http://vultus.stblogs.org/ Tibi dixit cor meum, quaesivi vultum tuum, vultum tuum, Domine, requiram: ne avertas faciem tuam a me. Ps 26:8–9 en Copyright 2008 Sat, 17 May 2008 09:56:59 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Apart from the universally treasured Veni Creator Spiritus and the Veni Sancte Spiritus there are a few prayers to the Holy Spirit that have rooted themselves in my heart and served me well over the years. I thought that I might share them with the readers of Vultus Christi. I don't remember where or how I came across the first of these prayers. It was written by Désiré-Joseph Cardinal Mercier (1851–1926). I vaguely remember that it was printed on a little leaflet. Cardinal Mercier wrote this prayer on the back of a holy picture while on pilgrimage at the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham in England. In 1926, while preaching a retreat, he offered a little commentary on it: "I am going to reveal to you a secret of holiness and of happiness. Every day for five minutes, silence your imagination, closing your eyes to things of the senses and your ears to all earthly sounds so as to withdraw into yourselves, and there in the sanctuary of your baptized soul, which is the temple of the Holy Spirit, speak to that Divine Spirit, saying: Holy Spirit, soul of my soul, I adore Thee; enlighten, guide, strengthen and console me; tell me what I ought to do and command me to do it, I promise to be submissive in everything that Thou shalt ask of me and to accept all that Thou permittest to happen to me, only show me what is Thy will. If you do this, your life will flow along in happiness, serenity, and consolation, even in the midst of sorrows, because grace will be proportioned to your trials, giving you the strength to bear them, and you will arrive at the gates of Paradise laden with merits. This submission to the Holy Spirit is the secret of holiness." I found the second prayer when I was about fifteen years old. It was in a small paperback edition of the Pastoral Prayer of Saint Aelred, published in England. I believe it came into my hands on an early visit to Saint Joseph's Trappist Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts. The prayer so impressed me that I copied it out on the last blank page of the breviary I was using at the time: "Lord, may Thy good, sweet Spirit descend into my heart, and fashion there a dwelling for Himself, cleansing it from all defilement both of flesh and spirit, inpouring into it the increment of faith and hope and love, disposing it to penitence and love and gentleness. May He quench with the dew of His blessing the heat of my desires and with His power put to death my carnal impulses and fleshly lusts. In labours and in watchings and in fastings may He afford me fervour and discretion, to love and to praise Thee: to pray and think of Thee: and may He give me the power and devotion to order every act and thought according to Thy will, and also persevere in these virtues until my life's end. Amen." To be continued. ]]> http://vultus.stblogs.org/2008/05/my_favourite_prayers_to_the_ho.html http://vultus.stblogs.org/2008/05/my_favourite_prayers_to_the_ho.html Holy Spirit Sat, 17 May 2008 09:56:59 -0500 Saturday: The Gift of Fear of the Lord The Gift of Fear of the Lord is the antidote to pride and the beginning of the humility by which the soul arrives at union with God. In Chapter Seven of the Holy Rule Saint Benedict says: "The first degree of humility then, is that a man always have the fear of God before his eyes, shunning all forgetfulness, and that he be ever mindful of all that God hath commanded." The Gift of Holy Fear fills one with the utmost reverence for God and for all that pertains to his service. It makes one recoil from occasions of sin and desire a burning purity of heart for the worship of God “in the beauty of holiness” (Ps 95:9). One deficient in fear of the Lord is careless in His service, easily flirts with temptation, and takes stupid risks, walking a tight rope over the abyss of sin. One lacking fear of God approaches holy things casually and treats lightly of what is sacred. American culture, especially suburban American culture, fosters a casual approach to all things, including the worship of the Divine Majesty. The past forty years have witnessed an incremental loss of reverence in our churches. The Gift of the Fear of the Lord causes us to shun carelessness in His service. Fear of the Lord is far removed from anything resembling a morbid and self-centred scrupulosity; it is marked by joy in the Holy Spirit and fosters a holy boldness in the presence of the