Choose a topic from Part 3 Suppl:
1. No woman may receive the sacrament of orders. St. Paulsays (I Tim. 2:12): "I suffer not a woman to teach (in theChurch)." The nature of this sacrament, the example of Christ,and the constant law and practice of the Church, make it abundantlyevident that the female sex is an absolute impediment to thereceiving of the sacrament of orders.
2. The Church sets a definite age for the ordaining ofcandidates. As regards minor orders, very young boys might bevalidly ordained. Prudence and reverence demand, however, that thecandidate for any order be old enough to discharge its duties withseemliness and with an appreciation of the dignity and theresponsibility it lays uponhim. {-Thecanonical age is the age set by the laws or canons of theChurch as minimal for ordination. For example, a man is notordained to the priesthood until he has entered his twenty-fifthyear, that is, has passed his twenty-fourth birthday.-}
3. One who is enslaved cannot lawfully be raisedto orders. Yet, if he be actually ordained, the ordination isvalid. The same is true of those who are under the burden of heavydebts, and of those who are bound to the exacting care ofothers.
4. One who has been guilty of homicide, though penitentand pardoned, cannot lawfully be ordained. Still, if he wereordained, the ordination, though illicit, would be valid.
5. Legitimate birth is required in the candidate forlawful ordination. Here again, the impediment is one of licitness,not of validity. For lawful ordination, an illegitimate person mustfirst be dispensed by the Church from his impediment ofillegitimacy.
6. Any notable and noticeable deformity of body is animpediment to lawful ordination.
"It is well to choose some one good devotion, and to stick to it, and never to abandon it."
St Philip Neri
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"It is better to be burdened and in company with the strong than to be unburdened and with the weak. When you are burdened you are close to God, your strength, who abides with the afflicted. When you are relieved of the burden you are close to yourself, your own weakness; for virtue and strength of soul grow and are confirmed in the trials of patience."
St John of the Cross, OCD - Doctor of the Church
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"Before a man chooses his confessor, he ought to think well about it, and pray about it also; but when he has once chosen, he ought not to change, except for most urgent reasons, but put the utmost confidence in his director."
St Philip Neri
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