Order of Preachers

“ The Priesthood is placed in the Church for this purpose, to dig, to plant, to nourish, to teach correct principles, and to develop the order of the kingdom of God, to fight the devils, and maintain and support the authorities of the Church of Christ upon the earth. It is our duty all to act together to form one great unit—one great united phalanx, having sworn allegiance to the kingdom of God ”

“ Specially appointed persons are necessary in the service of the Church, and they form a threefold order, distinct jure divino from other Christians, of Bishops, Priests and Deacons. The four Patriarchs, of equal dignity, have the highest rank among the bishops, and the bishops united in a General Council represent the Church and infallibly decide, under the guidance of the Holy Ghost, all matters of faith and ecclesiastical life. All ministers of Christ must be regularly called and appointed to their office, and are consecrated by the sacrament of orders. ”

“ To it, under God, all things are subservient in righteousness, whether in heaven, earth, or hell. God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is at the head of all genuine priesthood. But as it is His will that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father, Jesus now stands accredited as the Apostle and High Priest of our profession. Subordinate priests in the same apostolic order of the Son of God, are such as he has put in his church. These are called apostles, prophets, evangelists, teachers, &c. ”

“ Had Christ been constituted a Priest after any Order of human Beings, it would have been after the Order of Aaron, a Priest of God’s own appointment; but Christ is a Priest after his own Order. When God means to swear he swears by himself, because there is no greater—when he means to draw a similitude of himself he likens himself to himself; and when Jesus reveals himself as a Priest after an Order, it is his own Order, and his glory will he not give to another. ”

“ The preachers hold a power that God did not repose there. God never authorized any men to go and ordain another man to preach the Gospel. God does the ordaining; and it is for the church to decide, according to its best judgment, whom the Lord ordains or calls as a pastor. ”

“ For, no doubt, every priest should purpose first in his soul and covet to take the order of priesthood chiefly for to make known to the people the Word of GOD, after his cunning and power, approving his words ever to be true by his virtuous works; and for this intent we suppose that Bishops and other prelates of Holy Church should chiefly take and use their prelacy. And for the same cause, Bishops should give to priests their orders. For Bishops should accept no man to priesthood, except that he had good will and full purpose, and were well disposed and well learned to preach. ”

“ Being called with a holy calling, and ordained with a holy ordinance, and taking upon them the High Priesthood of the holy order, which calling, and ordinance, and High Priesthood, is without beginning or end; thus they become High Priests forever, after the order of the Son of the only begotten of the Father, which is without beginning of days or end of years, which is full of grace, equity and truth. ”

“ Let me say to the brethren who are and who contemplate connecting themselves actively and entirely with this holy Order, that the Priesthood was bestowed upon you, as upon the Son of God himself, for no other purpose than that, through sacrifice, you might be proven, that, peradventure, at the last day, you might stand approved before God, and before perfect and holy beings and that, in order to merit this divine approval, it may be necessary to forget self and individual aggrandisement and seek the interest of your brethren. ”

“ The Priesthood of the Son of God, which we have in our midst, is a perfect order and system of government, and this alone can deliver the human family from all the evils which now afflict its members, and insure them happiness and felicity hereafter. ”

“ Now, then, as we have read, a High Priest, after the order of the Melchisedek Priesthood, has the right to administer under the direction of the Presidency, in all spiritual things, and also in the office of an Elder, Priest, Teacher, Deacon, and member. And in the following verses we read that:
"11. An Elder has the right to officiate in his stead when the High Priest is not present.
"12. The High Priest and Elder are to administer in spiritual things, agreeable to the covenants and commandments of the Church ”

“ In the Ignatian epistles, however, written early in the second century, there appears positional authority of a new order. In place of the New Testament standard of a plurality of elders, or bishops, jointly teaching and guiding the local church, we find recognition of an office which was superior to that of the presbyters and to whose incumbents alone the term "bishop" was applied. A few extracts from his writings will make clear this recognition of a threefold order of the ministry—bishops, elders, and deacons. ”

“ And as the Lord has restored the everlasting Gospel and the keys of the everlasting Priesthood which administers in time and eternity, when we elect officers to fill positions in this Church we choose men whose authority through their faithfulness will hold good not only on this earth, but in the heavens, and not only now but hereafter. ”

“ Roman theologians generally reckon only seven orders, although, if we count the episcopate an order distinct from the presbyterate, the sum is not seven, but eight. The explanation given by St Thomas (Supp. xl. 5.) is that, whereas all the orders have reference to the body of Christ present on the altar, the episcopate, so far forth, is not a separate order, since a simple priest no less than a bishop celebrates the Eucharist. ”

“ As the giving of holy orders, the consecration of churches, ornaments, oils and chrism, and other functions require a bishop, and, we not having any, it would be difficult to seek them elsewhere, Your Majesty should likewise beseech His Holiness to grant such powers to two principal persons amongst the religious men coming here, who might be as special delegates, one from the Order of St. ”

“ Thou art a priest for ever After the order of Melchizedek.
18 For there is a disannulling of a foregoing commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness
19 (for the law made nothing perfect) , and a bringing in thereupon of a better hope, through which we draw nigh unto God.
20 And inasmuch as [it is] not without the taking of an oath
21 (for they indeed have been made priests without an oath; but he with an oath by him that saith of him, The Lord sware and will not repent himself, Thou art a priest for ever) ;
22 by so much also hath Jesus become the surety of a better covenant. ”

