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diff --git a/34855.txt b/34855.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5bcb445 --- /dev/null +++ b/34855.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2963 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Abiding Presence of the Holy Ghost in +the Soul, by Bede Jarrett + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Abiding Presence of the Holy Ghost in the Soul + +Author: Bede Jarrett + +Release Date: January 5, 2011 [EBook #34855] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ABIDING PRESENCE OF HOLY GHOST *** + + + + +Produced by Michael Gray, Diocese of San Jose + + + + + THE ABIDING PRESENCE + + OF + + THE HOLY GHOST IN THE SOUL + + + + BY + + BEDE JARRETT, O.P. + + + + THE NEWMAN BOOKSHOP + Westminster, Maryland + + + +NIHIL OBSTAT + + A. R. P. RAPHAEL MOSS, O.P., S.T.L. + R. P. AELRED WHITACRE, O.P., S.T.L. + +NIHIL OBSTAT + + ARTHUR J. SCANLAN, D.D. + _Censor Deputatus_ + +IMPRIMATUR: + + JOHN CARD. FARLEY + Archbishop of New York + +March 21st, 1918 + + + +Printed in the United States of America + + +PREFACE + +In English-speaking countries the Church has been at a +disadvantage in the way in which she has had to expound her +doctrine, for she has been forced for many years to limit her +attention just to those parts of her teaching wherein the +Protestant bodies parted company from her. Without any desire to +stir up barren controversy, she has naturally in self-defence been +at pains most precisely to define those portions of her gospel +most likely to be misunderstood. This has resulted, unfortunately, +in her leaving in the background the other mysteries of faith, +often richer in themselves, more helpful to her children. Now, +however, that she is becoming more able to realize herself to the +modern world, an opportunity opens for explaining hidden +doctrines, of which the value to the Catholic in the development +of his inner life is considerable. + +It is to further this development that these meditations have been +drawn up, since hardly anything can render us more sensible of our +worth and Christian dignity than does the teaching of Our Lord on +the indwelling of the Spirit of God. Cardinal Manning has indeed +made this the subject of two volumes, _The Internal Working of the +Holy Ghost_ and _The Temporal Mission of the Holy Ghost_, which +are still obtainable, and there are also such books as _Sermons on +the Holy Ghost_ (Cathedral Library Association). + +But as yet in English there is no such direct exposition of +Catholic teaching as Pere Barthelemy Froget, O. P., has attempted +in his _De l'Inhabitation du S. Esprit dans les ames justes_ +(Lethielleux, Paris, 1890). Like nearly all the doctrinal works of +French origin, this treatise seems at times to suppose among the +laity a deeper knowledge of the rudiments of scholastic philosophy +than usually obtains among us, though the author has endeavored to +help this out by occasional notes or explanations. To avoid this +difficulty (which a mere translation would not lessen, but +increase), the material of the book has been rearranged in a +series of meditations which will, it is hoped, bring out in an +easier form what might otherwise be too abstruse to be of general +interest. + +The wonderful beauty of the Church's teaching on this abiding +presence of the Holy Ghost, while it deepens our acquaintance with +His mysterious governance of the universe and discovers to us the +hidden beauties of our soul's life, should bring also its measure +of comfort, for whatever makes us conscious of the intimacy of +God's dealing with us lessens life's greatest trouble, its +loneliness. + + BEDE JARRETT, O. P. + + THE RECTORY OF OUR LADY OF LOURDES, + + _New York, February_ 11, 1918 + + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS + + + PREFACE + ENCYCLICAL LETTER OF LEO XIII, 9TH MAY, 1897 + GOD'S PRESENCE + DEGREES OF GOD'S PRESENCE + GOD'S SPECIAL PRESENCE IN THE JUST + NATURE OF THIS PRESENCE + MODE OF THIS PRESENCE, KNOWLEDGE + MODE OF THIS PRESENCE, LOVE + THIS PRESENCE IS OF THE SAME NATURE AS THAT IN HEAVEN + THIS PRESENCE COMMON TO THE WHOLE TRINITY + THIS PRESENCE HAS CERTAIN EFFECTS + FORGIVENESS OF SIN + JUSTIFICATION + DEIFICATION + ADOPTED SONSHIP + HEIRS OF GOD + GUIDANCE IN SPIRITUAL LIFE + GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT + BEATITUDES + FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT + KNOWLEDGE + UNDERSTANDING + WISDOM + COUNSEL + FORTITUDE + PIETY + FEAR OF THE LORD + GRACE + + + + THE ABIDING PRESENCE + OF THE HOLY GHOST + IN THE SOUL + +ENCYCLICAL LETTER FOR PENTECOST, 1897 [1] + + TO OUR VENERABLE BRETHREN, + THE PATRIARCHS, PRIMATES, ARCHBISHOPS, + BISHOPS, AND OTHER LOCAL ORDINARIES + HAVING PEACE AND COMMUNION WITH THE + HOLY SEE + +LEO XIII, POPE + + +[1] This translation is the official form that appeared in the +London _Tablet_, June 5, 1897. + + +VENERABLE BRETHREN, +HEALTH AND APOSTOLIC BENEDICTION + +That divine office which Jesus Christ received from His Father for +the welfare of mankind, and most perfectly fulfilled, had for its +final object to put men in possession of the eternal life of +glory, and proximately during the course of ages to secure to them +the life of divine grace, which is destined eventually to blossom +into the life of heaven. Wherefore, our Saviour never ceases to +invite, with infinite affection, all men, of every race and +tongue, into the bosom of His Church: "Come ye all to Me," "I am +the Life," "I am the Good Shepherd." Nevertheless, according to +His inscrutable counsels, He did not will entirely to complete and +finish this office Himself on earth, but as He had received it +from the Father, so He transmitted it for its completion to the +Holy Ghost. It is consoling to recall those assurances which +Christ gave to the body of His disciples a little before He left +the earth: "It is expedient to you that I go: for if I go not, the +Paraclete will not come to you: but if I go, I will send Him to +you" (1 John 16.7). In these words He gave as the chief reason of +His departure and His return to the Father, the advantage which +would most certainly accrue to His followers from the coming of +the Holy Ghost, and, at the same time, He made it clear that the +Holy Ghost is equally sent by--and therefore proceeds from-- +Himself and the Father; that He would complete, in His office of +Intercessor, Consoler, and Teacher, the work which Christ Himself +had begun in His mortal life. For, in the redemption of the world, +the completion of the work was by Divine Providence reserved to +the manifold power of that Spirit who, in the creation, "adorned +the heavens" (Job 26.13), and "filled the whole world" (Wisdom +1.7). + +THE TWO PRINCIPAL AIMS OF OUR PONTIFICATE + +Now We have earnestly striven, by the help of His grace, to follow +the example of Christ, Our Saviour, the Prince of Pastors, and the +Bishop of our Souls, by diligently carrying on His office, +entrusted by Him to the Apostles and chiefly to Peter, "whose +dignity faileth not, even in his unworthy successor" (St. Leo the +Great, Sermon 2, On the Anniversary of his Election). In pursuance +of this object We have endeavored to direct all that We have +attempted and persistently carried out during a long pontificate +towards two chief ends: in the first place, towards the +restoration, both in rulers and peoples, of the principles of the +Christian life in civil and domestic society, since there is no +true life for men except from Christ; and, secondly, to promote +the reunion of those who have fallen away from the Catholic Church +either by heresy or by schism, since it is most undoubtedly the +will of Christ that all should be united in one flock under one +Shepherd. But now that We are looking forward to the approach of +the closing days of Our life, Our soul is deeply moved to dedicate +to the Holy Ghost, who is the life-giving Love, all the work We +have done during Our pontificate, that He may bring it to maturity +and fruitfulness. In order the better and more fully to carry out +this Our intention, We have resolved to address you at the +approaching sacred season of Pentecost concerning the indwelling +and miraculous power of the Holy Ghost; and the extent and +efficiency of His action, both in the whole body of the Church and +in the individual souls of its members, through the glorious +abundance of His divine graces. We earnestly desire that, as a +result, faith may be aroused in your minds concerning the mystery +of the adorable Trinity, and especially that piety may increase +and be inflamed towards the Holy Ghost, to whom especially all of +us owe the grace of following the paths of truth and virtue; for, +as St. Basil said, "Who denieth that the dispensations concerning +man, which have been made by the great God and our Saviour, Jesus +Christ, according to the goodness of God, have been fulfilled +through the grace of the Spirit?" (Of the Holy Ghost, c. 16, v. +39.) + +THE CATHOLIC DOCTRINE OF THE BLESSED TRINITY + +Before we enter upon this subject, it will be both desirable and +useful to say a few words about the Mystery of the Blessed +Trinity. This dogma is called by the doctors of the Church "the +substance of the New Testament," that is to say, the greatest of +all mysteries, since it is the fountain and origin of them all. In +order to know and contemplate this mystery, the angels were +created in Heaven and men upon earth. In order to teach more fully +this mystery, which was but foreshadowed in the Old Testament, God +Himself came down from the angels unto men: "No man hath seen God +at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the +Father, He hath declared Him" (John 1.18). Whosoever then writes +or speaks of the Trinity must keep before his eyes the prudent +warning of the Angelic Doctor: "When we speak of the Trinity, we +must do so with caution and modesty, for, as St. Augustine saith, +nowhere else are more dangerous errors made, or is research more +difficult, or discovery more fruitful" (_Summ. Th._ 1a, q. 31. _De +Trin._ 1. 1, c. 3). The danger that arises is lest the Divine +Persons be confounded one with the other in faith or worship, or +lest the one Nature in them be separated: for "This is the +Catholic Faith, that we should adore one God in Trinity and +Trinity in Unity." Therefore Our predecessor Innocent XII +absolutely refused the petition of those who desired a special +festival in honor of God the Father. For, although the separate +mysteries connected with the Incarnate Word are celebrated on +certain fixed days, yet there is no special feast on which the +Word is honored according to His Divine Nature alone. And even the +Feast of Pentecost was instituted in the earliest times, not +simply to honor the Holy Ghost in Himself, but to commemorate His +coming, or His external mission. And all this has been wisely +ordained, lest from distinguishing the Persons men should be led +to distinguish the Divine Essence. Moreover, the Church, in order +to preserve in her children the purity of faith, instituted the +Feast of the Most Holy Trinity, which John XXII afterwards +extended to the Universal Church. He also permitted altars and +churches to be dedicated to the Blessed Trinity, and, with the +divine approval, sanctioned the Order for the Ransom of Captives, +which is specially devoted to the Blessed Trinity and bears Its +name. Many facts confirm this truth. The worship paid to the +saints and angels, to the Mother of God, and to Christ Himself, +finally redounds to the honor of the Blessed Trinity. In prayers +addressed to one Person, there is also mention of the others; in +the litanies after the individual Persons have been separately +invoked, a common invocation of all is added: all psalms and hymns +conclude with the doxology to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; +blessings, sacred rites, and sacraments are either accompanied or +concluded by the invocation of the Blessed Trinity. This was +already foreshadowed by the Apostle in those words: "For of Him, +and by Him, and in Him, are all things: to Him be glory for ever" +(Rom. 11.36), thereby signifying both the Trinity of Persons and +the Unity of Nature: for as this is one and the same in each of +the Persons, so to each is equally owing supreme glory, as to one +and the same God. St. Augustine, commenting upon this testimony, +writes: "The words of the Apostle, _of Him, and by Him, and in +Him_, are not to be taken indiscriminately; _of Him_ refers to the +Father, _by Him_ to the Son, _in Him_ to the Holy Ghost" (_De +Trin_. 1. vi, c. 10; 1. i, c. 6). The Church is accustomed most +fittingly to attribute to the Father those works of the Divinity +in which power excels, to the Son those in which wisdom excels, +and those in which love excels to the Holy Ghost. Not that all +perfections and external operations are not common to the Divine +Persons; for "the operations of the Trinity are indivisible, even +as the essence of the Trinity is indivisible" (St. Aug. _De +Trin_., 1. 1, cc. 4-5); because as the three Divine Persons "are +inseparable, so do they act inseparably" (St. Aug., _ib_). But by +a certain comparison, and a kind of affinity between the +operations and the properties of the Persons, these operations are +attributed or, as it is said, "appropriated" to One Person rather +than to the others. "Just as we make use of the traces of +similarity or likeness which we find in creatures for the +manifestation of the Divine Persons, so do we use Their essential +attributes; and this manifestation of the Persons by Their +essential attributes is called _appropriation_" (St. Th. 1a, q. +39, xxxix, a. 7). In this manner the Father, who is "the principle +of the whole God-head" (St. Aug., _De Trin_., 1. iv, c. 20), is +also the efficient cause of all things, of the Incarnation of the +Word, and the sanctification of souls; "of Him are all things": +_of Him_, referring to the Father. But the Son, the Word, the +Image of God, is also the exemplar cause, whence all creatures +borrow their form and beauty, their order and harmony. He is for +us the Way, the Truth, and the Life; the Reconciler of man with +God. "By Him are all things": _by Him_, referring to the Son. The +Holy Ghost is the ultimate cause of all things, since, as the will +and all other things finally rest in their end, so He, who is the +Divine Goodness and the Mutual Love of the Father and Son, +completes and perfects, by His strong yet gentle power, the secret +work of man's eternal salvation. "In Him are all things": _in +Him_, referring to the Holy Ghost. + +THE HOLY GHOST AND THE INCARNATION + +Having thus paid due tribute of faith and worship owing to the +Blessed Trinity, which ought to be more and more inculcated upon +the Christian people, we now turn to the exposition of the power +of the Holy Ghost. And, first of all, we must look to Christ, the +Founder of the Church and the Redeemer of our race. Among the +external operations of God, the highest of all is the mystery of +the Incarnation of the Word, in which the splendor of the divine +perfections shines forth so brightly that nothing more sublime can +even be imagined, nothing else could have been more salutary to +the human race. Now this work, although belonging to the whole +Trinity, is still appropriated especially to the Holy Ghost, so +that the Gospels thus speak of the Blessed Virgin: "She was found +with child of the Holy Ghost," and "that which is conceived in her +is of the Holy Ghost" (Matt. 1.18, 20). And this is rightly +attributed to Him who is the love of the Father and the Son, since +this "great mystery of piety" (1 Tim. 3.16) proceeds from the +infinite love of God towards man, as St. John tells us: "God so +loved the world as to give His only begotten Son" (John 3.16). +Moreover, human nature was thereby elevated to a _personal_ union +with the Word; and this dignity is given, not on account of any +merits, but entirely and absolutely through grace, and therefore, +as it were, through the special gift of the Holy Ghost. On this +point St. Augustine writes: "This manner in which Christ was born +of the Holy Ghost, indicates to us the grace of God, by which +humanity, with no antecedent merits, at the first moment of its +existence, was united with the Word of God, by so intimate a +personal union, that He, who was the Son of Man, was also the Son +of God, and He who was the Son of God was also the Son of Man" +(_Enchir_., c. xl; St. Th., 3a, q. xxxii, a. 1). By the operation +of the Holy Spirit, not only was the conception of Christ +accomplished, but also the sanctification of His soul, which, in +Holy Scripture, is called His "anointing" (Acts 10.38). Wherefore +all His actions were "performed in the Holy Ghost" (St. Basil _de +Sp. S_., c. xvi), and especially the sacrifice of Himself: +"Christ, through the Holy Ghost, offered Himself without spot to +God" (Heb. 9.14). Considering this, no one can be surprised that +all the gifts of the Holy Ghost inundated the soul of Christ. In +Him resided the absolute fullness of grace, in the greatest and +most efficacious manner possible; in Him were all the treasures of +wisdom and knowledge, graces _gratis datae_, virtues, and all +other gifts foretold in the prophecies of Isaias (Is. 4.1, 11.23), +and also signified in that miraculous dove which appeared at the +Jordan, when Christ, by His baptism, consecrated its waters for a +new sacrament. On this the words of St. Augustine may +appropriately be quoted: "It would be absurd to say that Christ +received the Holy Ghost when He was already thirty years of age, +for He came to His baptism without sin, and therefore not without +the Holy Ghost. At this time, then (that is, at His baptism), He +was pleased to prefigure His Church, in which those especially who +are baptized receive the Holy Ghost" (_De Trin_., 1. xv, c. 26). +Therefore, by the conspicuous apparition of the Holy Ghost over +Christ and by His invisible power in His soul, the twofold mission +of the Spirit is foreshadowed, namely, His outward and visible +mission in the Church, and His secret indwelling in the souls of +the just. + +THE HOLY GHOST AND THE CHURCH + +The Church which, already conceived, came forth from the side of +the second Adam in His sleep on the Cross, first showed herself +before the eyes of men on the great day of Pentecost. On that day +the Holy Ghost began to manifest His gifts in the mystic body of +Christ, by that miraculous outpouring already foreseen by the +prophet Joel (2.28-29), for the Paraclete "sat upon the apostles +as though new spiritual crowns were placed upon their heads in +tongues of fire" (S. Cyril Hier. _Catech_. 