What is the priest’s portion of the peace offering?

Origen says, “‘The fatty parts which are above the breast’ are placed on the altar, but ‘the breast itself is for Aaron and his sons’ (Lev. 7:30) … I think that if anyone says he is a priest of God, unless he has a breast (or the heart as the source of thoughts) chosen from all the members, he is not a priest. Such is the limb (Lev. 7:33) of the priest that the sons of Israel bring it to him for their salvation by which they are saved. In this offering ‘the breast’ and ‘the right limb’ are made part of the priest that it may be a sign that his breast and heart, which thought evil things before, converted by the labor of the priest, received good thoughts and thus was cleansed that likewise ‘he may be able to see God.’ In like manner also, in the limb is the sign that his evil and sinister words, which are certainly wicked and not good, he converts into right that they may be according to God. This is the right limb, which is said to be the priest’s part.”¹⁶⁵¹

“From this I think it is one thing for the priests to perform their office, another thing to be instructed and prepared in all things. For anyone can perform the religious ministry, but few there are who are adorned with morals, instructed in doctrine, educated in wisdom, very well adapted to communicate the truth of things and who expound the wisdom of the faith, not omitting the ornament of understandings and the splendor of assertions which is represented by the ornament ‘of gold plate’ placed on his head. One then is the name of a priest, but there is not one dignity either by the worth of his life or by the virtues of his soul. For this reason, in the things which the divine law describes, even as in a mirror any priest ought to inspect himself and to gather from that place the degrees of his merit, if he sees himself placed in all these high priestly ornaments, which we explained above.”¹⁶⁵²