Vatican decree reconciles woman who sought priestly ordination

San Diego, Calif., Mar 31, 2011 / 01:55 am (CNA).- A former advocate of women's ordination, who later renounced her attempt to be ordained as a deacon and declared her adherence to Church teaching, announced on March 25 that she has been fully reconciled with the Church following a decree from the Vatican.

“The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has lifted any canonical sanctions that I incurred by attempting ordination as a deacon,” wrote Dr. Norma Jean Coon, in an online update to an earlier letter in which she acknowledged that her actions had resulted in excommunication.

Dr. Coon said the bishop of her diocese, Bishop Robert H. Brom of San Diego, had written to inform her of the Vatican congregation's decision that she “may now return to the full practice of our Catholic faith.” Under new rules established in July 2010, attempts to ordain women now fall under the jurisdiction of the doctrinal office, along with other offenses against the priesthood and sacraments.

“I have been very touched at the remarkable support of my actions and the prayers offered in my behalf during this trying time,” said Coon. “I wish to thank all those who have prayed for me and for my family.”

On July 22, 2007, Coon participated in an attempted ordination to the diaconate. The event was led by Patricia Fresen, a former Dominican sister from South Africa who claims to have been consecrated as a bishop.

The Catholic Church holds that Fresen – who has been excommunicated – is not a bishop, and that her attempts to ordain other women or men have no sacramental validity.

In her earlier letter renouncing her “alleged ordination” to the diaconate, Coon said she acknowledged “the authority of the Holy Father on these issues of ordination,” including the judgment that Pope John Paul II confirmed in his encyclical “Ordinatio Sacerdotalis.”

In that encyclical, the Pope declared that “the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women,” and stated that this judgment was to be “definitively held by all the Church’s faithful.”

Coon had previously sought to become a priest through a program offered by Fresen's group. But she reconsidered soon after participating in one of the organization's liturgies. “I withdrew from the program within two weeks of the ceremony,” she recounted, “because I realized I had made a mistake in studying for the priesthood.”

Although the attempt to ordain women has no sacramental effect, it is a serious offense from the perspective of moral theology and canon law.

The Church regards a simulated ordination, and any subsequent action in which a non-ordained person acts as a member of the clergy, as a form of sacrilege.

Above article from: Catholic News Agency

Other Blog Posts on this issue:  The Hermeneutic of Continuity Blog

Fr Z's Blog - What did the Prayer Really Say ?

Fr. John Edwards S.J. - Requiescat in pace

A beloved Jesuit priest who was well known for bringing people back to Confession and inspiring conversions has died aged 83.

Fr John Edwards passed away on Wednesday evening the12th December.  Following his death, Fr Andrew Cameron-Mowat, parish priest at Farm Street church in London, said: “Fr John was greatly loved by an enormous number of people. His dynamic preaching and his mission work will live long in the memory of all who met him. He brought numerous people into the Church.

“In my short time so far as parish priest it was a blessing to have his presence at daily Mass in the church, and to receive his frequent words of support and encouragement. He was a remarkable example of a faithful and compassionate priest and a generous companion of Jesus. We will all miss him very much, but rejoice that he is now in the arms of our Blessed Lord. May he rest in peace.”

A priest for 49 years, and a member of the Jesuit Community at Mount St for 32 years, Fr Edwards was known to be an excellent confessor who was very successful in encouraging people to attend Confession. He was also a devoted advocate of the practice of receiving indulgences.

Fr Anthony Symondson, a fellow Jesuit priest and a friend of Fr Edwards, said his death was a “perfect end to a very fine Jesuit vocation”.

Above from and continued here:  Catholic Herald - Fr. John Edwards S.J. who died of cancer aged 83

A Week in the Life of a Parish Priest

Bl. Clemens von Galen - Priest, Bishop and Cardinal of heroic Virtue in a Time of Persecution

Clemens August von Galen was born on 16 March 1878 in Dinklage Castle, Oldenburg, Germany, the 11th of 13 children born to Count Ferdinand Heribert and Elisabeth von Spee.

His father belonged to the noble family of Westphalia, who since 1660 governed the village of Dinklage. For over two centuries his ancestors carried out the inherited office of camerlengo of the Diocese of Münster.

Clemens August grew up in Dinklage Castle and in other family seats. Due to the struggle between Church and State, he and his brothers were sent to a school run by the Jesuits in Feldkirch, Austria.

He remained there until 1894, when he transferred to the Antonianum in Vechta. After graduation, he studied philosophy and theology in Frebur, Innsbruck and Münster, and was ordained a priest on 28 May 1904 for the Diocese of Münster by Bishop Hermann Dingelstadt.

Parish priest, concern for poor

His first two years as a priest were spent as vicar of the diocesan cathedral where he became chaplain to his uncle, Bishop Maximilian Gerion von Galen.

