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Christ: A Religious Priest? A Thomistic Approach

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 January 2024

Damian Day Open the ORCID record for Damian Day [Opens in a new window]
Damian Day*
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Department of Theology, Providence College, Providence, RI, USA
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Email: damian.day@opeast.org
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Abstract

The nature and value of the religious priesthood have often been questioned, including after Vatican II. John Paul II, however, claims that the religious priest ‘reproduces in his life the fullness of the mystery of Christ’. Examining Aquinas’s understanding of Christ’s total self-sacrifice provides a model that explains how. In this article, I present a Christological and Thomistic approach to the question by identifying Christ as a religious priest, highlighting one of Aquinas’s patristic sources (St Gregory the Great) and one of his greatest spiritual interpreters of modern times (Bl Columba Marmion). Because of his grace of headship, Christ contains all the perfections found in his members. The perfection of Christ’s priestly and religious life consists in his total sacrifice of himself to the Father out of love. Christ firmly fixed his will to offer himself from the moment of the Incarnation. By vowing to follow the counsels, religious priests imitate the fixity of Christ’s will to offer himself as a total self-holocaust. This conclusion allows me to propose that Christ is the religious priest, which has several theological and pastoral implications.

Keywords

AquinasholocaustMarmionpriesthoodreligious lifesacrifice
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Article
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New Blackfriars , First View , pp. 1 - 14
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© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the English Province of the Order of Preachers

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References

1 Jerome, Epistle 58.5. Jerome’s critique reflects the tensions between monastic and clerical life that arose in desert monasticism. See Cyprian Davis and Christian Raab, ‘Monasticism and Priesthood in the Egyptian Desert’, American Benedictine Review, 72 (2021), 142.

2 De periculis novissimorum temporum, prol. (Geltner, p. 53). For the Latin text along with an English translation, see William of Saint-Amour: De periculis novissimorum temporum, ed., trans. and introduction by G. Geltner, Dallas Medieval Texts and Translations, vol. 8 (Leuven: Peeters, 2008).

3 De periculis, prol. (Geltner, pp. 57–59).

4 Christian Raab, Understanding the Religious Priesthood: History, Controversy, Theology (Washington: The Catholic University of America Press, 2021), p. 103.

5 Brian E. Daley, Introduction to Understanding the Religious Priesthood, p. xiv. For a discussion of the ‘parochialization’ of priestly ministry, see John O’Malley, ‘One Priesthood: Two Traditions’, in A Concert of Charisms: Ordained Ministry in Religious Life, ed. by Paul K. Hennessy (New York: Paulist Press, 1997), pp. 9–24.

6 Raab, Religious Priesthood, p. 89.

7 Raab, Religious Priesthood, pp. 2–3.

8 For a presentation of conciliar and postconciliar teaching (especially Pastores Dabo Vobis) on the complementarity of the priesthood and religious life, using the legislative tradition of the Dominican Order as a comparison, see Basil Cole and Paul Connor, ‘Consecrated Life and the Ministerial Priesthood: Mystery of Complementary Configuration to Christ’, in Christian Totality: Theology of the Consecrated Life (New York: Alba House, 1997), pp. 317–58.

9 Raab, Religious Priesthood, p. 19.

10 John Paul II, Vita Consecrata (25 March 1996), p. 30.

11 Aquinas appears to use the term ‘religious priest’ only twice (De perfectione spiritualis vitae cap. 26; Summa Theologiae II-II, q. 184, a. 8, corp; hereafter ST). He uses the term ‘monk priest’ only five times (IV Sent., d. 17 q. 3 a. 3 qla. 4 arg. 1; Contra impugnantes Dei cultum et religionem cap. 4 (twice); ST II-II, q. 187, a. 1, sc.; ST Supplementum q. 8, a. 4, obj 1) – all of which appear in quotations. Aquinas wrote three works on religious life. The Leonine text along with French translations of these ‘polemical’ works and notes can be found in Jean-Pierre Torrell, Le Perfection, c’est la charité. Vie Chrétienne et Vie Religieuse dans l’Église du Christ: Contre les ennemis du culte de Dieu et de l’état religieux, La perfection de la vie spirituelle, Contre l’enseignement de ceux qui détournent de l’état religieux (Paris: Cerf, 2010). All English translations from these works are my own. Except where otherwise indicated, all English translations of the Summa will come from Summa Theologiae, vols. 13–20 in Latin/English Edition of the Works of St. Thomas Aquinas, trans. by Laurence Shapcote, ed. by John Mortensen and Alarcón Enrique (Lander, WY: Aquinas Institute for the Study of Sacred Doctrine, 2012).

