Dom Prosper Guéranger:
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 be 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.
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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.
