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"Then Herod, perceiving that he was deluded by the Wise Men, was exceeding angry, and sending, killed all the men children,"

I. When They Are Raised Against The Innocent.
II. When They Proceed From Hatred To Christ.
III. When They Are Borne In Defense Of Christ.

1. Herod, perceiving that he was deluded by the Wise Men. The Magi might appear culpable in the eyes of Herod for not having made known to him the abode of the Child, as he had enjoined them; but these children neither had committed, nor could have committed, any fault whatever; so that St. Augustine puts these words in the mouths of the mothers :. "If it is a crime it is mine; if it is not, deliver us."

Herod therefore was unjustly enraged against them. In like manner, when persecutors have no just ground of complaint against Priests; when they are "innocent and upright" (Ps. xxiv. 21); when their imprudence has not excited persecution (for it often happens that " the tongue of the fool is his ruin," Eccl. v. 15), let them not grieve; the wrong rests with their enemies. Let them, on the contrary, rest in tranquillity of conscience, and say with the Apostle: "I rejoice in my sufferings " (Col. i. 24); let them remember that they have a share in the eighth Beatitude: "Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven" (St. Matt. v. 10). St. Chrysostom, commenting on this passage, observes that our Savior does not name the persons who persecute, but only the motive for persecution, "for justice' sake;" whether you are persecuted by idolaters, or by heretics, or by Christians whom you have perhaps corrected for their faults, if it is for justice' sake, your advantage is the same. Therefore consider not who persecutes you, but why you are persecuted. Let Priests remember that they are the ministers of Him Who said, "They have hated Me without cause " (St . John xv. 25) ; that many of their predecessors have sung with the Prophet, "Princes have persecuted Me with out cause" (Ps. cxviii. 161); and that "all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" (2 Tim. iii. 12). Priests are more exposed to such persecution than other men, because they are "set up a wall for the House of Israel" (Ezekiel xiii. 5), which the enemies of the City assail. By Thy help, O my God, make me "a wall of iron" (Ezekiel iv. 3).

2. He was exceeding angry. The wrath and hatred of Herod were not, says St. Leo, directed against the children for their own sake, but for the sake of the Messiah, whom he sought to destroy in the cradle; and therefore they died martyrs, and are venerated as such by Holy Church. For which reason, observes St . Augustine, no honor shown them by the tyrant could have profited them so greatly as did his hatred. In like manner Priests are often objects of the hatred of unbelievers, because these men hate Christ and His Gospel, His Church and His Heavenly Father. He forewarned His Priests of this when He ordained them, saying, your enemies "have hated both Me and My Father" (St. John xv. 24); and remember that "if the world hate you, know you that it hath hated Me before you" (ib. 18); and it hates you precisely "because . . I have chosen you out of the world" (ib. 19); and as this hatred was the cause " that they have persecuted Me," so will it be the cause that " they will also persecute you" (ib. 20). Therefore let us arm ourselves with these forewarning, let us fear the love of the world more than its hatred, and let us not flatter ourselves that the world can love the members whilst it hates the Head. As St. Augustine says, we ought, for the love of Christ, to endure the hatred of the world along with our Head. Let us pray to God to give us patience and courage under the persecutions to which He shall see fit to subject us, and may all Priests who in any part of the world are now suffering the persecutions of the wicked, by His grace triumph over them; and we and they shall owe our eternal blessedness to those very persecutions.

3. Killed all the men children. The Innocents, by their death, saved the life of the Divine Child, for the tyrant, believing Him to be included in the general massacre, no longer sought Him. Moreover they proclaimed the name of the new-born King, "not by speaking, but by dying;" for, as St. Leo says, this atrocious act caused His birth to be made known even in the Capital of the World, where a foundation was thus laid for the promulgation of the Gospel. Priests are in like manner often persecuted for defending Christ; and here let us recollect that he who defends the truth, defends Christ, for He said: "I am . . . the Truth" (St. John xiv. 6). He who defends Wisdom, Justice, or .any other Virtue, defends Christ, for He is Wisdom itself, Justice itself, Virtue itself. "He is made unto us of God, wisdom, and justice " (1 Cor. i. 30); "Christ the power of God" (1 Cor. i. 24); "He who defends the Church defends Christ, for He is the Head of the Church" (Eph. v. 23). Blessed, then, are we if in such a cause we suffer calumny, sarcasm, oppression, or even death. St. Ambrose tells us that there is nothing we should fear so much, that nothing is so dangerous before God, and contemptible before men, as silence when it is our duty to denounce sin.

