Quigley Preparatory Seminary - La Petit Seminaire Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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Sanct1ty IS the surpassxng knowledge and love of esus Chr1st If the pr1est lacks th1s he lacks everythmg Let us hold If as a fundamental truth that 1f a pr1est w1shes to l1ve up to the standard requlred by h1s posltlon and h1s call1ng he must g1VC hlmself w1th 1ntense earnestness to prayer Prayer IS the prlest s strength and God s weakness A prlest who does not often talk to God h1s best and perfect Frlend IS l1ke a p1lot who tr1es to HV h1s plane to hlS destlnatlon Wlth out ask1ng for adv1ce and orders from the nav1gator Frequent and earnest prayer IS most necessary It IS of cap1tal 1mportance w1th re gard to pray er that a certam t1me should be set asxde everyday to med ltate on th1ngs eternal lNIed1tat1on establ1shes harmony where confusxon relgned It brlngs out the truth con cernlng what has been done and what must be done Smce lt IS so easy for relxglous souls to be tarn1shed by con tact w1th the world It IS clear how urgently necessary If IS to contemplate 1nf1n1te truth da1ly , ln order to rew1v1fy the m1nd and w1ll and to fortlfy them aga1nst temptat1on The prlest must be heavenly mmded He IS the ambassador of the Heaven ly Klng and must constantly seek the benefit of Hlm VN hom he represents, 1ust as the ambassador of an earthly kmgdom endeavors to promote good w1ll between the country to whlch he has been sent and h1s mother country lNICCl1t3t1OH produces and Sustalrls a sensus Chr1st1 , th1s almost natural unlon W1th God From neglect of med1tat1on sprlngs prlde and obstmacy Prlests who are '72 not accustomed to commune W1th God da1ly do not have the breath of the Holy Sp1r1t on the1r llps, and when they speak to others of God, or try to mstruct them 1n the truths of Chr1s t1an1ty the Gospel 1n the1r hands seems almost w1thout lxfe Nothlng lS so v1tal to a cler1c as mental prayer It should precede, accompany, and follow all hlS act1ons Dav1d sang Blessed IS the man who medltates on the law of the Lord h1s w1ll remalneth day and n1ght, all whatsoever he shall do shall prosper As to what speclhc tOplCS he should medltate on he openlng lmes of The Imzmlzon of Chrzyl glves the answer Let 1t then be our ch1ef study to med1tate on the llfe of esus Chrlst The fru1ts of medltatlon w1ll be even more abundant lf the prlest takes ac count as to how far h1s medltatlon enters 1nto h1s da1ly l1fe Now the prxest who has been g1VCH the power to check the aud1ts of others and to balance the1r accounts IH the sacra ment of Penance, should h1mself not fa1l to take advantage weekly of thls sacrament the tr1bunal wherejustlce SltS 1n 1udgment and consclence IS both the accuser and the accused The weekly confess1on should be a summary of h1s da1ly exammatlon of consclence, deslgned to h1t the h1gh po1nts and to l1ght up clearly h1s most lncessant fa1l1ngs VVhat a we1rd par adox It would be lf he who by thunder bolts of eloquence keeps others from SID, has no fears about hlmself and IS callous as to h1s own faults St erome caut1ons the clergy Great IS the dlg nlty of prxest, but great 1S the1r ru1n lf they s1n Let us FCJOICC 1n the1r J . , . u ' Y 7 , . . J! ' ' D . 1 an n ' ' ' ' l at . . . V . . . 3 J 3 . . U .. . , t H . . . . . H . L 1 . J . U . . H . . . . . . 1 , - . 3 - . . . Y . Y. . . 7 . . . . H . - - . . H - . 7 . . . . 1 s . - , - 44 ' 'n ' ' . . . . . . U . . - . . U . . . . . . . . . . N H . . . . . . . . . ..

