De Dignitate Sacerdotali

ON THE DIGNITY OF THE PRIESTHOOD. CHAPTER ONE. — If anyone, brethren, recalls the oracle in which the Lord rebuked the thrifty servant for the money kept for himself, which he had received to distribute, saying: “You would have given my money, and I, coming with usury, would have exacted it” (Luke 19:23); he will no longer, as a careless hearer, reserve the grace of the divine gift conferred upon him for his own uses alone; but, making it shareable with all by distributing it more abundantly, he will possess it securely; so that through these things he may both exhibit the fruit of edification to many, and, like a beautiful tree laden with apples, be proven not to occupy the land fruitlessly while he lives, since both he himself is adorned by his own fruits, and all who have partaken of the fruit are nourished, with the blessed Apostle also inviting us to these same things: “Do not seek what is yours, but what belongs to others” (Phil. 2:4). And elsewhere: “I do not seek what is useful to me, but what is useful to all, that they may be saved” (1 Cor. 10:33). Therefore we, to whom the dispensation of the divine words is entrusted, and who have undertaken to feed and nourish the flock of Christ, do not believe we shall escape harm without great danger, if we do not live according to this manner, or even if we preach too little. And although the harshness of this life may deter us from preaching these things, the necessity of the precept nevertheless invites us.

Woe is me, if I preach too little, and if I bury the treasure received in the earth, that is, hide it long in my heart, and hold back the lamp of the divine word pressed under a bushel, not setting it upon the candlestick to be revealed to the eyes of all; and if I fail to unlock the gates of human ignorance with those keys of the kingdom of heaven, which we all, priests, received in the blessed apostle Peter, so that I may deserve, according to the measure of my tongue, to hear: "Well done, good and faithful servant; because you have been faithful in a few things, I will set you over many: enter into the joy of your Lord" (Matt. 25:22). Hence, fearing to be subject to these rebukes and punishments, struck by the fear of punishment, invited by brotherly love, I no longer speak to the common people, whom I have been accustomed to move continually, but I turn my words to the preachers of the people themselves: and as an obedient servant to my fellow servants, that is, a bishop to priests, a primate to pontiffs, I will not delay to preach boldly the reminders of salvation. Nor will I claim for myself the prerogative of knowledge if I offer these things to my fellow priests out of love, nor do I profess myself to be of perfect life when I admonish others about the perfect life; but rather, when I dare to speak these things to them, I listen at the same time, together with them, to what I speak.

CHAPTER II. — Supported now by divine aid, with whatever ability I possess, and assisted by the prayers of those to whom our discourse is directed, I shall take up the desired path, and, placed as it were in the bosom of my fellow priests, I shall address the priests themselves. Hear me, most blessed fathers, and, if you deem it worthy, most holy brothers. Hear me, Levitical stock, priestly offspring, sanctified progeny, leaders and rulers of the flock of Christ. Hear me, as I both entreat and fear for you, and as I anxiously consult the common good, and wish to demonstrate the honor of the episcopate; so that when we show the prerogative of its honor, we may also require fitting merits; and we, who know the truth in our hearts, may not be deceived in our work. For it is fitting that the priestly dignity be first known by us, and then preserved by us; so that the saying of the Psalmist may be repelled from us: "When a man was in honor, he did not understand; he was compared to senseless beasts, and became like them" (Ps. 48:13). Honor, therefore, brothers (Dist. 96, c. Duo sunt, § Honor), and the sublimity of the episcopate can be equaled by no comparisons. If you compare it to the splendor of kings and the diadem of princes, it will be far inferior, as if you were to compare the metal of lead to the gleam of gold, since you see the necks of kings and princes bowed beneath the knees of priests, and, having kissed their right hands, they believe themselves to be fortified by their prayers.

What shall I say now about the common multitude, which not only did he merit to be set over by the Lord, but it is also commanded by the evangelical precepts that he should protect it by paternal right? For thus indeed the Lord says to blessed Peter: "Peter, do you love me?" And he: "You know, Lord, that I love you" (John 21:15-16). And when he had been asked this a third time, and a threefold response had followed, it was repeated by the Lord a third time: "Feed my sheep." Which sheep, and which flock, not only did the blessed apostle Peter then receive; but he received them together with us, and we all received them together with him. Hence, because they are entrusted to priests to be ruled, they are rightly said to be subject to their rulers; since, as the evangelical command shines forth, we see that it is likewise laid down: "A disciple is not above the master, nor a servant above his lord: but it is enough for the disciple to be as his master, and for the servant to be as his lord" (Luke 6:40).

