Kitabı oku: «The Priestly Vocation», sayfa 6

With respect to the time of day, each priest must judge for himself how to accommodate it to his daily routine. The liturgical rules bind only sub levi, and therefore can be set aside for a reasonable cause, provided that the whole Office is finished by the hour of midnight. Nevertheless, a priest who wishes to show respect for his Office will set rubrics aside as rarely as possible. So far as he can, for example, he will aim at saying Prime in the morning and Vespers in the evening. He will not invert the order of the hours if he can help it; he will not break off at unauthorised points, even though the reason be theologically sufficient: he will rather anticipate any likelihood of interruption and avoid saying his Office at such times. A priest who looks on his Breviary as a convenient duty to put in at odds and ends of time, so that it shall not encroach on any valuable space of time, is laying himself out for possible interruptions and certainly not showing that respect for his Office which is necessary to make it a source of blessing to his life.

A word may be added about the privilege of anticipating Matins and Lauds the previous afternoon. It is usual to lay stress on the advantage of this practice, and in the case of a priest on the English mission, the advantage is certainly great. For his daily routine is so uncertain, and so often interfered with by unforeseen pressure of work that the occasions on which the Office has to be postponed till evening are numerous and continually occurring. On days of special stress it may and does often occur that when he finishes his work, perhaps late in the evening, he has not had time to open his Breviary all day. In such circumstances, he is little fit to begin Aperi Domine and recite the whole, and there is no chance of his doing so with much devotion. If, however, he has anticipated his Matins and Lauds, he can now say the other half of the Office—and the easier half—and postpone the pressure until the following day, when by giving an extra half-hour he can recover his lost ground.

On the score of convenience therefore, and of getting the exercise more reverently performed, the practice is to be strongly recommended. On the score of devotion, however, there is room for two feelings, which are largely a matter of temperament. To some the idea of being forward in one's duty is such a help that it outweighs everything else. To others, the changing the feast at midday to that of the morrow is perplexing, especially on days when there may be Benediction in the evening in honour of the former feast, which in his liturgical life has passed away. Then to many persons Compline is an attractive end of the day; and though it is lawful to anticipate Matins and Lauds of to-morrow before saying Compline of to-day, and to reserve this till the last act before going to bed, it seems hardly the proper and reverent thing to do; and it is more common for those who purpose anticipating to say Vespers and Compline any time after twelve, sometimes before a one o'clock dinner. Again, those who argue in favour of anticipating often lay stress on the fact that it is out of place to say Jam lucis orto sidere in the evening: but surely it is at least equally out of place to say Te lucis ante terminum at midday, or early in the afternoon. Therefore if anyone is situated so as to have command over his time, by all means let us leave it to his own devotion to adjust his hours, and whether or not he will use the privilege of anticipating.

In England we have the privilege of substituting our Rosary for the Office on days when we are hard pressed for time. It might be well if we used this privilege more freely. For apart from all questions of time, the Rosary is far more easily said with devotion by a tired man than the Office, for it does not involve either reading or finding places. A devout Rosary will give greater glory to God than an indevout Office. The privilege is said to have been first obtained by Cardinal Wiseman, in view of the long Sunday Offices which in Lent and Advent were a difficulty to our hard-worked clergy. It was a source of disappointment to him that so few priests availed themselves of it. This is probably due in many cases to what are to a great extent scruples. The obligation to recite the Breviary is only a positive law, and binds according to the mens legislatoris. That mind can reasonably be interpreted by the reasons adduced by theologians as sufficient to justify non-compliance. The mere fact that a sick man who feels that he cannot say the whole Office is not bound to say any, lest he should be troubled with scruples, shows that any really serious discomfort is admitted as a sufficient cause for excusing from the rule.

