Holy Orders Chapter I §1: Divine Institution

Chapter I: Holy Orders a True Sacrament

§1: Divine Institution

CHAPTER I HOLY ORDERS A TRUE SACRAMENT SECTION I DIVINE INSTITUTION i. Heretical Vagaries vs. the Teaching of the Church. — Luther denied the existence of a Christian priesthood, and his example was followed by Flacius Illyricus, Martin Chemnitz, and other faithful disciples. a) Calvin hesitated to deny the sacramentality of ” the imposition of hands by which the Church introduces her ministers into office.”1 Melanchthon, after many tergiversations, in the later editions of his Loci admitted ordination to be a Sacrament. To-day nearly all Protestant sects reject the episcopal form of church government and with it all semblance of a Sacrament of Order. b) The Catholic doctrine on the subject is thus authoritatively stated by the Council of Trent: “If anyone saith that Order, or sacred ordination, is not truly and properly a Sacrament instituted by Christ the Lord; or that it is a kind of human figment devised by men unskilled in ecclesiastical llnstit., IV, 14, 20: “Imposition invitus potior voeari tacramentum, nem manuum, quA Ecclesiae ministri ito inter ordinaria sacramenta non mi suum munus initioMtur, ut non numtro,” 54 matters; or that it is only a sort of rite for choosing ministers of the word of God and of the Sacraments; let him be anathema.” 2 This canon does not decide the question whether and to what extent the different orders participate in the sacramentality of Holy Orders, but merely declares in general terms that the rite of ordination is a true Sacrament. This teaching can easily be demonstrated from Scripture and Tradition. 2. Proof from Sacred Scripture. — Though it seems that Christ called His Apostles to the priesthood without any special ceremony,8 He undoubtedly instituted a sacramental rite for the purpose of transmitting the power of orders (potestas ordinis), for Holy Scripture speaks of an external sign combined with internal grace, which can derive its efficacy only from being divinely instituted. a) The external sign is the imposition of hands (manuutn impositio, bnOeala iw x^”, x*?0™1*0). The “prayer” mentioned in connection with this ceremony does not seem to be the sacramental form, but merely a worthy preparation for the reception of the Sacrament. 2Sess. XXIII, can. 3: “Si quis esse tantutn ritum quendam eligendi dixerit, ordinem swe sacram ordina- ministros verbi Dei et sacramentionem non esse vere et proprie torum, anathema sit.” (Denzingersacramentum a Christo Domino in’ Bannwart, n. 963). stitutum, vet esse figmentum quod- 8 Cfr. Card. Bellarmine, De Sacradam humanum excogitatum a viris mento Ordinis, I, 2. return ecclesiasticamm imperitis, out 56 HOLY ORDERS In the sixth chapter of the Acts we are told that the disciples, at the bidding of the Apostles, chose seven deacons. ” These they set before the Apostles, and they praying, imposed hands upon them ( #c

internal grace. This can be shown from St. Paul’s Epistles to Timothy. “I admonish thee/’ he says (2 Tim. I, 6), “that^ thou stir up the grace of God (to gap”?** rov ®cov), which is in thee by the imposition of my hands (&a rip ImdeaeoK niv x«p*” fww)-” A careful analysis of this tebct leads to the following conclusions : (1) According to the context the grace conferred on Timothy by the imposition of hands was to qualify him for the worthy administration of the episcopal office, and consequently this particular x€LP°^€cr^a cannot be identical either with Confirmation or Extreme Unction.^ St. Chrysostom paraphrases the Pauline passage as follows : * Excite anew the grace which thou hast received for the purpose of presiding in the Church.* • (2) XapuTfM here cannot simply mean a charismatic gift (gratia gratis data), for St. Paul frequently employs the term as a synonym of x*PL