CHAPTER III. — All these things, brothers, you must recognize that we have set forth so that we might show that there is nothing in this age more excellent than priests, nothing more sublime than bishops; so that when we demonstrate the dignity of the episcopate to the eyes of bishops, we may both know worthily what we are, and demonstrate by action rather than by name what we are by profession; so that the name may match the action, the action correspond to the name; lest the name be empty and the crime monstrous; lest the honor be lofty and the life misshapen; lest the profession be godly and the action unlawful; lest the vesture be religious and the conduct irreligious; lest the rank be exalted and the transgression deformed; lest a higher chair be held in the Church and the priest’s conscience be found lower; lest we feign a dove’s speech and have a dog’s mind; lest we show a sheep’s profession and have a wolf’s ferocity; so that the Lord may worthily answer us through the prophet: “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (Isa. 29:13).

Therefore, brothers, just as the senatorial robe adorns a senator, as agriculture adorns a farmer, as arms adorn a barbarian, as skill in navigation adorns a sailor, and as the quality of his work reveals each individual craftsman as its author: so a bishop is designated by no other thing than episcopal action; so that he is known to be a bishop more by good work than by profession, more by merits than by what he is called by name — because just as we have said that nothing is more excellent than a bishop, so nothing is more wretched, if a bishop should be endangered in his holy life, if a priest should be held in crime, and a pontiff should be polluted by the stains of vices. And just as it is lighter to fall on level ground, so it is more grievous for one who has fallen from a high dignity; because a fall which is from a height is attended by a heavier disaster. Indeed, episcopal honor is splendid before men; but if it suffers a fall, the grief is great. For the higher the episcopal rank is above others, so if it slips through negligence, the fall is more grievous. Such sublimity must have great caution: great honor must be surrounded by greater solicitude. From him to whom more is entrusted, more is demanded, as it is written (Luke 12:48): "For the best are always mixed with the worst"; and elsewhere: "The powerful will suffer more powerful torments" (Wisdom 6:7); and: "For one who knows the law and does not do it, the sin is great" (James 4:17); and: "A servant who knows the will of his master, if he does not do it, will be beaten much" (Luke 12:47).

For what God requires of a bishop is one thing, and what He requires of a presbyter another, and what He requires of a deacon another, and what He requires of a cleric another, and what He requires of a layman another, and what He requires of each and every individual another. And although God examines the works of all men in His judgment, yet more is demanded of him to whom more is entrusted; for a greater penalty is incurred by him to whom the care of a greater number of people to be governed has been committed. CHAPTER IV. — And in order that we may depict the mode and form of the episcopate itself for all priests, the apostolic rule which describes these things in detail through each episcopal act must be reviewed. Thus to all bishops the blessed Apostle says: "This saying is trustworthy" (1 Tim. 3:1); as if he were saying: What I am about to speak, I speak truthfully; let no one think that I have lied. He added: "If anyone desires the episcopate, he desires a good work" (ibid.), that is, if you desire to be a bishop, what you desire is great: but you must also embrace the good work. For if you desire otherwise, you cannot be a bishop, because it follows: "For a bishop must be irreproachable" (ibid., 2). He says "irreproachable"; for if a bishop is reproached, he is shamefully subjected to blame. And indeed blame leads to guilt, guilt to punishment, punishment leads even to death. Behold to what episcopal dignity devolves. And a little later he says: "The husband of one wife" (ibid.).

If we look only at the surface of the letter, it forbids a bigamist from being ordained bishop; if we ascend to a higher sense, it forbids a bishop from usurping two churches; and if you still probe deeper within, it warns that a bishop should not be found to have a heretical mind after the catholic dogma, but should associate with himself only the Christian, orthodox, and catholic faith, so that he is called a bishop, a man of one wife and of the catholic Church. Next it follows and says: "Sober" (1 Tim. 3:2), that is, sparing not only of wine but also of vices, so that he indulges in wine no more than is fitting, and is always found sober in mind. And it added the following, saying: "Prudent." Not worldly prudence, of which it is said that it is folly before God (2 Cor. 3:19), but spiritual prudence, that is, which is both circumspect in deed and skilled in word, so that he is as cunning as a serpent and as simple as a dove (Matt. 10:16). And then it adds: "Adorned." If we look only according to the literal sense, we priests seek nothing other than a more splendid garment; for example, we seek beaver-fur and silk vestments (1 Tim. 3:2); and that man believes himself to be higher among bishops who puts on a more splendid garment. But the holy Apostle does not wish to be understood in such a way, because he teaches that a bishop is adorned not in flesh but in mind, so that the priest who has a soul composed for God pleases God.

