Bishopric

“ But we see in the bishoprics everywhere so many parishes vacant and desolate that one's heart would break, and yet neither the bishops nor canons care how the poor people live or die, for whom nevertheless Christ has died, and who are not permitted to hear Him speak with them as the true Shepherd with His sheep. ”

“ After consecration the new bishop is solemnly enthroned and blesses the assembled congregation.
The potestas ordinis of the bishop is not peculiar to the Roman Church, and, in general, is claimed by all bishops, whether Oriental or Anglican, belonging to churches which have retained the Catholic tradition in this respect. Besides the full functions of the presbyterate, or priesthood, bishops have the sole right (1) to confer holy orders, (2) to administer confirmation, (3) to prepare the holy oil, or chrism, (4) to consecrate sacred places or utensils (churches, churchyards, altars, &c.) ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 ”

“ You, therefore, O bishops, are to your people priests and Levites, ministering to the holy tabernacle, the holy Catholic Church; who stand at the altar of the Lord your God, and offer to Him reasonable and unbloody sacrifices through Jesus the great High Priest. You are to the laity prophets, rulers, governors, and kings; the mediators between God and His faithful people, who receive and declare His word, well acquainted with the Scriptures. Ye are the voice of God, and witnesses of His will, who bear the sins of all, and intercede for all ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ There is perhaps no class of persons in mediæval times whose position it is so necessary to understand as that of the bishops. They were regarded as the successors of the apostles, whose powers were held to be divinely transmitted to them. They represented the Church Universal in their respective dioceses, under the supreme headship of their "elder brother," the Bishop of Rome, the successor of the chief of the apostles. Their insignia of office, the miter and crosier, are familiar to every one. ”

“ O God, the Pastor and Ruler of all the faithful, mercifully regard this Thy servant, whom Thou hast chosen to preside over Thy Church: grant that he may, both by word and example, benefit those over whom he presides; that, together with the flock committed to his care, he may come to everlasting life: through Christ our Lord. Amen.
The consecration and Assisting Bishops, without mitres, stand at the Gospel side; the New Bishop goes to the middle of the Altar; where, signing himself with the Cross, he says:
THE FORM OF BLESSING.
℣. ”

“ 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. ”

“ I determined to write unto you.
6 Wherefore it will become you also not to use your bishop too familiarly upon the account of his youth; but to yield all reverence to him according to the power of God the Father; as also I perceive that your holy presbyters do: not considering his age, which indeed to appearance is young; but as becomes those who are prudent in God, submitting to him, or rather not to him but to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the bishop of us all. ”

“ Wherefore it is fitting that ye should run together in accordance with the will of your bishop, which thing also ye do. For your justly-renowned presbytery, worthy of God, is fitted as exactly to the bishop as the strings are to the harp. Therefore in your concord and harmonious love, Jesus Christ is sung. And do ye, man by man, become a choir, that being harmonious in love, and taking up the song of God in unison, ye may with one voice sing to the Father through Jesus Christ, so that He may both hear you, and perceive by your works that ye are indeed the members of His Son. ”

“ The apostles no longer speak jointly, but one by one in an apostolic council, and the section closes with a joint decree of them all. They speak of the ordination of bishops (the so-called Clementine Liturgy is that which is directed to be used at the consecration of a bishop, cc. 5-15) , of presbyters, deacons, deaconesses, sub-deacons and lectors, and then pass on to confessors, virgins, widows and exorcists; after which follows a series of canons on various subjects, and liturgical formulae. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The ecclesiastical functions of the bishops were here the same as elsewhere. To them belonged the ordination of priests and deacons, the hallowing of chrism, the ceremonies of confirmation, the consecration of churches and churchyards, nuns and monks; they had a right to regulate the lives and conversation of their clergy, to superintend the monastic foundations, and in general to watch that every detail of the ecclesiastical establishment was duly regarded and maintained. In their peculiar synods they could frame canons of discipline, to be enforced in the several dioceses. ”

“ With your fellow bishops you will share in the leadership of the Church throughout the world. Your heritage is the faith of patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs, and those of every generation who have looked to God in hope. Your joy will be to follow him who came, not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.
Are you persuaded that God has called you to the office of bishop?
Answer⁠I am so persuaded.
The following questions are then addressed to the bishop‐elect by one or more of the other bishops
All stand. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ They are but, in strictness of language, the first and leading Bishops of our land.
The Priests and Deacons, (whom we usually class together under the common name of Clergymen,) who officiate in the Churches and Chapels of our Establishment, have each received ordination to the discharge of their holy office by the laying on of the hands of a Bishop, assisted, in the case of Priests, by members already admitted into the presbytery or priesthood, as was St. Paul in the ordination of Timothy, (iv. 14.) ”

“ The bishop, the elders, and the deacons, all assembled in one place every Lord's day for congregational worship. An old ecclesiastical law accordingly prescribes the following arrangement—"Let the seat of the bishop be placed in the midst, and let the presbyters sit on each side of him, and let the deacons stand by them,... and let it be their care that the people sit a with all quietness and order in the other part of the church." ”

“ In the apostolic age a body of elders or bishops and a body of deacons in each church guided its affairs, while the members took an active part in the choice of their officers, and in the general direction of ecclesiastical proceedings. In the second century, when we get a distinct view of the churches after the obscure interval that follows the age of the apostles, we find that over the elders is a bishop, whose office grows in importance as the churches become larger, as the need of more compact organization is felt, and as the clergy become more and more distinct from the laity. ”

“ As a place of public gathering the parish church held an important place in the life of the Middle Ages.
BISHOPS A group of parishes formed a diocese, over which a bishop presided. It was his business to look after the property belonging to the diocese, to hold the ecclesiastical courts, to visit the clergy, and to see that they did their duty. The bishop alone could administer the sacraments of Confirmation and Ordination. He also performed the ceremonies at the consecration of a new church edifice or shrine. ”

“ Consecration of a Bishop.—The consecrator as for high mass: colour according to the day; each of the two assistant-bishops in rochet, cope, amice, stole, and mitra simplex.
Profession of a Nun.—As for high mass.
Coronation of a Sovereign.—As for high mass: colour according to day; each of the assistant-bishops in rochet, amice, white stole and cope, mitra simplex. In England all the bishops used to wear full pontificalia.
Laying the Foundation of a Church.—Rochet, amice, white stole and cope, mitra simplex, pastoral staff. ”

“ It is the bishop’s prerogative, when present, to be the principal celebrant at the Lord’s Table, and to preach the Gospel.
At all celebrations of the Liturgy, it is fitting that the principal celebrant, whether bishop or priest, be assisted by other priests, and by deacons and lay persons.
It is appropriate that the other priests present stand with the celebrant at the Altar, and join in the consecration of the gifts, in breaking the Bread, and in distributing Communion. ”

“ They are bishops who stand well with the Court, well endowed, clever, favorites of society, who doubtless know how to pray, but also how to solicit, not scrupulous about having a whole diocese waiting in their ante-rooms, connecting links between the sacristy and diplomacy, more abbés than priests, rather prelates than bishops. ”

“ Wherefore because in the works of bishops and other superiors there ought to appear more than in their inferiors the gifts of the Holy Ghost and the savour of good report; according to that saying, 'For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ'; [Footnote 524] for even in the heavenly hierarchy the superior angels excel the inferior in blessings and grace; hence, therefore, at their consecration as bishops their hands, already anointed with oil, are with reason again anointed with chrism. ”