Bishop

“ Most blessed bishop, I know that you have great honor with the kings. And now I flee to you to be rescued. Behold, the executioners are at the door, whence you may plainly know that if you do not save me I shall kill you and go outside and die. Let me tell you plainly that either one death overtakes us or an equal life shall protect us. O holy bishop, I know that you share with the king the place of father to his son [64] and I am sure that whatever you ask you will obtain from him; he will not be able to deny your holiness anything you demand. ”

“ The young bishop in his rich episcopal robes and mitre, his pastoral staff laid against his shoulder, while with absorbed earnest look he turns the pages of his great breviary, is one of the most satisfactory creations, full of dignity, goodness and thought, that any artist has shown us. ”

“ I shall still less attempt to discover the open secret of his rare and unique charm and attractiveness as a man; and I shall least of all endeavor to forecast the place which history will give to him among the leaders and builders of our age. Brief as was his ministry in his higher office, and to our view all too soon ended, I shall be content to speak of him as a bishop,—of his divine right, as I profoundly believe, to a place in the episcopate, and of the preeminent value of his distinctive and incomparable witness to the highest aim and purpose of that office. ”

“ The silence invited the bishop to speak.
“In the light of this vision, I see my church plainly for the little thing it is,” he said.
He wanted to be perfectly clear with the Angel and himself.
“This church of which I am a bishop is just a part of our poor human struggle, small and pitiful as one thinks of it here in the light of the advent of God's Kingdom, but very great, very great indeed, ancient and high and venerable, in comparison with me. But mostly it is human. It is most human. ”

“ See that ye all follow bishop, even as Jesus Christ does the Father, and the presbytery as ye would the apostles; and reverence the deacons, as being the institution [1] of God. Let no man do anything connected with the church without the bishop. Let that be deemed a proper [2] Eucharist, which is [administered] either by the bishop, or by one to whom he has entrusted it. Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude [of the people] also be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the catholic church. ”

“ In his poor diocese, he had everything to construct, and everybody to instruct, even some Indian tribes, who received him with great joy as a “chief of the black robes,” a priest of “the true prayer.” He had no sinecure dignity. “At home he was at once the bishop, the pastor of the congregation, the professor of theology for his seminary, and a teacher for one of his academies.” These give a small idea of his labors. When the king of terrors (to most men) came, he found the bishop at his post, on duty, like the faithful Roman sentinel at the gates of Pompeii. ”

“ Every bishop who possesses the least influence has about him his patrol of cherubim from the seminary, which goes the round, and maintains good order in the episcopal palace, and mounts guard over monseigneur's smile. To please a bishop is equivalent to getting one's foot in the stirrup for a sub-diaconate. It is necessary to walk one's path discreetly ”

“ 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 Him the spirit of creation had become incarnate, had joined itself to men, summoning men to Him, having need of them, having need of them, having need of their service, even as great kings and generals and leaders need and use men. For a moment, for an endless age, the bishop bowed himself in the being and glory of God, felt the glow of the divine courage and confidence in his marrow, felt himself one with God. ”

“ There is daily Morning Prayer at 7.30, to which we generally go, and where the Bishop always appears. There is a fair amateur choir, and a beautiful organ built by a man who died just when he had completed it. But, my dear, in addition to these privileges, we weekly "sit under" the most energetic, quaint-looking, and dignified of Bishops—who has a clear, soft, penetrating voice that rings down the Cathedral in the Absolution and Benediction, and who preaches such fine, able, practical, learned, and beautiful sermons—as I really do not think Oxon, or Vaughan, or any of our great men much excel. ”

“ He gave the bishop's head a little shake and relinquished it.
He began to argue as an elder brother might.
“Isn't it enough for you to know something of the God that comes down to the human scale, who has been born on your planet and arisen out of Man, who is Man and God, your leader? He's more than enough to fill your mind and use up every faculty of your being. He is courage, he is adventure, he is the King, he fights for you and with you against death....”
“And he is not infinite? He is not the Creator?” asked the bishop.
“So far as you are concerned, no,” said the Angel. ”

“ Do not ye receive any stranger, whether bishop, or presbyter, or deacon, without commendatory letters; and when such are offered, let them be examined. And if they be preachers of piety, let them be received; but if not, supply their wants, but do not receive them to communion: for many things are done by surprise.
35. The bishops of every country ought to know who is the chief among them, and to esteem him as their head, and not to do any great thing without his consent; but every one to manage only the affairs that belong to his own parish, and the places subject to it. ”

“ For it is not the being called so, but the being really so, that renders a man blessed. To those who indeed talk of the bishop, but do all things without him, will He who is the true and first Bishop, and the only High Priest by nature, declare, "Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" ”

“ That morning in the long galleries of the bishop's imagination a fresh painting had been added. It was a big wall painting rather in the manner of Puvis de Chavannes. And the central figure had been the bishop of Princhester himself. He had been standing upon the steps of the great door of the cathedral that looks upon the marketplace where the tram-lines meet, and he had been dressed very magnificently and rather after the older use. He had been wearing a tunicle and dalmatic under a chasuble, a pectoral cross, purple gloves, sandals and buskins, a mitre and his presentation ring. ”

