Pentecost Monday

Sanctuaries Of The Holy Ghost

Preparation. - "Know you not," says St. Paul, "that you are temples of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" (1 Cor. 3. 16). We shall consider tomorrow, first, our great happiness in being the abode of the Holy Ghost, and secondly, the duties this privilege entails. The fruit of our meditation will be often to recall the presence of Him who finds in us His favorite dwelling, solely in order to benefit us and hear our prayers.

I. We Are The Temples Of The Holy Ghost.

What feeling of joy should fill our hearts when we reflect that within us lives and dwells the Spirit of sanctification, who renewed the face of the earth! That exalted privilege so frequently mentioned by Christ to His disciples as if it were the object of His coming upon earth, the complement of His preaching, the fruit of His death, resurrection and ascension into heaven.

"I will ask the Father," He says, "and He will give you another Paraclete, that He may abide with you for ever. The Spirit of truth ... will bring all things to your minds, whatsoever I shall have said to you" (John 14. 16, 17, 26). "If I go not, the Paraclete will not come to you" (John 16. 7). The ancient prophets foretold the coming of Christ; and here Christ becomes the prophet of the Holy Ghost, foretelling His dwelling in our souls.

With what gratitude and love should we not receive Him as our adorable Guest and pay Him our homages. He comes personally to build for Himself a mysterious sanctuary within us by means of the theological and moral virtues, which form, as it were, the shell of the edifice, and His seven gifts, which are its columns, adornments and completion. The acts of virtue the divine Paraclete enables us to perform, embellish our interior temple more and more, rendering it pleasing to the three divine Persons abiding together therein: "We will make our abode with him (John 14. 23). What is sweeter to think and more enrapturing to believe and meditate than the truth of one God in three Persons abiding in hearts possessed of such sanctifying grace? What is better calculated to induce us to flee sin and sanctify ourselves?

O my God, I will say to Thee with David: "Holiness becometh Thy house" (Ps. 92. 5). It is befitting that my soul, in which Thou abidest, should be free from every fault, from every human attachment, from every imperfection. Deign to adorn it with humility, meekness and resignation to Thy will. Scent it with chastity, innocence and docility, and close its entrance to every creature by means of recollection and mortification of the senses. But that Thou mayst forever secure the possession of this dwelling, support it with the columns of Thy seven gifts, which render immovable in me the theological and cardinal virtues, that is, faith, hope and charity, prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance. "Send forth Thy Spirit, and they shall be created."

II. The Duties Flowing From The Dwelling Of The Holy Ghost In Us.

First, a profound respect for and a continual confidence in the Spirit of sanctification, who not only comes Himself to dwell in us, but also brings along with Him the Father and the Son, from whom He is inseparable. Should we not then be constantly overwhelmed with the conviction of our baseness and nothingness, and with the thought of being under the eyes of the Blessed Trinity, which sees all our thoughts, intentions and desires, and before which the powers of heaven tremble, as the Church expresses it? But, at the same time, what should not our confidence be? the Holy Ghost abides in us to enlighten, strengthen and console us, and to hear our prayers. We would greatly displease Him, if we did not hope everything from His mercy, just as a child has every confidence in his most loving father.

Secondly, as the Lord's temple is principally destined for prayer and sacrifice, we should also in our interior sanctuary make acts of gratitude, love and submission to the Father and the Son, and especially to the Holy Ghost, to whom belongs the work of our sanctification. Let us, then, say to Him with David: "I will sing praise to Thee in the sight of the angels; I will worship, ... and will give glory to Thy holy name" (Ps. 137. 1, 2); "Let my prayer be directed as incense in Thy sight" (Ps. 140. 2).

To prayer let us add self-denial, or the sacrifice, first, of every feeling of pride, vanity, self-love, by means of humility; secondly, of every motion of anger, bitterness, impatience, resentment, by means of self-denial; and thirdly, of all sensuality, effeminacy, of all attachment to creatures and self-satisfaction, by the practice of mortification, and an entire fidelity to grace. These acts frequently repeated will be as the sweet-scented perpetual sacrifice, which should honor in us the Deity, like the perpetual sacrifice in the temple of Jerusalem.

