Dead Priest Quotes

In writing about my predecessor's passing, I came across these quotes, which came from "A Priest Forever", Fr Benedict Groeschel's book about the life and death of Fr. Eugene Hamilton, as well as Archbishop Fulton Sheen's book, "The Priest Is Not His Own".

“Priests should look upon death as one of the last functions of the priesthood. It is their last Mass. This mortal body with which you were born at the incarnation was for you, O Jesus, only the material of the sacrifice. This is what this mortal body should be for each of those who share your priesthood. They must make use of it, as you did, to preach the truth, to edify men. But the essential, sacerdotal use they must make of it is to die. … They should, then, prepare for it as they prepare to celebrate Mass, because the death of a priest is a Mass, united to your death and consummated in yours for the salvation of mankind.”

Fr. Gaston Courtois

“A priest must aim to fulfill the ideal of death, the death of a victim united with Jesus crucified. … Our whole life should be a preparatory exercise for the great act of our death, the act of our supreme sacrifice with Jesus.”

Fr. Jules Leo Grimal

“Our struggle as priests then is not to become angelic and to live as if we had no body, but to become more Christlike. ‘This is my earnest longing and my hope … that this body of mine will do Christ honor. (Philippians 1:20)’”

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

“From the day of his ordination, a priest can never forget that he has been called by God himself. The priest is called to be...

...a servant,

...a victim,

...a brother,

...a listener,

...a friend.”

Terence Cardinal Cooke