198 THE MEANS OF GRACE 



The candidate must, secondly, be actuated by- 

 pure motives in choosing the clerical state; that 

 is to say, he must desire to promote the glory of 

 God and cooperate in the salvation of souls, to 

 the exclusion of all worldly motives, such as am- 

 bition, greed, a desire to rule, etc. Only of those 

 who embrace the ecclesiastical state at the call of 

 God and for the purpose of serving Him can it 

 be truly said that they "enter the Church by the 

 door." "He that entereth not by the door into 

 the sheepfold, but climbeth up another way [for 

 the sake of gain or advancement], the same is a 

 thief and a robber," and commits a sacrilege. 3 



The candidate for Holy Orders must, third, 

 be properly prepared for the dignity and holiness 

 of the priesthood. The required preparation is 

 twofold, intellectual and moral. The intellectual 

 preparation as a rule is provided by the sem- 

 inary, and consists in acquiring the knowledge 

 and mental attainments necessary for the per- 

 formance of clerical duties. The moral prepara- 

 tion is partly mediate and partly immediate. 

 The mediate preparation for the priesthood con- 

 sists in acquiring the virtues necessary for its 

 fruitful exercise by prayer, obedience, purity, 

 mortification, etc. The immediate preparation 

 consists in the performance of certain prescribed 



8 John VIII, 49 sq.; X, 10; XVII, 1 Pet. V, 1 sqq.— Cat. Rom., P. II, 

 4; Eph. IV, 11 sqq.; 2 Tim. II, 10; c. 7, qu. 4. 



