Pastern

“ The Priest.⁠ O God, our God, who didst send forth the heavenly Bread, the food of all the world, our Lord and God Jesus Christ, for a Saviour and Redeemer and Benefactor, to bless and hallow us: Do Thou bless this offering, and receive it at Thine heavenly altar. Remember, as Thou art good and the lover of men, those who offer it, and them for whom it is offered; and keep us blameless in the celebration of Thy divine mysteries. For hallowed and glorified be Thine honourable and exalted Name, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, now, and ever, and to the ages of ages. ”

“ I salute thy holy clergy, and thy Christ-loving people who are ruled under thy care as their pastor. All the faithful with us salute thee. Pray, blessed shepherd, that I may be in health as respects God. ”

“ As a guide of my life in the innermost corner of my soul, I am to have the pastor, the priest of my parish, who has just come from the seminary, a shallow boy, almost illiterate, or an aged drunkard, whose only care is to acquire as many fowls and pigs as he can. ”

“ In the sacristy is a narrow but deep font, in which the infant is baptized by being dipped in the water up to the knees at the name of the Father, up to the waist at the name of the Son, and wholly immersed at the name of the Holy Ghost, the priest repeating, "Thou art baptized in the name of the Father, Amen, and of the Son, Amen, and of the Holy Ghost, Amen." ”

“ You and I, and all our brethren, alike need a brother who shall be holy and close to God, who shall offer sacrifices for us, and bring God to us. For you and me, and all our brethren alike, the good news is true, 'we have a great High Priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God.' That message quenches the fire on every other altar, and strips the mitre from every other head. ”

“ The priesthood enjoyed no easy existence, but led an austere life of fasting, penance, and prayer, with constant observance of an arduous and exacting ritual, which embraced sacrifice, the upkeep of perpetual fires, the chanting of holy songs to the gods, dances, and the superintendence of the ever-recurring festivals. ”

“ And scarcely does the priest begin the words of consecration, than there Christ already hovers, surrounded by the heavenly host, come down from heaven to earth, and to the altar of sacrifice, and changes, upon the words of the priest, the bread and wine into his holy flesh and blood, and permits himself then to be taken up and to lie in the hands of the priest, even though the priest is the most sinful and the most unworthy. ”

“ 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. ”

“ A young priest sustains him; St. Paula, kneeling, kisses one of his thin bony hands; the saint fixes his eager eyes on the countenance of the priest, who is about to administer the sacrament,—a noble dignified figure in a rich ecclesiastical dress; a deacon holds the cup, and an attendant priest the book and taper; the lion droops his head with an expression of grief; the eyes and attention of all are on the dying saint, while four angels, hovering above, look down upon the scene. ”

“ Then the priest was gone; the man alone remained, the man of thirty, robust and full of life and yearning for all the joys of life. And beneath his gold-embroidered chasuble, near that altar laden with lustres and with flowers, amidst the floods of light and the floods of perfume, in that atmosphere saturated with the intoxicating waves of incense and the breath of maidens; surrounded by all those women, by all these girls on their knees before him or hanging on his lips; before all these modest or burning looks fixed upon his gaze, a strange sensation rose to his brain ”

“ Who, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth, in perfect Trinity, God, world without end. Amen.
Then Add the Following Prayer:
O God, the Shepherd and Ruler of all the faithful, look mercifully down on Thy servant, our Holy Father, Pope N., whom Thou hast chosen to be the shepherd of Thy Church.
Grant, we beseech Thee, that he may both by word and example benefit those over whom he governs, that, together with the flock entrusted to his care, he may come to life everlasting. ”

“ One who stands as a spiritual parent to another is his “father,” e.g. godfather, or in the title of bishops or archbishops, Right or Most Reverend Father in God. The pope is, in the Roman Church, the Holy Father. In the Roman Church, father is strictly applied to a “regular,” a member of one of the religious orders, and so always in Europe, in English usage, often applied to a confessor, whether regular or secular, and to any Roman priest, and sometimes used of sub-members of a religious society or fraternity in the English Church. ”

“ And since the life of shepherds was attended with more tranquillity than any other rural employment, the Poets chose to introduce their Persons, from whom it receiv'd the name of Pastoral.
A Pastoral is an imitation of the action of a shepherd; the form of this imitation is dramatic, or narrative, or mixed of both; the fable simple, the manners not too polite nor too rustic: the thoughts are plain, yet admit a little quickness and passion, but that short and flowing: The expression humble, yet as pure as the language will afford ”

“ What canst thou deny me, who hast given me thyself! Govern me, and nothing will be wanting to me, in the place of pasture where thou has placed me, until thou bringest me to the happy pastures of eternal life. ”

“ To trumpet of a day new-born.
The lark, awaking, soaring sings
Into the bosom of the morn.
The priest before the altar stands,
He hears the spirit call for peace;
He beats his breast with shaking hands. ”

“ LOOK down, O pitiful Father, from the throne of thy Majesty and the lofty habitation of thy heavens, and behold thy beloved Son hanging so piteously and so ignominiously on the cross, his sacred Body all stretched, and racked, and torn with cruel wounds. Look down upon that spotless Lamb, who opened not his mouth when in the jaws of the wolves, to speak one word of deprecation or complaint. See thy most beloved Son, thy sweet Jesus, shedding his Blood with such profuse liberality for the sin of his brethren. ”

“ And when you spoke to me, I did not know
That to my life's high altar came its priest. ”

“ The priest then takes the tapers and the babe, consecrates and confirms him by three profound inclinations before the altar, gives candles and child back to the godfather and blesses both. Now the child may be called by its Christian name, which is usually that of a saint.3 Led by the priest and the singing choir, the procession now starts back to the home of the little one, still carried by the godfather who continues to hold the candles. When he reaches the door of the mother, she kneels and prostrates herself before him. ”

