23 MAY – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Langres in France, the martyrdom of the holy bishop Desiderius, who visited the king as a suppliant in behalf of his people who were maltreated by the Vandal army. Being forthwith condemned to decapitation, he readily presented his neck, and being struck with the sword, died for the sheep committed to his charge and departed for heaven. With him suffered many of his flock who are buried in the same city.

In Spain, the holy martyrs Epitacius, bishop, and Basileus. In Africa, the holy martyrs Quintian, Lucius and Julian who merited eternal crowns by their sufferings during the persecution of the Vandals.

In Cappadocia, the commemoration of the holy martyrs who died by having their legs crushed in the persecution of Maximian Galerius.

Also in Mesopotamia, those martyrs who, at the same time, were suspended in the air with their heads downward. Being suffocated with smoke and consumed with a slow fire, they consummated their martyrdom.

In the territory of Lyons, St. Desiderius, bishop of Vienne, who was crowned with martyrdom by being overwhelmed with stones by order of king Theodoric.

At Synnada in Phrygia, St. Michael, bishop.

The same day, St. Mercurialis, bishop.

At Naples in Campania, St. Euphebius, bishop.

At Norcia, the Saints Eutychius and Florentius, monks, mentioned by Pope St. Gregory.

At Rome, the birthday of St. John Baptist de Rossi, confessor, a man illustrious for his patience and his zeal in preaching the Gospel to the poor.

And in other places, many other holy martyrs, confessors and virgins.

Thanks be to God.

16 MAY – MONDAY IN PENTECOST WEEK

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

Yesterday the Holy Ghost took possession of the world: His commencement of the mission given Him by the Father and the Son was such as to indicate His power over the human heart, and prepare us for His future triumphs. The days of this solemn Octave are a fitting occasion for our respectfully considering the progress of his workings in the Church and the souls of men.

Jesus, our Emmanuel, is the King of the whole Earth” His Father gave Him all nations for His inheritance (Psalms ii. 8). He Himself tells us that all power is given to Him in Heaven and in Earth (Matthew xxviii. 18).

But He ascended into Heaven before establishing His kingdom here below. The very Israelites — to whom He preached His Gospel, and under whose eyes He wrought such stupendous miracles in attestation of His being the Messiah — have refused to acknowledge Him, and ceased to be His people (Daniel ix. 26). A few have been faithful, and others will follow their example, but the mass of the people of Israel have impiously resolved not to have this man to reign over them (Luke xix. 14).

As to the Gentiles, what likelihood is there of their accepting the Son of Mary for their Master? They know nothing whatever of Him, His teachings or His mission. They have lost all their primitive religious traditions. Materialism reigns supreme in every country, whether civilised or barbarian, and every creature is made an object for adoration. The very first principles of morality have been corrupted. The insignificant minority, who proudly call themselves “philosophers” have the strangest theories: “they became vain in their thoughts,” as Saint Paul says of them, “and their foolish heart was darkened” (Romans i. 21). Races, once distinct, have been gradually fused into each other by conquest. Revolution after revolution has habituated mankind to respect no power but that of might. The colossal Roman Empire with despotic Caesars at its head crushes the whole Earth beneath its sway. And this is the time chosen by the heavenly Father for sending His Son into the world! Jesus is to reign over men, and His reign must be accepted: but, there seems to be little chance of there being any welcome given to a King who claims to rule the mind and heart of His subjects!

During these long sad ages, another master has presented himself to the nations, and they have enthusiastically hailed him as their king. It is Satan. So firmly, indeed, has he established his rule, that our Lord calls him, “the Prince of this world” (John xii. 31). He must be cast out (John xii. 31), that is, he must be driven from the temples men have built to him, from society, from the soul, from literature, from art, from political life — all of which are under his sway. There will be resistance from the world he has corrupted: nay, he himself, “the strong armed one” (Luke xi. 21), will resist, and so powerfully, that no mere created power will ever make him yield. So, then, everything is against the Kingdom of Christ, and nothing is favourable. And yet, if we are to believe certain modern writers, the world was in a fit state for a total and complete reformation! Impious and absurd assertion! Are we to deny the evidence of facts? Or must we admit that error and vice are the best preparation for truth and virtue? Man may know that he is in a state of wretchedness, and yet not know that his wretchedness comes from sin, still less be resolved to become, at once and at every sacrifice, a hero in virtue!

No: in order that Jesus might reign over a world such as ours was, there was need of a miracle, nay of a miracle, as Bossuet observes, comparable to that of creation, by which God draws being out of nothingness. Now, it was the Holy Ghost who worked this miracle. He willed that we who have never seen the Lord Jesus should be as certain of His being our Messiah and God, as though we had witnessed His wonderful works and heard His divine teachings. For this end He achieved the master-miracle of the conversion of the world in which God “chose the weak things of the world, that He might confound the strong — the things that are not, that He might bring to nought the things that are” (1 Corinthians i. 27, 28). By this stupendous fact, which was evident to men as the noonday sun, the Holy Ghost made His presence known and felt by the world.

Let us consider the means He took for establishing the Kingdom of Jesus on the Earth. And first, let us return to the Cenacle. Look at these men now “endued with power from on high” (Luke xxiv. 49). What were they a while ago? Men without influence, poor, ignorant, and, as we all know, easily intimidated. But now the Holy Ghost has changed them into other men: they have an eloquence which it is hard to resist. They are heedless of every threat or peril. They are soon to stand before the world, yes, and conquer it with a victory such as no monarch ever won or fancied. The fact is too evident for the blindest incredulity to deny: the world has been transformed, and transformed by these poor Jews of the Cenacle. They received the Holy Ghost on the Day of Pentecost, and He has done through them the work He came to do.

He gave them three things on that day: the power to preach the word, which was signified by the Tongues that sat upon them; the ardour of love, expressed by the Fire; and the gift of miracles, which they exercised that very morning. The word is the sword with which they are armed. Love is the source of their dauntless courage. Miracles win man’s attention to their teachings. These are the means usedfor driving Satan from the world, and for establishing the Kingdom of Jesus. And these means are all provided by the Holy Ghost. But He does not confine his action to this. It is not enough for men to hear the word, and admire the courage, and witness the miracles, of the Apostles. Neither is it sufficient that they should see the force of truth and the beauty of virtue, or acknowledge the disgrace and sinfulness of their own manner of life. In order to a conversion of heart — to confess that the Jesus, who is preached to them, is God — to love Him, be baptised, promise fidelity to Him, even to martyrdom if required — for all this there is need of the grace of the Holy Ghost. He alone can “take away the stony heart,” as the Prophet expresses it, “and give a heart of flesh” (Ezechiel xxxvi. 26) filled with supernatural faith and love.

Hence, He will accompany His ministers wherever they preach the Gospel. The visible working is theirs, the invisible is His: man’s salvation is to be the result of the two united. They must be applied to each individual, and each individual must freely yield his assent to the exterior preaching of the apostle, and to the interior action of the Holy Spirit. Truly, the undertaking is one of extreme difficulty — to bring mankind to receive Jesus as its Lord and King: but after three centuries of contest, the Cross of our Redeemer will be the standard round which the whole civilised world will be rallied. It was just, that the Holy Spirit and the Apostles should first turn to the Israelites. They were the people to whom “were committed the words of God” (Romans iii. 2), and the Messiah was born of their race. Jesus had said that He was not sent but to the sheep that were lost of the house of Israel (Matthew xv. 24). Peter, His Vicar, inherited the glory of being the Apostle of the Jews (Galatians ii. 7), although it was also by his ministry that the Gentiles in the person of Cornelius the Centurion were first admitted into the Church. And again, it was by Him, at the Council of Jerusalem, that the baptised Gentiles were declared emancipated from the Jewish Law. We repeat it — the first preaching of the Christian Law was an honour due to the children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob: hence, our first Pentecost is a Jewish one, and the first to celebrate it are Jews. It is upon the people of Israel that the Holy Spirit first pours forth His divine Gifts.