It is well, however, to make an effort to avoid looking on the Office as a burden. If we find it so, we may be certain that there is something radically wrong in our performance of the duty. If properly recited, it should be one of the main supports of a priest's life. Cardinal Wiseman often declared that he had never once in all his life found it otherwise than an attractive duty. If well discharged, in proper surroundings, it may easily be made part of the liturgical life of the church within us, and should help us not a little in keeping the various feasts of the year with devotion.

Visit to the Blessed Sacrament, Examination of Conscience, Rosary

In most Presbyteries in which the church joins, it is customary for the clergy to pay an official visit to the Blessed Sacrament after dinner. This is in one sense not a good time, as one is perhaps less inclined for prayer at that moment than at any other during the day. Hence some have preferred to make their visit before dinner. The advantage of the more general plan is that it can be performed with regularity, and will not be elbowed out by pressure of work.

Such a visit fulfils any kind of quasi-obligation. At the same time there are reasons worth considering for not looking on so short an exercise as meeting what is aimed at. A priest's visit should surely be an event in his day—as it were a stocktaking of his daily work, when he puts his difficulties as well as his consolations with all confidence before his Lord, and while offering thanks for the latter, begs special grace for the former. This demands that he should not be hemmed in by considerations of time, and he would also wish to be alone at such a moment. It is a sort of complement to his examination of conscience, and should be an attractive exercise. Surely, then, if ever he wishes to pray spontaneously and without the restraint of words, a good visit will leave its impress on the whole day's work.

Then in the evening, as the last act of the day, comes the actual examination of conscience. As we so frequently urge when speaking on the Sacrament of Penance, the examination is only a means to an end. The end aimed at is sorrow for sin, and good resolve for the future. Now in the priest's case we are met with a definite danger. Many priests do not say regular night prayers as the laity do; for they consider that for them Compline is the best form of night prayer. But it does not contain any definite examination of conscience. The part which corresponds thereto—the Confiteor—seems the reflection of days when life was simpler, but it contains the most important part, the Act of Contrition. In these days a more systematic examination is called for and is now commanded. It would be well if this exercise were taken a little more seriously, and in this matter we might do worse than imitate a good Catholic living in the world.

The recitation of the Rosary does not call for much comment here. Freedom and facility in its use is one of the chief characteristics of modern Catholicity, whether of priest or layman. The fact that nearly all religious of both sexes wear a large Rosary prominently as part of their habit shows how completely the Church has adopted the devotion as part of her life. Many a layman—or laywoman—recites the third part—five mysteries—daily; and there is surely nothing wonderful in a priest being asked to do the same.

CONFERENCE VII
THE PRIEST'S PASTORAL WORK

IT has sometimes been a matter of comment that in the ordination of a priest the Church seems to act in a different manner from what she does in the consecration of a Bishop. In the latter case, a man has to wait till there is a vacancy and his work is required for the good of the Church: in the former case, he offers himself for ordination, and it is not until after he is ordained that a suitable vacancy is sought where he is asked to work. In some respects this follows inevitably from the nature of the case; for a candidate for the Bishopric can go on working as a priest until his services are called for in the Episcopate. In some instances indeed that time never comes, and one who is apparently "Episcopabilis" never gets consecrated at all. In the case of a priest it is manifestly impossible to have candidates for Holy Orders waiting to be called to the ministry, and remaining laymen till that time comes. And indeed if it were otherwise possible, the length of time necessary to prepare for the priesthood necessitates the candidate being chosen some years before the need arises; while, on the other hand, there are so many openings where a priest's work is called for that one can usually be found for a newly ordained priest without waiting, and indeed the tendency is rather for there to be such need that a man has to be ordained before his time.

