De Ordines
The Sanctity of Holy Orders
The author introduces the sacrament of Holy Orders as a necessary structure for the holiness and order of the Church.
Holy Orders are a sacrament given to the officials of Holy Church; for our mother the Church, my son, is so holy a thing that her officials must have holiness and good order, so that she may be honored. It would be a great baseness and a great disorder if the officials of Holy Church were sinful men, disordered men, and men who did not know the Holy Scriptures of Holy Church; and for that reason, son, when the Bishop confers orders, he ordains a subdeacon to chant the Epistle, a deacon to chant the Gospel, and a priest to chant the Mass.1 Besides these, son, the Bishop confers other orders, which the servers who assist the priest singing the Mass receive. All of these are officers of Holy Church, and each of them, when he receives the Sacrament, promises to praise and honor Holy Church and to be subject to her exaltation and honor.2
The High Calling of the Priesthood
The priesthood is highlighted as the most honored office due to the power of transubstantiation and the authority to forgive sins.
You should know, my son, that the most honored office—the one holding the greatest virtue and holiness—is that of the priest; for only the priest has the power to transubstantiate, through his words, the sacred bread and wine into the true Body and the true Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.34 My son, a priest alone has the power to forgive your sins, and he holds the place of Jesus Christ in this world; the holy Apostle, who is a priest, must be lord of the whole world, and all the kings and princes of this world must obey him.5 Remember, son, what a great thing it is to be a priest; for kings, high-ranking nobles, and everyone else, whoever they may be, must kiss the priest's hand and foot when he celebrates Mass.
The Priest's Debt of Love and Duty
Because of the great honor bestowed upon them, priests are under a heavy burden to live in holiness and gratitude toward God.
My son, just as God grants a priest a higher calling than any other person, so the priest is all the more obligated to love God and to thank Him for the grace and honor He shows him in this world.6 Son, if the order is more honored in a priest than all the other orders in this world among other men who are not priests, you can remember how great a burden and how great a debt priests are under so that they may be good, and so be pleasing to our Lord Jesus Christ.
Read the original Latin
Ordines son sagrament lo qual es donat als officials de Sancta Esgleya; car tant es sancta cosa, fill, nostra mare Esgleya, que los officials d ella deuen tenir sanctetat e ordonament per lo qual sia honrada.
Gran viltat e gran desordonament sería si los officials de Sancta Esgleya eren homens peccadors e homens desordonats e homens qui ignorassen les santes escriptures de la Sancta Esgleya; e per assó, fill, lo Bisbe con fa ordines, ordona subdiacha a cantar la epístola, e lo diacha a cantar levangeli, e lo prevere a cantar la missa.
Daltres ordines fa, fill, lo Bisbe, les quals reeben los escolans qui ajuden a servir lo prevere qui canta la missa: on, tots aquets son officials de Sancta Esgleya, e cascun d aquets con reseb lo sagrament, promet a esser loador e honrador e sotsmés al exalsament e a la honor de Sancta Esgleya.
Sapies, fill, que lo pus honrat offici e aquell hon ha més de vertuts e de santetat, es de prevere; car lo prevere tan solament ha vertut com per ses paraules lo pa e lo vi sagrat se transubstancieja en la vera cara e en la vera sanch de nostro Senyor Jhesu Christ.
Prevere, fill, ha tan solament poder de perdonar tos peccats, e prevere té loch de Jhesu Christ en est mon; e lo sant Apostoli, qui es prevere, deu esser senyor de tot lo mon, e a ell deuen obeyr tots los Reys e los Princeps daquest mon.
Remembre t, fill, con gran cosa es a esser prevere; car los Reys e los alts Barons e los homens quants que son, deuen besar la man el peu al prevere con canta la missa.
Amable fill, aytant con Deus dona pus noble orde a prevere que a nul home, aytant es pus obligat lo prevere a amar Deu, e agrayr li heu la gracia e lonrament que li fa en est mon.
Si orde es, fill, pus honrat en un prevere que no son tots los altres ordens qui son en est mon en los altres homens qui no son preveres, remembrar pots, fill, con en gran cárrech e en gran deute son los preveres con sien bons, per so que sien agradables a nostro Senyor Jhesu Christ.
Notes
- 1 ↩Catalan viltat carries moral baseness/ignominy (not mere low rank); desordonament answers ordonament in the prior section as lack of holy order, not mere messiness.
- 2 ↩Catalan escolans here are the servers/acolytes who assist at Mass (not schoolboys in a general sense); rendered as “servers” for modern readability while keeping the liturgical role clear.
- 3 ↩Source reads «vera cara»; almost certainly intended «vera carn» (true flesh/Body), the standard Eucharistic pairing with «vera sanch». Rendered as true Body.
- 4 ↩«vertut» here is medieval power/faculty (virtus), not moral virtue: the priest’s unique power to effect transubstantiation.
- 5 ↩Catalan 'lo sant Apostoli' (singular) with claim of lordship over the whole world and obedience from kings and princes most likely points to the Pope as successor of the Apostle (Peter), not merely any apostle; rendered as 'the holy Apostle' to stay close to the source wording.
- 6 ↩orde is the clerical holy order/rank (priestly order), not a monastic religious order; lonrament is honor/honoring (honorament).
Doctrine for Children — Opening companion
Rule yourself daily, not just on retreat
Chosen Portion turns the mirror into a daily practice — a short reading and examining question each morning before you lead anyone.
Chosen Portion makes the mirror daily: the ruler-formation questions this collection preserves become a two-minute morning examination in the app.
- A daily formation reading drawn from centuries of counsel to those in authority
- One pointed examination question a day — two minutes, before the meetings start
- Track your practice over weeks and watch the examined life become a habit