SERMON
OF THE
Right Rev. James Vincent Clem s. t. d.
BISHOP OF KINGSTON
ON THE
SUPERNHTURBL AGENCY OF BISHOPS
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SERMON
OP THE
RIGHT REV. JAMES VINCENT CLEARY, S. T. 1).,
BISHOP OF KINGSTON,
ON THE
SUPERNATURAL AGENCY OF BISHOPS.
The followingr sermon was preached by the Right
Rev. James Vincent Cleary, S.T.I)., Bishop of Kingston,
on occasion of the consecration of the Right Rev. John
Thomas Dowling, Bishop of Peterborough, May the ist,
1887, in St. Mary's Cathedral, Hamilton.
" 01)ey your prelates, ami Ix" ye subject
unto tliem, for they watcli as Xmng to render
an account of your souls : that they may
do this with juy and not with grief. " (He-
brews 13 ch , 19 V.)
My Lords, Very Rev. and Rev. bretliren of the clergy,
and dear children in Christ, my address on this solemn
occasion shall be directed in a general sense to you all,
but with particular reference to the faithful clergy and
laity of the diocese of Poterboro, who have gathered
here to witness the consecration of their new bishop. The
elevation of a priest to the sublime office of the Kpisco-
5569 1
pate is an event of great importance to the Catholic
Church, especially to that portion of the ilock of Christ
whose eternal interests are committed to hi^' care. His
consecration by sacramental rite is the preparation of his
mind and heart and whole soul by the infusion of special
graces and virtues for the fulfilment of the new duties
laid upon him. It is truly a divine work that is done
before your eyes to-day. It is nothing less than a new
creation in the supernatural order. Let us implore tlie
Father of lights to shed his rays from heaven upon us,
that we may see his mysterious handiwork with full
vividness of faith, and comprehend the reality of the new
and Christ-like existence in which the Bishop elect shall
rise from under the hands of the officiating Pontiff; and
so, when the mitre of dignity shall be set on his brow,
and the staff of pastoral authority put into his hand, and
he shall be conducted through your midst to dispense
the first fruits of episcopal benediction, you may bow
down reverently in mind, as in body, and do him homage
in the sincerity of your hearts as to God> ambassador
entrusted with a message of salvation to you ; as High
Priest of the covenant of reconciliation invested with
the plenary power of the great High Priest of Calvary ;
as an anointed Ruler in Israel, pastor of your souls, and
true father of his spiritual children by communication
from Him " of whom all paternity in heaven and earth
is named." (Eph. 3c., 15V.)
NATURE OF THE EPISCOPAL OFFICE.
If the Episcopate were an office for which, beside
legitimate appointment, nothing more were required than
a just combination of priestly virtue and learning and
stability of character, of zeal and prudence, of firmness
of purpose and gentleness of disposition, there would be
no necessity for the venerable Archbishop and Bishops
of this Province to come together here at much personal
inconvenience for the sake of an empty ceremony of pu-
blic investiture with the insignia of power and dignity.
There would be no substance in it, certainly no true conse-
cration ; because there would be no sacramental grace, no
divine communication of power, no transforming virtue, no
spiritual reality ; but only a religious pageant, calculated
to impress the minds of the beholders with something like
awe, perhaps with a reverential idea of the higher order
of ecclesiastical dignities. But now, although the Bishop-
elect of Peterboro has received his appointment from the
Supreme Pastor of the whole fold of Christ, to whom, be-
cause of his sovereign jurisdiction and by express precept
of the Son of God, the clergy of all grades turn, as to
the centre and " source of sacerdotal unity," consequently
of honor and preferment and hierarchical institution, he
is not qualified to discharge the ministry of salvation for
you till, like the first twelve bishops, he " be indued with
virtue from on high," by the infusion of the Holy Ghost
and His gifts of spiritual agency proportioned to the
work to be done, which is wholly supernatural, depend-
ent on supernatural means, and ordained to a super-
natural end. All whatsoever man by his natural powers
and gifts could do ; all that the wisdom and learning and
eloquence and wealth and marvellous enterprise of this
age could accomplish, would not suffice to save a single
soul. The beatitude of heaven is a supernatural goal that
cannot be reached but by paths of supernatural direction
and by helps transcending the highest powers of nature.
" Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it
entered into the heart of man, what God hath prepared
for those that love him." (i Cor., 2c, gv.)
THE EPISCOPATE IS A SUPERNATURAL AGENCY OF FAITH.
The end of Christian life being' supernatural, it is evi-
dent that the means of attaining: it must be likewise
supernatural. And so our Lord has provided by institutin<r
the Apostolic Hierarchy as the agency of faith throu^^h
which salvation shall be wrought to the end of time for
" as many as have been pre-ordained unto life everlast-
ing." (Acts 13., 48.) He prepared twelve men in a special
manner by three years' private as well as public ins-
truction and by performance of stupendous miracles in
their presence for proof of His mission from His Father.
After His death on the cross and His resurrection from
the grave, He spent forty days in completing their ins-
truction, " appearing- to them, and speaking of the king-
dom of God " (Acts ic, 3v.) ; and finally, on the moun-
tain of Galilee, at the moment of His ascension into
heaven. He delivered this momentous commission to
them, " All power is given to me in heaven and on earth ;
going, therefore, teach ye all nations ; baptizing them in
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost ; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever
I have given in charge to you : and behold ! I am with
you all days even to tiie consummation of the world."
(Matt., 28c.) The meaning is obviou;>, that this world-
wide and everlasting mission was absolutely impossible
of fulfilment by mere human agency, and that He alone
to whom " all power is given in heaven and on earth "
could work it out through His commissioned agents.
Hence the preamble recites the omnipotence of Jesus
Christ, " all power is given to me in heaven and on
earth ; " and the mandate refers to this omnipotence as
the principle of assured efficiency, " going therefore
teach " ; and the promise of ever-present divine help,
" Behold ! I am with you all days," guarantees the success
of the Apostolic ministry in the full measure of God's
predestination unto all nations and all qrenerations of
men " even to the consummation of tlie world." Where-
fore it is folly to think that a man, because he hasaccpiir-
ed a certain power of oratory or the art of attractive and
fascinating speech, may take upon himself the office of
propagating faith by the preacliing of God's Word.
There are men who traffic upon the credulity or
curiosity of multitudes in this fashion, and make heaps
of money by the delusion of simple people. But you
know their discourses are not sermons, but rather
lectures of entertainment for the rich and the idle.
They are simply theatrical performances. One thing
is certain: if the commission of Jesus Christ to "go
and teach " has not been delivered to the preacher,
the promise attached to the commission, " Behold, I am
with you," shall not be fulfilled in him. His learned
harangues, unhallowed by grace, shall be "as the sound-
ing brass and the tinkling cymbal " (i Cor., 13c.); they
may strike the ears of his auditory with rhetorical force,
it may be with pleasure, but they shall convey no mes-
sage of God to the soul. In this sense the Apostle of
the Nations, addressing the Romans, who had mastered
the world in philosophy and rhetoric, makes nothing of
scholarly qualifications, and attributes all efficiency of
preaching to Christ's grace energizing the commissioned
preacher. " How shall they believe/' said he, " if they do
not hear ? and how shall they hear without a preacher ?
And how shall they preach unless they be sent ? " (Rom.,
IOC.) The mission from Jesus Christ, and His grace
accompanying His commission, are as essential to the
engendering and nourishing of faith in the people e.3 the
very announcement of the truths of revelation. In like
sense he wrote to the Corinthians, " Christ sent me to
preach the Gospel, not with wisdom of speech, lest the
cross of Christ should be made void . . . And 1,
brethren, when I came to you, came not in loftiness of
speech or of wisdom, declaring to you the testimony of
8
Clirist ; that your faith micfht not rest on the wisdom of
men, but on the power of God " ( r Cor., 2 c). Hence also
that other word of St. Paul, by which he rebuked the
vain ^lory of certain preachers who had claimed credit
for the number of their converts : " Neither \ui that
l)lanteth is anything-, nor he that watereth ; but God
tliat jTfiveth the increase." (1 Cor., 3.) The plantintj' and
watering- is done to-day by the apostolic ministry, just
as in the days of St. Paul : but now, as then, it is God
that giveth the increase.
