About the priesthood

The essay “On the Priesthood” was written by St. Simeon of Thessalonica shortly after his priestly ordination. The treatise is very similar to a sermon, so researchers do not rule out that it was delivered by the saint from the church pulpit during the Thessalonian period of his ministry. The work is addressed to a young hierodeacon who doubts whether to accept the priesthood. The author encourages the addressee to leave doubts and gives a number of arguments in favor of taking the priesthood, emphasizing the importance and difficulty of pastoral service, as well as listing the duties of a clergyman. The work begins with a reminder of the primacy of love as the basis of Christian life and service, which is a reflection of the immeasurable love of Christ, who sacrificed Himself for humanity. The saint describes the dignity of the deacon and priest, comparing them with the angelic ranks - cherubim and seraphim, since they stand before the Divine Throne and are the secret places of God's greatest miracles. Particular attention is paid to the Divine Liturgy, which is presented as a constant remembrance of Christ’s sacrifice, where the Savior Himself “gives Himself to us” and unites with the believers. Saint Simeon emphasizes that the greatness of the priesthood does not give rise to pride, but places great responsibility on the minister. He calls on priests to become like Christ, pointing to sacred vestments as a symbol of the cross and renunciation from earthly things. The author calls for purity of life, struggle with passions and regular (preferably daily or at least weekly) celebration of the Liturgy, as commanded by the Savior Himself and practiced by the apostles and fathers of the Church. Negligence in the priestly service is considered a grave sin, depriving both the minister himself and the flock of grace and sanctification. To one pious monk, awarded the priesthood (diaconate); also about the bishop ordaining a presbyter. My beloved and good brother in Christ! Being obliged, according to the commandment, to love everyone, we must all the more cherish love for those who are sincere and loving (us). Although love according to God is indivisible and simple, and always of the same quality, and although, according to perfect reason, it should be equal in relation to everyone: however, Love itself and perfection itself - Jesus, who gave Himself for everyone, appears willingly according to everyone's will, just as the sun, pouring out light equally for everyone, is seen by everyone according to the desire to look and the ability of vision. Therefore, the Savior himself says: “I love those who love Me” (Proverbs 8:17). It’s not that he loves some and doesn’t love others; no, He, like Love itself, loves everyone in general, even those who do not want to love Him and those who move away from Him, without forcibly constraining them; and to those who love Him and want to unite with Him He gives Himself entirely, and, being Goodness itself, reveals deeds of love. And the Apostle commands, first of all, to take care of our own, meaning here those close to us in the faith. And I myself, although the least of the least, but a believer in Christ, a priest in Him, by His will, and His servant according to my strength, it is necessary to remember His commandments, especially the most important commandment about love, as much as possible, so that, according to the word of the beloved disciple, Christ may abide in me, even if only a little. For “he who abides in love,” he says, “abides in God, and God abides in him” (1 John 4:16). So, being obligated to preserve the commandment of love myself, and to remind everyone, if possible, and especially my beloved, of it, I am now sincerely proclaiming it to you, especially my beloved above others. And I do not mean an exhortation here, but I only wish by this to remind you of the service that you have been honored with, and to provide the most accurate knowledge of it: since I began to serve in the priesthood before you, became a priest of Christ and, by His highest goodness, a servant of His divine and greatest Mysteries. So you, beloved, have been honored to become a priest of Christ and to be a deacon (of Christ) and a representative and spectator of the Mysteries, close to Him and a communicant and herald of the Gospels. You are no longer delayed by any veils, but look openly. And it is not through the seraphim, that is, the priest, that you participate in the covenant, but, having been awarded the priesthood, you yourself have become a seraphim. You call to prayer without being called; raising others, you bring them closer to God, and, moreover, you serve the Divine Mysteries and proclaim to the believers, exhorting them to listen; you are appointed by Christ and serve as the main path for others, guiding them to the light. And are you not a cherub when you see the All-Seeing in the mysteries, and a fiery seraphim when you carry a life-giving coal, and a throne, having within yourself the Omnipresent One in service and communion, and an angel, as His servant and celebrant? Moreover, you do not serve any image or image, but the Lord Himself in the highest invisible (ranks) delivered. And what they are - grief, you do down: for the Creator of all things wanted this liturgy to be celebrated both there and here. And He Himself did this: having become a man, He united with us and, being the only invisible one, according to His will, was clothed with matter and became like mortals. Being infinite and beginningless by nature, when He wanted to unite with creation, He did not accept the created nature of invisible spirits. Having created them from