From 1906 to 1929, Fr von Galen carried out much of his pastoral activity outside Münster:  in 1906 he was made chaplain of the parish of St Matthias in Berlin-Schönberg; from 1911 to 1919 he was curate of a new parish in Berlin before becoming parish priest of the Basilica of St Matthias in Berlin-Schönberg, where he served for 10 years; here, he was particularly remembered for his special concern for the poor and outcasts.

In 1929, Fr von Galen was called back to Münster when Bishop Johannes Poggenpohl asked him to serve as parish priest of the Church of St Lambert.

"Nec laudibus, nec timore'

In January 1933, Bishop Poggenpohl died, leaving the See vacant. After two candidates refused, on 5 September 1933 Fr Clemens was appointed Bishop of Münster by Pope Pius XI.

On 28 October 1933 he was consecrated by Cardinal Joseph Schulte, Archbishop of Cologne; Bishop von Galen was the first diocesan Bishop to be consecrated under Hitler's regime.

As his motto, he chose the formula of the rite of episcopal consecration:  "Nec laudibus, nec timore" (Neither praise nor threats will distance me from God).

Throughout the 20 years that Bishop von Galen was curate and parish priest in Berlin, he wrote on various political and social issues; in a pastoral letter dated 26 March 1934, he wrote very clearly and critically on the "neopaganism of the national socialist ideology".

Due to his outspoken criticism, he was called to Rome by Pope Pius XI in 1937 together with the Bishop of Berlin, to confer with them on the situation in Germany and speak of the eventual publication of an Encyclical.

On 14 March 1937 the Encyclical "Mit brennender Sorge" (To the Bishops of Germany: The place of the Catholic Church in the German Reich) was published. It was widely circulated by Bishop von Galen, notwithstanding Nazi opposition.

"Lion of Munster'

In the summer of 1941, in answer to unwarranted attacks by the National Socialists, Bishop von Galen delivered three admonitory sermons between July and August. He spoke in his old parish Church of St Lambert and in Liebfrauen-Ueberlassen Church, since the diocesan cathedral had been bombed.

In his famous speeches, Bishop von Galen spoke out against the State confiscation of Church property and the programmatic euthanasia carried out by the regime.

The clarity and incisiveness of his words and the unshakable fidelity of Catholics in the Diocese of Münster embarrassed the Nazi regime, and on 10 October 1943 the Bishop's residence was bombed. Bishop von Galen was forced to take refuge in nearby Borromeo College.

From 12 September 1944 on, he could no longer remain in the city of Münster, destroyed by the war; he left for the zone of Sendenhorst.

In 1945, Vatican Radio announced that Pope Pius XII was to hold a Consistory and that the Bishop of Münster was also to be present.

Creation of a Cardinal

After a long and difficult journey, due to the war and other impediments, Bishop von Galen finally arrived in the "Eternal City". On 21 February 1946 the Public Consistory was held in St Peter's Basilica and Bishop von Galen was created a Cardinal.

On 16 March 1946 the 68-year-old Cardinal returned to Münster. He was cordially welcomed back by the city Authorities and awarded honorary citizenship by the burgomaster.

On the site of what remained of the cathedral, Cardinal von Galen gave his first (and what would be his last) discourse to the more than 50,000 people who had gathered, thanking them for their fidelity to the then-Bishop of Münster during the National Socialist regime. He explained that as a Bishop, it was his duty to speak clearly and plainly about what was happening.

No one knew that the Cardinal was gravely ill, and when he returned to Münster on 19 March 1946 he had to undergo an operation.

Cardinal von Galen died just three days later, on 22 March. He was buried on 28 March in the Ludgerus Chapel, which has become a place of pilgrimage to this defender of the faith in the face of political oppression.

He was beatified on October 9th 2005 by Pope Benedict XVI. 

Above article from: Vatican - Life of newly Blessed Clemens von Galen

More information on his life here: Wikipedia

Priest speaks on Divine Mercy

Prayer from St. Pio of Pietrelcina

Stay with me, Lord, for it is necessary to have You present so that I do not forget You. You know how easily I abandon You. 

Stay with me Lord, because I am weak, and I need Your strength, so that I may not fall so often. 

Stay with me Lord, for You are my life, and without You, I am without fervor. 

Stay with me Lord, for You are my light, and without you, I am in darkness. 

Stay with me Lord, to show me Your will. 

Stay with me Lord, so that I hear Your voice and follow You. 

Stay with me Lord, for I desire to love you very much, and always be in Your Company. 

Stay with me Lord, if You wish me to be faithful to You. 

Stay with me Lord, for as poor as my soul is, I want it to be a place of consolation for You, a nest of Love. 

Stay with me, Jesus, for it is getting late, and the day is coming to a close, and life passes, death, judgment, eternity approach. It is necessary to renew my strength, so that I will not stop along the way and for that, I need You. It is getting late and death approaches. I fear the darkness, the temptations, the dryness, the cross, the sorrows. O how I need You, my Jesus, in this night of exile. 

Stay with me tonight, Jesus, in life with all its dangers, I need You. 

Let me recognize You as Your disciples did at the breaking of bread, so that the Eucharistic Communion be the light which disperses the darkness, the force which sustains me, the unique joy of my heart. 