In the Acts of the Apostles it is written that some of
their hearers rejected their teaching whilst others accept-
ed ; and the sacred historian discriminates between the
two classes of hearers by reference to an invisible
agency of omnipotence working out its own eternal
decrees : " As many believed as were foreordained
unto everlasting life ". (Acts 13 c.). All those
of every congregation who had been foreordained unto
life everlasting were effectively drawn to faith by God's
invisible agency cooperating with the Apostolic ministry.
Souls are to be saved by faith in our day and in " all
days, even to the consummation of the v/orld, " by the
successors of the Apostles in virtue of the same com-
mission from the Saviour and the same promised help
of omnipotence ; and " as many as have been foreordain-
ed unto everlasting life" shall be brought to faith by
God's grace interiorly acting upon their minds and
hearts conjointly with the preaching and teaching of
the Hierarchy. This, and this alone, is the supernatural
faith whereby souls shall be saved in every age. God could
indeed bestow his gift of faith without the help of man's
preaching. Matthew, the Publican; Magdalen, the sinful
woman ; the dying thief on Calvary ; Saul, the perscu-
tor of the Church, were drawn to God in faith and love
without the aid of preaching. But since Jesus Christ
has been pleased to establish a perpetual Hierarchy for
delivery of His message of salvation to all men of all
ages and nations, and has promised His presence and help
to give effect to their ministry by attracting men to ac-
ceptance of their word in faith, and moreover has declared
belief in them to be saving faith, and rejection of their
doctrine to be damnation ; it follows conclusively that
acceptance of the teaching of the Apostolic Hierarchy
is now and ever shall be the true order of faith and the
divinely-appointed test for discriminating between soul-
saving conviction, engendered by divine grace, and the
thousand forms of erroneous human belief to which
the term •' faith " is vulgarly applied.
It is consequently of vital importance for men who
value their souls' salvation to ask themselves, " Have we
the true faith of Christ, by which alone we can be saved ?
Have we received our faith from the commissioned mes-
sengers of Christ ? Perhaps we rest our belief on mere
human assurances." In a matter so serious as this no risk
should be run. There are hundreds of associations
nowadays styled Christian churches, each of them pro-
fessing to have the true faith. But one alone can have
it: all the rest must necessarily be devoid of it. For
among any number of contradictory systems of belief
only one can be true. The one true faith of Christ is
that which proceeds from divine grace silently moving
men's souls to acceptance of the teaching of the succes-
sors of the Apostles.
SUPERNATURAL PREPARATION IS REQUISITE FOR
THE EPISCOPAL OFFICE.
The first care of a bishop is to rear up his spiritual
children in faith, which is the original principle of all
spiritual life, the " foundation and root of all justice. "
lO
Faith is not a natural product : it is not an intellectual
theory, nor a system of philosophy : it is not derived from
liuman reasoninj^-, nor is it to be confounded with intellec-
tual conviction. Intellectual conviction may belong- to the
Jew and heretic as well as to you. They are as intel-
lectually convinced as you are, but they are intellectually
convinced in error, while the faith of Jesus Christ must
be in truth. Faith must have conviction ; otherwise
it is not faith : but it must be a conviction impressed
upon the soul by the grace of the Holy Spirit of God
and founded entirely on the revelation of Gou. The
only true and supernatural faith is the conviction sown in
th(; soul by tlie delivery of God's message with the
grace of God. It was to sow it and water it and nourish
and guard it in the souls of men that Jesus Christ appoint-
ed the hierarchy, gave them their everlasting mission
and sent them into all parts of the earth, filled with the
omnipotence expressed in His promise that He, to whom
" all power has been given in heaven and on earth,"
would be with them unto the end of time. Its germin-
ation in youth, its vigorous development in growing
age, its fruitfulness in deeds of self-denying charity through
life, its acceptance also by unbelievers in response to our
preaching, these must ordinarily depend on a concurrence
of graces flowing through the channels of sacerdotal
ministration.
