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Type of Sacrament:
'Sacrament of the Living' (click
here for more info.)
Is Sacrament Obligatory?
No.
Recipients:
Certain
Catholic men who have been baptized & confirmed
Click
Here for 'Top Reasons Why Women Can't Be Priests'
Can This Sacrament Be Repeated?
No
When Should Sacrament Be Received?
After appropriate preparation, according to the dictates of
the Church
General
Prerequisites:
A divine calling, holiness, knowledge,
prudence, proper intention / faith, canonical fitness / no
impediments, proper preparation, maturity, specified age, state of
grace, willingness to live according to all applicable dictates of
the Church (e.g. celibacy/chastity)
"Can.
1029 Only those are to be promoted to orders who, in the prudent
judgment of their own bishop or of the competent major superior,
all things considered, have sound faith, are motivated by the
right intention, have the requisite knowledge, possess a good
reputation, and are endowed with integral morals and proven
virtues and the other physical and psychic qualities in keeping
with the order to be received." (1983 Code of Canon Law)
Ministers:
Bishops
Form /
Matter: Prayer, laying on of hands (by the bishop). Also,
holy chrism may be used (e.g. for bishops & priests)
Chief
Effects:
*
Imparts an indelible character on the soul of the priest, a
"spiritual character": "[T]hose who have been
ordained are distinguished from the rest of the faithful by a
certain interior mark impressed on the soul, by which they are
dedicated to the divine worship." (Catechism of the Council
of Trent)
*
Conferral of the Holy Spirit: "If any one saith, that, by
sacred ordination, the Holy Ghost is not given; and that vainly
therefore do the bishops say, Receive ye the Holy Ghost; or, that
a character is not imprinted by that ordination; or, that he who
has once been a priest, can again become a layman; let him be
anathema." (Council of Trent)
*
The sacrament confers a twofold power: the power of orders and the
power of jurisdiction: "The Church possesses and confers on
her pastors the power of orders and the power of jurisdiction;
that is, the power to administer the Sacraments and sanctify the
faithful, and the power to teach and make laws that direct the
faithful to their spiritual good. A bishop has the full power of
orders and the Pope alone has the full power of
jurisdiction." (Baltimore Catechism)
*
The sacrament confers the power of consecrating the Eucharist,
forgiving sin, administering the Sacraments, and preaching.
*
The sacrament confers the power of acting 'In Persona Christi' ('In
the Person of Christ').
*
The sacrament imparts the grace necessary for the "due and
proper discharge of office".
*
"[T]he Sacrament of Orders...confers on the soul of him who
is ordained the grace of sanctification, fitting and qualifying
him for the proper discharge of his functions and for the
administration of the Sacraments, in the same way as by the grace
of Baptism each one is qualified to receive the other Sacraments."
(Catechism of the Council of Trent)
Additional
Information:
*
All the sacraments depend upon Holy Orders: "If one
attentively considers the nature and essence of the other
Sacraments, it will readily be seen that they all depend on the
Sacrament of Orders to such an extent that without it some of them
could not be constituted or administered at all; while others
would be deprived of all their solemn ceremonies, as well as of a
certain part of the religious respect and exterior honor accorded
to them." (Catechism of the Council of Trent)
*
There is no more noble function than that of priest & bishop:
"Bishops and priests being, as they are, God's interpreters
and ambassadors, empowered in His name to teach mankind the divine
law and the rules of conduct, and holding, as they do, His place
on earth, it is evident that no nobler function than theirs can be
imagined." (Catechism of the Council of Trent)
*
No one has a 'right' to receive Holy Orders.
*
Only Bishops have the "fullness of the sacrament of Holy
Orders". They are the direct successors to the apostles.
Priests assist the bishops.
*
The priesthood is necessary: "The Catholic Priesthood is
necessary in the Church, because without it the faithful would be
deprived of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and of the greater part
of the sacraments; they would have no one to instruct them in the
faith; and they would be as sheep without a shepherd... [I]n short, the Church, such as Christ instituted it, would
no longer exist." (Catechism of St. Pius X)
*
Traditionally, seven orders were employed (porter, lector,
exorcist, acolyte, subdeacon, deacon and priest) through which a
man was raised step by step from the lower to higher orders. These
orders were traditionally divided into major (or sacred), and
minor orders. Note that the different orders are not
different sacraments: "These different orders are not
separate Sacraments. Taken all together, some are a preparation
for the Sacrament and the rest are but the one Sacrament of Holy
Orders; as the roots, trunk and branches form but one tree."
(Baltimore Catechism) [Note: Various changes were implemented
in the wake of the Second Vatican Council. However, traditional religious
orders may still use these major / minor orders.]
*
The priesthood was instituted at the Last Supper: "Jesus Christ instituted the Sacerdotal Order at the Last Supper when he conferred on the Apostles and their successors the power of
consecrating the Blessed Eucharist. Then on the day of His resurrection He conferred on them the power of remitting and retaining sin, thus
constituting them the first Priests of the New Law in all the fullness of their power."
(Catechism of St. Pius X)
*
"[W]hile all the other Sacraments impart grace to the
recipient for his own use and sanctification, he, on the other
hand, who receives Holy Orders is made partaker of the heavenly
grace precisely that by his ministry he may promote the welfare of
the Church and therefore all of mankind." (Catechism of the
Council of Trent)
*
Priests are necessary for our salvation: "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!" (Catechism of St. John Vianney)
*
Priests have an awesome dignity and are therefore worthy of great
respect:
"The dignity of the Christian Priesthood is great indeed, because of the two-fold power which Jesus Christ has conferred upon it
- that over His real Body and that over His mystical Body, or the Church; and because of the divine mission committed to priests to lead men to eternal life."
(Catechism of St. Pius X)
"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. St. 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.'" (Catechism of St. John Vianney)
"It is a very grave sin, because the scorn and insults cast on Priests fall upon Jesus Christ Himself, who said to His Apostles: He who despises
you, despises Me." (Catechism of St. Pius X)
"In
all ages, priests have been held in the highest honor; yet the
priests of the New Testament far exceed all others. For the power
of consecrating and offering the Body and Blood of our Lord and of
forgiving sins, which has been conferred on them, not only has
nothing equal or like to it on earth, but even surpasses human
reason and understanding." (Catechism of the Council of
Trent)
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