INTRODUCTION

1. The words of the Divine Redeemer to Peter keep coming to Our mind: "Simon, son of John, dost thou love me more than these do? . . . feed my lambs, feed my sheep";¹ and also those words spoken by the same Prince of the Apostles exhorting the Bishops and priests of his time: "Tend the flock of God which is among you . . . becoming from the heart a pattern to the flock".²

Principal Need of Our Time

2. Carefully pondering over these words, We deem it the chief duty of Our supreme ministry to do Our utmost to help to make the work of pastors and priests daily more efficacious in encouraging the faithful to avoid evil, to overcome dangers and to acquire perfection. This is all the more necessary in our days when people and nations, as a result of the recent terrible war, are not only harassed by serious material difficulties but are suffering in the depths of their souls while the enemies of Catholicism, becoming bolder, owing to the state of civil society, are striving with deadly hate and subtle snares to separate men from God and Jesus Christ.

Paternal Solicitude for Priests

3. The necessity for this Christian renewal, which all men of good will appreciate, urges Us to turn Our thoughts and affections in a special way to the priests of the whole world because We know that their humble, vigilant and painstaking work among the people, whose difficulties, sufferings and bodily as well as spiritual needs they realize, is capable of restoring morals through the practice of the precepts of the Gospel and of establishing firmly on earth the Kingdom of Christ, "a Kingdom of justice, love and peace".³

4. But the priesthood cannot in any way procure the full effects which are demanded by the needs of the present time unless the priests shine forth among the people with the marks of sanctity, as worthy "ministers of Christ," faithful "dispensers of the mysteries of God",⁴ "God's helpers,"⁵ and ready for every noble work.⁶

Expression of Gratitude

5. We think there is no more fitting way in which We can show Our gratitude to the clergy of the world who, on the occasion of Our golden jubilee as a priest, showed their filial affection for Us by offering prayers to God on Our behalf, than by exhorting all the clergy in fatherly manner to attain that sanctity of life without which their ministry cannot be fruitful. We desire that the first fruit of the Holy Year, which We proclaimed for the renewal of morals in keeping with the teachings of the Gospel, should be that the leaders of the faithful strive to acquire greater perfection so that, thus inspired and thus prepared, they may renew in their flock the spirit of Jesus Christ.

6. It must be recalled that, even though the increasing needs of Christian society today more urgently demand personal holiness in priests, they are already obliged by the very nature of the high ministry confided to them by God to work unceasingly for their own sanctification always and everywhere.

The Great Gift of the Priesthood

7. As our predecessors taught, especially Pius X⁷ and Pius XI⁸, and as We referred to in the encyclicals Mystici Corporis⁹ and Mediator Dei¹⁰, the priesthood is a great gift of the Divine Redeemer, Who, in order to perpetuate the work of redemption of the human race which He completed on the Cross, confided His powers to the Church which He wished to be a participator in His unique and everlasting Priesthood. The priest is like "another Christ" because he is marked with an indelible character making him, as it were, a living image of our Saviour. The priest represents Christ Who said "As the Father has sent me, I also send you";¹¹ "he who hears you, hears me".¹² Admitted to this most sublime ministry by a call from heaven, "he is appointed for men in the things pertaining to God, that he may offer gifts and sacrifices for sins".¹³ To him must come anyone who wishes to live the life of the Divine Redeemer and who desires to receive strength, comfort and nourishment for his soul; from him the salutary medicine must be sought by anyone who wishes to rise from sin and lead a good life. Hence all priests may apply to themselves with full right the words of the Apostle of the Gentiles: "We are God's helpers".¹⁴

8. This lofty dignity demands from priests that they react to their exalted office with the strictest fidelity. Since they are destined to promote the glory of God on earth and to cherish and increase the Mystical Body of Christ, they must be outstanding by the sanctity of their lives in order that through them the "fragrance of Christ" may be spread everywhere.¹⁵

The Fundamental Duty

9. Beloved sons, on the very day that you were raised to the sacerdotal dignity, the Bishop, in the name of God, solemnly pointed out to you your fundamental duty in the following words: "Understand what you do, imitate the things you deal with; and celebrating the mystery of the death of the Lord, strive to mortify in your members all vice and concupiscence. May your doctrine be the spiritual medicine for the people of God; let the fragrance of your life of virtue be an ornament of the Church of Christ; and by your preaching and example may you build the house, that is the family of God".¹⁶ Your life, which should be completely immune from sin, should be even more hidden with Christ in God¹⁷ than the lives of Christian layfolk. Advance then, thus adorned with that high virtue which your dignity demands, to the work of completing the redemption of man for which your priestly ordination has destined you.

10. This is the undertaking which you have freely and spontaneously assumed; be holy because, as you know, your ministry is holy.