The instrument must he fitted for its work ; and the
human agents whom God is pleased to employ for co-
operation with Him in the sanctification and salvation
of mankind by the generation of faith in men's souls
must be prepared by communication of Supernatural
powers for the adequate performance of this Supernatural
work. This is most fully signified in the words ad-
dressed by Our Lord Jesus Christ to the Apostolic Body
after His Resurrection : " As the Father hath sent me,
I also send you. When he said this, he breathed on
M
them, and he said to them : Receive ye the Holy Ghost."
(John, 20 ch.). It was a communication of divine power
for fulfilment of a divine work. To this St. Paul refers
in proof of his Apostleship, when he asks the querulous
Corinthians, " Am not I an Apostle ? Are not you my
work in the Lord ? For you are the seal of my Apostle-
ship in the Lord " (i Cor., 9 c.). The necessity of super-
natural preparation of the Hierarchy for the work of
sanctification of men's souls through faith will be more
clearly understood if we examine the inner ways of God's
agency of grace and the manner of its cooperation
with the Apostolic ministry.
GODS AGENCY OF GRACE WORKS IN THE BISHOP AND THROUGH
THE BISHOP.
For yo must not understand tiie co-operation of God
with niLm and man with God in the work of human sanc-
tification to be two separate agencies, one natural and the
other supernatural, acting merely in harmony with one
another, and each contributing its share towards the good
result. Not ^t all. Philosophy, equally as Theology,
repudiates such a theory. Both agents, if they con-
cur in a work common to both and dependent on their
joint agency, must of necessity operate in the same su-
pernatural sphere in order to produce a common super-
natural result. God and man are indeed distinct agents ;
but their sanctifying operation is one, and it is wholly
supernatural. It is God working in man and through
man by His own divine power and will, and the
Bishop also working upon his fellowman through the
impulse of his own will, it is true, but by the communicated
power of God, Remember, therefore, that this agency
of divine grace by which the souls of men are saved
and sanctified is not an external adjunct or supplemen-
12
tary help of the hierarchy ; it is God with them and
within them. It is God working in and through us, the
bishops of the Church, by His grace, and working also
in cooperation with us upon the minds and hearts of our
hearers. The apostle St. Paul never took to himself the
credit of the success of his mission. He never said : It
was I who converted a thousand people in Athens, the
seat of Grecian philosophy, or in Rome, or Corinth, or
Philippi. He gave the entire credit of the accomplished
work to God, and only claimed credit to himself for
having done his duty faithfully. It was by laboring,
travelling and teaching, by exposing himself to attacks
and dangers and loss, by submitting to the rigors of
imprisonment and chaiis and scourging, by preaching
in and out of season through day and night, and enduring
patiently all sorts of insults and wrongs, that he worked
out the salvation of the people. But while he claims this
much credit for himself, he gives the glory of the
accomplished work entirely to God. He says : "The grace
of God in me hath not been void : I have labored more
abundantly than all the other apostles ; yet (he adds)
not I, but thegrace of God with me" (i Cor., 15 c.)
That is a most remarkable sentence. Herein we
recognize the two agents, the human and the divine.
The good result is attributed to both ; to the man
ministerially, and to God primarily ; to the labours
of the Apostle in co-operation with grace, yet
much more, nay wholly ,to grace co-operating with the
Apostle, abiding in him, energizing him, and working
salvation unto millions through him. It is for the purpose
of imparting this Apostolic grace and power to the Bishop
elect of Peterboro, and transforming him into a super-
natural instrument of divine agency in favor of his people,
that the sacramental rite of consecration is administered
to him to-day, as it has been ordained by Jesus Christ
and practiced in His Church since the day of Pentecost.
