PRIESTS

Welcome to Catholic Tradition's Directory:
Holiness for Priests
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The time we live in has been called "the age of the laity." While it is a blessing for us lay men and women to be instructed in our duties and obligations to Holy Mother Church and to society according to the Divine will and law, the current evangelization of the laity has come at a price, whether intended or unintended by the powers that be, that of "demoting the priesthood," as an extension of the laity and a "common priesthood." Many priests are poorly taught in some of the modern seminaries and have little knowledge and appreciation of their great dignity, duties, and their utter importance as necessary for the salvation of souls, the knowledge of their indispensability, that they are not only meant to be good men, but holy.

Now, having written these words, please know that our intention is not to denigrate priests, but to acknowledge their supreme worth and to raise them up by challenging them and praying for them whle exhorting them. If there are ignorant lay people out there, and there are, dwelling in every parish and precinct, who utter "Who needs priests anyway, we can do this for ourselves," there are almost as many priests who do not know how to respond to this rejection and some of them may even agree with these parishioners, thus unwittingly contributing to the problem of clericalism among the laity, and the laicization of the priesthood, a grave disorientation and a scandal, a type of sacrilege! Some of the priests referred to here are not even young, but older, formed as priests many many years ago and should know better, but the satanic spirit of the "lay-empowerment" has penetrated the human aspect of the Church so thoroughly that we have all been affected by it, to our detriment, some worse than others.

This directory is written for priests, and for the faithful laity, as an edification on the dignity and duties of priests, so that the proper relationship of laity to priest and priest to laity, or the Divine order, in the Church be re-established and promulgated. This directory will be updated when space and time permits. We dedicate this directory to our patrons, Ven. Fr. Michael J. McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus; Mgsr. Nelson Baker, founder of the Homes of Charity and pastor of Our Lady of Victories, Lackawanna, New York, both of whose causes for beatifcation are underway, and the late Fr. Charles Fiore, a priest-knight in shining armor who fought the good fight against almost insurmountable odds, whom we are certain will join their rank one day.

In a very special way this page is dedicated to the priests and seminarians of the
Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, USA and Australia.

The sources used are:
THE DIGNITY AND DUTIES OF THE PRIEST, St. Alphonsus Liguori;
HOLINESS FOR PRIESTS, Pope St. Pius X;
RETREAT COMPANION FOR PRIESTS, Fr. Francis Havey, S.S.;
THE PRIEST THE MAN OF GOD, St. Joseph Cafasso;
and various prayer leaflets, articles, and small sheets collected over the years
from traditional, approved sources, and Papal encyclicals.

Current Pages on Line:
See Also SAINTS

PRIESTS: SPECIFIC AND GENERAL