The Effects
From the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Simplified
The Seal of an Indelible Character (1581-1584)
Holy Orders configures the recipient to Christ and enables him to act as a representative of Christ.
As in Baptism and Confirmation, this share in Christ's office is given once for all. This sacrament also confers an indelible spiritual character and cannot be repeated or conferred temporarily.
A validly ordained man (even if discharged from his obligations) cannot become a layman again in the strict sense because the spiritual character marks him permanently.
The unworthiness of the minister does not prevent Christ from acting. "Christ's gift is not profaned: what flows through him keeps its purity and what passes through him remains clean" (St. Augustine).
Each Configured to Christ (1585-1589)
The Spirit configures the ordained to Christ.
The bishop receives primarily the gift of strength, the "governing spirit" to guide and defend the Church. This grace impels him to proclaim the Gospel and be a model of holiness to his flock. "May he be a shepherd to your holy flock and a high priest blameless in your sight" (Consecratory Prayer).
The priest receives the gift to proclaim the Gospel, fulfill the ministry of the Word and to offer spiritual gifts and sacrifices (Byzantine liturgy).
The deacon receives the gift of service to the liturgy, to the Gospel and to the poor.
"Who is the priest? He stands with angels, gives glory with archangels, shares Christ's priesthood, refashions creation and, even greater, is divinized and divinizes" (St. Gregory of Nazianzus). "If we really understood the priest on earth, we would die not out of fright but out of love" (Cure' of Ars).
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