Minor Orders

Between receiving tonsure and subdiaconate, the seminarian in the Roman Rite is ordained to the minor orders of porter, lector, exorcist, and acolyte. Thus, it is well worth his time to meditate on the nature of these orders-the powers they confer, the virtues they require, the duties they impose, the graces to which they entitle their recipient, the fruits they ought to produce. This series of meditations by the esteemed Sulpician professor, rector, and popular author Fr. Louis Bacuez (1820-1892) will help the reader better appreciate and honor the Church's ancient Minor Orders and, if he himself is due to receive them, will prepare him to enter upon these offices with optimal dispositions. Nothing could be better suited to touch his heart, to make him feel the necessity of growing in perfection and raising up ardent prayers for divine assistance, as he comes to partake in diverse ways of the singular High Priesthood of Jesus Christ, the Mediator between God and man. A luminous Foreword by Bishop Athanasius Schneider, exclusively found in this edition of Bacuez's work, furnishes an historical overview and theological defense of the traditional minor orders.