Chapter II. The Nature of the Episcopate as Described in Scripture

To ascertain the true notion of the Episcopate or pastoral office we must examine first its description in prophecy, and next its manifestation in the person of the Shepherd and Bishop of souls.

The Prophet Ezechiel describes his coming in prophecy:

1. 'I will set up one shepherd over them: and he shall feed them, even My servant David: he shall feed them, and he shall he their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will he their God; and My servant David the prince in the midst of them.' * ' And My servant David shall he king over them; and they shall have one shepherd.'2

These words need no other interpreter than the Archangel Gahriel:

Thou ' shalt bring forth a Son; and thou shalt 1 Ezech. xxxiv. 23, 24. 2 Ibid, xxxvii. 24.

call His name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall he called the Son of the Most High: and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of David, His father: and He shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end.'s

Our Lord has also interpreted the prophecies of Himself:

1 1 appoint to you, as My Father hath appointed to Me, a kingdom.'4 'As the Father hath sent Me, I also send you;'5 that is, as He hath sent Me to be shepherd and king — pascere et regcre — so send I you as pastors and rulers of My flock and people.

2. But this pastoral and princely office the Son of David gave first and in fulness to Peter alone: ' And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven.'6 The key of David was then laid upon his shoulder alone; and again, in the sight and hearing of the Apostles on the shore of Tiberias, Jesus said three times to Peter alone, 'Feed My sheep.'7

Jesus, ' the Great Shepherd of the sheep,' ' the Pastor and Bishop of our souls/8 constituted

3 8. Luke i. 31-33.

« Ibid. xxii. 29. 5 S. John xx. 21.

6 S. Matt. xvi. 19; Isaias xxii. 22; xix. 6; Apoc. iii.: S. John xxi. 15-17. 8 1 S. Pet. ii. 25.

Peter to be His Vicar, in the twofold plenitude of jurisdiction and of faith, with the two keys of government and of science, and thereby to be the supreme Shepherd and Bishop of the Catholic Church. Though Simon died, Peter lives for ever; and Peter, in his successor, in all ages feeds and reigns, the * one shepherd ' of the flock, and ' the prince in the midst of them.'

3. Such is the Episcopate, or the pastoral office, instituted by the Divine Head of the Church. It is a Divine government, a theocracy over the souls for whom the most Precious Blood was shed; a spiritual reign over the intellect by the light of faith, over the will by the Divine law, over the actions of men, so far as they bear upon eternal life, by legislation and by judicial acts. The preaching of the truth and the ministry of the Sacraments of grace are the means whereby the pastoral or episcopal government of the Church is exercised. But they are subordinate to the Divine authority, which distributes and regulates their exercise. The essence of the Episcopate is not in the power of sacrifice nor in the preaching of the faith, nor in the administration of the Sacraments, though the power of ordination and of consecration is an inseparable property of Bishops. The essence of the Episcopate is the government of the Church. So it is defined by the Apostle, speaking by the Holy Ghost, when he said to the pastors of the Church at Epliesus, ' Take heed to yourselves, and to all the flock o\er which the Holy Ghost hath placed you Bishops, to rule the Church of God, which He hath purchased with His own Blood.' 9

4. The government of the Church isr in a strict and true sense, a monarchy; it is the kingdom of Jesus Christ. There is only one visible head; one only who has the twofold plenitude of jurisdiction and of doctrinal authority; one only who is inde pendent of all authority on earth; one on whom all authorities in the Church depend; one supreme legislator, one supreme judge. He is sovereign and final, and, in the exercise of his office as the supreme pastor and doctor of the faithful, infallible in faith and morals. He alone stands in two supreme rela tions, which belong to no other: the one, of Vicar to the Divine and invisible Head of the Church in heaven; the other, of pastoral jurisdiction over the whole world.

