If we did not have the Sacrament of Order, we would not have Our Lord. Who put it in the tabernacle? The priest. Who received your soul upon its entry into this world? The priest. Who feeds her to give her strength to make her pilgrimage? Always the priest. Who will prepare her to appear before God, washing her soul for the first time in the Blood of Jesus Christ? The priest, every time the priest. If the soul, then, comes to the hour of passing away, who will resurrect it, making it calm and peaceful? Once again the priest. You cannot think of any benefit of God without encountering, along with this memory, the image of the priest. If you went to confess to the Holy Virgin or an angel, would they absolve you? No. Would they give you the Body and Blood of Jesus? No. The Holy Virgin cannot send Her divine Son down to the Holy Host. Even two hundred angels could not absolve you. A priest, however simple he is, can do it. He can tell you, "Go in peace, I forgive you." What a great thing the priest is!
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Quoted in Gianpaolo Romanato, Pio X. La vita di papà Sarto, Rusconi, Milano, 1992, p. 224-225. As reported in Cristina Siccardi, San Pio X. Vita del papa che ha ordinato e riformato la Chiesa, edizioni San Paolo, Cinisello Balsamo (MI), 2014, p. 30. ISBN 978-88-215-9276-8.