immature priests is ‘Praesta quaesumus’ an allusion to the fact that they can only say mass, for the expression is a common beginning of mass-prayers.
The ordination is preceded by an episcopal examination in theology. Before the subdiaconate the student must present one treatise on theology for examination; he must prepare two for the diaconate and three for the priesthood. The examination is, however, little more than a test of the memory and industry of the aspirant; if he knows the defined points of Catholic doctrine on the subjects taken, little more is expected of him. And students are usually careful to select the shortest treatises for presentation, and to carry the same treatise through three examinations. Still aspirants are occasionally ‘ploughed,’ though, judging from the preposterous answers of certain successful students whom I have witnessed at the tribunal, it is difficult to conceive the possibility of failure.
The ceremony of ordination, which may be witnessed on Ember Saturdays in Catholic cathedrals, is very long and highly symbolical. In fact it has developed to such an alarming extent that no theologian can say in what the essence of the ordination really consists: there are innumerable controversies as to which rites are essential to the validity of the ‘sacrament.’ From the readiness of the theologian to pass judgment on Anglican orders one would imagine that he knew the conditions of validity with-
