| EXCERPTS TAKEN FROM
The Holy Ghost
Eccles. Appr. 1952 |
AND with Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat, 1950 TAN BOOKS |
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The following pages will, we hope, dear Reader, prove to be the most interesting and useful you have ever read. They will tell you all about the Holy Ghost, about Whom you possibly know very little. The doctrine of the Holy Ghost is without doubt the most important of all the Church's teachings because, if we do not know and love the Holy Ghost, we cannot possibly understand the other great truths of our Holy Religion. Without the Holy Ghost we are blind. Not only is this doctrine the most important, it is the most wonderful, the most consoling, the most sublime of all doctrines, for with the Holy Ghost we can do all things easily and well. He is the Spirit of Love, of Peace, of joy, the Spirit of Divine Consolation. He is the Light of Our Souls and the Strength of Our Wills. Yet, strange to say, this doctrine is little understood by great numbers of Christians. Some have a vague knowledge of the Holy Ghost, but very few indeed have a real grasp of all the Holy Ghost has done for them and is most ready to do if only they allow Him. We love and honor the Eternal Father whenever we say the Our Father, and this not once, but many times a day. Whenever, too, we speak of the Great Creator of Heaven and Earth, the God of the Universe, we think of the Eternal Father. We pray to the Son, not only when invoking the Blessed Trinity, but when praying to Our Lord Jesus Christ. We honor His Incarnation, His life, His Passion and Death. We honor His Sacred Heart, His Holy Name, and above all we honor Him in the Holy Eucharist. But many rarely or ever think of the Holy Ghost! They know very little about all the wonderful things He is ready to give them-----the peace, the immense joy, the consolations, the love He is offering them. "How extraordinary," Cardinal Manning exclaims, "it is that Christians know so little about the Holy Ghost though He is the Author of our Sanctification, the Giver of all Joys and Consolations!" His Eminence was in his youth a sincere Protestant. He became, with the help of the Holy Ghost, a fervent Catholic. Under the same Divine guidance, he became a priest, a bishop and finally a cardinal. He ever cherished a great devotion to the Holy Ghost and solved all his doubts and difficulties by praying to this Holy Spirit. , When called on to make any important decision, he first of all bent his head in silent prayer. If the problem were graver, he devoted more time and fervor in asking for guidance. Thanks to the graces he thus received, he was able not only to attain high personal sanctity but to render great services to the Catholic Church in England. He wrote two beautiful books on the Holy Ghost. Cardinal Newman gives us a touching example of love for the Holy Ghost. He, too, was brought up by his parents in the Protestant religion. Unfortunately, he had the strongest prejudices against the Catholic Church. At an early age he began to see that his own religion could not be the true one, so full was it of contradictions and errors. He spent years trying to find the Church of Christ. He read history, he argued with eminent divines and consulted many learned friends, but all in vain. He failed to recognize in the midst of so many claims the religion given us by Jesus Christ.
Finally, one day he received from God, Who was pleased with his good intentions,
an inspiration.
Then falling on his knees he prayed fervently. The clouds of doubt began to disappear, and he at last saw the truth of the Catholic Church. He describes his conversion in the following beautiful hymn, written not long before his conversion. LEAD KINDLY LIGHT Lead Kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom,
He became a Catholic, and following his example, more than a thousand Protestant ministers were converted and a very host of laymen. Cardinal Gibbons had the following experience when still a parish priest: He was called to see a distinguished American senator who was gravely ill. Unfortunately, the sick man did not believe in the existence of God. He listened, however, attentively to Father Gibbons, who spoke to him of the goodness of God and His love for us, proving at the same time God's existence with several cogent arguments. These, however, made no impression on the Senator. Father Gibbons finally asked him whether, if such a good God as he had been describing did exist, he would believe in and love Him? "Most certainly," was the answer. "Well then," said Fr. Gibbons, "will you say the following little prayer sometimes: "O God of infinite goodness, if You exist, make me know You." This the sick man promised to do, and then came a flood of light! Some days after, Fr. Gibbons was once more summoned to the bedside of the dying man, who on seeing him, called out, "Father, I believe, I believe!" And for the remaining weeks of his life he manifested the liveliest faith in and love for God. A priest who is devoted to the Holy Ghost does more than a thousand others. The writer met one such priest recently. He was extremely modest and unpretentious, yet he got through a prodigious amount of work. He not only worked successfully himself, but he had the gift of attracting and inspiring others to work with him. In the course of conversation he mentioned that he had great devotion to the Holy Ghost, to Whom he attributed all his success. When Catholic universities commence the year's work, when law courts begin their annual sessions, at the opening of parliaments and other important corporations, the Mass of the Holy Ghost is solemnly said and His Divine guidance invoked, and as we shall see afterwards, individual members of these corporations beg light and help from the Holy Ghost in all grave emergencies. We, too, should make it our practice to seek in all things the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
