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"If any one saith that there is not in the New Testament a visible and external priesthood; or that there is not any power of consecrating and offering the true Body and Blood of the Lord, and of forgiving and retaining sins; but only an office and bare ministry of preaching the Gospel; or that those who do not preach are not priests at all; let him be anathema."

source: Canon I, Council of Trent. Publications of the Catholic Truth Society, Volume 29

St. Augustin admonishes us :"When, either through the neglect of prelates, or by some necessity, or through unknown causes, we find that wicked persons are in the Church, whom we cannot correct or restrain by ecclesiastical discipline, let not the impious and destructive presumption enter our heart that we should imagine ourselves obliged to separate from them."

  All scandals and excesses should be put to the charge of human frailty and perversity. The authority of the Church rests on the commission given by Christ, which is unqualified and perpetual."

Source: A Vindication of the Catholic Church in a series of letters addressed to the Rt. Rev. John Henry Hopkins, Protestant Episcopal Bishop of Vermont by Archbishop of Baltimore Francis Patrick Kenrick. 1855

Truly, says St. Teresa, if preachers and priests of God's word make so few conversions, it is because there is still in them too much of the human, too much of worldly wisdom, and too little of the divine fire with which the Apostles were aglow, too little of that heroism which made the saints despise shame and infamy, torture and death, when there was question of giving glory of God and gaining souls for Him.

Oh, what a treasure is a holy priest for a parish, for a city, for a diocese and often for a whole kingdom! What good will he not accomplish? There was a time when twelve men were enough to convert a whole world.

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

 The blessing of Heaven upon a Christian family is the gift of a priestly vocation to one of its children.
It is the reward of the fidelity to God; it is the sure mark of such fidelity. There are families, where,
short of a special miracle of grace, a vocation never germinates, or if somehow it is there born, it
quickly withers and dies. Those are the families, where the usual atmosphere is repellent, to the
sweetness and comeliness of Christian life, where the example of parents so lowers the spiritual tone
 of the child, that it banishes from his mind all supernal thought, from his heart all freshness of grace
 and purity. In quest for vocation, we must first discover the Christian home, the Christian father and
mother. Granted to a parish, or to a diocese true Christian families, vocation will not be wanting.
They are the choice flowers of the well-cultivated garden, whose soil is rich, whose nutriment is the
 descending dew of the skies. The Christian home is the nursery of vocations; other agencies - presbyteries,
 colleges or seminaries  - are the mere helpers to growth and development.

Source: Maine Catholic Historical Magazine 1916

The devil does not sleep, but ever goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may snatch, kill, destroy and devour. And Shalt thou in the meantime be silent, fold thy hands, and doze off to sleep?

O son! O priest! Remember thy last end; think of the awful hour of judgment in which thou shalt render to me an account of thy stewardship.

What joy shall it be for thee if a multitude of souls sanctified by thy ministry shall in glory draw near to me to drink forever of the torrent of my delights!

Oh, happy shalt thou be then, as thou too sittest in judgment upon a throne!

But, oh , what grief will be thine if thou seest a multitude of souls damned through thy fault and cast into the burning pit where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Oh, how wretched and abandoned shalt thou be then! The blood of the sheep that I have committed to thy care shall cry out to me, and I will demand their blood at thy hand.

Source: An Epitome of the Priestly Life by Claude Arvisenet

Blessed art thou, my son, since I have inspired thee with that holy fear which is the beginning of wisdom.

Fear, for the more thou fearest the more prompt I shall be to hasten to thine aid. Have confidence, for the more thou trutest in me the more shalt thou enjoy my special protection. All things are possible to me, my son, and there is no one who can resist my will. If thou doest what in the lies to please me, confidently hope for salvation from me. 

Let thy sins be ever so great, if thou repentest of them and abstainest from them confidently hope for forgiveness, knowing that I, the Lord, have sworn saying: But if the wicked will do penance for all this sins which he has committed and keep all my commandments, and do judgment and justice, living he shall live and not die. I will not remember all his iniquities that he hath done.

Have confidence, therefore, knowing that I did not hesitate to say to the weeping adulteress: Thy sins are forgiven thee; Knowing that I immediately replied to the penitent thief: today shalt thou be with me in paradise. Remember the father of that prodigal of whom I spoke to thee of old.

Did not that kind parent bestow upon that tear-stained penitent son the kiss of full forgiveness, yea more, show to him the most evident marks of tender affection?

