The priest is our mediator

"This is the splendid prerogative of the priesthood of Christ and His priests: to offer to the Holy Trinity in the name of man and of the universe a homage of praise agreeable to God. It is the privilege of this priesthood to ensure the return of creation in its entirety to the Master of all things.

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The priest is the mediator who offers to God oblations and sacrifices in the name of the people. In return God chooses him to communicate to men His gifts of grace, of mercy and of pardon. The special excellence of the priesthood springs from this mediation.

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By an astonishing and admirable prerogative of His priesthood, on Calvary as on our altars, His sacrifice is divine by virtue of both of the dignity of the pontiff and the excellence of the victim which is immolated. Priest and victim are united in the one person, and this sacrifice constitutes the perfect homage which gives glory to God, makes the Lord propitious to men, and obtains for them all the grace of eternal life."

-- Christ, the Ideal of the Priest by Bl Columba Marmion osb