Stay with me Lord, because at the hour of my death, I want to remain united to you, if not by Communion, at least by grace and love. 

Stay with me Jesus, I do not ask for divine consolation because I do not merit it, but the gift of Your presence, oh yes, I ask this of You. 

Stay with me Lord, for it is You alone I look for, Your Love, Your Grace, Your Will, Your Heart, Your Spirit, because I love You and ask no other reward but to love You more and more. 

With a firm love, I will love You with all my heart while on earth and continue to love You perfectly during all eternity. Amen. 

Wishing you all a very Happy and Holy Christmas Season. Pray for our Priests. May the Lord bless you abundantly with His grace at this time and for always.

60 Ex Anglican Priests Ordained Last Year in UK

Pope to Priests - Be Configured to Christ

In his homily this year at the annual Chrism Mass on the morning of Holy Thursday, Pope Benedict XVI urged his fellow priests to “be configured to Christ,” 

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

At this Holy Mass our thoughts go back to that moment when, through prayer and the laying on of hands, the bishop made us sharers in the priesthood of Jesus Christ, so that we might be “consecrated in truth” (Jn 17:19), as Jesus besought the Father for us in his high-priestly prayer. He himself is the truth. He has consecrated us, that is to say, handed us over to God for ever, so that we can offer men and women a service that comes from God and leads to him. But does our consecration extend to the daily reality of our lives – do we operate as men of God in fellowship with Jesus Christ? 

This question places the Lord before us and us before him. “Are you resolved to be more united with the Lord Jesus and more closely conformed to him, denying yourselves and confirming those promises about sacred duties towards Christ’s Church which, prompted by love of him, you willingly and joyfully pledged on the day of your priestly ordination?” After this homily, I shall be addressing that question to each of you here and to myself as well. Two things, above all, are asked of us: there is a need for an interior bond, a configuration to Christ, and at the same time there has to be a transcending of ourselves, a renunciation of what is simply our own, of the much-vaunted self-fulfilment. We need, I need, not to claim my life as my own, but to place it at the disposal of another – of Christ. 

I should be asking not what I stand to gain, but what I can give for him and so for others. Or to put it more specifically, this configuration to Christ, who came not to be served but to serve, who does not take, but rather gives – what form does it take in the often dramatic situation of the Church today? Recently a group of priests from a European country issued a summons to disobedience, and at the same time gave concrete examples of the forms this disobedience might take, even to the point of disregarding definitive decisions of the Church’s Magisterium, such as the question of women’s ordination, for which Blessed Pope John Paul II stated irrevocably that the Church has received no authority from the Lord. Is disobedience a path of renewal for the Church? We would like to believe that the authors of this summons are motivated by concern for the Church, that they are convinced that the slow pace of institutions has to be overcome by drastic measures, in order to open up new paths and to bring the Church up to date. 

But is disobedience really a way to do this? Do we sense here anything of that configuration to Christ which is the precondition for true renewal, or do we merely sense a desperate push to do something to change the Church in accordance with one’s own preferences and ideas?

But let us not oversimplify matters. Surely Christ himself corrected human traditions which threatened to stifle the word and the will of God? Indeed he did, so as to rekindle obedience to the true will of God, to his ever enduring word. His concern was for true obedience, as opposed to human caprice. Nor must we forget: he was the Son, possessed of singular authority and responsibility to reveal the authentic will of God, so as to open up the path for God’s word to the world of the nations. And finally: he lived out his task with obedience and humility all the way to the Cross, and so gave credibility to his mission. Not my will, but thine be done: these words reveal to us the Son, in his humility and his divinity, and they show us the true path.

From News Va. Full article here:  Continued: Pope to Priests - Be Configured to Christ

Priests for Life - Fr. Frank Pavone

Traditional Latin Mass attendance growing throughout the World

SINCE the Second Vatican Council in 1962, the Roman Catholic church has striven to adapt to the modern world. But in the West—where many hoped a contemporary message would go down best—believers have left in droves. Sunday mass attendance in England and Wales has fallen by half from the 1.8m recorded in 1960; the average age of parishioners has risen from 37 in 1980 to 52 now. In America attendance has declined by over a third since 1960. Less than 5% of French Catholics attend regularly, and only 15% in Italy. Yet as the mainstream wanes, traditionalists wax.

Above article from the Economist magazine and Continued here:Traditionalist Avant Garde

Called from the Soccer Pitch to the Seminary

The Eucharist Is at the Heart of the Priest's Spirituality

Pope John Paul II

General Audience June 9, 1993

The catecheses which we are developing on the spiritual life of the priest especially concern presbyters, but they are addressed to all the faithful. It is indeed good that everyone should know the Church's doctrine on the priesthood and what she desires of those who, having received it, are conformed to the sublime image of Christ, the eternal priest and most pure victim of the salvific sacrifice. That image is developed in the Letter to the Hebrews and in other texts of the apostles and evangelists, and it has been handed on faithfully in the Church's Tradition of thought and life. Today too it is necessary for the clergy to be faithful to that image, which mirrors the living truth of Christ the priest and victim.

