249. A sacred authority

A sacred authority

YOUCAT Catechism + Catechism of the Catholic Church Lesson 249

Ave Maria series

The Sacrament of Holy Orders

249  What happens in Holy Orders?

The man who is ordained receives a gift of the Holy Spirit that gives him a sacred authority that is conferred upon him by Christ through the bishop.  [1538]

A candidate for Holy Orders kneeling before the bishop who lays his hands on candidate’s head in silence to confer the sacrament.….. 249

Being a priest does not mean just assuming an office or a ministry.  Through Holy Orders a priest receives as a gift a definite power and a mission for his brothers and sisters in faith.  150, 215, 228, 236

[1538]

1538 Integration into one of these bodies in the Church was accomplished by a rite called ordinatio, a religious and liturgical act which was a consecration, a blessing or a sacrament. Today the word "ordination"is reserved for the sacramental act which integrates a man into the order of bishops, presbyters, or deacons, and goes beyond a simple election, designation, delegation, or institution by the community, for it confers a gift of the Holy Spirit that permits the exercise of a "sacred power" (sacra potestas) (Compare Lumen Gentium 10.)⁵ which can come only from Christ himself through his Church. Ordination is also called consecratio, for it is a setting apart and an investiture by Christ himself for his Church. The laying on of hands by the bishop, with the consecratory prayer, constitutes the visible sign of this ordination. –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

Sacrament  Holy Orders  Deacon