Father. One graced with Fear of the Lord knows that, hidden in the secret of the Face of Christ and assumed into His filial and priestly prayer to the Father, there is nothing to fear. Fear of the Lord colours the way we carry out the Sacred Liturgy; it inspires a loving attention even to the smallest details. It constitutes a kind of enclosure around the Holy of Holies lest we fall into an attitude of casual familiarity and into the soulless routine that is the death of true devotion. Fear of the Lord imbues us with a holy awe and with that quality of “Eucharistic amazement” which Pope John Paul II sought to reawaken in the Church during his Year of the Eucharist. Finally, the Gift of Fear of the Lord associates us with the angels who, with veiled faces, tremble and ceaselessly cry out: “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory” (Is 6:3). ]]> http://vultus.stblogs.org/2008/05/timor_domini.html http://vultus.stblogs.org/2008/05/timor_domini.html Holy Spirit Sat, 17 May 2008 09:14:19 -0500 Friday: The Gift of Piety Pietas is a word wonderfully rich in meaning and full of nuances. It is notoriously difficult to translate. In the end one settles for “piety,” and then tries to unpack some of the meaning of the word. Piety has to do with the relations between a father and his child, and between a child and his father. People will sometimes say of a certain man, "He is utterly devoted to his children"; this is paternal piety. People will sometimes say of a son, "He is utterly devoted to his father"; this is filial piety. Before we can begin to understand anything of the filial piety we owe God, we have to reflect on the paternal piety of God toward us. God relates to us not as a master to his slave, but as the most tender of fathers to his child. “What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Lk 1:11–13). God is utterly devoted to each of His children by adoption. We in turn are bound to offer God the dutiful obedience of loving children: piety is the expression in daily life of filial devotedness to the Heavenly Father. The Gift of Piety strengthens the virtue of religion, making us zealous for the worship of God and eager to put all that we are and do into the hands of Christ the Priest to be offered to the Father in His Sacrifice. Piety is the gift by which everything in life is ordered ad Patrem, toward the Father. One might say that the Gift of Piety unites the soul to the inner dispositions of Christ revealed throughout the Fourth Gospel: “He who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what is pleasing to him” (Jn 8:29). To my mind, the Church's Doctor Pietatis ought to be Blessed Columba Marmion. The Gift of Piety delivers one from that oppressive sense of obligation that makes all things burdensome and tedious. One lacking the Gift of Piety has no zeal for prayer. Both private and liturgical prayer are carried out in a perfunctory manner, often with one eye on the clock. One contents oneself with doing the bare minimum. One short on piety asks, “How little can I get away with doing and still fulfill the letter of the law?” One graced with the Gift of Piety asks: “How much can do to show my Father that I love him, that I am attached to him, and that all my joy is in the service of His majesty.”]]> http://vultus.stblogs.org/2008/05/pietas.html http://vultus.stblogs.org/2008/05/pietas.html Holy Spirit Fri, 16 May 2008 09:43:02 -0500 Posuisti iniquitates nostras in conspectu tuo, occulta nostra in illuminatione vultus tui. So jealous thy scrutiny of our wrongoing, so clear our lives show in the light of thy countenance. (Psalm 89:8: sung every Thursday morning at Lauds in the Monastic Office) Every Thursday I am mindful of the readers of Vultus Christi who have committed themselves to participate in the Thursdays of Adoration and Reparation for Priests by spending one hour before the Eucharistic Face of Christ. One priest-adorer prays: Lord Jesus Christ, I thank Thee with all my heart for having allotted me this time in the light of Thy Eucharistic Face. Into the light of Thy Countenance veiled in this adorable Sacrament I lift up all those for whom I have promised to intercede and, in particular, those priests, known to Thy Heart, who are most in need of graces of repentance, healing, and deliverance. Thou knowest them, O Lord, and Thou seest clearly and compassionately the wounds inflicted upon their souls by their own sins and by the sins of others. Have mercy on us all. Let not one of Thy priests remain untouched by Thy gracious mercy. Draw them irrestistibly into the light of Thy Eucharistic Face and into the Wound in Thy Side, there to be washed and healed in Thy Blood and in the Living Water of the Holy Spirit. Mary, Mother of all priests, stretch forth thy pure hand to those priest-sons of thine who are most in need of thy maternal interventions in their lives. Amen.]]