As soon as the Solemnity was over, these men, who have received the faith and are now truly children of Abraham by holy Baptism, return to the several provinces of the Gentile world from where they came. They return bearing in their hearts that Jesus whom they have acknowledged to be the Messiah, their God and their Saviour. Let us honour these first-fruits of holy Church, these trophies of the Paraclete Spirit, these messengers of the good tidings. They will soon be followed by the Disciples of the Cenacle who, after using every means that zeal could devise, for the conversion of the proud and ungrateful Jerusalem, but to no effect will turn to the Gentiles. So that, of the Jewish nation, a very small minority has acknowledged the Son of David as the heir of the Father of the Family. The body of the people has rebelled against Him, and is running headlong to destruction. By what name are we to call their crime? The Protomartyr, Saint Stephen, speaking to these unworthy children of Abraham, says: “stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Ghost!” (Acts vii. 51) Resistance, then, to the Spirit of God is their crime, and the Apostles, finding the favoured people determined to refuse the truth, turn to them that are “sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death” (Luke i. 79). These are the Gentiles, and upon them the Apostles are henceforward to lavish the torrents of grace which Jesus has merited for mankind by His Sacrifice on the Cross.

These messengers of the word of life carry the treasure to pagan lands. Every opposition in man’s power is made against them, but they triumph over all. The Holy Spirit gives efficacy to His own indwelling within them. He acts Himself on the souls of their hearers, and rapid is the spread of Faith in Jesus. A Christian colony is soon formed at Antioch, then at Rome, and then at Alexandria. The tongue of fire runs through the world, beyond even the furthest limits of the Roman Empire, which, as the Prophets had foretold, was to serve as an instrument to the establishing the Kingdom of Christ. India, China, Ethiopia, and a hundred other distant countries hear the word of the heralds of the Gospel of Peace.

But they have another testimony, besides their word, to give to Jesus, their King: they owe Him the testimony of their blood, and they give it. The fire that was enkindled within them on the Day of Pentecost consumes them in the holocaust of martyrdom. And yet, observe the power and fruitfulness of the Holy Spirit! To these first Apostles He raises up successors in whom he continues His influence and work. So will it be to the end of time, for Jesus is to be acknowledged as Lord and Saviour by all generations, and the Holy Ghost has been sent into the world in order to effect this.

The Prince of this world, “the old Serpent” (Apocalypse xii. 9) makes use of the most violent means for staying the conquests of these messengers of the Holy Spirit. He has had Peter crucified, and Paul beheaded: he spared not one of the glorious chieftains. They are gone, and yet his defeat is terrible to his pride. The mystery of Pentecost has created a new people. The seed sown by the Apostle has produced an immense harvest. Nero’s persecution has swept away the Jewish leaders of the Christian host, but they had done their grand work, they had established the Church among the Gentiles: we sang their triumph in our yesterday’s Introit: “The Spirit of the Lord has filled the whole earth! Alleluia! (Wisdom i. 7)

Towards the close of the first century Domitian finds Christians even in the imperial family: he makes them martyrs. Trajan, Adrian, Antoninus, Marcus Aurelius — all are jealous of the growing power of Jesus of Nazareth. They persecute His flock, and yet they see it multiply. Their master, the Prince of this world, gives them political influence and philosophy, but the Holy Ghost brings both to nought, and the Truth spreads through the universe. Other Emperors — such as Severus, Decius, Callus, Valerian and Maximian — with the sterner course of cruelty unrefined by sophistry, order a universal massacre of the Christians, for the Empire was filled with them. And when this too failed, Satan brings all his power to bear in the last Persecution which is decreed by Diocletian and his fellow-Caesars. It is to be the extermination of the Christian name. It deluges the Empire with the blood of martyrs, but the victory is for the Church, and her enemies die, despairing and baffled.

How magnificent, Holy Spirit! is your triumph! How divine is this Kingdom of Jesus which you thus found in spite of human folly and malice, or of Satan’s power, strong as it then was upon the earth! You infuse into millions of souls the love of a religion which demands the most heroic sacrifices from its followers. You answer the specious objections of man’s reason by the eloquence of miracles: and hearts that once were slaves to concupiscence and pride, are inflamed by you with such a love of Jesus that they cheerfully suffer every torture, yes and death itself, for His dear sake!

Then it was, that was fulfilled the promise made by our Saviour to His Disciples: “When they will deliver you up, take no thought how or what to speak, for it will be given to you in that hour what to speak; for it is not you that speaks, but the Spirit of your Father that speaks in you” (Matthew x. 19, 20). We have a proof of it in the Acts of the Martyrs where we read their simple and sublime answers when questioned by their persecutors, and this frequently in the midst of the most excruciating torments. It is the word of the Spirit, combating and conquering the world. The by-standers would frequently exclaim, “Great is the God of the Christians!” At times the executioners, excited by the heavenly eloquence of the victims they where torturing, cried out that they too would be Disciples of such a God. We are told by authors who lived in those times that the arena of martyrdom was the forum of Faith, and that the blood and testimony of the martyrs was the seed of Christians.

For three centuries did these prodigies of the Holy Spirit continue, and then the victory was complete. Jesus was acknowledged as the King and Saviour of the world, as the Teacher and Redeemer of mankind. Satan was driven from the kingdom he had usurped, and idolatry was either abolished by the Faith in the one true God, or they that still kept it up were looked upon as ignorant and depraved beings. Now, this victory which was gained first over the Roman Empire, and, since then over so many other infidel nations is the work of the Holy Ghost. The miraculous manner of its being accomplished, is one of the chief arguments on which our faith rests. We have not seen or heard Jesus, and yet we confess Him to be our God because of the evident testimony given of Him by the Spirit whom He sent to us. May all creatures, then, give glory, thanks and love to this Holy Paraclete who has thus put us in possession of the salvation brought us by our Emmanuel!

Epistle – Acts x. 42–48

In those days, Peter opening his mouth, said: “Brethren, the Lord commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was appointed by God to be judge of the living and of the dead. To Him all the prophets give testimony, that through His name all receive remission of sins, who believe in Him.” While Peter was yet speaking these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them that heard the word. And the faithful of the circumcision who came with Peter, were astonished, for that the grace of the Holy Ghost was poured out upon the Gentiles also. For they heard them speaking with tongues, and magnifying God. Then Peter answered: “Can any man forbid water, that these men should not be baptised, who have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?” And he commanded them to be baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanks be to God.

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

This passage from the Acts of the Apostles, read on such a day as this, and in such a place, is most appropriate. Peter, the Vicar of Christ, is speaking to some Jews who have been converted to the Christian Faith. Several Gentiles, who are present are touched with grace on hearing Peter preaching, and they profess themselves believers in Jesus, the Son of God: the moment is come for the Apostle to throw the Church open to the Gentile world. Knowing that the Jewish converts would be tempted to jealousy, he appeals to the Prophets. What say these Prophets? That all without distinction, who will believe in Jesus, will receive forgiveness of their sins in His Name. While Peter is thus arguing with his audience, the Holy Ghost removes every objection by falling, as He did on the day of Pentecost, on these humble and believing Gentiles. As soon as the Jewish converts perceive the miracle they are astonished and exclaim: “What! is the grace of the Holy Ghost poured out on the Gentiles also!” Peter replies: “Who dares to refuse Baptism to these men, who have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?” and without waiting for an answer, he gives the order, as Head of the Church, that Baptism be immediately conferred upon these privileged Catechumens.

We have our lesson to learn from this Epistle: we must fervently thank our Heavenly Father for His having vouchsafed to call our ancestors to the true Faith, and make us also partakers of the graces of the Holy Ghost.

Gospel – John iii. 16–21

At that time Jesus said to Nicodemus: “God so loved the world as to give His Only Begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him may not perish, but may have life everlasting. For God sent not His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world may be saved by Him. He that believes in Him is not judged. But he that does not believe, is already judged: because he believes not in the name of the Only Begotten Son of God. And this is the judgement: that the light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than the light: for their works were evil. For every one that does evil hates the light, and comes not to the light, that his works may not be reproved. But he that does truth, comes to the light, that his works may be made manifest, because they are done in God.”