5. Peter was both Apostle and Bishop before all others, and, in a way and measure, above all others. S. Cyprian says, ' the Apostles were what Peter

9 Acts xx. 28.

was;'10 but he means that they were all Apostles, Bishops, and pastors; he did not mean that they were all primates, nor all independent of Peter, nor each supreme over his fellows. In the apostleship and Episcopate they were equal to Peter; but in his primacy Peter stood alone, independent of them all; and all were dependent upon him. The power of sacrifice — that is, of priesthood — was given to them all alike; the power of absolution, both to exercise and as Bishops to communicate to others, all alike received; the universal mission of the Apostolate was given equally to all. All this they received with Peter, and in dependence on him; for to him alone were the keys first given, and to him alone were spoken the words ' Feed My sheep,' by which the whole flock was committed to his charge.

6. The Apostolate of the eleven in no way limited the primacy of Peter, and the primacy of Peter in no way limited the Apostolate of the eleven, save only that they exercised their power in dependence on their head. Their powers contained the full Apostolate and Episcopate and priesthood of the Church. The government of the Church did not cease to be a monarchy, because the primacy and the Apostolate were one vital and organic whole under one head.

10 S. Cypr. De Unitate Ecclcsia, p. 193 (ed. Baluz).

It has expanded into the Episcopate: it has perpetuated the pastoral office of the Good Shepherd, and has spread it ahroad in the world hy an immediate local and personal oversight throughout the Universal Church. There are many priests, but there is only one priesthood; there are many pastors, hut only one pastoral office of the Good Shepherd, which Peter and the Apostles, by his successor and theirs, exercise in every age and in every place.

7. Now, the nature of this pastoral office needs no new description. It is already described by the Holy Ghost. The Prophet Ezechiel writes: 'Son of man, prophesy concerning the shepherds of Israel: prophesy, and say to the shepherds: Thus saith the Lord God: Wo to the shepherds of Israel, that fed themselves: should not the flocks be fed by the shepherds? You ate the milk, and clothed yourselves with the wool; and you killed that which was fat: but My flock you did not feed. The weak you have not strengthened; and that which was sick you have not healed: that \vhich was broken you have not bound up; and that which was driven away you have not brought again; neither have you sought that which was lost: but you ruled over them with rigour and with a high hand.' n

11 Ezech. xxxiv. 2-4.

D

' Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I Myself will seek My sheep, and will visit them. As the shepherd visiteth his flock, in the day when he shall be in the midst of his sheep that were scattered; so will I visit My sheep, and will deliver them out of all the places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the peoples, and will gather them out of the countries, and will bring them to their own land: and I will feed them in the mountains of Israel, by the rivers, and in all the habitations of the land. I will feed them in the most fruitful pastures, and their pastures shall be in the high mountains of Israel: there shall they rest on the green grass, and be fed in fat pastures on the mountains of Israel. I will feed My sheep: and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God. I will seek that which was lost, and that which was driven away I will bring again: and I will bind up that which was broken: and I will strengthen that which was weak, and that which was fat and strong I will preserve: and I will feed them in judgment.'

' AND I WILL SET UP ONE SHEPHERD OVER THEM:

and he shall feed them, even My servant David: he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.

And I, the Lord, will be their God: and My servant David the prince in the midst of them.'12

8. Our Divine Lord has also described His own office in His own words: ' I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd giveth His life for His sheep. But the hireling, and he that is not the shepherd, whose own sheep they are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep and flieth: and the wolf snatcheth and scattereth the sheep. And the hire ling flieth, because he is a hireling, a*nd he hath no care for the sheep. I am the Good Shepherd; and I know Mine, and Mine know Me.'13

9. The main idea in all this is the relation of authority, oversight, care, guidance, direction, defence, provision, responsibility: that is to say, of government. No metaphor can express more precisely the ideas of authority and dependence than that of a shepherd and his sheep. And no terms can be found to express more vividly the mutual claims, obligations, and bonds which unite them than the words of our Lord, ' I know Mine, and Mine know Me.'14 ' The sheep hear His voice: and He calleth His own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when He hath let out His own sheep, He

12 Ezech. xxxiv. 11-16, 23, 24.

la S. John x. 11-14. " Ibid. 14.

goeth before them; and the sheep follow Him, because they know His voice. But a stranger they follow not, but fly from him; because they know not the voice of strangers.'15 ' The hireling, and he that is not the shepherd, whose own sheep they are not (cujus non sunt oves proprice), seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep and flieth.'16 Here is a relation of property between the true Shepherd and the flock. The sheep are His own: and the Shepherd is theirs. -They belong to one another, and have mutual rights in each other. The Shepherd must give Himself, even His life, for the sheep; and the sheep must hear His voice, and follow Him.

