Better Than the Hunger Games . . .

Content wise and price wise, you can't beat On Acquisition of the Holy Spirit.  It was only $.99 on Kindle.  I read Hunger Games in one night.  I read the next two books in an additional 3 days.  I was fairly convinced of my extreme lacking in the virtue of temperance by the end of this popular trilogy.  But I proved it when my daughter and I viewed it twice in a single visit to the theater.

  

I convinced myself if I could read those three books in such a short period of time I should be able to read a holy book in short period of time too.  With Pentecost being this week, I chose this book.  I was not disappointed.  Hunger Games itself and the series had some great lines but none better than any of the quotes I've included below.  I enjoyed the story of Katniss and Peeta, but I was blessed to learn more about the magnificence and reality of the Holy Spirit.

St. Seraphim of Sarov sought the Holy Spirit as a hermit for several decades.  He was beaten by robbers and his injuries left him bent over in need of a staff to walk.  He was sought after and received thousands of pilgrims who recognized his holiness.  Similar to St. Padre Pio he could read souls, and gave consolation and guidance to all who visitied him.

In 1831, a pious Orthodox Christian named Nicholas Motovilov met with St. Seraphim and transcribed the conversation.  Here are some of the quotes that I highlighted in my Kindle version.  I refer to Nicholas as "Pilgrim" below.

Come Holy Spirit and let us learn how to receive you and dwell with you in the Kingdom of God inside our own souls!

. . . (T)he true aim of our Christian life consists of the acquisition of the Holy Spirit of God.

. . . (W)e are influenced by three wills:  the first is God's all-perfect and all-saving will; the second is our own human will which, if not destructive, neither is it saving; and the third will is the devil's will - wholly destructive.

But if we are not in the Spirit, we must discover why not and what reason our Lord God the Holy Spirit has willed to abandon us. . . . We must attack the enemies that drive us away from Him until even their dust is no more.

 . . . (W)e do not seek the grace of God and in the pride of our minds, do not allow it to dwell in our souls.  That is why we are without true enlightenment from the Lord, which He sends into the hearts of men who hunger and thirst wholeheartedly for God's righteousness or holiness.

Pentecost
Then on the day of Pentecost He solemnly sent down to them in a tempestuous wind the Holy Spirit in the form of tongues of fire which alighted on each of them and entered within them and filled them with the fiery strength of divine grace which breathes as with dew and acts with gladness in souls who partake of its power and operations (Acts 2).  And this same fire-infusing grace of the Holy Spirit which is given to us all, the faithful in Christ, in the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, is sealed by the Sacrament of Chrismation on the chief parts of the body as appointed by the Holy Church, the eternal keeper of this grace.

Advice
. . . (H)asten to offer true repentance for all . . . sins and . . . practice the virtues which are opposite to the sins committed.  Then through the virtues practiced for Christ's sake, (you) will acquire the Holy Spirit Who acts within us and establishes in us the Kingdom of God.

The fact that I am a Monk and you are a layman is utterly beside the point.  What God requires is true faith in Himself and His Only-begotten Son.  In return for that the grace of the Holy Spirit is granted abundantly from on high.  The Lord seeks a heart filled to overflowing with love for God and our neighbor; this is the throne on which He loves to sit and on which He appears in the fullness of His heavenly glory.  "Son give Me thy heart," He says, "and the rest I Myself will add to thee (Prov. 23:26; Matt. 6:33)," for in the human heart the Kingdom of God can be contained.

(B)y consoling one another with mutual love, we may lighten the sorrowful and narrow way of our journey to the heavenly country (Gal 6:2). . . . The Lord God has led us out to work and has given us the gifts of His grace in order that, by reaping the ears of the salvation of our fellow-men and bringing as many as possible into the Kingdom of God, we may bring him some thirtyfold, some sixtyfold, and some a hundredfold.

(Jn. 14:12,16; 16:24) Thus, my son, whatever you ask of the Lord God you will receive, if only it is for the glory of God or for the good of your neighbor, because what we do for the good of our neighbor He refers to His own glory (Matt. 25:40).

Mary!
The Ever-Virgin Mary Mother of God, who crushes the head of the serpent in herself and in all the human race, a constant mediatress with her Son and our God, and an invincible and persistent intercessor even for the most desperate sinners.  That is why the Mother of God is called the "Plague of Demons," for it is not possible for a devil to destroy a man so long as man himself has recourse to the help of the Mother of God.

Grace is Light
The Spirit of God reminds us of the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and always acts triumphantly with Him, gladdening our hearts and guiding our steps into the way of peace, while the false, diabolical spirit reasons in the opposite way to Christ and its actions in us are rebellious, stubborn, and full of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.

