The Secret of the Curé de Ars Compiled, Partially Adapted, and Arranged by Pauly Fongemie SOURCES USED: Secrets of the Saints, Henri Ghéon, 1944; From the Housetops Magazine, Vol. XXIV, No. 3, Serial No. 53; The Life of the Curé de Ars, Abbé Alfred Monnin, 1861; and Eucharistic Meditations, Curé de Ars, Eccles. Appr. 1923 ON THE PRIESTHOOD This section taken from Eucharistic Meditations and Monnin. NOTE: Deliberately repetitive for emphasis. TWENTY-SECOND MEDITATION ON THE PRIEST. "MARVELOUS dignity of priests!" exclaims St. Augustine; "in their hands, as in the womb of the blessed Virgin Mary, the Son of God becomes incarnate." They are the ministers of Christ and dispensers of the mysteries of God, St. Paul had said before him. Commenting on these words, the Curé of Ars said, in his turn, "Without the priest the death and passion of our Lord would be no use; the priest has the key of the heavenly treasures; he is God's steward and the administrator of His goods." Let us ask the Holy Ghost to give us knowledge of these truths. It will inspire us with a religious veneration for the character of the priest, and a lively gratitude towards our Lord Who has invested him with it. I. THE PRIEST'S GREATNESS "What is the priest? A man who holds the place of God, a man clothed with all the powers of God. Go, our Lord said to the priest, As My Father hath sent me, I also send you. "At the consecration the priest does not say, 'This is the Body of our Lord.' He says, 'This is my Body.' "Behold the power of the priest! The tongue of the priest makes God from a morsel of bread! It is more than creating the world. Someone said, 'Does St. Philomena, then, obey the Cure of Ars?' Certainly, she may well obey him, since God obeys him. The blessed Virgin cannot make her divine Son descend into the host. A priest can, however simple he may be. "How great is the priest! He will only rightly understand himself in heaven... To understand it on earth would make one die, not of fear, but of love ... "If I were to meet a priest and an Angel, I should salute the priest before the Angel. The latter is the friend of God, but the priest stands in his place. St. Teresa used to kiss the ground where a priest had passed. "Great value is attached to objects which have been laid in the porringer of the blessed Virgin and the child Jesus at Loreto. But the fingers of the priest which have touched the adorable Flesh of Jesus Christ, been dipped in the chalice which has held His Blood, and in the ciborium which has held His Body---are they not more precious?" II. THE PRIEST THE NURSING-FATHER OF SOULS AND THE PILLAR OF RELIGION "When the bell summons you to church, if you were asked: 'Where are you going?' you might answer, 'I am going to feed my soul!' And if someone pointed to the tabernacle and asked you, 'What is that gilded door?' 'It is the store-cupboard---my soul's store-cupboard.' [1] 'Who has the key? Who provides everything? Who makes ready the feast, and waits at table?' 'The priest.' 'And the food?' 'It is the precious Body and Blood of our Lord.' ... O my God, my God! how thou hast loved us!' [2] "The priest is to you as a mother, as a nurse to a baby. She gives him his food; he has only to open his mouth. 'There, my little one, eat,' the mother says to her child. 'Take and eat,' the priest says to you; 'this is the Body of Jesus Christ; may it keep you and bring you to eternal life!' O glorious words! ... A child rushes to his mother when he sees her; he struggles with those who hold him back; he opens his little mouth and stretches out his little hands to kiss and clasp her. So in the presence of the priest your soul springs naturally towards him; it runs to meet him, but is held back by the bonds of the flesh in men who give all to the senses and live only for the body.' [3]   "At sight of a spire you may say, 'What is there? The Body of our Lord. Why is it there? Because a priest has been there and has said holy Mass.' "The priest is everything, after God! ... "Leave a parish for twenty years without a priest, and beasts will be worshipped there. "If M. le Missionaire and I were to go away, you would say, 'What is there to do in that church? There is no more Mass. Our Lord is no longer there; we may just as well pray at home...' "When men want to destroy religion they begin by attacking the priest, because where the priest is no more, there is no more sacrifice, and where there is no more sacrifice, there is no more religion. "The priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus. When you see the priest, think of our Lord Jesus Christ." EXAMPLE M. Vianney once said at catechism: "To celebrate Mass one ought to be a seraph! I hold our Lord in my hands. I move Him to the right, and He stays there, to the left, and He stays there! ... To know what the Mass is would be to die. Only in Heaven shall we understand the happiness of saying Mass! ... Alas, my God! how much a priest is to be pitied when he does this as an ordinary thing! ... St. Jean-Marie showed great reverence for the sacred liturgy, and observed its least details with much exactness. When he distributed Holy Communion his face lit up and wore an angelic expression; his voice was full of deep emotion, and tears of love often fell from his eyes. O blessed Jean-Marie, blessed be God for having given you to the world to teach it in your person what the priest is, his high dignity and his beneficent power! Make us always to venerate our priests as the dispensers of God's mysteries and the ministers of Him Who went about doing good. [Emphasis in bold added by the Web Master.] The Priesthood. "My children, we are come to the Sacrament of Orders. It is a Sacrament which seems to have no relation to any of you, and which yet in fact bears a relation to every one. This Sacrament raises man to God. What is a priest? A man who holds the place of God, a man invested with all the powers of God. 