"In God I have put my trust, I will not fear what flesh can do against me." —Ps. lv. II.

"Thou deliverest them that wait for Thee, O Lord, and savest them out of the hands of the nations."—Eccles. li. 12.

Source: Meditations for the use of the clergy, for every day in the year. On the Gospels for the Sundays, Volume 1 by
Angelo Agostino Scotti (abp. of Thessalonica.)

• Because this is the only dignity which will remain in that Day.
• Because it will shine, not only in the soul, but also in the body
• Because it will then be given in recompense for the endurance of past reproaches.
  

When these things begin to come to pass, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is at hand."—St. Luke xxi. 28.

1. Look up. Behold, O Priests, in the last great day, the extinction of all dignities. Now, the great ones of this world die, but greatness dies not; sovereigns die, but sovereignty lives on, for, as one prince dies, another succeeds him; hence the wise man beheld the great of the earth hunted and trodden down by those who came after them: "I saw all men living, that walk under the sun, with the second young man who shall rise up in his place" (Eccles. iv. 15). Then greatness itself, sovereignty itself, shall vanish, and Jesus Christ shall appear, in His full power, the only Great One, the only and sovereign Lord. "Great is our Lord, and great is His power" (Ps. cxlvi. 5). Magistrates, princes, emperors, will sleep the sleep of death, and in the resurrection no remains of authority will be found in their hands: "They have slept their sleep, and all the men of riches have found nothing in their hands " (Ps. lxxv. 6). They were great as long as the scene of their life was on this world's stage; but, as St. Paul says to the Corinthians (i vii. 31)," The fashion of this world passeth away." But it is not so with Priests: their character is indelible; their dignity alone will remain to all eternity, and be resplendent in the face of the universe. If it remain indelible for the punishment of the reprobate, it will equally remain indelible for the recompense of the elect, as says St. Augustine. And, as he says again, when Jesus Christ our Lord comes to judgment, He will not efface His own character in His ministers.

2. And lift up your heads. Then holy Priests will lift up their sacred heads—those heads which had received the imposition of hands—they will raise them out of the dust of the tomb, in which their natural body was sown, "to be raised a spiritual body," as says St. Paul (i Cor. xv.); that is, they will be endowed with the gifts meet for a spiritual body. They themselves will see, and the world will see, their dignity. The sacerdotal character will be resplendent even in their bodies; for, as St. Thomas teaches, the glory of the body will be caused by the glory of the soul, and this glory will be spiritual in the soul, and corporeal in the body; and the greater the glory of the soul, the greater will be the glory of the body. Those members will be more especially resplendent which were employed in the functions of the ministry, which nourished men daily with the Flesh of Jesus Christ, and which preserved holy chastity in the midst of temptation. Hence it was that the first Priests of the New Testament groaned within themselves, "waiting for the adoption of the sons of God, the redemption of their bodies" (Rom. viii. 23). Then shall their voices be raised to praise God, those voices which glorified Him during their mortal life; and with their bodily eyes shall they see the glory of their divine Head. For as Isaias says (lii. 8), "the voice of thy watchmen: they have lifted up their voice, they shall praise together: for they shall see eye to eye." May these considerations aid us to keep our bodies in sanctity and honor; let us not abandon them to corruption and concupiscence: "in sanctification and honor, not in the passion of lust" (1 Thess.lv. 4, 5)

