Dom Prosper Guéranger:
So far we have considered the action of the Holy Ghost in the Church. We must now study its workings in the soul of the Christian. Here also we will find fresh motives for admiration and gratitude towards this Divine Paraclete who so graciously condescends to minister to us in all our necessities and lead us to the glorious end for which we were created.
As the Holy Ghost, who was sent that He might abide with us forever (John xiv. 16), exercises His power in upholding and guiding the Church, that thus she may be the faithful Spouse of Jesus: so, likewise, does He work in each one of us, that He may make us worthy members of our divine Head. This is His mission — to unite us so closely with Jesus that we may be made one Body with Him. His office is to create us in the supernatural order, to give and maintain within us the life of grace, by applying to us the merits acquired for us by Jesus, our Mediator and our Saviour.
Let us begin by considering how sublime is this mission given by the Father and the Son to the Holy Ghost. In the Godhead, the Holy Ghost is produced, and does not produce. The Father begets the Son. The Father and the Son produce the Holy Ghost. This difference is founded on the Divine Nature itself, which is not and cannot be but in Three Persons. Hence, as the Holy Fathers teach, the Holy Ghost has received a fecundity outside, having none within, the Godhead. Thus, when the Humanity of the Son of God was to be produced in Mary’s womb, it was the Holy Ghost that achieved the mystery. Again, when the Christian is to be created in the creature corrupted by original sin, it is the same Holy Spirit who produces the new being. Saint Augustine thus forcibly expresses himself: “The same grace that produced Christ when He first became Man, produces the Christian when he first becomes a believer. The same Spirit of whom Christ was conceived, is the principle of the new birth of the Christian.”
We have dwelt at some length on the action of the Holy Ghost in the formation and government of the Church, because the chief work of this Divine Spirit is to produce, here on the Earth, the Spouse of the Son of God, and because it is through her that all blessings come to us. She is the depository of a portion of the Paraclete’s graces, inasmuch as He is ever ready to serve her for our salvation and sanctification’s sake. It is for us also that He made her Catholic, and visible to the world, and this, to the end that we might the more easily find her. It is for us that He maintains her in Truth and Holiness, that so we may drink our fill at these two sources of life-giving water. Coming, now, to consider what He does in the souls of men, the first marvel that demands our attention is His creative power. Is it not a veritable Creation when He raises a soul from the abyss of original sin, or from the still deeper fall of actual guilt, and instantly makes her an adopted Child of God, and a Member of the Son of God?
The Father and Son look with complacency on this work of the Spirit, who is their own mutual Love. They sent Him into the world that He might work, yes, work with sovereign authority, and wherever He reigns, there do they also reign. This chosen, this elect soul, has been eternally present to the mind of the Blessed Trinity. The time fixed by the divine decree being come, the Holy Ghost descends and takes possession of this object of his love. Swifter than ever eagle to his prey, the Dove of infinite mercy flies to His destined habitation. If no hindrance be offered to His action by the creature’s free-will, there happens in her what Saint Paul describes as happening in the Church herself: the things that were not become superior to the things that were (1 Corinthians i. 29), and where sin abounded, grace is made to dwell in rich superabundance (Romans v. 20).
We have already seen how our Emmanuel gave to water the power of purifying the soul. But we also remember, how, when He went down into the Jordan stream, the Dove rested on him, hereby showing that He, the Spirit of God, took possession of the element of regeneration. The Font of Baptism is His domain. “The Water of Baptism,” says the great Saint Leo, “is like the virginal womb (that conceived Jesus) — it gives to man a spiritual Regeneration, for the same Holy Spirit that gave fecundity to the Virgin, gives fecundity to the Font, to the end that sin, of which there could be no question in the sacred conception (of the Son of God in Mary’s womb), may be washed away by the mystic Font.”
What tongue could describe the fond delight with which the Holy Spirit looks upon the new creature that rises from the Font, or the impetuosity of love with which He enters into such a soul? He is “the Gift of the Most High,” sent that He may dwell within us. He takes up his abode in the new-born soul, be it that of an infant but one day old, or that of an adult advanced in years. He is well-pleased with the dwelling He has, from all eternity, longed to possess. He fills it with His glowing and His light. And being by nature one with the other Divine Persons, He brings there with Him the presence of the Father and Son, and all Three abide in that happy soul! (John xiv. 23)
But the Holy Ghost has here His own special action — His mission of Sanctification: and in order that we may understand the full effect of His presence in the Christian, we must know that it is not confined to the Soul. The Body, too, is part of Man, and had its share in Regeneration. The Apostle tells us, that the Soul is the dwelling of the Holy Ghost (Romans viii. 11), but He also assures us that our Bodies are the Temple of the same Divine Spirit (1 Corinthians vi. 19), and bids us make them serve justice unto sanctification (Romans vi. 19). He graces them with a germ of immortality which will rest upon them even in the tomb, and give them to rise again, at the last day, spiritualised, and bearing on them the seal of the Divine Paraclete who deigned to be their Guest during the term of their mortality.