nothing, He made them incorporeal and immortal by grace, and in order to make them partakers of His glory, He gives them His gifts, each in due measure. And He accepted our created nature and hypostatically united with us, and imparted divine glory to corruptible nature, having clothed itself inseparably and unmergedly. “In that,” says (Paul), “lives all the bodily fulfillment of the Divinity” (Col. 2:9). So He was seen, and again we can see Him, according to His good pleasure; He gave Himself for us, and now He constantly gives Himself to us. And such and such deeds, oh great goodness, we are the doers and ministers and secret keepers! What's more than that? In the performance of the sacraments we have received a dignity higher than that of angels. O goodness of the Lord! He who contains everything and is not limited by anything, dwells in place for our sake; the intangible is embraced, the invisible is felt; the incomprehensible to the mind is shared with mortals through us, who have humiliated and corrupted our nature, and, lo and behold! through the priesthood given to us in the sacraments, He is present and appears, and is given, and is offered, and is shared by all, and dwells, and is clothed, and is angry, and is pacified, and is propitiated, and is changed. What's more amazing than this? Which benefit is greater for people? Which dignity is higher? Which power abounds with greater gifts? That's how strong and powerful we are - earth and dirt and worms! But we can do even more than this by the power of the priesthood: for we are transformers into a better state through baptism and other sacraments, and fathers of the sons of God, and laborers for the law of God, and destroyers of sins, and liberators of souls, and liberators from eternal bonds, and gatekeepers of paradise, possessing its keys, and mighty in the affairs of God, and associates with Him in the matter of saving people. What will we bring for this? How much do we owe to God for such gifts? But, even if we had achieved the contemplation of the many-readers, we would still not be able to pay (for the gifts of God) to the extent that we have become debtors. And what created being is worthy of God’s mercies? And the first high ranks tremble, humble themselves, are horrified, seeing what we are doing, they are especially amazed, contemplating “the manifold wisdom of God in the Church” (Eph. 3:10), as Paul says; and they, recognizing Him who created them and the excessive goodness of God, are afraid and cry out in amazement, and are amazed at what is happening. And we, who are honored to be ministers and performers of the divine and greatest sacraments, how do we behave? We sometimes (alas!) make this wonderful power and terrible duty to destroy sins and passions a source of passions and a reason for sin; and some, instigated by the spirit of malice, turning it into despotic and worldly power, madly striving for it and using all the means in their power to achieve it, use such power and no longer abhor it. The saints, on the contrary: already existing angels in contemplation of such heights (Mysteries), but trembling, like seraphim, of the divine Mysteries, (as it is said), avoided it (power) and shied away from the greatness of the sacred dignity. And how they behaved when they were awarded it is clear from what they did. Therefore, beloved, we, who, by divine goodness, have become partakers of the dignity of the saints, strive, as much as we have the strength, to manage and manage life like them. This matter is not only for us - too inexperienced - a matter that does not correspond to (our) dignity, but even for those who have reached the highest degree of purity, who have become like angels and the angels themselves. This matter belongs to one Divine Being, who created everything from nothingness and now preserves it, and can change everything according to his will. And this is obvious here. Therefore, we alone, of all created beings, are in need of renewal; and since we have darkened and destroyed the first beauty, disobeyed the eternal and immortal, incorruptible and unchangeable God, and listened to him who was created good, but who fell by his own will, and lost his divine immortality, and became mortal through separation from the immortal, then grace is necessary for us. And although this apostate, apparently, lives and abides, but in fact he lost true life - the life of God, having arbitrarily transferred himself to the side of evil and through conceit, becoming an enemy to the Lord who created him, and through this to us, deceived by him, preparing a similar destruction. And this apostate still exists and has not lost his malice. And after the fall, by the goodness of the Creator, we received the means for rebellion. For he did not fall as a result of deception; did not suffer in the flesh and was not bound by matter, but voluntarily abandoned the good of which he had true knowledge; therefore, having no room for repentance, he remains an evil-wisher and increases in anger. And we, deceived by feeling and insidious deception, received the grace of repentance, so that, having learned evil from experience, (we) despise it - having experienced the true and divine blessings from which we have fallen, repent, immediately respond to the calling, be pardoned for this and again receive the gifts of divine goodness. This is the purpose of the prophets, and the law, and all its fulfillment, and, finally, the incarnation of God, so that we can learn through the fall, that is, by moving away from him, as well as the one who tempted us and led us astray, to become what we were before, or even better, as it was already when our