Nevertheless, the comment does express a real truth. Some men—in certain countries not an inconsiderable number—are ordained as what are often spoken of as "Mass priests," who having a sufficient competency of their own, have no intention of ever offering themselves for pastoral work of any kind. They wish to say Mass, and that is all. It is significant of the times that this is not to be so any longer. Although it is impossible to wait for a definite vacancy, the Bishops are directed in future not to ordain anyone unless they are satisfied that his services are necessary or useful to the Church, and an obligation is laid on every priest to accept any work from the Bishop which he is reasonably able to do. ⁴³ There are to be no more "Mass priests." The movement was begun by Pius X in the city of Rome, when he only allowed those to live there who had definite employment: now the principle is extended, and has become part of the law of the Church. Hence pastoral work, in its broadest sense, has become an essential part of the vocation of a priest. It is proposed here to say a few words about the various offices of such work a priest ordinarily performs in this country. This naturally divides itself into two main categories, that which he does for the sake of his people as a whole, and that which he does for them individually. The former of these will form the subject of a later Conference: here we will consider the latter. ⁴⁴

The work of the Church is to sanctify the life of the Christian, and the priest's pastoral solicitude should extend to every individual of his parish. Many of them he comes to know intimately, through the sacrament of Penance, and all of them are his friends as they are friends of Christ. ⁴⁵ His work is to apply to them individually the graces of the Church, throughout their lives, and more especially at the chief epochs—to baptise them when they come into the world; to provide for their Catholic training at school; to prepare them for Confirmation when the opportunity arises; to administer their first Confession and Communion when they are of a suitable age; when they enter the state of matrimony to prepare them for the sacrament, and to assist at it when the parties are solemnly married; and, finally, to watch over their death bed, to anoint them and administer the holy Viaticum when the last summons comes. But in addition to these main epochs, the priest has to keep perennial watch over their lives, to assist them in their troubles, to advise them and absolve them when they have fallen into sin, continually to stimulate them in the practice of their holy religion; to warn those who neglect Mass on Sundays, or who stay away from Communion at Easter; and to help them in countless other ways. A few words about each of these duties will be in place.

We begin with the solemn rite of Baptism. Many priests find this the least spiritualising of all their works in the Church. The fact that the recipient of the sacrament is unconscious of what is being done, and often in consequence behaves in a manner not befitting the occasion, undoubtedly detracts from the solemnity of the rite. Yet there is much to suggest itself of special interest, for the sacrament involves the whole history of mankind. The child arrives not a member of the Church, even in positive enmity—though unconsciously—to Almighty God, and in the power of the enemy of mankind. As a result of the priest's ministration, the devil is expelled, and the child acquires the state of one of the faithful. The command "Exi ab eo, immunde spiritus, et da locum Spiritui Sancto Paraclito" should surely bring home to one the power of the priesthood. So also the words that follow a little later on:—

"Exorcizo te, immunde spiritus, in nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti, ut exeas et recedas ab hoc famulo Dei: ipse enim tibi imperat qui pedibus super mare ambulavit, et Petro mergenti dexteram porrexit.

"Ergo maledicte diabole, recognosce sententiam tuam, et da honorem Deo vivo et vero, da honorem Jesu Christo Filio ejus, et Spiritui Sancto, et recede ab hoc famulo Dei, quia istum sibi Deus et Dominus noster Jesus Christus ad suam sanctam gratiam et benedictionem fontemque Baptismatis vocare dignatus est. Et hoc signum sanctæ Crucis, quod nos fronti ejus damus, tumaledicte diabole, nunquam audeas violare."

So also the profession of faith of the god-parent on behalf of the child speaks of the Christian home into which it is its privilege to be born; and this gives the full meaning to the Baptism itself. The sanctification of the child is completed by the two-fold anointing—by the Oil of Catechumens before Baptism, and by Chrism afterwards. It is the sign of a good Catholic tradition to wish for Baptism as early as possible so that the infant may be sanctified; and the Catholic practice is to give him the name of a saint, under whose protection he is placed. ⁴⁶