The reproduction of that image in priests is attained primarily through their life-giving participation in the Eucharistic mystery, to which the Christian priesthood is essentially ordered and linked. The Council of Trent emphasized that the bond between the priesthood and sacrifice comes from the will of Christ, who conferred upon his ministers "the power to consecrate, to offer and to distribute his Body and his Blood" (cf. DS 1764). In this there is a mystery of communion with Christ in being and doing, which must be translated into a spiritual life imbued with faith in and love for the Eucharist.

The priest is quite aware that he cannot count on his own efforts to achieve the purposes of his ministry. Rather, he is called to serve as an instrument of the victorious action of Christ whose sacrifice, made present on the altars, obtains for humanity an abundance of divine gifts. However, he also knows that, in order worthily to pronounce the words of consecration in the name of Christ--"This is my Body.... This is the cup of my Blood"--he must be profoundly united to Christ and seek to reproduce Christ's countenance in himself. The more intensely he lives in Christ, the more authentically he can celebrate the Eucharist.

The Second Vatican Council recalled: "Priests act especially in the person of Christ as ministers of holy things, especially in the Sacrifice of the Mass" (PO 13) and that without a priest there can be no Eucharistic sacrifice. However, it emphasized that those who celebrate this sacrifice must fulfill their role in intimate spiritual union with Christ, with great humility, as his ministers in the service of the community. "They are asked to take example from that with which they deal, and inasmuch as they celebrate the mystery of the Lord's death they should keep their bodies free of wantonness and lusts" (PO 13). In offering the Eucharistic sacrifice, presbyters must offer themselves personally with Christ, accepting all the renunciation and sacrifice required by their priestly life--again and always, with Christ and like Christ, sacerdos et hostia.

If the priest "hears" this truth proposed to him and to all the faithful as the voice of the New Testament and Tradition, he will grasp the Council's earnest recommendation: "The daily celebration of Mass is strongly urged, since even if there cannot be present a number of the faithful, it is still an act of Christ and of the Church" (PO 13). The tendency to celebrate the Eucharist only when there was an assembly of the faithful emerged in those years. According to the Council, although everything possible should be done to gather the faithful for the celebration, it is also true that, even if the priest is alone, the Eucharistic offering which he performs in the name of Christ has the effectiveness that comes from Christ and always obtains new graces for the Church. Therefore I, too, recommend to priests and to all the Christian people that they ask the Lord for a stronger faith in this value of the Eucharist.

The l971 Synod of Bishops took up the conciliar doctrine, declaring: "Even if the Eucharist should be celebrated without participation of the faithful, it nevertheless remains the center of the life of the entire Church and the heart of priestly existence" (cf. Ench. Vat., 4, 1201).

This is a wonderful expression: "The center of the life of the entire Church." The Eucharist makes the Church, just as the Church makes the Eucharist. The presbyter, having been given the charge of building the Church, performs this task essentially through the Eucharist. Even when the participation of the faithful is lacking, he cooperates in gathering people around Christ in the Church by offering the Eucharist.

The Synod speaks further of the Eucharist as the "heart of priestly existence." This means that the presbyter, desiring to be and remain personally and profoundly attached to Christ, finds him first in the Eucharist, the sacrament which brings about this intimate union, open to a growth which can reach the heights of mystical identification.

At this level, too, which is that of so many holy priests, the priestly soul is not closed in on itself, because in a particular way in the Eucharist it draws on the love of him "who gives himself as food to the faithful" (PO 13). Thus he feels led to give himself to the faithful to whom he distributes the Body of Christ. It is precisely in being nourished by this Body that he is impelled to help the faithful to open themselves in turn to that same presence, drawing nourishment from his infinite charity, in order to draw ever richer fruit from the sacrament.

To this end the presbyter can and must provide the atmosphere necessary for a worthy Eucharistic celebration. It is the atmosphere of prayer: liturgical prayer, to which the people must be called and trained; the prayer of personal contemplation; the prayer of sound Christian popular tradition, which can prepare for, follow and to some extent also accompany the Mass; the prayer of holy places, of sacred art, of sacred songs, of sacred music, (especially on the organ). This is incarnated as it were in the formulas and rites, and continually inspires and uplifts everything so that it can participate in giving praise to God and in spiritually uplifting the Christian people gathered in the Eucharistic assembly.

To priests the Council also recommends, in addition to the daily celebration of the Mass, personal devotion to the Holy Eucharist, and especially that "daily colloquy with Christ, a visit to and veneration of the Most Holy Eucharist" (PO 18). Faith in and love for the Eucharist cannot allow Christ's presence in the tabernacle to remain alone (cf. CCC 1418). Already in the Old Testament we read that God dwelt in a "tent" (or "tabernacle"), which was called the "meeting tent" (Ex 33:7). The meeting was desired by God. It can be said that in the tabernacle of the Eucharist too Christ is present in view of a dialogue with his new people and with individual believers. The presbyter is the first one called to enter this meeting tent, to visit Christ in the tabernacle for a "daily talk."

