Dignity and Duties of the Priest

Dignity And Duties Of The Priest Or Selva: A Collection Of Materials For Ecclesiastical Retreats Rule Of Life And Spiritual Rules By St Alphonsus De Liguori. Notice. We Begin The Series Of Works Composed Especially For The Clergy. The Work That Comes First Appeared In 1760 After The True Spouse Of Jesus Christ When The Author Had Attained The Age Of Sixty-Four. It Is The Fruit Of Researches And Of Studies That He Had Made During Nearly Forty Years Either For The Purpose Of Regulating His Own Conduct Or Of Directing Ecclesiastical Retreats And Exercises Which By Order Of The Archbishop He Preached For The First Time To The Clergy Of Naples In 1732 When He Had Been A Priest Only Six Years. He Was Then Regarded As A Model For Imitation And As A Master Worthy Of Being Entrusted With The Duty Of Educating Ministers Of The Sanctuary Of Every Grade. . This Book Is One That Has Had Most Success Thus Giving Us A High Idea Of The Good That It Has Effected. It Was At Once Translated Into The Principal Languages Of Europe. There Are At Least Five Translations Of It In French Among Which The Translation By Mgr. Gaume An Author Of Very Many Valuable Works Deservedly Holds A High Rank. To Several Of These Translations The First Word Of The Italian Title Selva 2 Has Been Given The Word Selva Meaning Wood Forest Material Collection Of The Translation Of This We Give As The Sub-Title Of The Work. We Have However Preferred To Give To This Work And To This Volume A Title That Clearly Expresses Its Aim.As To The Value And Utility Of This Collection We Take Pleasure In Quoting The Following Passage From The Preface Of Mgr. Gaume: We Have Massillon Sevoy Le Miroir Du Clergé What Have You ? Three Authorities That Are Without Doubt Respectable; But They Are After All Private Authorities And Your Reason So Often The Dupe Of Such Authorities Hesitates Distrusts And Using Its Right Judges Adopts Rejects And Never Raises Itself To A Philosophical Faith. Useful At All Times These Works Monuments Of Eloquence Or Of Piety Suffice No Longer At The Present Day. . To The Vast Development Of Error We Must Oppose The Analogous Development Of Truth; To This Invasion Of Private Spirit We Must Oppose The Imposing Authority Of The Catholic Spirit. Read Selva And Say Whether It Is Possible To Reach This End In A Better Manner. Here Is Not Mans Thought That Is Given To You As A Rule For Your Thought: It Is The Thought Of Ages; It Is Not The Bishop Of St. Agatha; It Is Solely Tradition That Preaches That Instructs That Forbids That Commands That Encourages Or That Terrifies. This Book Is As A Sacred Tribune From Which Speak One After Another The Prophets The Apostles The Apostolic Men The Martyrs The Solitaries The Most Illustrious Pontiffs Of The East And The West The Most Famous Doctors The Most Skillful Masters Of The Science Of The Saints The Successors Of St. Peter And The Councils The Organs Of The Holy Ghost; In A Word Antiquity The Middle Ages Modern Times The Entire Church. . In The Midst Of This August Assembly What Does The Holy Bishop Do? Nearly Always He Limits His Task To The Modest Role Of A Narrator; Often Even He Leaves To You The Care Of Drawing Conclusions. There Are No Long Reasonings Inductions Special Interpretations. In This Consist The Particular Merit And Providential Character Of Selva. More Than At Any Other Epoch Did The World And The Clergy Who Should Save The World Stand In Need Of Catholic Thought And The Saint Gives It Pure And Entire; He Feared To Weaken It By Mingling His Own With It..