Praise to you, O Christ.

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

The Holy Ghost creates Faith within our souls, and by Faith we obtain life everlasting. For Faith is not the Intellect’s assent to a proposition logically demonstrated, but a virtue which proceeds from the Will vivified by grace. Nowadays Faith is rare. Pride of Intellect is at its height, and docility to the Church’s teachings is far from being general. A man calls himself a Christian and a Catholic, and yet he has his own views upon certain subjects, which he would very reluctantly give up: were they to be condemned by the only authority on earth which has power to guide us in what we are to hold or reject in matters pertaining to Faith. He reads dangerous, sometimes even bad, books, without thinking of inquiring if the laws of the Church forbid such books. His religious instruction has been of a very meagre kind, and he seems to wish it to remain so, for he takes no pains to come to a solid and perfect knowledge of his religion. The result is that his mind is filled with the fashionable prejudices of the world he lives in and, on more than one point, he may depend upon his having imbibed heretical notions. He is looked upon as a Catholic. He satisfies the exterior obligations of his religion, either because of his early training, or because the rest of his family do so, or because he feels more satisfied to do than to omit them: and yet, how sad it is to say it! He is not a Catholic, for his Faith is gone.

Faith is the first link that unites us to God, for, as the Apostle says, “he that comes to God, must believe” (Hebrews xi. 6). It brings us to God, and keeps us there. Our Saviour here tells us that he who believes is not judged: and the reason is that he whose Faith is what our Gospel implies it to be, does not only assent to a doctrine, but he embraces it with his whole heart and mind. He believes it, because he wishes to love what he believes. Faith works, and is perfected by Charity, but itself is a fore-taste of Charity. Therefore does our Lord promise salvation to him that believes. This Faith meets with obstacles because of our fallen nature. As we have just been told, Light comes into the world, and men loved darkness rather than the Light. In this our age, darkness is prevalent. Even false lights are seen to rise up, and they mislead thousands. We repeat it: Faith — that Faith which brings us to God and saves us from His judgements — is now rare.

DIVINE Spirit! Deliver us from the darkness of the times in which our lot has been cast. Humble the pride of our minds. Save us from that false Religious Liberty, which is one of the idols of our generation, but which keeps men from the true Faith. We wish to love, and possess, and keep up within us, the glorious Light: we wish to merit, by the docility and child-like simplicity of our Faith, to enjoy the full cloudless vision of this divine Light in heaven.

PENTECOST WEEK: THE SEVEN GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

It is our intention to explain during this Week the workings of the Holy Ghost, both in the Church, and in the faithful Soul. These seven days are given to us that we may know and appreciate the great Gift sent us by the Father and the Son. Moreover, the Spirit who proceeds from the Father and the Son has seven different ways by which He manifests His presence in our souls. It behoves us, therefore, to devote this happy week to the study and love of the Sevenfold Gift by which we are to be wrought our salvation and sanctification.

The Seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost are seven energies which He graciously puts into the soul, when He enters there by sanctifying grace. Actual graces put these divinely infused powers into motion, either all at once or separately, and hereby acts supernatural and meritorious of life everlasting are produced by the free consent of our will.

The Prophet Isaias, guided by divine inspiration, has told us of these Seven Gifts. He is foretelling the workings of the Holy Ghost upon the soul of the Son of God made Man, whom he calls the Flower of a virginal Root of Jesse. He says: “And the Spirit of the Lord will rest upon him: the Spirit of Wisdom, and of Understanding, the Spirit of Counsel and of Fortitude, the Spirit of Knowledge, and of Godliness, and he will be filled with the Spirit of the Fear of the Lord” (Isaias xi. 2, 3) These mysterious words do not only express the qualities of the Holy Ghost. They also describe the effects He produces in the soul of man, and it is in this sense that they have been interpreted by the Holy Fathers and Theologians.

The sacred Humanity of the Incarnate Son of God is the supernatural type of our own, and what the Holy Ghost operated in the former, for its sanctification, that same, in proportion, He wills to do in the latter. He infused into the Son of Mary the seven energies mentioned by the Prophet. The same seven Gifts are prepared for regenerated man. But let us notice the order in which they come. Isaias begins with the Spirit of Wisdom and ends with the Spirit of the Fear of the Lord. Wisdom, as we will see further on, is the noblest prerogative of which man is capable, whereas the Fear of the Lord is but the beginning of Wisdom, as the Royal Psalmist assures us (Psalms cx. 10). The soul of Jesus was created for a personal union with the divine Word, and was therefore treated with exceptional honour. The first and foremost Gift infused into it was that of Wisdom, and the Gift of the Fear of the Lord followed necessarily indeed (because a creature is not perfect unless it have this quality) but still as a sequel and completion. With us, on the contrary, frail and inconstant as we are, the Fear of God is the foundation of our whole spiritual building, and by it we raise ourselves gradually to that Wisdom which brings union with God. It is by means of the Gifts of the Holy Ghost that man attains to perfection, but they are bestowed upon him in the order inverse of that in which Isaias names them when speaking of the Son of God. We receive them at the time of our Baptism and, when we have the misfortune to lose them (as we do when we lose sanctifying grace, that is, when we commit a mortal sin, they are restored to us by the Sacrament of Penance.

Let us respectfully consider how the whole work of our salvation and sanctification is marked with the mysterious number of Seven. There are seven principal Virtues which render us dear to our Maker. It is by seven Gifts that the Holy Ghost leads us to our last end. The seven Sacraments apply to us the merits of the Incarnation and Redemption. It is after seven Weeks from the Pasch that the Holy Spirit is sent upon the Earth, there to establish and maintain the kingdom of God. Can we wonder after this that Satan should have sacrilegiously mimicked the work of God, striving to destroy, by the seven deadly sins, the creatures whom God would save?

1. THE GIFT OF FEAR

Pride is the obstacle to man’s virtue and well-being. It is pride that leads us to resist God, to make self our last end, in a word, to work our own ruin. Humility alone can save us from this terrible danger. Who will give us humility? The Holy Ghost, and this by infusing into us the Gift of the Fear of God.

This holy sentiment is based on the following truths which are taught us by faith: the sovereign majesty of God, in comparison with whom we are mere nothingness. The infinite sanctity of that God, in whose presence we are but unworthiness and sin the severe and just judgement we are to go through after death. The danger of falling into sin, which may be our misfortune at any time, if we do not correspond to grace, for although grace be never wanting, yet we have it in our power to resist it. Man, as the Apostle tells us, must “work out his salvation with fear and trembling” (2 Philippians ii. 12), but this Fear which is a gift of the Holy Ghost is not the base sentiment which goes no further than the dread of eternal punishments. It keeps alive within us an abiding compunction of heart, even though we hope that our sins have long ago been forgiven. It prevents our forgetting that we are sinners, that we are wholly dependent upon God’s mercy, and that we are not as yet safe, except in hope (Romans viii. 24).

This Fear of God, therefore, is not a servile fear. On the contrary, it is the source of the noblest sentiments. Inasmuch as it is a filial dread of offending God by sin, it may go hand-in-hand with love. Arising as it does from a reverence for God’s infinite majesty and holiness, it puts the creature in his right place and, as Saint Paul says, it contributes to the perfecting of sanctification (2 Corinthians vii. 1). Hence this great Apostle who had been rapt up to the third heaven assures us that he was severe in his treatment of himself, lest he should become a cast-away (1 Corinthians ix. 27).

