Trinity Sunday

The Doctrine at the Heart of our Faith 

MYSTERY OF the Blessed Trinity lies at the very heart of the Catholic Faith. The divinity of the three Persons of the Trinity united in one divine substance, a notion so baffling and unfathomable to the human mind, carries the utmost importance for the Catholic. Had the Son of God not been a divine Person, the entire Redemption would then be a fraud and a hoax, for how can a finite creature repay the infinite debt owed to God for sin?

Were the Holy Ghost not a divine Person, omniscient and omnipresent, then by what right does the Church teach and sanctify the world, since the Church claims His guidance in her mission.

Yet these considerations, and those implicit in them, are taken for granted—taken on faith, so to speak—and because of this, the wonderful and awe-inspiring doctrine of the Trinity diminishes in the minds of even the most faithful Catholic. And therefore it is very unfortunate that many Catholics, even traditional Catholics have a very insufficient knowledge of the most fundamental mystery of our Holy Catholic Faith.

Pope John XXII (Not John XXIII!)

Perhaps it was because of this that Pope John XXII ordered the observance of the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity throughout the universal Church on the first Sunday after Pentecost. Until then, the Sunday had been “vacant” i.e., lacking a special Office and Mass, although in some places a special Office of the Holy Trinity was recited. Petitions to the Holy See, particularly one made to Pope Alexander II (d. 1073), requesting a feast in honor of the Trinity, were rejected on the grounds that in the Roman Church, where it is customary to honor the Triune God daily through the recitation of the Gloria Patri, a special Sunday or feast was not necessary.

HOWEVER, the Pope did not forbid the observance where it had already been established. One such place was Liège, Belgium, whose bishop, Stephen, had composed the Office of the Trinity mentioned before. St. Thomas à Becket (d. 1171) is credited with the introduction of the feast in England. In a legend attached to his life, the saint ordered the observance of the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity on the first Sunday after Pentecost, for it was on that day that he had been consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury.

In some locations the Trinity Sunday was kept on the Sunday prior to the beginning of Advent, probably because it was the last Sunday of the liturgical year and it therefore served to crown the entire cycle of mysteries commemorated therein by drawing attention to the central mystery of the Faith. However John XXII fixed the celebration of Trinity Sunday to the first Sunday after Pentecost, the better to crown the Paschal season and the Octave of Pentecost. The timing is most apt, for the Son has risen in glory to His Father and has sent the Holy Ghost to begin the work of the Church to teach, rule, and sanctify men until the end of time. In this “liturgical springtime,” the three distinct Persons of the Trinity are all within focus, and it is fitting to commemorate this mystery as the season draws to its close.

ANOTHER ARGUMENT for observing the feast on this Sunday can be made from the fact that the mystery of the Trinity was not unveiled until following the Resurrection of Christ—the miracle that proved conclusively His divinity—and the descent of the Holy Ghost—which proved the existence of the third divine member of the Trinity. As the period prior to Easter deals with the life of Christ and His mission from His most merciful coming on Christmas to His Passion, Death, and Resurrection, so the period following Pentecost places before us the mission of the Church, and in this way the sharp delineation between the old and new dispensations, based primarily on the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, is high-lighted.

Still another reason given for this particular placement of the Sunday in honor of the Trinity is that because it was on the first Pentecost that the doctrine was first preached to the world, the feast of Pentecost and the doctrine of the Trinity should be kept closely joined in the minds of Catholics.

ALTHOUGH THE FEAST came along rather late in the history of the Church, the liturgical calendar had for a long time already set aside Sunday as the day for special honor to the Most Holy Trinity. During the Arian heresy, which ravaged the Church with its perfidious doctrine that the Son and the Father were not of the same substance, and therefore not co-eternal or co-equal, so soon after the era of persecutions, the Fathers of the Council of Nicea designated Sunday as the day especially dedicated to the Trinity and composed a special Office and Mass with canticles, hymns, responses, and a proper Preface. This custom of special prayers on Sunday in honor of the Trinity carries to this day among Catholic clergy still faithful to centuries of tradition. The Preface of the Blessed Trinity is recited at every Sunday Mass outside of the Christmas season, Lent, Paschal time, or when the Sunday is not impeded by a feast. The Creed of St.Athanasius  is recited in the Divine Office at the hour of Prime on those same Sundays.

