The essential services that priests carry out are what keeps the Church alive. Priests, as Venerable Fulton Sheen says, lend Jesus their hands and lips; Christ speaks and acts through His priests. The priesthood is a unique vocation within the Church, and because Holy Orders is a sacrament, the recipient receives special graces to fulfill his ministry. The office of priest “depends entirely on Christ and on his unique priesthood; it has been instituted for the good of men and the communion of the Church.” In his ministerial role, the priest acts in persona Christi Capitis, or in the person of Christ the Head. This is what gives him the power to consecrate the Eucharist and administer the sacraments to the laity.