thee, by the imposition of my hands; for God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of sobriety." [1]
With regard to the number of orders, to use the words of the Council of Trent, " As the ministry of so exalted a priesthood is a divine thing, it was meet, in order to surround it with the greater dignity and veneration, that in the admirable economy of the Church there should be several distinct orders of ministers, intended by their office to serve the priesthood, and so disposed, as that, beginning with the clerical tonsure, they may ascend gradually through .the lesser to the greater orders." Their number, according to the uniform and universal doctrine of the Catholic Church, is seven, Porter, Reader, Exorcist, Acolyte, Sub-deacon, Deacon, and Priest. [2] That these compose the number of ministers in the Church may be proved from the functions necessary to the solemn celebration of Mass, and to the consecration and administration of the Holy Eucharist, for which they were principally instituted. Of these some are greater, which are also called " Holy," some lesser, which are called " Minor Orders." The greater or Holy Orders are Subdeaconship, Deaconship, and Priesthood; the lesser or Minor Orders are Porter, Reader, Exorcist, and Acolyte. To facilitate the duty of the pastor, particularly when conveying instruction to those who are about to be initiated in any of the orders, it is necessary to say a few words on each.
We shall begin with the tonsure, which is a sort of preparation for receiving orders: As persons are prepared for baptism by exorcisms, and for marriage by espousals, so those who are consecrated to God by tonsure, are prepared for admission to the Sacrament of Orders. Tonsure declares what manner of person he should be, who desires to receive orders: the name of " Clerk," (clericus) which he receives then for the first time, implies [3] that thenceforward he has taken the Lord for his inheritance, like those who, in the Old Law, were consecrated to the service of God, and to whom the Lord forbade that any portion of the ground should be distributed in the land of promise, saying, " I am thy portion and thy inheritance." [4] This, although true of all Christians, applies in a special manner to those who have been consecrated to the ministry. [5] In tonsure the hair of the head is cut in form of a crown, and should be worn in that form, enlarging the crown according as the ecclesiastic advances in Orders. This form of the Tonsure the Church teaches to be of Apostolic origin: it is mentioned by the most ancient and venerable Fathers, by St. Denis the Areopagite, [6]
- ↑ Tim. i. 6.
- ↑ Horum ordinum rr.eminerunt Dionys. lib. Eccl. Hier. cap. 3. Cornel. Papa in epist ad Fab. episcop Antioch. extat apud Euseh. Hist. Eccles, lib. 6. cap. 35 Cone. Garth. 4. can. 4. et seq. Ignat. epist. ad Antioch.
- ↑ elnrow 35, sors. a lot. T.
- ↑ Num. xviii. 20.
- ↑ Vid. Hieron. epist. 2. ad Nepot. et citatur 12. q. 1. c. clericus.
- ↑ Dionys. de Eccles. Hier. c. 6. part. 2.
