460 pages. Dignity and Duties of the Priest or Selva: A Collection of Materials for Ecclesiastical Retreats, Rule of Life and Spiritual Rules by a Doctor of the Church St Alphonsus Liguori. An excellent book to assist the priest to live a virtuous and holy life. As a layman I have benefited greatly from reading this wonderful book and applying it to my life - Publisher.

Excerpt from The Dignity and the Duty of a Minister of Christ: A Sermon, Preached in the Church of the Redeemer, Brooklyn, N. Y., The Third Sunday After Trinity, 1864 And yet with what marvellous self-composure he succeeded in rising above them all into the serene level of faith and love, and holy hope and joy. Reviewing the past and looking forth upon the future - that future and that. Past, alike tearful, and painful, and difficult, he still could look up to the everlasting hills whence came his help, and utter such calm and exult ing words as these None of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto my self, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. My brethren, I feel today that it can hardly fail to be of benefit, both to you and to myself, to draw out some of the lessons which lie stored in these memorable words. Let us see what was the secret of the strength which carried the Lord's servant so loftily above the troubled waters. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The dignity of the priest is also estimated from the power that he has over the real and the mystic body of Jesus Christ. With regard to the power of priests over the real body of Jesus Christ, it is of faith that when they pronounce the words of consecration the Incarnate Word has obliged himself to obey and to come into their hands under the sacramental species. We are struck with wonder when we hear that God obeyed the voice of Josue The Lord obeying the voice of man and made the sun stand when he said move not, O sun, towards Gabaon, . . . and the sun stood still.

In "On the Duties of the Clergy" St. Ambrose gives a detailed and definitive instruction on how the early leaders of the Church should behave and how they should lead their flock. An important read for all of those called to become spiritual leaders. -- Amazon.com