3. Because your redemption is at hand. Then, O Priests, shall you be freed from the calumnies of the world, and your prayer, "Redeem me from the calumnies of men" (Ps. cxviii. 134), will be fully answered. The world knew not Christ; it despised Him and calumniated Him: neither does the world recognize the dignity of His Priests; it despises them and calumniates them:"We are without honor . . . even unto this hour" (1 Cor. iv.10, n). But then the scene will change, and the world will see, as says St . Prosper, that Priests were the ornament of the Church; that, as St . Augustine says, they were angelical men; that, as St . Clement says, they were, after God, terrestrial gods. St. Cyril remarks that God ordered Moses to number the people in order to show that He kept His elect numbered in the book of life; but He ordered the Levites to be numbered apart, in order to show that Priests are written down in other books. So does this holy father explain the prophecy of Daniel, "The judgment sat and the books were opened " (Dan. vii. 10). Then shall worldly men behold with the dark envious eyes of Aman how the King of kings causes His Mordechais to be honored: "thus shall he be honored whom the king hath a mind to honor" (Esther vi. 9). Let us then bear injuries with meekness, let us bear labors with patience, and all the trials to which it is the will of our King to expose us, with the certain hope of future happiness. The day will come when God will recompense us for all we have suffered. Let us not lose our confidence in God, which will have a great reward; rather let us revive it during this holy season of Advent, which brings to our remembrance the mercies of our Savior.
"Judge my judgment and redeem me: quicken Thou me for Thy word's sake."—Ps. cxviii. 154.
"O Lord, have mercy on us; for we have waited for Thee."—Is. xxxiii. 2.

Source: Meditations for the use of the clergy, for every day in the year ..., Volume 1 (By Msgr. Angelo Agostino Scotti, abp. of Thessalonica.)

I. Accomplishing the days of her child-bearing.
II. Bringing forth the Son of God.
III. Showing Him her love and her reverence.

"Her days were accomplished, that she should be delivered, and she brought forth her firstborn Son; and wrapped Him up in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger. "St. Luke ii. 6, 7.

1. Her days were accomplished, that she should be delivered. Mary completed the period of her pregnancy, during which Jesus Christ, as perfect Man as well as God, had dwelt in a frightful prison: "Thou didst not abhor the Virgin's womb." Of His own choice had He remained full nine months as it were dead, without opening an eye, without moving a hand or a foot: "I am made free among the dead" (Ps. Ixxxvii. 6); and yet, by David His father, He shows us that He did not leave this prison without regret, nor save by the express command of His Father who drew Him thence : "Thou art He that hast drawn Me out of the womb" (Ps. xxi. 10). And why was this? He was content with this abode because Mary entertained Him so well: " while the King was at His repose, my spikenard sent forth the odor thereof" (Cant. i. n). The virtues of the Blessed Virgin perfumed the Child with a most sweet odor, but it was her humility which especially pleased Him; humility, which, as St. Bernard says, exhaled its odor—that is, its accustomed odor—because God is accustomed to be pleased with humility. The Virgin declares that the Word made flesh made her womb His tabernacle: "He rested in my tabernacle" (Eccles. xxiv. 12).

We Priests receive within us daily the same Son of God, the same Son of Mary; how do we entertain Him? Is He well pleased with our reception of Him? Does He go away satisfied when the sacred species are consumed? Humble thyself, beholding the condescension of a God, and, as says St. Athanasius, "acknowledge thyself a sinner; pour forth prayer to God with a contrite heart." If men expect gratitude and love on account of some slight benefit rendered them, how much greater right has Jesus Christ to expect it when He communicates Himself to us. Hence, concludes St. Chrysostom, "it is but just for men to offer thanksgiving."

2. And she brought forth her first-born Son. Mary brought forth her Divine Son as her first-born; that is, her only Son; for, as St. Jerome says, the only child must be the first-born; and she brought Him forth without detriment to her virginity: "behold a Virgin . . . shall bear a son" (Isa. vii. 14). As a word is conceived without corruption of the mind, so it issues from the heart without corruption; hence it was fitting that the Body of the Word should come forth without corruption from His Mother's womb. Besides, it was not fitting that He who came to heal what was corrupt, should corrupt what was sound; nor, says St. Thomas, was it fitting that He who commanded men to honor their parents, should, in His birth, diminish the honor of His Mother.