10. And this relation is not restricted to the Divine Shepherd alone, who gave Himself upon Calvary. He bought His flock indeed for His own in His most Precious Blood. But He made Peter to be His Yicar in the pastoral office, and He gave His sheep into his care. They became Peter's own sheep. The whole flock on earth is his, and he is Pastor of all. They are his own, and he is theirs; and this pastoral relation of oversight is of Divine institution, Divine in its obligations, and immediately conferred by the Divine Head of the Church upon His Vicar upon earth. It is therefore a perpetual

15 S. John x. 3-5. >6 Ibid. 12.

relation of mutual obligation, of authority, and of obedience. The successor of Peter is verus pastor, the true shepherd of the whole flock.

11. And yet the successor of Peter is not the only shepherd of the sheep. There are others who, with and under him, are veri pastor es — true shep herds each of the portion of the flock assigned to them. They receive that assignment and mission, mediately, through the Yicar of Jesus Christ; but the jurisdiction they receive is in itself and in its essence Divine — Divine in its origin, Divine in its authority, Divine in its obligations — binding together the shepherd and the sheep in reciprocal duties and mutual relations which are not of man, or by man, but of the Holy Ghost. The sheep are his, and he is theirs. It is strictly true, as the Council of Trent 17 and the Council of the Vatican 18 have said, that the Bishops who are assumed by the authority of the Yicar of Christ are legitimate and true Bishops — true pastors — whom ' the Holy Ghost has placed to rule the Church of God.' This Divine order is expressed in the Preface of the Holy Mass on the Feasts of the Apostles, in which we pray that the Eternal Pastor may not forsake His flock, but keep it always, by His blessed Apostles, with a con- 17 Sess. xxiii. cap. iv. can. 8. 18 Const. Bogm. Prima cap. iii.

tintial protection — ' that it may be governed by the same rulers whom He had bestowed upon it as pastors and vicars of Himself.'

This is more profusely expressed in the Pontifical. In the act of consecration, the power of the episcopal order is immediately conferred by God. In the administration of this Sacrament, whereby the episcopal character is impressed, the conse crating Bishop prays in these words: '' Give him, 0 Lord, the keys of the kingdom of heaven, that he ma}7 exert and not glory in the power which Thou givest him for edification, and not for destruction. Whatsoever he shall bind on earth, let it be bound in heaven; and whatsoever he shall loose on earth, let it be loosed in heaven. Whosesoever sins he may retain, let them be retained; and whosesoever sins he may forgive, do Thou also forgive. Whoso ever shall curse him, let him be accursed; and who soever shall bless him, let him be blessed. May he be a faithful and prudent servant, whom Thou, 0 Lord, mayest set over Thy. household, to give them meat in due season; and may he make every man perfect. May he be prompt in watchfulness, fervent in spirit. May he hate pride, and love humility and truth, and never forsake it for favour or for fear. Let him not put light for darkness, nor darkness for light; let him not call evil good, or good evil. Let him he dehtor to the wise and to the unwise, that he may reap fruit from the growth of all. Give to him, 0 Lord, the throne of a Bishop, to rule Thy Church and people committed to him. Be Thou his authority, he Thou his power, be Thou his strength. Multiply upon him Thy bene diction and favour, that by Thy gift he may be ever meet to obtain Thy mercy, and be, by Thy grace, devoted to Thee.'19 In this prayer the gratia status of the Episcopate is explicitly and diffusely asked; and as in every Sacrament a sacramental grace is given, by which the receiver, if he be faithful, is enabled to fulfil all the obligations of the state on which he enters, so it is certain that in this Sacrament of episcopal consecration, whereby a priest is elevated to the state of full perfection and ad summi sacerdotii ministerium, or to the office of the high priesthood,20 and his head is anointed with the chrism of the pontifical order, there is given the grace needed, and proportionate for the office of the Episcopate — that is, for the government of the Church of God. This truth is still further expressed by the delivery of the pastoral staff, with the prayer for its use in charity and wisdom: ' Receive this 19 Pont. Rom. in Consecr. E^ig. °° Ibid.

staff of the pastoral office, that in the chastisement of vice thou mayest he lovingly austere, executing judgment without wrath; and, in cherishing virtue, soothing the minds of those who hear: in calmness of severity not failing to censure.' 21 No words can be more sacred and authentic than the words of the Pontifical, nor can any more luminously exhibit the traditional mind and belief of the Catholic Church in respect to the Divine government for which the Episcopate was ordained by our Lord Jesus Christ.