So essential is it to the Episcopal office that even the
13
Twelve Apostles, although they had received their com-
mission from the mouth of the Son of God Himself, and
the promise also that He would be with them always
and everywhere in their work, were commanded by Him
not to commence their mission until they should be trans-
formed by the grace of the Holy Ghost into fitting
agents of the power and wisdom and mercy of God in
the spiritual and wholly supernatural order. " Stay ye in
the city," said He, " until ye be endued with power from
on high.". . . ." ye shall receive the power of the Holy
Ghost coming upon ye, and ye shall be witness( s unto
me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even
to the uttermost part of the earth." (Luke, 24 c. Acts, i c.)
So also in the case of Saul. He had been filled with
revelation by the voice and look of the Lord Jesus speak-
ing to him from out the lightning cloud as he approached
the gates of Damascus, and had been declared " a vessel
of election, to carry his Divine Master's name before the
gentiles and Kings." (Acts, 9 c.) Nevertheless he did not
dare to go forth to the nations or undertake to found a
church anywhere till the choir of Bishops assembled
around the altar of sacrifice in Antioch imposed hands
on him, together with Barnabas, by express order of the
Holy Ghost, for communication of Apostolic power and
grace fitting them both for their ministry.
BISHOPS IN EVERY AGE ARE SACRAMENTALLY CONSECRATED.
Let it not be said that this transformation of man into
a supernatural agency of salvation by the power and
grace of the Holy Ghost was needed for the Apostles
only, not for the Bishops who succeed them in the
ministry. The work assigned them is humanly impossible
at all times, and divine power alone can accomplish it in
14
tlie 1 9th century, as in the first. Therefore the same
communication of grace was needed for the successors of
the Apostles as for the Apostles themselves : and hence
the Lord Jesus Christ hasdeclared in the fullestand clearest
manner of which language is capable that the commission
given to " the Twelve " has been given by Him to their
successors for all ages — for the 1 9th equally as for the
first — and for the benifit of all the children of Redemp-
tion " even to the consummation of the world." (Matt., 28
chap.) Hence also the Catholic Church has administered
the rite of sacramental consecration to every Bishop from
the beginning. St. Paul consecrated Timothy Bishop of
Ephesus, and Titus Bishop of Crete, and many others,
by the imposition of hands, just as himself and Barnabas
had been consecrated at Antioch. That heavenly
grace, and power, and zeal, and fortitude, and
other hierarchical virtues, were imparted by this
rite of consecration, is patent in his letters addressed to
two of those bishops. For instance, when he writes to
Timothy, " I admonish thee, that thou stir up the grace
of God which is in thee by the imposition of my hands "
....'• Labor with the Gospel by the power of God ". . . .
" Keep the good deposit by the Holy Ghost who dwelleth
in us". . . . " Be strong in the grace which is in Christ
Jesus, &c." Wherefore, brethren, it is not the Bishop's
learning or eloquence or zeal that begets faith in fiis
hearers or preserves it in the souls of the children of the
Church. It is tlie grace of God in the Bishop and with
the Bishop, co-operating in his labours. It is by virtue of
the supernatural preparation of the Bishop for this agency
of grace, through sacramental orders, that the thoughts
of his mind and the words of his mouth pass into the
hearts of his hearers with divine force and fire of the
Holy Spirit, who worketh in him and through him for illu-
mination of mind and strengthening of will and mysterious
attraction of souls to God through his holy ministration.
15
THE GRACE OF HIERARCHICAL GOVERNITENT.