This explication of the Trinity and what a Catholic must believe about the central dogma of the Faith is indeed worthy of the great doctor who preached the unity and equality of each of the Persons of the Trinity against the Arians. While the other accepted declarations of Catholic doctrine mention the members of the Trinity, and assert their divinity, what a Catholic must believe about the members of the Blessed Trinity, their unity, equality, omnipotence, and existence from eternity is most fully expounded in the Athanasian Creed.

For obvious reasons, then, the Church has inserted this Creed in the Office of Prime for the feast of the Most Holy Trinity. The Creed cannot explain the mystery of the Three Divine Persons united in a single substance—what invention sprung from the human brain can?—but its grand and glorious text with its declaration that “Father and Son are God, and the Holy Ghost is God; nevertheless, not three gods, but only One God: Father and Son are omnipotent, and the Holy Ghost is omnipotent; nevertheless, not three omnipotents, but only One Omnipotent,” best expresses the awesome, unfathomable mystery of the Triune God.

TRINITY SUNDAY originally held the rank of a double of the second class; St. Pius X elevated it to the rank of a double of the first class. Since it is the octave day of Pentecost and, as mentioned earlier, the culmination of the Paschal Season and the be-ginning of the time after Pentecost, Trinity Sunday does not carry an octave. It is still more important than many of the other Sundays of the year, for on it we solely contemplate (in our flawed fashion) the sublime nature of God Himself.

Our knowledge of God while we exist here below, wrote St. Paul, is akin to looking “through a glass darkly.” Only in heaven will we be able to see God face to face. Even then, though, the mystery of God, Three Persons in One, will remain beyond our ken. Still the imperfect analogies we form to aid our poor intellects provide some insight into the God we must know and love in order to save our souls.

No analogy is more apt that that of “Father.” Jesus Himself told us that when we pray, we begin “Our Father.” St. Paul follows up on this with his most beautiful phrase that it is from God that all paternity takes its name. In the strict sense of this phrase, God the Father is a Father to the Son, for He begot the Son of His own substance from all eternity.

But for us He is the caring, provident Father of all men, slow to anger, exacting but just in punishment, and quick to forgive His wayward but penitent children. He has adopted us by virtue of our Baptism, and therefore He will provide for our spiritual needs. His is the earth and all its fullness, and He has given it over to the stewardship of men; He will therefore supply our temporal wants. He is a Father, and like earthly fathers, He is to be feared and respected, but most of all, He is to be loved.

These should be the thoughts of our hearts on Trinity Sunday. The liturgy of the Sunday places this sublime mystery, so deep and unknowable, before our eyes, yet behind this mystery lies a simple and beautiful truth: the loving Fatherhood of God for us all. 



 

The Blessed Trinity Present in Us, Uncreated Source of our Interior Life taken from the three Ages of the Spiritrual Life by Rev. Reginald Garrigou-Langrange, O. P.

