PRIEST
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PRIEST
church (e. g. canons); otherwise they are optional,
and their exercise depends upon the favour of the
bishop (e. g. the permission to hear confessions or to
preach granted to simple priests or to priests from out-
side the diocese). As for the case of a priest who is
entirely free, moralists limit his obligations, as far as
the exercise of his sacerdotal powers is concerned, to
the celebration of Mass several times a year (St. Al-
phonsus Liguori, I- VI, no. 313) and to the administra-
tion of the sacraments in case of necessity, in addition
to fulfilling certain other obligations not strictly sacer-
dotal (e. g. the Breviary, celibacy). But canonical
writers, not considering such a condition regular, hold
that the bishop is obliged in this case to attach such
a priest to a church and impose some duty on him,
even if it be only an obligatory attendance at solemn
functions and processions (Innocent XIII, Constitu-
tion "Apostolici ministerii", 23 March, 1723; Bene-
dict XIII, Const. "In supremo", 23 Sept., 1724;
Roman Council of 172.5, tit. vi, c. ii).
As to the material situation of the priest, his rights are clearly laid down by canon law, which varies con- siderably with the actual condition of the Church in different countries. As a matter of principle, each cleric ought to have from his ordination to the sub- diaconate a benefice, the revenues of which ensure him a respectable living and, if he is ordained with a title of patrimony (i. e. the possession of independent means sufficient to provide a decent livelihood), he has the right to receive a benefice as soon as possible. Practically the question seldom arises in the case of priests, for clerics are ordinarily ordained with the title of ecclesiastical service, and they cannot usefully fill a remunerated post unless they are priests. Each priest ordained with the title of ecclesiastical ser\-ice has therefore the right to ask of his bishop, and the bishop is under an obligation to assign him, a benefice or ecclesiastical office which will ensure him a re- spectable living; in this office the priest has therefore the right to collect the emoluments attached to his ministry, including the offerings which a legitimate custom allows him to receive or even demand on the occasion of certain definite functions (stipends for Masses, curial rights for burial etc.). Even when old or infirm, a priest who has not rendered himself un- worthy and who is unable to fulfil his ministry re- mains a charge on his bishop, unless other arrange- ments have been made. It is thus apparent that the rights and duties of a priest are, in the concrete reality, conditioned by his situation. (See Benefice; Pastor; Parish Priest; Priesthood.)
See bibliography to Orders. Holt, and Priesthood; consult also Phillips, DtoU ecclesiastique (French tr., Paris, 1850), 36; Many, Pralectiones de sacra ordinations (Paris, 1905), n. 16; and the collections of Zamboni and of Pallottini, s. v. Presbyteri (simptices) .
A. BOUDINHON.
Priest, Assistant. — The assistant priest (pres- byter assislens, anciently called capellanus) is the first and highest in dignity of the ministers who assist the bishop in jiontifical functions. Where there are cathe- dral chapters, ordinarily the first dignitary acts as assistant priest; but if the bishop only assists at a service, then the first canon after the dignitaries should serve in this capacity. If a priest preaches at pontifical Ma,ss, the preacher should also be assistant priest. A cardinal-bishop acts as assistant priest for the pope. By privilege, prothonotaries de numero participantium and mitred abbots may have an assist- ant priest when they celebrate pontifical Mass; and 80 also, but with some restrictions, supernumerary prothonotaries and prothonotaries ad instar. Certain dignitaries and canons in virtue of ancient custom are similarly privileged, and finally the Sacred Congrega- tion of Rites tolerates the custom of having an assist- ant priest at a priest's first solemn Mass. WTiile assisting the celebrant the assistant priest wears the
cope and amice over his surplice or rochet; but while
assisting the bishop presiding at the throne he wears
his regular choral dress. At the throne his stool is
placed on the platform of the throne, regularly at the
right and a little in front of the first assistant deacon.
