Sermons by the Fathers of the Congregation of St. Paul the Apostle, Volume VI.Paulist Fathers
Religion
Sermons by the Fathers of the Congregation of St. Paul the Apostle, Volume VI.
Paulist Fathers
Catholic Church -- Sermons; Sermons, American -- 19th century
It is this which inspires the Holy Church, in the sequence of the
Mass for to-day, to cry
"Veni, Sancte Spiritus,
Et emitte coelitus
Lucis tuae radium.
Veni, Pater pauperum,
Veni, dator munerum,
Veni, lumen cordium.
Consolator optime,
Dulcis hospes animae,
Dulce refrigerium.
In labore requies,
In aestu temperies,
In fletu solatium
O Lux beatissima,
Reple cordis intima
Tuorum fidelium!"
I cannot do better than explain these words of the Holy Church,
which express in so many beautiful forms the comforting grace of
the Holy Ghost.
Who is this Divine Comforter? God the Holy Ghost. Not an
attribute of God, such as His omnipotence, His omnipresence, His
justice or mercy, but the Person of God Himself. God lives in
Himself an eternal, infinite life; a mysterious life to us, in
that He needs no other object besides Himself to give Him life.
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God is but one being; and hence the Holy Ghost is the same God as
the Father and the Son; but God possesses, as it were, a
threefold personal life, which, being mutually dependent and
united, is but one. The Father is the Infinite Personal Cause of
His own Divine Life; the Son is the Personal Life of God,
begotten of the Father; and the Holy Ghost is God personally
enjoying, living the Divine Life, begotten by Himself. Think of
it! This is what we invoke when we cry, __Veni, Sancte
Spiritus!__ This is what was promised by our Lord, when He
said: "I will ask the Father, and He will send you another
Comforter." The Life of God! Life full beyond human imagination,
of ineffable joy, and of peace that passes understanding! Life
full of beauty, sublimity, and majesty! Life of omnipotence and
of glory! "O Lord, my God," exclaims the enraptured Psalmist, in
one of the Psalms of to-day's matins, "Thou art exceedingly
great! Thou hast put on praise and beauty, and art clothed with
light as with a garment." [Footnote 27]
[Footnote 27: Ps. ciii. 1,2.]
[USCCB: Ps. civ. 1,2.]
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The sun rises in his splendor, and no man may look with
unblenched gaze upon it; but who shall describe the dazzling
brightness of Him who dwells in light inaccessible! And it is a
ray of the light of the Life of God we crave for our darkened
souls, when we say, __Veni, Sancte Spirtus, et emitte coelitus
lucis tuae radium!__ "Come, O Holy Spirit, and send forth upon
us a ray of Thy heavenly light!"
The coming of the Holy Ghost to man is the completion of the
mysterious union between God and us. By the Father Almighty we
are created. Something of the hidden essence of Life is given to
us in creation. "And the Lord God formed man of the slime of the
earth: and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man
became a living soul." [Footnote 28]
[Footnote 28: Gen. ii. 7.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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