nature, as has been said, united with the Creator, and so that, through the incarnation of the most loving Lord, we may be called to Him. Since it was impossible for the Incarnate One to remain here forever - this is unusual for human nature, which, as a result of condemnation, received a limit in life - it was impossible for mortals to constantly see the flesh that had become immortal through death, especially for ungodly and sinful people who still need rebirth: this would be inconsistent with the dignity of His divine and incorruptible body, and would not lead all people, as gifted with freedom, to obedience when He became to strive for them, on the contrary, a second rejection could await Him. And if it is possible to suffer and die countless times, then He really was rejected and is still rejected, suffered and still suffers in the face of those who constantly suffer for His sake; and therefore He himself ascended. This is what He who inseparably dwells in the bosom of the Father and is constantly present everywhere does for us, who exalted the body and presented it to the Father as a gift, and who is enthroned “above all beginning and authority and power” (Eph. 1:21), as Paul says, and made the flesh, accepted into the person of the Godhead, glorified and worshiped of all creation, the flesh that is always presented for us and offered to the Father as a sacrifice. He is an intercessor, a propitiator, a deliverer, and a mediator; From Him is the gift, and the reward, and every consolation. When this happened and He himself sat down at the right hand of the Father, and those being saved felt the need of a One to save: then the Savior, - oh, great compassion! - He bestowed the grace of salvation on those akin to Him by nature, that is, on obsequious people being saved. That is why He Himself, wanting to save people, became a man. He did not grant this to the angels because he did not unite with them, except spiritually, and because they do not need renewal. Instead of Himself, He appointed guardians and teachers of souls, leaders to heaven, light and life, and fathers and shepherds, and guardians and priests, who received His power not for their merits and were assigned to this work not for themselves only, but for the sake of others. So, we must try in every possible way to prepare ourselves as worthily as possible for the high sacrament, as should those people who have received strength and power and grace on earth, and we must use these gifts not only for ourselves, but even sacrifice ourselves for others, not sparing our lives, moreover, following the example of our Archetype. “My soul,” He says, “I lay down for the sheep” (John 10:15); and Peter says: “Christ suffered for us” (1 Peter 2:21); and Paul about the Father: “He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up to eat for us all” (Rom. 8:32). This applies to all priests. Isn’t the divine and crusader clothing in which they are clothed a sign of Jesus’ impoverishment? Yes, this is a symbol of the cross, an image of death, the aspiration of all thoughts to grief, renunciation from everything earthly. Therefore, those experienced in the knowledge of this avoided the glorious holy order - not because the priesthood should be avoided, but because it requires a worthy and great soul, able to perform sacred works, a soul, as much as possible, pure and caring for the benefit of the brethren: since this work is God’s and pleasing to Him (God), and is given for love, as Christ taught Peter. That is why the humble fathers, knowing themselves, shied away from the great office of the priesthood; and now those who are clothed in the monastic image are primarily rewarded with it; and it is given to them for the sake of their great dignity, height and purity. Many rightly think that this requires a powerful and purified soul; and purity and fear of God especially accompany the schema. This is the opinion of many, or better, the opinion of the universal Church, which has established that the leadership of almost every Church should be entrusted to monks. Even after careful research, you will hardly find that any of the laity will ever be awarded the clergy, and it seems to be destined for the monks by lot; You will hardly notice that anyone living in the world reaches the clergy, and that the Church chooses him for this before he puts on the monastic robe. This is the opinion of all the faithful in general, and especially the divine primates of the Church, who give honor to the divine schema, as if it had been established and proclaimed from above. But the unkind behavior of many spoiled everything, and the importance of the schema was humiliated and weakened. Some use all measures in order to achieve the divine hierarchy as soon as possible, and having achieved it, they do not use it as they should, and very often do things unworthy of this dignity, sometimes, however, they conform to its requirements, but more often they act as they please. Therefore, it is better not to put on the schema and be obedient to its Creator; and those who have been worthy of the priesthood and have decided to do so must live fearing God and be humble, like the humbled Master, whose place and image they have received. It is easy to notice that for many this divine position is often a reason for pride and vanity, and this is not from itself, but from our will, which does not obey the divine mind, rushing towards one thing only and completely immersed in the earthly and sensual. This is not how we should think; I will not deny that I am writing this about myself, since I often have similar thoughts (vainglorious), and I think that it is a good and useful thing to