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

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office of the prlest IS to offer sacrl flce to bless to govern to preach and to baptlze TO OFFER SACRIFICE Thus IS the foremost and the baslc duty of the priesthood This IS the very rea son for any priesthood to offer to God sacrlflclal vlctlms And In thus priesthood of the new law the great est sacrlfnce of all ns offered to God Jesus Chrlst the Son of God' Thus IS the greatest act that can be performed by man the offering of God to God the Holy sacrnfnce of the Mass' Through the power of God the priest changes the bread and wlne into the body and blood soul and dlvlnlty of Chrlst Hlmself A miracle' And It IS performed every day by a priest and no one else except a priest appointed by God For nt IS dnvnne command which empowers hum to offer the Holy sacrlflce This IS my body This IS My blood Do thus In remembrance of Me' T0 BLESS The priest has more to do than celebrate Mass Be :ng the medlator between God and man he has the power to bless to call down God s favor upon us Thus can never be stressed too much namely how very necessary the favor of God as ForChr1stHlmselfhassald Wlth out Me you can do nothmg TO GOVERN The priest IS called Father He IS the splrutual father of has people Slnce the people follow their leader It IS so necessary that he lead them safely and surely 76 toward the heavenly knngdom of God far from the horrible torments of hell lt IS a great power but nt IS also a tremendous responslbnllty responsl bnluty for the salvation of souls The priest must govern has people wisely for To whom much IS glven of hum ns much expected T0 PREACH Thus IS one of the most Important commands of Christ Go Into the whole world and preach the gospel to every creature To be a really good servant of has dnvlne master the pnest must be un ceaslngly zealous ln spreadlng the word of God He IS as It were a ray of llght an the Church the great bea con of truth Pope Plus Xl says In his encycllcal On the Cathollc Prlest hood Woe If ever thls beacon should be hindered from shedding far and wlde Its benehcent light' Thus It IS a grave duty for the priest to preach to make known the doctrines that wall lead the people to heaven The priest must explain them carefully so that the people will understand them fully There are many opportunltles for a priest to preach One of the most lmportant ns the Sunday sermon Here IS his weekly opportunnty to Influence has people to lead good lnves A per son who ns persuaded to do thus by a priest wlll be saved The prnest has another great oppor tunlty to preach an Lenten sermons . . . . . - V ' . 9 1 1 9 . ' 91 . . . . 1 v - tt yy - ' I I I I ' ' ' U . f . . . . 9 . ' ' 11 . 0 1 ' CK 11 ' ' - I I I I 1 . . . . .. . 1 ' - 11 v v . ' - 1 - 1 1 1 1 - . . U - . , - ' ' 19 16 ' ' , . Q . Q . . . . , , ' - n u n u yy n . . 44 . - . . Q . . . 0 11 ' ' I 1 1 ss is ' , , . - q Q . Y 1 1 n a 1 . . . . U . . . . , ' . . g, . . - - 0 KC 99 - - I I I I A ' Y -

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Aririfi greater than the one about whom these words were spoken, what can be said about one who is great in the kingdom of heaven, a priest? Certainly he must live the life of a saint. He must do all things in Christ, with Christ, and for Christ. He is the motivating force in a priest's lite, Christ, the Son of God, the Eternal High-priest, The priest strives not tor mere earthly gain, but rather tor everlast- ing gain. Everyone who has left house, . . . . for My name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold and shall possess life ever- lasting. However, tor a reward service is re- quired, and the priest has various duties which he must perform, These are sum- marized in the rite of ordination, The 'c

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Here he can lead the people on to greater splrutual perfectnon closeness to God There are also many prnests en gaged nn Cana Conference work pro vndung advice for better Chrnstnan famnly llfe the seed of vocatnons to the Relnguous lnfe the seed of Catho Incs devoted to thelr greatest posses snon the Catholic Fa th' ln fact some of the professors at Quigley are andlng In carrying out thus fine work And speaklng of Quigley profes sors here as another wonderful ex ample of preachnng not only by thesr fine Chapel talks but more by their great work In formulating the charac ter of voung men preparing to be subjects on the curriculum but more than that by their flne example they show us what It means to lnve as An other Christ lt IS real preach ng preach no wnthout words For Ac tlons speak louder than words Thus as true of all prlests for no matter how effectave a priest ns un the pulpnt nf he IS really holy really try :ng to Inve as a saint he ns truly the most effective klnd of a preacher TO BAPTIZE Under thus headlng can be lasted the sacraments of which the priest as the ordinary mnnuster By baptism a soul becomes a sharer nn the rnch merits of the Church that soul becomes a member of the Church' As Fr Richard Gander puts nt un Our Sunday Vlsltor ut as a greater work than the palntlng of the Slstlne Madonna and nt is much more beautiful In fact the earthly beauty of a painting and the heavenly beauty of a spotless soul cannot be compared And It IS usually through a pruest that thus tremendous mnracle of God s provudence comes to pass What a responslblluty but yet what a magnnflcent prlvulege' The prlest also brings the Holy Eucharist to the fauthful souls of those who wlsh to recenve Christ Himself lt IS the heavenly food by whnch the soul ns strengthened against the temp tatnons of the world the flesh and the devll Holy Eucharust ns the strength that a person needs +o gain heaven for an Holy Communnon man as unlted with hls maker his God' He that eateth My flesh and drlnketh my blood hath EVERLAST ING LIFE and I wlll ralse hum up on the last day And what of the priest who IS united with Chrlst each day nd who brings Chrnst to men? The prnest also offlcuate at the ceremony by which two pecple are joined In Holy Matrimony Christ raised Matrlmony to the dignity of a Sacrament and the prnest an the name of Chrnst blesses the brlde and groom that they mnght have a chaste and fruitful unlon Then there IS the great priestly work of helping souls to a better . . . . . . ,, 9 I n o gy . . ' ! . , . i I ' . Other Christs. They teach us the - ' ' - I . . U - so . ,, . I . - . n , E . ,, - . . . . O . . ,, sv - a ' ' . . . . . . I CK 99 ' . , I