VII. The Effects of the
Sacrament of Holy Orders
The
indelible character
1581
This sacrament configures the recipient to Christ by a special grace of the
Holy Spirit, so that he may serve as Christ's instrument for his Church. By
ordination one is enabled to act as a representative of Christ, Head of the
Church, in his triple office of priest, prophet, and king.
1582
As in the case of Baptism and Confirmation this share in Christ's office is
granted once for all. the sacrament of Holy Orders, like the other two, confers
an indelible spiritual character and cannot be repeated or conferred
temporarily.74
1583
It is
true that someone validly ordained can, for a just reason, be discharged from
the obligations and functions linked to ordination, or can be forbidden to
exercise them; but he cannot become a layman again in the strict
sense,75 because the character imprinted by ordination is for ever. the
vocation and mission received on the day of his ordination mark him
permanently.
1584
Since it is ultimately Christ who acts and effects salvation through the
ordained minister, the unworthiness of the latter does not prevent Christ from
acting.76 St. Augustine states this forcefully:
As for the proud minister, he is to be ranked with the devil. Christ's
gift is not thereby profaned: what flows through him keeps its purity, and what
passes through him remains dear and reaches the fertile earth.... the spiritual
power of the sacrament is indeed comparable to light: those to be enlightened
receive it in its purity, and if it should pass through defiled beings, it is
not itself defiled.77
The grace
of the Holy Spirit
1585
The grace of the Holy Spirit proper to this sacrament is configuration to
Christ as Priest, Teacher, and Pastor, of whom the ordained is made a minister.
1586
For the bishop, this is first of all a grace of strength (“the governing
spirit": Prayer of Episcopal Consecration in the Latin rite):78
The grace to guide and defend his Church with strength and prudence as a father
and pastor, with gratuitous love for all and a preferential love for the poor,
the sick, and the needy. This grace impels him to proclaim the Gospel to all,
to be the model for his flock, to go before it on the way of sanctification by
identifying himself in the Eucharist with Christ the priest and victim, not
fearing to give his life for his sheep:
Father, you know all hearts.
You have chosen your servant
for the office of bishop.
May he be a shepherd to your
holy flock,
and a high priest blameless in
your sight,
ministering to you night and
day;
may he always gain the
blessing of your favor
and offer the gifts of your
holy Church.
Through the Spirit who gives
the grace of high priesthood grant him the power
to forgive sins as you have
commanded
to assign ministries as you
have decreed
and to loose from every bond
by the authority which you
gave to your apostles. May he
be pleasing to you by his gentleness and purity of heart,
presenting a fragrant offering
to you,
through Jesus Christ, your
Son....79
1587
The spiritual gift conferred by presbyteral ordination is expressed by this
prayer of the Byzantine Rite. the bishop, while laying on his hand, says among
other things:
Lord, fill with the gift of
the Holy Spirit
him whom you have deigned to
raise to the rank of the priesthood,
that he may be worthy to stand
without reproach before your altar
to proclaim the Gospel of your
kingdom,
to fulfill the ministry of
your word of truth,
to offer you spiritual gifts
and sacrifices,
to renew your people by the
bath of rebirth;
so that he may go out to meet
our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, your only Son,
on the day of his second
coming,
and may receive from your vast
goodness
the recompense for a faithful
administration of his order.80
1588
With regard to deacons, "strengthened by sacramental grace they are
dedicated to the People of God, in conjunction with the bishop and his body of
priests, in the service (diakonia) of the liturgy, of the Gospel, and of works
of charity."81
1589
Before the grandeur of the priestly grace and office, the holy doctors felt an
urgent call to conversion in order to conform their whole lives to him whose
sacrament had made them ministers. Thus St. Gregory of Nazianzus, as a very
young priest, exclaimed:
We must begin by purifying
ourselves before purifying others; we must be instructed to be able to
instruct, become light to illuminate, draw close to God to bring him close to
others, be sanctified to sanctify, lead by the hand and counsel prudently. I
know whose ministers we are, where we find ourselves and to where we strive. I
know God's greatness and man's weakness, but also his potential. [Who then is
the priest? He is] the defender of truth, who stands with angels, gives glory
with archangels, causes sacrifices to rise to the altar on high, shares
Christ's priesthood, refashions creation, restores it in God's image, recreates
it for the world on high and, even greater, is divinized and
divinizes.82
and the holy Cure of Ars: "The priest continues the work of redemption on
earth.... If we really understood the priest on earth, we would die not of
fright but of love.... the Priesthood is the love of the heart of
Jesus."83
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