17). Then the apostles +"descended from the mountain," as St. John Chrysostom writes, "not +bearing in their hands tables of stone like Moses, but carrying +the Spirit in their mind, and pouring forth the treasure and the +fountain of doctrines and graces" (_In Matt_. Hom. I, 2 Cor. 3.3). +Thus was fully accomplished that last promise of Christ to His +apostles of sending the Holy Ghost, who was to complete and, as it +were, to seal the deposit of doctrine committed to them under His +inspiration. "I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot +bear them now; but when He, the Spirit of Truth, shall come, He +will teach you all truth" (John 16.12-13). For He who is the +Spirit of Truth, inasmuch as He proceedeth both from the Father, +who is the eternally True, and from the Son, who is the +substantial Truth, receiveth from each both His essence and the +fullness of all truth. This truth He communicates to His Church, +guarding her by His all powerful help from ever falling into +error, and aiding her to foster daily more and more the germs of +divine doctrine and to make them fruitful for the welfare of the +peoples. And since the welfare of the peoples, for which the +Church was established, absolutely requires that this office +should be continued for all time, the Holy Ghost perpetually +supplies life and strength to preserve and increase the Church. "I +will ask the Father, and He will give you another Paraclete, that +He may abide with you for ever, the Spirit of Truth" (John 16. 16, +17). + +By Him the bishops are constituted, and by their ministry are +multiplied not only the children, but also the fathers that is to +say, the priests to rule and feed the Church by that Blood +wherewith Christ has redeemed Her. "The Holy Ghost hath placed you +bishops to rule the Church of God, which He hath purchased with +His own Blood" (Acts 20. 28). And both bishops and priests, by the +miraculous gift of the Spirit, have the power of absolving sins, +according to those words of Christ to the Apostles: "Receive ye +the Holy Ghost; whose sins you shall forgive they are forgiven +them, and whose sins you shall retain they are retained" (John +20.22, 23). That the Church is a divine institution is most +clearly proved by the splendor and glory of those gifts with which +she is adorned, and whose author and giver is the Holy Ghost. Let +it suffice to state that, as Christ is the Head of the Church, so +is the Holy Ghost her soul. "What the soul is in our body, that is +the Holy Ghost in Christ's body, the Church" (St. Aug., _Serm_. +187, _de Temp_.). This being so, no further and fuller +"manifestation and revelation of the Divine Spirit" may be +imagined or expected; for that which now takes place in the Church +is the most perfect possible, and will last until that day when +the Church herself, having passed through her militant career, +shall be taken up into the joy of the saints triumphing in heaven. + +THE HOLY GHOST IN THE SOULS OF THE JUST + +The manner and extent of the action of the Holy Ghost in +individual souls is no less wonderful, although somewhat more +difficult to understand, inasmuch as it is entirely invisible. +This outpouring of the Spirit is so abundant, that Christ Himself, +from whose gift it proceeds, compares it to an overflowing river, +according to those words of St. John: "He that believeth in Me, as +the Scripture saith, out of his midst shall flow rivers of living +water"; to which testimony the Evangelist adds the explanation: +"Now this He said of the Spirit which they should receive who +believed in Him" (John 7.38, 39). It is indeed true that in those +of the just who lived before Christ, the Holy Ghost resided by +grace, as we read in the Scriptures concerning the prophets, +Zachary, John the Baptist, Simeon, and Anna; so that on Pentecost +the Holy Ghost did not communicate Himself in such a way "as then +for the first time to begin to dwell in the saints, but by pouring +Himself forth more abundantly; crowning, not beginning His gifts; +not commencing a new work, but giving more abundantly" (St. Leo +the Great, Hom. iii, _de Pentec_.). But if they also were numbered +among the children of God, they were in a state like that of +servants, for "as long as the heir is a child he differeth nothing +from a servant, but is under tutors and governors" (Gal. 4.1, 2). +Moreover, not only was their justice derived from the merits of +Christ who was to come, but the communication of the Holy Ghost +after Christ was much more abundant, just as the price surpasses +in value the earnest and the reality excels the image. Wherefore +St. John declares: "As yet the Spirit was not given, because Jesus +was not yet glorified" (John 7.39). So soon, therefore, as Christ, +"ascending on high," entered into possession of the glory of His +Kingdom which He had won with so much labor, He munificently +opened out the treasures of the Holy Ghost: "He gave gifts to men" +(Eph. 4.8). For "that giving or sending forth of the Holy Ghost +after Christ's glorification was to be such as had never been +before; not that there had been none before, but it had not been +of the same kind" (St. Aug., _De Trin_., 1. iv, c. 20). + +Human nature is by necessity the servant of God: "The creature is +a servant; we are the servants of God by nature" (St. Cyr. Alex., +_Thesaur_., 1. v, c. 5). On account, however, of original sin, our +whole nature had fallen into such guilt and dishonor that we had +become enemies of God. "We were by nature the children of wrath" +(Eph. 2.3). There was no power which could raise us and deliver us +from this ruin and eternal destruction. But God, the Creator of +mankind and infinitely merciful, did this through His only +begotten Son, by whose benefit it was brought about that man was +restored to that rank and dignity whence he had fallen, and was +adorned with still more abundant graces. No one can express the +greatness of this work of divine grace in the souls of men. +Wherefore, both in Holy Scripture and in the writings of the +fathers, men are styled regenerated, new creatures, partakers of +the Divine Nature, children of God, godlike, and similar epithets. +Now these great blessings are justly attributed as especially +belonging to the Holy Ghost. He is "the Spirit of adoption of +sons, whereby we cry: Abba, Father." He fills our hearts with the +sweetness of paternal love: "The Spirit Himself giveth testimony +to our spirit that we are the sons of God" (Rom. 8.15, 16). This +truth accords with the similitude observed by the Angelic Doctor +between both operations of the Holy Ghost; for through Him "Christ +was conceived in holiness to be by nature the Son of God," and +"others are sanctified to be the sons of God by adoption" (St. Th. +3a, q. xxxii, a. 1). This spiritual generation proceeds from love +in a much more noble manner than the natural: namely, from the +uncreated Love. + +The beginnings of this regeneration and renovation of man are by +Baptism. In this sacrament, when the unclean spirit has been +expelled from the soul, the Holy Ghost enters in and makes it like +to Himself. "That which is born of the Spirit, is spirit" (John +3.6). The same Spirit gives Himself more abundantly in +Confirmation, strengthening and confirming Christian life; from +which proceeded the victory of the martyrs and the triumph of the +virgins over temptations and corruptions. We have said that the +Holy Ghost gives Himself: "the charity of God is poured out into +our hearts by the Holy Ghost who is given to us" (Rom. 5.5). For +He not only brings to us His divine gifts, but is the Author of +them and is Himself the supreme Gift, who, proceeding from the +mutual love of the Father and the Son, is justly believed to be +and is called "Gift of God most High." To show the nature and +efficacy of this gift it is well to recall the explanation given +by the doctors of the Church of the words of Holy Scripture. They +say that God is present and exists in all things, "by His power, +in so far as all things are subject to His power; by His presence, +inasmuch as all things are naked and open to His eyes; by His +essence, inasmuch as He is present to all as the cause of their +being" (St. Th. 1a, q. viii, a. 3). But God is in man, not only as +in inanimate things, but because He is more fully known and loved +by him, since even by nature we spontaneously love, desire, and +seek after the good. Moreover, God by grace resides in the just +soul as in a temple, in a most intimate and peculiar manner. From +this proceeds that union of affection by which the soul adheres +most closely to God, more so than the friend is united to his most +loving and beloved friend, and enjoys God in all fullness and +sweetness. Now this wonderful union, which is properly called +"indwelling," differing only in degree or state from that with +which God beatifies the saints in heaven, although it is most +certainly produced by the presence of the whole Blessed Trinity-- +"We will come to Him and make our abode with Him" (John 14.23)-- +nevertheless is attributed in a peculiar manner to the Holy Ghost. +For, whilst traces of divine power and wisdom appear even in the +wicked man, charity, which, as it were, is the special mark of the +Holy Ghost, is shared in only by the just. In harmony with this, +the same Spirit is called Holy, for He, the first and supreme +Love, moves souls and leads them to sanctity, which ultimately +consists in the love of God. Wherefore the apostle, when calling +us the temple of God, does not expressly mention the Father or the +Son, but the Holy Ghost: "Know ye not that your members are the +temple of the Holy Ghost, who is in you, whom you have from God?" +(1 Cor. 6.19). The fullness of divine gifts is in many ways a +consequence of the indwelling of the Holy Ghost in the souls of +the just. For, as St. Thomas teaches, "when the Holy Ghost +proceedeth as love, He proceedeth in the character of the first +gift; whence St. Augustine saith that, through the gift which is +the Holy Ghost, many other special gifts are distributed among the +members of Christ" (Summ. Th., 1a, q. xxxviii, a. 2. St. Aug., _de +Trin_., 1. xv, c. 19). Among these gifts are those secret warnings +and invitations, which from time to time are excited in our minds +and hearts by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. Without these +there is no beginning of a good life, no progress, no arriving at +eternal salvation. And since these words and admonitions are +uttered in the soul in an exceedingly secret manner, they are +sometimes aptly compared in Holy Writ to the breathing of a coming +breeze, and the Angelic Doctor likens them to the movements of the +heart which are wholly hidden in the living body. "Thy heart has a +certain hidden power, and therefore the Holy Ghost, who invisibly +vivifies and unites the Church, is compared to the heart" (_Summ. +Th_., 3a, q. vii, a. 1, ad 3). More than this, the just man, that +is to say, he who lives the life of divine grace, and acts by the +fitting virtues as by means of faculties, has need of those seven +_gifts_ which are properly attributed to the Holy Ghost. By means +of them the soul is furnished and strengthened so as to be able to +obey more easily and promptly His voice and impulse. Wherefore +these gifts are of such efficacy that they lead the just man to +the highest degree of sanctity; and of such excellence that they +continue to exist even in heaven, though in a more perfect way. By +means of these gifts the soul is excited and encouraged to seek +after and attain the evangelical beatitudes, which, like the +flowers that come forth in the spring time, are the signs and +harbingers of eternal beatitude. Lastly, there are those blessed +_fruits_, enumerated by the Apostle (Gal. 5.22), which the Spirit, +even in this mortal life, produces and shows forth in the just; +fruits filled with all sweetness and joy, inasmuch as they proceed +from the Spirit, "who is in the Trinity the sweetness of both +Father and Son, filling all creatures with infinite fullness and +profusion" (St. Aug. _de Trin_., 1. vi, c. 9). The Divine Spirit, +proceeding from the Father and the Word in the eternal light of +sanctity, Himself both Love and Gift, after having manifested +Himself through the veils of figures in the Old Testament, poured +forth all His fullness upon Christ and upon His mystic Body, the +Church; and called back by His presence and grace men who were +going away in wickedness and corruption with such salutary effect +that, being no longer of the earth earthy, they relished and +desired quite other things, becoming of heaven heavenly. + +ON DEVOTION TO THE HOLY GHOST + +These sublime truths, which so clearly show forth the infinite +goodness of the Holy Ghost towards us, certainly demand that we +should direct towards Him the highest homage of our love and +devotion. Christians may do this most effectually if they will +daily strive to know Him, to love Him, and to implore Him more +earnestly; for which reason may this Our exhortation, flowing +spontaneously from a paternal heart, reach their ears. Perchance +there are still to be found among them, even nowadays, some who, +if asked, as were those of old by St. Paul the Apostle, whether +they have received the Holy Ghost, might answer in like manner: +"We have not so much as heard whether there be a Holy Ghost" (Acts +19.2). At least there are certainly many who are very deficient in +their knowledge of Him. They frequently use His name in their +religious practices, but their faith is involved in much darkness. +Wherefore all preachers and those having care of souls should +remember that it is their duty to instruct their people more +diligently and more fully about the Holy Ghost--avoiding, however, +difficult and subtle controversies, and eschewing the dangerous +folly of those who rashly endeavor to pry into divine mysteries. +What should be chiefly dwelt upon and clearly explained is the +multitude and greatness of the benefits which have been bestowed, +and are constantly bestowed, upon us by this Divine Giver, so that +errors and ignorance concerning matters of such moment may be +entirely dispelled, as unworthy of "the children of light." We +urge this, not only because it affects a mystery by which we are +directly guided to eternal life, and which must therefore be +firmly believed; but also because the more clearly and fully the +good is known the more earnestly it is loved. Now we owe to the +Holy Ghost, as we mentioned in the second place, love, because He +is God: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, +and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole strength" (Deut. 6.5). +He is also to be loved because He is the substantial, eternal, +primal Love, and nothing is more lovable than love. And this all +the more because He has overwhelmed us with the greatest benefits, +which both testify to the benevolence of the Giver and claim the +gratitude of the receiver. This love has a twofold and most +conspicuous utility. In the first place, it will excite us to +acquire daily a clearer knowledge about the Holy Ghost; for, as +the Angelic Doctor says, "the lover is not content with the +superficial knowledge of the beloved, but striveth to inquire +intimately into all that appertains to the beloved, and thus to +penetrate into the interior; as is said of the Holy Ghost, Who is +the Love of God, that He searcheth even the profound things of +God" (1 Cor. 2.19; _Summ. Theol_., 1a, 2ae, q. 28, a. 2). In the +second place, it will obtain for us a still more abundant supply +of heavenly gifts; for whilst a narrow heart contracteth the hand +of the giver, a grateful and mindful heart causeth it to expand. +Yet we must strive that this love should be of such a nature as +not to consist merely in dry speculations or external observances, +but rather to run forward towards action, and especially to fly +from sin, which is in a more special manner offensive to the Holy +Spirit. For whatever we are, that we are by the divine goodness; +and this goodness is specially attributed to the Holy Ghost. The +sinner offends this his Benefactor, abusing His gifts; and taking +advantage of His goodness becomes more hardened in sin day by day. +Again, since He is the Spirit of Truth, whosoever faileth by +weakness or ignorance may perhaps have some excuse before Almighty +God; but he who resists the truth through malice and turns away +from it, sins most grievously against the Holy Ghost. In our days +this sin has become so frequent that those dark times seem to have +come which were foretold by St. Paul, in which men, blinded by the +just judgment of God, should take falsehood for truth, and should +believe in "the prince of this world," who is a liar and the +father thereof, as a teacher of truth: "God shall send them the +operation of error, to believe lying" (2 Thess. 