> http://vultus.stblogs.org/2008/05/in_illuminatione_vultus_tui.html http://vultus.stblogs.org/2008/05/in_illuminatione_vultus_tui.html Thursdays of Adoration and Reparation for Priests Thu, 15 May 2008 19:53:04 -0500 The antiphon Ad Benedictus this morning, with its lilting seventh mode melody, is an apt portrayal of the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in the life of Saint Pachomius. The text is Isaiah 35:1. Laetabitur deserta et exsultabit solitudo et florebit sicut lilium, alleluia. Thrills the barren desert with rejoicing, the wilderness takes heart, and blossoms, fair as the lily, alleluia. Julian Green had a book entitled "Chaque homme dans sa nuit," — Each Man in His Night; one might also speak of "each man in his desert." Irrigated by the living water of the Holy Spirit life's deserts become gardens, and joy comes to inhabit the solitudes of the heart. The Collect is a jewel: Deus, qui beatum Pacomium abbatem ad doctrinae virtutumque culmina pervenire fecisti, concede, quaesumus, ut eius exemplo, panem Verbi tui primum quaeramus a quo mentes lumen accipunt et corda quietem. O God, who raised the blessed abbot Pachomius to the heights of doctrine and of virtue, grant that we, by following his example, may seek before all else the bread of your Word from which our minds receive light and our hearts stillness. — Or, one may want to render that last line, "by which our minds are illumined and our hearts quieted." The example of the Desert Fathers, of desert-dwellers, of hermits, and of monks speaks to all of us. There is no desert that cannot be reclaimed for Christ; there is no barrenness that cannot be made fertile by the action of the Holy Spirit. I am reminded of the words of Pope Benedict XVI to the young people and seminarians at Dunwoodie, New York, on the evening of Saturday, April 19th: "There is another aspect of prayer which we need to remember: silent contemplation. Saint John, for example, tells us that to embrace God’s revelation we must first listen, then respond by proclaiming what we have heard and seen (cf. 1 Jn 1:2-3; Dei Verbum, 1). Have we perhaps lost something of the art of listening? Do you leave space to hear God’s whisper, calling you forth into goodness? Friends, do not be afraid of silence or stillness, listen to God, adore him in the Eucharist. Let his word shape your journey as an unfolding of holiness." ]]> http://vultus.stblogs.org/2008/05/saint_pachomius_abbot.html http://vultus.stblogs.org/2008/05/saint_pachomius_abbot.html Liturgical Texts Saints Thu, 15 May 2008 08:17:36 -0500 Thursday: The Gift of Knowledge “How deep is the mine of God's wisdom, of his knowledge; how inscrutable are his judgments, how undiscoverable his ways! Who has ever understood the Lord's thoughts, or been his counsellor?” (Rom 11:33-34). The Gift of Knowledge is a way of seeing to the core of things. It is insight into situations and persons. It is a light projected onto the Word of God or, again, a light projected from the Word of God into the heart. It is that occasional pulling back of the corner of the veil that gives one just a fleeting glance into the inscrutable mysteries of God. The Gift of Knowledge produces a quiet joy in the soul, a delight in the truth, a desire for union with the Beloved. In this way, the Gift of Knowledge is directly related to the development of the twelfth fruit of the Holy Spirit: chastity. The Gift of Knowledge allows one to sort things out in the light of God; it obliges one to a closer conformity with His designs. With knowledge comes responsibility. With knowledge also comes a deeper capacity for compassion. The Gift of Knowledge does not make one an arrogant know-it-all. It makes one meek and lowly of heart. Above all it fills the soul with admiration, making one sing, Quam magnificata sunt opera tua, Domine! “How great are thy works, O Lord! Thou hast made all things in wisdom” (Ps 103:24). The more one uses the Gift of Knowledge, the lower one descends into adoration. ]]> http://vultus.stblogs.org/2008/05/a_heart_to_know_thee.html http://vultus.stblogs.org/2008/05/a_heart_to_know_thee.html Holy Spirit Wed, 14 May 2008 21:37:28 -0500 The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit What are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit? The Catechism names them: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. It is customary