is absolutely necessary. It is the essence of a Catholic priest to be submitted to authority. Therefore, we must help these priests in this difficult time to find a good ecclesiastical superior so that they can exercise the priesthood according to the tradition of the Church, in doctrine and in liturgy, that has been preserved throughout the ages.
Christopher Wendt: Should a priest celebrate Mass every day? Is that a requirement or optional?
His Excellency: It is not an obligation, but it is a very urgent counsel and advice of the Church. So it is not required, but of course, the Holy Mass is the essence of the life of a priest. It is the reason for his being. Therefore, he should celebrate the Holy Mass daily if possible, when he is not sick. Without the Holy Mass, he will weaken and lose his identity and love for Christ.
Christopher Wendt: Thank you. I would also like to say thank you for emphasizing the Marian dimension of the priesthood. It is really important for priests to have that devotion, perhaps the true devotion of Saint Louis de Montfort, to give their priesthood over to Our Lady. Thank you, Your Excellency, for this class. Could you please close with a prayer?
His Excellency:
Kyrie Eleison! Christe Eleison! Kyrie Eleison! Lord Jesus Christ,
You are the Good Shepherd! With Your almighty hand, You guide Your pilgrim Church through the storms of each age.
Adorn the Holy See with holy popes who neither fear the powerful of this world nor compromise with the spirit of the age, but preserve, strengthen, and defend the Catholic Faith unto the shedding of their blood, and observe, protect, and hand on the venerable liturgy of the Roman Church.
O Lord, return to us through holy popes who inflamed with the zeal of the Apostles, proclaim to the whole world: “Salvation is found in no other than in Jesus Christ. For there is no other name under heaven given to men by which they should be saved” (see Acts 4:10-12).
Through an era of holy popes, may the Holy See, which is home to all who promote the Catholic and Apostolic Faith, always shine as the cathedra of truth for the whole world. Hear us, O Lord, and through the intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Mother of the Church, grant us holy Popes, grant us many holy Popes! Have mercy on us and hear us! Amen.
Dominus vobiscum.
Christopher Wendt: Et cum spiritu tuo.
His Excellency: Et benedictio Dei Omnipotentis: Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti, descendat super vos et maneat semper. Amen.
Praise be Jesus Christ!
Christopher Wendt: Now and forever.
This concludes our broadcast for tonight. Congratulations to all who made the consecration on the anniversary of the solar miracle at Fatima. It was truly a great day. Next time, we will hold a question-and-answer session on November 13th. We look forward to seeing you then. Until next time, Ave Maria.