“ Because a man is a High Priest, is he the President of a Stake, or the Counselor to the President of a Stake? No. Because he is a High Priest, is he a Bishop? No, not by any means. And so on, in all the various offices. The High Priesthood holds the authority to administer in those ordinances, offices, and places, when they are appointed by the proper authorities, and at no other time; and while they are sustained also by the people. ”

“ Canon 52. “That the bishop may understand (if occasion so require) what sermons are made in every church of his diocese, and who presume to preach without licence, the churchwardens and sidesmen shall see that the names of all preachers which come to their church from any other place be noted in a book, which they shall have ready for that purpose, wherein every preacher shall subscribe his name, the day when he preached, and the name of the bishop of whom he had licence to preach.” ”

“ We find the Bishops throughout the whole world recognised, without so much as a doubt, to be the successors of the Apostles, invested with the plenitude of that royal Priesthood which the Son of God had set up on the earth in His own Person, and from that Person had communicated to His chosen disciples, and so possessed of whatever authority was necessary to govern the Church. ”

“ We affirm that through the ministration of immortal personages, the holy priesthood has been conferred upon men in the present age, and that under this divine authority the Church of Christ has been organized. ”

“ The first object of this priestly order is to teach all nations to become loyal and good citizens of the kingdom of God, observing all the commandments of God. One universal commandment of God is, for all men every where to repent and be baptized, and keep all other laws of God, as they shall be dispensed from the great High Priest through the delegated authorities. Now if all men do not obey these commands, they are liable to be dealt with as transgressors, and punished as evil doers. The command to obey is imperative upon all men. ”

“ Paul says, speaking of the authority of the Holy Priesthood, 'No man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God as was Aaron.' (Heb. v: 4.) 'Faith cometh by hearing, and how can we hear without a preacher?' (Rom. x: 14-17. ) 'No man taketh this honor unto himself, except he be called of God as was Aaron.' Now that is very plain, and what does it mean? Simply what it says. That no man has a right to administer in the ordinances of religion except he be sent of God as was Aaron, for how can a man preach except he be sent? ”

“ Being informed, that there have sprung up, and still are springing up, daily in our realm, a great number of preachers, whose sole business is to stir up the people to rebellion, and to dissuade them from the practice of the Roman catholic and apostolic religion; we do command that all preachers, who shall call assemblies, preach in them, or discharge any other function, be put to death ”

“ For if there were no rule or distinction of orders, it would suffice to perform all the offices under one name. But being taught by the Lord the series of things, we distributed the functions of the high-priesthood to the bishops, those of the priesthood to the presbyters, and the ministration under them both to the deacons; that the divine worship might be performed in purity. For it is not lawful for a deacon to offer the sacrifice, or to baptize, or to give either the greater or the lesser blessing. ”

“ It remains to put you in mind, also, of the due observance of giving and receiving baptism. The chief priest (summus sacerdos) , who is the bishop, has the right of giving it; in the second place, the presbyters and deacons, yet not without the bishop's authority, on account of the honor of the Church. When this has been preserved, peace is preserved. Besides these, even laymen have the right; for what is equally received can be equally given. If there are no bishops, priests, or deacons, other disciples are called. The word of the Lord ought not to be hidden away by any. ”

“ As no one can be made a Priest except by the Sacrament of Holy Orders, which can validly be administered only by a Bishop, who again has received the power of administering it from another Bishop lawfully consecrated, it is evident that, by an uninterrupted succession of Bishops lawfully ordained and consecrated, the Priesthood ascends to the Apostles, on whom Christ Himself conferred the Priestly and Episcopal powers both for themselves and for their successors. ”

“ In fact, in the Church, all men who have attained sufficient experience hold or should hold the Priesthood. The young men are ordained deacons, teachers and priests, and at last elders, when they possess all the authority of the Priesthood. ”

“ It must be remembered by the student that apostles are also high priests. In fact the apostleship circumscribes all priesthood, hence it happens that some men who have not been directly ordained high priests, but who were apostles, have acted in the quorum of the first presidency of the church. ”

“ During the Prayer of Consecration, the bishop and priests lay their hands upon the head of each ordinand. During the laying on of hands, the bishop alone says over each ordinand “Father, through Jesus Christ your Son, give your Holy Spirit to N.; fill him with grace and power, and make him a priest in your Church.” When they have laid their hands upon all the ordinands, the bishop continues “May they exalt you, O Lord, in the midst. . .”
A Bible is to be given to each new priest, and the words “Receive this Bible. . .” are to be said to each one. ”

“ In the fourth stage we find the presbyters, like the bishops, becoming endowed with special sacerdotal powers and functions. Up to the end of the 2nd century the universal priesthood of all believers was the accepted doctrine of the Church. ”

“ By the labours of the apostles, the Church rapidly spread through the then known world, and with this there grew up a demand for an increase of pastors. Accordingly, the apostles ordained elders or presbyters in all churches; but the powers given to these terminated in themselves; they could not communicate them to others. A few therefore were consecrated to the same rank held by the apostles themselves, and to these the full authority of the Christian ministry was committed, qualifying them to ordain deacons and presbyters, and, when necessary, to impart their full commission to others. ”

“ The members of the priesthood claim the special power to interpret scriptures, and the president of the church, who is also chief of the high priesthood, is the prophet, seer and revelator of God to the church and to the world. ”

“ The apostle notes this difference between the high priests of the law, and our high priest Jesus Christ; that they being removed by death, made way for their successors; whereas our Lord Jesus is a priest for ever, and hath no successor; but liveth and concurreth for ever with his ministers, the priests of the new testament, in all their functions. Also, that no one priest of the law, nor all of them together, could offer that absolute sacrifice of everlasting redemption, which our one high priest Jesus Christ has offered once, and for ever. ”