We Priests bring forth Jesus Christ in the hearts of the Faithful, but do we remain uncorrupted when discharging this office of our Ministry? How many defects, how many grievous faults, it may be, are committed in administering the Sacrament of Penance! What ruin to him who enters on it rashly, who exercises it imprudently! St. Basil requires a confessor to be "an upright man," and goes on to point out all the virtues with which he should be adorned, in order that he may not stain his own heart, nor himself lose the purity which he is restoring to others. St. Bonaventure demands knowledge in a confessor, that he may not render himself guilty of other men's perdition; and the Supreme Pontiff, Innocent III., would have him prudent, discreet. cautious, in order that he may question and direct his penitents well, without injuring himself or them. How can we attain this without the special protection of the Blessed Virgin? Let us ask the Mother to pray to her Divine Child for us; for, as St. Bernard says, the Son cannot reject His Mother, but will certainly grant her requests.

3. And laid Him in a manger. Mary profoundly adored the Child, embraced Him in her arms, pressed Him to her bosom, carried Him to the crib, and wrapped Him in poor but clean swaddling clothes. So did she show her affection, so did she second His great desire to be born in the extreme of poverty, humiliation, and suffering. The joy of the mother, as St. Bonaventure says, was immense, but immense also was her sorrow that she could not better entertain her Son. We also, when we bring forth Christ in the hearts of the Faithful, ought to have joy, like the Apostle, who said: "In this I rejoice, yea, and will rejoice" (Phil. i. 18); but at the same time we should be sad, with a sorrow which is "according to God" (2 Cor. vii. 10), when we see sin have dominion in the world; when we see those who have been converted returning to their vomit; when we see venial sins abounding in ourselves and in others. Mary attentively considered the mystery of the manger, of the swaddling clothes, and of the animals which lay beside the Child; as Cornelius a Lapide says, she recognized in these objects an emblem of the world and an image of sins and of sinners. She made herself a Mediatrix with the Mediator in order to obtain for all sinners reconciliation with God. Let us also have recourse to this Mediatrix, that she may obtain for us freedom from the bonds of sins, and that from the condition of beasts we may pass to the condition of the sons of God; for, as St. Bernard says: "There is need of a mediator with that Mediator; and there is no mediator better than Mary."

"For the glory of Thy Name deliver us."—Ps. lxxviii. 9. "Rule Thou over us and Thy Son."—Judg. viii. aa.

Source: Meditations for the use of the clergy, for every day in the year ..., Volume 1 (By Msgr. Angelo Agostino Scotti, abp. of Thessalonica.)

"Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be cut down, and shall be cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits you shall know them" St. Martt. VII. 19,20

1. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit: Our Saviour had spoken of false Prophets, and in their person had signified wicked Priests : He had enjoined His disciples to avoid them, but He had not enjoined them to punish them. He fills them with fear, threatening them with the punishment of God (says St. Chrysostom). A wicked Priest has, indeed, need of threats rather than of promises, and for his amendment he has need to think of the former rather than of the latter. And, did he but reflect on the tremendous truth which is here inculcated — that is to say, that a Priest may be condemned for failing to produce good fruit — then surely he would never bring forth those many evil fruits which may be traced to him. He would shrink from incurring that dreadful curse, " You shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary . . . you shall bear the sins of your priesthood" (Numb, xviii. 1). 
If we are branches of that great Vine, which is Jesus Christ, we ought to remember His word, " Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit He will take away;" and again, "If any one abide not in Me, he shall be cast forth as a branch, and shall wither, and they shall gather him up, and cast him into the fire, and he burneth " (St. John xv. 2, 6). Let us, then, fear the fulfillment of so terrible a menace ; let us fear the teeth of the dragon (says St. Bernard); let us fear the belly of hell, the roaring of fierce beasts that stand ready to devour, the worm that ever gnaws, the fire that always burns, the smoke, the brimstone, the whirlwind, and the exterior darkness. It may be that our death is near, and that " the axe is already laid to the root of the tree " (St. Matt. iii. 10) ; it may be the Watcher and the Holy One has already cried aloud from heaven, " Cut down the tree " (Dan. iv. 1 1 ). Whither shall we then flee from the wrath of the Lamb ? Why do we not now by penance forestall this fatal stroke ?"