talk about oneself in this way and, together with others, to denounce oneself. It is impossible that we, overwhelmed by bad thoughts, will not receive any benefit from remembering and imagining blessings. Of course, we cannot always notice the emergence of thoughts and the germ of thoughts, and our darkened mind usually finds seduction: but to think about useful things and immediately strive for the best is in our power; therefore, if we neglect this, we will be condemned. Constant concern for acquiring goods usually gives birth to something divine. However, we must think about whose servants we are, what we do as servants, and whose image we bear. We are servants of God, who created everything and not only created everything good, but also always wants creatures who voluntarily turned to evil, especially people, to turn to good - who wanted and was pleased to bring them to a good state, and does this through the priests. We are servants of the greatest work, in which earth was united with heaven and enmity was destroyed, God was reconciled with mortals and all unrighteousness ceased, and the power of demons was destroyed, and we, people, together with the angels, by grace, became sons of God and gods, and performers, and priests, and stewards, and initiates into the sacraments. Each of us, in accordance with our rank, bears a divine and highest image. The bishop is the image of Jesus, and then the presbyter, by authority to perform the sacraments. In relation to other gifts, the bishop is the image of the Father of lights, from whom every gift is good and every gift is perfect; That’s why he’s (called) an enlightener. The presbyter is the image of the highest ranks, the second light; he betrays and commits secrets; That is why he is called a doer. Deacon takes third place. He is the image of ministering angels, constantly sent to those who want to inherit salvation; and therefore he is (called) a messenger, a preparer and a minister. Yet they all stand before the one God, offer the same sacrifice, commune with the same one, eat the same body, are all equally venerable, and the same divine grace is transmitted from them to others, whether from the first or the second, according to the place that is assigned to each of them from above. Let's look now at Jesus. He is the true God, Who is of Existence, the Word of the Mind without beginning, the only begotten Son of the highest Father, from whom are all things, Wisdom, Power and the Word, by whom all things (are created), the Almighty, the Lord, immaterial, invisible, unspeakable, incomprehensible, incomprehensible, indescribable, intangible, immortal. What has He finally become for us? Man, visible, describable, willing, mortal, impoverished; He had no place to lay his head, was despised, sold, condemned, insulted, ridiculed, slandered and crucified, and all this - for our sake. What is more divine than this? What other example of goodness is so great? What better way to depict immeasurable compassion? What could more clearly represent the humiliation of God? The Creator becomes a creature, the Creator becomes a creature, suffers for the creatures from his own creatures; The Master suffers from the slaves for themselves, for those who betrayed Him, voluntarily left Him and began to serve His enemy, did not recognize Him as the Creator, did not repent, did not seek Him and not only did not turn to Him, but even having fallen away, they persecute Him, blaspheme and betray Him to death, and He - the good one - betrayed Himself, suffered, died, rose again and raised us up with Him, ascended us with He exalted Himself, and, finally, He constantly posits Himself for our sake, unites us with Himself, communicates us and makes us His members; desires to remain in us inseparably and not only allows this, but also strives for it. What will we bring to Him for this? For how many priceless deaths, so to speak, do we remain in debt to Him? We are His eternal debtors and are unable to pay our debts. When we stand before Him, we speak words of humility and do the same deeds: then we will humble ourselves, looking at him who has humbled himself and is still humiliated; Let us fear at the thought of Who we stand before: Christ is present among us both invisibly and visibly - in the divine bread of the flesh and the honest cup of blood, showing us his passions, murder, nail wounds, blood, death. Let us stand in awe as we approach Him and directly look at Him, crushing and eating, and drinking from the blood, and distributing to others according to the grace given to us. Then the face of the cherubim marvels, the seraphim marvel; all the divine powers, looking, tremble, stand with fear and, being creatures and weak, are aware of their nature and glorify with amazement the immeasurable goodness of God. All these ranks stand with us and surround the altar with fear, wanting to penetrate the sacrament; and they do not stand in vain, but borrow from there for themselves a ray of light, for there is the source of their light, there is the power (focus) of their fire, belly, wisdom, sanctification. If this is how impassive creatures stand, alien to all lust, then how should we stand - earth, dust and worms? How should we prepare ourselves for such divine action? Let us try to begin and serve such a cause with all zeal and reverence. since nothing else but love alone accomplished this work, then we will also love Him, who loved us “first” (1 John 4:19); let us begin to serve love with all the strength of our soul, since love has revealed God to those so humbled. Let us serve the cause of humiliation with humility and love, for God who became man showed that it was