2.10). "In the +last times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to +spirits of error and the doctrines of devils" (1 Tim. 4.1). But +since the Holy Ghost, as We have said, dwells in us as in His +temple, We must repeat the warning of the Apostle: "Grieve not the +Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed" (Eph. 4.30). Nor is it +enough to fly from sin; every Christian ought to shine with the +splendor of virtue so as to be pleasing to so great and so +beneficent a guest; and first of all with chastity and holiness, +for chaste and holy things befit the temple. Hence the words of +the Apostle: "Know you not that you are the temple of God, and +that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? But if any man violate the +temple of God, him shall God destroy. For the temple of God is +holy, which you are" (1 Cor. 3.16-17): a terrible, indeed, but a +just warning. + +Lastly, we ought to pray to and invoke the Holy Spirit, for each +one of us greatly needs His protection and His help. The more a +man is deficient in wisdom, weak in strength, borne down with +trouble, prone to sin, so ought he the more to fly to Him who is +the never-ceasing fount of light, strength, consolation, and +holiness. And chiefly that first requisite of man, the forgiveness +of sins, must be sought for from Him: "It is the special character +of the Holy Ghost that He is the Gift of the Father and the Son. +Now the remission of sins is given by the Holy Ghost as by the +Gift of God" (_Summ. Th_., 3a, q. iii, a. 8, ad 3m). Concerning +this Spirit the words of the Liturgy are very explicit: "For He is +the remission of all sins" (Roman Missal, Tuesday after +Pentecost). How He should be invoked is clearly taught by the +Church, who addresses Him in humble supplication, calling upon Him +by the sweetest of names: "Come, Father of the poor! Come, Giver +of gifts! Come, Light of our hearts! O, best of Consolers, sweet +Guest of the soul, our refreshment!" (Hymn, _Veni Sancte +Spiritus_). She earnestly implores Him to wash, heal, water our +minds and hearts, and to give to us who trust in Him "the merit of +virtue, the acquirement of salvation, and joy everlasting." Nor +can it be in any way doubted that He will listen to such prayer, +since we read the words written by His own inspiration: "The +Spirit Himself asketh for us with unspeakable groanings" (Rom. +8.26). Lastly, we ought confidently and continually to beg of Him +to illuminate us daily more and more with His light and inflame us +with His charity: for, thus inspired with faith and love, we may +press onward earnestly towards our eternal reward, since He "is +the pledge of our inheritance" (Eph. 1.14). + +Such, Venerable Brethren, are the teachings and exhortations which +We have seen good to utter, in order to stimulate devotion to the +Holy Ghost. We have no doubt that, chiefly by means of your zeal +and earnestness, they will bear abundant fruit among Christian +peoples. We Ourselves shall never in the future fail to labor +towards so important an end; and it is even Our intention, in +whatever ways may appear suitable, to further cultivate and extend +this admirable work of piety. Meanwhile, as two years ago, in Our +Letter _Provida Matris_, We recommended to Catholics special +prayers at the Feast of Pentecost, for the Reunion of Christendom, +so now We desire to make certain further decrees on the same +subject. + +AN ANNUAL NOVENA DECEEED + +Wherefore, We decree and command that throughout the whole +Catholic Church, this year and in every subsequent year, a Novena +shall take place before Whit-Sunday, in all parish churches, and +also, if the local Ordinaries think fit, in other churches and +oratories. To all who take part in this Novena and duly pray for +Our intention, We shall grant for each day an Indulgence of seven +years and seven quarantines; moreover, a Plenary Indulgence on any +one of the days of the Novena, or on Whit-Sunday itself, or on any +day during the Octave; provided they shall have received the +Sacraments of Penance and the Holy Eucharist, and devoutly prayed +for Our intention. We will that those who are legitimately +prevented from attending the Novena, or who are in places where +the devotions cannot, in the judgment of the Ordinary, be +conveniently carried out in church, shall equally enjoy the same +benefits, provided they make the Novena privately and observe the +other conditions. Moreover, We are pleased to grant, in +perpetuity, from the Treasury of the Church, that whosoever, +daily, during the Octave of Pentecost up to Trinity Sunday +inclusive, offer again publicly or privately any prayers, +according to their devotion, to the Holy Ghost, and satisfy the +above conditions, shall a second time gain each of the same +Indulgences. All these Indulgences We also permit to be applied to +the suffrage of the souls in Purgatory. + +And now Our mind and heart turn back to those hopes with which We +began, and for the accomplishment of which We earnestly pray, and +will continue to pray, to the Holy Ghost. Unite, then, Venerable +Brethren, your prayers with Ours, and at your exhortation let all +Christian peoples add their prayers also, invoking the powerful +and ever-acceptable intercession of the Blessed Virgin. You know +well the intimate and wonderful relations existing between her and +the Holy Ghost, so that she is justly called His Spouse. The +intercession of the Blessed Virgin was of great avail both in the +mystery of the Incarnation and in the coming of the Holy Ghost +upon the Apostles. May she continue to strengthen our prayers with +her suffrages, that, in the midst of all the stress and trouble of +the nations, those divine prodigies may be happily revived by the +Holy Ghost, which were foretold in the words of David: "Send forth +Thy Spirit and they shall be created, and Thou shalt renew the +face of the earth" (Ps. 103.30). + +As a pledge of Divine favor and a testimony of Our affection, +Venerable Brethren, to you, to your Clergy and people, We gladly +impart in the Lord the Apostolic Benediction. + +Given at St. Peter's, in Rome, on the 9th day of May, 1897, in the +20th year of Our Pontificate. + + LEO XIII, POPE. + + + +GOD'S PRESENCE + +1. Scripture is very full of the idea of the nearness of God to +His creation, the Old Testament is alive with that inspiration, +for there is hardly a chapter or verse that does not insist upon +that truth. Naturally the New Testament, teaching so tenderly the +Fatherhood of God, is even more explicit and more beautiful in its +references to this intimate relationship. To the Athenians, St. +Paul can develop no other point than this, and he finds in moving +accents an eloquent appeal voiced by the touching dedication of an +altar to the _Unknown God_. Now this notion of God's nearness to +His world depends for its full appreciation on the central +doctrine of creation. He has made the world, in consequence it is +impressed with His personality; the more vigorous the artificer-- +the more vigorous that he is in character, will and personality, +the more is his work stamped with his individuality; hence, the +tremendous personality of God must be everywhere traceable in the +things He has made. + +2. When we say God is everywhere, we mean that He is in all things +because He made all things. Not only does the whole world lie +outstretched before His eye and is governed by His power, but He +Himself lurks at the heart of everything. By Him things have come +into existence, and so wholly is that existence of theirs His +gift, that were He to withdraw His support they would sink back +into nothingness. It is a perpetual remark about man's works that +they outlast him. Organizations we have toiled to establish +outgrow our fostering care, perhaps grow tired of our interference +and long to be free of our regulations. Wordsworth tells how a +monk in Spain, pointing to the pictures on the walls of the +monastery, which remained while the generations looking at them +passed away, judged: "We are the shadows, they the substance." But +the relationship established by creation is of a far greater +dependence, so that nothing God has made can exist without His +support. Out of human acts it is only music that bears some +resemblance to this, for when the voice is silent there is no +longer any song. + +3. God, then, is within all creation, because He is its cause. He +is within every stone and leaf and child. Nothing, with life or +without, evil or good, can fail to contain Him as the source of +its energy, its power, its existence; He is "the soul's soul." Not +only, therefore, must I train myself to see with reverence that +everything contains Him, but I must especially realize His +intimacy and relationship to myself. Religion, indeed, in practice +is little else than my personal expression of that relationship. I +have in my prayers, in my troubles, in my temptations, to turn to +God, not without but within, not to some one above me or beneath +supporting me, but right at the core of my being. I can trace up +to its source every power of my soul, my intelligence, my will, my +love, my anger, my fear, and I shall find Him there. Nothing but +opens its doors to Him as innermost in its shrine. Wholly is God +everywhere, not as some immense being that with its hugeness fills +the world, but as something that is within every creature He has +made. + + + +DEGREES OF GOD'S PRESENCE + +1. God is intimate with all creation because He made it, for +creation implies that God remains within, supporting, upholding. +God is within everything, and therefore He is everywhere. But +while we thus believe that God is wholly everywhere, we also +believe something which seems the exact opposite, for we believe +that God is more in some places than in others, more in some +people than in others. How is it if God is wholly everywhere that +He can be more here than there? To understand this we must also +understand that every created thing shares somehow in God's being. +He communicates Himself to it in some fashion, for apart from Him +it could have no perfections. We have a way of saying that we +reflect God's greatness and that we are "broken lights" of Him. +But that is far short of the truth; we do more than reflect, we +actually have some participation in God, so that St. Thomas boldly +takes over a saying of Plato: "The individual nature of a thing +consists in the way it participates in the perfections of God" +(_Summa_ 1, 14.6). Not, of course, that there is any community of +being, but a direct participation. + +2. Now since everything participates in God and since some things +are more excellent than others, it stands to reason that some +things express God better than others. The eyes of a dog often are +pitiful to see, because we can note its evident desire and yet its +impossibility to express its feelings. The whole of nature has to +seeing minds the same pitifulness. It is always endeavoring to +express God, the inexpressible. Yet the higher a thing is in the +scale of being the more of God it expresses, for it participates +more in God's being. The more life a thing has and the more +freedom it acquires, then the nearer does it approach to God and +the more divinity it holds. Man, by his intelligence, his deeper +and richer life, his finer freedom, stands at the head of visible +creation, and, in consequence, is more fully a shrine of God than +lower forms of life. He bears a closer resemblance to the Divine +intelligence and will and has a greater share in them. It is then +in that sense that we arrange in ascending order inanimate +creation, the vegetable kingdom, the animal kingdom, and man. + +3. Consequently we can now see in what sense God is said to be +more in one thing than in another. He is more in it because He +exercises Himself more in one thing than in another; one thing +expresses more than another the perfections of God because it +shares more deeply than another that inner being of God. The more +nearly anything or anyone is united to God the more does His power +exercise itself in them, so that, since God's gifts are variously +distributed and are of various degrees, we are justified in saying +that though He is wholly everywhere, He may be more fully here +than there, just as, though my soul is in every part of my being, +it is more perfectly in the brain than elsewhere, because there it +exercises itself more fully and with more evidence of expression. +Thus we say God is more in a man's soul than anywhere else in +creation, since in a man's soul God is more perfectly expressed. +It is therefore with great reverence that I should regard all +creation, but with especial reverence that I should look to the +dignity of every human soul. + + + +GOD'S SPECIAL PRESENCE IN THE JUST + +1. While God is in everything in creation, He dwells in the just +by grace. Scripture quite noticeably uses the word _dwelling_ when +it wishes to express the particular way in which God is present in +the souls of the just. He is in all things; in the just He dwells. +The same word actually is applied to the presence of God in the +souls of those in grace as is used when speaking of God's presence +in the Temple. But here again it is necessary to say that God's +dwelling in the Temple never implied He was not elsewhere, but did +imply that somehow His presence in the Temple was quite different +from the way in which He was present elsewhere. Just then the same +kind of difference between the presence of God in all created +nature and His presence in the souls of the just is intended by +the careful use in Scripture of the word dwelling, viz., that God +has, over and above His ordinary presence in every single created +thing, a further and especial presence in the hearts of those in +friendship with Him by grace, and this new presence is a fuller +and richer presence whereby God's excellencies and perfections are +more openly displayed. + +2. Another way in which the same idea is pressed home in the New +Testament is by the word _sent_ or _given_. Frequently, in the +last discourse of Our Lord on the night before He suffered, He +spoke to the Apostles of the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, the +Comforter who was to be sent or given. Now, ordinarily, by using +the expression, "sending some one," we imply that now the person +sent is where he was not before, that he has passed from here to +there. Obviously Our Lord cannot really mean that only after His +crucifixion and ascension would the Holy Ghost be found in the +hearts of the Apostles, for we have already insisted that in every +creature there must be, by virtue of its very creation, the Holy +Spirit at the heart of it. Hence the only possible meaning is that +the Holy Spirit will descend upon the Apostles and become present +within them after some new fashion in which He was not before. +"Because you are His children God has sent into your hearts the +spirit of His Son whereby you cry Abba: Father" (Gal. 4.6). From +the beginning the Holy Ghost had been within them; now His +presence there is new and productive of new effects. + +3. By God's indwelling, then, effected by grace, the Holy Spirit +now is present in the soul differently from the way in which He is +present by creation. By creation He is wholly everywhere, yet more +in the higher forms than in the lower, for He is able to express +more of Himself in them. Among these highest forms of visible +creation, namely, man, there are again degrees of His presence, so +that even among men He is more in one than in another. This +gradation is in proportion to their grace. The more holy and +sanctified they become, the more does the Holy Spirit dwell in +them, the more fully is He sent, the more completely given, while +the Book of Wisdom says expressly that God does not dwell in +sinners. As soon as I am in a state of grace the Holy Ghost dwells +in me in this new and wonderful way, takes up His presence in me +in this new fashion. It is precisely, then, by our faith and hope +and love that this is effected, so that the individual soul under +God's own movement does help on this union of God and man. In all +the rest of creation God is present by His action; in the souls of +the just it is true to say that He is present by theirs. + + + +NATURE OF THIS PRESENCE + +1. We have taken it for granted that God then is present somehow +in the soul by grace. We have now to consider what sort of a +presence this really is. Do we mean absolutely that God the Holy +Ghost, is truly in the soul Himself, or do we, by some metaphor or +vague expression, mean that He is merely exerting Himself there in +some new and especial way? Perhaps it is only that by means of the +sevenfold gifts He has got a tighter hold of us and can bring us +more completely under the sweet dominion of His will. All that is +true, but all that is not enough, for we do absolutely mean what +we say when we declare that by grace the Holy Spirit of God is +present within the soul. Scripture is exceedingly full of the +truth of this and is always insisting on this presence of the Holy +Ghost. St. Paul, especially, notes it over and over again, and in +his epistle to the Romans repeats it in very forcible language: +"But you are not in the flesh but in the spirit, if so be that the +spirit of God dwell in you" (Romans 8.9), and he goes on in that +same chapter to imply that this presence is a part of grace. + +2. To some it will seem curious to find that the Fathers of the +Church in earliest ages were not only convinced of the fact of +this presence, but appealed triumphantly to it as accepted even by +heretics. When, in the early days, a long controversy raged as to +whether the Holy Ghost was really God or not, the Fathers argued +that since this indwelling of the Spirit was acknowledged on all +hands, and since it was proper to God only to dwell in the heart +of man, the only possible conclusion was that the Holy Ghost was +Divine. The value of the argument is not here in question, but it +is interesting to find that this presence was so generally +believed in as part of the Christian Faith. In the acts of the +martyrs, too, there are frequent references to this, as when St. +Lucy declared to the judge that the Spirit of God dwelt in her, +and that her body was in very truth the temple and shrine of God. +Again, Eusebius relates in his history that Leonidas, the father +of Origen, used to kneel by the bedside of the sleeping boy and +devoutly and reverently kiss his breast as the tabernacle wherein +God dwelt. The child in his innocence and grace is indeed the +fittest home on earth for God. + +3. This presence, then, of God in the soul is a real, true +presence, as real and as true as the presence of Our Lord Himself +in the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist. We look on all that +mystery as very wonderful, and indeed it is, that day by day we +can be made one with God the Son by receiving His Body and Blood; +we know the value to be got out of visits to His hidden presence, +the quiet and calm peace such visits produce in our souls; yet so +long as we are in a state of grace the same holds true of the Holy +Spirit within us. We are not indeed made one with the Holy Ghost +in a substantial union such as united together in the Sacred +Incarnation God and man; nor is there any overpowering of our +personality so that it is swamped by a Divine