2. Shall be cut down. What terrible words are these ! They point to separation from the heavenly kingdom, which separation is incomparably more terrible than eternal fire ; although (as St. Chrysostom says) many fear hell more than they fear the loss of heaven. But the loss of a kingdom, and that the kingdom of God, will be most terrible for Priests, who have held the keys of it, who have opened it to others, and who will hear from the lips of devils that they have lost it, as the devils have lost it, without hope of recovery : " Thou also art wounded as well as we, thou art become like unto us" (Is. xiv. 10). — " Shall be cut down." They shall be separated from the Eternal Father Who had communicated to them immense power, Who had confided to them His Son, Who had made them Ministers of His mercies, but Who now says, " I will hide My face from them, and they shall be devoured " (Deut. xxxi. 17). — " Shall be cut down. " What an awful punishment is that of Priests — to be separated from Christ, to become the object of His hatred, and to hate Him and curse Him, through all eternity, after having been so familiarly associated with Him — after having called Him down so many times from heaven, held Him in their hands, taken Him for food, dispensed Him to the Faithful ! The punishment of ten thousand hells could not equal this (says St. Chrysostom). — "Shall be cut down".  How terrible for Priests to be separated for all eternity from the Holy Spirit, by Whom they were anointed, illuminated, sanctified, and made the instruments of diffusing Him on Whom the Angels, whose name and office they have borne, "desire to look!" (i Pet. i. 12). — "Shall be cut down." Surely, nothing ought to be so terrible to Priests who still retain their faith as the thought of losing for all eternity the sight, the possession, the enjoyment of the Blessed Trinity, with Whom they have been so closely associated on earth.

3. Shall be cast into the fire. The fire which is kindled by God's wrath is "a fire full of wisdom;" that is, it punishes each one according to the number and heinousness of his sins. Hence the sins of Priests, which are most heinous — because of their contempt of Divine light, their ingratitude for the Divine benefits, and because of the fatal consequences of such sins — will bring upon them a more severe and intense suffering than those of any others. Supreme is God's indignation against His reprobate Ministers, and therefore against them in an especial manner is " a fire kindled in His wrath, which shall burn even to the lower heir' (Deut. xxxii. 22). The breath of Almighty God, which, when breathed upon them, gave His Priests power to remit sins, will then be "as a torrent of brimstone" to punish their iniquity (Is. xxx. 33). Let us consider that the devils have already prepared a dwelling for us, and desire to see us precipitated into that furnace of fire ; " for Topheth is prepared from yesterday, deep and wide ; the nourishment thereof is fire and much wood." (Ibid.) What anguish for Priests to see themselves changed from shining stars into firebrands of hell !

O Jesus, Author of the Priesthood, and Supreme High Priest, abandon not Thy unworthy Minister. Convert me and save me.


" Deliver, O God, my soul from the sword, my only one from the hand of the dog." — Ps. xxi. 21.

" Which of you can dwell with devouring fire ? Which of you shall dwell with everlasting burnings ? " — Is, xxxiii. 14.