O my God, fill me with the spirit of prayer, which will obtain for me a profound respect for Thy infinite Majesty ever present in my soul. Grant me a childlike fear of displeasing Thee and an unwavering confidence in Thy divine mercy. I am resolved to conquer myself, to overcome human respect and to profit by the occasions of suffering, in order to make progress in Thy love. Through the Blessed Virgin Mary's intercession, enable me to live closely united to Thee in my inmost being, wherein Thou hast established Thy abode. "And we will abide with him."

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Pentecost Sunday

Mystery Of The Day

Preparation. - On this day was accomplished what the wise man requested of God: "Lord, renew Thy signs and work new miracles." In the first place, heaven actually wrought new prodigies on this day, and secondly, these prodigies produced wonderful effects in the apostles and the early Christians. Let us resolve to redouble our fervor and confidence, by beseeching the divine Paraclete to change us into new men. "Renew Thy signs and work new miracles" (Eccli. 36. 6).

I. The Wonders Wrought On This Day.

After reading in Scripture by what unheard-of prodigies  the Almighty  withdrew His chosen people out of Egypt, led them through the desert into the Promised Land; after getting acquainted with the humiliation of the Word and with the miracles innumerable wrought by the Incarnate Wisdom with unexampled profusion, we are inclined to ask if it is possible to work other wonders, and if we may repeat the wise man's request: "Lord, renew Thy signs, and work new miracles."

The Holy Ghost seems to have heard this kind of challenge, for on this day He appeared, as He had never done before, in the form of fiery tongues, thus showing to all that He came to spread on earth the divine ardor of charity by means of preaching. He announces His coming with the sound of a mighty wind, indicating that His actions would not be limited, like our Saviour's, to one people and one country, but would extend through the apostles and their successors to the extremities of the earth. Thus is the admirable edifice of the Catholic Church completed, the church symbolized by Eve in the beginning of the world, in germ under the patriarchs, foretold by the prophets, prepared and prefigured by the synagogue, perfected by her Head, Jesus Christ, crowned by the Holy Ghost, who is, as it were, her centre, her heart, her divine life to the consummation of ages. "Yesterday and today and forever."

Sublime crowning of a work embracing all ages, sanctifying all generations, and procuring for us all the graces of salvation! By its means, the true doctrine, prayer, the sacraments and sacrifice will regenerate souls; mankind will pass from darkness to light, from corruption to the purity of angels, from selfishness to perfect charity, from every vice to evangelical sanctity. There will rise and spread over the whole world, the hierarchy of bishops and priests, a multitude of religious orders, and numberless institutions for the relief of every misery and the consolation of every misfortune. Is not this a work more wonderful than the creation itself? In the latter there was question of things natural and temporal; the former regards the kingdom of grace and the mysteries of eternity.

O Spirit of wisdom and fortitude, Thou hast surpassed all our expectations in completing the work of our Redemption. Deign to enlighten me and make known to me more clearly the inconceivable happiness of having been born in the Catholic Church, the column and base of truth, the inexhaustible reservoir of sanctifying graces. Enable me always to derive profit from the sacraments, holy Mass, prayer, the Eucharistic banquet, that I may become a new man, transformed by a lively faith and inflamed with the pure ardors of charity. "Renew Thy signs and work new miracles."

II. Special Effects Of The Descent Of The Holy Ghost.

Scarcely had the apostles received the Holy Ghost than they knew all the mysteries they were to disclose to the world. They, hitherto so ignorant, possessed the science of the Scriptures  and spoke in diverse tongues without ever having studied them. The law of grace was, as it were, engraved in their hearts; they loved it and felt urged to observe it. Their ardent charity rendered them ready to sacrifice their lives a thousand times for the glory and service of their good Master. Hence their zeal for souls which caused them to disperse themselves in all the countries of the world.