What is this wonderful doctrine of the Holy Ghost? The Holy Ghost is the Third Person of the Holy Trinity, equal in every way to the Father and to the Son and equally deserving of love and adoration. This is about all that many Christians know of the Holy Ghost. But what He is to us, what He does for us, and what He wishes to do for us, few understand. WHAT THE HOLY GHOST DOES FOR US The first all-important fact that we must fully understand is that the Holy Ghost is really, truly and personally in our souls even as He is in Heaven. He loves us with a most tender and infinite love and earnestly desires to pour out on us His Gifts and graces. This He cannot do if we do not correspond to His love, if we do not know Him, love Him and pray to Him. Our most grave obligation, then, is to bear clearly in mind and fully realize that the Holy Ghost is in us, and not merely by His graces and Gifts, but personally and as really as Jesus Christ is in the Tabernacle, though in a different way. Every soul in the state of grace is a living tabernacle of the Holy Ghost, and as we are obliged to adore and honor Jesus Christ on the altar, so too are we obliged to honor the Holy Ghost in our souls. The Presence of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament in millions and millions of Sacred Hosts in the cities and towns of the whole world, and even in the wild deserts of Africa and Asia, day and night, is indeed a proof of the boundless love of God for us. But the Presence of the Holy Ghost in our souls is still more amazing, because God's Presence in the Blessed Sacrament will cease on the last day; whereas, the presence of the Holy Ghost in our souls will never cease. It will last for all Eternity. Moreover, Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament is on the altar; whereas, the Holy Ghost is in our very souls. St. Paul says, "Know you not, that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" (1 Cor. 3: 16) And again: "Your members are the temple of the Holy Ghost, Who is in you, Whom you have, from God." (1 Cor. 6: 19) And St. John: "And
I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another paraclete, that He
may abide with you for ever. The spirit of truth, Whom the world cannot
receive, because it seeth Him not, nor knoweth Him: but you shall know
Him; because He shall abide with you, and shall be in you."
THE SAINTS AND THE HOLY GHOST All the Saints were filled with the Holy Ghost. Their souls overflowed with joy and consolation. They did all the wonders we read of in their lives by the help of the Holy Ghost. With the strength He gave them, all sufferings were easily borne and all difficulties overcome. St. Ignatius Martyr (of Antioch), who was insulted by the Emperor Trajan because he was a Christian, replied, "Do not insult Ignatius the God-bearer." Trajan demanded, "Why do you say that you are the God-bearer?" "Because," answered Ignatius, "it is true, God is in me." When Origen was a child, his father, Leonidas, used to kneel by his bedside when he was asleep and kiss his breast because the Holy Ghost was in his soul. When the same Origen became one of the most learned Fathers of the Church, he used to say: "Our souls are little heavens because God is really in them." St. Cyril: "The Holy Ghost impresses on us the Divine image and gives us superhuman loveliness. We are temples of the Holy Spirit, Who truly lives in us. On this account we are called gods. Because of our union with the Holy Ghost, we share the Divine, incomprehensible nature of God." (St. Cyril, Dial. VII) Again, the same Saint says, "We have not merely the enlightenment of the Holy Ghost, but He Himself dwells in us." "Man is composed of a body and soul and the Holy Ghost." St. Basil: "By the Holy Spirit each of the Saints is made Divine, as God Himself has declared, 'I have said you are gods.' " (St. Basil, Con Eunom.) Cornelius a Lapide says, "When the soul enters our bodies, it gives them light and life, which they had not before; so also, when the Holy Ghost comes into our souls, He gives them a new life; His own life, He deifies them." Another of the Holy Fathers says, "The Holy" Ghost is not in our souls as a guest. He is there as a bridegroom, for His union with us is a marriage; it is a most intimate and loving union." The Holy Ghost said to St. Angela: "I am the Holy Ghost Who has come to thee and will give thee such a joy as thou never yet tasted. I accompany thee, I am present in thee. Thou art My spouse, I will never leave thee." "Hearing these words," the Saint said, "I cannot describe the joy I then felt." His Angel Guardian once said to Blessed Henry Suso, "Fix your eyes on your