Source: 7 week after Pentecost Meditations for the use of the clergy : for every day in the year. On the Gospels for the Sundays, Volume 3 (Msgr. Scotti, Archbishop of Thessalonica)

Prayer for Priests Who Have Become Unfaithful to Their Vocation

Divine Savior Jesus Christ, Thou are the Good Shepherd who gives His life for His sheep. Oh, be in a very special way the Good Shepherd of those poor lost priests who are also appointed by Thee to be leaders of Thy people, but who have broken the oath of their holy ordination and have become unfaithful to their exalted calling. Bestow upon these poorest of the poor the very fullness of that pastoral solicitude with which Thou dost so faithfully seek the sheep that are lost! Touch their hearts with the irresistible ray of grace which emanates from Thine all-merciful love! Enlighten their minds and strengthen their wills, that they may turn away from all sin and error and come back to Thy holy altar and to Thy people. O most compassionate Savior! Remember that Thou didst once redeem the souls of Thine erring priests with Thy Precious Blood and in infinite preferential love didst impress upon them the indelible character of the priesthood. Put wholly to shame those miserable helpers of Satan who lay snares for the virtue of priests and endanger the holy ideal of the priesthood. Most graciously accept our prayers and sacrifices for poor priests who have gone astray and hear our earnest petition. Amen

Saints and Servants of God, obtain for us holy priests.

Imprimatur - Bishop John F. Null (April 18, 1948)

Source: Cure d'Ars Prayer Group

From the multitude that followed Him, He chose His apostles. At the Last Supper He ordained them priests to offer sacrifice. After His resurrection He commissioned them to go forth and to teach and sanctify all nations. He promised to be with them all days, even to the consummation of the world. The Priesthood, therefore, will continue to exist on earth till the last day. Without it, the holy sacrifice of the Mass would not be offered, the sacraments would not be administered, the word of God would not be preached to the faithful, and the true religion would soon disappear. It is principally through the priesthood that Christ continues to maintain and establish His kingdom; and it is through those who have entered this state, that is, through the priests of His holy Church, that He is accomplishing His greatest achievements in the work of salvation and sanctification. Truly have they been called other Christs, for none are more Christlike in the duties to be performed, of in dignity or in power than the duly ordained priest.

Source: The Sunday-School Director's Guide to Success by Rev. Patrick James Sloan 1909

The hardship is great, because the enemy has long been prowling around the flock and with subtle cunning has endeavored to bring havoc upon it, succeeding to such and extent that more than every, what the Apostle wrote to the ancients of the Church of Ephesus, seems to be realized: "I know that ravening wolves will enter among you, not sparing the flock" (Acts XX. 29)

Those among us who are prompted by zeal for the glory of God and who seek the reasons for the present decay of religion, ascribe it to various causes; and each, according to his own views, adopts different methods in the endeavor to protect and restore the kingdom of God on earth.

To Us, Venerable Brethren, without rejecting the opinions of others, it seems that we must agree with the judgment of those who attribute the remissness, or rather the intellectual debility of our times, as the condition from which such grave evils arise, chiefly to ignorance of divine things. There seems to be in our day a recurrence of what God said by the mouth of the Prophet Oseas: " There is no knowledge of God in the land. Cursing and lying and killing and theft have overflowed, and blood hath touched blood. Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth in it shall languish" (Osee iv. 1-3)

Source: On the Teaching of Christian Doctrine, Pope St. Pius X

The priest being the man of God, charged with the interests of His glory, is destined to do on earth what the angel does in heaven. As the blessed spirits, lost in veneration before the throne of the universal King, unceasingly sing His praises, and emulate one another in repeating their sublime Sanctus, so, says Father Olier, the Lord, desiring to be worshiped in a similar manner upon earth, and seeing that the majority of men would not keep themselves to this perpetual adoration, has instituted the priesthood to offer it in their stead.

The good priest is ever imbued with the profoundest love for God and the most ardent desire of procuring His glory. But it is especially towards the Holy Eucharist that his pious affection shows itself most ardent and zealous. It is in this wonderful mystery, as we have previously observed, that our divine Lord has humbled Himself most profoundly for our sake. Gratitude, therefore, demands that our love and veneration towards Him should be correspondingly greater than in other mysteries; and in this the Church and God Himself have given us the example.

(...)

