Q. 976.  What is the final preparation we should make for the reception of the last Sacraments?  A. The final preparation we should make for the reception of the last Sacraments consists in an earnest effort to be resigned to God’s Holy Will, to excite ourselves to true sorrow for our sins, to profit by the graces given us, to keep worldly thoughts from the mind, and to dispose ourselves as best we can for the worthy reception of the Sacraments and the blessings of a good death.

Q. 977.  At what time should persons dangerously ill attend to the final arrangement of their temporal or worldly affairs?  A. Persons dangerously ill should attend to the final arrangement of their temporal or worldly affairs at the very beginning of their illness, that these things may not distract them at the hour of death, and that they may give the last hours of their life entirely to the care of their soul.

Q. 978. {278} What is the Sacrament of Holy Orders?  A. Holy Orders is a Sacrament by which bishops, priests, and other ministers of the Church are ordained and receive the power and grace to perform their sacred duties.

Q. 979.  Besides bishops and priests, who are the other ministers of the Church?  A. Besides bishops and priests, the other ministers of the Church are deacons and sub-deacons, who, while preparing for the priesthood, have received some of the Holy Orders, but who have not been ordained to the full powers of the priest.

Q. 980.  Why is this Sacrament called Holy Orders?  A. This Sacrament is called Holy Orders because it is conferred by seven different grades or steps following one another in fixed order by which the sacred powers of the priesthood are gradually given to the one admitted to that holy state.

Q. 981.  What are the grades by which one ascends to the priesthood?  A. The grades by which one ascends to the priesthood are (1) Tonsure, or the clipping of the hair by the bishop, by which the candidate for priesthood dedicates himself to the service of the altar; (2) The four minor orders, Porter, Reader, Exorcist, and Acolyte, by which he is permitted to perform certain duties that laymen should not perform; (3) Sub-deaconship, by which he takes upon himself the obligation of leading a life of perpetual chastity and of saying daily the divine office; (4) Deaconship, by which he receives power to preach, baptize, and give Holy Communion.  The next step, priesthood, gives him power to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and forgive sins.  These orders are not all given at once, but at times fixed by the laws of the Church.

Q. 982.  Are not the different orders separate Sacraments?  A. These different orders are not separate Sacraments.  Taken all together, some are a preparation for the Sacrament and the rest are but the one Sacrament of Holy Orders; as the roots, trunk and branches form but one tree.

Q. 983.  What name is given to sub-deaconship, deaconship and priesthood?  A. Sub-deaconship, deaconship and priesthood are called major or greater orders, because those who receive them are bound for life to the service of the altar and they cannot return to the service of the world to live as ordinary laymen.