Part V: Meditations on Tonsure and Holy Orders(1) (2)

Fifth Meditation

The Order of Subdeaconship

Duties to Our Lord for Having Instituted and Performed

The Duties of Subdeaconship

Adore Christ as the author and Founder of subdeaconship. Honor Him in the designs upon His Church as well as upon you when He established it. Adore Him as the source of the graces contained in this Sacrament, graces earned at the price of His Precious Blood. Adore Him too as He carried out the functions of this Order. The office of Subdeaconship is to serve, that is, to serve God and the Church in the sacrifice of the altar and to assist the Deacon. For this purpose Christ came on earth. "The Son of man is not come to be ministered unto, but to minister," says Sacred Scripture (Matt. 20, 28). Thus, our Saviour spent His life serving God and men. "Behold my servant," said the Eternal Father referring to Him (Isa. 42, 1). And St. Paul says He took the form of a servant, formam servi accipiens (Phil. 2, 7). He brought His life to a close by the menial task of washing His apostles' feet.

Thank Him for the honor rendered His Father by the institution and exercise of this Order, as well as for the graces He merited for mankind through its operation. Offer to Him the glory rendered by those who have worthily discharged the functions of the subdeacon, offering yourself likewise to Him that you, too, may know the dispositions becoming to a servant of God and His Church.

The Goodness of Our Lord in Calling You

To Subdeaconship

Consider the goodness of Christ whereby He chose you from among thousands and honored you with the privilege of subdeaconship. Realize, too, that He thereby associated you with Himself in His mission of Servant of God and the Church.

Thus, before ordaining those who are to become subdeacons, the bishop reminds them to consider attentively and seriously the burden they are about to assume and the obligations they are contracting. He reminds them that they are still free to withdraw and engage in worldly pursuits, ad saecularia vota transire, but after having received subdeaconship they will belong to the Church as perpetual servants: I n ecclesiae ministerio semper mancipatos. To serve her with purity and holiness, they will henceforth be obliged to live in perfect chastity and continence.

Consequently, when you have received or when you will receive this order, know that you will have given, consecrated and delivered yourself wholly to the Church and to God to live chastely in a degree of perfection not asked of others. Be mindful also that "to serve God is to reign. servire Deo regnare est, and that the service of Christ is more honorable than any man could envision. The chaste ecclesiastic is an angel of God on earth.

Thank God for the precious favors you have experienced through your admission to subdeaconship. Ask His pardon for any unfaithfulness of which you have been guilty. Renew your profession of service and chastity, begging Him for the grace to discharge worthily the functions of your Order.

Functions of Subdeacon

The external functions of subdeacon are as follows:

1. To prepare the water for the altar and for baptism

2. To assist the deacon in the ministry of the altar

3. To carry the sacred vessels to the altar for the S~acrifice of the Body and Blood of Christ

4. To wash the corporals and purificators in a vessel especially reserved for the purpose, and-afterwards disposing of the water so used, by emptying it into the baptistery. Likewise, he is to wash the other altar linens, always discharging his duties studiose, nitide et diligentissime.

The interior functions are to employ the water of divine doctrine to wash and purify the spiritual corporals and cloths of the true altar of the Church. That altar is Christ Himself and the corporals and cloths are the members of Christ, that is, God's faithful. The subdeacon must so regulate his own life and morals that they may render him able to discharge worthily the duties of an office which demands holiness and probity.

Thus, when the bishop consecrates a subdeacon, the Church speaking through the mouth of the ordaining prelate begs God to bless, sanctify and consecrate the ordinand. Holy Church implores Him to constitute the subdeacon a tireless and watchful sentinel of the heavenly army. She begs God to send down upon the ordinand the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, counsel and fortitude, knowledge and piety, and the Spirit of the fear of the Lord.

Then the bishop places the amice on the young man's head, saying: "Receive this amice by which i s signified the curbing of the tongue." As he places the maniple on the aspirant's left arm, he says, "Receive the maniple by which is signified the fruit of good works." Then he clothes him with the tunic, saying, "May the Lord clothe thee with the tunic of sweetness and the garment of joy."

These things show clearly that the subdeacon should be filled with the gifts of the Holy Ghost; that he should know how to control his tongue, practise good works and have as his only joy the serving and honoring of God.

Consider these truths and give yourself completely to the Spirit of God that you may acquire gratitude, love and penance and a firm resolution to give yourself wholeheartedly to Jesus, invoking His grace and the assistance of His Mother, and of the holy priests and levites in heaven.

Ejaculatory Prayer: "0 Lord, for I am thy servant: I am thy servant and the servant of thy Church." 0 Domine, quia ego servus tuus: ego semus tuus et servus Ecclesiae tuae. 231-

Sixth Meditation

The Order of Deaconship

Duties to Christ for Having Instituted Deaconship

Adore our Saviour as the Author and Founder of the Order of Deaconship, and the source of all the graces contained in this sacrament. Adore Him, too, in the designs He conceived for His Church and for you in particular when He instituted deaconship. Thank Him for the honor given His Father through its medium and for the manifold graces it has brought to mankind. Ask His pardon for not having discharged its obligations properly, giving yourself unreservedly to Him with the firm intention of working only for His honor and glory.

