An Epitome of the Priestly Life

A VENERABLE Irish priest, shortly before his death, presented me with a little leather bound volume of meditations, whose much-thumbed pages indicated that it had been long his vade mecum. The title of the work was Memoriale Vitae Sacerdotal is, and it bore on its initial page the imprimatur of Most Rev. Daniel Murray, Archbishop of Dublin, and the information that it was used as a text-book in the Seminary of Maynooth just one hundred years ago. As I read I was captivated by its charm, its vigor, its cogency, its meatiness, and above all by the spirit of priestly zeal and charity that it breathed. It seemed as if our Lord were speaking directly to me; and this was not strange, for it was largely a mosaic of Scripture texts, most aptly chosen and most deftly applied. The inspiration came to me to present this volume in English dress that it might he acceptable to our busy English-speaking clergy who have not the leisure to translate the subject matter of their meditations, nor the inclination to peruse the voluminous tomes that have been more recently published. I am quite conscious that many of the crisp, concise Latin sentences may have suffered somewhat in the translation; but I hope, however, that sufficient of the beauty of the original casket has been preserved to attract attention to the jewels within. Such as it is, I offer i.t to my brother priests, hoping that it may prove an assistance to them in more faithfully fulfilling the duties of their ministry and in walking more closely in the footsteps of our Divine Model. I wish to express my gratitude to Rev. Father Kuenzel, of Dubuque, 'whose name is not unknown to clerical readers. He had undertaken a translation of the same work, but, upon learning that I had the task all but completed, he graciously expressed his willingness to retire in my favor, adding: "I am glad that someone has translated that golden little volume."