impossible without God to rebel against the nature of mortals who voluntarily bowed down to fall. Man felt the need to unite with God, and to this day we constantly recognize ourselves as weak. Let us constantly pray to God for help, we will never undertake anything without Him: for “without Me,” He said, “you can do nothing” (John 15:5), in order to unite with Him and remain inseparable. And if the spirit of malice through pride and despair has become an apostate, then we, with the awareness of our plight, must join the Creator. “He who humbles himself...,” (He) said, “will exalt himself” (Luke 18:14). If the Master gave Himself for all and became everything to all who need Him, then let us give ourselves to Him in order to be partakers of His benefits; Let us serve His cause with all our hearts and, if possible, let us make a terrible sacrifice to Him, for this pleases Him. “With desire,” He says, “I desire this Passover to eat with you” (Luke 22:15), and constantly desires this, for he did not say: do it, but “do this in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:19), i.e. constantly. What other thing could be more important than this thing - to constantly remember Christ, His death for us and constantly make sacrifices? “This is,” He said, “My body, broken for you” (1 Cor. 11:24), that is, always; “This... is my blood... which is shed for you” (Matthew 26:28) - not shed once, but, obviously, constantly (poured out). Nothing can be more useful to us and more pleasing to God than this sacrifice, for it is His work and the restoration of mankind; in it is His communication with us, as the Incarnate One showed - before His suffering He prayed thus: “that they may be one, as we also are” (John 17:11). And He Himself testifies that through this we become one with Him. “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood,” he says, “abides in Me and I in him” (John 6:56). More than any prayer and praise, one must be diligent in this matter, for through it all prayer has power. We must devote most of the days of our lives to this matter; for, just as all divine deeds and commands relating to the world, all without exception, as soon as they appeared, are constantly in effect to this day, so the same must be understood about this (deed). We notice that all visible creatures are constantly active: I am talking about the constantly moving sky, the vegetating earth and everything that is in them; everything acts in accordance with its nature. All the more so should one assigned to that divine and greatest task be active. If sensual objects act so tirelessly, and man - this small and at the same time great world - also proves when with the sensual side he constantly acts as is characteristic of the sensual, nourishes, grows and changes, and with the spiritual side, as is characteristic of spiritual beings, he always acts according to the inspiration of the mind and the thinking power of the soul, and along with the activity of the human mind, mental divine powers gradually develop in him; then how can one abandon the highest work of great service to God, a work accomplished for the sake of all creation, through which all beings are brought into a better state, united with God, made divine, and especially rational beings, especially people dead and living; how to leave this matter out of negligence, or because of the imaginary fear of God of the priests? Fear of God cannot keep one from performing the Mysteries; Moreover, it cannot interfere with the saving sacrifice, and therefore with its beneficence. And if there is no obstacle to the sacred rite, then it means that the saving sacrifice must constantly be offered. The priest is appointed to be a sacred body, therefore he should not be careless; for carelessness, I think, he will give an account, as the divine Basil also says to some Gregory, reproaching him for negligence: either, under a plausible pretext, he refuses to be an authority and leaves his position, or, having legally prepared to be a divine authority and remaining in his position, let him not neglect the service. “Everyone will receive his wages according to his labor” (1 Cor. 3:8). “Cursed,” it is written, “do the work of the Lord with negligence” (Jer. 48:10). What other work of God is more important than this? Negligence in this matter, as we said, is destructive, unless, according to the teaching of the fathers, a person has received grace and does not refrain from doing things contrary to grace. Let the careless man be corrected; let him fear God, who will demand an account from him in his service, for, through his negligence, the benefit of the sacred sacrifice is lost for those who wish to receive it (the benefit); because of him, the remembrance of the Savior and His divine suffering does not occur. Anyone who is not free from such offenses, for which the fathers prohibited ministry, should not act. According to the fathers, he who does not perform it acts willfully and is guilty of the Mysteries of Christ, for if he who receives communion unworthily is condemned, how much more so is the unworthy celebrant? True, we know that no person is worthy of this work, because it is terrible for the angels; but God, who gave it, condescended to people as much as possible and offered Himself. Mortals! Let us try to be worthy of grace to a certain extent and let us diligently promote it, imitating, as much as possible, the entire earthly life of the Lord. Those who bear His image should, if possible, create His remembrance every day, in order to be constantly both performers and partakers of this (memory). Then God will be with them, and the angels with God and with them, and the