"Priests," said Alain de Solminiac, "being officers of the crown, are under particular obligations not only to honor their divine King, but also to make Him honored as He deserves."

When the minister of Jesus Christ is under the guiding influence of lively faith, he manifests in his whole exterior such modesty, gravity, and every-abiding sense of God's holy presence that his very appearance becomes an homage to God and a salutary instruction to all who see him. People are influenced more by example than by precept. The sight of a holy priest prostrate before the tabernacle, motionless, and as it were, annihilated in the presence of the Lord, has, not un-frequently, been the means designed by a merciful Providence to re-animate lukewarm Christians, to convert sinners, and even to convince unbelievers by awakening in their souls a spirit of reflection, study, and prayer.

Source: The Sacrifice of the Mass Worthily Celebrated by Rev. Pierre Chaignon S.J., 1897

St. Vincent de Paul said his Mass with such unction and fervor that all could see that his heart spoke through his lips. His modesty, the serenity of his countenance, his whole exterior appearance were calculated to impress the least susceptible of this audience. They observed in his person something so exceptionally noble and at the same time so humble that often some of them were heart to whisper to others: "How well that priest says Mass!"

On the other hand, it would be impossible to calculate the evil done to religion by inattentive, indevout, worldly looking priests, who, while celebrating, seem intent only on accomplishing their task in the shortest possible time, seemingly indifferent as to whether they offer God homage or insult. Seeing them, one would be tempted to ask, with Tertullian: " Sacrificat an insultat?" Let us suppose that St. Basil and the other ministers who served him at the altar in the church of Cesarea had been wont to celebrate Mass in a trivial, unbecoming manner, instead of that imposing solemnity which fills us with an awe-inspiring sense of God's presence in our sanctuaries; could they have so terrified the Emperor Valens as to make him turn pallid and tremble when he advanced toward the altar to present an offering which none would receive at his hands, because he was guilty of heresy?

We have read of a heretic who, after many conferences with a saint and learned religious, had resolved to embrace the true faith; but having observed priests offer the holy sacrifice without respect or devotion, he was so scandalized by their irreverence that he could not be convinced to the truth of Catholic doctrines, or that those priests themselves believed them, and he completely abandoned the idea of entering the true Church.

One of the most infallible means of preventing that routine indifference which too great familiarity with sacred things so often superinduces, of escaping the abysses of evil which it leads to, as well as of fostering in our souls that feeling of religious awe so essential to the most sublime and sacred of all ministries, is to habituate ourselves to an exact observance of the holy rubrics, and to perform as perfectly as possible each one of the prescribed ceremonies. This is of the highest practical importance.

Source: The Sacrifice of the Mass Worthily Celebrated by Rev. Pierre Chaignon S.J., 1897

Father Tronson, in an instruction on this subject (Observance of the Holy Rubrics), aptly remarks with what care and in what express terms Almighty God Himself had, under the Old Law, ordered and regulated, even to the minutest detail, everything concerning His public and exterior worship. And with what terrible severity He had punished all violations of those regulations, he furnishes three remarkable instances. 

The two sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abiu, are devoured by fire because, contrary to the ceremonial law, they put in their censers a fire other than that prescribed.

Oza is punished with instantaneous death for having unlawfully touched the Ark of the Covenant, though under circumstances which seemed to render his doing so excusable, if not imperative.

Ophni and Phinees, with their father Heli, who by his silence encouraged their sacrilegious temerity, were also punished in a dreadful manner for their transgression of the divine ordinance.

Who will believe that God exacts less respect for our adorable mysteries that He did for those of the Old Testament, which were but feeble representations, dimly defined shadows of what is accomplished on our altars?

Lend a respectful ear to what the holy Council of Trent says: "-If any one saith, that the received and approved rites of the Catholic Church, wont to be used in the solemn administration of the sacraments, may be contemned, or without sin be omitted at pleasure by the ministers, or be changed, by every pastor of the churches, into other new ones; let him be anathema. (Canon 13, on the Sacraments)"

Anathema is the greatest punishment which the Church can inflict. Against whom, in this instance, does she pronounce it?