12 See Andrew Hofer, ‘Aquinas’s Use of Patristic Sources in His Theology of Religious Life’, in Reading the Church Fathers with St. Thomas Aquinas: Historical and Systematic Perspectives, ed. by Piotr Roszak and Jörgen Vijgen, Bibliothéque de l’École des Hautes Études: Sciences religieuses 189 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2021), p. 329. Gregory’s Homilies on Ezekiel is Aquinas’s most cited patristic work on religious life (pp. 329–31).

13 Paul IV, General Audience (18 November 1966), in Acta Apostolicae Sedis 58 (1966), p. 1181.

14 ST III, q. 22, a. 1, ad 3.

15 ST III, q. 22, a. 4, corp.

16 ST III, q. 22, a. 1, ad 3.

17 ST III, q. 7, a. 7, ad 1.

18 ST II-II, q. 183, a. 2, corp.

19 ST II-II, q. 184, a. 8, corp. Cf. Gregory, Homilies on Ezekiel II.8.16.

20 ST II-II, q. 81, a. 1, corp.

21 ST II-II, q. 81, a. 4, ad 1, ad 2.

22 ST II-II, q. 84, a. 1, corp.; q. 85, a. 2, corp.

23 ST II-II, q. 84, a. 2, corp.

24 ST II-II, q. 85, a. 3, ad 2.

25 ST II-II, q. 81, a. 1, ad 5; cf. q. 186, a. 1, ad 2.

26 ST III, q. 7, a. 2, corp.; q. 7, a. 9, corp.

27 ST III, q. 20, prol.

28 ST III, q. 22, a. 2, corp.

29 Ibid.

30 Contra impugn. cap. 1; Homilies on Ezekiel II.8.16. Cf. De perfect. cap. 12.

31 ST II-II, q. 186, a. 1, corp. Aquinas then cites Homilies on Ezekiel II.8.16.

32 ST II-II, q. 186, a. 1, ad 1.

33 Michael McGuckian, The Charismatic Structure of the Church: Priesthood and Religious Life at Vatican II and Beyond (Bloomington, IN: Xlibris, 2021), pp. 406–21. McGuckian includes Augustine and Francis of Assisi in his critique: ‘It has to be recognised that St Augustine in particular was also a carrier of Manichaean dualism’ (p. 408); ‘It is useful to note that Manichaeism also infected St Francis’ (p. 409). These criticisms of individuals fall within a broader critique of monasticism in general: ‘There seems to be a Manichaean dimension to the whole monastic movement’ (p. 408).

34 McGuckian, Charismatic Structure, p. 411.

35 Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics I, cap. 8, 1098b.

36 ST II-II, q. 85, a. 3, ad 2; q. 186, a. 7, corp. Cf. q. 73, a. 3, corp.

37 ST II-II, q. 22, a. 2, obj 2 and ad 2.

38 Jonathan Kaltenbach, ‘Christ the Priest in the Theology of St. Thomas Aquinas’ (doctoral dissertation, University of Notre Dame, 2017), p. 122. Cf. ST I-II, q. 101, a. 2, corp.; q. 101, a. 4, ad 1; q. 102, aa. 2–3. For a description of the holocaust according to the Old Law, see ST I-II, q. 102, a. 3, ad 8.