The Chief Duty of the Deacon is to Preach the Gospel

One of the most beautiful and saintly qualities with which the Eternal Father endowed His Son i s enunciated in these words of Sacred Scripture: I am appointed King by him over Sion his holy mountain preaching his commandment" (PS. 2, 6). Christ was the sovereign Preacher of the.divine word. The principal office He discharged while on earth was to preach and He Himself stated that He had been sent from heaven for that purpose, «I must preach the Kingdom of God: for therefore am I sent »(Luke 4, 43).

The Master has associated you or will associate you with Himself in this noble and sublime office, for one of the principal duties of the deacon is to preach the word of God. "The deacon must minister at the altar, baptize and preach," says the bishop to the ordinand.

Thank God, then, for this favor He confers upon you. Realize your unworthiness, and give yourself to the Saviour that you may excite within your heart the proper dispositions to discharge your duties worthily. Seek to know the dispositions with which the Lord exercised these functions. Endeavor to put into practice the injunction already given or about to be given you by the bishop: "Take care that you may illustrate the gospel, by your living works, to those to whom you announce it with your lips, so that it may be said of you, Blessed are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things." These words mean simply that you should so live that your every action may be as it were a tongue or a voice, vox clamantis (Matt. 3, 3), exhorting the faithful to serve and love God.

Additional Duties of the Deacon

The remaining duties of the deacon are:

1. To serve the priest at the altar. Deacons are therefore the levites of the Gospel, carrying out in the New Law those duties devolving upon the levites of the Old Testament, who served the priests in the tabernacle.

2. To confer the Sacrament of Baptism

3. To administer Holy Communion. Hence, the Pontifical calls them "co-ministers of the Body and Blood of Christ," inasmuch as they cooperate with the priest in the administration of the Body and Blood of Our Lord.

Christ fulfilled all these duties while He was on earth. He was the servant of His Father: Ecce servus meus (Is. 42, 1). He baptized the

apostles: Hic est qui baptizat in Spiritu Sancto (John 1, 33). With His own hands He administered to them His Body and Blood.

Thus, in elevating you to the dignity of the deaconship He has shared His own prerogatives with you. What admirable goodness! What heartfelt praise you should offer Him! What confusion should fill you at the realization of your failure to live up to His generosity and for the indignities and ingratitude you have offered Him! How saintly should be the life of a deacon! No wonder St. Paul says that a deacon must be proved before being received; they must be "chaste, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre: holding the mystery of faith in a pure conscience" (i Tim. 3, 8-9).

Finally, take well to heart the words of the bishop, "Be ye pure and chaste as becoming ministers of Christ and dispensers of the mysteries of God." Ask our Blessed Lord for these requisites.

Ejaculatory Prayer: "Grant, 0 Lord Jesus, that among Thy dispensers I may be found faithful." Da mihi, Domine Jesu, ut inter dispensatores tuos fidelis inveniar.

234-

Seventh Meditation

The Priesthood

Duties to Our Lord in Return for the Institution

Of the Priesthood

Adore Christ as the sovereign Priest, Author of the Order of the Priesthood and Source of all graces contained in this august sacrament. Adore Him in all His holy designs upon His Church and upon you when He founded it. Adore Him in His divine exercise of the functions of the priesthood while He was on earth, thanking Him for the glory He rendered His Father, and for the grace He bestowed upon the whole Church and upon you in particular. Ask His pardon for having impeded the operation of this grace within your own soul, and beg Him to help you to be more faithful in the future.

Excellence of the Sacerdotal Functions

Ponder what the bishop says to the young man presented as a candidate for the priesthood.

He reminds him that the ancients, whom God commanded Moses to appoint to govern the Chosen People, were but figures and shadows of the priests of the New Law; and that the priests of today are the

successors of the seventy-two disciples selected by the Master. They are doctores fidei, comites Apostolorum, cooperatores ordinis episcopalis.

The bishop then instructs the ordinand that the sacerdotal office comprises the following functions:

1. To change the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, to offer Him sacrifice and give Him the people

2. To preach the word of God

3. To baptize

4. Praeesse,.that is, to rule and guide souls towards eternity

5. To forgive sins or withhold absolution

6. To bless. Hence when the bishop anoints the hands of the ordinand with holy oil, he says: "Deign to consecrate and sanctify, we beseech Thee, 0 Lord, these hands by this holy anointing and our blessing; that whatsoever they may bless may be blessed; and that whatsoever they may consecrate may be consecrated and sanctified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen." Remember that all these qualities and functions belong only to the divine and infinite power of God. Consequently, when He admitted you to the priesthood, He elevated you to a divine and infinite dignity. Consequently, you incur obligations which are infinite in character and obligate you to thank God constantly, to love Him and to surrender yourself completely to Him that you may worthily discharge your duties. Let this be your resolution.

