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'Alter
Christus' / 'In Persona Christi' ('Another Christ'
/ 'In the Person of Christ') |
"If we had faith, we could discern God
hidden in the person of the priest, like a light behind a
glass." (St. John Vianney)
"When you see the priest, think of our Lord
Jesus Christ." (St. John Vianney)
"Neither angel nor archangel is able to do
anything in respect to what is given by God; rather Father and Son
and Holy Spirit manage it all; but the priest lends his own tongue
and presents his own hand." (St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of
the Church, c. 391
A.D.)
"If the priest is called 'another Christ'
and is truly such by reason of his sharing in Christ's power,
should he not also become and be recognized as another Christ
through imitation of Christ's deeds?" (Pope St. Pius X,
"Haerent Animo", 1908 A.D.)
"If Christ Jesus, our Lord and God, is
Himself the High Priest of God the Father; and if He offered
Himself as a sacrifice to the Father; and if He commanded that
this be done in commemoration of Himself - then certainly the
priest, who imitates that which Christ did, truly functions in
place of Christ." (St. Cyprian of Carthage, 3rd century A.D.)
"The
priest is the same, Jesus Christ, whose sacred Person His minister
represents. Now the minister, by reason of the sacerdotal
consecration which he has received, is made like to the High
Priest and possesses the power of performing actions in virtue of
Christ's very person. Wherefore in his priestly activity he in a
certain manner 'lends his tongue, and gives his hand' to
Christ." (Pope Pius XII, "Mediator Dei", 1947 A.D.)
"Through
the character of Sacred Orders, God willed to ratify that eternal
covenant of love, by which He loves His priests above all others;
and they are obliged to repay God for this special love with
holiness of life... So a cleric should be considered as a man
chosen and set apart from the midst of the people, and blessed in
a very special way with heavenly gifts - a sharer in divine power,
and, to put it briefly, another Christ... He is no longer supposed
to live for himself; nor can he devote himself to the interests of
just his own relatives, or friends or native land... He must be
aflame with charity toward everyone. Not even his thoughts, his
will, his feelings belong to him, for they are rather those of
Jesus Christ who is his life." (Pope Pius XII)
"The Apostle of the Gentiles thus
perfectly sums up what may be said of the greatness, the dignity
and the duty of the Christian priesthood: Sic nos existimet homo
Ut ministros Christi et dispensatores mysteriorum Dei - 'Let a man
so account of us as of the ministers of Christ and the dispensers
of the mysteries of God.' The priest is the minister of Christ, an
instrument, that is to say, in the hands of the Divine Redeemer.
He continues the work of the redemption in all its world-embracing
universality and divine efficacy, that work that wrought so
marvelous a transformation in the world. Thus the priest, as is
said with good reason, is indeed 'another Christ'; for, in some
way, he is himself a continuation of Christ. 'As the Father hath
sent Me, I also send you,' is spoken to the priest, and hence the
priest, like Christ, continues to give 'glory to God in the
highest and on earth peace to men of good will.'" (Pope Pius XI, "Ad
Catholici Sacerdotii", 1935 A.D.)
"Let
your first care be to form Christ in those who are destined from
the duty of their vocation to form Him in others. We speak of the
priests, Venerable Brethren. For all who bear the seal of the
priesthood must know that they have the same mission to the people
in the midst of whom they live as that which Paul proclaimed that
he received in these tender words: 'My little children, of whom I
am in labor again until Christ be formed in you' (Gal. iv., 19).
But how will they be able to perform this duty if they be not
first clothed with Christ themselves? And so clothed with Christ
as to be able to say with the Apostle: 'I live, yet not I, but
Christ lives in me' (Ibid. ii., 20). 'For me to live is Christ'
(Phlipp. i., 21). Hence although all are included in the
exhortation 'to advance towards the perfect man, in the measure of
the age of the fullness of Christ' (Ephes. iv., 3), it is
addressed before all others to those who exercise the sacerdotal
ministry; thus these are called another Christ, not merely by the
communication of power but by reason of the imitation of His
works, and they should therefore bear stamped upon themselves the
image of Christ." (Pope St. Pius X, "E Supremi", 1903 A.D.)
"[T]he
priesthood is a great gift of the Divine Redeemer, Who, in order
to perpetuate the work of redemption of the human race which He
completed on the Cross, confided His powers to the Church which He
wished to be a participator in His unique and everlasting
Priesthood. The priest is like 'another Christ' because he is
marked with an indelible character making him, as it were, a
living image of our Savior. The priest represents Christ Who said
'As the Father has sent me, I also send you'; 'he who hears you,
hears me'. Admitted to this most sublime ministry by a call from
heaven, 'he is appointed for men in the things pertaining to God,
that he may offer gifts and sacrifices [e.g. the Holy Sacrifice of
the Mass] for sins'. To him must come
anyone who wishes to live the life of the Divine Redeemer and who
desires to receive strength, comfort and nourishment for his soul;
from him the salutary medicine must be sought by anyone who wishes
to rise from sin and lead a good life. Hence all priests may apply
to themselves with full right the words of the Apostle of the
Gentiles: 'We are God's helpers'. This lofty dignity demands from
priests that they react to their exalted office with the strictest
fidelity. Since they are destined to promote the glory of God on
earth and to cherish and increase the Mystical Body of Christ,
they must be outstanding by the sanctity of their lives in order
that through them the 'fragrance of Christ' may be spread
everywhere." (Pope Pius XII, "Menti Nostrae", 1950
A.D.)
"The
Catholic priesthood - divine in its origin, supernatural in its
essence, immutable in its character, is not an institution that
can accommodate itself with ease to human systems and opinions. A
participation of the eternal priesthood of Jesus Christ, it must
perpetuate even to the consummation of ages the same mission that
the Eternal Father confided to His Incarnate Word: 'Sicut misit me
Pater, et ego mitto vos.' To work the eternal salvation of souls
will always be the great commandment of which it must never fall
short, as to faithfully fulfil it, it must never cease to have
recourse to those supernatural aids and those divine rules of
thought and of action which Jesus Christ gave His Apostles when He
sent them throughout the whole world to convert the nations to the
Gospel. Therefore St. Paul in his letters reminds us that the
priest can never be anything but the legate, the minister of
Christ, the dispenser of His mysteries, and he represents Him to
us as dwelling in a high place, as a mediator between heaven and
earth, to treat with God, about the supreme interests of the human
race, which are those of everlasting life. The idea that holy
books give us of the Christian priesthood, is that it is a
supernatural institution superior to all those of earth, and as
far separated from them as the divine is from the human. This same
high idea is clearly brought out by the works of the Fathers, the
laws of the Roman Pontiffs, and the Bishops, by the decrees of the
Councils, and by the unanimous teaching of the Doctors and of the
Catholic schools. Above all, the tradition of the Church with one
voice proclaims that the priest is another Christ, and that the
priesthood though exercised on earth merits to be numbered among
the orders of heaven because it is given to them to administer
things that are wholly celestial and upon them is conferred a
power that God has not trusted even to the angels; a power and
ministry which regard the government of souls, and which is the
art of arts." (Pope Leo XIII, "Fin Dal Principio",
1902 A.D.)
Also
See: Priests
& The Sacraments | Priests
& The Holy Eucharist / Mass | Priests
& The Sacrament of Penance | Priests
/ Priesthood [Pg.] | Duties
& Responsibilities of Priests | Holiness
/ Virtue / Purity | Sacraments
Section | Sacraments
Section (Reflections) | Latin
Mass & Catholic Tradition Section
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