The holy order is the sacrament, by which the mission entrusted by Jesus to his apostles can continue to be carried out in the Catholic Church until the end of the age. Therefore, it is the sacrament of the apostolic office. It includes three levels: bishop, priest, and deacon.
Origin of the Holy Order
In ancient Rome, the Latin Ordo refers to some established public service groups, especially governing bodies. Ordinatio refers to being included in one such group (Ordo). There are also established groups in the church. According to the Bible, the sacred texts have been called taxeis (Greek) from ancient times, and the Latin is ordines (Holy Orders).
Therefore, the liturgy talks about ordo episcoporum (Holy Order of Bishop), ordo presbyterorum (originally “Holy Order of the Elder”, generally called “Holy Order of Priest” in Chinese), and Ordo diaconorum (Holy Order of Deacon). Other groups also use the term ordo, such as: catechumens, virgins, couples, widows, etc.
Today, the term ordinatio is used exclusively for the sacramental action that allows a person to join the ranks of bishops, priests, or deacons, and this sacramental action goes beyond the election, assignment, authorization, or appointment purely by the group; because of this sacrament Actions give the gift of the Holy Spirit, enabling the recipient to exercise “sacra potestas”, which can only come from Christ himself through the church.
This ordination (ordinatio) is also called consecratio, because it is Christ himself who, for his church, selects the ordinances from the crowd and grants him divine power. The bishop’s covering of hands and the consecration prayer constitute the visible sign of this consecration.
The sacrament of holy orders can also be called sacrament of holy orders or sacraments of holy orders. In today’s Catholic Church, the service spirit is more emphasized, so the sacrament of holy orders is used more often than the sacraments of holy orders. It is especially the social sacrament, which is established for the benefit of others and for the life of the church community. “To build up the body of Christ” (Bible Ezekiel 4:12).
The sacrament of holy orders is related to the holy sacrifice of Jesus, the mission of the apostle. Christ gave the apostles to continue their work and lead people back to the mission of the Father; the priest continues to be the mission of the mediator between heaven and man (the mediator is the bridge), for this reason. Jesus divided the apostle’s authority: to teach, manage, and sanctify the spirit to repeat his holy sacrifice; therefore, Jesus continued to choose people to continue his mission of redemption. These people should be trained with extreme care so that they can bear it. Noble mission.
“The crops are abundant, but the workers are few, so you should ask the master of the crops to send workers to harvest his crops” (Matthew 9:37-38 in the Bible).
Jesus wants people to help him in the world and continue his mission of preaching and building the kingdom of heaven until the world is exhausted. So he gathered some apostles (not that they chose Christ, but Christ chose them), and told them: He came to the world to serve people, not to be served, and asked them to be people like him. Servant (“Bible” Matthew 28:18-20, John 20:21-23).
Before he died, Jesus established the Eucharist at the Last Supper in order to continue his great cause of salvation, and ordered the apostles to do it accordingly. He gave the apostles the divine power for the consecration of the Eucharist, the blood, and the sacrifice of the masses. This is the ordination of the holy apostles as priests. Jesus also taught them to go out to preach and baptize people, so that all peoples could become disciples. Give them the authority to hold thanksgiving sacrifices, to forgive man’s sins and to guide his people in the name of Christ.
In addition, they are invited to testify for him until his return (Bible, Luke 22:19). Sacrifice (“Bible” John 20:21), forgiveness (“Bible” Matthew 28:19), discipline and sanctify mankind (“Bible” Matthew 28:20), Christ would like them to The authority is also passed on to others from generation to generation until the end of the world.
In other words, the Sacrament of the Holy Orders is a sacrament made by Jesus himself, through which he entrusts his own missionary and saving plan to his disciples and their successors, so that they can continue to carry out this in the churches established by him. Mission until the end of the world. In order to help them and their heirs to fulfill this important task, Christ granted them the divine power, namely the right of sanctification, instruction and management, and granted them holy favors to assist them in fulfilling this glorious task of saving people.
Jesus called the twelve disciples into a special kind of friendship, and did not require all his followers to have such a relationship with him. He made the twelve apostles share his mission, but Jesus himself never used any official signs of introducing disciples.
After Jesus died and resurrected, the twelve apostles realized that they had a special mission to preach the gospel to Israel and all nations. Paul (Protestant translated as Paul) knew that he was a witness of the risen Lord and an apostle called by Christ himself. For the first few decades of the church community, the priesthood focused on preaching the gospel in order to lead people to Jesus Christ and through him into the Father, so that all people can gain life.
The position of Christians in the New Testament has never been called the word “priest”, only Paul once used the Greek verb form to preach the priesthood: “(God) made me an envoy of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles , The priest of the gospel of God.” (The Bible, Romans 15:16)
The development of the church in the second half of the first century cannot be reconstructed in an accurate linear chart; due to the leadership of the Holy Spirit, and due to cultural characteristics and the needs of local groups, various positions have emerged, such as supervisors, deacons, and elders.