The spirit of independence and of false liberty which is nowadays so rife among us is a great enemy to the Fear of God, and one of the miseries of our age is that there is little Fear of God. Familiarity with God but too frequently usurps the place of that essential basis of the Christian life. The result is that there is no progress in virtue, such people are a prey to illusion, and the Sacraments, which previously worked so powerfully in their souls, are now well-nigh unproductive. The reason is, that the Gift of Fear has been superseded by a conceited self-complacency. Humility has no further sway. A secret and habitual pride has paralysed the soul: and seeing that these people scout the very idea of their ever trembling before the great God of Heaven, we may well ask them if they know who God is.

Therefore we beseech you, Holy Spirit! Keep up within us the Fear of God which you infused into our hearts at our Baptism. This saving Fear will ensure our perseverance in virtue, for it will oppose the growth of pride. Let it pierce our soul through and through, and ever abide with us as our safeguard. Let it bring down our haughtiness, and rouse us from tepidity by its ceaselessly reminding us of the greatness and holiness of Him who is our Creator and our Judge.

This holy Fear does not stifle the sentiment of Love. On the contrary, it removes what would be a hindrance to its growth. The heavenly Powers see and ardently love their God, their infinite and eternal good. And yet they tremble before His dread Majesty: Tremunt Potestates. And will we, covered as we are with the wounds of our sins, disfigured by countless imperfections, exposed on every side to snares, obliged to fight with so many enemies, will we flatter ourselves that we can do without this strong and filial Fear? and that we need nothing to stimulate us when we are in those frequent trials — a want of fervour in our will, or of light in our mind?

Holy Spirit, watch over us! Preserve within us your precious Gift! Teach us how to combine peace and joy of heart with the Fear of our Lord and God according to those words of the Psalmist: “Serve you the Lord with fear and rejoice unto Him with trembling! (Psalms ii. 11).

2. THE GIFT OF GODLINESS

The gift of the Fear of God is intended as a cure for our pride. The gift of Godliness is infused into our souls by the Holy Ghost in order that we may resist self-love, which is one of the passions of our fallen nature, and the second hindrance to our union with God. The heart of a Christian is not made to be either cold or indifferent. It must be affectionate and devoted, otherwise it can never attain the perfection for which God, who is Love, has graciously created it.

The Holy Ghost, therefore, puts the Gift of Godliness into the soul, by inspiring it with a filial affection for her Creator. “You have received,” says the Apostle, “the Spirit of adoption of Sons by which we cry to our God, Abba! Father! (Romans viii. 15) This disposition makes the soul alive to whatever regards God’s honour. It enables man to nourish within him a sorrow for his sins, in consideration of the divine mercy which has borne with and forgiven him, and of the Sufferings and Death of His Redeemer. It makes him thirst for God’s glory to be ever spreading. Hhe would, if he could, bring all his fellow-creatures to adore this God. He feels most keenly every insult that is offered to so dear a King. His greatest joy is to see others growing in their love and devotedness in the service of the sovereign Good. He is filled with filial submission to his Heavenly Father, whose every will he is most ready to do, cheerfully resigned to whatever he may appoint.

His Faith is unhesitating and fervent. Affectionately docile to the Church, he is always in the disposition of mind to abandon his most cherished ideas the moment he discovers them to be in any way out of harmony with her teaching or practice, for he has an instinctive horror of novelties and insubordination. This devotedness to God which results from the gift of Godliness and unites the soul to her Creator by filial love, makes her love all God’s creatures inasmuch as they are the work of His hands and belong to Him.

The Blessed in Heaven hold the first place in the fraternal affection of such a Christian. He has a most tender love for the holy Mother of God, and is zealous for her honour. He venerates the Saints. He is a warm admirer of the courage of the Martyrs, and of the heroic actions of the servants of God. He delights in reading of their miracles, and has a devotion to their sacred Relics.

But his love is not limited to the citizens of Heaven. It is extended also to his fellow-creatures here on Earth, for the gift of Godliness makes him find Jesus in them. He is kind to everyone, without exception. He forgives injuries, bears with the imperfections of others, and, where an excuse is possible for his neighbour, he makes it. He has compassion on the poor, and is attentive to the sick. His whole conduct is the index of a sterling warm-heartedness that weeps with them that weep, and rejoices with them that rejoice.

All this is found in those, who use your gift of Godliness, O Holy Spirit! By infusing it into our souls you enable us to withstand the workings of our self-love, which would corrupt the heart. You preserve us from that odious indifference to everyone around us, which dries up all feeling. You drive from us the sentiments of jealousy and hatred. Yes, Godliness inspired us with a filial love for our Creator, that softened the heart, and every creature of God became dear to us. Blessed Paraclete! Grant that this Gift may produce its rich fruits in us! Never permit us to stifle it by the love of self. Our Jesus has told us that His heavenly Father makes His sun to rise upon the good and bad (Matthew v. 45): He would have us take this divine generosity as our model: do thou, therefore, foster within us that germ of devotedness, kindness and sympathy which we received from you on the day of our Baptism, when you first took possession of our souls!

3. THE GIFT OF KNOWLEDGE

Detached from evil by the fear of the Lord, and ennobled with holy love by the gift of Godliness, the soul feels the want of knowing how she is to avoid what she is to fear, and how to find what she must love. The Holy Ghost comes to her assistance and brings her what she needs, by infusing into her the Gift of Knowledge. By means of this precious gift, truth is made evident to her. She knows what God asks of her and what He condemns, she knows what to seek and what to shun. Without this holy Knowledge we are in danger of going astray because of the frequent darkness which, more or less, clouds our understanding. This darkness arises in the first place from our own nature, that bears upon itself the but too visible proofs of the Fall. It is added to by the false maxims and judgements of the world, which so often warp even those whose upright minds seemed to make them safe. And lastly, the action of Satan, who is the Prince of darkness, has this for one of its chief aims — to obscure our mind, or to mislead it by false lights.

The Light of our soul is Faith, which was infused into us at our Baptism. By the Gift of Knowledge the Holy Ghost empowers our Faith to elicit rays of light strong enough to dispel all darkness. Doubts are then cleared up, error is exposed and put to flight, truth beams upon us in all its beauty. Everything is viewed in its true light — the light of Faith. We see how false are the principles which sway the world, which ruin so many souls and of which we ourselves were once, perhaps, victims.

The gift of Knowledge reveals to us the end which God had in creation, and out of which creatures can never find either happiness or rest. It teaches us what use we are to make of creatures, for they were not given us to be a hindrance, but a help by which to reach our God. The secret of life thus possessed, we walk on in safety, we halt not, and we are resolved to shun every path which would not lead us to our end.

The Apostle had this Gift in view, when speaking to the converts of Ephesus, he said: “You were heretofore darkness, but now light in the Lord: walk then as children of the light” (Ephesians v. 8). Hence comes that un-hesitatingness, that confidence, of the Christian Life. There may be a want of experience now and then, so much so, indeed, that the little world around talks feelingly about the indiscretions and scandals which are almost sure to arise. But they forget that there is the Gift of Knowledge of which the Sacred Scripture thus speaks: “She conducted the just through the right ways, and gave him the Knowledge of holy things,” or as some render it, the “Science of the Saints” (Wisdom x. 10). We have daily proofs of this truth: a Christian, by means of supernatural light, is found to escape every danger. He has no experience of his own, but he has the experience of God.

We give you thanks, Holy Paraclete! for this your gift of light, which you so lovingly maintain within us! Oh never permit us to seek any other. It alone is sufficient. Without it, there is nought but darkness. Preserve us from those sad inconsistencies of which so many are guilty, who follow your guidance today, and the maxims of the world tomorrow — wretched double dealing, which displeases you and does not please the world! Make us love that Knowledge which you gave us in order to our salvation. The enemy of our souls is jealous of our having such a Gift, and is ever studying to make us exchange it for his lying principles. Divine Spirit! suffer not his treachery to triumph. Be you ever within us, aiding us to distinguish truth from falsity, and right from wrong. May our Eye be single and simple, as our Jesus bids it be so that our Body, that is, the Body of our actions, desires and thoughts, may be lightsome. And preserve us from that evil Eye which makes the whole Body to be Darkness! (Matthew vi. 22, 23, 24).