We will now go on from the prophecy to the fulfilment.

I. To form an adequate conception of the Episcopate, it is necessary still further to examine, sever ally and collectively, the three successive acts by which our Divine Lord ordained, consecrated, and commissioned His Apostles.

1. First, it is of faith that, at the Last Supper, our Lord ordained them to be priests. By the words 'Do this for a commemoration of Me,'22 He gave them the power of sacrifice, and the power of sacrifice is the essence of priesthood.

The Council of Trent defined as follows: ' If any man shall say that, by the words " Do this for a

21 Pont. Horn, in Consecr.Enig. 29;; S. Luke xxii. 19.

commemoration of Me," Christ did not make the Apostles to be priests, and did not ordain that they and other priests should offer His Body and His Blood, let him be anathema.'23

By this ordination they received a participation of the priesthood of the Incarnate Son; and a character was impressed upon them. The character of priesthood is an indelible sign of this participation, and of configuration 24 to the one Eternal Priest. They received thereby what is called the jurisdiction over the natural Body of Christ: that is, the power and commission to speak the Divine words of the Son of God, whereby, as He constituted the Real Presence of His Body and of His Blood in the first mystical sacrifice of Himself, so His priests, to the end of the world, continue and perpetuate the one oblation of Calvary upon the altar. No higher act, no diviner power than this can be conceived. The oblation of the Eternal Son has redeemed the world. In that one perpetual redeeming act the whole priesthood is united with Him; and every several priest continues the same act by the Divine power conferred on him in his ordination.

This sacerdotal character, therefore, was im-

*3 Sess. xxii. can. 1, De Sacrif. Missae. -4 S. Thorn. Summa Theol.

pressed upon the Apostles in the night before He offered Himself upon the Cross. From that hour they were ' priests for ever after the order of Melchisedech.'

2. Secondly, Peter alone had already received the promise of the keys of the kingdom of heaven. The other Apostles had not, as yet, received jurisdiction over the mystical Body. This was conferred upon them on the evening of the day in which Jesus rose from the dead. He came and breathed upon them, and said, ' Receive ye the Holy Ghost: whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose you shall retain, they are retained.' 25

In this Divine action was conferred upon them a power which is distinct from the power of the priesthood. They received the keys with power to give them to others also. And the power of the keys is the power of government. 26 The authority to bind and loose is not judicial only, but legislative also. And they who have this power have the judicial and the legislative office; that is, the power of government, or the pastoral office, which, because it has the oversight of the flock, is called the Episco-

25 S. John xx. 22, 23; Cone. Trid. sess. xiv. c. i. can. 3.

' Potestatem ligandi atque solvendi, qure potestas idem est ac jurisdiction— Ballerini, De Potest. Eccl. cap. i.

pate.27 Bolgeni thus describes it: ' This power of governing the kingdom of the Son of God — that is, the Church — with true and proper jurisdiction which binds the conscience, and with sovereignty, is called, and is, the Episcopate. By means of the Bishops, who are in His place, the ministers and dispensers of His mysteries, Jesus Christ, King and Eternal Pontiff, sits now, and will sit for ever, on the throne of David, reigning and governing His Church; for, as S. Epiphanius says, " That throne of David and royal seat is nothing else than the priesthood of the Holy Church, which the Lord has given to it, having united together the royal and pontifical dignity; and on the same he conferred the seat of David, which is eternal and imperishable. His sea.t, therefore, abides, and of His kingdom there shall be no end; and He shall sit in David's seat, because God has translated the throne of David, and has conferred it, together with the Pontificate, on His servants — that is, on the Pontiffs of the Catholic Church." '

3. Thirdly and lastly, they received their mission: ' Go ye into the whole world, and preach the Gospel to every creature.' 2S

27 Bolgeni, L'Episcopato, torn. i. p. 64.

28 S. Mark xvi. 15.

' Go ye, therefore, and teach ye all nations, bap tising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe a]l things whatsoever I have commanded you.'?9

To make disciples is to subject the intellect and the will to faith, and thereby to the authority of the teacher; and the regeneration of Baptism incorporates the disciples of Christ as members of His mystical Body.

