whole world and were himself the father of all men, he draws near to God, beseeching that
wars may be extinguished everywhere, that tumults may be quelled; asking for peace and
plenty, and a swift deliverance from all the ills that beset each one, publicly and privately;
and he ought as much to excel in every respect all those on whose behalf he prays, as rulers
should excel their subjects.
And whenever he invokes the Holy Spirit, and offers the most dread sacrifice, and
constantly handles the common Lord of all, tell me what rank shall we give him? What great
purity and what real piety must we demand of him? For consider what manner of hands
they ought to be which minister in these things, and of what kind his tongue which utters
such words,205 and ought not the soul which receives so great a spirit to be purer and holier
than anything in the world? At such a time angels stand by the Priest; and the whole sanctu-
ary, and the space round about the altar, is filled with the powers of heaven, in honor of
Him who lieth thereon. For this, indeed, is capable of being proved from the very rites which
are being then celebrated. I myself, moreover, have heard some one once relate, that a certain
aged, venerable man, accustomed to see revelations, used to tell him, that he being thought
worthy of a vision of this kind, at such a time, saw, on a sudden, so far as was possible for
him, a multitude of angels, clothed in shining robes, and encircling the altar, and bending
down, as one might see soldiers in the presence of their King, and for my part I believe it.
Moreover another told me, without learning it from some one else, but as being himself
thought worthy to be both an ear and eye witness of it, that, in the case of those who are
about to depart hence, if they happen to be partakers of the mysteries, with a pure conscience,
when they are about to breathe their last, angels keep guard over them for the sake of what
they have received, and bear them hence. And dost thou not yet tremble to introduce a soul
into so sacred a mystery of this kind, and to advance to the dignity of the Priesthood, one
robed in filthy raiment, whom Christ has shut out from the rest of the band of guests?206
The soul of the Priest should shine like a light beaming over the whole world. But mine has
so great darkness overhanging it, because of my evil conscience, as to be always cast down
and never able to look up with confidence to its Lord. Priests are the salt of the earth.207
But who would easily put up with my lack of understanding, and my inexperience in all
things, but thou, who hast been wont to love me beyond measure. For the Priest ought not
only to be thus pure as one who has been dignified with so high a ministry, but very discreet,
205 “And we pray and beseech Thee, send down thy Holy Ghost upon us and upon these gifts here outspread,
and make this bread to be the precious body of thy Christ, and that which is in the cup the precious blood of
Christ, having so changed them by thy Holy Spirit that to us who partake of them they may be for the cleansing
of our souls, the remission of sins, the communion of the Holy Spirit.” (Liturgy of St. Chrysostom.)
206 Matt. xxii. 13.
207 Matt. v. 13.
110
Book VI