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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

The ignorance of priests and the disorders which follow upon it very largely account for the loss of faith and morals in a country.

This the enemies of the Church know perfectly well. When at the outbreak of the French Revolution the clergy were called upon to take the oath to the Civil Constitution, Mirabeau said: Educated priests will refuse to take this oath, and once we have driven them out and brought the cloisters into disrepute, we can replace them with men destitute of faith and morals, who will do more to aid us in robbing France of her Catholicity than we can possibly do with all our decrees.

Source: Jesus Living in the Priest: Considerations on the Greatness and Holiness of the Priesthood by Rev. Jacques Millet S.J., 1901

Jesus Christ having so dignified chastity in His own person left it to His priests as the most beautiful adornment of their priesthood and the greatest glory of their ministry. A priest whose reputation is clean and whose morals are pure is dear to the heart of God and useful to His Church; whereas, on the contrary, a priest whose morals are not beyond  reproach, a pastor who is not chaste, what sort of a priest, what sort of a pastor is he?

Source: Jesus Living in the Priest: Considerations on the Greatness and Holiness of the Priesthood, By Rev. Jacques Millet 1901

Whoever the priest is who does not strive to do something more than his predecessors have done, who does not seek out new means by which to draw men from the torrent of iniquity in which they are being lost, is a priest who suffers himself to be beaten by the wicked, and a pastor who sleeps while the wolves are devastating his fold. 

Be up and doing, then ye priests and pastors of souls; set to work promptly with all earnestness and zeal to do something for these men. 

Source: Jesus Living in the Priest: Considerations on the Greatness and Holiness of the Priesthood by Rev. Jacques Millet, S.J. 1901

My God, if only priests clearly understood and fully appreciated the tremendous power which unity of doctrine, unity of hierarchy and, above all, their divine mission confer upon them; if only they had a living faith and an abiding trust in Him from whom they received their mission; if only they worked with the zeal, charity and disinterestedness of the first Apostles, the whole world would be subdued and kneel at their feet. They are more potent than statesmen with all their political craft and subterfuge; they are more potent than even kings and emperors with their armies; they are the depositories of a great moral force which alone can move the world.

Forward, then, O priests of the Lord; forward, with the sword of the Word and the shield of faith, all obedient to the same Head, all animated with the same spirit; diocesan priests and regulars, young men with the oil of consecration still fresh upon your hands, old men, veterans of the Sanctuary, forward, as one man; vice and error will flee at your approach, victory will be yours and the world will be saved.

Source: Jesus Living in the Priest: Considerations on the Greatness and Holiness of the Priesthood by Rev. Jacques Millet, S.J. 1901

  And He spoke to them this parable, saying, What man of you that hath an hundred sheep,
 and if he shall lose one of them, doth he not leave the ninety-nine in the desert, and go
after that which was lost till he find it ? And when he hath found it, lay it upon his shoulders,
rejoicing." — St. Luke xv. 3—5.

 Go after that which was lost.
 In this Parable Jesus Christ indicates Himself, Who (says St. Gregory) left the choirs of
Angels in Heaven, and, in order to fill up the number of His flock in Heaven, sought lost
man upon earth. And the Priest who leaves the charge of devout souls in order to visit
 the land of infidels, and to seek the salvation of those lost souls towards whom Jesus
has such compassion, is a follower of this Good Shepherd, Who came down upon earth
 to seek the lost sheep.

Most necessary is it to have pity on those who are perishing (says St. Cyril). This is a most
 noble vocation, for it is similar to that of the Son of God ; most glorious is this destiny, which
 renders the Missionary a partaker of the Apostolate. The Apostles were to "sit upon thrones "
 (St. Luke xxii. 30) — to be " the salt of the earth," "the light of the world," "the light put upon a
candle-stick" (St. Matt. v. 13, 14, 15); and the rewards promised to them — " the hundredfold "
of that which they had left, and the thrones" on which they should "judge the twelve tribes of Israel"
(St. Matt. xix. 28) — represent the infinite value of the recompense reserved for them, and for all
those who are partakers  of the Apostolical ministry. Happy those who " are numbered with them
and have part in this ministry" (Acts i. 17) ! whereas to many others God says, " Thou hast no part
nor lot in this matter, for thy heart is not right in the sight of  God " (Acts viii. 2 1 ).
What worldly glory can be put in comparison with that of a man thus truly Apostolical ?
 How many good works, what great virtue, what abundant merits, are his! How sweet will death
 become to him ! How superabundant his happiness in Heaven !