Since we have treated of the life of grace, of the spiritual organism of the infused virtues and the gifts, we may fittingly consider the uncreated Source of our interior life, that is, the Blessed Trinity present in all just souls on earth, in purgatory, and in heaven. We shall see, first of all, what divine revelation, contained in Scripture, tells us about this consoling mystery. We shall then briefly consider the testimony of tradition, and finally we shall see the exact ideas offered by theology, particularly by St. Thomas Aquinas,(1) and the spiritual consequences of this doctrine.   THE TESTIMONY OF SCRIPTURE Scripture teaches us that God is present in every creature by a general presence, often called the presence of immensity. We read in particular in Ps. 138:7: "Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit? Or whither shall I flee from Thy face? If I ascend into heaven, Thou art there; if I descend into hell, Thou art present." This is what made St. Paul say, when preaching to the Athenians: "God, who made the world, . . . being Lord of heaven and earth, . . . though He be not far from everyone of us: for in Him we live and move and are." (2) God, in fact, sees all, preserves all things in existence, and inclines every creature to the action which is suitable for him. He is like the radiant source from which the life of creation springs, and also the central force that draws everything to itself: "O God, sustaining force of creation, remaining in Thyself, unmoved." Holy Scripture does not, however, speak only of this general presence of God in all things; it also speaks of a special presence of God in the just. We read, in fact, even in the Old Testament: "Wisdom will not enter into a malicious soul, nor dwell in a body subject to sins." (3) Would only created grace or the created gift of wisdom dwell in the just soul? Christ's words bring us a new light and show us that it is the divine persons Themselves who come and dwell in us: "If anyone love Me," He says, "he will keep My word. And My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and will make Our abode with him." (4) These words should be noted: "We will come." Who will come? Would it be only created effects: sanctifying grace, the infused virtues, the gifts? No indeed; Those who come are Those who love: the divine persons, the Father and the Son, from whom the Holy Ghost is never separated, that Spirit of Love promised, moreover, by our Lord and visibly sent on Pentecost. "We will come to him," to the just soul who loves God, and "We will come" not only in a transitory, passing manner, but "We will make our abode with him," that is to say, We will dwell in him as long as he remains just, or in the state of grace, as long as he preserves charity. Such were our Lord's own words. These words are confirmed by those that promise the Holy Ghost: "I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another Paraclete, that He may abide "with you forever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it seeth Him not, nor knoweth Him. But you shall know Him; because He shall abide with you and shall be in you. . . . He will teach you all things and bring all things to your mind, whatsoever I shall have said to you." (5) These words were not only addressed to the apostles; they were verified in them on Pentecost, which is renewed for us by confirmation. This testimony of our Savior is clear, and it states exactly and in an admirable manner what we read in the Book of Wisdom (I: 4). It is indeed the three divine persons who come and dwell in the souls of the just. Thus the apostles understood it. St. John writes: "God is charity: and he that abideth in charity, abideth in God, and God in him." (6) He possesses God in his heart; but still more God possesses him and holds him, preserving not only his natural existence, but the life of grace and charity in him. St. Paul speaks in like manner: "The charity of God is poured forth in our hearts, by the Holy Ghost who is given to us." (7) We have received not only created charity, but the Holy Ghost Himself who has been given to us. St. Paul speaks of Him especially, because charity likens us more to the Holy Ghost, who is personal love, than to the Father and to the Son. They are also in us, according to the testimony of Christ, but we will be made perfectly like Them only when we receive the light of glory, which will imprint in us the resemblance to the Word, who is the splendor of the Father. On several different occasions St. Paul refers to this consoling doctrine: "Know you not that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" (8) "Or know you not that your members are the temple of the Holy Ghost, who is in you, whom you have from God; and you are not your own? For you are bought with a great price. Glorify and bear God in your body." (9) Scripture thus teaches explicitly that the three divine persons dwell in every just soul, in every soul in the state of grace. THE TESTIMONY OF TRADITION Tradition, moreover, shows by the voice of the first martyrs, by that of the fathers, by the official teaching of the Church, that the words of Scripture must be understood in this way.