Besides the guardianship of the sacred deposit of re-
vealed truth and the propagation of spiritual life by faith,
the government of souls in great number is committed to
the bishop, to conduct them to God. Is not this a work for
which the special succor of heaven and the grace of divine
direction are most manifestly needed ? How else could
authority based on purely spiritual sanction, and appeal-
ing to conscience only for the enforcement of its laws,
maintain a discipline of manifold restriction over men of
flesh and blood, conquering nature's sensuality and the
pride of life ? Withdraw from the hierarchy the divine
lights and helps promised them by Jesus Christ ; let
them be God's representatives before men in such manner
only as the rulers of this world are, dependent on the
general dispositions of Providence for the maintenance
of their rule, and, think you, shall they continue long to
bind the discordant elements of society in absolute unity
of religious belief and subjection to one common law of
morality and worship ? Impossible. The downward tend-
encies of nature would more than counterbalance the
force of spiritual maxims — the clashing of sentiment and
rivalry of parties would evoke a tempest of passion, in
whose din the mere human voice of the bishop would be
completely inaudible ; and thus the Church of the living
God, whose divinity of origin is most conspicuously dis-
played in her undivided unity, would very soon be dis-
tracted by schism, and made the prey of heresy and
unbelief. Witness what occurs in the sects around her on
every side The dignitaries whom they call bishops are
day after day effectually resisted and put to silence on
vital questions of dogma and discipline, not through
insufficiency of learning or lack of zeal, but because they
have no sacramental orders, no hierarchical grace. Would
not a similar fate most surely befall the Catholic Church,
i6
if her bishops were not divinely assisted, especially
in an age of canonized revolt, when the ablest
writers in the press are urged on by blind bigotry
to sustain and defend, by artful suggestion and open
advocacy, every cause, how unworthy soever, that has
for its object the enfeebling of her authority in regard of
her own children ? Yea, brethren, among those by whom
the episcopal mandate would be challenged, impugned,
defied, some might be found whom the Church had reared
up with special care for the service of the sanctuary, and
who, on bended knees before the altar, in the same
moment that they were clothed with the vesture of holi-
ness, had placed both hands within those of the bishop, and
vowed to him obedience and reverence, ratifying their
vow with the kiss of peace. Be not disedified, brethren,
if God permits a scandal of this kind to occur excep-
tionally, and at happily rare intervals ; for by it men see
and are plainly convinced how easily the bonds of Ca-
tholic communion, like those of purely human organiza-
tions, would be broken, did not He Himself protect them
in the strength of His right arm upholding the crozier.
It has been foretold that scandals must come, and that
heresies must be : there is a limit however marked by
divine decree, and beyond this they shall not progress.
" Their speech," says St. Paul, " spreadeth like a cancer,
and they have subverted the faith of some." The Apostle
then adds : " But the sure foundation of God standeth
firm, having this seal, the Lord knoweth who are his."
(2 Tim., 2 ch.) The Church of the Crucified shall suffer
persecutions and trials from without and from within, even
as her Divine Founder did. It was He who said " The dis-
ciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.
If they have called the good man of the house Beelzebub,
how much more his domestics ? Therefore fear them
not. " (Matt, 10 c). The Catholic Church never loses
confidence in Jesus Christ. He said to her Hierarchy of
all times, " Behold : I am with you, " and she never
17
doubted His word, nor shall she ever. He is with the
Bishops, not alone in the teaching of faith and the Baptism
of believers and the incorporation of all tribes and ton-
gues and peoples and nations into the unity of her fold,
but in the enforcement also of the whole discipline of
Christian life upon her children according to the terms of
the Apostolic commission, " Teach them to observe all
things whatsoever I have given in charge to you. Behold !
I am with you all days. " Some will resist the truth in
ignorance, others shall err through infirmity. These the
Bishop, acting on the advice of St. Paul to Timothy, will
correct with modesty of rebuke, reproof, entreaty in all
patience and doctrine. It may happen that some, through
pride of intellect or perversity heart, will now and again
stand out in open defiance of Episcopal authority and,
like the Philistine of old, challenge the captains of the
army of God to single combat. This rarely happens,
thanks to our good God, But it is not unknown in
Canada. It has to be met by the Bishop at the peril of
his soul in the fulness of charity — not the charity of idle
sentiment or timid submission to the ringleader of sedi-
tion, but the charity of brave defence of God's Church,
regardless of personal trouble, of popular obloquy, of
scandalous defamation and every other risk whatever.
