If you’d like to discover more about the ministerial priesthood, here is just a small sampling of sources that help to illuminate this wondrous gift, given by the Lord to extend His care for His sheep until the end of time.

St. John Eudes, The Priest: His Dignity and Obligations

St. Alphonsus Liguori, Dignity and Duties of the Priest

Ven. Mother Louise Margaret Claret de la Touche, The Sacred Heart and the Priesthood

Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P., The Priest in Union with Christ

Blessed Columba Marmion, O.S.B., Christ: The Ideal of the Priest

Fr. Eugene Boylan, O.C.S.O., The Priest’s Way to God

Ven. Archbishop Fulton Sheen, The Priest Is Not His Own

Second Vatican Council, Presbyterorum Ordinis (Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests)

Pope St. John Paul II, Pastores dabo vobis (I will give you shepherds)

Fr. Jean Galot, S.J., Theology of the Priesthood

Fr. Christian Cochini, S.J, The Apostolic Origins of Priestly Celibacy

Fr. Ezra Sullivan, O.P., Alter Christus: Priestly Holiness on Earth and in Eternity

Benedict XVI and Robert Cardinal Sarah, From the Depths of Our Hearts

See also the Vatican’s special page commemorating the Year for Priests (2009-10)