Not against those who change, neglect, or omit at their pleasure the rites which she has approved and adopted; but against those who simply say that every pastor can change them, that they can be neglected or omitted without sin. Now, if the Church thus vigorously deals with whosoever speaks lightly of her sacred rites and ceremonies, will she spare those who in action disregard them? In vain would we endeavor to palliate our neglect by pretending that we do not intend to disregard the rubrics. Have we not just reason for alarm, when we reflect on the above-cited decree of the Church, and realize that we do not take pains to observe them religiously?

Source: The Sacrifice of the Mass Worthily Celebrated by Rev. Pierre Chaignon S.J., 1897

The Mass is the memorial of the passion of Jesus Christ. His death is here mystically represented by the separate consecration of the bread and of the wine. The ornaments are all marked with the sign of the the cross, which is used in all ceremonies and benedictions. But above all, the silence, the meekness, the patience of the adorable Victim, everything at the altar, vividly remind us of the ignominious and sorrowful scenes of Calvary. Moreover, outrages ceased not to be offered to Jesus Christ with the termination of His mortal life. We know what indignities have been reserved for Him hidden under the Eucharistic veils. Alas! does He not find in our churches renewal of the cruel trials of Calvary? Does not His heart experience the same sorrow at the sight of the crimes daily committed by men, whilst He offers Himself to the Eternal Father as a victim of propitiation? Does He not find also coldness, indifference, abandonment, and that, too, on the part of those very persons who were the recipients of his greatest favors and on whose fidelity He had therefore the strongest claims. On the cross He was loaded with opprobrium by the Jews; on the altar He is overwhelmed with it by the heretics and the impious. But in this example of the Savior, who not only devotes Himself to torments and to death, but who also, as it were, prolongs and perpetuates His passion by leaving Himself in the hands of men, there is a wonderful power to make us love mortification, or at least render the practice of is more agreeable.

Jesus Christ foresaw everything. Therefore, when through love for men He constituted Himself a prisoner in the Holy Eucharist, the persecutions of the future were as clearly present to Him as those which He was actually undergoing. His tender love for us triumphed over every feeling of repugnance. He accepted the twofold chalice. Oh, that thought alone, which everything connected with the celebration of the sacred Mysteries so vividly recalls, ought to suffice to inspire the priest with unbounded generosity and courage!

Thou hast, O Lord! constituted Thyself my Victim; shall I refuse to be Thine? When instituting the Sacrament of the Altar, and pre-ordaining me to be its privileged minister, Thou didst well know how many tribulations Thou wouldst have to undergo from that moment to this. Thou hast ever present to Thee those numberless impieties, those horrible sacrileges, committed against Thee in Thy holy sacraments during this long interval of nearly nineteen hundred years. Thou didst distinctly foresee how many Judases Thou wouldst encounter on Thy way, how many times on multiplied Calvaries Thy thirst wouldst be sated with vinegar and gall; yet that terrifying prospect could not allay the fervor of Thy love, nor prevent Thee accomplishing this prodigy of charity in my behalf. Will it now be said that I have nothing but a lukewarm heart to offer Thee in return for all Thou has done for me? For love of me Thou hast sacrificed consolations, glory, life itself; shall I hesitate to sacrifice for Thee my love of ease, my sensitive emotions? For the love of me Thou hast consented to be spit upon, to be trampled under foot, to be crucified; Thou has abandoned Thyself to the fury of Thy enemies, to be rejected, insulted, vilified by many even of Thy own disciples, and all this Thou endurest till the consummation of the world; and shall I complain of remaining in obscurity during the few days of my sojourn on earth? Shall I permit a slight insult or contradiction to irritate me to such an extent as completely to upset my mind? Shall I continued to be proud, impatient, excitable, exacting? Such a contrast should not be tolerated.

Source: The Sacrifice of the Mass Worthily Celebrated by Rev. Pierre Chaignon S.J., 1897