4. THE GIFT OF FORTITUDE

The gift of Knowledge has taught us what we must do and what we must avoid, in order that we may be such as Jesus, our divine Master, wishes us to be. We now need another gift of the Holy Ghost from which to draw the energy necessary for our persevering in the way He has pointed out to us. Difficulties we are sure to have, and our need of support is proved enough by the miserable failures we are daily witnessing. This support the Holy Ghost grants us by the gift of Fortitude, which, if we but faithfully use it, will enable us to master every difficulty, yes, will make it easy to us to overcome the obstacles which would impede our onward march.

When difficulties and trials of life come upon him, man is tempted, sometimes to cowardice and discouragement, sometimes to an impetuosity, which arises either from his natural temperament or from pride. These are poor aids to the soul in her spiritual combat. The Holy Ghost, therefore, brings her a new element of strength: it is supernatural Fortitude, which is so peculiarly His gift that when our Saviour instituted the seven Sacraments, He would have one of them be for the special object of giving us the Holy Ghost as a principle of energy. It is evident that having to fight, during our whole lives, against the devil, the world and ourselves, we need some better power of resistance than either pusillanimity or daring. We need some gift which will control both our fear, and the confidence we are at times inclined to have in ourselves. Thus gifted by the Holy Ghost, man is sure of victory, for grace will supply the deficiencies and correct the impetuosities of nature.

There are two necessities, which are ever making themselves felt in the Christian life: the power of resistance, and the power of endurance. What could we do against the temptations of Satan if the Fortitude of the Holy Spirit did not clad us with heavenly armour and nerve us for the battle? And is not the World too a terrible enemy? Have we not reason to dread it when we see how it is every day making victims by the tyranny of its claims and its maxims? What, then, must be the assistance of the Holy Ghost, which is to make us invulnerable to the deadly shafts that are dealing destruction around us!

The passions of the human heart are another obstacle to our salvation and sanctification. They are the more to be feared because they are within us. It is requisite that the Holy Ghost change our heart and lead it to deny itself as often as the light of grace points out to us a way other than that which self-love would have us follow. What supernatural Fortitude we need in order to hate our life (John xii. 25), as often as our Lord bids us make a sacrifice, or when we have to choose which of the two Masters we will serve (Matthew vi. 24).

The Holy Spirit is daily working this marvel by means of the Gift of Fortitude so that we have but to correspond to the Gift, and not stifle it either by cowardice or indiscretion, and we are strong enough to resist even our domestic enemies. This blessed Gift of Fortitude teaches us to govern our passions and treat them as blind guides. It also teaches us never to follow their instincts, save when they are in harmony with the law of God.

There are times when the Holy Spirit requires from a Christian something beyond interior resistance to the enemies of his soul: he must make an outward protestation against error and evil, as often as position or duty demands it. On such occasions he must bear to become unpopular and console himself with the words of the Apostle: “If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ” (Galatians i. 10). But the Holy Ghost will be on his side, and finding him resolute in using his Gift of Fortitude, not only will he give him a final triumph, but he generally blesses that soul with a sweet and courageous peace which is the result and recompense of a duty fulfilled.

Thus does the Holy Ghost apply the Gift of Fortitude when there is question of a Christian’s making resistance. But, as we have already said, it imparts also the energy necessary for bearing up against the trials which all must go through who would save their souls. There are certain fears which damp our courage and expose us to defeat. The Gift of Fortitude dispels them and braces us with such a peaceful confidence that we ourselves are surprised at the change. Look at the Martyrs. Not merely at such an one as Saint Mauritius, the leader of the Theban Legion, who was accustomed to face danger on the battle-field, but at Felicitas, a mother of seven children, at Perpetua, a high-born lady with everything this world could give her, at Agnes, a girl of thirteen, and at thousands of others like them. And say if the gift of Fortitude is not a prompter to heroism? Where is the fear of death, that death, the very thought of which is sometimes more than we can bear? And what are we to say of all those lives spent in self-abnegation and privation with a view to make Jesus their only treasure and be the more closely united with Him? What are we to say of those hundreds and thousands of our fellow-creatures who shun the sight of a distracted and vain world, and make sacrifice their rule? whose peacefulness is proof against every trial, and whose acceptance of the cross is as untiring as the cross itself is in its visit? What trophies are these of the Spirit of Fortitude! and how magnificent is the devotedness He creates for every possible duty! Oh! truly, man of himself is of little worth, but how grand when under the influence of the Holy Grhost!

It is the same Divine Spirit who also gives the Christian courage to withstand the vile temptation of human respect, by raising him above those worldly considerations which would make him disloyal to duty. It is He that leads man to prefer, to every honour this world could bestow, the happiness of never violating the law of his God. It is the Spirit of Fortitude that makes him look upon the reverses of fortune as so many merciful designs of Providence; that consoles him, when death bereaves him of those who are dear to him; that cheers him under bodily sufferings, which would be so hard to bear but from his taking them as visits from his heavenly Father. In a word, it is He, as we learn from the Lives of the Saints, that turns the very repugnances of nature into matter for heroic acts in which man seems to go beyond the limits of his frail mortality and emulate the impassible and glorified spirits of Heaven.

Divine Spirit of Fortitude! Take full possession of our souls, and keep us from the effeminacies of the age we live in. Never was there such lack of energy as now, never was the worldly spirit more rife, never was sensuality more unbridled, never were pride and independence more the fashion of the world. So forgotten and unheeded are the maxims of the Gospel, that when we witness the Fortitude of self-restraint and abnegation, we are as surprised as though we beheld a prodigy. Holy Paraclete! Preserve us from this anti-Christian spirit which is so easily imbibed! Suffer us to present to you, in the form of prayer, the advice given by Saint Paul to the Christians of Ephesus: “Give us, we beseech you, the armour of God, that we may be able to resist in the evil day, and to stand in all things perfect. Gird our reins with truth, arm us with the breast-plate of Justice. Let our feet be shod with the love and practice of the Gospel of peace. Give us the shield of Faith, with which we may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one. Cover us with the helmet of the hope of salvation. Put into our hand the spiritual sword, which is the Word of God” (Ephesians vi. 11-17), and by which we, as did our Jesus in the Desert, may defeat all our enemies! O Spirit of Fortitude! Hear, we beseech you, and grant our prayer!

5. THE GIFT OF COUNSEL

We have seen how necessary for the sanctification of a Christian is the gift of fortitude. But it is not sufficient. There is need of another gift which completes it. This other gift is Counsel. Fortitude needs direction. The gift of Knowledge is not the guide of Fortitude, and for this reason, that Knowledge teaches the soul her last end, and gives her general rules for her conduct. But it does not bring her light sufficient for the special application of God’s law to particular cases, and for the practical doing her duty. In those varied circumstances in which we are to be placed, and in the decisions we must then form, we will have to hearken to the voice of the Holy Ghost, and this voice speaks to us through the gift of Counsel. It will tell us, if we are attentive to its speaking, what we must do and what we must not do, what we must say and what we must not say, what we may keep and what we must give up. The Holy Ghost acts upon our understanding by the gift of Counsel, as He acts upon our will by the gift of Fortitude.

This precious gift bears upon our whole life, for we are continually obliged to be deciding on one of two sides or questions. How grateful, then, should we not be to the Holy Ghost who is ever ready to be our counsellor if we will but permit Him! And if we follow His direction, what snares He will teach us to avoid! How many illusions He will dispel! How grand the truths He will show us! But in order that His inspirations may not be lost upon us, we must be on our guard against such miseries of our nature as the following: natural impulse, which is but too often the sole motive of our acts; rashness, which makes us follow whatever feeling happens to be uppermost in our mind; precipitation, which urges us to judge or act before we have seen both sides of the case; and lastly, indifference, which makes us decide at haphazard, out of a repugnance we have to take the trouble of examining what is the best course to pursue.