(tov br croi xapfopa.Tos) , which was given thee by prophecy, with imposition of the hands of the priesthood (ftcra iinOeattos rwv tov irpecrfjvrepiov) .” 12 Here again Ijhe permanent grace communicated by Holy Orders is described as an effect of the imposition of hands, the only difference being that the Apostle does not speak of the rite as administered by his own hands, but by the presbyterium.1* But what had “prophecy” to do with the ordination of Timothy? St. Paul probably means that he himself was prophetically inspired when he chose his favorite disciple for episcopal honors.14^ c) That the rite of ordination was instituted by Christ follows from the scriptural teaching that this rite is a visible sign conferring invisible grace. No one but the God-man Himself could establish this connection. The institution of the Sacrament probably took place between the Resurrection of Christ and His Ascension. 3. Proof from Tradition. — An argument from Tradition may be construed (a) from the consentient teaching of the Catholic Church, the Greek schismatics, and heretical sects;15 (b) from ancient ordination formularies that have come down to us, and (c) from the express testimony of the Fathers. We shall confine ourselves to the latter. I2x Tim. IV, 14: Noli negligere gratiam, quae in te est, quae data est tibi per propheHam cum impositione manuum presbytern, 18 On the meaning of this term cfr. Ch. II, Sect 1, infra. 14 Cfr. x Tim. I, 18. IB Cfr. Goar, Euchol., pp. 194 sqq.; Denzinger, Rit. Orient., I, 4x6 sqq. St. Gregory of Nyssa says : ” The same power of the word renders sublime and honorable the priest, who by the newness of ordination has been singled out from the multitude ; he who was yesterday and previously one from among the people [i. e. a layman], suddenly becomes a commander, a presiding officer, a teacher of righteousness, the dispenser of hidden mysteries… . Though in his external appearance he is the same as he was before, yet in his invisible soul, by a certain unseen power and grace, he is transformed into a higher being.* 16 St. Chrysostom says in his famous treatise On the Priesthood ” : ” The office of the priesthood is exercised on earth, but it ranks amongst things that are heavenly, and with good reason. For it was neither a man nor an angel nor an archangel nor any other created power, but the Paraclete Himself that established this ministry… . If you consider what it is for a man clothed in flesh and blood to be able to approach that pure and blessed nature [of the angels], you will easily understand to what a dignity the grace of the Holy Ghost has raised priests.” 17 This sublime dignity is acquired by ordination. “If the pledge of the Holy Spirit no longer existed,” says the same writer, ” there would be no Baptism and no remission of sins, … nor should we consume the mysteries ; for the mystic Flesh and Blood does not exist except by the grace of the Holy Ghost. Nor should we have priests, because without such a descent, [Holy] Orders would be impossible.” 18 St. Jerome deduces the validity of orders conferred by 10 Orat. in Bapt. Christi (Migne, A Treatise, in Six Books by Saint P.G., XLVI, 582). John Chrysostom, 2nd ed, pp. 36, 17 De Sacerdot., Ill, n. 4 (P. G., 37, Dublin 1910. XLVIII, 643). Translation by P. 18 Horn, de Resurrect. Mort-, n. Boyle, CM., On the PrUithood. 8 (P.C., L, 4?’) 6o HOLY ORDERS heretics from the fact that Baptism administered by them is valid.19 St. Augustine puts the two Sacraments on the same level : ” Each is a Sacrament and is given by a certain consecration : the one when a man is baptized, the other when he is ordained, and therefore in the Catholic [Church] it is not permitted to repeat either.” 20 He asks the Donatists to ” explain why the Sacrament of the baptized cannot be lost, while the Sacrament of the ordained can be lost. If both are Sacraments, which no one doubts, how is the one not lost [by apostasy], while the other is? No injury should be done to either Sacrament.” 21 In a treatise on the dignity of the priesthood, often ascribed to St. Ambrose, but probably composed by Pope Sylvester II, we read : ” Who gives the episcopal grace, O brother? God or man? You answer without hesitation : God. But God gives it through man. A man imposes his hands, God showers down His grace. The priest raises his right hand in supplication, and God blesses with His mighty right hand. The bishop confers the order, God bestows the dignity.” 22 The Sacrament of Holy Orders has always been adi» Adv. Lucif., n. n : ” Si in fide sua baptisato baptvsans nocere non potuit, et w fide sua sacerdotem constitutum non inquinavit.” 20 Contr. Ep. Parmen., II, c. 13, n. 28 (Migne, P. L„ XLIII, 70): ” Utrumque enim sacramentum est et quadam consecratione datur, ilktd quum baptizatur, istud quum ordinatur, ideoque in catholica [Ecclesia] utrumque non licet iterari.” 21 Op. cit., II, n. 30: “Ipsi explicent, quomodo sacramentum baptisati non possit amitti et sacramentum ordinati possit amitti. Si enim utrumque sacramentum est, quod mm dubitat, cur Ulud non amitti* turf Neutri sacramento iniuria facienda est.* 22 De Dignit. Sac er dot., c. $: * Quis dat, f rater t episcopalem gratiamf Deus an homot Respondes sine dubio: Deus. Sed tarn en per hominem dat Deus. Homo imponit manus, Deus largitur gratiam. Sacerdos imponit supplicem dexteram, et Deus benedicit potenti dexterH. Episcopus initiat ordinem, et Deus tribuit dignitatem.” Other Patristic testimonies apud Albert a Bulsano, Instit. Theol. Dogmat.t ed. G. i Graun, Vol. Ill, pp. 249 sqq., Innsbruck 1896; Palmieri, De Rom. Pontiff iad ©&, pp. 76 tqq.» Rome 189;. DIVINE INSTITUTION 61 ministered in the Church. The Fourth Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon (451) forbade bishops to ordain unworthy candidates to the episcopate, the priesthood, or the diaconate, under penalty of being deprived of their office and dignity.28 Simonistic ordinations were strictly prohibited by the councils of Orleans (533), Braga (563), Toledo (653), and the Second Ecumenical Council of Nicaea (787). The Patristic Tradition was continued by the Schoolmen 24 up to the threshhold of modern times.26 23 Canon 2, apud Hardouin, Condi, II, 601. 24 Cfr. Petr. Lombard., Sent., IV, dist 24. 26 The befittingness of the sacramental character of Orders is well shown by Gihr, Die hi, Sakramente der kath. Kirche, Vol. II, 2nd ed., pp. 28a sq.