to associate each day of the Octave of Pentecost with one of the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit: Pentecost Sunday: Wisdom Monday: Understanding Tuesday: Counsel Wednesday: Fortitude Thursday: Knowledge Friday: Piety Saturday: Fear of the Lord The seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit are rooted in the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity. The three theological virtues come directly from God and are ordered directly to union with God; they give us the capacity to live as children of the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit, that is, in a state of grace. The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit allow us to express the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity in daily life; they make us docile in following divine inspirations. The Gifts of the Holy Spirit flower in the faithful soul and mature into the Holy Spirit's Twelve Fruits: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, forbearance, gentleness, faith, courtesy, temperateness, and purity. Pentecost Sunday: The Gift of Wisdom The Gift of Wisdom gives a taste for the things that will make us truly happy. The wise person is one who consistently and habitually chooses the things that will make him happy, not with a fleeting, deceptive happiness, but with the happiness that comes from being in right relationship with God. Saint Paul, graced with wisdom, says, “I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor 2:2). The Gift of Wisdom is that by which one “sets nothing before the love of Christ” (RB 4:21). One graced with wisdom knows what will make him happy because he has tasted it; he sings with the psalmist, “O taste and see that the Lord is sweet; blessed is the man who hopes in him” (Ps 33:8). The Gift of Wisdom makes one take delight in the companionship of the saints, in the example of their lives, and in their writings. The saints are wisdom’s children. A proverb says, “Tell me with whom you keep company, and I will tell you who you are.” The wise Christian never tires of reading the lives of the saints; he prays before their images, kneels humbly before their relics, and, in their company, discovers wisdom’s secrets. One who lacks wisdom makes foolish choices. There will be disorder in his priorities: an inability to put first things first. One who lacks wisdom will have little or no taste for the things of God, for things holy, heavenly, and divine. He will forever be looking elsewhere for happiness. The unwise person lacks stability. In his search for happiness he knocks at all the wrong doors, passing by the one door open to receive him: the pierced Heart of Christ. Pentecost Monday: The Gift of Understanding The Gift of Understanding opens the mind and heart to the splendour of the truth. One graced with understanding is at home in an adoring silence. One graced with understanding will be open to God, receptive to the truth and, for that reason, always full of wonderment and ready to adore. The Gift of Understanding is the undoing of pride. The prideful person clings to his own perceptions and resists growth, saying, “I know what I know, and what I know is enough for me.” One lacking the gift of understanding is literally unintelligent, that is to say, he cannot read the deeper meaning of events and circumstances. He approaches the Word of God superficially and skims on the surface of the Sacred Liturgy instead of plunging into its depths. The Gift of Understanding pushes one to one’s knees in the presence of God. The Gift of Understanding also makes one compassionate toward others. Understanding the ways of God is the beginning of understanding the human person created in His image and likeness. Understanding produces joy, the joy of discovering the glory of God “shining in the face of Christ” (2 Cor 4:6), and the joy of perceiving that “we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of God, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Cor 3:18). Pentecost Tuesday: The Gift of Counsel The Gift of Counsel enables one to make choices in harmony with the providence of the Father, the mind of Christ, and the leadings of the Holy Spirit. With the Gift of Counsel one walks securely and serenely, know that it is possible at every moment to consult the best of Counselors, “soul’s sweet Guest.” The Virgin Mary, associated with the Holy Spirit in all His works, is the Mother of Good Counsel. She is present to us in our perplexities, close to us when we stand at life’s crossroads. “Do whatever He tells you” (Jn 2:5) is the word of loving encouragement she addresses to