'Go,' says our Lord to the priest; 'as My Father hath sent Me, so send I you. All power is given to Me in Heaven and on earth. Go, therefore; teach all nations.' "When the priest remits sins, he does not say, 'God absolve thee;' he says, 'I absolve thee.' At the Consecration he does not say, 'This is the Lord's Body.' He says, 'This is My Body.' "St. Bernard tells us that all comes to us by Mary. We may say also that all comes to us by the priest; yes, all happiness, all grace, every heavenly gift. "If we had not the Sacrament of Orders, we should not have our Lord. Who placed Him here in this Tabernacle? The priest. Who first received your soul on its entrance into life? The priest. Who nourishes it, to give it strength for its pilgrimage? The priest. Who will prepare it to appear before God, by washing it for the last time in the Blood of Jesus Christ? The priest; still the priest. And if that soul should die, who will raise it again, who will restore it to tranquillity and peace? Once more, the priest. You cannot recall to mind a single blessing from God without beholding by the side of that remembrance the image of the priest.   "Make your confession to the Blessed Virgin or to an Angel---will they absolve you? No. Will they give you the Body and Blood of our Lord? No. The Blessed Virgin cannot cause her Divine Son to descend into the Host. You might have two hundred Angels round you, but they could not absolve you. A priest, simple and humble as he may be, can; he can say to you, 'Go in peace; I pardon you.' "Oh, how great, then, is the priest! The priesthood can only be understood in Heaven. If we could understand it upon earth, we should die, not of fear, but of love. "The other gifts of God would avail us nothing without the priest. What would be the use of a house full of gold, if there were nobody to open the door for you? The priest has the key of all the treasures of Heaven: it is he who opens the door; he is the steward of the good God, the administrator of His goods. Without the priest, the Death and Passion of our Lord would profit us nothing. Look at the poor heathen then: of what benefit is our Lord's death to them? Alas, they can obtain no share in redemption so long as they have no priests to apply His Blood to their souls. The priest is not a priest for himself; he does not absolve himself, he does not administer the Sacraments to himself. He is not for himself, but for you. "Next to God, the priest is everything. Leave a parish for twenty years without a priest, and it will wo ship the brutes. "If M. le Missionaire and I were to go away, you would say, 'What should we do in this church? There is no Mass now. Our Lord is no longer there; we may as well pray at home.' When people want to destroy religion, they begin by attacking the priest; for when there is no priest, there is no sacrifice; and when there is no sacrifice, there is no religion. "When the bell calls you to church, if you are asked, 'Whither are you going?' you may answer, 'I am going to feed my soul.' If they point to the Tabernacle, and ask you, 'What is that golden door?' answer, 'It is the store-house of my soul.' And, 'Who has the key? who provides the food? who spreads the table?' 'The priest.' 'And the food?' 'It is my Lord's precious Body and Blood.' Oh, my God, my God, how hast Thou loved us! "Now see the power of the priest. His word changes a morsel of bread into God! this is more than creating a world. Some one said, 'Does St. Philomena, then, obey the Cure of Ars?' She may well obey him indeed, since God obeys him. "If I were to meet a priest and an Angel, I would salute the priest before the Angel; for the Angel is the friend of God, but the priest holds His place. St. Teresa kissed the ground on which a priest had trod. When you see a priest you ought to say: 'This is he who made me a child of God and opened Heaven to me in holy Baptism, he who has purified me when I have fallen into sin, who gives my soul its nourishment.' At the sight of a church you may say: 'What is there? The Body of our Lord. How comes it there? A priest has been there, and has said the holy Mass.'   "What was the joy of the Apostles, after the resurrection of our Lord, once more to behold the Master Whom they so dearly loved! The priest ought to feel the same joy at the sight of our Divine Lord Whom he holds in his hands. We attach a great value to objects which have touched the shrine of the Blessed Virgin and the Infant Jesus at Loretto. But the fingers of the priest, which have been plunged into the chalice where His Blood has been, and into the ciborium where His Body has been laid, are surely far more precious. "The priesthood is the love of the Heart of Jesus. When you see a priest, think of our Lord Jesus Christ." 1. Garde-manger, literally "larder." 2. Esprit, 116 et seq. 3. Cadavre, literally "corpse, dead body." Esprit, 50. DOWNLOAD THE IMAGE, LARGE, PLAIN IN PHOTO FADE Contact Us HOME-----------PRIESTS-------------SAINTS www.catholictradition.org/Priests/vianney10a.htm