How Can I know that I am in the grace of the Holy Spirit?
"All things are simple to those who find knowledge." (Prov. 8:9)  The trouble is that we do not seek this divine knowledge which does not puff up, for it is not of this world.  This knowledge . . . is full of love of God and for our neighbor builds up every man for his salvation. . . . (T)he holy Apostles were consciously aware of the presence in themselves of the Spirit of God.  "It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us (Acts 15:28)."

Holy Spirit Reveals Himself
Thank the Lord God for His unutterable mercy to us!  You saw that I did not even cross myself; and only in my heart I prayed mentally to the Lord God and said within myself:  "Lord, grant him to see clearly with his bodily eyes that descent of Thy Spirit which Thou grantest to Thy servants when Thou are pleased to appear in the light of Thy magnificient glory."  . . . . This grace of God, like a loving mother, has been pleased to comfort your contrite heart at the intercession of the Mother of God herself.

• Pilgrim:  I feel such calmness and peace in my soul that no words can express it. . . .
  St. Seraphim:  And to those people whom the world hates but who are chosen by the Lord, the Lord gives that peace which you now feel within you, the peace which . . . passes all understanding (Philippians. 4:7).
• Pilgrim:  (I feel) an extraordinary sweetness.
  St. Seraphim:  . . . (T)his sweetness is flooding our hearts and coursing through our veins with unutterable delight.  From this sweetness our hearts melt as it were, and both of us are filled with such happiness as tongue cannot tell.
• Pilgrim:  (I feel) an extraordinary joy in all my heart.
  St. Seraphim:  When the Spirit of God comes down to man and overshadows him with the fullness of His inspiration, then the human soul overflows with unspeakable joy, for the Spirit of God fills with joy whatever He touches. . . . The Lord speaks in his Gospel . . . . "In the world you will be sorrowful; but when I see you again, your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you (Jn. 16:21-22)."  Yet however comforting may be this joy which you now feel in your heart, it is nothing in comparison with that of which the Lord Himself (said through St. Paul) . . . "Joy eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for them that love Him (1 Cor. 2:9)."  Yet see with what joy the Lord consoles you even in this life!
• Pilgrim:  (I feel) an extraordinary warmth.St. Seraphim:  There is more than an inch of snow on us, and the snowflakes are still falling.  What warmth can there be?   This warmth is not in the air but in us.  It is that very warmth about which the Holy Spirit in the words of prayer makes us cry to the Lord:  "Warm me with the warmth of the Holy Spirit!"  And so it must be in actual fact, for the grace of God must dwell within us, in our heart, because the Lord said:  "The Kingdom of God is within you (Lk. 17:21)."  By the Kingdom of God the Lord meant the grace of the Holy Spirit.
• Pilgrim:  There is nothing on earth like this fragrance.St. Seraphim:  The sweet earthly fragrance cannot be compared with the fragrance which we now feel, for we are enveloped in the fragrance of the Holy Spirit of God.  

The Kingdom of God . . .
is now within us, and the grace of the Holy Spirit shines upon us and warms us from without as well.  It fills the surrounding air with many fragrant odors, sweetens our senses with heavenly delight and floods our hearts with inutterable joy.  "The Kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17)."  . . . . Of this state the Lord said:  "There are some of those standing here who shall not taste of death till they see the Kingdom of God come in power (Mk. 9:1)."

I have now told you and given you a practical demonstration of all that the Lord and the Mother of God have been pleased to tell you and show you through me, poor Seraphim.  Now go in peace.  The Lord and the Mother of God be with you always, now and ever, and to the ages of ages.  Amen.  Now go in peace.

Pilgrim:  And during the whole of this time, from the moment when Father Seraphim's face became radiant, this illumination continued; and all that he told me from the beginning of the narrative till now, he said while remaining in one and the same position.  The ineffable glow of the light which emanated from him I myself saw with my own eyes.

May the Holy Spirit renew us from within by his Presence and Sanctifying Grace!  Amen.

Veni Creator Spiritus

While I love the scriptures chosen for Pentecost Sunday, an excerpt from The Divine Consolation of Blessed Angela Foligno was especially helpful for understanding personal relationship with the Holy Spirit.

Holy Spirit, Stained Glass Image

The Holy Spirit appeared to her and said, "I have not willed to send thee another messenger.  I am the Holy Spirit, who am come unto thee to bring thee such consolation as thou hast never before tasted . . . I will bear thee company and will speak to thee all the way . . . My daughter who are sweet unto me, my daughter who art my temple:  My beloved daughter, do thou love Me, for I do greatly love thee and much more than thou lovest me . . . . My beloved and my bride, love thou Me!  All thy life, thy eating and drinking and sleeping and all that thou dost is pleasing unto Me, if only thou lovest Me."

In a later appearance the Holy Spirit said to her, "Infinite is the love which I bear thee, but I do not reveal it unto thee -- yea, I do even conceal it . . . . for I desire that in this world thou shouldest hunger and long after Me and shouldest ever be eager to find Me. . . . So great is the love I bear thee that I no more remember thy sins, albeit Mine eyes do see them, for in thee have I much treasure."