Now, in these three Divine and successive actions we see the bestowal or institution of three distinct and Divine powers — first, of offering the Holy Sacrifice; next, the power of absolution; and lastly, the power of teaching and of pastoral government, according to the commandments delivered to their custody.

But there is here no explicit mention of the power of ordination, whether of priest or of Bishop. This silence, which is still more remarkable when we come to the Acts of the Apostles, is a difficulty to those only who believe, or argue as if they believed, that the New Testament Scriptures were anterior to the Divine institution of the Church, or that they contain its whole constitution and powers.

It is certain, and of faith, that, by these three

29 S. Matt, xxviii. 19, 20.

Divine acts, the Apostles received the priesthood, episcopate, and apostleship.

4. I mention again, lest it should seem to be forgotten, that although these powers were given to all the Apostles, yet the supreme pastoral, office or primacy was given to Peter alone; so that even the Apostles were numbered in his flock.

Such, then, as described in the Gospels, was the government of the Church when our Lord ascended into heaven; and so S. Paul, at a later time, described it. He ' ascended above all the heavens, that He might fulfil all things. And some, indeed, He gave to be Apostles, and some prophets, and others evangelists, and others pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, unto the edifying of the Body of Christ.' 30 This pastoral office guards the unity of faith ' until we all meet into the unity of faith, and of the know ledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the age of the fulness of Christ. That we may not now be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the wickedness of men, by cunning craftiness by which they lie in wait to deceive. But doing the truth in charity, we may in all things grow up in Him who is 30 Ephes. iv. 10-12.

the Head, even Christ;' 31 and by the same pastoral office the external unity of the Church is knit together, a ad its internal unity of life and mind and will is elicited and sustained. ' From whom (the Head) the whole body, compacted and fitly joined together, by what every joint supplieth, according to the operation in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in charity.' 32

II. When, then, our Divine Lord had ascended to the Father, the Apostles at once proceeded to fill up the place made vacant by the fall of Judas, and to intrust ' his bishopric ' to another. They did so by prayer and by lot. S. John Chrysostom notes this, and says that as yet the Spirit was not come; and they judged themselves unworthy to make such a choice. ' Afterwards they chose by the fulness of their own grace.'33 They cast lots; and it fell upon Matthias, and he was numbered, or allotted,34 with the eleven Apostles. Matthias was then priest, Bishop, and Apostle, either by previous ordination, or by ordination of which no record is made, or by a special dispensation of God. S. John Chrysos tom, who represents the commentators of the Greek

81 Ephes. iv. 13-15.. ** Ibid. 16.

33 In Acta App. in loc. 34

Church, is silent on this question. But, howsoever this may have been, it is certain that Matthias was ' numbered among' — that is, was equal to — the eleven in priesthood, episcopate, and apostleship. What they were he was. It must be always borne in mind that this was in the interval of ten days between the Ascension and the Day of Pentecost.

The next ordination we read of is neither of priest nor Bishop, but of seven deacons.35 The office was at first needed for the distribution of alms, or for works of corporal mercy; but it had also spiritual power, for at once Stephen preached, and Philip bap tised. They were chosen by the disciples, and the Apostles laid hands on them. This is the first recorded administration of the Sacrament of Order, by which certain limited functions or ministries were communicated by the apostleship or Episcopate to the order of deacons. It was developed out of it, and became an office in itself. S. John Chrysostom observes that the ministry of Judas is called Episcopate.^ We have here, then, two of the perpetual Orders of the Church. But as yet there is no mention of the ordination of a priest. The orcli-

35 Acts vi. 1-6.

36 In Acta App i. 17-20: TUV K\ripov TTJS StuKovias, KU\ T^V firiffKoirriv avrov AajSerw erepos. opa. '6n /ecu Sidituvoi e'/caAoCi'TO of /ia07jrcu

KOI nation of the deacons appears to have been soon after the Day of Pentecost, when the multitude, converted by S. Peter's preaching, losing all for their faith, began to live by the mutual charity of their brethren.