39 ST III, q. 46, a. 4, ad 1.

40 ST II-II, q. 81, a. 6, corp.

41 ST II-II, q. 82, a. 2, ad 1.

42 ST II-II, q. 184, a. 1, corp.

43 For the relationship between the virtues of religion and charity see Gregory Pine, ‘Religious Life as a State of Perfection’, Nova et Vetera, 19 (2021), 1193–98.

44 ST II-II, q. 186, a. 1.

45 ST III, q. 22, a. 2, sc. Emphasis added.

46 Super Epistolam ad Ephesios Lectura 5, lect. 1, no. 267. The English translation is from Commentary on the Letters of Saint Paul to the Galatians and Ephesians, vol. 39 in Latin/English Edition of the Works of St. Thomas Aquinas, trans. by Fabian R. Larcher and Matthew Lamb, ed. by John Mortensen and Enrique Alarcón (Lander, WY: Aquinas Institute for the Study of Sacred Doctrine, 2012).

47 Super Eph 5, lect. 1, no. 269.

48 Super Eph 5, lect. 1, no. 269.

49 ST III, q. 22, a. 4, ad 2.

50 ST III, q. 48, a. 2, corp.

51 ST III, q. 48, a. 3, corp.

52 ST II-II, q. 186, a. 6, corp. Here Aquinas again cites Homilies on Ezekiel II.8.16.

53 ST II-II, q. 184, a. 5, corp.

54 De perfect. cap. 7.

55 ST II-II, q. 184, a. 6, corp.

56 ST II-II, q. 184, a. 3, corp.

57 ST II-II, q. 184, a. 4, corp.

58 ST II-II, q. 183, a. 1, corp.

59 ST II-II, q. 88, a. 4, obj 3.

60 ST II-II, q. 88, a. 1, corp.

61 ST II-II, q. 88, a. 4, corp.

62 ST II-II, q. 88, a. 4, ad 1.

63 ST II-II, q. 88, a. 5, corp.

64 ST II-II, q. 88, a. 5, ad 2.

65 ST II-II, q. 88, a. 5, ad 2.

66 ST II-II, q. 88, a. 6, corp.

67 See Contra impugn. cap. 1. Aquinas points to Ps 39:18 – ‘ego autem mendicus sum et pauper’ – to argue that Christ is a mendicant and provides the exemplar for mendicant poverty. See also ST II-II, q. 187, a. 5, sc.

68 Contra retrah. cap. 15.

69 Ulrich Horst, ‘Christ, Exemplar Ordinis Fratrum Praedicantium, According to Saint Thomas Aquinas’, in Christ Among the Medieval Dominicans: Representations of Christ in the Texts and Images of the Order of Preachers, ed. by Kent Emery, Jr and Joseph Wawrykow (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1998), p. 260.

70 ST II-II, q. 188, a. 7, corp.

71 ST II-II, q. 186, a. 5, sc.

72 Perfectae Caritatis, 2.

73 See Gilles Emery, ‘La sacerdoce spirituel des fidèles chez saint Thomas d’Aquin’, Revue Thomiste, 99 (1999), 236.

74 Super Psalmos 19, no. 159. This translation comes from Commentary on the Psalms, vol. 29 in Latin/English Edition of the Works of St. Thomas Aquinas, trans. by Sr. Albert Marie Surmanski and Sr. Maria Veritas Marks (Lander, WY: Aquinas Institute for the Study of Sacred Doctrine, 2022).

75 ST II-II, q. 186, a. 7.

76 Kevin Grove, ‘Desires, Counsels, and Christ: The Christology of Aquinas’, Jaarboek Thomas Instituut te Utrecht, 35 (2016), 63. For the following brief summary of the counsels in Christ’s life, I follow Grove. See especially pp. 63–68.

77 ST III, q. 40, a. 2.

78 ST III, q. 40, a. 2, ad 3.

79 ST III, q. 40, a. 3.

80 ST III, q. 7, a. 3, ad 2; q. 40, a. 4, corp.

81 Grove, ‘Desires, Counsels, and Christ’, pp. 68–71.

82 ST II-II, q. 186, a. 8, corp. Cf. q. 186, a. 5, ad 4: Obedience ‘extends to the disposition of a man’s whole life, and in this way it has a certain universality’.