(10) At the beginning of the second century, St. Ignatius of Antioch declares in his letters that true Christians bear God in themselves; he calls them "theophoroi" or God-bearers. This doctrine was widespread in the primitive Church: the martyrs proclaimed it before their judges. St. Lucy of Syracuse answered Paschasius: "Words cannot fail those who have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them." "Is the Holy Ghost in you?" "Yes, all those who lead a chaste and pious life are the temples of the Holy Ghost." Among the Greek fathers, St. Athanasius says that the three divine persons are in us.(11) St. Basil declares that the Holy Ghost, by His presence, makes us more and more spiritual and like to the image of the only Son.(12) St. Cyril of Alexandria also speaks of this intimate union between the just soul and the Holy Ghost.(13) Among the Latin fathers, St. Ambrose teaches that we receive Him in baptism and even more in confirmation.(14) St. Augustine shows that, according to the testimony of the early fathers, not only grace was given us, but God Himself, the Holy Ghost and His seven gifts. (15) This revealed doctrine is finally brought home to us by the official teaching of the Church. In the Credo of St. Epimethius, which adults were obliged to recite before receiving baptism, we read: "The Holy Spirit who. . . spoke in the apostles and dwells in the saints." (16) The Council of Trent declares also: "The efficient cause [of our justification] is the merciful God, who washes and sanctifies gratui­tously, signing and anointing with the holy Spirit of promise, who is the pledge of our inheritance" (Eph. I: 13) .(17) The official teaching of the Church on this point has been stated even more precisely in our times by Leo XIII in his encyclical on the Holy Ghost, Divinun illud munus (May 9, 1897), in which the indwelling of the Blessed Trinity in the souls of the just is thus described: 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. Thomas, la, q. 8, 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: 2 3)-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. . . . Wherefore the Apostle, when calling us the temple of God, does not expressly mention the Father, or the Son, but the Holy Ghost: "Know you not that your members are the temple of the Holy Ghost, who is in you, whom you have from God?" (I 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. . . . 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. Such is, in substance, the testimony of tradition expressed by the teaching authority of the Church under its different forms. We shall now see what theology adds in order to give us, in addition, a cer­tain understanding of this revealed mystery. We shall follow the teaching of St. Thomas on this subject. THE THEOLOGICAL EXPLANATION OF THIS MYSTERY Different explanations of this mystery have been proposed.(18) Among these different points of view, that of St. Thomas, preserved by Leo XIII in his encyclical on the Holy Ghost, seems the truest. For God is in all things by His essence, power, and presence, according to His one common mode, as the cause existing in the effects which participate In His goodness. Above and beyond this common mode, however, there is one special mode belonging to the rational nature wherein God is said to be present as the object known is in the knower, and the beloved in the lover. And since the rational creature by its own operation of (supernatural) knowledge and love attains to God Himself, according to this special mode, God is said not only to exist in the rational creature, but also to dwell therein as in His own temple. So no other effect can be put down as the reason why the divine Person is in the rational creature in a new mode, except sanctifying grace. . . . Again, we are said to possess only what we can freely use or enjoy: but to have the power of enjoying the divine Person can only be according to sanctifying grace.(20) Without sanctifying grace and charity, God does not, in fact, dwell in us. It is not sufficient to know Him by a natural philosophical knowledge, or even by the supernatural knowledge of imperfect faith united to hope, as the believer in the state of mortal sin knows Him. (God is, so to speak, distant from a believer who is turned away from Him.) We must be able to know Him by living faith and the gifts of the Holy Ghost connected with charity. This last knowledge, being quasi-experimental, attains God not as a distant and simply represented reality, but as a present, possessed reality which we can enjoy even now. This is evidently what St. Thomas means in the text quoted.