Lastly, I want to recall that, more than any other, the presbyter is called to share the fundamental disposition of Christ in this sacrament, that is, the "thanksgiving" from which it takes its name. Uniting himself with Christ the priest and victim, the presbyter shares not only his offering, but also his feelings, his disposition of gratitude to the Father for the benefits he has given to humanity, to every soul, to the priest himself, to all those who in heaven and on earth have been allowed to share in the glory of God. Gratias agimus tibi propter agnam gloriam tuam.... Thus, to counter the expressions of accusation and protest against God--which are often heard in the world--the priest offers the chorus of praise and blessing, which is raised by those who can recognize in man and in the world the signs of an infinite goodness.

Alter Christus

The Priesthood Requires Personal Holiness

General Audience May 26, 1993

All Christian Tradition, based on Sacred Scripture, speaks of the priest as a "man of God," a man consecrated to God. Homo Dei: this definition is valid for every Christian, but St. Paul refers it especially to Bishop Timothy, his disciple, when he recommends the use of Sacred Scripture to him (cf. 2 Tim 3:16). It is appropriate to the presbyter as well as to the bishop, by reason of his special consecration to God. In truth, a person already receives a first, basic consecration in Baptism, with deliverance from evil and entry into a special state of belonging ontologically and psychologically to God [1] . Priestly ordination confirms and deepens this state of consecration, as the 1971 Synod of Bishops recalled when it referred to the priesthood of Christ shared by the presbyter through the anointing of the Holy Spirit [2] .

Here the Synod took up again the teaching of Vatican II which, after reminding presbyters of their duty to strive for perfection by virtue of their baptismal consecration, added: "Priests are bound, however, to acquire that perfection in special fashion. They have been consecrated by God in a new manner at their ordination and made living instruments of Christ the eternal priest that they may be able to carry on in time his marvelous work whereby the entire family of man is again made whole by power from above" (PO 12). Pius XI recommended the same in his encyclical Ad Catholici Sacerdotii of December 20, 1935 [3] .

According to the faith of the Church, priestly ordination not only confers a new mission in the Church, a ministry, but a new "consecration" of the person. This consecration is linked to the character imprinted by the sacrament of Orders as a spiritual, indelible sign of a special belonging to Christ in being and, consequently, in acting. The perfection required of the presbyter is thus commensurate with his sharing in the priesthood of Christ as the author of redemption. The minister cannot be exempted from reproducing in himself the sentiments, the inner tendencies and intentions, and the spirit of sacrifice to the Father and of service to the brethren that is proper to the "principal agent."

As a result the priest has a sort of mastery of grace, which allows him to enjoy union with Christ and at the same time to be devoted to the pastoral service of his brothers and sisters. As the Council says, "Since, therefore, every priest in his own fashion acts in place of Christ himself, he is enriched by a special grace, so that, as he serves the flock committed to him and the entire People of God, he may the better grow in the grace of him whose tasks he performs, because to the weakness of our flesh there is brought the holiness of him who for us was made a high priest 'holy, guiltless, undefiled, not reckoned among us sinners' (Heb 7:26)" (PO 12; cf. PDV 20). In this condition the priest is bound to a special imitation of Christ the priest, which is the result of the special grace of Orders: the grace of union with Christ the priest and victim and, by virtue of this same union, the grace of good pastoral service to his brothers and sisters.

In this regard it is helpful to recall the example of St. Paul. He lived as an entirely consecrated apostle, he who was "taken possession of by Christ Jesus," and left everything to live in union with him (cf. Phil 3:7-12). He felt so filled with Christ's life that he could say in complete sincerity: "Yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me" (Gal 2:20). Nevertheless, after alluding to the extraordinary favors he had received as a "man in Christ" (2 Cor 12:2), he also suffered a thorn in the flesh, a trial from which he was never freed. Despite a triple request made to the Lord, Paul heard him respond: "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor 12:9).

In the light of this example, the presbyter can better understand that he must strive to live fully his own consecration by remaining united to Christ and allowing himself to be imbued with Christ's spirit, despite the priest's experience of his own human limitations. These will not prevent him from carrying out his ministry, because he is favored with a "grace that is sufficient for him." The priest must put his trust in this grace; he must have recourse to it, knowing that he can thus strive for perfection in the hope of continually increasing in holiness.

His sharing in Christ's priesthood cannot fail to arouse in the presbyter a sacrificial spirit too, a type of pondus crucis, the burden of the cross, which is expressed especially in mortification. As the Council says:

"Christ, whom the Father sanctified, consecrated and sent into the world, 'gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and cleanse for himself an acceptable people, pursuing good works' (Ti 2:14), and thus through suffering entered into his glory. In like fashion, priests consecrated by the anointing of the Holy Spirit and sent by Christ must mortify the works of the flesh in themselves and give themselves entirely to the service of men. It is in this way that they can go forward in that holiness with which Christ endows them to perfect man" (PO 12).

