Priest, Pastor, Spiritual Guide

See also: Consecrated, Religious Vows, Ordination.

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Church Saint Aloyse la confession - Sicarov

In the Catholic Church, the priest administers the Sacraments of Baptism, Eucharist, confession, anointing of the sick and marriage. He is subject to a bishop and has, besides the administration of the Sacraments, the Mission to guide Souls through the teaching of the Gospel and through personal spiritual accompaniment.

In "The Gospel as it was revealed to me"

Priest

• Zacharias, touched by Grace, becomes the first priest.
• Respect due to priests.
• It is God who is the inheritance of his priests.
• Jesus: "It is necessary to instruct oneself by studying Judas."
• A Soul so great as to annihilate the flesh. He is all spirit, my priest, the priest of my dream. Thus will be my holy priests. The spiritual has neither the tone nor the pose of the tragedian. It is what it is: spirit, flame, light, love. He speaks to spirits. He speaks through the purity of looks, of his actions, his words, his works.
• My Lord, I was wondering if God is also on the lips of priests nowadays...
• The Synagogue Leaders are established to be your masters, to exercise Worship among you by giving you the example to make you faithful Israelites. They will still be there when I am no longer. They will have another name, other ceremonies, but they will always be ministers of Worship. You must love them and you must pray for them, because where there is a good leader, there are good faithful, and consequently, God is there.
• It will not be the name you bear, nor your habit, nor the functions you exercise that will make you priests, but the love you possess that will make you so.
• Your ministry of judging and absolving in my name is great! When you consecrate for yourselves the Bread and the Wine and make my Body and my Blood, you will do a great, supernaturally great and sublime thing.
• Horror! The greatest Judas of the Future I will still and always have among my priests!

Shepherd, spiritual guide

• The profile of the Church shepherd described by Jesus: instructions to Peter, future Pontiff.
• There are two things essential to have in order to be true masters and to be worthy of being true masters. The first thing: an austere life for oneself, to be able to judge without the hypocrisy of condemning in others what one forgives oneself. The second: a patient mercy to give Souls the possibility to heal and strengthen themselves.
• Your judgment will be worth as if God himself had pronounced it. Then you will know it, because The Spirit of God will hover over you and penetrate you with His lights. You will know how to judge considering the seven conditions of the facts that will be proposed to you to be advised or forgiven.
• That is why I create priests. To save those who have been saved by my Blood. My Blood saves. But men continue to fall into death.

Pope

• And to him who will come after you (Peter), you will say: "The polar eye: Jesus. The firm hand on the helm, strength, courage, constancy, attention, toil without respite, have an eye for everything, and know how to stand even on rough Waters..."
• That is why I have called you Cephas (= a stone), and that is why it is on you, Peter, that I will build my Church and the powers of Hell will not prevail Against it. To you I will give the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. And whatever you bind on earth will be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in Heaven.
• My Religion will be the star that guides the spiritual travelers on the road to Heaven. And you will be united to it to the point of being one light with Me and with my Doctrine, O my Peter, O my blessed Peter.
• I have been with him (Peter) since childhood. I know him as if he were my brother, but I have before me a new Simon. I confess that when you said he was our leader, I, and I am not alone, was perplexed. He seemed to me the least suitable of all.
• I (Jesus) will be Priest, and for eternity, immortal Pontiff in an organism that I will vivify until the end of the ages.

Historical landmarks

• Truly You are priest and great as in the old language this word had that meaning and You are divine, O my Jesus. Mary in a letter to Jesus.
• You are eternal Priest according to the order of Melchizedek". So this sentence announces that the eternal Priest will not be from the known Aaronic stock, will be of no priestly stock, but will be of a new, mysterious origin like Melchizedek.

In other works by Maria Valtorta

"Teachings of Jesus on the Church and the Consecrated"

In 2019, the Maria Valtorta Heritage Foundation published a selection of texts chosen by Emilio Pisani and Claudia Vecchiarelli on the "Teachings of Jesus on the Church and the Consecrated".

The Notebooks of 1943

• Catechesis of December 29 : Watch over yourself to be able to watch over others. Peter, now more than ever, you must feed my lambs and my sheep.

In fundamental Christian texts

In the Bible

• Every high priest, in fact, taken from among men is appointed to relate to God on their behalf. His role is to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He is able to empathize with those who are ignorant and wayward, for he himself is subject to weakness on all sides and because of it must offer sacrifice for sins, both for himself and for the people. No one takes this honor upon himself, but receives it when called by God, as was Aaron. Likewise, the Christ did not glorify himself to be made high priest, but was appointed by Him who said to him: You are my son; today I have begotten you, according to another scripture also: You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

In other sources

Saint Bridget of Sweden (1303 -1373) - Celestial Revelations – Book 4, Chapter 58

I have also honored priests with seven kinds of honors as seven degrees:

1. They must bear the mark of priesthood and be my distinguished friends by the purity of spirit and body, because purity is the first degree to approach God, to whom nothing corrupt is fitting; for if priests of the law were allowed the use of marriage, while they did not sacrifice, it is no wonder, for they had only the bark and not the core. Now that the figure has ceased with the coming of the truth, they must all devote themselves to purity, for the core is softer than the bark. As a sign of this continence, their Hair is cut, so that pleasure does not dominate the flesh nor the spirit.

