Page:The Eternal Priesthood (4th ed).djvu/89

Rh supports on which he has so long been resting in the seminary. As in the launching of a ship, when the stays are knocked away it goes down into the water, thenceforward to depend upon its own stability; so a priest, going out from the seminary into the field of his work, has thenceforward to depend under God upon his own steadfastness of will. The order, method, and division of time and of work; the sound of the bell from early morning through the day till the last toll at night; the example and mutual influence and friendship of companions in the same sacred life; and still more, the mature counsel and wise charity of superiors—all these things sustain the watchfulness and perseverance of ecclesiastical students until the day when, invested with the priesthood, they go out from the old familiar walls and the door is closed behind them. They are in the wide world; secular as the Apostles were—that is, in the world, for the world's sake, not of it, but at war with it; of all men the least secular, unless they become worldly, and the salt lose its savour. Then they deserve the title in all its extent, and are seculars indeed.

The first danger, then, of a priest sent out into the world is the loss of all surroundings which, until then, gave him support. For the first time he feels his own weight pressing upon him as a burden. He