“We must therefore seek the the true good of our neighbor, if we love him, and that is what constitutes the faithful priest. The priest is not a man who seeks his popularity, nor compliments, nor pleasing men. As Saint Paul: “If I sought to please men, I would not please God” (cf. Galatians 1:10). Well, the priest doesn't always please men, since he reminds them of the truth, but he loves them and seeks bring them to God. This is true friendship and the true love for others.

The priest is essentially, and by definition, the one who gives himself.And this is realized in the practice of daily life. “The priest — as Father Chevrier says — must be a consumed man.” He gives himself like the Eucharist and like Our Lord HimselfHe gives his time, his sweat, his knowledge, his money, and his physical strength.

The priest is the man who forgets himself in order to think only of the good that must be done, of the souls who need his care, and of the practice of fraternal charity.Therefore, the priest is charity.

A The great virtue of the priest is charityAs our selfishness and our pride disappear, we gradually become truly charitable. We have only one purpose: uma única finalidade: to see Our Lord reign.Therefore, our one ideal is to love Him—particularly in the offering of the holy Sacrifice of the Mass—,to unite ourselves to Him with all our soul and with all our heart, and to come down from the altar animated by the desire to do all that we can so that souls may also experience the joy of knowing Our Lord Himself and of being united to Him.

The priest must have a merciful heart. This is the true prudence and the true wisdom that correspond to the beatitude: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy” (Matthew 5:7) Such is the reason why Saint Thomas says that mercy is the beatitude that corresponds to prudence (The Priesthood and the Sacred, Dom Marcel Lefebvre).