2. Clerics are instituted to be angelic men by all sorts of humility, since by humility of body and spirit, heaven is penetrated, and the pride of the devil is overcome; and in this degree, priests are established to drive out devils, for the humble man is elevated to heaven, from where pride has thrown down the devil.

3. Priests are ordained because they must be Disciples of God by continual reading of the Holy Scripture; this is why it is given to them by the priests, like a sword to the soldier, so that they know what to do, and strive to appease the wrath of God by prayer and meditation, so that the people may not perish.

4. Priests are appointed guardians of the Temple of God and watchers of Souls; therefore the bishop gives them the keys, so that they are diligent for the salvation of the Souls of their brothers, advance them by words and examples, and incite the weak to what is most perfect.

5. They are established dispensers and caretakers of the altar, so that by serving the altar, they live from the altar, and they do not concern themselves with anything earthly, except what concerns their ecclesiastical office.

6. They are ordained to be apostolic men, preaching evangelical truth, conforming their lives to what they preach.

7. They are instituted to be mediators between God and man through the sacrifice of my body. In this degree, priests are somewhat above the dignity of Angels.

Now, I lament that all these degrees are greatly dissipated, for pride is loved instead of humility, impurity instead of continence. People no longer heed the books of God, but those of the world. Negligence is evident at the altars; divine wisdom is considered folly. They do not care for the salvation of Souls, nor is that enough for them, but they also cast aside my garments and despise my weapons.

Certainly, I showed Moses on Mount Sinai the garments priests were to use, not that in the heavenly dwelling of God there is anything material, but because we cannot understand the spiritual things without the material ones. That is why I show what is spiritual by corporal things, so that it is understood how necessary purity is for those who have the same truth, and not the figure, that is, my body, if those who bore the shadow of this body and the figure of this truth had so much purity and reverence.

But for what purpose did I show Moses such a great splendor of material garments, if not so that through them, one might understand the splendor and beauty of the Soul? For just as the priest’s garments are seven in number, so also the Soul that approaches the body of God must have seven Virtues, without which there is no salvation.

Therefore, the first garment of the Soul is the contrition of its sins;

the second, the love of God and chastity;

the third, the labor for the honor of God and patience in adversity;

the fourth, not caring about blame nor praise of men, but the honor of God;

the fifth, abstinence of the flesh with true humility;

the sixth, thinking of the Good deeds of God and having fear of His judgments;

the seventh, being charity and love of God above all things, and perseverance in what one has begun.

Now, these garments are badly changed and despised, for truly, people like to excuse themselves, justify themselves, make their faults seem slight, instead of simply confessing. They love continual caresses instead of chastity; bodily usefulness labor instead of care of Souls’ salvation; ambition and pride of the world instead of honor and love of the world; superfluity in all things instead of commendable sobriety in all things; presumption and judgment over God’s judgments instead of fear of God, and ingratitude of clerics is above all, instead of love of God above all things. Therefore, I will come in my indignation, as I said through my prophet, and tribulation will give them spirit.

Then the Mother of mercy, present there, said: Blessed are you, my Son! I speak to you by my right and justice. You know all things. I pray for this spouse, to whom you wished to make known spiritual things, which she cannot grasp unless you give her material similitudes: give her some, because you said in your Divinity, before you received humanity from me, that if there were ten just men in a city, you would forgive the whole city for those ten. Now, there are countless priests who please you by the offerings of your body: have mercy for those, for those who have little good. I pray for this; I implore you by the humanity in which I begot you; and all your elect ask you the same with me.

The Son answered: Blessed are you, and blessed be the word of your mouth! You see that I forgive them threefold, corresponding to a triple Good contained in the obligation of my body; for as from the presumption of Judas, three Goods were manifested in me, so also three Goods come to the Souls from the offering of this holy and august sacrifice. In the end, my power is praised,

1- because, knowing that Judas would betray me, I did not reject his company;

2- that this traitor being present, I overturned them all by my sole word in the Garden of Olives, where my power was greatly manifested;

3- and because I converted all his malice and that of the devil to the salvation of Souls, where my wisdom and my love were manifested.

Likewise, three Goods come from the offering of the priests:

1- my patience is praised by the whole heavenly army, for I am the same in the hands of a good and a bad priest, since in me there is no acceptance of persons, nor do men’s merits make this sacrament, but only my words.

2- Because this offering is useful to all, whatever priest offers it.

3. Because it also benefits those who offer it, good or bad, for just as from the same word I say: I AM, all my Enemies fell backward, so too, having said this word: THIS IS MY BODY, devils flee, and cease to tempt the Souls who make these holy and sacred offerings, nor dare return to them so boldly, unless affection follows.

Therefore, my mercy forgives all and suffers all; but my justice cries out for vengeance, as I always cry out; and since many answer me, you see it enough.

Nevertheless, I will send my word again: those who listen will accomplish and consummate their days in such great joy that it cannot be said or thought because of its sweetness; but those who do not listen, the seven plagues will come upon their Souls, as it is written, and seven upon their bodies, so that, reading and considering what has been done, they shudder in horror when experiencing them.