The Holy Ghost
General
Lamoricière, having entrusted important work to one of his officers,
concluded in these words: “Good bye! If you are in difficulty,
invoke the Holy Ghost: it seems to me we don’t pray sufficiently to
Him: but He is always my source of light and strength: He will be the
same for you.” Shortly after, indeed, the officer did find himself
in an embarrassing position, which cast him into deepest sadness. He
then followed the advice given by his general, and said the Veni,
Creator,
with great fervor, several times over, and experienced the truth of
his words.
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| THE CURÉ OF ARS ABOUT THE HOLY GHOST |
O
MY CHILDREN, how beautiful it is! The Father is our Creator, the Son
is our Redeemer, and the Holy Ghost is our Guide…. Man by himself is
nothing, but with the Holy Spirit he is very great. Man is all
earthly and all animal; nothing but the Holy Spirit can elevate his
mind, and raise it on high. Why were the saints so detached from the
earth? Because they let themselves be led by the Holy Spirit. Those
who are led by the Holy Spirit have true ideas; that is the reason
why so many ignorant people are wiser than the learned. When we are
led by a God of strength and light, we cannot go astray.
The
Holy Spirit is light and strength. He teaches us to distinguish
between truth and falsehood, and between good and evil. Like glasses
that magnify objects, the Holy Spirit shows us good and evil on a
large scale. With the Holy Spirit we see everything in its true
proportions; we see the greatness of the least actions done for God,
and the greatness of the least faults. As a watchmaker with his
glasses distinguishes the most minute wheels of a watch, so we, with
the light of the Holy Ghost, distinguish all the details of our poor
life. Then the smallest imperfections appear very great, the least
sins inspire us with horror. That is the reason why the most Holy
Virgin never sinned. The Holy Ghost made her understand the
hideousness of sin; she shuddered with terror at the least fault.
Those
who have the Holy Spirit cannot endure themselves, so well do they
know their poor misery. The proud are those who have not the Holy
Spirit.
Worldly
people have not the Holy Spirit, or if they have, it is only for a
moment. He does not remain with them; the noise of the world drives
Him away. A Christian who is led by the Holy Spirit has
no difficulty in leaving the goods of this world to run after those
of Heaven; he knows the difference between them. The eyes of the
world see no further than this life, as mine see no further than this
wall when the church door is shut. The eyes of the Christian see deep
into eternity. To the man who gives himself up to the guidance of
the Holy Ghost, there seems to be no world; to the world there seems
to be no God….We must therefore find out by whom we are led. If it
is not the Holy Ghost, we labor in vain; there is no sub-stance nor
savor in anything we do. If it is by the Holy Ghost, we taste a
delicious sweetness…it is enough to make us die of pleasure!
Those
who are led by the Holy Spirit experience all sorts of happiness in
themselves, while bad Christians roll themselves on thorns and
flints. A soul in which the Holy Spirit dwells is never weary in the
presence of God; his heart gives forth a breath of live. Without the
Holy Ghost we are like the stones on the road…. Take in one hand a
sponge full of water, and in the other a little pebble; press them
equally. Nothing will come out of the pebble, but out of the sponge
will come an abundance of water. The sponge is the soul filled with
the Holy Spirit, and the stone is the cold and hard heart which is
not inhabited by the Holy Spirit.
A
soul that possesses the Holy Spirit tastes such sweetness in prayer,
that it finds the time always too short; it never loses the holy
presence of God. Such a heart, before our good Savior in the Holy
Sacrament of the Altar, is a bunch of grapes under the wine press.
The
Holy Spirit forms the thoughts and suggests the words in the hearts
of the just. … Those who have the Holy Spirit produce nothing bad;
all the fruits of the Holy Spirit are good. Without the Holy Spirit
all is cold; therefore, when we feel we are losing our fervor, we
must instantly make a novena to the Holy Spirit to ask for faith and
love. …See, when we have made a retreat or a jubilee, we are full
of good desires; these good desires are the breath of the Holy Ghost,
which has passed over our souls, and has renewed everything, like
the warm wind which melts the ice and brings back the spring. …You
who are not great saints, you still have many moments when you taste
the sweetness of prayer and of the presence of God: these are visits
of the Holy Spirit. When we have the Holy Spirit, the heart
expands—bathes itself in divine love. A fish never complains of
having too much water, neither does a good Christian ever complain of
being too long with the good God. There are some people who find
religion wearisome, and it is because they have not the Holy Spirit.
If
the damned were asked: Why are you in Hell? they would answer: For
having resisted the Holy Spirit. And if the saints were asked, Why
are you in Heaven? they would answer: For having listened to the Holy
Spirit. When good thoughts come to our minds, it is the Holy Spirit
who is visiting us. The Holy Spirit is a power. The Holy Spirit
sup-ported St. Simeon on his column; He sustained the martyrs.
Without the Holy Spirit, the martyrs would have fallen like the
leaves from the trees. When the fires were lighted under them, the
Holy Spirit extinguished the heat of the fire by the heat of divine
love. The good God, in sending us the Holy Spirit, has treated us
like a great king who should send his minister to guide one of his
subjects, saying, “You will accompany this man everywhere, and you
will bring him back safe and sound.” How beautiful it is, my
children, to be accompanied by the Holy Spirit! He is indeed a good
Guide; and to think that there are some who will not follow Him. The
Holy Spirit is like a man with a carriage and horse, who should want
to take us to Paris. We should only have to say “yes,” and to get
into it. It is indeed an easy matter to say “yes”! … Well, the
Holy Spirit wants to take us to Heaven; we have only to say “yes,”
and to let Him take us there.
The
Holy Spirit is like a gardener cultivating our souls. … The Holy
Spirit is our servant. …There is a gun; well you load it, but
someone must fire it and make it go off. … In the same way, we have
in ourselves the power of doing good…when the Holy Spirit gives the
impulse, good works are produced. The Holy Spirit reposes in just
souls like the dove in her nest. He brings our good desires in a pure
soul, as the dove hatches her young ones. The Holy Spirit leads us as
a mother leads by the hand her child of two years old, as a person
who can see leads one who is blind.
The
Sacraments which Our Lord instituted would not have saved us with-out
the Holy Spirit. Even the death of Our Lord would have been useless
to us without Him. Therefore Our Lord said to His Apostles, “It is
good for you that I should go away; for if I did not go, the Consoler
would not come.” The descent of the Holy Ghost was required, to
render fruitful that harvest of graces. It is like a grain of
wheat—you cast it into the ground; yes, but it must have sun and
rain to make it grow and come into ear. We should say every morning,
“O God, send me Thy Spirit to teach me what I am and what Thou
art.”
The
Sacraments which Our Lord instituted would not have saved us without
the Holy Spirit. Even the death of Our Lord would have been useless
to us without Him. Therefore Our Lord said to His Apostles, “It is
good for you that I should go away; for if I did not go, the Consoler
would not come.” The descent of the Holy Ghost was required, to
render fruitful that harvest of graces. It is like a grain of
wheat—you cast it into the ground; yes, but it must have sun and
rain to make it grow and come into ear. We should say every morning,
“O God, send me Thy Spirit to teach me what I am and what Thou
art.”