This is well-ordered charity, that holds the public safety
and the fundamental rule of ecclesiastical unity precious
beyond all price, to be preserved at any cost. It is
remarkable that St. Paul in his letters to Bishops takes
care to give them special admonition not to tolerate by
any means defiance of their authority. To Titus he
writes " Teach and exhort and rebuke with all authority ;
let no man despise thee ; " and to Timothy " Let no man
despise thy youth." (Tit., 2 c, 15 v. i Tim., 4 c., 12 v.)
All else, whether it be ignorance or infirmity or folly has
to be treated with tenderness ; but open rebellion against
the authority and power and grace of God vested in the
Bishop, must be treated as an attempt to wrest the crozier
i8
from his hand and hrinq' the Church under subjection to
lawlessness. In sucli case the admonition <;iven by St.
Paul to Timothy for corrcv-tion of his natural timidity,
applies to every ])ishop. " I admonish thee that thou stir
up the o-race of God which is in thee the by imposition of
my hands. For God hath not g-iven us the spirit of fear,
but of power. "...'* Be strong in the grace which
isin Clirist Jesus. . . . Labor with the gospel by the
power of God. " These are the hierarchical graces of
the order of Episcopate conferred by the rite Sacra-
mental of which you are witness here to-day. May the
Lord save bishops from the painful necessity of sternness
in duty ; but if the challenge of rebellion should unhappily
come, their first duty is to hold firm the crozier, the
symbol of divine authority, the safeguard of religious
unity, the weapon of pastoral defence against the inva-
ders of the fold who would scatter the sheep or snatch
them out of Christ's hand. Let us never forget the word of
divine promise, " Behold, 1 am with you all days. " So
active and intimate is Christ's presence with the Hierar-
chy, that He makes their acts of administration His own :
" He who hears you ", said He " hears me : and he who
despises you, despises me " (Luke, lo c, i6 v.). Further-
more, in authorizing them to lay bonds upon the souls
of men who deserve condemnation, He adopts their judg-
ments before, hand and declares them ratified in heaven
(Matt, 1 8 c). " And, in fine, whoso will not hear the
church ", said he, '' let him be to thee as the heathen and
the publican " (Matt., i8 ch.). So conscious was St. Paul
of this indwelling of Christ's Spirit in the Hierarchy for
the purposes of salutary government, that he did not
hesitate to enforce his admonitions and threats of chas-
tisement against unruly Christians by affirming that they
were the utterances of Christ Himself speaking through
him. " If I come again, 1 will not spare. Do you seek
a proof of Christ, who speaketh in me ? " (2 Cor., 13 c).
This is the '* power from on high " with which the first
19
Bishops were indued in the ccnacle of Jerusalem, and
which was imparted to Saul and liarnabas in tiie sanc-
tuary at Antioch, and is transmitted to all Bishops, even
as to them, by Sacramental consecration.
TIIK El'ISCOrAL POWER OF CONKIKMIN'G AND ORDAINING.
Yet another and ofrcater urace must be criven to the
bishop, to fit hini for liis office. The choice _i,nfts of the
Holy Spirit reserved to the Sacrament of Contirmation
are ordained for the preservation and development of
faith. Those attached to the Sacrament of Holy Orders
are necessary for the perpetuation of the priesthood, in
living, visible presence, among- the faithful everywhere,
in the village and on mountain-side, as well as in the
populous city. To the bishops, the chief rulers of the
Church, and successors of tlie Apostles, the power of
administering these Sacraments must belong for the sanc-
tification of God's people. In the exclusive possession
of this superior sacramental virtue the Episcopate is dis-
tinguished from the inferior orders of the hierarchy. It is
the plenitude of the priesthood of Jesus Christ, whose
entire power of sanctification is vested ministerially in
the bishop. Wherefore, as Jesus, the Son of Mary,
der.ved all His sanctifying power from the consecration
of His humanity by the unction of the Divinity in hypos-
tatic union, so also must the bishop be consecrated with
divine unction derived from the Incarnation, to enable
him to fulfil the whole priestly office of Christ in the
Church. And now the Spirit of God, whose breath is life,
exerts his creative power on the soul of the bishop elect.