 Am I, my son, not infinitely more loving and forgiving than that father? O thou, who in thy blindness canst not comprehend the immensity of my mercy, how canst thou dare to distrust my goodness?

However great may be the dangers by which thou art surrounded, however numerous may be the wiles and assaults of the devil, however much the sting of the flesh may beset thee, if thou avoidest the occasions of sin and hast recourse to the remedies that I have suggested to thee, confidently look forward to victory, knowing that I have given mine angels charge over him who hopes in me, to keep him in all his ways, that in their hands they should bear him up lest he dash his foot against a stone.

Trust and have confidence, my son, and thou shalt be overshadowed with my shoulders and compassed with the shield of my strength.

Hope, have confidence, and thou shalt walk upon the asp and basilisk, and trample under foot the lion and the dragon. However formidable may be the burden of the priesthood, and arduous its duties, however frail and weak thou mayst be, do not, my son, lose courage. So long as thy heart is ready for every good word, so long as thou laborest as a soldier of Jesus Christ, proceed with confidence and do not fear, knowing that they who hope in the Lord shall clothe themselves with strength, shall take wings like the eagle, shall run and not labor, shall walk and not faint.

Though the direction of souls is the art of arts, nevertheless to the priest of good will who is devoted to prayer and study, my grace is sufficient that he may rightly and adequately fulfill the duties of his sacred ministries. However gratuitous my grace may be, if thou seekest it in humble persevering prayer, rest assured that thy God will aid thee on every occasion and in every necessity.

 Remember that I, who have commanded thee to avoid evil and do good, am ever faithful. Ask, therefore, and it shall be given to thee, knock and it shall be opened unto thee. Heaven and earth shall pass away but my word shall not pass. Do not, therefore fear. Have I not, my son, given my precious life for even wicked men? Have I not died for thee when thou wast yet a sinner? Whilst thou wast yet mine enemy, have I not reconciled thee to my Father by my death? Could I have given thee a greater proof of my love?

How canst thou who art already justified in my blood doubt that thou shalt be saved by me from wrath, that thou shalt obtain the forgiveness of thy sins? How canst thou who art good and faithful fear that I will refuse to hear thee, to answer thee and to help thee in the midst of trials, temptations and dangers?

Surely thou knowest, my son, that in such circumstances thy mother would not abandon thee. How much less would I. Yea, more, should she even forget thee, nevertheless I will not forget thee. I, who have made thee, will bear with thee, will support thee and save thee.

“He who would truly honor the priesthood must do so by helping priests.
I would rather have a hand in getting one priest back to the altar of God
than to write a thousand books on the priesthood,
or to preach a million sermons on the glory of the priesthood,
for neither the sermons nor the books
can hold Christ in their hands and offer Him to the Father.”

– Very Rev. Gerald Fitzgerald, s.P.
Source: A True Prophet for the Priesthood 

 What would happen to a priest already sharing in the priesthood of Christ by reason of his ordination, if he refused to share in Christ’s condition of victim? He would certainly be falling away from the priestly ideal: his life would become disordered, disturbed, and confused. He would remain a minister of Christ but without a sincere love for his affectionate Master. No longer a man of God but a man of the world, a man whose life has become vain, superficial, barren. This deplorable state of sterility reveals in an even better light the fruitfulness of a genuine apostolate, just as it is easier to appreciate the value of justice when we see the suffering resulting from injustice. Every priest should ask for the grace to be a victim in the way God wants him to be, to suffer patiently whatever God has willed for him from all eternity, so that he takes up his cross each day not simply as a faithful follower of Christ but as a priest standing in the place of Christ himself. He must undergo a mystical death before his physical death.


Source: The Priest in Union with Christ, Father Reginal Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P.

After God, the priest is all! . . .
 Leave a parish twenty years without a priest, and the people 
will adore beasts. 

He is another Christ - Respect him;
He is God's Representative - Trust him;
He is your benefactor - be thankful to him.

At the Altar
He offers your prayer to God - do not forget him;
He prays for you and yours in purgatory - ask God's mercy for him.                                                                          

In the confessional
He is the physician of your soul - show him its wounds;  
He directs you towards God - follow his admonitions;
He is judging - abide by his decision.

In his daily life
He is human - do not hastily condemn him;
He is human - a word of kindness will cheer him;
If you must tell his faults - tell them to God, that He may give him light and strength to correct them;
He has a great responsibility -ask God to guide him in life, and to be merciful to him in death.