Source: Meditations for the Use of the Clergy by the Oblates of St. Charles

St. Cyril of Jerusalem teaches that Christ was Priest before all ages,
 anointed by the Father in His eternal generation, so that His Priesthood 
had not its beginning in time, but is immutable. This Priesthood consisted
 not in humiliations, in sufferings, in prayers, but in knowing the Father,
 in acknowledging Him as the source of the Godhead, and Himself as true God 
of true God. It consisted (according to St. Thomas) in saying to Him,
 "Thou art my Father," " I am in Thee, and Thou in Me; I love Thee and honor
 Thee with an infinite love and infinite glory; for infinite is the love 
which Thou bearest Me, and infinite the glory which Thou hast communicated to Me." 

He united this Priesthood with His temporal Priesthood when He assumed human nature;
taking from us (as St. Augustin says) that which 
He would offer for us. The Word (says St. Ambrose) appeared clothed with flesh, in His 
dignity of King and of Judge, and full of sacerdotal justice. Our guilt could not be 
cancelled without a sacrifice, and therein a sacrifice was sought. The Son (says St. Gregory)
took our nature, but not our sin, and offered Himself a sinless Victim. His Incarnation 
was itself a Sacrifice which lasted His whole mortal life, was consummated upon the Cross,
and is continued in glory at the Right Hand of the Father, and on our altars on earth.
In the womb of Mary (says Dionysius of Alexandria) the King of Glory was made a High 
Priest; and He continueth such for ever, now that He has entered once into the Holies,
having obtained eternal redemption.

 Let us adore our great High Priest, in Whose hands is our salvation. 

Source: Meditations For the use of the Clergy, Oblates of St. Charles 

Do not be afraid, if you find yourselves in the minority. "Woe to you when men shall bless you!" You must be censured if you are the disciples of Jesus Christ. The world that hated Him will not love you. "The disciple is not above his master, not the servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord." "If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more them of his household?" And therefore, if you have the mark of the world's hatred upon you, accept it; press it to your bosom. It is the token that you are the disciples of the true and only Master. If you have the world's favor and sunshine, look to yourselves.

There is a dark future before the world. What it may be, God alone knows. The Church will have to suffer; but there is a light upon it, and that light can never fade. We are in evil times, marked deeply by the four great evils of which I have spoken. Around us are "evil men and seducers, who grow worse and worse, erring, and driving into error. " "Many shall come in my name," our Lord has said, "and seduce many"; and because of their iniquity the love and the charity of the many shall wax cold. Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be wars and pestilences in many places. But the end is not yet. This is only the beginning of troubles. Keep close to the footsteps of the Master who spoke those words; and, when these signs are in the sky and upon the earth, remember that He also said, "When these things begin to come to pass, look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption is at hand."

Source: Catholic Oratory, Discourse from the pulpit, Cardinal Manning 1891

The Holy Spirit decreed that this obligation should be specially imposed on Priests, in order that they might not be hindered from prayer, and from the daily celebration of the holy mysteries ; as St. Jerome and St. Peter Damian declare. In this state, also (as St. Ambrose says), Priests have a better title to speak in praise of chastity, and to urge the practice of it, since they give example of it in their own person. It enables them also to gain greater respect from the laity (as St. Augustin explains). Moreover, in a state of chastity, Priests can consecrate themselves wholly to the service of the Church and the sanctification of souls, and are able to bestow their ecclesiastical revenues on the poor. Let us, then, give thanks to the Holy Spirit for having made us Priests of the Latin Church, and for having given us so many brilliant examples of chastity among her clergy.

Source: Meditations For the use of the Clergy, Oblates of St. Charles