By the gift of Counsel, the Holy Ghost saves us from all these evils. He corrects the impetuosity, or, it may be, the apathy of our temperament. He keeps the soul alive to what is true and good, and conducive to her real interests. He introduces into the soul that virtue which completes and seasons every other — we mean discretion, by which the other virtues are harmonised and kept from extremes. Under the direction of the gift of Counsel the Christian has nothing to fear. The Holy Ghost takes the whole responsibility. What matters it, therefore, if the world find fault, or criticise, or express surprise, or be scandalised? The world thinks itself wise, but it has not the gift of Counsel. Hence, it often happens that what is undertaken by its advice results in the very opposite to what was intended. Was it not of the world that God spoke, when He said: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor your ways my ways”? (Isaias lv. 8).

Let us then, with all the ardour of our hearts, desire this divine gift that will preserve us from the danger of being our own guides. But let us remember it will only dwell in us on the condition of our allowing it to be master. If the Holy Ghost sees that we are not led by worldly principles, and that we acknowledge our own weakness, He will be our Counsel. If he find that we are wise in our own eyes, He will withdraw His light and leave us to ourselves.

Holy Spirit! We would not that you should ever abandon us. Sad experience has taught us how fraught with danger is all human prudence. Most cheerfully do we promise you to mistrust our own ideas, which are so apt to blind and mislead us. Keep up within us the magnificent gift you gave us at Baptism. Be our Counsel, yes, unreservedly and forever! “Show me, Lord, your ways, and teach me your paths. Direct me in your truth, and teach me: for you are the God who can save me; therefore have I waited on you, all the day long” (Psalms xxiv. 4, 5). We know that we are to be judged for all our works and intentions. But we know, too, that we have nothing to fear so long as we are faithful to your guidance. Therefore will we attentively “hear what the Lord God will speak in us” (Psalms lxxxiv. 9). We will listen to you, Holy Spirit of Counsel, whether you speak to us directly yourself, or whether you send us to those whom you will appoint as our guides. Blessed then be Jesus who has sent us such a Counsellor! And blessed be you, Holy Spirit, who deigns to give us your aid, in spite of all our past resistance!

6. THE GIFT OF UNDERSTANDING

This sixth Gift of the Holy Ghost raises the soul to a still higher state. The first five Gifts all tend to action. The Fear of God keeps man in his right place, for it humbles him. Godliness opens his heart to holy affections. Knowledge enables him to discern the path of salvation from that of perdition. Fortitude arms him for the battle. Counsel directs him in his thoughts and works. Thus gifted, he can act and pursue his journey with the sure hope of coming at length to his heavenly home. But the Holy Ghost has other favours in store for him. He would give him a foretaste, here below, of the happiness that awaits him in the next life: it will give him confidence, it will encourage him, it will reward his efforts. Contemplation, yes, this is the blissful region thrown open to him, and the Holy Ghost leads him there by the gift of Understanding.

There will be a feeling of surprise and hesitation prising in the minds of many at hearing this word: Contemplation. They have been taught to look on Contemplation as an element of the spiritual life which is rarely to be hoped for, and almost impossible for persons who are in the ordinary walks of life. We must begin, then, by telling them that such an idea is a great and dangerous error, and one that checks the progress of the soul. No: Contemplation is a state to which, more or less, the soul of every Christian is called. It does not consist in those extraordinary effects which the Holy Ghost occasionally produces in some privileged souls, and by which he would convince the world of the reality of the supernatural life. It is simply a relation of close intimacy existing between God and a soul that is faithful to him in Action. For such a soul, unless she herself put an obstacle, God reserves two favours: the first is the gift of Understanding, which consists in a supernatural light granted to the mind of man. This light does not remove the sacred obscurity of Faith: but it enlightens the eye of the soul, strengthens her perception, and widens her view of divine things. It dispels clouds which were occasioned by the previous weakness and ignorance of the soul. The exquisite beauty of the mysteries is now revealed to her, and the truths which until now seemed unconnected, now delight her by the sweetness of their harmony. It is not the face-to-face vision which Heaven gives, but it is something incomparably brighter than the feeble glimmer of former days, when all was mist and doubt. The eye of her spirit discovers analogies and reasons which do something more than please — they bring conviction. The heart opens under the influence of these bright beams, for they feed faith, cherish hope, and give ardour to love. Everything seems new to her. Looking at the past, and comparing it with the present, she wonders within herself how it is that Truth, which is ever the same, has a charm and power over her now which once it had not.

The reading or hearing of the Gospel produces an impression far deeper than formerly: she finds a relish in the words of Jesus which, in times past, she never experienced. She can understand so much better the object of the institution of the Sacraments. The holy Liturgy, with its magnificent ceremonies and sublime formulas, is to her an anticipation of Heaven. She loves to read the Lives of the Saints. She can do so, and never feel a temptation to carp at their sentiments or conduct: she prefers their writings to all others, and she finds in these communications with the friends of God a special increase of her spiritual good. No matter what may be the duties of her station in life, she has in this glorious Gift a light which guides her in each of them. The virtues required from her, however varied they may be, are so regulated that one is never done to the detriment of another. She knows the harmony that exists between them all, and she never breaks it. She is as far from scrupulosity as from tepidity, and when she commits a fault, she loses no time in repairing it. Sometimes, the Holy Ghost favours her with an interior speaking which gives her additional light for some special emergency. The world and its maxims are mere vanities in her estimation, and when necessity obliges her to conform to what is not sinful in either, she does so without setting her heart upon it. Mere natural grandeur or beauty seems unworthy of notice to her whose eye has been opened by the Holy Spirit to the divine and eternal. To her, this outward world, which the carnal-minded man loves to his own destruction, has but one fair side: it is that the visible creation, with the impress of God’s beauty upon it, can be turned to its Maker’s glory. She gives Him thanks when she uses it. She elevates it to the supernatural order by praising, as did the Royal Prophet, Him who shadowed the likeness of His own beauty on this world of created things, which men so often abuse to their perdition, but which were intended as so many steps to lead us to our God.

The gift of Understanding teaches the Christian a just appreciation of the state of life in which God has placed him. It shows him the wisdom and mercy of those designs of Providence which have, at times, disconcerted his own plans and led him in a direction the very opposite to his wishes. He sees that had he been left to arrange things according to his own views, he would have gone astray, whereas now God has put him in the right place though the workings of His Fatherly wisdom were, at first, hidden from him. Yes, he is so happy now! He enjoys such peace of soul! He knows not how sufficiently to thank His God for having brought him where he is without consulting his poor fancies! If such a Christian as this be called upon to give counsel — if either duty or charity require him to guide others — he may safely be trusted: the gift of Understanding teaches him to see the right thing for others as well as for himself. Not that he ever intrudes his counsel upon others, or makes himself adviser-general to all around him, but if his advice be asked, he gives it, and the advice seems a reflex of the inward light that burns within him.

Such is the gift of Understanding. It is the true light of the soul, and it is weaker or stronger according to the measure of her correspondence with the other Gifts. Its safeguards are humility, restraint over the desires of the heart, and interior recollection. Dissipation of mind would dim its brightness, or even wholly put out the light. But where duty imposes occupations — not only busy and frequent, but even distracting — let the Christian discharge them with a pure intention, and his soul will not lose her recollection. Let him be single-hearted, let him be little in his own eyes, and that which God hides from the proud and reveals to the humble (Luke x. 21) will be manifested to him and abide with him.