After having thus made the Christian to be His dwelling-place, the Holy Ghost bestows on him what may fit him for his high destiny. Think for a moment of the beauty of the Theological Virtues! Faith puts us into the certified and real possession of the divine truths which our mind cannot, in this present life, understand. Hope gives us both the divine assistance we stand in need of, and the eternal happiness we look forward to. Charity unites us to God by the strongest and sweetest of ties. Now it is to the in-dwelling of the Holy Ghost within him that the Christian is indebted for these three virtues — these three means by which regenerated man is made capable of attaining the end of His creation. The Holy Spirit marked His first entrance into the soul by this triple gift which surpasses all the creature’s merits, past, present or future.
Over and above the three Theological Virtues, He bestows on the soul four other virtues which are the hinges on which the rest of the moral virtues turn, and hence their name of Cardinal. They are Justice, Fortitude, Prudence and Temperance. Though in themselves natural qualities, the Holy Ghost transforms them by making them serve the supernatural end of the Christian. Finally, as a finish to the beauty of His abode, He infuses His Seven Gifts which are to impart movement and life to the Seven Virtues.
But though the Virtues and Gifts relate to God, yet do they need that element which is the essential means of union with Him — an element which is indispensable — for which nothing can serve as substitute —the soul of the soul — the life-giving principle, without which man can neither see nor possess God: Sanctifying Grace. The Holy Ghost exultingly plants it in the soul. It becomes part of herself, and makes her an object of delight to the Blessed Trinity, So close is the union between this Grace and the presence of the Holy Spirit, that when it is lost by mortal sin, He, that same instant, ceases to dwell in the soul.
He watches most carefully over His inheritance. He is ceaselessly working the interests of His much loved dwelling. The Virtues He has infused into her are not to remain inert. They must elicit virtuous acts, and, by the merit they thus produce, must increase, strengthen and develop the fundamental element of Sanctifying Grace, which unites the Christian to His God. The Holy Ghost is, therefore, ever exciting the soul to action, either interior or exterior, by means of those divine influences which theologians call Actual Graces. He thus enables the soul to raise herself higher and higher in virtue, add to her riches, strengthen her strength, and, in a word, become an instrument of glory to her Maker who created her that she might serve Him, labour for Him, and yield Him fruit.
To this end the Spirit, after giving himself to her, and dwelling within her with devoted love, urges her to Prayer by which she may procure every blessing: light, strength and success in what she undertakes. But how are we to know what to pray for? The Apostle solves the difficulty by telling us the truth of which he himself had such experience. He says: “The Spirit Himself asks for us with unspeakable groanings” (Romans viii. 26). Yes, the Holy Ghost makes our wants His own. God as He is, He unites His own speakings with the voice of our prayer, and, with His dove-like moaning, cries in our hearts to the Father (Galatians iv. 6) He thus, by His presence and His workings, makes us feel that we are children of God (Romans viii. 16). Could there be intimacy greater than this? And who, after this, can be surprised at our Jesus’ saying that we have but to ask, and we will receive? (Luke xi. 9). Is it not His own Spirit that asks within us?
So that He is the author of our Prayer, when we pray: He is also the great co-operator with us in the good actions we do. So intimate is His union with the soul, that He leaves her no liberty of her own save what is necessary for her to have merit. But it is He that does the rest. That is, He inspires her, He supports her, He directs her. All she has to do is to co-operate in what He does in and by her. It is by this mark, that is, by the united action of the Holy Ghost and the soul, that our heavenly Father knows who are His. Hence that saying of the Apostle: “Whoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Romans viii. 14). Glorious union! which brings the Christian to life everlasting and makes Jesus triumph in him — that Jesus whose likeness is imprinted by the Holy Ghost in the creature, that the creature may become worthy to be united with his divine Head!