Blessed Angela was overwhelmed by the consolations when she perceived so strongly her sinfulness.  She asked the Holy Spirit for a sign, for a ring.

The Holy Spirit told her, "Therefore will I give thee another sign, better than the one thou seekest, and which will be forever with thee, and in thy soul thou shalt always feel it.  The sign shall be this:  Thou shalt be fervent in love, and the love and the enlightened knowledge of God shall be ever with thee and in thee.  This shall be a certain sign unto thee that I am He, because none save I can do this."

Beautiful, right?

Some scripture references for the Holy Spirit:

Joel 2:

28	"And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions.
29	And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

Numbers 11:

27	And a young man ran and told Moses, and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”
28	So Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, one of his choice men, answered and said, “Moses my lord, forbid them!”
29	Then Moses said to him, “Are you zealous for my sake? Oh, that all the LORD’s people were prophets and that the LORD would put His Spirit upon them!”

Ezekiel 36:

26	“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
27	“I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.
28	“Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God.

John 20: (institution of Sacrament of Confession)

21	So Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you."
22	And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.
23	If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.

John 7:

37	On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.
38	He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.
39	But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

John 14:

15	If you love Me, keep My commandments.
16	And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever-
17	the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

25	These things I have spoken to you while being present with you.
26	But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.
27	Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Acts 2:

1	When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
2	And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
3	Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.
4	And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
5	And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven.
6	And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language.

Psalm 51:⁹ Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.

¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.
¹¹ Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy holy Spirit from me.
¹² Restore to me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.
¹³ Then I will teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners will return to thee.

Pope Benedict XVI on June 8, 2011 greeted young people in Vatican City telling them the Holy Spirit will make them "fearless witnesses of Christ".

He told them and tells us, "I exhort you, dear young people, to frequently invoke the Holy Spirit who makes you fearless witnesses of Christ."

Prayer to the Holy Spirit:

Holy Spirit,

Open our minds to know Jesus.

Open our hearts to receive His Love.

Holy Spirit,

Send your cleansing wind.

Blow away our doubts and fears.

Give us the wisdom to know

Your will and the courage to follow it

Give us the mind of Jesus.

Holy Spirit,

Ignite your holy fire in our souls.

Burn away anger and resentment

Warm us with love for You and for

one another.

Make us all one as you, the Father

and the Son, are one.

Holy Spirit,

Send us Your light.

Drive out confusion and despair.

Teach us to know Your truth.

Teach us to understand one another.

Holy Spirit,

lead us on the path

of justice and peace.

Holy Spirit,

send us forth to witness to the

Gospel by word and example.

May all who have been redeemed

by the blood of Christ, come to

know You, the one true God,

and Jesus Christ, whom

You have sent.

Amen!

The Supremacy of Christ

Pentecost Novena for the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit is the novena I have been praying since the day after Ascension, the period of time when Our Lord instructed the apostles to pray for the coming of the Holy Spirit.

In two recent conversations I learned that two of my friends from church are also praying novena during this time, but they are praying different ones.

Have any of you been praying this novena, or a different novena that you might want to tell us about in the comments?  

I was pretty much given my marching orders by one of our priests who told me to meditate on the 7 gifts and to meditate on the Holy Spirit, and also to do some reading to better understand and appreciate the relationship between Our Blessed Mother and the Holy Spirit.

Part of my studies led to an appreciation of the Holy Spirit being brought to us by Jesus, that by his leaving in his redemptive act, we have the great and awesome gift of the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  I came to a deeper appreciation of this by reading On the Holy Spirit in the Life of the Church and the World (Amazon) or vatican.va online reading, by Blessed John Paul II.

He explains that in the Last Supper Discourse, and specifically John 16:7, that it is Jesus's departure through the cross that has the power of the Redemption---and this also means a new presence of the Spirit of God in creation:  the new beginning of God's self-communication to man in the Holy Spirit. 

7	Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.

Jesus Christ, Pantocrator, The Lord Almighty

Praise Jesus for the Gift of the Holy Spirit!  Praise the Father, that in Jesus name he gives us the Holy Spirit!

Here is the passage from Colossians that Scott Hahn tells us in the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible  is an ancient hymn extolling Christ's deity and supremacy over creation.

¹⁵ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶ For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. ¹⁷ And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. ¹⁸ And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. ¹⁹ For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, ²⁰ and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.  ~ Colossians 1:15-20

Three verses preceding this are a prayer Paul and Timothy were making for the Colossians, but I would suggest we all pray this for each other while we pray our novenas.

⁹ For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;  ¹⁰ that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; ¹¹ strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and long-suffering with joy; ¹² giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. ~ Colossians 1:9-12

Come, let us worship Christ the Lord, who has promised us the Holy Spirit, Alleluia.