480 ORbErie. (Boor II. their ministerial fnRction8 demand. But, tha? the Holy Spirit is con- fined to the mere act of ordination, so that it accompanies certainly the rite of imposition of hands, we cannot allow, because, (1.) What need is there of examination and trial, of which St.?aul speaks, if' the laying on of hands can make men ministers?! Tim. iii, ?2. (2.) In the case of the seven first deacons, they had already received the Holy Spirit before hands were imposed on them. For they were men of good report, and full of faith and the Holy Ghost. Acts vi. (3.) They teach contradictory doctrines on this point. For instance, the Council of Trent teaches, as quoted above, that the Holy Spirit is given to all who are duly ordalned; whereas the Catechism, in the quotation given above, teaches that this sacrament confers grace only on those who are properly disposed. (4.) Such a doctrine, as connects thus the gift of the Spirit with the exercise of a rite, is to be viewed as a eYuzrm, ?ueU, or 5Jc? ra- ther than a means of grace. (5.) Indeed, it is the very error imbibed by Simon Magus, and con* demned by the apostle. He desired to have the gift of laying his hands on whomsoever he chose, that the)-' might receive the Holy Ghost. Acts viii, 19. 8. T/u, im{l?b e. Aaracrer. The Council of Trent �ches, that by orders a character is impressed; so that he who was once a priest can never become a laic. Denst says that "character is the principal effect of ordination; because order principally supposes power; not so with baptism. According to the nature of character the sacrament of orders is initerable, and the power of conferring orders is inadmissible; so that an excommunicated or degraded priest can validly consecrate others... Orders always impressed a character whenerer such order is validly received, but it does not confer grace unless to those who are rightly disposed." We present the following extracts from Bailly :5 "The sacrament of order impresses a character, in consequence of which it cannot be reiterated." "It is certain, that the character impressed in ordination remains in the wicked, Simoniacs, degraded persons, also in those who, after ordination, fall into heresy,or schism, because character is indelible.'* Our author then proceeds to support the following proposi- tion: "Ordinations conferred according to the rite instituted by Christ, are valid, though performed by bishops who are heretics, schismatics, degraded, deposed, excommunicated, intruded, invaders, Simoniacs, in one word, by any wicked person." Those who would see a lengthy and elaborate defence o� the ministrations o[ such as are enumerated in the foregoing proposition, may consult this author, as referred to in the margin. Suffice it to say, that he spends thirty-six octavo pages to prove the validity of ordinations conferred by the most wicked of the hunJan race. On the doctrine of the indelible character, very little need be said to convince the reader that it is heretical in doctrine and immoral in practice, and indeed unscriptural, and contrary to the usable of the purest and best ages of Christianity.
- ?088. ?], Call. 4. ? De OFdine, ?'o. 10.
? .De Eff?.tibus Ordinationit, tom. v, p. 439. 1
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