of sacred things, the legitimate ministers of the divine worship; and of such persons the power might, in a certain sense, be called spiritual.
With this power the priesthood of the Old Law was also in vested; but, although superior in dignity to that exercised under the law of nature, it was far inferior to the spiritual power enjoyed under the Gospel dispensation. The power, with which the Christian priesthood is clothed, is a heavenly power, raised above that of angels: it has its source not in the Levitical priesthood, but in Christ the Lord, who was a priest not according to Aaron, but according to the order of Melchisedech. [1] He it is who, endowed with supreme authority to grant pardon and grace, has bequeathed this power to his Church, a power limited, however, in its extent, and attached to the sacraments.
To exercise this power, therefore, ministers are appointed and solemnly consecrated, and this solemn consecration is denominated " Ordination," or " the Sacrament of Orders." To designate this Sacrament, the word " Orders" has been made use of by the Holy Fathers, because its signification is very comprehensive, and, therefore, well adapted to convey an idea of the dignity and excellence of the ministers of God. Under stood in its strict and proper acceptation, order is the disposition of superior and subordinate parts, which, when united, present a combination so harmonious as to stand in mutual and accord ant relations. Comprising then, as the ministry does, many gradations and various functions, and disposed, as all these gradations and functions are, with the greatest regularity, this Sacrament is very appropriately called " the Sacrament of Orders,"
That Holy Orders are to be numbered amongst the Sacraments of the Church, the Council of Trent establishes on the same principle to which we have so often referred in proving the other Sacraments. A Sacrament is a sensible sign of an invisible grace, and with these characters Holy Orders are in vested: their external forms are a sensible sign of the grace and power which they confer on the receiver: Holy Orders, therefore, are really and truly a Sacrament. [2] Hence the bishop, handing to the candidate for priest's orders, a chalice which contains wine and water, and a patena with bread, says: " receive the power of offering Sacrifice," &c., words which, according to the uniform interpretation of the Church, impart power, when the proper matter is supplied, of consecrating the Holy Eucharist, and impress a character on the soul. To this power is annexed grace duly and lawfully to discharge the priestly office, according to these words of the Apostle: "I admonish thee, that thou stir up the grace of God which is in
- ↑ Heb. vii. 11.
- ↑ Sess. 23. de online, ordinem esse sacramentum vid. Trid. sess. 23. de ordine. c. I. et 3. et can. 3, 4, 5. Cone. Florent. in decret. de sacr. Aug. lib. 2. contr. epist. Parmen. cap. 13. de bono conjug. cap. 24. et lib. 1. de bapt. contra Donat. c 1. Leo. epist. 18. Greg, in c. 10. libr. 1. Reg.
