An Excerpt from the Dignity and Duties of the Priest by St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori
The greatness of the dignity of a priest is also estimated from the high place that he occupies. The priesthood is called, at the synod of Chartres, in 1550, the seat of the saints. Priests are called Vicars of Jesus Christ, because they hold his place on earth. “You hold the place of Christ,” says St. Augustine to them; “you are therefore his lieutenants.” In the Council of Milan, St. Charles Borromeo called priests the representatives of the person of God on earth. And before him, the Apostle said: For Christ we are ambassadors, God, as it were, exhorting by us. When He ascended into heaven, Jesus Christ left His priests after Him to hold on earth His place of mediator between God and men, particularly on the altar. “Let the priest, says St. Laurence Justinian, “approach the altar as another Christ.” According to St. Cyprian, a priest at the altar performs the office of Christ. When, says St. Chrysostom, you have seen a priest offering sacrifice, consider that the hand of Christ is invisibly extended. The priest holds the place of the Savior himself, when, by saying “Ego te absolvo,” he absolves from sin. This great power, which Jesus Christ has received from his eternal Father, He has communicated to His priests. “Jesus,” says Tertullian, “invests the priests with His own powers.” To pardon a single sin requires all the omnipotence of God. “O God, who chiefly manifestest Thy almighty power in pardoning and showing mercy,” etc., says the holy Church in one of her prayers.