PART II. THE HOLINESS OF THE SACRED MINISTRY

55. The Redeemer's Side was pierced on Mount Calvary and from it flowed His Precious Blood running like a torrent in flood through the centuries to cleanse men's consciences, expiate their sins, impart to them the treasures of salvation.

The Priest as Dispenser of the Mysteries of God

56. It is the priests who are destined to carry out this mystery so sublime. Not only do they procure and communicate Christ's grace to the members of His Mystical Body, but they are also the organs whereby this Mystical Body develops because they must ever give the Church new sons, bring them up, educate them, and guide them. Priests are "the stewards of the mysteries of God"⁵⁵; therefore they must serve Jesus Christ with perfect charity and consecrate all their strength to the salvation of their brethren. They are the apostles of light; therefore they must illuminate the world with the teachings of the Gospel and be so strong in the Christian faith as to be able to communicate it to others, and follow the example and doctrine of the Divine Master in order to lead everyone to Him. They are the apostles of grace and pardon: therefore they must consecrate themselves entirely to the salvation of men and draw them to the altar of God in order that they may nourish themselves with the bread of eternal life. They are the apostles of charity: therefore they must promote works of charity, all the more urgent today when the needs of the indigent have grown enormously.

57. The priest must also strive to see that the faithful have a correct understanding of the doctrine of the "Communion of Saints," and that they feel and live it. For this purpose let him zealously recommend those institutions known as the Liturgical Apostolate and the Apostleship of Prayer. In like manner, he must promote all those forms of the apostolate which today, on account of the special needs of the Christian people, are so very important and urgent. Let him, therefore, labor most diligently for the diffusion of instruction in the Catechism, the development and diffusion of Catholic Action and Missionary Action, and, with the assistance of well prepared and trained laymen, let him increase those projects of the social apostolate which are demanded by our time.

Union With Christ in Apostolic Work

58. But the priest must remember that the closer he is united to Christ and guided in his activities by the spirit of Christ, the more fruitful his ministry will be. Thus, his priestly work will not be reduced to a purely natural activity which tires the body and mind and draws the priest himself away from the right path with no little detriment both to himself and to the Church. But his work and his labor will be fruitful and corroborated by those gifts of grace that God denies to the proud but concedes generously to those working humbly in "the Vineyard of the Lord," not seeking themselves and their own interests⁵⁶ but the glory of God and the salvation of souls. Hence, faithful to the teachings of the Gospel, let him not trust in himself, as we have said, and in his own strength but let him place his faith in the help of the Lord. "So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God Who gives the growth".⁵⁷

59. When the apostolate is directed and inspired in this manner, it is impossible that the priest should not attract the souls of everyone to himself with an almost divine strength. By his reproducing in his habits and his life a living image of Christ, all those who turn to him as a master will recognize, thanks to some inward conviction, that words he speaks are not his but God's and that he does not act of his own accord but by the virtue of God: "If anyone speaks, let it be as with words of God. If anyone ministers, let it be as from the strength that God furnishes..."⁵⁸ In striving towards holiness and in exercising his ministry with the greatest diligence, the priest must spend himself to represent Christ so perfectly as, in all modesty, to be able to repeat the words of the Apostle of the Gentiles, "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ".⁵⁹

The Heresy Of Action

60. For these reasons, while giving due praise to those who in the years which have followed the long and terrible war, urged by the love of God and of doing good to their neighbor under the guidance and following the example of their Bishops, have consecrated their entire strength to the relief of so much misery, We cannot abstain from expressing our pre-occupation and our anxiety for those who on account of the special circumstances of the moment have become so engulfed in the vortex of external activity that they neglect the chief duty of the priest, his own sanctification. We have already stated publicly in writing⁶⁰ that those who presume that the world can be saved by what has been rightly called "the heresy of action" must be made to exercise better judgment. The heresy of action is that activity which is not based upon the help of grace and does not make constant use of the means necessary to the pursuit of sanctity given us by Christ. In the same way, nevertheless, We have deemed it timely to stimulate to the activities of the ministry those who, shut up in themselves and almost diffident of the efficacy of divine aid, do not labor to the best of their ability to make the spirit of Christianity penetrate daily life in all those ways demanded by our times.⁶¹

Complete Consecration to the Salvation of Souls

61. We earnestly exhort you, therefore, to labor with all solicitude for the salvation of those whom Providence has entrusted to your care, closely united to the Redeemer with whose strength we can do all things⁶² How ardently We desire, O beloved sons, that you emulate those saints who in past times, by their great deeds, have shown what the might of Divine Grace can do in this world. May you one and all, in humility and sincerity, always be able to attribute to yourselves -- with your spiritual charges as witnesses -- the words of the Apostle, "But I will most gladly for my part, spend and be spent myself for your souls".⁶³ Enlighten the minds, guide the consciences, comfort and sustain the souls who are struggling with doubt and groaning with sorrow. To these forms of apostolate, add also all those others which the needs of the times demand. But let it always be clear to everybody that the priest in all his activities seeks nothing beyond the good of souls, and looks toward no one but Christ to Whom he consecrates his energies and his whole self.