the disciples of her Son. One without the gift of counsel suffers an endless succession of false starts and goes from one spiritual calamity to another. He acts hastily, is easily manipulated, and makes decisions under the sway of emotions, especially fear. One graced with the Gift of Counsel, on the other hand, will be serene, calm, and full of trust that God’s kindly light will lead him one step at a time. Pentecost Wednesday: The Gift of Fortitude The Gift of Fortitude makes one distrust oneself and place all one’s trust in the strength that comes from the grace of Christ. “Separated from me, “ says Our Lord, “you have no power to do anything” (Jn 15:5). He does not say, “Separated from me you can do something,” or “you can do a little bit.” It is the grace of Christ that makes all the difference. The words of Our Lord to Saint Paul give the measure of the Gift of Fortitude: “My grace is enough for thee; my strength finds its full scope in thy weakness (2 Cor 12:9). Saint Paul, taking the word of the Lord to heart, declares: “Nothing is beyond my powers, thanks to the strength God gives me” (Ph 4:13). It is in the martyrs that we see the most striking illustration of the Gift of Fortitude. The Preface of the Mass of Holy Martyrs sings: “You make strength perfect in weakness, and you strengthen our feeble powers, that they might bear witness to you.” Children give yet another illustration of the Gift of Fortitude, as striking as it is touching. I am thinking, in particular, of Saint Agnes, Saint Maria Goretti, the Blessed Children of Fatima, Francisco and Jacinta, and the Servant of God Nennolina. One graced with the Gift of Fortitude goes along steadily; he is not intimidated by the apparent force of evil. He faces challenges, weaknesses, temptations, trials, and setbacks with equanimity and courage, knowing that no matter what befalls him the power of Christ is stronger, and the power of Christ is his, communicated to the weak by the Holy Spirit, especially in the Most Holy Eucharist: the food and drink of the strong. To be continued. ]]> http://vultus.stblogs.org/2008/05/a_gift_for_each_day.html http://vultus.stblogs.org/2008/05/a_gift_for_each_day.html Holy Spirit Wed, 14 May 2008 09:46:04 -0500 John 15:9-17 Go and Bear Fruit In the Roman Missal the Mass for the feast of Saint Matthias the Apostle begins, not with an antiphon drawn from the Psalms as it usually does, but with a word of Our Lord: “You did not choose Me, says the Lord, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide” (Jn 15: 16). The same word is given us again in the Gospel. How extraordinary that while we are yet on the threshold of the Holy Sacrifice, Jesus should address a word — and such a word — to us. Before we had a chance to open our mouths, He spoke to us. He revealed to us the choice of His love and His desire, even more, His design that we should bear fruit, fruit that will abide. The Gospel of Life A Christian cannot be barren. “My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, He takes away” (Jn 15:2). Spiritual sterility is incompatible with the choice of God. God wants us fruitful; he wants us to be bearers of life, givers of life, witnesses to the life that courses from the True Vine into every branch and tendril. The Contraceptive Mentality Just as there can be in the natural order a “contraceptive mentality” that thwarts and inhibits the transmission of the gift of life, so too there can be in the supernatural order a “contraceptive mentality” that thwarts and inhibits the transmission of the life of grace. There is such a thing as “sterilization” of the soul — a reversible state because of God’s ever-ready mercy — but a frightening reality nonetheless. Spiritual Fecundity Spiritual fecundity is not always visible. The children of our prayers and tears may remain unknown to us in this life but we will see their faces in heaven. Our part here below is to accept the responsibilities of spiritual fatherhood and motherhood. “You did not choose me, but I chose you” (Jn 15:16). Families of Souls Parents consecrated in marriage have a spiritual fatherhood and motherhood of the children they have brought into the word; it is not enough to provide housing, food, drink, clothing, healthcare, education, security, and affection. There is something more. The married couple is called to spiritual fecundity and this long after the passing of the natural seasons of bearing and raising children, right into eternity. Spiritual parenting is a coordinate of the baptismal priesthood in the state of married life. Father and Mother are sweet names in the mouths of a couple’s children; they