This is the ascetical aspect of the way of perfection, which for the priest cannot be lacking in renunciation and struggle against every sort of desire and yearning that would induce him to seek the good things of this world, thus compromising his interior progress. This is the "spiritual combat" of which the ascetical masters speak and which is required of every follower of Christ, but especially of every minister in the work of the cross, called to reproduce in himself the image of him who is sacerdos et hostia.

Obviously, one always needs to be open and responsive to the grace which itself comes from him who begets "any measure of desire or achievement" (Phil 2:13), but who also demands that one use the means of mortification and self-discipline without which one remains impervious soil. The ascetical tradition has always pointed out--and in a certain sense prescribed--to priests certain means of sanctification, especially the appropriate celebration of Mass, the punctual recitation of the Divine Office ("not to be mishandled," as St. Alphonsus de Liguori recommended), visits to the Blessed Sacrament, daily recitation of the rosary, daily meditation and periodic reception of sacramental Penance. These practices are still valid and indispensable. Particular importance must be given to the sacrament of Penance, the careful reception of which helps the presbyter to have a realistic image of himself, with the resulting awareness that he too is a poor, weak man, a sinner among sinners, one in need of forgiveness. He thus acquires "truth about himself" and is led to have confident recourse to the divine mercy [4] .

In addition, it must always be remembered, as the Council says, that: "Priests who perform their duties sincerely and indefatigably in the Spirit of Christ arrive at holiness by this very fact" (PO 13). Thus, the proclamation of the word encourages them to achieve in themselves what they teach to others. The celebration of the sacraments strengthens them in faith and in union with Christ. The whole pastoral ministry develops their charity: "As they direct and nourish the People of God, may they be aroused by the example of the good shepherd that they may give their life for their sheep, ready for the supreme sacrifice" (PO 13). Their ideal will be to achieve unity of life in Christ, integrating prayer and ministry, contemplation and action, because they continually seek the Father's will and the gift of themselves for the flock (cf. PO 14).

Moreover, it is a source of courage and joy for the presbyter to know that his personal commitment to sanctification helps make his ministry effective. In fact, as the Council recalls: "Although divine grace could use unworthy ministers to effect the work of salvation, yet for the most part God chooses, to show forth his wonders, those who are more open to the power and direction of the Holy Spirit, and who can by reason of their close union with Christ and their holiness of life say with St. Paul: 'And yet I am alive; or rather, not I; it is Christ that lives in me' (Gal 2:20)" (PO 12).

When the priest recognizes that he is called to serve as the instrument of Christ, he feels the need to live in intimate union with Christ in order to be a valid instrument of the "principal agent." Therefore, he seeks to reproduce in himself the "consecrated life" (the sentiments and virtues) of the one, eternal priest who shares with him not only his power, but also his state of sacrifice for accomplishing the divine plan--sacerdos et hostia.

I will finish with a recommendation of the Council: "This holy Council, to fulfill its pastoral desires of an internal renewal of the Church, of the spread of the Gospel in every land and of a dialogue with the world of today, strongly urges all priests that they strive always for that growth in holiness by which they will become consistently better instruments in the service of the whole People of God, using for this purpose those means which the Church has approved" (PO 12). This is the greatest contribution we can make to building the Church as the beginning of God's kingdom in the world.

[1]   cf. St. Thomas, Summa Theol., II-II, q. 81, a. 8

[2]   cf. Ench. Vat., IV, 1200-1201

[3]   cf. AAS 28 (1936):10

[4]   cf. Reconciliatio et Paenitentia 31; PDV 26

Link:  Vatican - From Pope John Paul II Audiences

The Rite of Ordination

Importance of the Priestly Office - St. Alphonsus Liguori

The dignity of the priest is estimated from the exalted nature of his offices. Priests are chosen by God to manage on earth all his concerns and interests. " Divine," says St. Cyril of Alexandria, "are the offices confided to priests." St. Ambrose has called the priestly office a Divine profession. A priest is a minister destined by God to be a public ambassador of the whole Church, to honor Him, and to obtain His graces for all the faithful. 

The entire Church cannot give to God as much honor, nor obtain so many graces, as a single priest by celebrating a single Mass; for the greatest honor that the whole Church without priests could give to God would consist in offering to Him in sacrifice the lives of all men. But of what value are the lives of all men compared with the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which is a sacrifice of infinite value? What are all men before God but a little dust? As a drop of a bucket, as a little dust. They are but a mere nothing in His sight: All nations are before Him as if they had no being at all. Thus, by the celebration of a single Mass, in which he offers Jesus Christ in sacrifice, a priest gives greater honor to the Lord, than if all men by dying for God offered to Him the sacrifice of their lives. 

By a single Mass, he gives greater honor to God than all the Angels and Saints, along with the Blessed Virgin Mary, have given or shall give to Him; for their worship cannot be of infinite value, like that which the priest celebrating on the altar offers to God. Moreover, in the holy Mass, the priest offers to God an adequate thanksgiving for all the graces bestowed even on the Blessed in Paradise; but such a thanksgiving all the Saints together are incapable of offering to Him. Hence it is, that on this account also the priestly dignity is superior even to all celestial dignities. 