“ In one corner an arbour of honeysuckle, where more than once he had caught sight of a crabbed face.
Perhaps the maid with the sweet eyes will be sitting beneath that arbour embroidering thoughtfully some chosen pattern.
What shall he do if Suzanne is there? Will he dare to look at her?
Yes, he must! He must read the expression in her look. And if that look is sweet and free from anger, shall he stop? Certainly. Why should he hesitate? What is there surprising in a priest, stopping to talk to a young girl? Is he not her Curé? More than that, her Confessor. Her confessor! ”

“ Before the little creatures of the pasture world were created, before pines grew upon earth, the words they sing were set to the sagas of vast space, rhythmic runes of unremembered ages taught by the great winds of the world to these patriarchs that seem to tell them over and over lest they forget. They tower virid and virile. They stretch wide arms over the pasture people in benediction and sheltering love, but they are not of them. The reading of the deep riddle of the universe has made them prophets and seers and they dwell alone in their dignity. ”

“ The PRIEST takes a step forward to relieve the Old Man of his burden, and as he goes up the altar steps the Sage sinks exhausted to his knees, listening with straining senses for the bells.—They do not ring. The PRIEST blesses the old man and helps him to rise. ”

“ O Most loving Father, in union with that love wherewith thy Son offered himself once upon the cross, and now offers himself to thee upon the altar, I offer him to thee for the welfare and salvation of all thy whole Church. ”

“ Didst our friend, our pastor keep,
On the billows' angry breast
Lull him like a babe to rest,
While beneath their watery floor
Thousands sank to rise no more,
Here, within this temple-shrine,
Father! let the praise be thine. ”

“ He, doubly born, hath spread in his effulgence through the three luminous realms, through all the regions, Best sacrificing Priest where waters gather. 5. Priest doubly born, he through his love of glory hath in his keeping all things worth the choosing, The man who brings him gifts hath noble offspring. ”

“ At a window-like opening in the front of the temple, sits the hideous misshapen block, ever ready to receive the adorations of passers-by. The poor god has an attentive priest who twines a robe around his black shoulders, greasy with oily libations, adorns his face with paint, and presents to him flowers, prayers, and incense. ”

“ It was a habit, long familiar to this good Presbyterian minister, who went in and out among his parishioners as their pastor and teacher, consoler and guide. Many a time, in many a cottage, had he knelt down, just as he did here, in the midst of deep affliction, and said a few simple words, as from children to a father—the Father of all men. ”

“ THE CONSECRATION OF THE WINE The priest bends over the chalice and says:
THIS IS THE CHALICE OF MY BLOOD At these words, the wine becomes the Precious Blood of Our Lord. The bell rings. The priest kneels and then raises the chalice. Now the priest continues to pray silently. Look at the chalice and say: Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, have mercy on us.
The priest kneels. The bell rings again. The priest prays silently.
PRAYER FOR THE DEAD Remember also, O Lord, Your servants (here name dead relatives and friends) who have gone before us with the sign of faith and sleep the sleep of peace. ”

“ For if the virgin’s body be a temple of God, what is her soul, which, the ashes, as it were, of the body being shaken off, once more uncovered by the hand of the Eternal Priest, exhales the vapour of the divine fire. Blessed virgins, who emit a fragrance through divine grace as gardens do through flowers, temples through religion, altars through the priest. ”

“ I adore thee, eternal Priest! whose delight is to offer sacrifice; and to make reparation for the insults and affronts done to thy priests, religious, and virgins, I offer up to thee thy own invincible patience, together with the true and fervent zeal of all good Priests and Apostolic Preachers. ”

“ We have such a high priest, who sat down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, 2 a servant of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man. 3 For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. ”

“ Certain priests, men whose countenances bore a deep impression of cultivated mind, each with his little group of assistants, were gliding round silently to perform their morning salutation to the god, raising the closed thumb and finger of the right hand with a kiss in the air, as they came and went on their sacred business, bearing their frankincense and lustral water. ”

“ Around thy dwelling-place, O brightly-shining Priest, are men at sacrifice, whose sacred grass is trimmed. Wishing to do thee service, Agni, they are there, desirous of thy friendship grant them store of wealth. ”

“ We do then expect, from Your excellent pastoral zeal, that, taking the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, and strengthened by the grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ, You will watch with redoubled care, that the faithful committed to Your charge "abstain from evil pasturage, which Jesus Christ doth not till, because His Father hath not planted it." ”

“ Other priests went in and out at will, children from a neighbouring orphanage sang hymns and giggled alternately, pious old women recited their rosaries, gloated over the dead, and splashed the bed with holy water ”

“ For when God's Priest offers up the elements of bread and wine upon the Holy Altar, they are thereby made God's property; and being blessed and sanctified by prayer and thanksgiving, they become, through the operation of the Holy Ghost, the Body and Blood of Christ in power and effect. ”

“ And from the gathered thousands surged the hymn,
Some strong power choked my voice, my eyes grew dim,
I knew that old man eloquent, a priest.
There is a consecration not of man,
Nor given by laid-on hands nor acted rite,
A priesthood fixed since the firm earth began,
A dedication to the eye of Light,
And this is of them. ”

“ Let the mothers receive their children; let no one have anything against any one; let no one come in hypocrisy; let us stand upright before the Lord with fear and trembling, to offer. When this is done, let the deacons bring the gifts to the bishop at the altar; and let the presbyters stand on his right hand, and on his left, as disciples stand before their Master. ”