Person, but we +retain it absolutely. The simplest comparison is our union with +Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist, wherein we receive Him really and +truly and are made partakers of His divinity. By grace, then, we +receive really and truly God the Holy Ghost and are made partakers +of His divinity. If, then, we genuflect to the tabernacle in which +the Blessed Sacrament is reserved and treat our Communions as the +most solemn moments of our day, then equally we must hold in +reverence every simple soul in a state of grace, the souls of +others and our own. + + + +THE MODE OF THIS PRESENCE: OBJECT OF KNOWLEDGE + +1. The fact, then, of this presence has been established and its +nature explained. It is a real presence, a real union between the +soul and God the Holy Ghost. We have, however, a further point to +elucidate, the mode whereby this presence is effected. Now this is +twofold in so far as this presence of the Spirit affects the mind +and heart of man. First, then, we take the knowledge of God that +by this presence is generated in the soul. By natural knowledge we +can argue not only to the existence of God, but in some way also +to His nature. Not only do we know from the world which He has +made that He certainly must Himself have a true existence, but we +can even, gradually and carefully, though certainly with some +vagueness, argue to God's own divine attributes. His intelligence +is evident, His power, His wisdom, His beauty, His providence, His +care for created nature. The pagans merely from the world about +them painfully, and after many years and with much admixture of +error, could yet in the end have their beautiful thoughts about +God, and by some amazing instinct have stumbled upon truths which +Christianity came fully to establish. The writings of Plato and +Aristotle, of some Eastern teachers, of some of the Kings and +priests of Egypt, are evidences of the possibility of the natural +knowledge about God. + +2. Faith, then, came as something over and above the possibilities +of nature, not merely as regards the contents, but also as regards +the kind of knowledge. Reason argues to God, and, therefore, +attains God indirectly. It is like getting an application by +letter from an unknown person and guessing his character from the +handwriting, the paper, the ink, the spelling, the style. Possibly +by this means a very fair estimate may be formed of his capacities +and his fitness for the position which we desire him to fill. But +faith implies a direct contact with the person who has written the +letter. Before us is spread what Longfellow has called "the +manuscript of God," and from it we argue to God's character. Then +faith comes and puts us straight into connection with God Himself. +Theological virtues are the names given to faith, hope, and +charity, because they all have God for their direct and proper +object. Faith then attains to the very substance of God. It is +indeed inadequate in so far as all human forms of thought can only +falteringly represent God as compared with the fullness that shall +be revealed hereafter, still for all that it gives us, not +indirect but direct knowledge of Him. I do not argue by faith to +what God is like from seeing His handiwork; but I know what He is +like from His descriptions of Himself. + +3. Now the indwelling of the Spirit of God gives us a knowledge of +God even more wonderful than faith gives, for even faith has to be +content with God's descriptions of Himself. In faith I am indeed +listening to a Person Who is telling me all about Himself. He is +the very truth and all He says is commended to me by the most +solemn and certain of motives; but I am still very far from coming +absolutely into direct and absolute experience of God. That, +indeed, fully and absolutely, can be achieved only in Heaven. It +is only there in the beatific vision that the veils will be wholly +torn aside and there will be a face to face sight of God, no +longer by means of created, and therefore limited, ideas, but an +absolute possession of God Himself. Yet though absolutely I must +wait for Heaven before I can achieve this, it is none the less +true that I can begin it on earth by means of this indwelling of +the Spirit of God. This real presence of God in my soul can secure +for me what is called an experimental knowledge of God, such as +undoubtedly I do have. It is not only that I believe, but I know. +Not only have I been told about God, but, at least, in passing +glimpses, I have seen Him. We may almost say to the Church what +the men of Sichar said to the woman of Samaria, "We now believe, +not for thy saying, for we ourselves have heard and know" (John +4.42). "For the Spirit Himself giveth testimony to our spirit that +we are the sons of God" (Romans 8.16). + + + +MODE OF THIS PRESENCE: OBJECT OF LOVE + +1. There is something that unites us more closely to our friends +than knowledge does, and this is love. Knowledge may teach us +about them, may unlock for us gradually throughout life ever more +wonderful secrets of their goodness and strength and loyalty. But +knowledge of itself pushes us irresistibly on to something more. +The more we know of that which is worth knowing, the more we must +love it. Now love is greater than knowledge whenever knowledge +itself does not really unite us to the object of our knowledge, so +that St. Paul can deliberately put charity above faith, since +faith is the knowledge of God by means of ideas which are +themselves created and limited and inadequate, while charity +sweeps us up and carries us right along to God Himself. Hence it +was an axiom among the mediaeval theologians that love is more +unifying than knowledge, so that in the real indwelling of the +Holy Spirit in our hearts we must expect to find not only that He +is the object of our intelligence, but also that He has a place in +our hearts. Indeed, it is impossible to conceive any experimental +knowledge which does not also include in it the notion of love. + +2. This love or friendship between ourselves and the Holy Spirit, +if by friendship we mean anything like that of which we have +experience in our human relations, implies three things. First of +all, friendship implies that we do not love people for what we can +get out of them, for that would be an insult to a friend, for it +would mean selfishness or even animal passion. Friendship implies +that we come for what we can give far more than that we come for +what we can get. We love because we have helped is more often the +true order of the origins of friendship than we help because we +have loved. Secondly, friendship to be complete must be mutual. +There may indeed be love when some poor, forlorn soul is here +never requited in its affection, but that is not what we mean by a +friend or by friendship. Friendship implies action, a fellow +feeling, a desire for each other, a sympathy. Thirdly, friendship +also implies necessarily a common bond of likeness, or similarity +of condition or life, some equality. Of course it is evident from +classic instances that friendship may exist between a shepherd lad +and the son of a king (though perhaps Jonathan's princedom was +very little removed from shepherd life), yet the very friendship +itself must produce equality between them. Said the Latin proverb: +"Friendship either finds, or makes men equal." + +3. Now, therefore, to be perfectly literal in our use of the word, +we must expect to find these things reproduced in our friendship +with the Spirit of God; and, wonderful as it is, these things are +reproduced. For God certainly loves us for no benefit that He can +obtain from His love. He certainly had no need of us, nor do we in +any sense fill up anything that is wanting to His life. Before we +were, or the world was created, the Ever Blessed Three in One +enjoyed to the full the complete peace and joy and energy of +existence. We are no late development of His being, but only came +because of His inherent goodness that was always prodigal of +itself. He is our friend, not for His need, but for ours. He is +our friend, not for what He could get, but for what He could +give--His life. Again, His friendship is certainly mutual, for as +St. John tells: "Let us therefore love God because God first hath +loved us" (John 4.19). There is no yearning on our part which is +not more than paralleled on His. I can say not only that I love +God, but that He is my friend. Thirdly, I may even dare to assert +that there is a common bond of likeness and equality between +myself and Him. He has stooped to my level only that He may lift +me to His own. He became Man that He might make man God, and so, +equally, the Holy Spirit dwells in me that I may dwell in Him. +"Friendship either finds, or makes men equal." It found us apart, +it makes us one. He came divine, perfect, to me, human, imperfect. +By grace I am raised to a supernatural level. I know Him in some +sort as He is; I am immediately united to Him by the bond of love. + + + +THIS PRESENCE IS OF THE SAME NATURE AS THAT IN HEAVEN + +1. This union, then, between God and my soul, effected by grace, +is real and true. It is something more than faith can secure, a +nearer relationship, a deeper, more personal knowledge, a more +ardent and personal love. Indeed, so wonderful is the union +effected that the teaching of the Church has been forcibly +expressed in Pope Leo XIII's _Encyclical_, by saying that the only +difference between it and the Vision of Heaven is a difference of +condition or state, a difference purely accidental, not essential. +Heaven, with all its meaning, its wonders of which eye and ear and +heart are ignorant, can be begun here. Moreover, it must be +insisted upon, that this is not merely given to chosen souls whose +sanctity is so heroic as to qualify them for canonization; it is +the heritage of every soul in a state of grace. When I step +outside the confessional box after due repentance and the +absolution of the priest, I am in a state of grace. At once, then, +this blessed union takes effect. Within me is the Holy Spirit, +dwelling there, sent, given. As the object of knowledge He can be +experienced by me in a personal and familiar way. I can know Him +even as I am known. As the object of love He becomes my friend, +stooping to my level, lifting me to His. At once, then, though +still in a merely rudimentary way, can dawn upon me the glories of +my ultimate reward. Even already, upon earth, I have crossed the +threshold of Heaven. + +2. In order for me to enjoy that ultimate vision of God, two +things will be necessary for me. First, I shall need to be +strengthened so as to survive the splendor and joy of it. No man +can see God and live, for like St. Paul on the road to Damascus, +the splendor of the vision would wholly obscure the sight. Just as +a tremendous noise will strain the hearing of the ear, or an +overbright light will dazzle the eyes to blindness, or an +overwhelming joy will break the heart with happiness, so would the +vision of God strike with annihilation the poor weak soul. Hence +the light of glory, as it is called by the theologians, has to be +brought into use. By this is meant that strengthening of the human +faculties which enables them without harm to confront the Truth, +Goodness, Power, Beauty of God. Secondly, this vision implies an +immediate contact with God. It is no question simply of faith or +hope, but of sight and possession, so that there should be no more +veils, no more reproductions or reflections of God, but God +Himself. Those two things sum up what we mean by the Beatific +Vision. Now, then, if there is a similarity of kind between that +union in heaven and the union that can be reflected on earth, then +grace in this life must play the part of the light of glory in the +next, and I must be able in consequence to enter into personal +relations and immediate contact with God. + +3. Such, then, is the likeness between the indwelling of the +Spirit on earth, and the beatific vision. Wherein comes the +difference? The difference one may say is largely a difference of +consciousness. Here on earth I have so much to distract me that I +cannot possibly devote myself in the same way as then I shall be +able to do. There are things here that have got to be done, and +there is the body itself which can only stand a certain amount of +concentration and intensity. If strained too much it just breaks +down and fails. All this complicates and hampers me. But in heaven +I shall take on something (of course a great deal intensified) of +the consciousness and alertness of youth. A child can thoroughly +enjoy itself, for it has got the happy faculty of forgetting the +rest of life, all its troubles, anxieties, fears. Heaven, then, +means the lopping off of all those menaces, and the consequent +full appreciation of God in knowledge and love. Hence I must not +be disturbed if here on earth all these wonderful things which I +learn about concerning the indwelling of the Holy Spirit do not +seem to take place. It is very unfortunate that I do not +appreciate them, but it is something at least to know that they +are there. It is a nuisance that I do not see Him, but it is +something at least to be certain He is within me. + + + +THIS PRESENCE COMMON TO THE WHOLE TRINITY + +1. So far it has been taken for granted that this indwelling is +proper to the Holy Spirit, but it must now be added that indeed it +is really an indwelling of the Blessed Trinity. It is true that +very seldom does Scripture speak of the Three Persons as dwelling +in the soul, still less of Their being given or sent. But every +reason for which we attribute this to the Holy Ghost would hold +equally well of the other Two Persons. By grace we are made +partakers of God's Divine nature; He comes to us as the object of +our knowledge and our love. Why should we suppose that this Divine +Presence applies directly only to the Spirit of God? The only +reason, of course, is the impressive wording of the New Testament. +But even here there are equally strong indications that more than +the Holy Ghost is implied: "If any man will love Me he will keep +My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and +will make Our abode with him. . . . But the Paraclete, the Holy +Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all +things and bring all things to your mind whatsoever I shall have +said to you." Here, then, it is clearly stated that after Our Lord +has died His teaching will be upheld by the Spirit, but that this +indwelling will include also the abiding presence of Father and +Son. + +2. Why, then, is it repeated so often that the Holy Ghost is to be +sent into our hearts, is to be given to us, is to dwell in our +midst? It is for the same reason precisely that we allocate or +attribute certain definite acts to the Blessed Persons of the +Trinity so as the more easily to discern and appreciate the +distinction between Them. In the Creed itself we attribute +creation to God, the Father Almighty, though we know that Son and +Spirit, also with the Father, called the world out of nothingness. +Eternity is often, too, looked upon as peculiarly of the Father, +though naturally it is common to the Trinity. Note how frequently +in the liturgical prayers of the Church comes the expression, "O, +Eternal Father." So again to the Son we attribute Wisdom and +Beauty, turning in our imagination to Him as the Word of God, the +Figure of His substance, the brightness of His glory, and to the +Holy Spirit we more often attribute God's love and God's joy. All +these attributions are attempts to make that high mystery and the +Three Persons of It alive and distinctive to the human spirit. It +is not indeed wholly fancy, but it is the ever active reason +endeavoring, for its own better understanding of sacred truths, to +give some hint, or find some loophole, whence it shall not be +overwhelmed with the greatness of its faith. + +3. Consequently, it must be noted that this indwelling of the +Spirit of God is not so absolutely and distinctly proper to God, +the Holy Ghost, as the Incarnation is proper to God, the Son. +There the Son, and He alone, became man. It was His personality +alone to which was joined, in a substantial union, human nature. +But in this present case there is no such unique connection +between the soul and the Spirit of God, but it is rather the Ever +Blessed Trinity itself that enters into occupation, and dwells in +the heart. Of course that makes the wonder not less, but greater. +To think that within the borders of my being is conducted the +whole life of the Ever Blessed Three in One; that the Father is +for ever knowing Himself in the Son, and that Father and Son are +forever loving Themselves in the Spirit; that the power and +eternity of the Father, whereby creation was called into being, +and by whose fiat the visible world will one day break up and fall +to pieces; that the wisdom and beauty of the Son, which catch the +soul of man as in the meshes of a net, and drove generations of +men to a wandering pilgrimage, at the peril of life, to rescue an +empty tomb in the wild fury of a crusade; that the love of the +Holy Spirit which completes the life of God, and was typified in +the tongues of fire and the rush of a great wind at Pentecost; +that the power and eternity of the Father, the wisdom and beauty +of the Son, the love and joy of the Spirit, are for all time in my +heart. O, what reverence for my human home of God, reverence alike +for soul and body! + + + +THIS PRESENCE HAS CERTAIN EFFECTS + +1. It is very clear that so tremendous a presence as this +indwelling implies must have tremendous results. If, as I believe, +Father, and Son, and Spirit, are always within me by grace, the +effect upon my soul should be considerable. To begin with, the +very nearness to God which this indwelling secures must make a +great difference to my outlook on life. To have within me the Ever +Blessed Trinity is more than an honor, it is a responsibility; it +is more than responsibility, for it is the greatest grace of all. +To my faith, it makes the whole difference in my attitude to the +Mother of God that within her womb for those silent months lay the +Incarnate Wisdom. If to touch pitch is to ensure defilement, to be +so close to God is to catch the infection of His