which is twofold—first, that the priest shall show the practice of perfect charity in his own life; and next, that he diffuse the same by impressing the same law of charity upon others.
Lastly, without more words, it must be self-evident that the interior spiritual perfection required as a condition to ordination, and therefore as an essential condition to the exercise of perfection upon others, imposes on the priest after ordination the strictest obligation to persevere by all means necessary in that perfect life.
Happy is the priest who perseveres in the self-oblation made on the day when he was ordained: unhappy above all men is the priest who falls from it. To such may be said the divine and terrible words: "I have somewhat against thee because thou hast left thy first charity;"[1] or, "I would thou wert cold or hot; but because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will begin to vomit thee out of My mouth;"[2] or even, "Thou hast the name of being alive, and thou art dead."[3] If the state of the priesthood were the state perfectionis adquirendæ, such a man might more easily regain his fervour. But it is a state perfectionis exercendæ, conservandæ, et amplias augmentandæ. He has already received the greatest