Besides, the priest, says St. John Chrysostom, is an ambassador of the whole world, to intercede with God and to obtain graces for all creatures.. The priest, according to St. Ephrem, "treats familiarly with God." To priests every door is open. Jesus has died to institute the priesthood. It was not necessary for the Redeemer to die in order to save the world; a drop of His Blood, a single tear, or prayer, was sufficient to procure salvation for all; for such a prayer, being of infinite value, should be sufficient to save not one but a thousand worlds. 

But to institute the priesthood, the death of Jesus Christ has been necessary. Had he not died, where should we find the victim that the priests of the New Law now offer? a victim altogether holy and immaculate, capable of giving to God an honor worthy of God. As has been already said, all the lives of men and Angels are not capable of giving to God an infinite honor like that which a priest offers to Him by a single Mass.

The Catholic Priesthood

Catechism on the Priesthood - St. Jean Vianney

My children, we have come to the Sacrament of Orders. It is a Sacrament which seems to relate to no one among you, and which yet relates to everyone. This Sacrament raises man up to God. What is a priest! A man who holds the place of God -- a man who is invested with all the powers of God. "Go, " said Our Lord to the priest; "as My Father sent Me, I send you. All power has been given Me in Heaven and on earth. Go then, teach all nations. . . . He who listens to you, listens to Me; he who despises you despises Me. " When the priest remits sins, he does not say, "God pardons you"; he says, "I absolve you. " At the Consecration, he does not say, "This is the Body of Our Lord;" he says, "This is My Body. "

Saint Bernard tells us that everything has come to us through Mary; and we may also say that everything has come to us through the priest; yes, all happiness, all graces, all heavenly gifts. If we had not the Sacrament of Orders, we should not have Our Lord. Who placed Him there, in that tabernacle? It was the priest. Who was it that received your soul, on its entrance into life? The priest. Who nourishes it, to give it strength to make its pilgrimage? The priest. Who will prepare it to appear before God, by washing that soul, for the last time, in the blood of Jesus Christ? The priest -- always the priest. And if that soul comes to the point of death, who will raise it up, who will restore it to calmness and peace? Again the priest. You cannot recall one single blessing from God without finding, side by side with this recollection, the image of the priest.

Go to confession to the Blessed Virgin, or to an angel; will they absolve you? No. Will they give you the Body and Blood of Our Lord? No. The Holy Virgin cannot make her Divine Son descend into the Host. You might have two hundred angels there, but they could not absolve you. A priest, however simple he may be, can do it; he can say to you, "Go in peace; I pardon you. " Oh, how great is a priest! The priest will not understand the greatness of his office till he is in Heaven. If he understood it on earth, he would die, not of fear, but of love. The other benefits of God would be of no avail to us without the priest. What would be the use of a house full of gold, if you had nobody to open you the door! The priest has the key of the heavenly treasures; it is he who opens the door; he is the steward of the good God, the distributor of His wealth. Without the priest, the Death and Passion of Our Lord would be of no avail. Look at the heathens: what has it availed them that Our Lord has died? Alas! they can have no share in the blessings of Redemption, while they have no priests to apply His Blood to their souls!

The priest is not a priest for himself; he does not give himself absolution; he does not administer the Sacraments to himself. He is not for himself, he is for you. After God, the priest is everything. Leave a parish twenty years without priests; they will worship beasts. If the missionary Father and I were to go away, you would say, "What can we do in this church? there is no Mass; Our Lord is no longer there: we may as well pray at home. " When people wish to destroy religion, they begin by attacking the priest, because where there is no longer any priest there is no sacrifice, and where there is no longer any sacrifice there is no religion.

When the bell calls you to church, if you were asked, "Where are you going?" you might answer, "I am going to feed my soul. " If someone were to ask you, pointing to the tabernacle, "What is that golden door?" "That is our storehouse, where the true Food of our souls is kept. " "Who has the key? Who lays in the provisions? Who makes ready the feast, and who serves the table?" "The priest. " "And what is the Food?" "The precious Body and Blood of Our Lord. " O God! O God! how Thou hast loved us! See the power of the priest; out of a piece of bread the word of a priest makes a God. It is more than creating the world. . . . Someone said, "Does Saint Philomena, then, obey the Cure of Ars?" Indeed, she may well obey him, since God obeys him.