It is evident from all this, that the gift of Understanding is of immense importance to the salvation and sanctification of the soul. It behoves us, therefore, to beg it of the Holy Ghost with all the earnestness of supplication, for we must not forget that it is obtained rather by the longings of our love, than by any efforts of the intellect. True, it is the intellect that receives the light. But it is the heart, the will, inflamed with love, that wins the radiant Gift. Hence that saying of Isaias: “Unless you believe, you will not understand” (Isaias vii. 9). Let us, then, address ourselves to the Holy Spirit in these words of the Psalmist: “Open our eyes, and we will consider the wondrous things of your law! Give us understanding and we will live! (Psalms cxviii. 10 and 144). Let us beseech Him in these words of the Apostle in which he is praying for his Ephesians: let us make his prayer our own: “Give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation, by which y we may have the knowledge of our God! Enlighten the eyes of our heart, that we may know what is the hope of our calling, and what the riches of the glorious inheritance prepared for the Saints!” (Ephesians i. 17, 18)

7. THE GIFT OF WISDOM

The second favour destined by the Holy Ghost for the soul that is faithful to him in action is the gift of Wisdom, which is superior to that of Understanding. The two are, however, connected together, inasmuch as the object shown by the gift of Understanding is held and relished by the gift of Wisdom. When the Psalmist invites us to draw near to God, he bids us relish our sovereign good: “Taste,” says he, “and see that the Lord is sweet” (Psalms xxxiii. 9). Holy Church prays for us on the day of Pentecost that we may “relish what is right and just” — recta sapere — because the union of the soul with God is rather an experience or tasting, than a sight, for such sight would be incompatible with our present state. The light given by the gift of Understanding is not intuitive. It gladdens the soul, and gives her an instinctive tendency to the truth. But its own final perfection depends upon its union with Wisdom, which is, as it were, its end.

Understanding, therefore, is light. Wisdom is union. Now, union with the sovereign good is attained by the will, that is, by love, which is in the will. Thus, in the angelic hierarchy, the Cherubim, with their sublime intellect, are below the Seraphim, who are inflamed with love. It is quite true, that the Cherubim have ardent love and the Seraphim profound intelligence, but they differ from each other by their predominating quality, and that choir is the higher of the two which approaches the nearer to the Divinity by its love and relish of the sovereign good.

The seventh gift is called by the beautiful name of Wisdom, which is taken from its uniting the soul, by love, to the Eternal Wisdom. This Eternal Wisdom who mercifully puts Himself within our reach even in this vale of tears is the Divine Word whom the Apostle calls “the brightness of the Father’s glory, and the figure of His substance” (Hebrews i. 3). It is He who sent us the Holy Ghost, that He might sanctify us and lead us to Himself, so that the sublimest of the workings of this Holy Spirit is his procuring our union with Him who, being God, became Flesh and for our sakes made Himself obedient unto death, even to the death of the Cross (Philippians ii. 8). By the mysteries wrought in His Humanity, Jesus enabled us to enter within the veil of His Divinity. By faith, enlightened by supernatural Understanding, “we see the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father” (John i. 14), and just as He made Himself a partaker of our lowly human nature, so does He give Himself, the uncreated Wisdom, to be loved and relished by that created Wisdom which the Holy Ghost forms within us, and is the noblest of His Gifts.

Happy, then, they who possess this precious Wisdom which makes the soul relish God and the things that are of God! “The sensual man,” says the Apostle, “perceives not the things that are of the spirit of God” (1 Corinthians ii. 14), and in order that he may enjoy this Gift he must become spiritual and docile to the teachings of the Holy Spirit. And then there would happen to him, what has happened to thousands of others, namely, that after being a slave to a carnal life, he would recover his Christian freedom and dignity. The man who is less depraved than the former, but still imbued with the spirit of this world, is also incapable of receiving or even comprehending the gifts of Understanding and Wisdom. He is ever ridiculing those whom he cannot help knowing possess these gifts. He never leaves them in peace, but is ever carping at their conduct, setting himself in opposition to them and at times seeks to satiate his jealousy by bitter persecution. Jesus assures us that “the world cannot receive the Spirit of Truth, because it sees Him not, nor knows Him” (John xiv. 17). They, therefore, who would possess the supreme good, must first divorce themselves from the spirit of the world, which is the personal enemy of the Spirit of God. If they break asunder the chain that now fetters them, they may hope to be gifted with Wisdom.

The special result of this Gift is great vigour in the soul, and energy in all her powers. Her whole life is, so to speak, seasoned with it. The effect may be likened to that produced in the body by wholesome diet. There is no disagreement between such a soul and her God, and hence her union with Him is almost inevitable. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is,” says the Apostle, “there is liberty” (2 Corinthians iii. 17). Everything is easy to the soul that is under the influence of the Spirit of Wisdom. Things that are hard to nature, are sweet to such a soul. And suffering does not appal her, as once it did. To say that God is near to her is saying too little: she is united with Him. And yet, she must keep herself in an attitude of profound humility, for pride may reach her even in that exalted state, and oh how terrible would be her fall!

Let us with all the earnestness of our hearts beseech the Holy Ghost to give us this Wisdom which will lead us to our Jesus, the Infinite Wisdom. One who was wise under the Old Law aspired to this Gift when he wrote these words of which we Christians alone can appreciate the full meaning: “I wished and Understanding was given to me; and I called upon God and the Spirit of Wisdom came upon me” (Wisdom vii. 7), o that we are to ask for this gift, and with great fervour. In the New Covenant we have the Apostle Saint James thus urging us to pray for it: “If any of you want Wisdom, let him ask of God who giveth to all men abundantly, and upbraids no ; and it will be given him; but let him ask in faith, nothing wavering” (James i. 5).

Holy Spirit, we presume to follow this injunction of the Apostle and say to you: “You who proceeds from Power and Wisdom, give us Wisdom! He that is Wisdom has sent you to us that you may unite us to Him. Take us from ourselves, and unite us to Him who united Himself to our weak nature. Sacred source of Unity, be the link uniting us forever to Jesus. Then will the Father adopt us as His heirs, and joint-heirs with Christ!” (Romans vii. 17)

13 MAY – FRIDAY AFTER THE OCTAVE OF THE ASCENSION

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

The Octave is over. The mystery of the glorious Ascension is completed, and our Jesus is never again to be seen upon this Earth until He comes to judge the living and the dead. We are to see Him only by faith. We are to approach Him only by love. Such is our probation, and if we go well through it, we will, at last, be permitted to enter within the Veil as a reward for our faith and love.

Let us not complain at our lot. Rather let us rejoice in that hope, which, as the Apostle says, “confounds not” (Romans v. 5). And how can we be otherwise than hopeful when we remember that Jesus has promised to abide with us “even to the consummation of the world” (Matthew xxviii. 20). He will not appear visibly, but He will be always really with us. How could He abandon His Spouse the Church? And are not we the children of this His beloved Spouse?

But this is not all: Jesus does something more for us. One of His last words was this, and it shows us how dearly He loved us: “I will not leave you orphans” (John xiv. 18). When He used those other words upon which we have been meditating during the last few days: “It is expedient for you that I go,” He added: “For if I go not, the Paraclete will not come to you” (John vii. 39). This Paraclete, this comforter, is the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of the Father and Son. He is to descend upon us in a few short hours hence. He will abide with us (making us feel His presence by His works) until Jesus will again come from Heaven that He may take His elect from a world which is to be condemned to eternal torments for its crimes. But the Holy Ghost is not to come until He be sent. And, as the sacred text implies, He is not to be sent until Jesus “will have been glorified” (John xvi. 7). He is coming that He may continue the great work, but this work was to be begun by the Son of God, and carried on by Him as far as the eternal decrees had ordained (John xvii. 4).

Jesus laboured in this work, and then entered into His rest, taking with Him our Human Nature, which, by His assuming it, He had exalted to the Divine. The Holy Ghost is not to assume our Humanity, but He is coming to console us during Jesus’ absence. He is coming to complete the work of our sanctification. It was He that produced those prodigies which we have been admiring — the faith and love of men in and for Jesus. Yes, it is the Holy Ghost who produces faith in the soul. It is the Holy Ghost who pours the charity of God into our hearts. So, then, we are about to witness fresh miracles of God’s love for man! In a few hours hence, the reign of the Holy Ghost will have begun on Earth. There is but the interim of this one short day for, tomorrow evening, the Solemnity of Pentecost will be upon us.