are made sweeter by the Holy Spirit who reveals their meaning in the family of souls. The Johannine Fatherhood of the Priest The priest is called to fatherhood; he refuses this fatherhood or minimizes it at the peril of his own soul because it was for this priestly fruitfulness that he was chosen by Christ. The priest is called to cherish the Mystical Body of Christ and to nourish it, to play an indispensable role in the transmission of divine life. Spiritual fatherhood is actualized sacramentally in preaching, in hearing confessions, and in the celebration of the other sacraments, above all in offering the Eucharist. There is also a hidden aspect to the fatherhood of the priest: suffering and the secret prayer that pleads the Blood of Christ over every sorrow and every wound opened by sin. The fatherhood of the priest — his “Johannine” fatherhood — grows out of his contemplation of the pierced Heart of the Crucified. It is the wound from which flows life, “life in abundance” cf. Jn 10:10). ]]> http://vultus.stblogs.org/2008/05/fecundity.html http://vultus.stblogs.org/2008/05/fecundity.html Saints Wed, 14 May 2008 09:23:52 -0500 Drawing upon the traditional mysteries of the rosary — Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious, and the new mysteries of Light proposed by Pope John Paul II — it becomes possible to pray through seven mysteries that, in a special way, reveal the presence and work of the Holy Spirit. I find it practical to use my Seven Dolours Rosary, with its "seven times seven" series of beads for this persevering invocation of the Holy Spirit through Mary. 1. The Annunciation, the “Proto-Pentecost” in which the Virgin is overshadowed by the Holy Spirit (cf. Lk 1:35). Ask for the Gift of Wisdom. 2. The Visitation in which Elizabeth, “filled with the Holy Spirit” (Lk 1:42), greets the Mother of her Lord. Ask for the Gift of Understanding. 3. The Baptism of Jesus, at which the Holy Spirit descended upon him “in bodily form, as a dove” (Lk 3:22). Ask for the Gift of Counsel. 4. The Wedding Feast at Cana (Jn 2:1-11) at which, in response to the intervention of his Mother, Jesus provides wine in abundance prefiguring the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Ask for the Gift of Fortitude. 5. The Death of Jesus Crucified who, “bowing his head, handed over his spirit” (Jn 19:30). Ask for the Gift of Knowledge. 6. The Resurrection of Jesus who, appearing to the disciples “on the evening of that day, the first day of the week” (Jn 20:19), “breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’” (Jn 20:22). Ask for the Gift of Piety. 7. The Descent of the Holy Spirit “when the day of Pentecost had come” (Ac 2:1). Ask for the Gift of Holy Fear. ]]> http://vultus.stblogs.org/2008/05/seven_rosary_mysteries_of_the.html http://vultus.stblogs.org/2008/05/seven_rosary_mysteries_of_the.html Holy Spirit Rosary Mon, 12 May 2008 18:29:51 -0500 This is, I think, my favourite English translation of the "Golden Sequence," the Veni Sancte Spiritus. I found it in Maurice Zundel's classic, The Splendour of the Liturgy (New York: Sheed and Ward, 1939), a book to which I return again and again, and always with a new delight. Holy Spirit, come and shine On our souls with beams divine, Issuing from thy radiance bright. Come, O Father of the poor, Ever bounteous of thy store, Come, our hearts' unfailing light. Come, consoler, kindest, best, Come our bosom's dearest guest, Sweet refreshment, sweet repose. Rest in labour, coolness sweet, Tempering the burning heat, Truest comfort of our woes. O divinest light, impart Unto every faithful heart, Plenteous streams from love's bright flood. But for thy Blest Deity, Nothing pure in man could be: Nothing harmless, nothing good. Wash away each sinful stain, Gently shed thy gracious rain On the dry and fruitless soil. Heal each wound and bend each will, Warm our hearts benumbed and chill, All our wayword steps control. Unto all thy faithful just, Who in thee confide and trust, Deign thy sevenfold gift to send. Grant us virtue's blest increase, Grant a death of hope and peace, Grant the joys that never end. Amen. Alleluia. ]]> http://vultus.stblogs.org/2008/05/veni_sancte_spiritus.html http://vultus.stblogs.org/2008/05/veni_sancte_spiritus.html Holy Spirit Mon, 12 May 2008 17:18:07 -0500 Days of Fire and of Light In the traditional Roman liturgical calendar the glorious solemnity of Pentecost has its own Octave: eight days under the grace of the Holy Spirit, eight days of joy in the fire and light of His presence, eight days of thanksgiving for His gifts. The Octave of Pentecost was one of the most beautiful