If I were to meet a priest and an angel, I should salute the priest before I saluted the angel. The latter is the friend of God; but the priest holds His place. Saint Teresa kissed the ground where a priest had passed. When you see a priest, you should say, "There is he who made me a child of God, and opened Heaven to me by holy Baptism; he who purified me after I had sinned; who gives nourishment to my soul. " At the sight of a church tower, you may say, "What is there in that place?" "The Body of Our Lord. " "Why is He there?" "Because a priest has been there, and has said holy Mass. "

What joy did the Apostles feel after the Resurrection of Our Lord, at seeing the Master whom they had loved so much! The priest must feel the same joy, at seeing Our Lord whom he holds in his hands. Great value is attached to objects which have been laid in the drinking cup of the Blessed Virgin and of the Child Jesus, at Loretto. But the fingers of the priest, that have touched the adorable Flesh of Jesus Christ, that have been plunged into the chalice which contained His Blood, into the pyx where His Body has lain, are they not still more precious? The priesthood is the love of the Heart of Jesus. When you see the priest, think of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko

Quotes from Bl. John Paul II on Priestly Vocations

"I am often asked, especially by young people, why I became a priest.  Maybe some of you would like to ask the same question.  Let me try briefly to reply.  I must begin by saying that it is impossible to explain entirely.  For it remains a mystery, even to myself.  How does one explain the ways of God?  Yet, I know that, at a certain point in my life, I became convinced that Christ was saying to me what he had said to thousands before me: 'Come, follow me!'  There was a clear sense that what I heard in my heart was no human voice, nor was it just an idea of my own.  Christ was calling me to serve him as a priest.

And you can probably tell that I am deeply grateful to God for my vocation to the priesthood.  Nothing means more to me or gives me greater joy that to celebrate Mass each day and to serve God's people in the Church.  That has been true ever since the day of my ordination as a priest.  Nothing has ever changed this, not even becoming Pope."

(Los Angeles, USA, September 14, 1987)

More young men in Australia are answering the call to Priesthood

A Priest never belongs to himself - Pope Benedict XVI

VATICAN CITY, APRIL 5, 2012 (Zenit.org).- Here is a Vatican translation of the homily Benedict XVI gave at the Holy Thursday chrism Mass.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

At this Holy Mass our thoughts go back to that moment when, through prayer and the laying on of hands, the bishop made us sharers in the priesthood of Jesus Christ, so that we might be "consecrated in truth" (Jn 17:19), as Jesus besought the Father for us in his high-priestly prayer. He himself is the truth. He has consecrated us, that is to say, handed us over to God for ever, so that we can offer men and women a service that comes from God and leads to him. But does our consecration extend to the daily reality of our lives – do we operate as men of God in fellowship with Jesus Christ? 

This question places the Lord before us and us before him. "Are you resolved to be more united with the Lord Jesus and more closely conformed to him, denying yourselves and confirming those promises about sacred duties towards Christ’s Church which, prompted by love of him, you willingly and joyfully pledged on the day of your priestly ordination?" After this homily, I shall be addressing that question to each of you here and to myself as well. Two things, above all, are asked of us: there is a need for an interior bond, a configuration to Christ, and at the same time there has to be a transcending of ourselves, a renunciation of what is simply our own, of the much-vaunted self-fulfilment. We need, I need, not to claim my life as my own, but to place it at the disposal of another – of Christ. I should be asking not what I stand to gain, but what I can give for him and so for others. Or to put it more specifically, this configuration to Christ, who came not to be served but to serve, who does not take, but rather gives – what form does it take in the often dramatic situation of the Church today? 

Recently a group of priests from a European country issued a summons to disobedience, and at the same time gave concrete examples of the forms this disobedience might take, even to the point of disregarding definitive decisions of the Church’s Magisterium, such as the question of women’s ordination, for which Blessed Pope John Paul II stated irrevocably that the Church has received no authority from the Lord. Is disobedience a path of renewal for the Church? We would like to believe that the authors of this summons are motivated by concern for the Church, that they are convinced that the slow pace of institutions has to be overcome by drastic measures, in order to open up new paths and to bring the Church up to date. But is disobedience really a way to do this? Do we sense here anything of that configuration to Christ which is the precondition for all true renewal, or do we merely sense a desperate push to do something to change the Church in accordance with one’s own preferences and ideas?

But let us not oversimplify matters. Surely Christ himself corrected human traditions which threatened to stifle the word and the will of God? Indeed he did, so as to rekindle obedience to the true will of God, to his ever enduring word. His concern was for true obedience, as opposed to human caprice. Nor must we forget: he was the Son, possessed of singular authority and responsibility to reveal the authentic will of God, so as to open up the path for God’s word to the world of the nations. And finally: he lived out his task with obedience and humility all the way to the Cross, and so gave credibility to his mission. Not my will, but thine be done: these words reveal to us the Son, in his humility and his divinity, and they show us the true path.

Let us ask again: do not such reflections serve simply to defend inertia, the fossilization of traditions? No. Anyone who considers the history of the post-conciliar era can recognize the process of true renewal, which often took unexpected forms in living movements and made almost tangible the inexhaustible vitality of holy Church, the presence and effectiveness of the Holy Spirit. And if we look at the people from whom these fresh currents of life burst forth and continue to burst forth, then we see that this new fruitfulness requires being filled with the joy of faith, the radicalism of obedience, the dynamic of hope and the power of love.

Continued here:  Pope Benedict on the Priesthood - Zenit

Fishers of Men - Trailer