and of saving health; for the sacramental grace of his priesthood and the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost will be always and everywhere, and in all needs and trials Fons aquæ salientis in vitam æternam.[1]
This alone would be an abundant reward to the most fervent priest who had spent himself through a long life for the elect's sake. But there are also other rewards.
1. And first is the joy of a pastor over the souls of his flock. The relation of pastor and flock is threefold—mutual knowledge, mutual love, mutual charity. The mutual knowledge is to know the number, the name, and the needs of his flock one by one, and to be known by them as their father, friend, and guide: the mutual charity is that he loves them for our Lord's sake, for their own sake, as heirs of eternal life, and as his spiritual children in Jesus Christ: and the mutual service is that he bestows upon them his care, labour, time, strength, health, and, if need be, life itself; and that they render to him the service of filial charity, generosity, and obedience. When pastor and flock are so united, then the words of S. John are fulfilled: "I have no greater grace than this, to hear that my children walk in truth."[2] In the measure in which the love of souls reigns in a
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