moments in the Church Year, not only by reason of the liturgical texts, but also by reason of its effect in the secret of hearts. Each day of the Octave the Church would sing her “Golden Sequence,” the Veni, Sancte Spiritus: a chant of such unction that one never tires of repeating it. The Suppression of a Great Joy In some places in the Catholic world, Whit Monday was a reason to have a civil holiday, as well as a liturgical celebration. In this way, the mysterious presence of the Holy Spirit marked even the secular culture. It came as shock, and brought no little distress to the faithful, when in 1969 the Octave of Pentecost suddenly disappeared from the calendar. It would appear that not even the Pope was apprised of the suppression of one of the Church’s great joys.]]> http://vultus.stblogs.org/2008/05/in_praise_of_the_octave_of_pen_1.html http://vultus.stblogs.org/2008/05/in_praise_of_the_octave_of_pen_1.html Holy Spirit Matters Liturgical Sun, 11 May 2008 18:52:25 -0500 A Pentecost Meditation Alleluia! Today the Spirit of the Lord has invaded the cosmos and filled it! Life spills out of the Cenacle and, like a torrent of wine, courses through the streets of Jerusalem. God arises and His enemies are scattered; those that hate Him flee before his face, and those that love Him sing: Alleluia! Today He who came down to see Babel’s tower and confused the speech of the proud visits the Upper Room. He unties the tongues of the humble and unites into one holy people those long divided by sin. Amazed at what she sees and hears, the Church intones her birthday song: Alleluia! Today He who on Sinai descended in fire, causing rocks to quake and peaks to pale, descends upon Jerusalem; tongues of fire dance over the heads of those who, cloistered in the Cenacle, waited to meet their God and at His coming, they cry out: Alleluia. Today the valley of dry bones begins to stir, to rattle, and to reverberate. Behold, I will cause the Spirit to enter you, and you shall live: and they lived and stood upon their feet, an exceeding great host singing: Alleluia! Today the Cenacle sealed like tomb opens, a joyful Mother’s fruitful womb. None was ever born of the Spirit who did not take his birth from her, and each, claiming from her the springs of his life, calls her forever glorious, repeating: Alleluia! Today the Spirit is poured out in superabundance; today sons and daughters prophesy; today old men dream dreams and young men see visions; today menservants and maidservants join the choir to chant with one many-tongued voice: Alleluia! Today the Virgin whom the Spirit covered with His shadow is wrapped in Love and crowned in flame. Today the Woman who interceded at Cana tastes New Wine, for the Hour has come. Today the Mother who stood watching by the Tree remembers the stream of water and of blood and filled with sweetness, cries: Alleluia! Today the Spirit helps us in our weakness and we who do not know to pray as we ought, pray in a way that is wonderful and new; for now the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. In the valley of the shadow of death there rises the canticle of life: Alleluia!]]> http://vultus.stblogs.org/2008/05/whitsunday_the_solemnity_of_pe.html http://vultus.stblogs.org/2008/05/whitsunday_the_solemnity_of_pe.html Holy Spirit Paschaltide 2008 Sat, 10 May 2008 23:07:59 -0500 For Pentecost I translated this passage from the Spiritual Journal of Concepción (Conchita) Cabrera de Armida. In it Our Lord speaks to Conchita concerning his plan for the sanctification of priests by the Holy Spirit through Mary. "To obtain that which I ask, all priests must make a general consecration and a particular consecration to the Holy Spirit, not only of the diocese and of the nations, but also each one, personally, of their priestly souls, asking Him through the intercession of Mary, that He would descend upon them as in a new Pentecost, and that he would purify them, enamour then, possess them, unify them, sanctify them and transform them in Me. The Holy Spirit is the great motor of the Church, her soul, her life, the One to whom belong the heartbeats of those who give themselves to Him. Let my priests do this and they will render glory to the Trinity, attaining the end which I pursue, that is, to console my Heart: for their own good and for the salvation of the world. All depends on their response to that which I ask: be it their faithfulness and their love for Me; be it this transformation, this Union, this making of their will one single will with mine. Mary had an active role by which she caused that these graces should be poured out upon my priests and upon