How greatly their intrepid courage contrasted with their former timidity! They had fled at the beginning of the Passion, abandoning their Saviour to His enemies, and had thenceforth always kept themselves secluded for fear of arrest, and now they publicly reproached the Jews with having put their Messiah to death. They not merely exposed themselves to persecutions, but also underwent every kind of torture, and finally, sealed with their blood the doctrine they preached by Christ's authority.

And these wonderful effects are not restricted to the apostles, but were imparted to the early Christians, who devoted themselves to mental prayer, mortification, to works of charity and zeal. They unhesitatingly gave up their goods for the use of the community; they kept aloof from worldly pleasures and strove with all their might to keep the divine commandments, and desirous of becoming conformable to Jesus Christ, they offered themselves by thousands and millions to martyrdom. O wonder which surpassed the expectation of all ages and realized the prophecies beyond all hopes.

Do we, like the early Christians, derive profit from the graces of the Holy Ghost? "Those who receive Him," says St. John Chrysostom, "despise temporal riches, and consider it their duty to seek only the treasures of eternity." They delight in poverty and privations, in being isolated from the world and possessing God alone. How faithfully they obey the divine inspirations to keep silence, to be recollected, to devote all their leisure time to prayer, to give up certain affections, certain readings, and to correct certain defects! Do we show ourselves as docile as this to the wishes of the Holy Ghost?

O my God, how far am I from these dispositions, since I so often resist the inspirations of Thy grace! Through the merits of Jesus and Mary, grant me, first, always to bend my judgement and will to all Thou askest of me, and secondly, the courage to obey Thee in disgusts, sadness and adversity, as well as in peace, joy and consolations.

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Vigil of Pentecost

Mary And The Holy Ghost

Preparation. - The intercession of Mary is one of the most efficacious means to dispose us for the feast of Pentecost. We shall see to how great a degree the Immaculate Virgin was filled with the Holy Ghost, first, for her own self, and secondly, for us, and then we shall beseech her to help us to be animated with sentiments of humility and confidence, as she was on the day of Pentecost when she received so perfect a fulness of the Spirit of love. "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee" (Luke 1. 35).

I. Mary Was Filled With The Holy Ghost.

Already at her Immaculate Conception the Blessed Virgin had received a fulness of the Spirit of God, far superior to that which sanctified all the angels and saints combined; when He came upon her at the moment when the Eternal Word became incarnate in her through His operation, this plenitude surpassed all our conceptions. The spotless Virgin became, in fact, the Mother of God, a dignity more sublime than any created greatness, and requiring an unspeakable perfection, worthy, in some manner, of the uncreated Being. Mary, at the same time, received the noble and difficult mission to contribute to the Redemption of fallen man; this secured for her the light, gifts and privileges due to so important a vocation. Hence St. Bernardine of Siena says that God alone can conceive the capital of graces invested, so to speak, in Mary on the fortunate day of the Incarnation.

Nevertheless, Mary's incomprehensible holiness went on increasing at every moment of her earthly pilgrimage, and particularly at the epochs of the principal mysteries of Christ's life and death. What virtues did shoe not practice during her Son's Passion? How great her courage on the way to Calvary! How grand her fortitude and constancy at the foot of the cross! These more than heroic acts drew upon her the most precious favors until the moment when the Holy Ghost, descending upon the apostles, concentrated Himself more especially in the soul of their amiable Queen.

Do we wish, after her example, to prepare in our heart a pleasing dwelling to the divine Paraclete? Let us then strive to unite innocence to penance, the fear of God to confidence in Him, humility to greatness of soul, delicacy of conscience to generosity of sacrifice. Let us endeavor, with Mary, to ascend to God through the different degrees of recollection, purity of heart and mental prayer, degrees which will enable us to die wholly to ourselves in union with Jesus crucified.

O Spirit of grace and truth, Thou delightest to dwell in hearts wholly purified from the old leaven of the passions; deign to impart to me the courage to combat self-esteem, the desire of praise, love of ease and comfort and sensuality, so that Thou mayst reign in me, Thou who didst reign so perfectly in the most pure soul of the august Mary, the Mother of Jesus and mine forever.

II. Mary, Channel Of The Graces Of The Holy Ghost.

When Mary was raised by the Spirit of love to the fulness of sanctity in becoming the Mother of God and the Mother of men, she received, at the same time, the means of feeding her spiritual children and enabling  them to resemble Jesus Christ. She manifested this privilege, when her salutation imparted the prophetic spirit to Elizabeth, and suddenly sanctified the soul of John the Baptist. Every where and in every circumstance we behold her intervention, when there is question of dispensing to souls the benefits of the Redemption.

On the day of Pentecost, says the saintly Father Olier, the Holy Ghost descended first on our Blessed Mother, and then spread over the apostles under the form of fiery tongues. Was not the apostolic ministry, indeed, which was destined to impart grace, to receive its final completion through the channel of her who is its dispensatrix? Nevertheless, the apostles undoubtedly owed to the prayers of their lovely Sovereign, as much as to their own dispositions, the plenitude of wisdom and holiness which they received on that great day.

To her we also are indebted for the abundant helps the divine Paraclete prepares for us. "All gifts, virtues and graces," says St. Bernardine of Siena, "are dispensed through the hands of Mary to whom she wishes, when she wishes, and as she wishes." She is more eager to lavish her favors upon us, than we can be desirous of receiving them. Moreover, according to St. Ildephonsus , as fire penetrates and wholly heats iron, so also did the sanctifying Spirit take possession of Mary's soul. Hence she has only to stoop towards us to fill us with the same Spirit.

Let us examine whether there are not certain obstacles in us that render us unworthy of her maternal benevolence. Are we not conceited because of our pretended merits, and instead of humbling ourselves at mental prayer, do we not cherish a high opinion of ourselves? Are we not then often distracted, cold, indifferent and without any desire of uniting ourselves with God?

My most amiable Lady, how little love and confidence accompany the prayers I venture to address to thee! Deign to be mindful of thy mercies, and as sick-nurses are destined to care for the sick, mayst thou, the queenly nurse of mankind, condescend to dress and heal the wounds of my soul and restore it to perfect health. Wherefore, draw to me the Spirit of consolation, who is the efficacious remedy of every ill and every wound. Help me to repeat frequently today with the holy Church this invocation: "Holy Ghost, deign to irrigate what is parched in me, and heal what is sore."

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Friday Before Pentecost

Dispositions For Pentecost.

Preparation. - Since the Holy Ghost is the Sanctifier of souls, let us ardently desire His coming. Wherefore we shall consider, first, how He draws and unites us to Himself, and secondly, in which hearts He delights to dwell, and we shall then adopt the custom of frequently repeating these days: "Come, Spirit Creator, and visit the minds of Thy servants."

I. How The Holy Ghost Draws Us To Himself.

Before the Redeemer's coming, men, having strayed away from God, refused to obey Him. Far from seeking Him, they shunned Him and turned to creatures. The Lord then, instead of inflicting punishments, resolved to win our hearts by means of love, saying: "I will draw them with the bands of love" (Osee 11. 4). And, indeed, these bands of love, that is the prodigies of the Incarnation, the Redemption, the Church, the Blessed Eucharist, the descent of the Holy Ghost upon the apostles, converted the world and brought men's souls back to God.

And what better means could He have chosen? Is not charity, as St. Paul says, "the bond of perfection"? (Col. 3. 14). It disengages us from the earth and from ourselves, and enables us to make progress in every virtue, and reach the closest union with the supreme Good. Who then would refuse to bear the sweet fetters of love, which produces such effects in us? As we know, the bonds of the world are chains of death, but those of the Holy Ghost are chains of life and salvation (Eccli. 6. 31). As the divine Paraclete unites through love the Father and the Eternal Word, so also He unites our hearts to God with the bonds of divine charity, which imparts to us a new life, superior to that of all the beings God could create, for it enables us to participate in the nature of the supreme and uncreated Being. O how beautiful the life which renders us sharers in the Lord's power, wisdom and holiness! then God is in us, and we are in Him. He supports and directs us and makes us live by His Spirit.

O my God, essential Charity, grant that my union with Thee be the continual object of all my thoughts, projects and aspirations. Hitherto, instead of seeking Thee alone, I have had no other object in view than the interests and gratification of my self-love. Even yet daily do I worry , complain and grieve, when some duty is disagreeable to me, or requires some sacrifice of me. Does not this prove, O my god, that I love myself more than Thee, that I prefer my own satisfaction to Thy infinitely amiable will? Through the merits of Jesus and Mary, impart to me, O Holy Ghost, Thy most precious gifts which will lift up my soul above herself, and enkindle in her the desire of immolating herself for Thee. Give me those bright lights with which Thou enlightenest Thy saints, so that, knowing Thy infinite perfections and boundless benefits, I may unreservedly cling to Thee until my last breath.

II. In Which Hearts The Holy Ghost Delights To Dwell.

The state of grace is an indispensible condition for receiving the Holy Ghost, for our Saviour says, "If you love Me, keep My commandments, and I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Paraclete" (John 14. 15, 16). The Holy Ghost enters the soul that desires Him and attracts Him by her pious affections, even if she possessed but one degree of sanctifying grace.

He lavishes His gifts on those who seek Him in retreat. Why does Scripture praise the soul that, like a turtle-dove, keeps herself concealed from the world? (Cant. 1. 9). Because solitude and the recollection enjoyed therein render us more attentive to the voice of the Spirit of God, to His interior attractions and aspirations. He, in fact, formed the prophets in the desert, and made of John the Baptist a burning and shining light. Was it not in the solitude of the Supper-room that the apostles were changed into new men? For the saints, retreat was always a heaven here below; they knew, indeed, by experience, the choice graces and sweet consolations that God imparts therein to those who love Him.

From them He specially requires a submissive and docile heart. "If you love Me," says our Saviour, "keep My commandments, and I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Paraclete, that He may abide with you forever." Just as if He said: "You shall have the Holy Ghost in you inasmuch as you love Me, keep My commandments, submit to My will, are docile to My graces and carefully abstain from grieving Him by resisting His inspirations." "God," says St. Peter, "giveth the Holy Ghost to all that obey Him" (Acts 5. 32).

O Holy Ghost, I will always keep my soul prepared to receive Thee. Wherefore, I will strive to adorn it with the flowers that please Thee and are cultivated in solitude, silence and prayer. I will fill it with faith, purity, and devotion, and will banish therefrom whatever may be displeasing to Thy divine eyes, and especially the defect which is most hurtful to me, and which I have to confess most frequently. Finally, with the help of Thy Grace, I am resolved, from now till next Sunday, first, carefully to heed the voice of Thy reproaches and inspirations, and sceondly, to make generously, not withstanding my repugnance, all the sacrifices Thou mayst require of me. I place these resolutions under the protection fo the Blessed Virgin Mary, Thy ever faithful Spouse.

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Thursday Before Pentecost

Dispositions For Pentecost

Preparation. - The feast of Pentecost being of great importance for our soul, we should be urged to celebrate it with fervor by considering, first, the graces the Holy Ghost wishes to grant us, and secondly, the means we should use to obtain them, and then we shall resolve often to address the divine Paraclete in the words of the Chruch: "Come, thou Father of the poor; come, Thou giver of gifts; come, Thou Light of hearts."

I. The Graces The Holy Ghost Will Bring To Us.

"When the Paraclete cometh," said our Saviour to His apostles, "whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceedeth from the Father, He shall give testimony of Me" (John 15. 26). Thus did Jesus promise them the Holy Ghost to induce them to prepare for His coming. He calls Him the Spirit of truth proceeding from the Father, who will, consequently, make Him known, and will give testimony of the Son , that is, He will enable us to understand His grandeur and the excellence of His teaching. In this knowledge, says our Lord, eternal life consists: "This is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent" (John 17. 3).

Not content in teaching in general what is necessary for salvation, the Spirit of truth will suggest to each one of us what specially concerns him. Hence He will enlighten us as to our nothingness, point out to us our evil inclination, and all that needs to be corrected and reformed in us. He will enlarge the horizon of our soul, and enable us to see more clearly the infinite malice, so to speak, of sin, and the boundless perfections of Him whom we ought to love with our whole heart. He will help us to penetrate more deeply into the mysteries of the Crib, the Cross and the Tabernacle, to appreciate better the benefits of faith, grace and the sacraments, and to testify our gratitude to the Saviour for them.  He will strengthen our hope in the divine promises made to prayer, to our good will, to our repentance and to our good works to secure our salvation.

In fine, He will disclose to us new ways to be explored, fresh progress to be made in the difficult practice of humility, self-denial and sacrifice; of recollection, watchfulness, and mental prayer; in the perfection of meekness, devotedness, zeal, and of all that charity inspires to souls eager for their sanctification. To facilitate our fidelity to His guidance, the Holy Ghost will impart to us His sweet unction, which is calculated to render our will more tractable and docile, and also the victorious fortitude shown by the apostles and the early Christians in defying not only human respect, but even torments and death for the glory of Jesus!

O my God, Spirit of holiness, show me my deep misery and enable me to desire Thy presence within me with the same ardor as the disciples assembled in the Supper-room. And thou, O Mary , beseech the divine Paraclete to perfect my understanding and my will; my understanding with the gifts of wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and counsel, and my will with the gifts of piety, fortitude and fear of God.

II. Means Of Preparing Ourselves For The Coming Of The Holy Ghost.

"It is expedient for you that I go," said our Lord to His disciples, "for if I go not, the Paraclete will not come to you" (John 16. 7). "By these words," says St. Bernard, "Jesus teaches us not to mingle vanity with truth, fleeting goods with those that are eternal, the material with the spiritual; the mean with the sublime, so as to wish to enjoy both the earthly and the heavenly." In other words, our Saviour recommends to us detachment as a necessary disposition to the reception of the Holy Ghost. What, in fact, did He ask of His disciples, unless that they should not love Him with a natural love? Thus He taught us to disengage ourselves from everything, even from the sensible relish of piety, so that we may possess the Holy Ghost Himself, His gifts, His graces and His love in preference to His consolations.

Moreover, let us, like the apostles, enter into a deep solitude and a serious recollection. "Stay you in the city," said Jesus to them, "till you be endued with power from on high" (Luke 24.49). "Then they returned to Jerusalem, ... went up into the upper room, ... persevering with one mind in prayer, ... with Mary, the Mother of Jesus" (Acts 1. 12-14). Let us follow their example by employing the days preceding Pentecost in the practice of watchfulness and the interior life. Let us often repeat with the Church:

Come, Holy Ghost, Father of the poor, come, Giver of gifts and light of hearts. O best of consolers, sweet Guest of the soul, sweet refreshment against the heat of our passions. Be our rest in labor, our peace in agitation, our consolation in tears, Most Blessed Light, fill the inmost hearts of Thy faithful servants, for without Thee, without Thy grace man is nought and wickedness.

Wash what is defiled in us, irrigate what is parched, heal what is wounded. Bend what is stiff and haughty , warm up what is frigid, and straighten what is crooked. Impart to all the faithful trusting in Thee, the sacred sevenfold gift, the merit of virtue, the outcome of salvation and endless bliss. O Mary, Spouse of the God of love, help me to prepare well for the great feast of Pentecost.

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Friday After the Ascension

The Novena to the Holy Ghost

Preparation. - The novena to the sanctifying Spirit, says St. Alphonsus, is the most important of all. Let us consider, first, the motives of this importance, and secondly, the means of making this novena with fruit. Let us during these days keep ourselves united to the dispositions of the apostles and the Blessed Virgin, by persevering with them in prayer to draw within us the sanctifying Spirit. “They were persevering with one mind in prayer (Acts 1. 14).

I. Importance of the Novena to the Holy Ghost.

The Church has consecrated the custom of making novenas in preparing for the liturgical feasts. That to the Holy Ghost is of greater importance, for in it we honor the third Person of the Blessed Trinity, who intervened in all the works of God, and especially in that of the Redemption. In fact, is it not the Holy Ghost who applies the Savior’s merits to us? “Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost,” says our Lord, “he cannot enter into the kingdom of God’ (John 3. 5). It is the divine Paraclete who causes us in baptism to be born to grace; who fills us with heavenly gifts in confirmation and unites us to the God man in the Eucharist by the charity He pours into our hearts (Romans 5. 3). He intervenes even in the sacrifice of our altars as the prayers of the Mass indicate. “Come, Almighty Sanctifier.”

And how does the Church sanctify the world, unless through the Holy Ghost, who gives life to her? He is, according to St. Thomas, her heart, as Jesus is her Head. He pours supernatural life into all the faithful, which is like the blood of souls, whence they derive strength for doing good. How grateful should we be to Him for having given us the light of faith, made us children of God, partakers of His nature, enriched us with infused virtues and precious gifts, the least of which surpasses in value all the wealth of the universe. Thanks to Him we are endowed with the power of meriting, and of every moment increasing our spiritual and eternal treasure.

Let us do this especially during this novena with an earnestness like that of worldlings for accumulating perishable goods, or rather with the constant fervor of the greatest saints. Is there in our heart or conduct some defect to be rooted out, or some virtue to be strengthened? The occasion is now favorable. The divine Paraclete, wishing to sanctify us, is ready to load us with His benefits. He will increase in our soul habitual grace, the intensity of our faith, the firmness of our hope, the generosity of our devotedness. If we invoke Him with fervor and perseverance, He will cause us to fear God more profoundly, to meditate and pray more attentively, to correspond more faithfully to His attractions and to advance more rapidly in the mysterious ways of interior life. Is it not, then, of great importance for us to make this novena efficacious?

O my God, I will do so by means of recollection and mental prayer. Wherefore I unite myself with the Virgin Mother and the apostles in retreat in the Supper room until Pentecost. “They were persevering with one mind in prayer.”

II. How to Profit by the Novena to the Holy Ghost.

Let us adopt the sentiments of the apostles, preparing themselves in the Supper room to receive the Holy Ghost. With what deep humility they recalled there past ignorance, their weakness during the Passion, and Christ’s reproaches for their unbelief after His resurrection!

As for us, how many motives of confusion have we not? Not only can we say with the Church: “O Holy Ghost, without Thy operation, there is nothing good in man, nothing that is undefiled”; not only can we make this humiliating avowal, but we can also make many other personal admissions. With how many faults and imperfections we can reproach ourselves! With how much resistance and infidelity to the graces of the Holy Ghost! And how slothful we are in His service, how cold in His love, how forgetful of His presence and benefits! Do not all these obstacles to the perfect reign of the divine Paraclete require of us frequent acts of self-abasement and of a loving contrition?

To these acts the apostles added their prayers and their wishes. Persuaded of their helplessness and their need of grace, how ardently they longed for the Holy Ghost! And should we not also long for Him likewise, we who have so many defects to correct, so many weaknesses to heal, so many virtues to consolidate! How we are filled with vain thoughts at mental prayer, at holy Mass, and even when partaking of the Eucharistic banquet! How many natural and selfish motives defile even our holiest actions! So many unmortified propensities, ignoble, ungenerous sentiments, a patience and a self-denial which have scarcely taken a little root; does not all this spiritual poverty compel us to call to dwell in us the Author of the heavenly gifts, and to do so with the dispositions of a starving beggar imploring most earnestly a little food to save his life?

O my God, Spirit Creator, source of living water, refresh my heart consumed by its passions. Glowing furnace of divine charity, inflame me with zeal in the search of perfection. I am resolved, first, to offer Thee daily during this novena some acts of mortification and some special prayers; secondly, to combat my defects more strenuously and to observe my rule, my rule of life more faithfully, and thirdly, to perform more carefully my pious exercises, and to recommend myself particularly to the Mother of God and the holy apostles meditating and praying together at Jerusalem, with an ever new fervor.

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