After this he added: "Hospitable" (1 Tim. 3:2); so that he may receive into his lodging, out of a regard for humanity, not those who are falling from hospitality, but the needy without shelter, and bring them into his own home, lest he alone devour the gifts of Christ, which the goodness of Christ has bestowed upon him; and because God loves a cheerful giver, let him contribute without grumbling to the poor of Christ. Next it follows, and he says: "Docible" (ibid.), that is, the bishop should so excel in wisdom that he not only sufficiently teaches the people entrusted to him, but also is able to repel the contradictions of all heresies from the Catholic Church, lest his inexperience teach the inexperienced poorly, and in such a case, overtaken, what is written should happen to him: "A blind man leading a blind man, both fall into a pit" (Matt. 15:14). But whoever knows himself not to be such as we have said, let him not seek the priesthood, nor presume to usurp another's place, especially that of one who, by the brilliance of his wisdom, can illuminate the hearts of the people. He added and said: "Not a wine-bibber" (1 Tim. 3:3), that is, not given to much wine; so that if it is believed and seen, it may be unknown whether the bishop has drunk or not; and after a heavy drinking of wine, let him not delight in the enticement of women, nor through wine, as the Apostle says, let all luxury be nourished (Eph. 5:18).

Then he continues, saying: "Not a striker, but modest" (1 Tim. 3:3), that is, he should not have wicked hands for slaughter, and should not strike the consciences of others with base suspicions; lest, while he is found to be violent for bloodshed, he be judged an athlete rather than a bishop. But rather, on the contrary, he should patiently bear injuries inflicted by others, so that he may show to all men the tranquil modesty of his mind and demonstrate firm patience to all. Again he added, saying: "Not contentious" (Ibid.), that is, the bishop should not let his tongue loose for abuse, lest through that same tongue by which he offers praises to God and partakes of the divine sacrifices, he pour forth the poisons of strife; because it is not fitting that from the mouth of a bishop both blessing and cursing should issue, lest through the same tongue by which God is praised, a man be cursed; for one cannot produce both sweet and bitter water from a single spring. Next he followed up, saying: "Not covetous" (Ibid.), that is, not desirous of base gain: lest the bishop be held captive by the desire for gain and nurture avarice, which is the root of all evils (1 Tim. 6:10). He who is content only with the stipends of his own church should not at all covet what he understands to be superfluous; but rather, from the very poverty of his church, he should gladly share with the poor of Christ, as it is written: "A cheerful giver God loves" (2 Cor. 9:5); and elsewhere: "He scattered, he gave to the poor, his righteousness endures forever and ever; his horn will be exalted in glory" (Ps. 111:9).

And he connected the following, saying: "Who knows how to preside well over his own house, having children subject with all chastity" (1 Tim. 3:4). He can preside well over his own house who has preserved the chastity of his own body. "His own house," he says, that is, let him rule over his own body with imperious authority; let him not be subjected to his own body, and, given over to the desire of luxury, be plunged into the abyss; but rather let him teach his children the rule of modesty by the example of chastity. For if someone does not know how to preside over his own house, how will he apply diligence to the Church of God (cf. 1 Tim. 3:5)? For this is what we said above: he who is unable to cultivate the house of his own heart, how will he apply diligence to many? And he who cannot remove the beam of sin from his own eye, how will he be able to cut away the splinter from another's eye (Luke 6:41)? The same follows, and says: "Not a neophyte" (1 Tim. 3:6), that is, one who has recently come to the faith from gentility, or certainly one who has been joined to the office of the clergy from secular military service. Therefore, let these not so indiscriminately seize the priestly rank, lest, puffed up with pride, they fall into judgment and into the snare of the devil; because what they have not learned over a long time, they cannot preserve in a short time. And concluding the rule and episcopal form, at the end he added, saying: "But it is necessary that he also have a good testimony from those who are outside" (1 Tim. 3:7).