The next epoch in the life of a child is his going to school, which by a strange satire comes always before he has, theologically speaking, "come to the use of reason." From henceforth the school teacher, as the deputy of the priest, shares with the parents the responsibility for the child's religious education. A good priest is frequently in his school, and gets to know the children each and all. Much of the religious instruction is best done by the ordinary teachers, but the priest will supervise it and often participate in it; and when it comes to preparing the children for their First Confession, he will probably keep it in his own hands. Nevertheless, he must bear in mind that although according to the new Codex the final responsibility as to the child's fitness rests with the priest (Canon 854, §5), his final decision requires the consent of the child's parent or guardian (Ibid., § 4). This consent, however, is of course ordinarily assumed: with the large numbers at a modern school no other system would be possible. The children make their First Confessions in groups, on a date fixed by the priest. It is hardly necessary to remark that many a child in his first few Confessions experiences difficulty in finding matter to confess. Yet it is very important for such a one to form the habit of Confession in good time, so that when the need really arises by serious sin, the remedy may be ready to hand.

According to the modern practice, initiated by Pope Pius X, the First Communion follows immediately. In many cases the child only partly realises the sacredness of the act. Nevertheless, the surroundings, together with such knowledge as can be assimilated at that age, give plenty of scope for devotion; and with advancing years, the child realises more and more the privilege of receiving the Blessed Sacrament.

When the time comes for leaving school, a crisis is reached, and it is sad to note how many boys and girls, but especially the former, are carried away by the brightness and interest of life when they go out into the world, and lose sight of their religion altogether. Needless to say, many of them fall into bad company, and their souls become in a state of grave peril. Various works have been set on foot at different times to retain our influence on our boys at this time of life—the institution of clubs, or boy scouts, or boys' brigades, or the like, with varying success. It is a time when the priest with all his solicitude is often powerless to do anything. On this we can quote the experience of Canon Oakeley writing half a century ago:—

"No complaint is more commonly heard among our clergy," he writes, "than that those who have been educated in our schools are lost to the Church by scores, if not by hundreds, as soon as the school time is over. This complaint I fear is but too well grounded, but I think that it suggests some important topics of self-examination to ourselves. Are we sufficiently careful to follow with our eye the children of both sexes who have ceased to come under daily observation by entering on the duties of their secular callings? This enquiry applies most forcibly to the young men of our flocks, who for many reasons are less likely to come under the protection of watchful guides than young persons of the other sex, and who are at the same time exposed to a more dangerous class of temptations."

And he gives his own experience as to a possible remedy:—

"The interest which both sexes alike demand at our hands consists not merely in using means to preserve them in the practice of their formal religious duties, but in keeping up their attachment to the Church to which they belong by engaging them in some practical form of connection with it, such as association with confraternities, or participation in offices or works of which it is the centre and spring. I have myself" (he adds) "witnessed in various ways and in more than one place the incalculable advantage of maintaining by some such definite and practical bond of union the tie between young persons, but especially young men, and their church. I have found that the privileges of the sanctuary or the choir have been prized as the most precious of distinctions, and that the Offices of the Church have proved successful rivals, not to say powerful antagonists, of the theatre or the music-hall. I have known young men who have been, to my undoubting belief, kept harmless amid the manifold temptations of the metropolis through influences directly received in, or by means of, the Catholic Church." ⁴⁷

In many cases where men have allowed their religion to lapse, the steadying influence required is happily supplied when the time comes for a man to marry and to devote himself to bringing up a Christian family. The wedding-day is a day of rejoicing; it is the priest's privilege to assist at the ceremony in church, and in many cases to join in the festivities afterwards. It is much to be regretted that the nuptial mass has almost died out with us—this being apparently in great part due to our Protestant surroundings; the two ostensible reasons being the custom of having the ceremony at a late hour, in order to enable people to come, and the wish for a short service so as not to overburden the non-Catholics present. It is the more to be regretted because it is such a beautiful service that if people were accustomed to seeing it, few Catholics would be content to omit it. However, taking the service as we find it, short though it is, it can be made very devotional ⁴⁸ and joyful.