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mfluence extended from a c1ty to the world, but what really happened was a change not of personallty or heart but of respons1b1l1ty Pope Plus X was first last, and always a pr1est How he longed l1ke David to throw off the heavy armor of the papacy and to go forth as before w1th h1s staff and shng to slay Gohath to fight lgnorance and sm ln the front lmes But armles need a general and the Church needed a Rock And Father G1useppe Sarto became the soverelgn hlgh pr1est of the world re sponslble for all God s chlldren Cath ol1c and non Cathollc allke And Pope Plus X proved to be a great pope-but only because Father Gxuseppe Sarto had been a great pr1est The Master had sa1d to Hls trust worthy steward Because thou hast been falthful ln a few thmgs I wlll place thee over many The motto of th1s heavenly plenl potentlary was 1n Chrlst Where would be a better place to 1n1t1ate h1s ambltlons than upon the prlesthood ltself the funda mental cable from earth to heaven' The letter of Pope Plus X to pr1ests had nts penetratmg success from the fact that lt contalned the fruits of my years 1n the mmlstry To anyone who knew th1s holy man personally If read more l1ke an autoblography Hls exhortat1on took effect because It was enhanced by h1s actlons The word sounds the example thunders The followlng thoughts from th1s letter of a master pr1est to h1s brother clergy w1ll merlt cons1derat1on A well tralned pr1est accordmg to the son of Margherlta Sanson IS one to restore all thmgs who IS personally holy who has a great love for prayer and reallzes the 1m portance of dally medxtatlon, who ap peals to the judgment of h1s consclence dally, and who makes use of all the other helps whlch prudence and 1n genulty can suggest to brlng hlmself and his flock closer to Chrlst Above all else, a pr1est must be holy Our Lord Hlmself spent thxrty years ln Nazareth pI'aCflClI1g hollness of llfe before he went to teach others Teach mg IS almost of no value lf the pr1est does not confirm h1s words by h1s own example St ohn Chrysostom asks about the pr1est Must not the par taker of such a sacrlfice excel every thxng 1n pur1tyP More lustrous than the solar ray should be the hand that dlvxdes th1s flesh the mouth that IS f1lled w1th sp1r1tual fire the tongue that IS reddened wlth th1s most ador able Blood If only pr1ests would reallze the greatness and the dxgnltx of the thmgs whlch God has placed 1n their hands, how much force lf would have 1n urgmg them to lead a l1fe worthy of eccleslastlcsl God has placed H1s only begotten co equal, and co eternal Son 1n the hands of Hls frlend, the pr1est He has placed therem H1s sacraments and graces He has placed there souls Hls dearest posses slons whom He bought w1th H1s blood He has placed Heaven ln the hands of Hls pr1ests to open and close as he sees Ht God can glVC no more The pr1est must strlve vlgorously to guard hlmself not only agaxnst serlous s1ns but even agalnst the smallest so that he may be worthy to d1str1bute the d1v1ne treasures Hollness becometh thy house sa1d Davld to the pr1est 1 a J 9 ' . , . . . J KK !! . SO . - , - . , . J , - . . . . . . . H - , . - . ' 9 . H . . . . ' 9 , - ii !! ' . . . .- . . . 7 . . H . . . . . ,, . . . . n ' , ' . . H . . . 1 . . . H . c , ' y y . . . . H . ' H . . . , . J . . . . . . U . - , , . , . ,, . . . c , , . 2

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elevatlon but tremble 1n the1r fall for the joy at hav1ng held the hexghts IS not comparable to the sorrow of belng flung down from the summlts I short from the very Subllmlfy of h1s oH'ice, the pr1est must check h1s accounts more often and more zeal ously than h1s par1sh1oners If at any t1me there was urgent need of emlnent vlrtue among the clergy surely lt IS now A frlghtened godless world that has dlscovered everythmg but peace IS trembl1ng at 1fS own folly W ho can show these people the way back to the Person VN hom they neg lected and overlooked 1n admlrmg H1s works? Who can teach them how to effect a last1ng harmony but the am bassador of Peace the pr1est Depend ent on h1m also are m1ll1ons of ch1ldren the dearest hope of the Church and State who are surrounded on all s1des by mfluences tend1ng to dece1t and seduct1on The world of tomorrow 11 111 depend upon how well the pr1est of today does h1s job Blessed Plus X appreclated the fact that a pr1est requ1red all the helps avallable to fulfnll the herculean com m1ss1ons of h1s oHice Therefore he suggested other helps or trlmmlngs to supplement and aSS1St the bas1c funda mentals of pray er med1tat1on, and self eXam1nat1on The salntly pontlff enjomed annual retreats and monthly days of recollect1on for h1s cler1cal charges He also h1ghly recommended the read1ng of sp1r1tual thought pro voklng books, especxally those d1v1nely 1nsp1red LlkCWlSC he encouraged prxestly get togethers for Plus X knew the value of true fr1endsh1p A loyal frlend IS one who encourages you when you need bolstermg, who consoles you when you need comfort who corrects you when you make a mlstake who counsels you when you need advice and who prays for you all the tlme Is there a truer or more sol1d frlend sh1p than that whlch CXlStS between eccles1ast1csP Nor should a clerlc forget h1s brother pr1ests who have completed the1r m1s SIOHS on earth and whose names are now resplendent 1n the book of l1fe Rebuffed and affronted they went on the1rwayrejo1c1ng rev1led they blessed 1n return Let the example and prayers ofh1s val1ant predecessors whose pralses the Church now dellghts to celebrate, urge the pr1ests on and keynote h1S act1ons IH Slmllaf stra1ts And when fl1lf1gS get rough let h1m remember the many souls of a noble type not only 1n rel1g1ous houses but even 1n the world who offer them selves w1th unflaggmg generos1ty as v1ct1ms for the sanct1Hcat1on of pr1ests Last and most hearten1ng of all let a pr1est take courage from the fact that he as another Chrlst has a dlrect w1re to Mary the tr1umph of creat1on She by her example,taught theApostles the hrst fru1ts of the m1n1stry Everyone l1ked to hear Father Glu seppe preach H1s resonant and mus1cal vo1ce reverberated w1th unassumed s1n cerlty as he unraveled the Gospel of the day, br1ng1ng home practlcal lessons of bas1c Cathollc doctrme He preached as often as he was able know1ng that 1t was h1s duty to glve h1s par1sh1oners the fru1ts of hlS years 1n the semmary H1s average sermon lasted about one half hour, but It seemed more hke Hve mmutes He constantly studled 23 ! ! J . H . . n , , . . U 7 . . . ,, . . . . . 5 - . X . . . H ' 9 , . . . . . . 9 3 7 ' ar , . , 1 ' u D J I , .. . ' D 3 . . . H . I J . . H . . - , , ' 5 . . . , . . 7 . . . . , . - , - . . ' ' 9 . . - , - u J. .