Divinity. Or, +again, I may have envied, times out of number, the wonderful grace +whereby, upon the breast of his Master, St. John, the Beloved +Disciple, could lovingly lay his head, the joy of so close and so +familiar an intimacy with the most beautiful sons of men; or I may +have pictured the charming scene when on His knees He took the +dear children of His country and spoke to them and fondled them so +that in His eyes they could see reflected their own countenances. +How life ever after must have been transfigured for them by the +memory of that glorious time! Great graces indeed for them all. +But what if all life long, by grace, I too can be sure of a union +even more splendid, an intimacy more lasting, a friendship +surpassing the limits of faith and hope? + +2. By grace, then, I receive this indwelling of the Spirit of God, +and thereby come into a new and wonderful union with the Ever +Blessed Trinity. Now such a union must have its purpose. Our Lord +told us that He was going to send to our hearts the Holy Spirit, +an embassy from Heaven to earth conducted by a Divine ambassador. +The news of the Incarnation, the offer of the Motherhood of God, +were made by means of an angel. But here, in my case, to no +created official is this wonderful thing confided, only to God +Himself. That just shows me the importance of the undertaking. In +the political world the interests that turn on a diplomatic +mission may be easily guessed to be very great, when the personnel +of the staff is found to contain the highest personages in the +country. What deep and abiding interests must then be in question +when to my soul comes God, the Holy Ghost, sent as the messenger +of the Three! I must consequently expect that the results of this +indwelling are judged by God to be considerable, and that it is of +much moment to me that, one by one, I should discover them. The +Incarnation brought its train of attendant effects which I have to +study: the redemption, the sacraments, the sanctifying of all +immaterial creation by its union through man with the divinity. +This indwelling also must therefore have its effects, the +knowledge of which must necessarily make a difference to me in +life. + +3. By Baptism the beginning comes of this great grace. As a child, +with my senses hardly at all awake to external life, I had God in +my midst. Do I wonder now at the charm of early innocence, when a +soul sits silently holding God as its centre? It is not that there +are dim memories of a preexistence before birth, but there are +always haunting dreams of a true friendship on earth. Baptism then +begins that early work. At the moment of conversion, when suddenly +I was drawn into a tender realization of God's demands and my own +heart's hunger, the indwelling of the Spirit became more +consciously operative with its flood of light and love. Since then +the sacraments have poured out on me fuller measures of God's +grace and that divine Presence therefore should assume larger +proportions in my life. I am now the dwelling place of God. When, +then, my heart is young, eager, enthusiastic, let me make Him +welcome; nor wait till the only habitation I can offer is in +ruins, leaking through an ill-patched roof. A dwelling place for +God! How reverently, then, shall I treat and treasure my body and +soul, for they must be as fit as I can make them for the great +Guest. By reason we learn of Him, by faith we know Him, but by His +indwelling we taste the sweetness of His presence. + + + +FORGIVENESS OF SIN + +1. To understand this first and great effect of grace I must know +what sin is, and to grasp sin in its fullness I must comprehend +God. To see the heinousness of what is done against Him I must +first realize what He is Himself. I have to go through all my +ideas of God, my ideas of His majesty, His power, His tenderness, +His justice, His mercy. I have got to realize all that He has done +for man before I can take in the meaning of man's actions against +God. I have to be conscious of the Incarnation, of the story of +that perfect life, the privations of it, the culminating horror of +the Passion and Death, then of the Resurrection, the patient +teaching of those forty days when He spoke of the Kingdom of God +which He was setting up on earth, the Ascension, which did not +mean an end, but only the beginning of His work for men on earth. +At once there opened the wonderful stream of graces which flow +through the sacraments, and which therefore make continuous upon +the world till its consummation, His abiding presence, for the +tale of the Blessed Sacrament only adds to the wonders of the +tenderness and mercy of God. In Heaven, by ever trying to make +intercession for us, on earth, by holding out through the +sacraments countless ways of grace, It shows to us something at +least of the perfect character of God. Now it is against one so +perfect, so tender, so divine, that sin is committed, a wanton, +brutal outrage against an almost overfond love. Ingratitude, +treachery, disloyalty, united in the basest form. + +2. God is just, as well as merciful, so that there had to be an +immediate result of sin. Man might see no difference between +himself before and after he had sinned; but for all that a great +difference was set up. His soul had been on terms of friendship +with God, for it had turned irresistibly to Him, as a flower +growing in a dark place turns irresistibly to where the hardy +daylight makes its way into the gloom. That friendship is at once +broken, for sin means that the soul has deliberately turned its +back upon God and is facing the other way, and thus it has been +able by some fatal power to prevent God's everlasting love having +any effect upon it. God cannot hate; but we can stop His love from +touching us. At once, then, by grievous sin the soul becomes +despoiled of its supernatural goods: sanctifying grace, which is +the pledge and expression of God's friendship, naturally is +banished; charity, which is nothing else than the love of God, the +infused virtues, the gifts, are all taken away. Faith only and +hope survive, but emptied of their richness of life. Externally no +difference, but internally friendship with God, the right to the +eternal heritage, the merits heretofore stored up--all lost. Even +God Himself goes out from the midst of the soul, as the Romans +heard the voice crying from the Temple just before its +destruction: _Let us go hence. Let us go hence_. + +3. Grace, then, operates to restore all these lost wonders. Sin +itself is forgiven, all the ingratitude and disloyalty put one +side; not simply in the sense that God forgets them, or chooses +not to consider them, but in the sense that they are completely +wiped away. It is the parable of the Good Shepherd where the sheep +is brought back again into the fold, and mixes freely with the +others who have never left the presence of their Master. It is the +parable of the prodigal son taken back into his father's embrace. +That is what the forgiveness of sin implies. God is once more back +again in the soul. He had always been there as the Creator without +Whose supporting hand the soul would be back in its nothingness; +but He is now there again as Father, and Master, and Friend. Not +the saints only who have been endowed with a genius for divine +things, but every simple soul that has had its sins forgiven, +comes at once into that embrace. We are far too apt to look upon +forgiveness as a merely negative thing, a removal, a cleansing, +and not enough as a return to something great and good and +beautiful, the triumphant entrance into our souls of the Father, +the Son, and the Spirit. + + + +JUSTIFICATION + +1. There is something in the forgiveness of sin which implies an +element of positive good, and this is called justification. It +means that the attitude of God towards forgiven sin is believed by +the Catholic Church to be no mere neglect or forgetfulness of its +evil, but an actual and complete forgiveness. At the time of the +Protestant Reformation a long controversy was waged over this very +point, in which the Reformers took up the curious position that +forgiveness implied nothing more than that God did not impute sin. +He covered up the iniquities of the soul with the Blood of His +Son, and no longer peered beneath the depths of that sacred and +saving sign. The problem has probably hardly any meaning now, +since the original doctrinal principles of Protestantism, the +ostensible reasons for the sixteenth century revolt, have been +abandoned long since as hopeless of defence. In fact all that was +really positive in Protestantism has been ruined by its basic +negative principle of private judgment. Against such a battering +ram Christianity itself is powerless. But that long-forgotten +discussion had this much of value, that it brought out in clear +perspective the fullness of the Catholic teaching on the central +doctrine of justification and showed its depth and meaning. + +2. Briefly, then, it may be stated that it is not simply that God +does not impute evil, but that He forgives it. It is as though a +rebellion had taken place and its leader had been captured and +brought before his offended sovereign. Now the king might do +either of two things, if he wished not to punish the culprit. He +might simply bid him go off and never appear again, or he might go +even further by actually forgiving the rebellion and receiving +back into favor the rebel. It is one thing to say that no +punishment will be awarded, it is another to say that the crime is +forgiven, and that everything is to go on as though nothing had +happened. In the first case we might say that the king chose not +to impute the sin, in the other that he forgave and justified the +sinner. It is just this, then, that the Catholic Church means when +she teaches justification as implied in the idea of forgiveness. +It is just this, too, that Our Lord meant when He detailed His +beautiful parable about the prodigal son. The boy's return home +does not mean merely that the father refrains from punishment, but +rather that there is a welcome so hearty and so complete that the +serious-minded elder brother, coming in from his long labor in the +fields, is rather scandalized by its suddenness and its intensity. +Such is indeed God's treatment of the soul. He is so generous, so +determined not to be outdone by any sorrow on the part of the +sinner, that He overwhelms with the most splendid favors the +recently converted soul. + +3. But in this connection we must see in justification a process +by which the Presence of God is again achieved by man. By sin +grace was lost, and with grace went out the Divine Three in One, +the temple was desecrated, the veil of the Holy of Holies was +utterly rent. Then sin is forgiven and, once more, the Sacred home +is occupied by God. Moreover, when God comes to the soul He comes +with His full strength of love, and thereby gives a new energy and +life to man. We love because of some beauty, goodness, excellence, +that we see in others. We love, then, because of what is in them. +It is their gifts that cause or ignite our love. But God, Who is +the only cause Himself, creates excellences by love. We are not +loved because we are good; we are good because we are loved, so +that this indwelling itself fashions us after God's own heart. "It +is the love of God," says St. Thomas (_Summa theologica_, i, +20.2), "that produces and creates goodness in things." The divine +presence, then, of God in the soul, effected by sanctifying grace, +makes the soul more worthy a temple, more fit a home. God does not +come to us because we are fit, but we are fit because God comes to +us. + + + +DEIFICATION + +1. This very strong expression is used by St. Augustine and many +of the Fathers to describe one of the effects of grace. By grace +we are deified, i. e., made into gods. Right at the beginning of +all the woes of humanity when, in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve +first were tempted, the lying spirit promised that the reward of +disobedience would be that they should become "as gods." The +result of sin could hardly be that, so man, made only a little +lower than the angels, can at times find himself rebuked by the +very beasts. Yet the promise became in the end fulfilled, since +the Incarnation really affected that transformation, and God, by +becoming human, made man himself divine. St. Peter, in his second +epistle (4.1), insinuates the same truth when he describes the +great promises of Christ making us "partakers of the Divine +Nature." The work, then, of grace is something superhuman and +divine. Creation pours into us the divine gift of existence and +therefore makes us partakers in the divine being, for existence +implies a participation in the being of God. The indwelling of the +Blessed Trinity, then, does even more, for by it we participate +not only in the divine being, but in the divine nature, and +fulfill the prophecy of Our Lord: "Ye are gods." Justification, +therefore, is a higher gift than creation, since it does more for +us. + +2. This divine participation is what is implied in many texts +which allude to the sacrament of Baptism, for the purpose of +Baptism is just that, to make us children of God. The phrases +concerning "new birth" and "being born again" all are intended to +convey the same idea, that the soul by means of this sacrament is +lifted above its normal existence and lives a new life. This life +is lived "with Christ in God," i. e., it is a sort of entrance +within the charmed circle of the Trinity, or, more accurately, it +is that the Blessed Trinity inhabits our soul and enters into our +own small life, which at once therefore takes on a new and higher +importance. In it henceforth there can be nothing small or mean. +For the same reason Our Lord speaks of it to the Samaritan woman +as "_the_ gift of God," beside which all His other benefactions +fade into nothingness. Again, it is a "fountain of living water," +it is a "refreshment," it is "life" itself. Not the stagnant water +that remains in a pool in some dark wood, but a stream gushing out +from its source, fertilizing the ground on every side, soaking +through to all the thirsting roots about it, giving freshness and +vitality to the whole district through which it wanders. Life +indeed it bears as its great gift; and so does sanctifying grace +carry within it the fertilizing power needed by the soul. + +3. The participation in the Divine Nature is therefore no mere +metaphor, but is a real fact. The indwelling of God makes the soul +like to God. I find myself influenced by the people with whom I +live, picking up their expressions, copying their tricks and +habits, following out their thoughts, absorbing their principles, +growing daily like them. With God at the centre of my life the +same effect is produced, and slowly, patiently, almost +unconsciously, I find myself infected by His spirit. What He loves +becomes my ideal; what He hates, my detestation. But it is even +closer than this, no mere concord of wills nor harmony of ideas, a +real and true elevation to the life of God. Grace is formally in +God, at the back, so to say, of His divine nature, the inner +essence of Himself. By receiving it, therefore, I receive +something of God, and begin to be able to perform divine actions. +I can begin to know God even as I am known, to taste His +sweetness, and by His favor to have personal, experimental +knowledge of Himself. To act divinely is only possible to those +who are made divine. This, then, becomes the formal union with +God, its terms, its end, its purpose. Deified, therefore, we +become in our essence by grace, in our intelligence by its light, +in our will by charity. + + + +ADOPTED SONSHIP + +1. Here again we have to realize that the sonship of God is no +mere metaphor, no mere name, but a deep and true fact of huge +significance: "Behold what manner of charity the Father hath +bestowed upon us that we should be called and should be the sons +of God!" (1 John 3). We become the sons of God. St. Paul very +gladly quotes the saying of a Greek poet that men are the +offspring of God, making use of a particular word which +necessarily implies that both the begetter and the begotten are of +the same nature. A sonship indeed is what Our Lord is Himself +incessantly teaching the Apostles to regard as their high +privilege, for God is not only His Father, but theirs: "Thus shalt +thou pray, Our Father." With the Gospels it is in constant use as +the view of God that Christianity came especially to teach. The +Epistles are equally insistent on the same view, for St. Paul is +perpetually calling to mind the wonderful prerogatives whereby we +cry, "Abba: Father." We are spoken of as co-heirs of Christ, as +children of God. St. John, St. Peter, and St. James repeat the +same message as the evident result of the Incarnation, for by it +we learn that God became the Son of Man, and man the son of God. + +2. Yet it must also be admitted that this sonship of God, which is +the common property of all just souls, and is the result of the +indwelling of God in the soul, does not mean that we are so by +nature, but only by adoption. Now adoption, as it is practiced by +law, implies that the child to be adopted is not already the son, +that the new relationship is entered upon entirely at the free +choice of the person adopting, that the child becomes the legal +heir to the inheritance of the adopting father. It is perfectly +evident that all these conditions are fulfilled in the case of +God's adoption, for we were certainly no children of His before +His adoption of us as sons; strangers we were, estranged indeed +by the absence of grace and the high gifts of God. Naturally we +were made by Him, but had put ourselves far from Him: "You were as +sheep going astray." Then this adoption of us by God was indeed +and could only have been at His free choice, through no merits of +ours, but solely according to the deliberate action of His own +will, for "you have not chosen Me but I have chosen you." "So that +it is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth, but of God +that showeth mercy." Finally, the inheritance is indeed ours by +right and title of legal inheritance. We are co-heirs with Christ, +and our human nature is lifted up to the