Untitled - Saints' Books

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CHAP, i.] The Dignity of the Priesthood. 29
the souls of the faithful: The Son," says St. John Chrysostom,
"has put into the hands of the priests all judg
ment; for having been as it were transported into
heaven, they have received this divine prerogative. If
a king gave to a mortal the power to release from
prison all prisoners, all would pronounce such a one
happy; but priests have received from God a far greater
power, since the soul is more noble than the body."
IV.
The Dignity of the Priest Surpasses
Dignities.
all other Created
Thus the sacerdotal dignity
is the most noble of all
the dignities in this world.
St. Am
Nothing," says
brose, more excellent in this "is world." 2 It transcends,
says St. Bernard, the "all dignities of kings, of em
:
perors, and of angels." According to St. Ambrose, the
dignity of the priest as far exceeds that of kings, as the
value of gold surpasses that of lead. 4 The reason is,
because the power of kings extends only to temporal
goods and to the bodies of men, but the power of the
priest extends to spiritual goods and to the human soul.
Hence, says St. Clement, as much as the soul is more
noble than the body, so much is the priesthood more
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excellent than royalty." Princes," says St. John
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Omne judicium a Filio illis traditum Nam, quasi in
coelum translati, ad principatum istum perducti sunt. Si cui rex hunc
honorem detulerit, ut potestatem habeat quoscunque in carcerem conjectos
laxandi, beatus ille judicio omnium fuerit; at vero qui tanto
majorem a Deo accepit potestatem, quanto animae corporibus praestant."
De Sacerd. \. 3.
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Nihil in hoc saeculo excellentius." DC Dignit. sac. c. 3.
Prsetulit vos, Sacerdotes, regibus et imperatoribus; prsetulit
Angelis."
Serm. ad Pastor, in syn.
4
Longe erit inferius, quam si plumbum ad auri fulgorem com
pares."
De Dignit. sac. c. 2.
5
Quanto anima corpore praestantior est, tanto est Sacerdotium
regno excellentius." Constit. apost. 1. 2, c. 34.