(3:7), that is, from heretics and schismatics, who outside the holy Catholic Church set up profane conventicles for themselves; yet the Apostle says that these witnesses and testimony ought to have a good report concerning the immaculate life and holy conduct of the bishop, lest enemies find an occasion to disparage the bishop and begin to defame catholic doctrine. CHAPTER V. — Having thus prefaced these matters, as I think, in this work we feel ourselves delivered as from a great burden, since we have set forth not our own testimonies against bishops, but those of the holy Apostle; lest they ridicule our work as vulgar fables. But since the authority of the holy Apostle Paul has smiled upon us in each point, let them rather reproach the Apostle himself, if they dare, than us. And although the length of this little book already constrains us, and time urges us to come to the end of this work, yet the solicitude of fraternal love delays us, especially for those priests who, dulled by mental torpor, disdain the priestly honor; and who are lamented to have newly and prodigiously produced a rule in this tempest, and following Gehazi and the opinion of Simon, have purchased the grace of holy episcopacy with money, in no way fearing that, having bought the priestly honor with money, they were condemned together with Simon by the blessed apostle Peter, as he says: "Your money," he says, "shall be with you in perdition; because you believed you could buy the gift of the Holy Spirit with money" (Acts 8:20).

And they believe that they have received leprosy with Gehazi from the holy Elisha (4 Kings 5), who think they can purchase the priestly rank with money. To whom, when we have said these things, it should have sufficed that they possess leprosy acquired by their own purchase. For just as with more severe diseases, when the head is corrupted, the rest of the body must necessarily be fatally irrigated by the flood of the superior disease; so also those who seem to be the head of the Church, with a pestilent disease, corrupt the fraternal body; so that nothing from the whole structure of the body can escape unscathed, which the deadly virus of the negligence and viciousness of priests has infected, so that you see everywhere in the Church those whom not merits, but money, have promoted to the order of bishops: a frivolous and unlearned people, who have procured such a priest for themselves. If you wish to question them faithfully, who set them over as priests, they soon answer and say: I was recently ordained bishop by the archbishop, and I gave him one hundred solidi so that I might merit to obtain episcopal grace, which if I had not given, today I would not be a bishop; hence it is better for me to bring gold from my purse than to lose such a priesthood. I gave gold, and I bought the episcopate; yet I do not doubt that I will receive those same solidi from that place, if I live. I ordain presbyters, I consecrate deacons, and I receive gold; for I trust to likewise profit from money from the other orders as well. Behold, the gold which I gave, I have received back in my purse: therefore I received the episcopate for free.

This is what I lament, that the archbishop made a bishop in a carnal manner. For on account of money, he spiritually ordained a leper. "Your money," he says, "shall be with you in perdition," because you purchased the gift of the grace of the Holy Spirit at a price (Acts 8:20), and you have carried out a wretched commerce into the exile of souls. And ignorant and unlearned men cry out in their ordinations and say, "You are worthy, and you are just"; and the wretched conscience says, "You are unworthy, and you are unjust." For a bishop of this sort pronounces to the people, saying: "Peace be with you." With carnal eyes he is seen as a great bishop, and with divine gaze he is beheld as a great leper. Through money he acquired an undue order, and before God he lost the inner man. The flesh received dignity, and the soul lost integrity. The flesh, a handmaid, has become mistress of the soul, and the soul, which was mistress, has become a servant of the flesh. The flesh rules over peoples, and the soul serves a demon. The flesh procured the priesthood for him, and the soul procured detriment for itself. And what profit is it to a man of this sort, if he should gain the whole world, and suffer detriment to his soul? Or what exchange shall a man give for your soul (Matt. 16)? What he gave when he was ordained bishop was gold; and what he lost was a soul. When he ordained another, what he received was money; and what he gave was leprosy. These are the dealings of the wicked to their own ruin.

Nevertheless, I question our brother and fellow bishop, for I too am a bishop, and I speak with a bishop. So tell me briefly, brother bishop: when you gave money, what did you receive? I received episcopal grace. Therefore I ask you: why is this grace called by such a name? He replies: Why, you ask? Because, I think, it is called grace because it is given freely. Therefore, if grace is given freely and is not valued by gold, why do you purchase grace with money? He replies: No, he says, it would not be given to me if it were not bought with money; nor would I have been ordained a bishop if I had not given money. Therefore, as appears from your answers, when you were ordained, you did not receive grace, because you did not merit it freely. And so, brother, if you did not receive grace, how could you have been made a bishop? For the Lord also says to his disciples: You have received grace freely, give freely (Matthew 8). Why then did you think that you could possess free grace by price? For, as I see, you lost the gold you gave, and you did not acquire holy grace.