When He rested upon the waters of chaos in the begin-
ning, they acquired a mysterious virtue, enduring through-
out all time, for the production of animal life in countless
variety and beauty of form. In the creation of a bishop
20
I lis operation is upon a nobler subject, the soul of man,
for the propajration of a hii^her life, the life of the chil-
dren of God in grace. He descends invisibly, and
overshadows the soul under the imposition of hands. He
rests upon it during the solemn Invocation and anoint-
ing with Chrism. It is a soul already sanctified ; he
sanctifies it more. It is a soul already marked with the
indelible character of Christ's priesthood ; He engraves
that character more perfectly upon it, tracing the lines
anew in greater brightness and holier unction. Before God
and His angels, for time and eternity, the bishop's soul
is adorned and hallowed by this luminous impress, encir-
cled with seven-fold grace, denoting his possession of
of Christ's eternal priesthood in the fulness of the order
of Melchisedech. All the sanctifying agency of the New
and Eternal Testament — all sacrificial, sacramental, doc-
trinal and governmental powers, with corresponding
graces and pledges of divine succour, as occasion may
require, are now vested in him for adequate fulfilment of
his office in feeding and ruling and governing the flock
of Christ unto life eternal. By the ministry of the Arch-
bishop celebrant, and his assistant bishops, this change
is wrought in the soul of the Bishop- elect. They im-
pose hands upon him, and invoke heavenly benediction
and sanctification and consecration. They pour out
upon his head the horn of holy chrism, at once a sign
and instrument of sacerdotal grace, infinitely more sacred
than that which flowed down the beard of Aaron, the
High Priest of the Old Testament. But it is the
Third Person of the Adorable Trinity that gives efifect
to their ministrations. He it is who, inwardly and in
truth, blesses and sanctifies and consecrates the Bishop-
elect in the fulness of sacerdotal unction and constitutes
him a High Priest in the likeness of the great High
Priest of the New Testament, Jesus Christ, the Son
of God, whom he shall visibly represent henceforth, in
power of grace and truth and government, in propitia-
21
tion and healing and copious blessing. To hold this power
of Jesus Christ over the faithful, with the charge to use
it as the Saviour Himself would use it, for the benefit of
all and each unto life everlasting, involves a responsibili-
ty of the gravest kind. Well may the Bishop-elect confess
to himself his weakness, and turning to God, like Solo-
mon, in holy fear, invoke the Divine assistance: "God
of my Fathers and Lord of Mercy ! give me wisdom that
sitteth by Thy throne. Send her out of Thy holy heaven
and from the throne of Thy majesty, that she may be
with me, and labor with me, that I may know what is
acceptable with Thee. She shall lead me soberly in my
work, and shall preserve me by her power, and I shall
govern Thy people justly." (Wisdom, 9 ch.). And as the
Holy Scripture relates, that " God gave to Solomon wis-
dom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of
heart," so may He be pleased to pour out copiously these
divine gifts on him who shall have chief care of the fold of
Peterboro' for years to come ; that the sacram-^nt
which marks him interiorly with the character of Christ's
priesthood in perfect image, and imparts to him the power
of sacerdotal government, may communicate to him like-
wise the fulness of the spirit of Christ's rule for the bene-
ficial exercise of his authority. Wiierefore, for the Bishop's
sake, let us pray ; and let us pray also for our own sake
(because it concerns us all), that the spirit of Christ may
descend on him this day in overflowing benediction, as
it did upon the first Apostles in the Cenacle of Jerusalem,
and upon St. Paul and St. Barnabas at Antioch, by
imposition of hands ; and that by faithful co-operation
he may cause it to fructify in all spiritual good amongst us.
Amen.
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I -K
CONTENTS
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■ ^' PACE
Introduction 3
Nature of the Episcopal Office 4
The Episcopate is a supernatural agency of Faith. 6
Supernatural preparation is requisite for the Episcopal Office 9
God's agency of grace works in the Bishop and through the
Bishop II
Bishops in every age are sacramentally consecrated 13
Bishops receive the grace of hierarchical government 15
The Episcopal power of confirming and ordaining ly