Let us then linger in our admiration of our Emmanuel. The holy Liturgy has daily gladdened us with His presence, beginning with those happy weeks of Advent when we were awaiting the day on which the Virgin-Mother was to give us the ever Blessed Fruit. And now He is gone! Sweet memories of the intimacy we enjoyed with our Jesus when we were permitted to follow Him day by day — we have you treasured within us! Yes, the Holy Spirit Himself is coming to impress you still deeper on our hearts, for Jesus told us, that when the Paraclete should come to us, He would help us to remember all that we have heard, and seen and felt in the company of the God who deigned to live our life, that so He might teach us to live His for all eternity (John xiv. 26).

Neither let us forget how, when quitting this His earthly home where He was conceived in Mary’s womb, where He was born, where He spent the three and thirty years of His mortal life, where He died, where He rose from the grave, and from which He ascended to the right hand of His Father — He left upon it an outward mark of His love. He left the impress of His sacred Feet upon Mount Olivet, as though He felt separating Himself from the Earth to which so many years and mysteries had endeared him. Saint Augustine, Saint Paulinus of Nola, Saint Optatus, Sulpicius Severus, and the testimony of subsequent ages, assure us of the prodigy. These venerable authorities tell us that when the Roman army under Titus was encamped on Mount Olivet, while besieging Jerusalem, Divine Providence protected these holy marks, the farewell memorial left by our Lord to His Blessed Mother, to His Disciples and to us: it is here that He stood when last seen on Earth, it is here that we will again see Him when He comes to judge mankind.

Neither the rude tramp of the soldiers, nor the ponderous chariots, nor the horses’ hoofs, were permitted to efface or injure the sacred footsteps. Yes, it was on this very Mount, forty years after the Ascension, that the Roman banner was first unfurled when the time of God’s vengeance came upon the City of Deieide. Let us call to mind, firstly, how the Angels announced that the same Jesus who had just ascended would again come to judge us, and secondly, how our Lord Himself had compared the two awful events, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the end of the world. These sacred marks of Jesus’ feet, are therefore the memorial of His affectionate farewell, and the prophecy of His return as our terrible Judge. At the foot of the Hill lies the Valley of Josaphat, the Valley of the Judgment, and the Prophet Zacharias has said: “His feet will stand in that day, upon the Mount of Olives, which is over against Jerusalem, towards the East” (Zacharias xiv. 4)

Let us humbly give admission to the feeling of fear with which our Lord thus inspires us, that we may be more solidly grounded in His love, and let us affectionately venerate the spot on which our Emmanuel left the impress of His feet. The holy Empress Saint Helena was entrusted with the sublime mission of finding and honouring the objects and places that our Redeemer had sanctified by His visible presence. Mount Olivet was sure to elicit her devoted zeal. She ordered a magnificent church of a circular form to be built upon it, but when the builders came to pave the church with rich marble, they were prevented by a miraculous power from covering the spot on which were imprinted the holy footmarks. The marble broke into a thousand pieces, which struck them on the face and after several attempts, they resolved to leave that part of the rock uncovered.

This fact is attested by many holy and creditable authors, several of whom lived in the fourth century when it occurred. But our Lord would do more than keep open to our view these His last footprints, which seem to be ever saying to us, “Your Jesus is but now gone, and will soon return.” He would, moreover, have them teach us that we are to follow Him to Heaven. When the time came for roofing the church, the men found that they had not power to do so: the stones fell as often as they attempted to put them up, and the building was left roofless, as though it had to be our reminder that the way opened by Jesus on the summit of Mount Olivet is ever open for us, and that we must be ever aspiring to rejoin our Divine Master in Heaven.

In his first Sermon for the Feast of the Ascension, Saint Bernardine of Sienna relates an edifying story which is in keeping with the reflections we have been making. He tells us, that a pious nobleman, desirous to visit the places that had witnessed the mysteries of our Redemption, passed the seas. Having reached Palestine, he would begin his pilgrimage by visiting Nazareth, and there, on the very spot where the Word was made Flesh, he gave thanks to the infinite love that had drawn our God from Heaven to Earth in order that He might save us from perdition. The next visit was to Bethlehem where our pilgrim venerated the place of our Saviour’s birth. As he knelt on the spot where Mary adored her new-born babe, the tears rolled down his cheeks, and as Saint Francis of Sales says, (for he also has related this affecting story), “he kissed the dust on which the divine infant was first laid.”

Our devout pilgrim who bravely travelled the country in every direction, went from Bethlehem to the banks of the Jordan. He stopped near Bethabara, at a little place called Bethany where Saint John baptised Christ. The better to honour the mystery, he went down into the bed of the river and entered with much devotion into the water thinking within himself how that stream had been sanctified by its contact with Jesus’ sacred body. Thence he passed to the desert, for he would follow, as nearly as might be, the footsteps of the Son of God. He contemplated the scene of our Master’s fasting, temptation and victory. He next went on towards Thabor. He ascended to the top, that he might honour the mystery of the Transfiguration by which our Saviour gave to three of His Disciples a glimpse of His infinite glory. At length, the good pilgrim entered Jerusalem. He visited the Cenacle, and we can imagine the tender devotion with which he meditated on all the great mysteries that had been celebrated there, such as Jesus washing His Disciples’ feet, and the Institution of the Eucharist. Being resolved to follow His Saviour in each Station, he passed the Brook Cedron, and came to the garden of Gethsemani, where his heart well-nigh broke at the thought of the Bloody Sweat endured by the Divine Victim of our sins. The remembrance of Jesus’ being manacled, fettered and dragged to Jerusalem, next filled his mind. “He at once starts off,” says the holy Bishop of Geneva, whom we must allow to tell the rest of the story:

“He at once starts off, treading in the footsteps of his beloved Jesus. He sees Him dragged to and fro, to Annas, to Caiphas, to Pilate, to Herod; buffeted, scoffed at, spit upon, crowned with thorns, made a show of to the mob, sentenced to death, laden with a Cross, and meeting, as He carries it, with his heart-broken Mother and the weeping daughters of Jerusalem. The good Pilgrim mounts to the top of Calvary where he sees in spirit the Cross lying on the ground, and our Saviour stretched on it, while the executioners cruelly nail Him to it by His hands and feet. He sees them raise the Cross and the Crucified in the air, and the blood gushing from the wounds of the sacred body. He looks at the poor Mother who is pierced through with the sword of sorrow. He raises up his eyes to the Crucified and ' listens with most loving attention to His Seven Words. And at last, sees Him dying and dead, and His side opened with a spear, so that the Sacred Heart is made visible. He watches how He is taken down from the Cross and carried to the tomb, and as he treads along the path all stained with His Redeemer’s blood, he sheds floods of tears. He enters the sepulchre, and buries his heart side by side by his Jesus’ corpse. After this, he rises again together with Him. He visits Emmaus and thinks on all that happened between Jesus and the two disciples. Finally, he returns to Mount Olivet, the scene of the Ascension, and seeing there the last footprints of his dear Lord, he falls down and covers them with untiring kisses. Then, like an archer stretching his bow-string to give his arrow speed, he concentrates into one intense act the whole power of his love, and stands with his eyes and hands lifted up towards heaven: ‘Jesus!’ he says, ‘my sweet Jesus! where else am I now to go on earth seeking you? Ah Jesus! my dearest Jesus, let this heart of mine follow you yonder!’ Saying this, his heart kept darting upwards to heaven, for the brave archer had taken too sure an aim to miss his divine object.”

Saint Bernardine of Siena tells us that the companions and attendants of the noble pilgrim, seeing that he was sinking under the vehemence of his desire, hastened to call a physician, that they might bring him to himself again. But it was too late: the soul had fled to her God, leaving us an example of the love that the mere contemplation of the divine mysteries can produce in man’s heart. And have not we been following all these same mysteries under the guidance of the holy Liturgy? God grant that we may now keep within us the Jesus, whom we have had so truly given to us! and may the Holy Spirit, by His coming visit, maintain and intensify in our souls the resemblance we have thus received with our Divine King!