my Church. Let them be grateful sons, let them honour and love her always more, because they are the sons whom she loves more intimately, because, like the Saviour of the world, they have, in a certain sense, life from her life, from her immaculate being, from the maternal warmth of her Heart. I promise that this radical change will come to pass; I will reign above all in my priests, for I am the Universal King of my Church and of hearts." Here is the Act of Consecration to the Holy Spirit that the Venerable Servant of God, Concepcíon Cabrera de Armida was accustomed to renew: Consecration to the Holy Spirit O Holy Spirit, receive the perfect and total consecration of all my being. Deign to be from this moment hence in every instant of my life and in my every action: my Director, my Light, my Guide, my Strength and all the Love of my heart. I abandon myself without reserve to all Thy divine actions and I want always to be docile to Thy inspirations. Holy Spirit, transform me with Mary and in Mary into Christ Jesus for the glory of the Father and the salvation of the world. Amen. ]]> http://vultus.stblogs.org/2008/05/consecration_of_priests_to_the.html http://vultus.stblogs.org/2008/05/consecration_of_priests_to_the.html Holy Spirit Sat, 10 May 2008 22:13:07 -0500 Invoke the Holy Spirit We ought to pray to and invoke the Holy Spirit, for each one of us greatly needs His protection and His help. The more a man is deficient in wisdom, weak in strength, borne down with trouble, prone to sin, so ought he the more to fly to Him who is the never-ceasing fount of light, strength, consolation, and holiness. The Forgiveness of Sins And chiefly that first requisite of man, the forgiveness of sins, must be sought for from Him: "It is the special character of the Holy Ghost that He is the Gift of the Father and the Son. Now the remission of all sins is given by the Holy Ghost as by the Gift of God" (Summ. Th. 3a, q. iii., a. 8, ad 3m). Concerning this Spirit the words of the Liturgy are very explicit: "For He is the remission of all sins" (Roman Missal, Tuesday after Pentecost). Sweet Guest of the Soul How He should be invoked is clearly taught by the Church, who addresses Him in humble supplication, calling upon Him by the sweetest of names: "Come, Father of the poor! Come, Giver of gifts! Come, Light of our hearts! O, best of Consolers, sweet Guest of the soul, our refreshment!" (Veni Sancte Spiritus). She earnestly implores Him to wash, heal, water our minds and hearts, and to give to us who trust in Him "the merit of virtue, the acquirement of salvation, and joy everlasting." Nor can it be in any way doubted that He will listen to such prayer, since we read the words written by His own inspiration: "The Spirit Himself asketh for us with unspeakable groanings" (Rom 8., 26).]]> http://vultus.stblogs.org/2008/05/leo_xiii_on_devotion_to_the_ho.html http://vultus.stblogs.org/2008/05/leo_xiii_on_devotion_to_the_ho.html Holy Spirit Fri, 09 May 2008 18:28:36 -0500 I find my consolation in the one and only companion who will never leave me, that is, our Divine Saviour in the Holy Eucharist. . . . It is at the foot of the altar that we find the strength necessary in this isolation of ours. Without the Blessed Sacrament a position like mine would be unbearable. But, having Our Lord at my side, I continue always to be happy and content. . . . Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the most tender of friends with souls who seek to please Him. His goodness knows how to proportion itself to the smallest of His creatures as to the greatest of them. Be not afraid then in your solitary conversations, to tell Him of your miseries, your fears, your worries, of those who are dear to you, of your projects, and of your hopes. Do so with confidence and with an open heart. Blessed Damien de Veuster, SS.CC. A Priest–Icon of the Suffering Christ The saints, all of them, are living illustrations of the power of the Holy Spirit. The saints are the masterpieces of the Divine Iconographer who, in every age, writes in souls the whole mystery of Christ. The Holy Spirit is the Finger of God’s Right Hand tracing on hearts of flesh the likeness of the Heart of Jesus. In Blessed Damian of Molokai the Church sets before us a priest fashioned by the Holy Spirit in a special way into the image of the suffering Christ, “despised and rejected by man, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Is 53:3).]]> http://vultus.stblogs.org/2008/05/damien_a_priest_adorer_1.html http://vultus.stblogs.org/2008/05/damien_a_priest_adorer_1.html Holy Eucharist Priesthood Saints Fri, 09 May 2008 18:07:02 -0500