CHAPTER IV.
THE OBLIGATIONS TO SANCTITY IN THE PRIESTHOOD.
Hitherto we have dwelt upon the priesthood as invested with the greatest power ever bestowed by God on man. This alone would suffice to show that it demands of the priest—not a proportionate consecration of all his living powers, for that is impossible—but an entire oblation of himself. It shows also that with the priesthood a proportionate grace, adequate for the discharge of all his duties, is given to the priest. This alone would suffice to show that the state of the priesthood is the highest in its powers, obligations, and grace: and that it is the state of perfection instituted by our Divine Lord to be the light of the world, and the salt of the earth.
We have seen, also, that the priesthood is one; and that every priest shares it because he partakes in the priesthood of the Incarnate Son; that he is thereby conformed to Him, and that this conformity or