“ My brother, the people have chosen you and have affirmed their trust in you by acclaiming your election. A bishop in God’s holy Church is called to be one with the apostles in proclaiming Christ’s resurrection and interpreting the Gospel, and to testify to Christ’s sovereignty as Lord of lords and King of kings.
You are called to guard the faith, unity, and discipline of the Church; to celebrate and to provide for the administration of the sacraments of the New Covenant; to ordain priests and deacons and to join in ordaining bishops ”

“ According to the Scriptures, a true bishop is an overseer, a guardian, a watchman. He is like unto the householder, the warder of the city, or any judicial officer or regent who exercises constant oversight of state or municipal affairs. Formerly there were bishops in each parish, deriving their name from the fact that their office required oversight of the Church and the guarding against the devil, against false doctrines and all manner of offenses. ”

“ For, secondly, the bishop doth particularly inquire, if they do here in God’s presence, and before all the congregation, renew that solemn vow in their own names made at their baptism; and if they do engage to perform and do what was promised for them by their sureties: to which they must every one answer, with great reverence and serious consideration, that “they do.” ”

“ The Bishop Elect is to present himself to the Consecrator robed as a Priest, with a cope; and whatever be the colour for the day, all the vestments he wears must be white.
There must be, at least, two Assistant Bishops, robed in rochets, amices, stoles, and copes, and wearing white mitres.
All being thus prepared, at the appointed hour, the Bishops, with their attendants, assemble before the altar; and after the Consecrating Bishop has offered up a short prayer, he and the Elect proceed to their respective Chapels, and there put on their robes. ”

“ For I attained all the grades of the clergy as directed in the canons. I was reader ten years, I performed the duties of sub-deacon five years, I have been priest now for twenty years. What more is left for me except to receive the office of bishop which my faithful service deserves. You then return to your cities and busy yourselves with whatever tends to your advantage. For I intend to gain this office in the manner prescribed by the canons. ”

“ Wherefore make yourselves by your good lives worthy of such excellence; knowing that assiduity in preaching is the praise of bishops. The episcopal honour is no secular play. The Christian bishop must exercise himself with great diligence in the commands of God, that by example and word together he may educate a Christian people.
“The venerable brother the abbat Lull [159] has spoken to me in praise of your good conversation. ”

“ The Pontificals contain the “Order of Visiting Parishes:” [281] the bishop is to be met by the clergy in procession outside the gates; Mass is to be said; the bishop is to tell the people the purpose of his coming, viz. (1) to absolve the souls of the departed; (2) to see how the Church is governed, the condition of its vestments, the lives of the clergy, etc.; (3) to inquire into the sins of the laity; (4) to take cognizance of matters which belong to the bishop; (5) to confirm children ”

“ Take a man of the weakest intellect of any in a Ward and ordain him a Bishop, and then let every other man in that Ward be filled with the power of his holy calling; are they not ready and willing to give a word of counsel to their Bishop when they meet him? Their faith is concentrated upon him; they pray for him early and late, that the Lord will fill him with wisdom, enlarge his understanding, open the visions of his mind, and show him things as they are in time and in eternity. ”

“ Hence, Scripture is here explicit and emphatic: “A bishop, then, must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach: not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; one that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity (for if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) : not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil. ”

“ And whensoever the bishop shall celebrate the holy communion in the church, or execute any other public ministration, he shall have upon him, besides his rochet, a surplice or albe, and a cope or vestment, and also his pastoral staff in his hand, or else borne or holden by his chaplain. ”

“ Each bishop had his especial church, which was called a cathedral, and usually surpassed the other churches of the diocese in size and beauty.
Duties of a Bishop.
Only a bishop could ordain new members of the clergy or degrade the old. He alone could consecrate churches or [Pg 207] anoint kings. He alone could perform the sacrament of confirmation, though as priest he might administer any of the other sacraments. [137] Aside from his purely religious duties, he was the overseer of all the churchmen in his diocese, including the monks. ”

“ For, indeed, wherever there are found those qualified to benefit the brethren, they are exhorted by the holy bishops to address the people." [577:1] But still the bishop himself was the stated and ordinary preacher; and when he was sick or absent, the flock could seldom expect a sermon. When present, he always administered the Lord's Supper with his own hands, and dispensed in person the rite of baptism. He also occupied the chair at the meetings of the presbytery, and presided at the ordination of the elders and deacons of his congregation. ”

“ Lord Jesus Christ, the bishop of
us all.
7 It will therefore behove you
with all sincerity, to obey your
bishop; in honour of him whose
pleasure it is that ye should do so.
8 Because he that does not do
so, deceives not the bishop whom
he sees, but affronts him that is
invisible. For whatsoever of this
kind is done, it reflects not upon
man, but upon God, who knows
the secrets of our hearts.
9 It is therefore fitting,
that we should not only be called
christians, but be so.
10 As some call indeed their
governor, bishop; but yet do all
things without him. ”

“ With the first faint light of dawn the prayers cease, the supplicants arise, and the Bishop puts on his vestments, one by one and with a special prayer for each, because he thus figures the Son of God putting on the garment of our humanity. And because Christ, as man, prayed to His Father and ours, the Bishop comes forth from the tent and prostrates himself before the steps of the church in fervent prayer, with all his clergy kneeling around him. ”