breast." Bl. Henry did so and his body became transparent and he saw God in his soul. Our Lord said to St. Catherine of Siena, "Contemplate Me in your soul, and you shall know that I am your Creator." St. Teresa of Jesus says, "Our soul is a little heaven in which the Creator of Heaven and Earth takes up His abode. Is there anything so grand as to see Him, Whose grandeur would fill a thousand worlds, hiding Himself in such a little dwelling as our soul!" St. Philip Neri, when once begging God to give him the Holy Ghost, saw a globe of fire which entered his mouth and passed into his breast. The heat that it caused was so great that he lay prostrate on the ground and tore open his habit. He felt a wondrous joy fill his soul. His heart was greatly enlarged, and two of his ribs remained broken so that his heart could beat without difficulty. He felt no pain, but when saying Mass or giving Holy Communion, his joy was so great that his whole body shook and made the altar shake. Sometimes he cried out, "I cannot bear such joy! Stop, Lord, or I shall die!" The holy Cure d'Ars said, "Those who love the Holy Ghost experience every kind of happiness within themselves. The Holy Ghost leads us like a mother leads her little child, or like a person with sight leads a blind man. Those who love the Holy Ghost find prayer so delightful that they cannot find sufficient time to pray." The Breton poet Botrel had once to take an oath in court. There was no crucifix there which he could hold when swearing, So he placed his hand on his breast and said, "God is here; by Him I swear." A French officer, a brave soldier
and a fervent Catholic, was imprisoned in the fortress of Lille
Pope Alexander had an intense devotion to Our Lord in the Blessed Eucharist, and to satisfy this great love, he caused to be made a beautiful golden pyx in which he placed the Blessed Sacrament every morning and wore it on his breast during the day. This perpetual adoration obtained for the Holy Pontiff the greatest graces and consolations. He felt that he was always in the presence of Our Lord. Now each one of us [in the state of Sanctifying Grace] carries the Holy Ghost Himself in us-----not in a golden pyx on our breast, but in our very souls. What an immense joy and consolation for those who realize this wonderful fact! Dear Reader, ask yourself if you realize it. Do you believe that the Holy Ghost is really in your soul; do you adore and love Him?
The Holy Ghost comes into our souls in Baptism. He remains there forever. Day and night we carry Him about in our souls. Wherever we go, whatever we are doing, the Holy Ghost is really and truly with us. He only leaves us if we commit a mortal sin. By a deliberate mortal sin-----oh, horror of horrors-----we expel Him from our souls with all His Divine love and graces. In His place the devil comes and fills that glorious soul with all the horrible corruption and filth of Hell. If such an awful thing happens to any of us, let us throw ourselves on our knees and beg God's pardon and go to Confession. When our souls are washed in the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost will once again return to the soul, which He so tenderly loves and will once more fix His abode in it. HOW LONG DOES THE HOLY GHOST
He remains in our souls not only during all our life, but during all eternity, forever and forever. As we have said, we are bound to love and adore Him in our souls as really and truly as , we are bound to adore Jesus Christ on the Altar. Nay, more; as an eminent Dominican theologian remarks, we have in a way a greater obligation to adore the Holy Ghost in our souls than to adore Jesus Christ on the altar, because if we fail to honor Jesus Christ on the altar, many others who enter the church will adore Him, so that He will not be abandoned and left alone. But if we fail to adore, honor and love the Holy Ghost in our souls, He is completely abandoned and left alone. No one can take our place. This is our personal obligation. What an immense joy and consolation it is, we repeat, for us to know that the Holy Ghost is really, truly and personally in our souls. We are His living tabernacles. He is always with us. It seems incredible that few Christians realize this wonderful truth. They never think of the Holy Ghost during the long hours of the day; much less do they honor Him during the night, during their seven or eight hours' sleep. But how can they honor the Holy Ghost when they are asleep? By realizing that He is with them; when asleep and by offering their sleep in His honor, as we shall explain later on. What a joy it would be to them if at night when they awaken, and sometimes when they remain awake for hours at a time, they spoke lovingly to Him and enjoyed His presence. And again how consoling for the sick, when suffering and alone, if they felt that the Holy Ghost Himself was really and truly with them. They never perhaps heard of this beautiful doctrine. Many Christians never even address a single word, a single tiny prayer to the Divine Spirit. They seem to be utterly ignorant that He is in their souls. They make absolutely no account of Him. This goes on day after day, all their life long!TRADITION--------------------DOWNLOAD THE GRAPHIC-------------------------------HOME www.catholictradition.org/Tradition/holy-ghost1.htm |