It has been said by some cynics that such joy is misplaced, and that if the young couple realised the anxieties and trials before them they would look on it as a day of sorrow rather than joy. Such remarks are surely out of keeping with the spirit of the followers of Him who assisted at the wedding feast in Cana, and worked His first miracle lest the rejoicings should be marred. In point of fact, marriage is a subject for joy as life is, with all its sufferings and anxieties, for it is the means of achieving a great and joyful work. If ever there is an occasion in life when people stand in need of the joyful sympathy of their friends, it is when they are beginning the main work of their lives. In later years, when storm and stress is on them, they will ever look back to their wedding-day for comfort and hope which will carry them through their trials. If God bless their union with children, the priest is at hand to minister to the mother in childbirth, to baptise the offspring, and to perform the solemn rite which is the mother's act of thanksgiving for successful childbirth.

Alas, however, many people lose sight of their religion after as before marriage, and their defection affects not only themselves, but their children. It destroys the character of the home, and is an injustice to those whom they have brought into the world. To them the solicitude of the priest will be continually applied. "I came not to call the just," said our Lord, "but sinners to penance";⁴⁹ and the priest's work in continually visiting his flock—house to house visiting, if circumstances permit—is chiefly directed towards rescuing those who have fallen away, or are in danger of doing so. The special efforts, the Lenten sermons and missions then or at other times, and the long hours spent in the Confessional are directed primarily towards getting back the sheep who have gone astray. No satisfaction of the priest can be compared with that when he brings back a lost sheep to the fold, and perhaps creates a holy home which but for his efforts would have been a home of perdition. If he has imitated the Curé d'Ars and done penance to himself in order to obtain such a conversion, the penance will appear to him small indeed compared with the blessings he has obtained.

The solicitude of a priest must not be limited to his own Catholic people. We have surely a mission to all, and we should try to reach all. "Other sheep I have," said our Lord, "that are not of the fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd." ⁵⁰ One learns by experience how little we have personally to do with making converts. "The Spirit breatheth where He will," and a new convert will come from some unexpected quarter as though dropping down from the skies. It is often assumed that the chief school which produces converts is the High Church party of the Church of England. This may be so sometimes; but in the small experience of the present writer, both in the four years spent on the mission and in granting faculties as Bishop, this has not been universally the case. He can recall receiving Low Churchmen, Dissenters, Quakers, or unbaptised persons with no religion at all, as frequently as those of the High Church. They come at all ages; and often without any very definite apparent reason. It has no doubt been a case of corresponding with the grace of God, and even when it was originally set in motion by something in one of our sermons, or when difficulties have been chased away in like manner, the priest feels clearly enough how little one has had personally to do with it, beyond being the representative of God. Nevertheless, it is one of the signs of God's blessing on our work, and if it is absent, and no converts are coming, we may well take it as a warning that we are not doing our work as well as we might.

This is not the place to write at length on the treatment of converts. Let it be sufficient to say that we should extend to these the very utmost charity and sympathy. We who were born Catholics can hardly realise the extraordinary mental anguish which some of them go through in their search after truth, and in confronting the call to break with the most sacred associations of their lives. Yet it is no charity to them to receive them when they are only partially instructed or when they have not really grasped the essentials of an act of faith. The modern discipline of requiring a faculty before receiving anyone into the Church is some check on this, but not a complete one. The judgment of the priest is practically always accepted and the instructions laid down are often curtailed.

When the convert has been prepared, the priest has to complete the work, and it is no small consolation both to him and to the convert. But after the seed is planted comes the time of growth, and the anxiety about the early Catholic life of his converts is not the least among the pastoral solicitudes of the priest. In their early days as Catholics they have a right to frequent visits from their father-in-God.