souls of the saints, and the souls of all the faithful and living piously, whether they will be people successfully and calmly struggling, or fallen people, but repentant and seeking mercy and purification. And in general, every creature will receive sanctification and the greatest help in what we most need. And for this there is a great reward for those who perform sacred acts reverently and diligently. If it is impossible to perform sacred services every day, then at least four times a week, as Basil the Great commands, who himself did this, he left three services, and sometimes replaced them with a word of edification. It is necessary to perform sacred acts every day; I do not dare to say this on my own, but having learned from the Savior, who says: “Do this in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:19). And again: “I live... and the poisonous Me... will live for My sake” (John 6:56–57). And the Apostles did this, practicing in prayer and breaking bread, as it is written (Acts 2:42), that is, in the sacrament of the Mysteries and communion. Many of the fathers said and acted in the same way, for example, Blessed Gregory, Bishop of Rome, who showed special zeal for divine service; he, they say, established in the Roman Church the full priestly service to be performed by post and taught to perform the sacred service daily, following the example of one bishop who acted in a similar way. This bishop attracted the attention of the supreme (hierarchs), who decided to pronounce a word of praise on him after the divine rite. The Monk Anthony spoke and acted in the same way, and his disciples performed sacred services every day and partook of the Mysteries. And St. Chrysostom, together with Father Vasily, also wrote the rite of divine mysteries and praises those who participate in the sacrament of communion every day, but only reverently and with dignity. And in the Catholic Churches and everywhere there is a widespread tradition - to perform sacred acts every day for those who diligently wish to do so. But let not what is said seem to anyone to be an unconditional commandment, for worldly people and those married to their wives belong to this service, and monks are often faced with nightly temptations, and very many, at the prompting of the evil one, endure the temptations of anger, rancor and many other passions, while a true priest must be free from all such things. Therefore, let, according to Basil the Great, (priests) perform sacred rites, if possible, four times a week; and if it is not possible, then at least certainly twice a week, for this can be easily done both for laymen and for monks, and there can be no excuse here, since through labor and vigil and confession for five days they can purify themselves. Therefore, they first of all need to take care of remission (of sins), since it can primarily cleanse them. And this is very necessary for priests, and especially for those who daily approach the omniscient God and Giver, through repentance and forgiveness. If someone is possessed by any passion, especially in relation to another - as, for example, the vindictive are often possessed by slander and envy - then such a slave of passion, an instrument of the evil one who has settled in him through passion, should not approach the Good and the Giver of peace. Let such a one know that, having voluntarily succumbed to the suggestions of the evil one, he will give an account for passion and negligence; for the enemy, no matter how hard he tries, is not able to subjugate you to himself; we have been given the power to step on the serpent and the scorpion - on the insidious and destructive demons, and on all the power of the enemy. The author of evil only finds a place to attack; but in no case can he use complete violence and tyrannize, as we know from the experiences of the faithful and the chosen, and, being a creature of God, he does not even have power over the dumb. So, since it is in our will and in our disposition (to defeat him and improve in virtue), then we will be condemned if we are defeated by him and are deprived of such a heavenly gift because of some corrupting passion - I am talking about the sacred act and the sanctification that comes from it. Therefore, you need to cleanse yourself as much as possible and try under no circumstances to fall into the snare of the evil one. Let us preserve ourselves, who have been honored with sanctification, so that we may stand before and serve the Most Pure One in the purest possible purity; Let us hasten to decorate ourselves in deeds, words and thoughts with His lofty perfections, so that we may have in ourselves a reflection of at least some of His properties. And what are His properties? - philanthropy, humility, mercy, love for everyone, peace, communication of divine gifts, and above all, communication with us and sanctification, because our God is Holy and sanctifies those who approach Him, and deigns to rest in the saints. Oh, that He would grant us a part of His chosen ones and saints! May He make us worthy even here, may He preserve us to the end as ministers of His most holy sacraments for sanctification; and there, may He who led us again into the Holy of Holies make us forever partakers of direct communion with Himself! For to Him, Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God and our God, who dedicated Himself for us by the sacrifice of the cross, so that we too might be sanctified in the truth, is due all glory, honor, splendor and praise, together with His beginningless Father, and the Most Holy and good and life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages! Amen. You might be interested in: