The omnipotence of the Father as Creator of Heaven and earth called the world into existence out of nothing; but the world was still void and empty. It was the work of the Holy Ghost to adjust it and communicate to it wonderful beauty, motion, life, fertility and the multiplicity of its creatures. Hence Holy Scripture says: "The Spirit of God moved over the waters," which still covered the whole earth.

   In like manner, Our Divine Savior accomplished the work of Redemption, announced truths, and gained again grace for the world; but it was the work of the Holy Ghost to adjust as it were this Redemption, to apply it to men by forming the kingdom of grace and truth, the Holy Church, and to communicate to her marvelous beauty, fruitfulness, and perpetuity, in order that in her and through her the Redemption might become the common property of all men until the end of time. For this reason, the Holy Ghost came down on Pentecost at Jerusalem, in order to begin His Divine activity for the salvation of the world. This was in accordance with the promise of Our Divine Savior to His Apostles: "I will ask the Father and He will give you another Paraclete, in order that He may remain with you forever, the Spirit of truth." I will, therefore, speak to you today of the Holy Ghost, of His name, of His activity, and of His government of His Church.

   O Jesus, assist us with Thy grace!

   1. The Holy Ghost is the Third Divine Person, as every Christian believes and knows. And every one who is Baptized or receives any of the other Sacraments, receives them in the name and with the invocation of the Holy Ghost. As we have been taught by Our Divine Savior to call the First Person Father, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father, Who has adopted us as His Children; and as we for this reason call the Second Person the Son, as Jesus called Himself, so, too, do we call the Third Person, according to the revelation of Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost.

   True the Holy Triune God is the purest, most perfect Spirit; the Angels are also pure spirits and have no bodies; and our own souls are immortal spirits; nevertheless we call the Third Person by the particular name, Holy Spirit, because He gives to us and to the whole world that supernatural, that higher spiritual life of grace. The Apostle St. John writes: "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit" [John 3, 6]. This birth to a higher spiritual and supernatural life, as the fundamental condition of eternal happiness, takes place through the Holy Spirit in Baptism, as Our Divine Savior Himself teaches: "Amen, amen I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter the kingdom of God"
[John 3, 5]. On earth, he does not belong to the Church, and after death, he does not belong to Heaven, just as one who is not born of woman, could not belong to the human race on earth.

     The Third Person of the Blessed Trinity is called, especially, the Holy Spirit, although supreme holiness is common to all three Divine Persons. As creation is attributed to the Father and redemption to the Son, so to the Holy Ghost is attributed sanctification. He sanctifies our souls by His grace; He sanctifies the Catholic Church and the faithful. Whatever holiness there is on earth, or in Heaven in the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Angels, the Saints and the blessed-----all this grace and sanctity comes from the Holy Ghost. True, Our Divine Savior merited for us and for the whole world, by His bitter Passion and Death, all grace and sanctification, but it is the Holy Ghost that animates our hearts, and makes them susceptible to these graces and to redemption. He distributes the graces, and calls forth those Heavenly virtues of innocence, faith, hope and charity, piety and the sublime works of Christian mercy, which are the glory and beauty of the Church, and loudly proclaim her Divinity and truth before all the world. Therefore, every child that has been Baptized, and in whom is seen the innocence and grace imparted by the Holy Spirit, answers the question: "Who has sanctified thee?" briefly and clearly: "The Holy Ghost has sanctified me." And as this child, so the whole Christian world and everything that is blessed in Heaven owes its sanctification to the Holy Ghost, as it owes creation to the Eternal Father, and redemption to the Son. But let us ask now when did the Holy Ghost begin His Divine activity? If He as the Third Divine Person of the Blessed Trinity is God from eternity to eternity, equally omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent with the Father and the Son, so, too, He must have revealed His Divine activity from the beginning. And this is true even though it was concealed from the eyes of the world, as the sublime mystery of the Most Holy Trinity was not revealed from the beginning.

   The Divine Activity of the Holy Spirit adjusts, animates and develops into one organic whole what the Omnipotence of the Father and the Wisdom of the Son created. The universe which was called into existence by the word of the Father was, as it were, the building material from which the Holy Spirit made all things, just as the builder from materials, brick, iron and wood, constructs a beautiful palace.

The Jews formed only a mob, a crowd of men and women, speaking the same language, descended from the same stock and having the same customs; it is only after their exodus from Egypt and the promulgation of the Law on Mt. Sinai that they became a nation with the same faith in, and the same hope of a Savior to come, with the same proclamation of laws, with the same sacrifices and ceremonies. The Old Testament with its promises was a figure of the New Testament and of the Christian people. This transformation of the Jewish nation was the work of the Holy Ghost. The Prophets, who foretold such wonderful things of the Savior, until the expectation of a Savior was to be found even among the pagans-----these Prophets were inspired and enlightened by the Holy Ghost. The just of the Old Testament, who were so great their hope and in their holy lives, were enriched by graces given by the Holy Ghost. The Martyrs of the Old Testament, who so heroically offered their lives in defense of the Commandments and their faith in one God, were strengthened and preserved steadfast by the Holy Ghost. Whatever the Old Testament possessed, whatever the Jewish nation possessed that was
good and holy-----it was such by virtue of the operation and assistance of the Holy Ghost.
   
Thus it was also, my beloved, at the time of Divine Savior. The Redeemer had, indeed,
announced His Heavenly truths, performed miracles of Heavenly mercy, had chosen His Apostles, instituted the Sacraments, and offered up the Bloody Sacrifice of His life on the Cross for the Redemption of the world,-----but but all these things were merely the material, so to speak, for the New Testament, for the kingdom of grace and truth, the one, true Catholic Church. But the Church was not yet in existence. To. arrange it, to animate it, to constitute it the kingdom of God on earth, this was again the work of the Holy Ghost.

   We witness therefore the same phenomena at the conclusion of the New Covenant of God with man on Pentecost in Jerusalem, as once at the forming of the Old Covenant on Mt. Sinai. On the fiftieth day after the exodus from Egypt God announced the Old Law to the Jewish people through Moses; this law was written on two tables of stone, the Ten Commandments. Likewise it was fifty days after Easter, after the exodus from the kingdom of death, that the Law of Grace was proclaimed to the world that had been redeemed.

It was announced by the prince of the Apostles after the descent of the Holy Ghost on Pentecost.  In the signs, whereby the coming of the Holy Ghost at Jerusalem made Itself perceptible, were contained the, greatest mysteries. There came a sound as of a mighty wind rushing. So, too, with the assistance of the Holy Ghost should redemption and the Christian faith be spread throughout the world with the swiftness of the wind, and with the power of the storm destroy paganism with its idolatry, purify the earth from pagan vices, and dispel superstition and the tumors of the passions.

   But the Holy Ghost came down in the form of fire, as God appeared to Moses in the burning bush, or as a pillar of fire went before the Israelites in the desert. The Holy Ghost purified the hearts of individuals of men as fire purifies metal. He enlightens understanding, He dispels the darkness of unbelief, enkindles the glorious light of Catholic faith throughout the world, and warms all hearts with the fire of Divine love.
    
The Holy Ghost came down upon the Apostles in the form of fiery tongues, communicating to them the gift of tongues. Not one nation alone, as the Jews but all nations from now on are called to the redemption, and all mankind should now speak only one language, the language of faith. God caused the fusion of languages at the building of the tower Babel, as a punishment for man's pride and apostasy from Him, and divided the human race into many hostile nations. But with the coming of the Holy Ghost, all nations are again united into one true Catholic Church, as the great family of God on earth.

   3. Herewith is the government of the Holy Spirit made manifest in the Church. Our Divine Savior had indeed with His merits, teaching, and Sacraments as well as with His Bloody and Unbloody Sacrifice gathered together, as it were, the building stones for the kingdom of God on earth, that is, to found the Catholic Church. But before the Church came into existence, the Savior had ascended into Heaven, and now the Holy Ghost Who completes the work, preserves and governs the Church for the salvation of mankind. Therefore the true Church celebrates as her birthday the descent of the Holy Ghost on the Apostles at Jerusalem. The Holy Ghost now rules, teaches  and animates the Church according to the promise of Our Divine Savior. He preserves her in truth, communicates to her His treasures of grace, and will be with her until the end of time.

    Just as in Jesus Christ, the Divine and the human were united for the redemption of man, so, too, must there be united in His Church the Divine and the human element for the preservation of grace and faith. A purely human activity would be as little calculated to bring about this sublime work, as the pure man in Jesus Christ, without the Person of the Son of God, would have been sufficient to save the world. The Holy Ghost takes the place of the Son of God and, instead of the Humanity of Christ, the visible Church teaches and saves. Therefore the Redeemer spoke so emphatically to His sad and troubled Apostles: "It is expedient for you that I go, for if I go not, the Paraclete will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you" [John 16, 7].

   The Holy Ghost is now, my beloved, as it were, the Divine Soul of the Church which animates and sanctifies it, just as the soul of man animates and preserves his body. The Holy Ghost is, moreover, the Divine Teacher of the Church Who leads her into all truth, so that she cannot err, just as the Divine Savior was the visible Teacher of His Apostles. The Holy Ghost sanctifies souls through the Church, communicates to them the graces and merits of Jesus, rules and directs them. Yes, as only God could create and redeem the world, so only God can preserve the fruits of redemption on earth, and communicate them to mankind. In this work the Church is the instrument of the Holy Ghost. What would have become of Heavenly truth amidst the errors of men and their change of views and opinions, if the Holy Ghost had not preserved it on earth in and through the true Church? What would become of grace and the Sacraments in the midst of the passions of men, if the Holy Ghost were not preserving them until the end of time, and dispensing them in and through the Church? If the Holy Ghost did not govern and preserve the Church it would have long ago been destroyed in the fearful storms and persecutions, and by the hatred of godless governments and men. But the Holy Ghost rules the Church, preserves it, leads it into all truth, and continues through it the redemption and sanctification of men, until the end of time.

  4. God the Father is marvelous in His creation of the world, marvelous and amiable is God the Son in its redemption, but just as marvelous is God the Holy Ghost in the preservation of the redemption, in the sanctification of men and in the government of Holy Church. Through her and in her He continues the work of Our Divine Savior. As He unites Himself with Christian souls by His grace, and makes them children of God and heirs of Heaven, so, too, He unites Himself in a higher and more Divine way with the one true Catholic Church, and makes her the kingdom of God on earth, the kingdom of grace and of truth. This is His action in the Church, which will be completed only on the day of judgment, on that day when the Church will become the Church Triumphant and every Christian soul will be transported into the eternal bliss of Heaven.