(21) It is a question, he says, of a knowledge which attains God Himself, and permits us to possess Him and to enjoy Him. That the divine persons may dwell in us, we must be able to know Them in a quasi-experimental and loving manner, based on infused charity, which gives us a connaturality or sympathy with the intimate life of God.(22) That the Blessed Trinity may dwell in us, this quasi-experimental knowledge need not, however, be actual; it suffices that we be able to have it by the grace of the virtues and gifts. Thus the indwelling of the Blessed Trinity endures in the just man even during sleep and as long as he remains in the state of grace.(23) From time to time, however, God may make Himself felt by us as the soul of our soul, the life of our life. This is what St. Paul declares in his epistle to the Romans (8: 15 f.): "You have received the spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry: Abba (Father). For the Spirit Himself giveth testimony to our spirit, that we are the sons of God." In his commentary on this epistle, St. Thomas says: "The Holy Spirit gives this testimony to our spirit by the effect of filial love which He produces in us." (24) For this reason the disciples of Emmaus exclaimed after Jesus disappeared: "Was not our heart burning within us, whilst He spoke in the way and opened to us the Scriptures?" (25) In giving the explanation we have just quoted, St. Thomas simply shows us the profound meaning of the words of Christ that we cited previously: "If anyone 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." (26) "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." (27) According to this teaching, the Blessed Trinity dwells, in a sense, more perfectly in the just soul than the body of the Savior does in a consecrated host. Christ is, indeed, really and substantially present under the Eucharistic species, but these species of bread do not know and do not love. The Blessed Trinity dwells in the just soul as in a living temple which knows and loves in varying degrees. It dwells in the souls of the blessed who contemplate It unveiled, especially in the most holy soul of the Savior, to which the Word is personally united. And even here on earth, in the penumbra of faith, the Blessed Trinity, without our seeing It, dwells in us in order to vivify us more and more, up to the moment of our entrance into glory where It will appear to us. This intimate presence of the Blessed Trinity in us does not dispense us, certainly, from approaching the Eucharistic table or from praying in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, for the Blessed Trinity dwells far more intimately in the holy soul of the Savior, personally united to the Word, than in us. If we draw profit from approaching a saint who is entirely possessed by God, like a holy Cure of Ars, how much more will we profit from approaching our Savior? We can say to Him: "Come, even with Thy cross, and take more complete possession of us. Grant that the prayer, 'Thou in us and we in Thee' may be more fully realized." Let us also think of the indwelling of the Blessed Trinity in the soul of the Blessed Virgin both here on earth and in heaven. _______________________ Footnotes   1. This subject has been well treated by Father Froget, O.P., in De l'habitation du Saint-Esprit dans les ames justes (3rd ed. Paris: Lethielleux, 1900). More recently, the subject was treated by Father Gardeil, O.P., La structure de l'ame et l'experience mystique (Paris: Gabalda, 1927), II, 6-60. We have also dealt at length with this subject in L'amour de Dieu et la croix de Jesus, I, 163-206; II, 657-86. 2. Acts 17:24,27 f. 3. Wisd. 1:4. 4. John 14:13. 5. John 14: 16 f., 16. 6. See I John 4: 16. 7. Rom. 5:5. 8. See I Cor. 3:16. 9. Ibid., 6: 19 f. 10. In the present case, we see clearly the importance of essentially divine tradition, which transmits to us through the legitimate shepherds of the Church, an orally revealed doctrine, whether it was later established in Scripture or not. All the organs of divine tradition may be invoked in the present case: the solemn teaching authority of the Church, and also its ordinary teachmg authority expressed by the morally unanimous preaching of the bishops, by the consent of the fathers and of theologians, and by the Christian sense of the faithful. 11. Ep.1 ad Serap., 31; PO, XXVI, 601. 12. De Spiritu Sancto, chap. 9, nos. 21 fl.; chap. 18, no. 47. 13. Dialog., VII, PG, LXXV, 1085. 14. De Spiritu Sancto, I, chaps. 5-6. 15. De fide et symbolo, chap. 9, and De Trinitate, XV, chap. 27. 16. Denzinger, Enchiridion, no. 13. 17. Council of Trent, Sess. VI, chap. 7; Denzinger, no. 799. 