level of God; not, of +course, that we supplant Him who is by nature the true Son of God, +but that we are taken into partnership with Him, and share in Him +the wonderful riches of God. + +3. Here, then, I may learn the worth and dignity of the Christian +name. I am a true son of God, and what else matters upon earth? I +have indeed to go about my life with its vocation and all that is +entailed in it. I have to work for my living, it may be, or take +my place in the family, or lead my own solitary existence. I have +to strive to be efficient and effective in the material things of +life that fall to my share to be done. But it is this sonship of +God that alone makes any matter in the world. In our own time we +have heard a very great deal about culture and the ultimate value +of the world; but we have seen also to what evil ends so fine a +truth may lead men. True culture is not a question of scientific +attainments, or mechanical progress, or the discovery of new +inventions of destruction, or even of medical and useful sciences; +but it is the perfect and complete development of the latent +powers of the soul. True culture may indeed make use of sciences +and art; perhaps in its most complete sense science and art are +needed for the most finished culture of which man is capable; but +it is in its very essence the deepening of his truest desire, the +full stretch of his widest flights of fancy, the achievement of +his noblest ideals. What nobler ideal, or fancy, or desire, can a +man have than to be called and to be the son of God; to know that +he has been drawn into the close union of God; to feel within his +very essence the presence of God; to have personal experience as +the objects of his knowledge and love of the Father, Son, and +Spirit? + + + +HEIRS OF GOD + +1. One of the conditions of adoption is that the newly chosen son +should become the legal heir of the new father. Without this legal +result or consequence adoption has no meaning. Merely to get a boy +to enter a family circle does not imply adoption, for this last +has a distinct meaning with a distinct purpose. If, then, we are +the heirs of God we are really possessed of a right to His Divine +Inheritance. Heaven has been made indeed our home. We speak of it +in our hymns as _patria_, which we can translate as the "land of +our fathers." We claim it thereby in virtue of our parentage, and +our parentage is of God. If, then, He is our Father, not by +nature, but by adoption, i. e., by grace, we are none the less His +heirs and have some sort of right over His possessions and riches. +A father cannot without leave of his adopted son alienate any of +the family heirlooms; the adopted son now, by the father's own +free act acquires, not indeed dominion over the riches of the +home, but, at any rate, an embargo on the father's free exercise +of those riches. He could even demand, as against his father, a +legal investigation into the due use and investment of them. His +signature is required for every document that relates to them. He +has become almost a part-owner of his father's possessions, since +he is their legal heir. All this is implied by adoption in its +true sense, and therefore it must be intended to apply to us when +we are spoken of as God's adopted sons. + +2. I can, therefore, truthfully speak of myself as an heir of God. +Of course I cannot mean that there is any possible question of +"the death of the testator," i. e., of God. That is quite clearly +of no significance here. But adoption does give me some sort of +claim to the heritage of God. Now the law defines a heritage as +that by which a man is made rich. It includes not the riches only, +but the source of the riches, so that if I have a claim to God's +riches, I have a claim also upon the source of those riches. For +the heir is entitled not merely to a legacy, but to the whole of +the fortune. I have a right to the whole fortune of God, to the +whole universe. At once, as soon as I realize it, the whole of the +world is mine. It is the doctrine of the mystics that, +misunderstood, led astray the communists of the Middle Ages. These +claimed a common ownership of the wealth of all the world, whereas +what was intended was that we should look upon the whole world as +ours. To me, then, in life, nothing can be strange or distant or +apart. No places can there be where my mind cannot enter and roam +at will and feel itself at home; no things can be profane, no +people who are not tabernacles of God, no part of life that is not +steeped in that living presence. The only possible boundary is the +love and the grace of God. There will indeed come evil frontiers +beyond which my soul could never dwell. But all else is of God and +is therefore my right. All creation is mine; the wonder and beauty +of it, life and death, pleasure alike and pain, yield up to me +their secrets and disclose the hidden name of God. + +3. Here, then, I can find that divine wealth, to inherit which has +been the purpose of the adoption by God. Wherever I turn I shall +find Him. Whether life has smooth ways or rough, whether she hangs +my path with lights or hides me in gloom, I am the heir to all +that earth or sea or sky can boast of as their possession. Indeed, +these are only the rich things of God, whereas I have a claim upon +even more. I have a claim upon the very source of this wealth, +that is, upon God Himself, for He is the sole source of all His +greatness. I have a right to God Himself. He is mine. He Who holds +in the hollow of His hands the fabric of the world, Who with His +divine power supports, and with His providence directs, the +intricate pattern of the world, has Himself by creation entered +deeply into the world; at the heart of everything He lies hid. But +even more by grace He comes in a fuller, richer way into the +depths of the soul. Here in me are Father, and Son, and Spirit. +Dear God, teach me to understand the wonder of this indwelling, to +appreciate its worth, to be thankful for its condescension, to +reverence its place of choice, to be conscious of its perpetual +upholding. By it I am an heir to the fullness of the divine +riches. By it I, a creature, possess in His fullness my Creator, +Redeemer, Lord. + + + +GUIDANCE IN SPIRITUAL LIFE + +1. I have God the Holy Spirit with me. He comes to me in order +that I may surrender myself to Him. Of course I cannot merge my +personality in His to the extent of having no power of my own, but +God has such infinite dominion over the heart of man that He is +able to move the will, without in any sense whatever violating its +freedom. In the liturgy of the Church there are two or three +prayers which speak about God "compelling our rebellious wills." +Now for anyone else to "compel my will" would be to destroy it as +a will, since, as even Cromwell freely confessed, "the will +suffereth no compulsion"; I cannot be made to will against my +will. That would be a contradiction, though I can be made to act +against my will, for my actions do not necessarily imply that my +will is in them. Whereas, then, no one else can move my will +without utterly destroying my moral freedom, God can, for He is +intimate to the will and moves it, not really as an external but +as an internal power. St. Thomas Aquinas repeatedly refers to this +and says over and over again the same thing, namely, that God is +so intimately united to man, and so powerful, that not only can He +move man to will, but move him to will freely by affecting, not +only the action of man, but the very mode of the action. + +2. Such is man, whether in a state of grace or not, that his will +is in the hands of God, to be moved by man freely, but not so as +to exclude God's movement. Naturally enough it is far easier to +say this than to explain it. Indeed the mere statement is all that +is actually binding upon faith, and the particular explanation +favored by St. Thomas in his general acceptance of St. Augustine's +teaching, comes to us largely as of deep and abiding moment on +account of the very clear reasons given and the great authority of +his name; but in any case there is something far more special in +the guidance of the Holy Spirit sought for by the soul in its +endeavor to "live godly in Christ Jesus." It has to yield itself +to the promptings of God, be eager to catch His every whisper, and +quick in its obedience to His every call. For this to be achieved, +the first work is an emptying out of the soul. Every obstacle has +to be got rid of; any attachment to creatures that obscures God's +light has to be broken through (though not every attachment to +creatures, since unless I love man whom I see, I cannot possibly +know what love means when applied to God, nor can I suppose myself +to be able to understand or love God, whom I do not see). First, +then, to cleanse my soul by leveling and smoothing and clearing +its surface and depths. + +3. Then I must yield myself into His arms. I shall not know very +often the way He wishes me to go. It may be only one step at a +time, and then darkness again; or I may be taken swiftly and +surely and openly along a clear road. That is His business, not +mine, only I must be prepared not to be able to follow always the +meaning of what He wants of me. It is not necessary at all that I +should know. If I am faithful and loyal and full of trust, things +will gradually settle themselves, and I shall at least be able to +look back and understand the significance and purpose of many +things that at first appeared accidental, and even in opposition +to the end I considered God had in view for me. Thus by looking +back I can sometimes get a shrewd idea of what is to follow; but +often it is only a guess, nothing more than that. Still, +generally, it would seem that people who surrender themselves to +God do get a sense or a feeling which leads them right and makes +them sure. It is the divine tenderness stooping to poor muddled +humanity and making it transfigured with God's own glory. The +advance, then, whether consciously grasped or not, is in due +proportion to the purity and fidelity of the soul, purity in its +act of cleansing, fidelity in its subjection to the promptings of +the Holy Spirit. + + + +GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT + +1. To live the spiritual life to its fullness we need the +instinctive governances of the Holy Ghost. All day long, and even +all through the hours when consciousness is asleep, the Holy +Spirit is speaking to us in many ways. He is offering us His +heavenly counsel, enlightening our minds to an ever more complete +understanding of the deep truths of faith, and generally imparting +to us that deep knowledge without which we cannot make advance. +Reason and common sense have their own contribution to make in +opening our minds and hearts to a proper interpretation of all +that is about us and within us; but reason and common sense have +themselves also to be supernaturalized, to be illumined by the +light of a far higher plane of truth. Hence the need of this +divine instinct is patent to anyone who considers the purpose and +destiny of the soul. But it is difficult at times to understand +and to grasp surely the words of divine wisdom, since by sin's +coarseness the refinement of the soul is dulled and rendered but +little responsive; or, rather, it is not so much a matter of being +responsive to a message as primarily of hearing and understanding +it. It seems to be very obvious that God must be speaking to me +almost without ceasing; it is equally obvious that very little of +this is noticed. + +2. Here, then, am I in the world and needing the governance of +God's instinct. Here, too, is this whispered counsel and +enlightenment of God, perpetually being made to me. Yet, though +made by God, and needed by me, this counsel and enlightenment, I +can be certain, must frequently be entirely lost to me. It is as +though I lived in a perfectly beautiful country, with stretching +landscape about, and beautiful glimpses of hills and woodland, and +yet never saw or appreciated the view; as though heavenly music +were about me, to which I never paid the slightest attention; as +though my best loved friend stood by me and I never lifted my +eyes, and so did not know of his presence. Of course it is really +a great deal worse than that, for I do not need with an absolute +necessity the view, or the music, or the friend; whereas I do most +certainly need this divinely offered help, guidance, +enlightenment. Hence it is clear that neither my need nor God's +instinct suffice. Something else is required by means of which I +am able to make use of that instinct, to hear its message, to +discover its meaning, to apply its advice to myself; else am I no +better than a general who possesses the full plan of his allies, +in all its details, but written in a cypher that he cannot read. + +3. To produce this reaction or perception is the work of the +sevenfold gifts. They are habits infused into the soul, which +strengthen its natural powers, and make them responsive to every +breath of God and capable of heroic acts of virtue. By the gifts +my eyes are made able to see what had else been hidden, my ears +quick to catch what had else not been heard; the gifts do not, so +to say, supply eye or ear, but make more delicate, refined, +sensitive, the eye and ear already there. Their business is to +intensify rather than to create powers established in me by grace. +Less excellent necessarily than the theological virtues which +unite me to God, they are yet more excellent than the other +virtues, though, being rooted in charity and thereby linked up +among themselves, they are also part of the dowry that charity +brings in her train. On this account it is clear that from the +moment of Baptism the sevenfold gifts are the possession of the +soul, and whosoever holds one holds all; yet by the sacrament of +Confirmation it would appear certain that something further is +added, some more delicate perception, some livelier sensitiveness; +or it may be, as other theologians point out, that by Confirmation +they are more steadily fixed in the soul, more fully established, +more firmly held. But in any case it is clear what they are to me, +habits whereby I am perfected to obey the Holy Spirit of God. + + + +BEATITUDES + +1. The possession of the sevenfold gifts results in the +performance of certain virtuous acts, for it is perfectly obvious +that if I am so blest by the gifts that I find my reason, will, +emotions, made increasedly perceptive of divine currents +previously lost to me, I can hardly help acting in a new way. I +now discover the view about me, and the music, and, consequently, +my manner of life must in some ways be different from before. The +Vision has come; it cannot simply open my eyes to new things in +life without thereby altering that very life itself. Not only +shall I find that what seemed to me before to be evil now appears +to me to be a blessing; but on that very account what before I +tried to avoid, or, having got, tried to be rid of, I shall now +accept, perhaps even seek. Similarly, whereas then I was weak, now +I am strong; and increase of strength means new activities, new +energy put into the old work and finding its way out into works +altogether new. My emotions, finally, which perilled and dominated +my life, slip now into a subordinate position, and while thereby +as actively employed as before, are held under discipline. It is +clear, therefore, that the gifts will not leave me where I was +before, but will influence my actions as well as alter my vision. + +2. I find, then, that these new habits will develop into new +activities. But this means also that I have a new idea as to the +means of achieving the full happiness of life. Once upon a time I +thought happiness meant comfort, now I see that it means something +quite different. My view of happiness has changed. I am therefore +obliged to change also my idea as to the means and conditions +whereby, and in which, happiness can be found. I had attempted to +climb out of my valley over the hills in the west; I now attempt +to climb out over the hills to the east. The steps by which once I +clambered are useless to me. I must try new ones in the opposite +hills. Just that is what Our Lord meant by promulgating His eight +Beatitudes. These are just the new blessedness, so to say, which +results from finding that happiness now means the knowledge and +love of God. Things that previously I fled from, I now seek; +things once my bugbear, are now the objects of my delight. +Poverty, meekness, mourning, the hunger and thirst after justice, +cleanness of heart, the making of peace, mercy, the suffering of +persecution for justice's sake, are now found to be the steps to +be passed over, the conditions to be secured before happiness can +be finally secured. + +3. These things, then, are beatitudes to me. They are acts which I +finally achieve by means of the new enlightenment gained through +the gifts of God. Actively I am merciful and meek and clean of +heart. I perform these actions, and they are the result of visions +seen, and counsels heard, through the new sensitiveness to the +divine instinctive guidance that of old passed me by without +finding in my heart any response. To be forever pursuing now peace +and sorrow, and, at whatever cost, justice, is an energizing state +of life which is due entirely to the new perception of the value +of these things, so that we are right in asserting that the +beatitudes are nothing else than certain actions, praised by Our +Lord and practiced by us as a result of the establishment in our +souls of seven definite habits. But not only are they actions, +they produce as an effect joy in the heart; for which reason it is +that we call them beatitudes. They show me what is truly blessed +and thereby give me, even here on earth, a foretaste of the bliss +of final happiness. + + + +THE FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT + +1. Besides the beatitudes there are other acts that follow from +the gifts when properly used by the soul. The beatitudes are means +which, under the light infused by God, are valued at their true +worth as leading finally to happiness in its more complete sense. +But when these are thus put into practice, for the soul +understands the new meaning life