judicium et jam factum est judicium."[1] The character of the last days is that men shall be "lovers of their own selves," and "lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God."[2] Such priests may be blameless to the eye, but they may love "the things that are their own, and not the things that are Jesus Christ's."[3]
8. Of a lax priest what can be said? The chief signs of laxity are to live without a rule of life; to say the Holy Mass by custom, with little preparation, and little thanksgiving; to be weary of the confessional; to escape it when possible; to be unpunctual and irregular in attendance. Such a priest soon finds himself more at ease in the world than among priests. The habits, tone, talk, and pleasant ways of the world are more to his taste. He lives in a mission-house or a presbytery, but it is not his home. His home is where his heart is, and his heart is in the world. He is ready for any recreation among people of the world or among women, but not always ready for a sick-bed, or a sorrowful tale, or for the Divine Office. In laughter he is unchastened, and in sorrow he is cast down. In prudence and circumspection he is unwary and often blind to what all about him see, but he alone
- ↑ S. Aug. Tract. xii. in Joan.
- ↑ 2 S. Tim. iii. 2-4.
- ↑ Philip. ii. 21.