The next record of an ordination is that of Saul and Barnabas. And on this point the silence of Holy Writ and the variation of commentators is still more remarkable. The Book of Acts tells us that at Antioch there were prophets and teachers, Barnabas also, and Simon and Lucius of Cyrene, Manahen and Saul. While they were ministering and fasting, the Holy Ghost said, (Separate Me Saul and Barnabas for the work to which I have taken them.' S7 And after prayer and fasting, they laid hands on them. The question which has been variously answered both by Fathers and by commentators is whether this imposition of hands was a consecration to the Episcopate or Apostleship, or only a solemn designation to a special mission. If it be a consecration, how can this be reconciled with the declaration of S. Paul that his Apostleship was neither from man nor by man, but by Jesus Christ? 38 Saul and Barnabas had ' conversed there in the Church (at Antioch) a whole year; and they taught a great multi- 37 Acts xiii. 2. ™ Gal. i. 1.

tude, so that at Autioch the disciples were first named Christians.' S9 It would seem from this as if the name had been adopted or imposed by reason of the teaching of Saul, who for so long a time had exercised his apostleship among them. Is it, then, to be supposed that he was neither Bishop nor priest? Matthias and Barsabas were chosen out because they had personally conversed with our Divine Lord; and could give personal witness of His life, and death, and resurrection. So S. Paul said of himself, ' Am I not an Apostle? have I not seen Christ Jesus our Lord?' 40 Again he said, ' The Gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For neither did I receive it from man, nor did I learn it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.'41 Again, ' it pleased Him who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles.'42 We know, then, that he was already an Apostle in the fullest extension of the office. We know, too, that he baptised Crispus and Caius, and the household of Stephanas, though he added that ' Christ sent me not to baptise, but to preach the Gospel.'43 It would seem, then, that

39 Acts xi. 26. « 1 Cor. ix. 1. •" Gal. i. 11, 12.

« Ibid. 15, 16. « 1 Cor. i. 14-17.

this laying on of hands was a solemn dedication to a special mission. But many have thought otherwise. Cornelius a Lapide says that Arias, Cajetau, and Suarez were of opinion that this imposition of hands was hy way of prayer only, and not of ordination. But he gives as his own opinion that it was hy way of ordination, for the following reasons. First, that the circumstances of prayer and liturgy imply the Sacrament of Order; secondly, that we nowhere else read that Saul and Barnabas were consecrated Bishops, yet we read afterwards of their ordaining presbyters in the cities where they preached; 44 thirdly, because such is the opinion of Baronius, who fixes it in the year 45, in which also Paul was rapt into the third heaven; fourthly, because Christ ordained the Apostles, and they others. It nowhere appears that Saul was ordained, except in this place; as S. John Chrysostom says on this passage, and S. Leo in his letter to Dioscorus of Alexandria.45

Cornelius a Lapide further says that Saul was designated and invested with authority as an Apostle from the first moment of his conversion as in actu primo and secretly — that is, inchoately; but in actu secundo and publicly he was designated for the conversion of the nations by this imposition of hands. He adds 44 Acts xiv. 22. « Ep> lxxxi< alias lxxix> that till then he had only preached at Damascus and Antioch. So he seems to tell the Galatians, and that till a certain time he ' was unknown by face to the Churches of Judea.'4(

Orsi says, ' It seems that Saul and Barnabas were then no more than simple ministers of the Church of Antioch, enrolled in its presbytery, and of the college of its teachers and prophets.' He supposes that the Holy Ghost ordered that they should be separated from this state, and consecrated to be the Apostles of the nations. He adds, ' To confer so high and sublime a dignity, and the authority attached to such an office, exceeded not only the ordinary faculties of Bishops and priests, but of the Apostles themselves, to whom Christ did not give the power to create other Apostles with an equal degree of authority. Wherefore, both upon Matthias — substituted in the place of Judas — and upon Saul and Barnabas, besides their election by special reve lation from Heaven, the apostolate was immediately (i.e. by God) conferred.' And to this Orsi supposes S. Paul to allude in saying to the Galatians that he received his apostleship, ' not from man or by man, but by Jesus Christ.'47