gathers, they do not end the +wonders of the action of grace. As a boy I met life and found it +full of interest and dawning with the glories of success. The +world in its aspect of nature had such manifest beauties that +these quickly entranced and thrilled the soul. The sun and grass +and flowers and woods and waters, make no secret of their kinship +with their creator; Francis Thompson found them "garrulous of +God," so garrulous in our youth that we see that life is full of +very good things. Then comes the reaction (to many even before +full manhood), when life is found to be full of illusion. Life is +now judged a melancholy business, apt to fail you just when the +need of it is most discovered, hard to be certain of; it is the +age of romantic melancholy when most people put into verse their +sorrow at the disappointment to be found in all things of beauty. +Every tree and flower and "dear gazelle" is no sooner loved than +it is lost through death or misunderstanding. + +2. Then, finally, the balance is set right. The two phases pass. +They are both true only as half truths. There is no denying that +life is good and beautiful and thrilling. The boy's vision is +correct. Yet it is equally true to say that there is sorrow and +suffering and death and disappointment in all human things. But a +new phase, blessedly a last phase, dawns upon the soul. Sorrow and +pain are real, but the old happiness of boyhood is made to fit in +and triumph over them by the sudden realization that strength is +the lesson to be learned. Sorrow comes that discipline may be born +in the soul, self-restraint, humility. Life is hard, but its very +hardness is no evil, but our means of achieving good. That is the +very atmosphere of the beatitudes, the message they bring, the +teaching they imparted from the Sermon on the Mount. Poverty, +cleanness of heart, mercy, meekness, are all things difficult to +acquire; but they give a real, true blessedness to the soul that +will see their value. Life is no longer a disappointment, but the +training ground of all good. + +3. Finally, there follow other acts, too many to number, though +there are twelve usually given, which result from gifts and +beatitudes. These are called the fruits of the Holy Ghost, for +they represent in that metaphorical sense the ultimate result of +the gifts. They are the last and sweetest consequences of the +sevenfold habits infused by the Spirit. Indeed, just as trees are +grown in an orchard because of their fruits, and, therefore, just +as it can be said that the fruit is, from the gardener's point of +view, the purpose for which the tree is cultivated (for of the +fruitless fig Our Lord asked why it cumbered the ground), so these +fruits of the Holy Ghost (charity, joy, peace, patience, +benignity, goodness, longanimity, mildness, faith, modesty, +continency, chastity--Gal. 5.22) can be looked upon as the very +purpose for which the gifts were given, that I might, by seeing a +new blessedness in life's very troubles, begin to find joy and +peace and patience and faith, where else I had found only sorrow. +Endlessly could the list of these be extended, for St. Paul has +chosen only a very few; but these that he names are what a man +delights in when he has received the gifts, and has understood and +valued the beatitudes. Sweetness is what they add to virtue, ease, +comfort. I not only hunger and thirst after justice, but enjoy the +very pain of the pursuit. + + + +KNOWLEDGE + +1. This gift of God illumines and perfects the intelligence. The +purpose of the gifts, it has been already explained, is to make +the soul more alive to, and more appreciative of, the whispered +instinct of God; not to create new faculties, but to increase the +power of those already existing. My mind, then, has to be +supernaturalized and refined to that pitch of perception which +will enable it to grasp and to understand God's message. Now the +mind itself works upon a great variety of subjects. It has whole +worlds to conquer, planes of thought which are very clearly +distinguishable; yet in its every activity it needs this divine +refinement, so that in all four gifts are allotted to perform this +complete enlightenment of the mind. Knowledge overcomes ignorance +and is concerned with the facts, visible and sense-perceived, in +creation; for by the council of the Vatican it is laid down as +part of the deposit of faith that human reason can prove the +existence of God altogether apart from the supernatural motives +which grace supplies. The visible world is held to contain ample +proofs which in themselves are adequate logically to convince +human understanding of the existence of God. Individual reason may +fail to satisfy itself. People may declare truthfully that they +are not convinced; the Church insists only that it can be done. + +2. Knowledge, however, in this sense is a gift of God whereby we +discover Him in His own creation and in the works of man. It is +here no mere task set to reason for detecting the Creator in His +handiwork, but an actual vision by which the soul is +supernaturalized and sees Him patently everywhere. The beauteous +face of nature is merely seen as a veil, hiding a beauty more +sublime. Things of dread as well as things of loveliness come into +the scheme, things trivial and things tremendous, things majestic +and things homely, all that God has made. Even man's work, who is +himself only one of the greater masterpieces of the Great +Artificer, is affected by this new light with which the world is +flooded. The delicate pieces of machinery constructed by human +ingenuity, that gain in wonder and in power, are themselves still +God's work at one remove; they are the fruits of a mind that He +has constructed, and they do not exhaust the capacity of that +mind. They reveal hidden potentialities as well as express actual +achievements. Weapons of destruction, with all the horror they +rightly inspire, are yet witnesses again to that +parent-intelligence whence was begotten man himself. All this, of +course, as soon as considered, is admitted by every believer in +God, but the gift of knowledge makes it realized and seen +steadfastly. + +3. Life, then, of itself is full of illusion. That is the cry, +desolating and pitiful, which arises from the higher followers of +every religious faith. Man is bound to the wheel, his mind is +compassed with infirmity, he is born into ignorance. Desire +tumultuously hustles all his days. He needs, therefore, some light +whereby he may find the true inner meaning of all with which he +comes in contact. Here, then, in the gift of Knowledge is such a +true vision, understanding, vouchsafed him of the visible things +of creation. He will realize as much, perhaps, even more than +before the attraction of beauty, only it will be no snare, but a +beckoning light. He will find in it now no illusion, but the +perfect image of a greater beauty. The charm of the world about +him will become greater, the wonders of nature, the intricate +pattern of mechanical appliances, the fury of storms, the tumult +of the wind, the terrific force of pestilence, the psychological +facts of man's mind, the construction of his frame, the grouping +of his social instincts, all now will be alive with God, shot +through with the divine splendor, elevated to His order of life, +eloquent of His name--a deepening knowledge of God achieved through +a knowledge of His creatures. + + + +UNDERSTANDING + +1. There is another gift required to perfect the intelligence when +it is engaged upon the principles of truth. The mind was created +by God to exercise itself upon truth, primarily, the Supreme +Truth; secondarily, all truths which by their essence must +themselves be radiations from the Supreme Truth. These truths are +of endless variety, both in their relationship to each other and +in the particular line in which they operate. They are the truths +of arts and science, the intricate yet unchanging laws that govern +the growth and development of matter, the complicated processes +whereby organic beings build up their tissues and multiply +themselves by means of the cell principle. There are again the +curious laws, as they are called, that effect gravitation, that +have to be counted upon in the science of architecture, and in all +the various kindred crafts of man. There are principles, too, that +underlie the whole series of the arts, principles of truth and +life and beauty. Upon these the mind must feed, and in them all +the mind must be able to trace the character and being of God. But +there are also far higher truths which are taught only by +revelation, safeguarded by authority, grouped under the title of +faith. These truths are higher than the others, since they +directly concern a higher being, i. e., God. All truths are truths +about God, but the truths of faith concern themselves immediately +with the being, life, and actions of God. Understanding, +therefore, is the gift perfecting the mind for these. + +2. It might seem, perhaps, that the light of faith is itself +sufficient, and that no further gift were needed, since it is the +very purpose of faith to make us accept this revelation of God, +enlightening and strengthening the intelligence till under the +dominion of the will it says: I believe. It is true that faith +suffices for this, but we require something more than faith, or at +least if we do not absolutely require more, we shall progress more +rapidly and further when we are not only able to believe but to +understand. In every article of faith there is always something +which is mysterious or hidden, some obscurity due not to the +entanglement of facts, but to the weakness of the human mind. Of +course this must to some extent always exist, for man can never +hope to comprehend God till by the beatific vision he sees Him +face to face; but a good deal of the obscurity can be lifted by +the mere operation of the mind under the light of God, not arising +purely from study, but from the depth of love enkindled by God. It +is a commonplace in the lives of the saints that without +instruction they do yet manage to learn the deep mysteries of God; +the same is true of many simple souls whom we meet from time to +time in the world. They not only believe, but penetrate the truths +of faith. + +3. Here, then, I have ready to hand a most useful gift of God. I +desire not only to believe, but to absorb and to penetrate the +mysteries of God. I want to taste to the full the meaning of life +as a whole, to develop every power that lies in me, to make the +truths of revelation blossom out ever more fully, till their +hidden and mystical significance becomes gradually more clear. The +pages of Holy Scripture are full of instruction, but they will not +yield up their secrets save to a soul attuned by God. That can be +effected by the gift of understanding. I shall find by its means +that these treasures are inexhaustible, that from mere abstract +teaching the sayings of the Master and His Apostles become full of +practical meaning, that all life about me takes on a new and +richer significance. History and social life open their doors to +whoever has this blessed gift, and it becomes clearly seen that +their maker and builder is God. The dullness of souls who will not +believe, or only believe and then stop short, becomes painful to +note and bothersome to put up with, but this is the price one has +to pay for so fine a vision. By this, then, we peer into the +depths of faith, and find them gradually and steadily growing more +and more clear and penetrable. + + + +WISDOM + +1. All writers on the gifts of the Holy Ghost place wisdom as the +highest gift of all. It takes this high position partly because +its work is done in the intelligence, which is man's highest +power, and partly because it is that highest power occupied to its +highest capacity. Like knowledge and understanding, its business +is to make us see God everywhere, in the material and spiritual +creation of God, in the concrete facts of existence, and in the +revealed truths of faith. It produces in a soul a sense of +complete certainty and hope. Hence it is sometimes described as +neighbor to hope; indeed, its finest side is often just that +determined and resolute conviction with which the soul rises +superior to every possible disaster, and is prepared to brave +every contingency in its sureness of God's final power and the +efficacy of His will. It comes closer, therefore, to God Himself +than do either understanding or knowledge. These do, indeed, +enable the soul to be continuously conscious of the divine +presence, of God immanent as well as transcendent, God in the +heart of the world as well as wholly above the world, and they +affect this consciousness by enabling the soul to see Him +everywhere. They lift the veil. They show His footprints. They +trace everywhere the marks of His power, wisdom, love. But it is +noticeable that they lead to God from the world. I see a flower, +and by the gift of knowledge I am immediately aware of the author +of its loveliness; by understanding I perceive with clearness the +wonder of God's working in the world. By them I lift my eyes from +earth to Heaven, by wisdom I look from Heaven to see the earth. + +2. Wisdom, therefore, implies an understanding of the world +through God, whereas knowledge and understanding suppose a +perception of God through the world. Wisdom takes its stand upon +causes, the other two on effects. They work from creatures to +Creator; wisdom looks upon all the world through the eyes of God. +Consequently the effect of wisdom is that the soul sees life as a +whole. Matter and truth are to it no longer separate planes of +thought, but one. There is at once no distinction between them in +the eyes of God, for both are manifestations of Himself and +creatures of His making. Hence the soul that is dowered with +wisdom climbs up to God's own height, and looking down upon the +world sees it "very good," noticing how part fits in with part, +and how truths of faith, and truths of science and sunset, and +flower and Hell, are linked one with another to form the pattern +of God's design. Each has its place in the divine economy of God's +plan, each is equally of God, equally sharing in His purposes, +though some more than others able to express God better. The +effect, then, is largely that the whole of life is co-ordinated, +and equality, fraternity, liberty, become not the motto of a +revolution, but of the ordered government of God. + +3. The opposite to this gift is folly, for a man who fails in +wisdom loses all true judgment of the values of human life. He is +perpetually exchanging the more for the less valuable, bestowing +huge gifts in just barter, as he imagines, for what is merely +showy and trivial. Not by causes, but by effect does he consider +life and its activities. The wise man, then, estimates everything +by its highest cause. He compares and discovers, gleans the reason +of God's providence, its purpose, its fitness. First principles +are his guide, not the ready and practical proverbs that display +the wit and worldly wisdom of the lesser man. Eternity becomes of +larger moment than time, since time is merely for eternity. God's +law is more convincing than man's, for man's enactments are not +laws at all when they come in conflict with divine commands. Faith +is so deeply in him that he judges between propositions, and +discovers truth against heresy. He has climbed to the heights of +God and sees all the world at his feet, and knows it as God knows +it, the world and its Lord and the glory of it. + + + +COUNSEL + +1. The fourth gift that perfects the intelligence acts rather as a +moderating than as a stimulating influence. The soul is often +impetuous in its decisions, moved by human feelings and passions, +urged by desire, love, hatred, prejudice. Quickly stirred to +action, it dashes into its course without any real attention to, +or understanding of, its better wisdom. Frequently in life my +lament has to be that I acted on the impulse of the moment. There +is so much that I am sorry for, not merely because now I see what +has actually resulted, but because even then I had quite +sufficient reason to let me be certain what would result. I was +blind, not because my eyes could not have seen, but because I gave +them no leave to see. I would not carefully gaze at the +difficulties, not puzzle out in patience what would most likely be +the result. Even my highest powers are often my most perilous +guides, since, moved by generosity, I engaged myself to do what I +have no right to perform, and find that I have in the end been +generous not only of what is my own, but sometimes of what belongs +to another, not as though I deliberately gave away what belonged +to another, but just because I had no deliberation at all. I need, +then, the Holy Spirit of God to endow me with the gift of counsel +which corresponds to prudence. + +2. Now prudence, which counsel helps and protects, is eminently a +practical gift of God, not so high as wisdom, not so wonderful in +the beauty of its vision as knowledge or understanding, yet for +all a most important and homely need. The other intellectual gifts +of the Spirit are more abstract. They give us just the whisper of +God that enables us to see the large ways of God in the world. +They give, in consequence, the great principles that are to govern +us in life. Hence their importance is very great. We do so +seriously need to know by what principles we are to measure life's +activities, on what basis to build up the fabric of our souls, to +be sure that God's laws are very clearly and definitely made +manifest to us. But, after all, that is only one-half of the +difficulty, for even after I know the principles of action, I have +still the trouble, in some ways more full of possibilities of +mistake, of applying them to concrete experience. I know that +sacrifice is the law of life, I know that meekness overindulged +may be cowardice, I know that I may sin by not having anger; that +is all evident, a series of platitudes. But here, and now, have I +come to the limit of meekness? Must I manifest my angry protests? +Am I obliged to attend to my own needs and renounce the idea of +sacrifice? There daily are questions that puzzle, torture, bruise +me with scruples. + +3. Just