Cap. XXIV. If we consider the office of the priesthood, we shall find that the vestments and ornaments of priests are all symbolical of the virtues which they ought to possess.
Cap. XXV. The ceremonies of sacrifices under the old law were symbols of the virtues required in priests under the new, and as under the old dispensation the ministers of the altar ought to be without defect and deformity of body, so the priests of the new law should be spiritually free from blemish. Uzzah touched the ark with unclean hands and was punished with death: so he who comes polluted to the service of the altar is worthy of punishment.
Cap. XXVI. A man must be of mature age before he assumes the priesthood; for youth is apt to yield to the temptations of the flesh. The evil impulses cannot be wholly expelled, but they may be kept in check, as is symbolized by the tonsure of the priest. Let the priest avoid idleness, whence so many vices spring.
Cap. XXVII. The honour of priests is great, if they live worthily. They administer to us the sacraments during our lives, they give us burial when we are dead, they are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. So much the worse is it when they are ignorant and bad; the distinction between the good and the bad priest is like that between the dove and the raven sent out of the ark.
Cap. XXVIII. The young scholars who are being trained for the priesthood are in these days too often indolent and vicious. If they are so in youth, they will hardly be good in their later age.
Cap. XXIX. They are induced to undertake the priesthood by desire to escape from the control of the ordinary law, by dislike of labour, and by love of good living, seldom by the higher motive, which once prevailed, of contempt for worldly things and longing after the highest good. Thus, since the clergy is without the light of virtue, we laymen wander in the dark.
Liber Quartus.
Cap. I. Men of Religious Orders are also of various conditions, some good and others bad. Let each bear his own burden of blame: I write only what common report tells me.
There are first those who hold temporal possessions, and some of these live in gluttony and luxury.
Cap. II. Those who leave the world should give up worldly things; but in these days the monk is known only by his garb. He indulges himself with the richest food and the choicest drink, he makes haste when the bell rings for a meal, but he rises very slowly and reluctantly for midnight prayer. The monks of old were different; they dwelt in caves and had no luxurious halls or kitchens, they were clothed in skins, fed on herbs and drank water, and abstained from fleshly lusts. These men truly renounced the world, but that blessed state has now perished.