We come finally to a large number of subjects for the priest's visits—the sick of every kind, whether in hospitals or workhouses or infirmaries or in private houses, and from those who are stricken with comparatively light ailments to those who are chronic invalids: and, lastly, those in danger of death. Of the sick in general Canon Keatinge at the outset calls attention to the essential difference between the sick men "letting the priest know" and "sending for the priest"; and he rightly points out that even when the former state is reached, there is a great opportunity for his soul, and the very protraction of his illness, wearying as it is to flesh and blood, may be—whether he recovers or not—the grace of his life. How many a man has been called back by illness to serious thoughts, and has made his peace with God, which may last for the rest of his life, perhaps for many years. "His illness," writes Canon Keatinge, "may be nothing less than a retreat for him and his whole house, if you happen to be a man full of the spirit of your vocation." ⁵¹

When an actual sick call comes, there is of course no room for choice; one must go, and at once. The ministration to the dying is a part of the priest's office, which is sometimes viewed with some apprehension before ordination. The surroundings of death are unattractive to nature; the sight of the struggle for life which ends in defeat is painful to watch; and there is often trying physical discomfort in the surroundings of poverty and disease. Yet when it comes to the actual fact, any priest will confirm the statement that it is one of the most consoling duties of his office. The very fact that he is attending for purposes of ministration seems to carry him through all that nature revolts against in the sight and surroundings, while he gains for himself a valuable lesson on the frailty of human life and the nearness of eternity. It is indeed exceptional to be present at the actual moment of death, though this sometimes occurs. But one frequently sees the body very soon afterwards, with the familiar death expression on the countenance, before it has been laid out and assumed the calm sleep-like appearance with which most people are familiar. The thought is inevitable: a few moments ago the soul was here; we were speaking with him; now he has seen Almighty God and been judged. May he always remember us who helped him to die as a Christian should!

We are often asked by the future priest for our experience of death-beds. The description of the final struggle between good and evil, the last assaults of the devil, who knows that with this soul it is now or never, are often depicted in vivid colours in books of devotion or in sermons, and this forms one of the features of death of which ordinary people are most afraid. It may be a good thing to have brought before them as a warning a picture of what presumably is a possibility; but truth compels us to say that in the ordinary case it is not so. The late Dr. Coffin, Bishop of Southwark, who had had a long career as a member of the Congregation of Redemptorists, of which he was Provincial, once admitted frankly that although he had often preached it, he had never seen it; and his experience of death-beds was very large. The ordinary rule is that in the later stages of illness all is calm, and the fear of death, even in cases where it has been prominent in life, disappears before the end comes. And—a fact which can never be too strongly enforced and which will be corroborated by any priest who has ministered to the dying—when the patient is told that death is imminent, in nearly every case the announcement is received with resignation; and the last Sacraments give no small consolation. This has to be firmly insisted upon; for ordinarily a non-Catholic doctor, who has not the same outlook on death that we have, will deprecate or even forbid informing him as to his condition. The priest has to resist this order, and he can do so with perfect confidence. The physical effect such as it is will be, as experience shows, all in the direction of calming the mind and rather assisting than retarding recovery. And to us who believe in the efficacy of the Sacrament of Extreme Unction, "even to restore health when God sees it to be expedient," this thought appeals with special force.

Are we to understand then that there are no bad deaths, or no death-bed conversions? Alas, many a death is evil and Godless, and many people refuse to see the priest at all. Even in such a case there is not necessarily a struggle, for a man may have surrendered himself to evil. There may, indeed, be cases of a struggle between the right and wrong at the end, but they are rare. But with respect to death-bed conversions, there is more to be said. The expression may be used in a broad or a narrow sense. In the strict meaning of the term, that a man after an evil life changes his disposition at the very end, this is of course the rarest event in the world, and if it occurs, must be looked upon as a very extraordinary grace. But many a person puts himself straight in his confession when in danger of death. Some ancient criminal attachment or some unconfessed sin may have kept him away from the sacraments for years without having destroyed either his faith or his general wish to serve God. To such a one his last sacraments form a great grace, which show that Almighty God has not been unmindful of his general aiming at good, and that whereas during life this aim has not been strong enough to overcome the special difficulty which came upon him, the stimulus of approaching death has been providentially afforded him to strengthen his will sufficiently for true sorrow.