I do not undertake to determine this question 48 Galat. i. 22. 4: Orsi, Istoria Eccles. lib. i. c. xl.

further than by pointing out that the Fathers generally held this laying on of hands to be ordination. Theo logians and those of the scholastic time held that Saul and Barnabas were consecrated immediately by the Holy Ghost. This interpretation is not patristic, but recent, and seems to be moulded on a scholastic theory.

We next come to the ordination of priests.

In the Book of Acts we read that Paul and Barnabas ordained priests in every Church.48 This is the first mention of the second order.

Later on, Timothy was left by S. Paul as Bishop at Ephesus. That Timothy had the power of ordination is evident from the charge, 'Impose not hands lightly upon any man;'49 that is, in the ordaining of priests.

In like manner Titus was left in Crete to ' ordain priests in every city.'50

This is the first mention of priests as distinct from Bishops and deacons; and it would seem that, as the diaconate was a partial communication of the power inherent in the Episcopate, so the ordination of priests was, in like manner, a partial, but larger, communication of the functions of the 48 Acts xiv. 22. « 1 Tim. v. 22. 5° Tit. i. 5.

priesthood of Jesus Christ, residing in its fulness in the Episcopate alone. The chronological order of these facts seems enough to show that the Episcopate could not be an extension of the priesthood, but that the priesthood descends from, and is a participation of, the Episcopate, in so far as the sacerdotal power is distinct from the episcopal. And this proximity of the two offices will account for the fact that the name of Bishop and presbyter were so commonly interchanged. Theodoret has carefully noted this in his comment on the first words of S. Paul to the Philippians.

He says S. Paul ' calls the presbyters Bishops; for both at that time had the name. It could not be,' he argues, 'that many Bishops should be pastors of one city.' Therefore he means that the presbyters might have the name, but not the character, of Bishops. And he adds, 'In this same epistle he calls Epaphroditus their "Apostle." 'And, therefore, he clearly taught that Epaphroditus had received the episcopal office as he had the name of Apostle.'52

That the names were common appears to be certain; that the offices were distinct is equally certain. This community of names has been vari-

51 Philip, ii. 25. 3- Theod. in Ep. ad Phil. i. 1.

ously explained. Some have thought that, in the beginning, many more were consecrated as Bishops than in the later times of the Church. Such is the judgment of Marnachius and Bolgeni. This latter says, ' It seems to me possible to prove that the apostolic and primacy Bishops called to the aid of their ministry a greater or less number of co-operators, ordaining them Bishops without assign ing to them a definite population to govern, and without founding a fixed see. As need arose, these Bishops auxiliary (if they may so be called) were sent into this and that part of the province to set things in order, to administer Sacraments, to ordain priests and ministers, and to do whatsoever the primacy Bishop judged to be fitting for the good of his flock.'53 Bolgeni quotes Christianus Lupus, who, in his preface to the Councils, asserts that it was customary to consecrate Bishops without jurisdiction, that is, without the assignment of place or people. ' There are many ancient documents/ he says, ' which prove that, in the primitive Church, all the presbyters in many Churches were Bishops by consecration. Not, indeed, all with jurisdiction; for the canon of the Apostles altogether forbids that in each Church there should be more than one 53 Cap. iv. 54.

Bishop.' There was one only Bishop who had proper and ordinary jurisdiction; the others were Bishops in character, but acting only with jurisdiction delegated by the ordinary Bishop.54

But howsoever this may be, the object of this chapter is to show that though the priesthood was in order of time before the Episcopate in the person of the Apostles, yet that the Episcopate existed in its fulness before the priesthood as a second order was given to those whom the Apostles ordained. The Episcopate, therefore, is not the extension of the priesthood, but the priesthood is a limited communication of the Episcopate. 54 Ibid.