83 ST II-II, q. 186, a. 8, corp.

84 ST II-II, q. 186, a. 5, sc.

85 ST II-II, q. 186, a. 8, ad 1.

86 ST II-II, q. 186, a. 5, sc.

87 ST III, q. 46, a. 4, sc.

88 ST III, q. 47, a. 2, corp.

89 ST III, q. 7, a. 3, ad 2.

90 ST II-II, q. 186, a. 6, ad 1.

91 ST II-II, q. 88, a. 4, ad 3.

92 ST II-II, q. 88, a. 4, ad 1.

93 David L. Toups, Forward to Union with God: Letters of Spiritual Direction by Blessed Columba Marmion, ed. by Raymond Thibaut, trans. by Mother Mary St. Thomas (Bethesda, MD: Zaccheus Press, 2006), p. x.

94 John Paul II, ‘Homily at the Beatification of Pius IX, John XXIII, Tommaso Reggio, William Chaminade and Columba Marmion’ (Rome, 3 September 2000).

95 Marie-Michel Philipon, La doctrine spirituelle de Dom Marmion (Paris: Desclée de Brouwer, 1954), p. 243.

96 Most of Marmion’s conferences on the priesthood were delivered to diocesan priests or seminarians. See Thibaut, Preface to Le Christ, idéal du prêtre (Denée, Belgique: Les Éditions de Maredsous, 1951), pp. 1–8.

97 Raymond Thibaut, Dom Columba Marmion, Abbé de Maredsous (1858–1923): Un Maitre de la vie Spirituelle (Maredsous: Les Éditions De Maredsous, 1953), p. 356.

98 Philipon, La doctrine spirituelle, p. 20.

99 Mark Tierney, Blessed Columba Marmion: A Short Biography (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2000), p. 148.

100 Philipon, La doctrine spirituelle, p. 250.

101 Columba Marmion, Le Christ, idéal du prêtre, p. 215.

102 Marmion, Le Christ, idéal du prêtre, p. 129.

103 Marmion, Le Christ, idéal du prêtre, p. 20.

104 Marmion, Le Christ, idéal du moine (Paris: Desclée de Brouwer, 1931), p. 147.

105 Marmion, Le Christ, idéal du moine, p. 158.

106 ST III, q. 20, a. 1, corp.

107 Kaltenbach, ‘Christ the Priest’, p. 101.

108 Kaltenbach, ‘Christ the Priest’, p. 123.

109 Lectura super Epistolam ad hebraeos 7, lect. 4, no. 368. This translation comes from Commentary on the Letter of Saint Paul to the Hebrews, vol. 41 in Latin/English Edition of the Works of St. Thomas Aquinas, trans. by Fabian Larcher, ed. by John Mortensen and Enrique Alarcón (Lander, WY: Aquinas Institute for the Study of Sacred Doctrine, 2012); John Paul II, Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd edn (Washington: United States Catholic Conference, 2000), p. 1545.

110 VC 30; AAS 58, pp. 1178–82.

111 See Fulton Sheen, The Priest is Not His Own (New York: McGraw Hill, 1963); Fulton Sheen, Those Mysterious Priests (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1974).

112 ST II-II, q. 184, a. 8, corp. Aquinas affirms that the secular priest ‘requires a greater inward holiness than that which is requisite for the religious state’ because of his ministry.

113 Basil Cole wrote an interesting article on the relationship between bishops and religious prompted by a prominent bishop’s statement, when asked during a question-and-answer period why bishops have not done much to stem the decline in consecrated life, that most bishops ‘feel incapable of doing or saying anything significant with regard to the religious life, since they do not live it themselves’ (‘The Bishop and Consecrated Life: A Necessary Link?’, Nova et Vetera, 5 (2007), 495–510, at 496). Cole goes on, with the help of Aquinas, to show the intrinsic connection between religious life and the episcopate.

114 Christus Dominus, 15; cf. Lumen Gentium, 21.

115 Marmion, Le Christ, idéal du prêtre, p. 216.