When the celebrant uses the faldstool, the assistant
priest sits on the bench at the deacon's right; but
when the celebrant uses the bench, the assistant priest
sits on a stool placed at the end of the bench and
usually at the right of the deacon. His chief duty is to
attend to the book, which he holds for most of the
parts which the celebrant sings, and at the altar he
turns the leaves, points out the text, etc. He minis-
ters the ring, presents the towel, and receives the kiss
of peace first, from the celebrant, and conveys it to
the choir. At the throne he also ministers the incense
and incenses the bishop. Sometimes it is his duty to
publish the episcopal indulgences. When the bishop
presides at the throne, part of the time the assistant
priest occupies his place at the throne, and part of
the time his regular place in the choir, and then he
ministers the incense, incenses the bishop, and brings
the kiss of peace from the celebrant to the bishop.
In other pontifical functions besides the Mass and the
Divine Office his duties are similar to those described.
Caremoniale Episcoporum (Ratisbon, 1902); Martinucci, Manuale sacrarum carrimoniarum (Rome, 1879); De Herdt, Praxis pontificalis (Louvain. 1904) ; Le Vavasseuh. Les Fonctions pontificates (Paris, 1904); Ceremoniat of the Church (Philadelphia, ISQi" 313.
J. F. GOGGIN.
Priest, The High. — The high-priest in the Old Testament is called by various names: ^n;~, i. e. the priest (Num., iii, 6); b'~" '"~, i. e. the great priest (Lev., xxi, 10); "C'STI ■;":, i. e. the head priest (IV Kings, xx-v, 18) ; n"r^,~ ]~"i, i. e. the anointed priest (Lev., iv, 3): Gr., 'Apx^epiis (Lev., iv, 3), also in later books and New Testament. In the Old Testament 6 Upeii (Num., iii, 6); UptM 6 Trpuros (IV Kings, XXV, 18); 6 ie/)ci/!6M^7as (Lev., xxi, 10), are the common forms. A coadjutor or second priest was called mID ~yw":~ (IV Kings, XXV, 18; see Gesenius, s. v. riJi"?2).
Aaron and his sons were chosen by God to be priests, Aaron being the first high-priest and Eleazar his suc- cessor; so that, though the Scripture does not say so explicitly, the succession of the eldest son to the office of high-priest became a law. The consecration of Aaron and his sons during seven days and their vest- ments are described in Ex., xxviii, x,xix (cf. Lev., viii, 12; Ecclus., xlv, 7 sqq.). Aaron was anointed with oil poured on his head (Lev., \'iii, 12); hence he ia called "the priest that is anointed" (Lev., iv, 3). Some texts seem to require anointing for all (Ex., XXX, 30; Lev., x, 7; Num., iii, 3), but Aaron was anointed with oil in great profusion, even on the head (Ex., xxix, 7), to which reference is made in Ps. cxxxii, 2, where it is said that the precious ointment ran down upon his beard and "to the skirt of his gar- ment ". The ointment was made of myrrh, cinnamon, calamus, cassia, and ohve oil, compounded by the per- fumer or apothecary (Ex., xxx, 23-2.5; Josephus, ".•Vnt.", Ill, viii, 3), and not to be imitated nor ap- plied to profane uses (Ex., xxx, 31-33).
After the Exile anointing was not in use: both high- priests and priests were consecrated by simple in- vestiture. The rabbis held that even before the Exile the high-priest alone was anointed by pouring the sacred oil "over him" and applying it to his forehead over the eyes "after the form of the Greek X " (Eders- heim, "The Temple, Its Ministry and Service at the Time of Jesus Christ", 71). No age is specified, and thus youth was no impediment to the appointment by Herod of Arist obulus to the high-priesthood, though the latter was in his seventeenth year (Josephus, " Antiq.", XV, iii, 3). Josephus gives a list of eighty-three high- priests from .\aron to the destruction of the Temple by the Romans (Ant., XX, x). They were in the be-
