For Jerome, commenting on Sophon. iii, 4, says: "The
priests who perform the Eucharist, and who distribute our Lord's
blood to the people, act wickedly against Christ's law, in deeming
that the Eucharist is consecrated by a prayer rather than by a good
life; and that only the solemn prayer is requisite, and not the
priest's merits: of whom it is said: 'Let not the priest, in whatever
defilement he may be, approach to offer oblations to the Lord'" (Lev.
21:21, Septuagint). But the sinful priest, being defiled, has neither
the life nor the merits befitting this sacrament. Therefore a sinful
priest cannot consecrate the Eucharist.

Obj. 2: Further, Damascene says (De Fide Orth. iv) that "the bread
and wine are changed supernaturally into the body and blood of our
Lord, by the coming of the Holy Ghost." But Pope Gelasius I says (Ep.
ad Elphid., cf. Decret. i, q. 1): "How shall the Holy Spirit, when
invoked, come for the consecration of the Divine Mystery, if the
priest invoking him be proved full of guilty deeds?" Consequently,
the Eucharist cannot be consecrated by a wicked priest.

Obj. 3: Further, this sacrament is consecrated by the priest's
blessing. But a sinful priest's blessing is not efficacious for
consecrating this sacrament, since it is written (Malachi 2:2): "I
will curse your blessings." Again, Dionysius says in his Epistle
(viii) to the monk Demophilus: "He who is not enlightened has
completely fallen away from the priestly order; and I wonder that
such a man dare to employ his hands in priestly actions, and in the
person of Christ to utter, over the Divine symbols, his unclean
infamies, for I will not call them prayers."

_On the contrary,_ Augustine (Paschasius) says (De Corp. Dom. xii):
"Within the Catholic Church, in the mystery of the Lord's body and
blood, nothing greater is done by a good priest, nothing less by an
evil priest, because it is not by the merits of the consecrator that
the sacrament is accomplished, but by the Creator's word, and by the
power of the Holy Spirit."

_I answer that,_ As was said above (AA. 1, 3), the priest consecrates
this sacrament not by his own power, but as the minister of Christ,
in Whose person he consecrates this sacrament. But from the fact of
being wicked he does not cease to be Christ's minister; because our
Lord has good and wicked ministers or servants. Hence (Matt. 24:45)
our Lord says: "Who, thinkest thou, is a faithful and wise servant?"
and afterwards