Following the Example of the Redeemer

62. In the same way that, in order to urge you to personal sanctification, We have exhorted you to reproduce in yourselves the living image of Christ, so now for the sanctifying efficacy of your ministry We excite you to follow constantly the example of the Divine Redeemer. Full of the Holy Ghost, He "went about doing good and healing all who were in the power of the devil; for God was with Him".⁶⁴ Strengthened by the same Spirit and encouraged by His Strength, you will be able to exercise a ministry which, nourished and enkindled by Christian charity, will be rich in Divine virtue and capable of communicating this virtue to others. May your apostolic zeal be animated by that divine charity which bears everything with peace of mind, which does not let itself be overcome by adversity, and which embraces all, rich and poor, friends and enemies, faithful and unfaithful. This daily effort and these daily hardships are demanded of you by souls for whose salvation Our Saviour patiently suffered grief and torment unto death in order to restore us to the Divine Friendship. This is, and well you know it, the greatest good of all. Do not allow yourselves, therefore, to be carried away by the immoderate desire for success, do not allow yourselves to be dismayed if, after assiduous labor, you do not gather the desired fruits. "One sows, another reaps".⁶⁵

Charity in Apostolic Work

63. Furthermore, let your apostolic zeal shine with benign charity. If it be necessary -- and it is everyone's duty -- to fight error and repel vice, the soul of the priest must be ever open to compassion. Error must be fought with all our might, but the brother who errs must be loved intensely and brought to salvation. How much good have the saints not done, how many admirable deeds have they not performed by their kindness even in circumstances and in environments penetrated by lies and degraded by vice? Of a truth, he who to please men would gloss over their evil inclinations or be indulgent about their incorrect ways of thinking or acting, thereby prejudicing Christian teaching and integrity of morals, would be betraying his ministry. But when the teachings of the Gospel are preserved and those who stray are moved by the sincere desire to return to the right path, the priest must remember the reply of Our Lord to St. Peter when he asks Him how many times he must forgive his neighbor. "I do not say to thee seven times, but seventy times seven".⁶⁶

Disinterestedness

64. The object of your zeal must not be earthly and transient things but things eternal. The resolution of priests aspiring to holiness must be this: to labor solely for the glory of Cod and the salvation of souls. How many priests, even in the straitened circumstances of our time, have taken the example and the warnings of the Apostle of the Gentiles as a rule of conduct! The Apostle of the Gentiles, content with the indispensable minimum, declared: ". . . but having food and sufficient clothing, with these let us be content".⁶⁷

65. Through this disinterestedness and this detachment from earthly things worthy of the highest praise, in conjunction with trust in Divine Providence, the priestly ministry has given the Church ripe fruits of spiritual and social good.

Increasing Knowledge and Zeal

66. Finally, this industrious zeal must be illuminated by the light of wisdom and discipline and inflamed by the fire of charity. Whoever sets before himself his own sanctification and that of other people must be equipped with solid learning that comprises not only theology but also the results of modern science and discovery so that, like a good father, he may draw "from his storeroom things new and old"⁶⁸ and make his ministry always more appreciated and fruitful. In the first place, let your activities be inspired by and remain faithful to the prescriptions of this Apostolic See and the directives of the Bishops. May it never happen, beloved sons, that those new forms and methods of the apostolate, so opportune today especially in regions where the clergy is not sufficiently numerous, remain dead or, through poor direction, not correspond to the needs of the faithful.

67. May your zeal increase every day, therefore, sustain the Church of God, be an example to the faithful, and constitute a powerful bulwark against which the assaults of the enemies of God may be broken.

Satisfaction with Spiritual Directors

68. We desire likewise, in this paternal exhortation of Ours, to give special mention to those priests who, in humility and burning charity, labor prudently for the sanctification of their brother-priests as counselors, confessors, or spiritual directors. The incalculable good they render the Church remains hidden for the greater part, but it will one day be revealed in the glory of God's kingdom.

The Example of St. Giuseppe Cafasso

69. Not many years ago, with great satisfaction, We decreed the honors of the altar to the Turinese priest, Giuseppe Cafasso who, as you know, in a most difficult period, was the wise and holy spiritual guide of not a few priests whom he helped to progress in virtue and whose sacred ministry he rendered particularly fruitful. We are fully confident that, through his powerful patronage, our Divine Redeemer will raise up many priests of like sanctity who will bring themselves and their brethren in the ministry to such a height of perfection in their lives that the faithful, admiring their example, will feel themselves moved spontaneously to imitate it.