Still, I add one more point, inquiring of my brother bishop, lest we seem to have omitted any truthful proofs. Who gives episcopal grace, brother? God, or man? You answer, without doubt: God. But yet God gives through man: man imposes hands, God bestows grace; the priest places a suppliant right hand, and God blesses with a powerful right hand; the bishop initiates the order, and God confers the dignity. O justice, O equity! If money is given to a man, who does nothing more in the order except the mere service entrusted to him, why is everything denied to God, who bestows the order itself upon you? Does it seem just to you that the servant be honored, and the master suffer injury; and that the priest unjustly receive money, and God suffer injury from man? But since for the order conferred, God expects nothing from you, why does the priest shamelessly expect money from you? God wished to grant to man freely, and the rapacious bishop seeks money from man freely; God, being certainly kind, gave freely to man, and the wicked priest plundered him without cause. For what does he have that you have not received? But if you have received, why boast as if he had not received (1 Cor. 4:7)?

CHAPTER VI.—Behold to what evils the divine order is cast down: behold to what shameful acts priests have fallen, who have deserved to hear from the judge of the world: "You are the light of the world" (Matt. 5:14). Behold to what things peoples are subjected, to whom it was said by the Lord: "You are the salt of the earth" (ibid., 13). Therefore, if the bishop is the light of the Church, ordained by the Lord, so that the darkness of ignorance may be illuminated by the shining eloquence of his preaching in the hidden places of consciences, why is he himself held bound by palpable darkness? And not only because he himself, while acting wickedly, perishes worthily; but also he leads others along with him unworthily to ruin. For if you have deserved to possess the savor of salt, so that you might season the fields of the foolish, why, having been made foolish by such a vice, have you offered yourself to be trampled under the feet of unclean swine, so that you can season neither others nor yourself? You have also voluntarily sought the office of the eyes in the body, that is, in the Church, so that the rest of the body might have guidance of light through you: and now, darkened by a certain bleariness and fog of vices, you neither render yourself fit for light, nor do you give light to others. Concerning these eyes it is said in the Gospel: "If your eye is simple, your whole body will be bright" (Matt.

VI, 22), that is, if a bishop, who has merited to be as a light in the body, is adorned with holy simplicity and innocence, the whole Church shines with the radiance of the light. But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be dark; that is, if the bishop, who seemed to provide light to the subject body, is clouded by the blindness of wickedness, what will the other members do, to whom the light of the eyes has been taken away? That is, what will the secular multitude do, when the bishop, by illicit pleasures and forbidden actions, has provoked the multitude of the people into a similar abyss of crimes; so that nothing now seems unlawful, which is perpetrated by the bishop as if it were lawful? Indeed, men believe that whatever the bishop finds pleasurable is praiseworthy; nor does anyone say that he acts doubtfully in what the pontiff does not doubt; for you are called bishop by all without doubt, especially since you are judged by the name itself: if only the action agrees with the name, and the name joins itself to the action. For what else does "bishop" mean but overseer, especially since he sits on a higher seat in the Church, and looks upon all in such a way that the eyes of all look back upon him? Therefore, since it is so, why do you show yourself as a dark mirror to the eyes of all, so that they cannot adorn themselves more elegantly by your obscurity?

CHAPTER VII. It has sufficed thus far to have extended our discourse a little to our fellow priests, in which we have demonstrated both their excellence and their fall; lest, trusting in the sublimity of their honors, they should too little seek perfection of conduct, and should glory in the mere name of priest more than in the work. And although I know that on account of this little book very many of my priests, who are unwilling to bear what we speak, will detract from it unfaithfully, I nevertheless believe that very many, who do these things or strive to do them, will faithfully pray for us. But just as we are not weighed down by the lacerations of detractors, so too are we aided by the prayers of approved and holy men. Come now, Holy Spirit, who have aided us in this work with divine inspirations, aid all priests, and grant that they may do what you yourself have inspired me to speak in this little work; that you may grant to them, together with me, the kingdoms of heaven, which you have promised to give to the saints at the end of the ages, forever, amen.