here, then, I have intense need for this practical gift of +God in order with nicety and precision to apply principles to +concrete cases; often I am precipitate or perhaps dilatory. I am +in a hurry or cannot make up my mind--shall I answer those who +attack me, or shall I be silent? Our Lord was silent and made +answer by turns. Counsel, then, is my need from God, the instinct +whereby a practical judgment is quickly and safely made. All the +more have I a tremendous need for this if my life is full of +activity, if pressure of work, or social life, or the demands of +good and useful projects, or the general tendency of my family +surroundings, make my day crowded and absorbed, for the very +combined and concentrated essence of life will need some +exceedingly moderate influence to produce any sense of balance or +proportion in my judgment. The people about me I notice to become +more and more irritable, mere creatures of impulse. I feel some +such malign influence invading the peaceful sanctuary of my soul, +disturbing its even outlook on things, driving out my serene calm. +I must anchor on to this gift of God, become prudent, detached, +filling the mind with the counsel of the Holy Spirit. + + + +FORTITUDE + +1. After the intelligence comes the will which also, because of +the very large part it plays in all human action, needs to be +perfected by a gift of the Spirit. It is necessary to repeat that +the Holy Spirit does not by His gifts bestow on the soul new +powers and new faculties, but develops, refines, perfects +faculties already there. It is not the creation of new eyes to see +new visions, but the strengthening of the eyes of the soul so as +to see more clearly and with a longer sight. The will, then, has +also to be strengthened, for it is the will that lies at the very +heart of all heroism. Merely to have a glimpse of greatness is but +part of a hero's need. No doubt it is a larger part, for very many +of us never by instinct at all touch on the borders of greatness, +we do not see or understand how in our little lives we can be +great, we have not the imagination lit up by God, no vision; yet +"when the vision fails, the people shall perish." But even when +that sudden showing does by God's mercy come to us, we still fall +far short of it. It is too high, too ideal, too far removed from +weak human nature to seem possible to us. That is to say, our will +has failed us. We are faced by some huge obstacle, or even by a +persistent refusal to budge on behalf of some one (ourselves or +another) to go forward and to do; we struggle, fail, lose heart, +surrender, cease our efforts. What do we want? Fortitude, that +"persistive constancy" that to Shakespeare was the greatest +quality of human wills. + +2. How is this achieved? By appreciating the nearness of God to +us. The gifts make us responsive to God with an ease and +instantaneousness that operates smoothly and without friction. +That is God's doing, not ours. He gives us this wonderful power of +being able to register at once every passing inspiration. The +gifts that refine the intelligence allow it to perceive sights +which else were hidden. The gift that refines the will must do +this by some kindred action. Now the difficulties that beset the +will must necessarily be difficulties for whose overcoming +strength is needed. Therefore the will must be refined by being +made strong. How can it be made strong by the Holy Spirit? What +exactly happens to its mechanism to secure for it the power of +endurance? The easiest way of understanding how this effect is +brought about is to suppose that the soul by its refinement, by +that delicacy whereby it responds instantly to a divine +impression, is quickly aware of God's nearness to it. It perceives +how close it is to the Spirit of God, and the sense of this +nearness makes it better able to hold on to its duty. In the old +style of warfare we often read of wives and mothers coming to the +field of battle that their presence might awake their men to the +topmost pitch of courage. Even in the modern methods of fighting, +the moral effect of the presence of the emperor or king is +considered to have an effect upon the troops. Of course here it is +more homely, since the familiar presence of the Holy Spirit +strengthens and inspires by love, trust, sympathy. + +3. For this reason the name Comforter was given to the Holy +Spirit, in its original sense of strengthening, becoming the fort +of the soul; and the result is that the recipient is able to hold +on or, in our modern slang, to "carry on." By nature so many of us +are prone to seek our own comforts at the expense of what we know +to be the higher side of us. Human respect makes us again +cowardly, or the sheer monotony of perseverance dulls and wearies +the soul. We get so depressed with the strain of making efforts +that we are very much inclined to let the spiritual side of life +go under, or at least be rendered as little heroic as possible, +for it is real heroism even just to "go on." The "silent pressure" +of temptations, when their passion and fury have died down, is a +constant worry, an unconscious weight on the mind, like the +thought of war that lies heavily at the back of the consciousness +of those whose external lives seem empty of war-reminders. We want +to be courageous and fearless, to _undergo_. Then we must hold +fast to God's nearness to us, and feel the virtue going out from +Him to us, though He does but touch the hem of our garments by His +indwelling. + + + +PIETY + +1. Besides our intelligence and will we have other faculties that +go by a diversity of names; sometimes they are called the +emotions, sometimes the passions, sometimes they are alluded to as +the sentimental side of our nature; but by whatever name we may +happen to call them, it is clear that they represent just those +movements of our being which are not really rational in +themselves, though they can be controlled by the reason. It is +simplest to divide them into two classes and to realize that they +lie just on the borderline between spirit and matter, partly of +soul, partly of body. These two classes are arranged according as +the emotion attracts or repels man. The repelled emotions are +fear, anger, hatred, etc.; the attracted are love, desire, joy, +etc. This gift of piety enables even the emotions to be made +responsive to God. It is always the notion of some perfect +instrument to be made harmonious that perhaps most clearly shows +us the work of the Holy Spirit in the gifts of God, some perfect +instrument, which needs to be so nicely at tuned that its every +string shall give out a distinct note, and shall require the least +movement from the fingers of God's right hand to make its +immediate response. Here, then, we have first to record the fact +that the purpose of this gift is to make the emotions or passions +so refined, so perfectly strung, that at once the slightest +pressure of the Divine instinct moves them to turn their love, +desire, joy, towards God, finding in Him the satisfaction of their +inmost heart. + +2. Piety, in its Latin significance (and here in theology, of +course, we get almost all our terms through the Latin tongue), +means the filial spirit of reverence towards parents. Virgil gives +to the hero of his Roman epic the repeated title of _pius_, +because he wishes always to emphasize AEneas' devotion to his aged +father. Hence it is clear that what is primarily intended here is +that we should be quickly conscious of the Fatherhood of God. The +mediaeval mystics, especially our homely English ones like Richard +Rolle of Hampole, and Mother Julianna of Norwich, curiously enough +were fond of talking about the Motherhood of God in order to bring +out the protective and devoted side of God's care for us; of +course God surpasses both a mother's and father's love in His +ineffable love for us. But then it is just that sweetness of soul +in its attitude towards God, that this gift produces in me a +readiness to perceive His love in every turn of fortune, and to +discover His gracious pity in His treatment of my life. It +requires a divine indwelling of the Spirit of God to effect this +in my soul, for though I may be by nature easily moved to +affection, prompt to see and profit by every opening for +friendship, yet I must, no less, have a difficulty in turning this +into my religious life without God's movement in my soul. + +3. Perhaps the most unmistakable result of this is in the general +difference between Catholic and non-Catholic nations, in their +ideas of religion. Even if one takes a non-Catholic nation at its +best and a Catholic nation at its worst, the gulf between them is +enormous, for at its lowest the religion of the Catholic nation +will be attractive at least with its joy, and the non-Catholic +repellent with its gloom. There is a certain hardness about all +other denominations of Christianity, a certain restrained attitude +of awe towards God, which though admirable in itself, is perfectly +hateful when it is made the dominant note in religion. Better +joyous superstition than gloomy correctness of worship; better, +far better, to find happy children who have little respect, and +much comradeship, towards their parents, than neat and quiet +children who are in silent awe of their parents. It is, then, to +develop this side of religion that the gift of piety is given. The +result then is a sweetness, a gracefulness, a natural lovingness +towards God and all holy persons and things, as opposed to a +gloomy, respectable, awkward, self-conscious hardness towards our +Father in Heaven. Clever, trained people have most to be on their +guard, for the intellectual activities of the soul are apt to +crowd out the gentler, simpler side of character. + + + +FEAR + +1. Catholics as a whole, then, we claim to be not in awe of God, +but holding themselves to Him rather by love than fear; yet for +all that there must come into our religion a notion also of fear, +else God will be made of little account, dwarfed by His +hero-followers, the saints. It is possible that familiarity with God +may breed something which seems very like contempt. The majesty of +God has got to be considered just as much as His love, for either +without the other would really give a false idea of Him. Just as +there are people who would give up all belief in Hell, because +they prefer to concentrate upon His mercy, and, as a result, have +no real love of God as He is in Himself, so there are people also +who do not sufficiently remember the respect due to His awfulness, +people who think of Him as a Redeemer, which indeed He is, but not +as a Judge, which is equally His prerogative. Hence this side of +our character is also to be made perfect by the indwelling of the +Spirit of God, our fear, anger, hate, have got to be sanctified by +finding a true object for their due exercise. No single talent +must be wrapped away in uselessness; I must fear God, be angry +with, and hate sin. Fear, then, as well as piety is a gift of the +Spirit. + +2. The chief way in which the absence of this gift of fear +manifests itself is in the careless and slipshod way we perform +our duties. We are sure to believe in God's justice and majesty; +but we are not so sure to act up to our belief. Accuracy in +devotion, in prayer, in life, is the result of a filial fear of +God, and if I have to confess a very chaotic and uncertain +procedure in my spiritual duties, then I can tell quite easily +which gift I most need to make use of. What are my times for +prayer like? Are they as regularly kept to as my circumstances +permit? How about my subject for meditation, how about my +following of the Mass, my watchfulness in prayer, my days for +confession and communion? Again, my duties at home, in my +profession, in the work I have undertaken? Are they on the whole +punctually performed, accurately, with regard to details? That is +where my fear for God should come in, for fear here is part of +love and love is enormously devoted to little things, indeed finds +that where it is concerned there are no little things, but time +and place and manner and thoroughness have all got faithfully to +be noted and carried out. Here, then, is where I shall find I need +a reverential fear of God. + +3. Yes, of course, pride and laziness will protest all the while, +by urging that all this is a great deal of fuss about nothing, +that God is our Father, that He perfectly understands, that we +should not worry ourselves too much over trifles. Now pride and +laziness often speak true things, or rather half-truths. It is +true that God is my Father and understands; but it is equally true +that I am His child and that love demands my thoroughness. Horror +of sin, devotion to the sacrament of confession, the Scripture +saying about a severe judgment for every idle word, all these +things have got to be taken into account as well as the first set +of principles. Piety needs fear for its perfect performance. The +boy at first may have to be scolded into obedience to his mother. +He does not at first realize, and is punished; but watch him when +he is a grown man, no longer in subjection or under obedience; see +how charmingly he cares for her by anticipating her wishes, how +much he is at her beck and call, proudly foreseeing for her, +protecting, caring. That is love, no doubt, but a love of +reverence. They are comrades in a sense, but she is always his +mother to him, some one to be idolized, reverenced, yes, and, +really, feared, in the fullest sense of love. + + +GRACE + +1. The indwelling, then, of the Holy Spirit is a true and +magnificent phrase. It means that we become living Temples of God. +Elsewhere indeed He is in tree, flower, sky, earth, water; up in +the Heavens, down to the depths of the lower places, in the cleft +wood and lifted stone, in the heart of all creation by the very +fact of its creation. Yet the higher a thing is in the scale of +being the more nearly is it after God's image and likeness, so +that man by his sheer intelligence is more representative of God, +as the highest masterpiece is more representative of the author of +it. Yet over and above this intelligent life of man is another +life in him, which secures God's presence within him in some +nobler fashion, for it is noticeable that Scripture repeatedly +speaks of God's dwelling in His saints, and not dwelling in +sinners. Now He is even in sinners by the title of their Creator, +so that _dwelling_ must be a deliberate phrase chosen by the +Inspired author of Scripture to represent some presence above the +mere general presence of God everywhere. Consequently we are +driven to the conclusion that the saints, in virtue of their +sainthood, become dwelling places of God, temples, special places +set apart, where in a more perfect way, with richer expression and +more true representation, God is. Sanctity, therefore, constitutes +something wholly supernatural, attracting God's indwelling, or +rather resulting from this indwelling of God. + +2. Now sanctity itself cannot mean that one man is able to make +himself so alluring to God that he draws God to himself, for in +that case God's action of indwelling would be motived by a +creature, and God would have found some finite reason for His act. +This cannot be, since the only sufficient motive for God can be +God Himself. "He hath done all things on account of Himself," say +the Scriptures. We can be sure, therefore, that the indwelling of +the spirit is the cause and not the effect of the goodness that is +in man, for the Saints are not born, but made by God. Hence we +understand what is meant by saying that the justice of the Saints, +their justification, is effected by grace, i. e., by God's free +gift. It is not from them, but from Him: "Not to us, O Lord, not +to us, but to Thy name give Glory." Grace, therefore, is the name +given to that divine habit whereby the soul is made one with Him. +It is clear, then, also, why in the catechism grace is called the +supernatural life of the soul, and why mortal sin is called the +death of the soul, since it kills the soul by depriving it of +sanctifying grace. + +3. This leads us to the last notion of grace, that it is in the +supernatural order what the soul is in the natural order. My soul +is everywhere in my body and gives evidence of its presence by the +life there manifest; cut off a portion of the body, amputate a +limb. It dies. The soul is no longer in it. So does grace work. It +is right in the very essence of the soul, at the heart of it, and +works through into all the faculties and powers by means of the +virtues. It is the life of the whole assemblage of these habits of +goodness. As soon as it is withdrawn, then at once charity goes, +for we are out of friendship with God, and charity is nothing +other than the love of God. Hope still and faith in some form +remain, but without any inner life or energy to quicken them. All +else is a crumbled ruin, without shape or life, a sight to fill +those that can see it with horror and disgust. With grace the soul +is once more thronged with vital activities, for grace is life. +Grace it is that gives the same charm to the soul as life gives to +the body; it imparts a freshness, an alertness, an elasticity, a +spontaneous movement, a fragrance, a youth. By grace we are +children in God's eyes, with the delicate coloring and sweetness +of a child; without it we are old, worn, dead, not only useless to +ourselves, but a pollution to others. Need one wonder if all life +is different to the soul in sin? Religion, God, Heaven, Mass, +prayers, have lost all attraction and are full of drudgery. +Outwardly we feel the same; but our attraction to these higher +gifts has gone, a prodigal as yet content with the husks of life's +fruitage, relishing only the food of swine, without grace, +spiritually dead. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Abiding Presence of the Holy Ghost +in the Soul, by Bede Jarrett + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ABIDING PRESENCE OF HOLY GHOST *** + +***** This file should be named 34855.txt or 34855.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/8/5/34855/ + +Produced by Michael Gray, Diocese of San Jose + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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