Means of Conserving the Grace of Ordination

Weigh well the words spoken by the Holy Ghost through St. Paul: "Neglect not the grace that is i n thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the imposition of the hands of the priesthood" (1 Tim. 4, 14).

I admonish thee that thou stir up the grace of God which is in thee. by imposition of my hands" (2 Tim. 1 , 6).

If Timothy, to whom these words were addressed, himself a saint and martyr, needed this salutary admonition, how much more is it necessary for you!

To preserve and revivify the grace of ordination, or to dispose yourself to receive it, three things are necessary:

1. Destroy within you by penance whatsoever is opposed to it

2. Cultivate a high esteem of the priesthood and its duties. Entertain an intense desire to discharge its obligations in holiness. Put into practice the beautiful words spoken by the bishop to the ordinand:

"As you, therefore, beloved children, have been chosen by the voice of our brethren to be consecrated as our coadjutors, preserve the purity of your lives in unspotted holiness. Reflect seriously on what you do. Let your conduct be in conformity with the action you perform, so that celebrating the mystery of the Lord's death, you take heed to mortify your members from all vices and lusts. Let your doctrine be spiritual medicine for the people of God; let the odor of your life be the delight of the Church of Christ; so that you may build up the house, that is the family of God . . ."

3. Be ever mindful of your need of God's grace for the fulfilment of your priestly duties. Beg of Him that He may assist you. Pray to the Blessed Virgin and all the holy priests and levites in heaven.

Ejaculatory Prayer: "0 sweet Jesus, grant that the odor of our life may be the delight of thy Church." 0 bone Jesu, fac ut bonus odor vitae nostrae sit delectamentum Ecclesiae tuae.

237-

Eighth Meditation

The Feast of the Priesthood(1)

Jesus Christ is the Sovereign Priest

Let us consider and adore our Lord Jesus Christ as the supreme High Priest, exercising with infinite sanctity the sacerdotal functions by which He procured unlimited glory for His Heavenly Father, destroyed sin, merited for us all the appropriate graces necessary to our salvation and placed before our eyes the living example and the perfect rule that we must follow if we would exercise worthily these same great functions.

Let us give profound thanks to Him for all these miracles, beseeching the angels, and the saints, especially all the holy priests and levites, and the Blessed Virgin Mary to help us to bless and thank our Sovereign Priest for His incomparable gifts.

Institution of the Catholic Priesthood by Our Lord

Let us consider our good Saviour as the Founder, the Head and Superior of the Holy Order of the priesthood, as the Principle and the (1). The Feast of the Priesthood was formerly celebrated by the Eudist Fathers, the Sulpicians and other religious congregations on November 13.

Fountain of the boundless wealth of graces and blessings contained in Holy Orders and as the Sanctifier of all holy priests and levites.

Let us thank Our Lord and summon all the angels and saints in heaven to thank Him with us, for the infinite favor conferred upon the Church in establishing the priesthood, and in raising up her Priests on whom He has bestowed such admirable powers, for the benefit of the faithful, enabling each chosen priest to offer the wonderful sacrifice of the altar, to administer on their behalf His Sacred Body and His Precious Blood, to wipe out the sins of the faithful and to reconcile them with God, in short, to close hell against them and to open heaven for them.

We shall also bless Our Lord, the High Priest, for the countless graces He has conferred on earth on all His holy priests and levites, and for all the glory and happiness which He communicates to them i n heaven. We shall likewise thank the glorious company of priests for all the services they have rendered to the divine Majesty of God, and to His true Church. We shall offer to God all the honor that they accorded Him while on earth and will give Him forever in heaven. We shall ask them to unite us with their unceasing praise of God and to make us sharers in the virtues they practised here on earth as members of the priesthood.

Incomparable Favor Which Our Lord Has Granted Us

In Calling Us to the Priesthood

Let us consider the incomparable favor which Our Lord has bestowed in having called each of us to a state so noble, so holy, so worthy of admiration as the priesthood. We must give Him deepest thanks for this inestimable privilege, and beg all the saints of heaven to bless and glorify Him for it on our behalf.

Then we shall make a careful examination of our innumerable sins, offences and negligences, in our sacerdotal functions, that we may humble ourselves most deeply at the feet of our Redeemer, asking His

pardon with great contrition, and offering Him, in satisfaction all the honor rendered to His majesty by all the holy priests and levites, in the performance of these same functions. We must implore our Divine Master to repair our defects Himself, while we promise henceforth to begin with His help to live as,veritable priests, and to discharge with fitting fervor and sanctity the functions of His divine Priesthood, beseeching Him to grant us all the graces we need for this end. We must also ask the Blessed Virgin Mary and all holy priests to aid us to obtain these graces from the infinite mercy of the omnipotent High Priest.

Ejaculatory Prayer: "Thou art a priest for ever." Tu es sacerdos in aeternum (Ps. 109, 4). 240-