Untitled - Saints' Books

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46 Material for Sermons. [PART i.
the things of the world, but to the things of God: He
is ordained in the things that appertain to God. Hence 1
St.
Silvester ordained that for ecclesiastics the days of the
week should be called Feria, or vacant or free days; and
he says: It is
every day that the priest, free from
earthly occupations, should occupy himself entirely with
God." 2
By this he meant that we, who are ordained
priests, should seek nothing but God and the salvation
of souls, an office which St. Denis called the most
1
divine of all the divine offices." St. Antonine says
that the meaning of sacerdos is sacra docens, one that
4
teaches sacred things. And Honorius of Autun says that
presbyter signifies prcebcns iter, one that shows the way. 5
Hence St. Ambrose calls priests the guides and rectors of
the flock of Christ.* And St. Peter calls ecclesiastics a
kingly priesthood, a holy nation, a purchased people. A
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people destined to acquire not riches, but souls. St.
Ambrose calls the sacerdotal office an office that should
acquire not money, but souls. Even the Gentiles
wished their priests to attend only to the worship of
their gods, and therefore they would not permit them
to hold the office of secular magistrates.
Hence, speaking of priests, St. Gregory says, with
tears, it is our duty to abandon all earthly business in
order to attend to the things of God, but we do the
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Constituitur in iis quae sunt ad Deum." Hcbr. v. I.
Quo significaretur quotidie clericos, abjecta ceterarum rerum
cura, uni Deo prorsus vacare debere." Brcviar. 31 Dec.
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In hoc sita est Sacerdotis perfectio, ut ad divinam promoveatur
imitationem, quodque divinius est omnium, ipsius etiam Dei cooperator
existat." De Ca l. Hierarch. c. 3.
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Sacerdos Sacra docens." Summ. p. 3, tr. 14, c. 7, r.
Presbyter Praebens iter." Gemma an. 1. i, c. 181.
Duces et Rectores gregis
Christi." De Dignit. Sacerd. c. 2.
"Regale Sacerdotium, Gens Sancta, Populus acquisitions.
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i Pd. ii. 9.
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Officium quaestus, non pecuniarum, sed animarum." Scrm. 78.