Alas, this union may be severed, as long as we are on Earth. Our free-will is not confirmed in good until we reach Heaven, and meanwhile it may, and frequently does, lead to a rupture between the Spirit that sanctifies, and the creature that is sanctified. The unhappy love of independence, and the passions, (which we cannot master, save when we are docile to the Divine Spirit), excite the unguarded heart to the desire of what is unworthy of her. Satan is jealous of the reign of the Holy Ghost, and seeks to make us disloyal by holding out to us the lying promise of happiness and good, other than those we can find in God. The world, too, which is a spirit of evil, sets itself up as a rival of the Holy Spirit of God. Wily, audacious, and active, it excels in the art of seduction, and its victims are countless, although our Saviour has put us on our guard against it by telling us that He excluded it from any share in His prayers (John xvii. 9), and the Apostle tells us, that we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is of God (1 Corinthians ii. 12)
And yet, how many there are who bring about in themselves a cruel separation of their soul from the Holy Ghost! The separation is generally preceded by a certain coolness of the creature for His divine Benefactor. A want of respect, a slight disobedience, are the preliminaries of the rupture. This occasions in the Holy Spirit a displeasure which proves the tender love he bears to a faithful soul. The Apostle describes the nature of this displeasure where he says: “Grieve not the Holy Spirit, who put His seal on you on the day of your redemption” (Ephesians iv. 30). There is a deep meaning in these few words and, among other truths, they reveal to us the effects of venial sins — the Holy Ghost is grieved, He finds but little pleasure in that soul. There is danger of a separation and though, as Saint Augustine tells us, “He does not leave us, unless we leave Him,” and though, consequently, such a soul still possesses sanctifying grace, yet actual grace becomes less frequent and less powerful. But when mortal sin — that act of the creature’s boldest malice and worst ingratitude — enters the soul, it breaks the sacred compact which closely united the Christian and the Holy Ghost. He, the Spirit of love, is driven from the dwelling He had chosen for Himself and had enriched with so many graces. A greater outrage cannot be offered to God by man for, as the Apostle so strongly expresses it, “he has trodden underfoot the Son of God, and has esteemed the Blood of the testament unclean, by which he was sanctified, and has offered an affront to the Spirit of grace” (Hebrews x. 29).
And yet, this miserable state of the sinner may excite the compassion of the Holy Ghost who has been sent that He might ever be our Guest. Could anything be imagined more sad, than the wretchedness of a Christian who, by having cast out the Divine Spirit, has lost the soul of his soul, forfeited the treasure of sanctifying grace, and robbed himself of all past merits? But, mystery of mercy, worthy of eternal praise! The Holy Ghost longs to return to the dwelling from which sin has driven Him. Yes, such is the fullness of the mission given by the Father and the Son to the Holy Ghost. He is Love, and in His love, He abandons not the poor ungrateful worm, but would restore him to his former dignity and make him, once more, a partaker of the divine nature (2 Peter i. 4).
This Divine Spirit of Love labours to regain possession of His dwelling. He begins by exciting within the soul a fear of divine justice. He makes her feel the shame and anguish of spiritual death. He thus detaches her from evil, by what the holy Council of Trent calls “impulses of the Holy Ghost, not indeed as yet dwelling within the soul, but moving her.” Dissatisfied and unhappy, the soul sighs after a reconciliation. She breaks the chains of her slavery. The Sacrament of Penance then comes, bringing life-giving love, and her justification is completed. Who could describe the triumphant joy with which the Divine Spirit re-enters His dear abode? The Father and the Son return to the dwelling that for days, or perhaps for years, has been defiled with sin. The soul is restored to life. Sanctifying grace returns to her, just as it was on the day of her Baptism.
As we have already said, she had lost by mortal sin that fund of merit which had developed the power of grace. It is now restored to her fully and entirely, for the power of the Holy Spirit is equal to the vehemence of His love. This admirable raising from death to life is going on every day, yes every hour. It is part of the mission given to the Holy Ghost. He does the work he came for — the sanctification of man. The Son of God came down from Heaven, and gave Himself to us. He found us slaves to Satan: He ransomed us at the price of His Blood, gave us everything that could lead us to Himself and his Heavenly Father, and when He returned to heaven, there to prepare a place for us, He sent us His own Spirit to be our second Comforter, until He Himself should return to us. We have seen how strenuously this Divine Aid undertakes His work. Let us fervently celebrate the love with which He treats us, and the wisdom and power with which He accomplishes His glorious mission.
May He be blessed, and glorified! May He be known throughout the whole world, for it is through Him that all blessings are imparted to men! He is the soul of the Church: may she render Him the homage of her praise! And may He be tenderly loved by those countless millions of hearts in which He desires to dwell that He may give them eternal salvation and happiness.
