of labouring earnestly for the attainment of perfection. All Christians, whatever may be their condition or state of life, are bound to labour in their own station for the attainment of perfection. For Jesus Christ laid on all the command of loving God with their whole heart, with their whole mind, and with their whole soul; and has said to all, "Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect." But although all Christians are strictly bound to aspire after the attainment of perfection, by virtue of their sublime character of disciples of Christ — yet religious persons have a still more direct obligation of labouring to this end, because they have consecrated themselves in an especial manner to God by the profession of the religious vows. Having bound themselves by a most solemn engagement to the practice of the evangelical counsels for their whole life, they have incurred an additional duty of detaching themselves from created things, that they may attain to an intimate union with God, and render their whole life a constant and perpetual holocaust to the Divine Majesty; although religious persons,' as the angelic doctor St. Thomas teaches, 'are not bound to be actually possessed of perfect charity; yet they are bound to work and labour earnestly for its attainment.' Now, from this principle that religious persons are under a particular obligation to labour for the attainment of perfection, arises their more especial duty of applying themselves to the practice of prayer. For as the work of advancing in the way of holiness, and of attaining to an intimate union with God, is the greatest and highest blessing which God can bestow upon His creatures, it would be the highest folly and presumption to expect to receive such a grace from God through any 1 Matt. v. 48. 6 other means than that of humble, frequent, and fervent prayer. Oh! that all religious persons would reflect diligently on this point, and resolve to avail themselves of the instructions which it contains. Oh! that they would use as much diligence in praying as they do in proposing curious questions;' and then there would not be so great evils committed, nor so much relaxation in monasteries. Verily, when the day of judgment comes, we shall not be examined as to what we have read, but what we have done; nor how learnedly we have spoken, but how religiously we have lived." Let all religious imprint deeply in their mind what is taught by all the Saints, that, by virtue of their profession, it belongs especially to them to be men of prayer; and that whilst their bodies are upon earth, their hearts and souls ought to be in heaven. SECTION III. On the especial necessity of prayer for persons engaged in the sacred ministry. All persons who are consecrated to God in the sacred ministry have renounced the deceitful joys of this world, and taken God for their only inheritance. Speaking to the priests of old, who were but a shadow of those of the new law, our Lord said to them, that He had chosen and separated them from the rest of the people, that they might be entirely His own; and for this reason, whilst He assigned to all the tribes of Israel a portion of the promised land, He would not allot any to the tribe of Aaron, because He Himself was to be their possession, their glory, their happiness, their every good. This high prerogative, 1 Kempis, book i. chap. iii. N.S. which belonged to the priests of the old law, is in a still stricter sense bestowed on the ministers of the Gospel,— on the priests of Jesus Christ, who excel in dignity those of the old law as much as heaven surpasses earth, as the reality exceeds the type. Hence it is that from the very moment a person is ascribed among the clerical host, in his first step towards the sacred ministry, he promises in a most solemn manner to take God for his only possession in these words: The Lord is the part of my inheritance and of my cup; it is Thou that wilt restore my inheritance to me.' From these simple reflections it is clear that the priests of the new law, the ministers of Christ, 'who are taken from among men, and ordained for them in the things that appertain to God,' are persons set apart from the rest of mankind, and appointed to the high privileges of a regular and continual intercourse and communication with their sovereign Lord. But how can this be accomplished, how can such intercourse be carried on, except by the practice of constant and fervent prayer? Another reason which causes the ministers of God to stand in further need of holy prayer is, the great purity and holiness of life which is demanded of them by the sublimity of their character and their elevation to the rank they possess. We read in the Holy Scripture that even the priests of the old law were expected to be holy: They shall be holy to their Lord, and shall not profane His name; for they offer the burnt-offering to the Lord, and the bread of their God, and therefore they shall be holy." Now, if the priests of the old covenant, whose highest charge was to offer only calves and oxen, were commanded to be holy, what shall we say of the priests of the new covenant, who are appointed to offer up to God Levit. xxi. 6. by their own hands a victim of infinite value, the real body and blood of the Son of God! Who can describe the degree of holiness which is demanded from them! 'Priests should be so holy,' says St. John Chrysostom, 'that all may look on them as models of sanctity; because God has placed them upon earth that they might live like angels, and be luminaries and teachers of virtue to all around them.' 'Great is the dignity of the priesthood,' says St. Laurence Justinian, but great also is the burden which it imposes. The priests being raised to a high degree of honour, must also excel by a high degree of sanctity.' And St. Thomas teaches that the priestly state requires a degree of virtue still higher than that which is required from the religious state. For a simple religious is only obliged, in virtue of his vocation, to aspire after the attainment of perfection, but is not bound to be already in the actual possession of it; whereas a priest, before being admitted to his sublime profession, is already required to be a man actually holy. In another place he says, that, in order to perform worthily the functions of the priestly office, it is not sufficient to have only an ordinary degree of virtue, but it is necessary that he be endowed with an excellent virtue, Ad idoneam executionem ordinum non sufficit bonitas qualiscumque, sed requiritur bonitas excellens. Those who are engaged in the celebration of the divine mysteries, says he in another place, must be perfect in virtue. Interior perfection is necessary to the worthy performance of the priestly functions.4 From these and similar passages it is manifest that it is expected of priests to possess a firm and well-grounded 2 Suppl. quæst. 35. art. i. 12. 2. quæst. 184, art. viii. virtue, and that they should greatly excel the faithful in point of holiness; they ought to be shining luminaries in the house of God, that they may so enlighten and edify by their bright and virtuous examples all around them. But how shall they be able to effect this without the help of frequent and fervent prayer? The necessity of prayer for priests may be enforced further by the following reason: The office of priest being one of the greatest dignity, demands a high degree of purity and holiness from all those who are called to it, but is, at the same time, encompassed with many dangers; and the individuals who fulfil its duties meet with continual occasions of sin. Thus if, whilst labouring in Christ's vineyard, their undertakings are blessed by God with a prosperous success, they are in danger of yielding to the spirit of pride; and if their labours prove unsuccessful, and fail to produce the desired effect, they are tempted to give way to anxiety and despondence, and to abandon the good work. If their occupation in the sacred ministry is but light and easy, they are in danger of falling into idleness and sloth, to the great prejudice of their own souls; and if they have abundance of external work, they have to dread the danger to which they are exposed, of leading a life of constant distraction. But the greatest danger to which priests are exposed in the performance of their office arises from their intercourse with the world, from their necessary communication with sinners. The priests are set by God over His people, that they may destroy and build up; namely, that they may remove scandals from the midst of the people, heal their wounds, cleanse their souls, remedy their evils, and lead them to the port of salvation. Nothing can be more noble, |