Dom Prosper Gueranger:
There is nothing on Earth so grand, nothing so exalted, as the Princes of the Church, the Pastors appointed by the Son of God who are to follow on, in unbroken succession, to the end of time. But let us not suppose that the subjects of this vast empire called the Church are devoid of dignity and greatness. The Christian People (in which both prince and beggar are equally subjects), is superior to every other, in intellectual and moral worth. It carries civilisation with it, wherever it goes, for it carries with it the true notion of God and of the supernatural end of man. Barbarism recedes. Pagan institutions, however ancient they may be, are forced to give way. Even Greece and Rome laid down their own to adopt the laws of the Christian Code — the Code which was based on the Gospel.
The Apostle Saint Peter, the universal Shepherd, into whose hands the Divine Shepherd placed the keys, thus describes the Flock entrusted to his care: “You are a chosen generation, a kingly priesthood, a holy nation, a purchased people, that you may declare his virtues, who has called you out of darkness into his marvellous light” (1 Peter ii. 9). So indeed it is. Divine truth is entrusted to this People, and its light can never be extinguished among them. When the teaching authority has, with its infallibility, to proclaim a solemn definition in doctrinal matters, it first appeals to the faith of the Christian People, and the sentence declares that to be the truth which has been believed “everywhere, always, and by all.” Amid the Christian People there exists that strangest phenomenon under Heaven, union of mind, by which there is one common faith amid nations the most opposite to each other in every other respect. Let them be as hostile to one another as you please — in matters of faith, in submission to their Pastors, they are all one and the same great family. The most admirable, at times the most heroic virtues are to be found amid this People, for Jesus has given it a large share of that element of holiness with which His grace has enriched human nature.
Observe, too, how affectionately it is protected and honoured by its Pastors. Every Pastor, no matter what may be his rank in the Church is bound in virtue of his office to lay down his life for his sheep, if called upon to do it. The sacrifice is not even counted as an act of heroism. It is a strict duty. Shame and curse upon the Pastor who flees through cowardice! The Redeemer stigmatises such an one with the name of Hireling. Hence it is that during these last [two thousand] years, there have been so many thousands of Pastors who have given their lives for their flocks. One or other of their names are to be found in every page of the Church’s history. The list is headed by Saint Peter who was crucified like His Divine Master. It continues down to the Bishops of Cochin-China, Tonkin, and the Korea, whose recent martyrdoms attest that the Pastor has not ceased to consider himself as a victim for his flock. Thus, before confiding His lambs and sheep to Peter, Jesus asks him if he have greater love than the rest. If Peter love his Master, he will love his Master’s lambs and sheep. He will love them even to the laying down his life for them. For this reason, after entrusting him with the care of the whole flock, our Saviour tells Peter that he is to die a martyr. Happy is that people whose rulers only exercise their authority on the condition of their being ready to die for these their Master’s sheep! If one of these should evince in his life the marks which denote sanctity, and this so far as to deserve to be proposed to the Faithful as a model and intercessor — you will see not only the Priest whose word calls down the Son of God upon the altar, not only the Bishop whose sacred hands wield the pastoral staff, but the very Vicar of Christ, humbly kneeling before the tomb or statue of the Servant of God, how poor or despised soever he or she may have been on this Earth.
The sacred Hierarchy testifies the same sentiments of respect for the sheep of Christ, on every occasion. Thus in a baptised babe that knows not how to utter a single word, that is not counted among the citizens of the State, that, like a tender flower, may perhaps have faded before the close of day — yet does the Pastor recognise in it a worthy member of the Body of Christ, the Church. He reverences it as a being that is enriched with gifts so sublime, as to be an object of Heaven’s love, and a source of blessing to all around it. When the Faithful are assembled in the House of God, and the sacred oblations and altar have been thurified, the Celebrant, as the representative of Christ, and any others of the Clergy who may be in the Sanctuary are also honoured with the same mysterious tribute of homage. But the Incense is to go beyond the Sanctuary. The Thurifer advances towards the People, and, in the name of the Church, gives them the same honour as that just given to the Pontiff and the Clergy, for the Faithful People are also members of Christ. Again: when the corpse of a Christian, even though he may have been the poorest of the poor, is carried into the House of God — observe what honour is paid to his mortal remains! On this occasion, also, the Incense is made to express the affectionate homage with which the Church honours the Christian character of her children. O Christian People! How truly may we say of you what Moses said of Israel: “There is no other nation so great as you!” (Deuteronomy iv. 7).