18. We set forth these explanations elsewhere (L'amour de Dieu et la croix de Jesus, 1, 167-205), and we compared that of the Angelic Doctor, as understood by John of St. Thomas, and in more recent years by Father Gardeil, O.P., with those of Vasquez and Suarez. It will be sufficient here to review these opinions briefly. Vasquez reduces every real presence of God in us to the general presence of immensity, according to which God is present in all things which He preserves in existence. As an object known and loved, God is not really present in the just soul; He is, as it were, only represented there in the manner of an absent but very much loved person. Suarez, on the contrary, maintains that, even if God were not already present in the just by the general presence of immensity, He would become really and substantially present in them by reason of the charity which unites them to Him. This opinion runs counter to the following strong objection: Although we love the humanity of the Savior and the Blessed Virgin by charity, it does not follow that they are really present in us, that they dwell in our souls. Of itself, charity constitutes an affective union and makes us desire real union; but how could it constitute this union? John of St. Thomas (In lam, q.43, a.3, disp. XVII, nos. 8-10) and Father Gardeil (op. cit., II, 7-60) have shown that the thought of St. Thomas towers above the mutually contradictory conceptions of Vasquez and of Suarez. According to the Angelic Doctor, contrary to what Suarez says, the special presence of the Blessed Trinity in the just man presupposes the general pres­ence of immensity; but (and this is what Vasquez did not see) by sanctifying grace God is rendered really present in a new manner as an experimentally knowable object which the just soul can enjoy. He is not there only as a very much loved person who is absent, but He is really there, and at times He makes Himself felt by us. If, by an impossibility, God were not already in the just as the preserving cause of his natural being, He would, as a result, become specially present in him as the producing and preserving cause of grace and charity, and as a quasi-experimentally knowable object, and, from time to time, as an object known and loved. 19. The systems, which do not attain to a superior synthesis, are generally true in what they affirm, and false in what they deny. What is true in each one of them is found again in the superior synthesis when the mind has discovered the eminent principle which permits the harmonization of the different aspects of the problem. In the present case, Vasquez seems to be wrong in denying that the special presence is that of an experimentally knowable object really present; and Suarez seems, indeed, to err in denying that this special presence presupposes the general presence of immensity by which God preserves all things in existence. 20. See Ia, q.43, a.3. 21. Ibid., a. I, c. and ad I um, 2 um. 22. St. Thomas had already stated this in his Commentary on the Sentences, I dist., 14, q.2, a.2 ad 3um. "Non qualiscumque cognitio sufficit ad rationem mlsslonis, sed solum ilia quae accipitur ex aliquo dono appropriato personae, per quod efficitur in nobis conjunctio ad Deum, secundum modum proprium illius personae, scilicet per amorem, quando Spiritus Sanctus datur, unde cognitio ista est quasi-experimentalis" (ibid., ad 1um). This quasi-experimental knowledge of God, based on charity, which gives us a connaturality with divine things, proceeds especially from the gift of wisdom, as St. Thomas says (IIa IIae, q.45, a.2). 23. Thus our soul is always present to itself, as an experimentally knowable object, without always being actually known: for example, in deep sleep. 24. See Ia IIae, q. 112, a.5: "Whoever receives it (grace) knows, by experiencing a certain sweetness, which is not experienced by one who does not receive it." It is a sign permitting us to conjecture and to have a moral certitude that we are in the state of grace. 25. Luke 24:32 26. John 14:23. 27. Ibid., 26.

 

  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.

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.”

 

  See Encyclical of His Holiness Pope Leo XIII DIVINUM ILLUD MUNUS  on the Holy Ghost

THE SECURE PATH TO HEAVEN

The heavenly encounter of John Bosco with Domenic Savio

On the night of December 6, 1876, while in my room, asleep or not, I do not know, I found myself on a hill overlooking an immense plane. It was blue, like a calm sea, but not of water. It looked like shining crystal.

I saw large gardens of untold beauty. The grass, flowers, trees, and fruit were exquisitely beautiful. The trees had leaves of gold, trunks and branches studded with diamonds—everything blending in wealthy splendor. I saw buildings of such beauty and harmony, so exceptionally magnificent in shape, that not all the wealth of the world could construct even one of them! I was seeing only the outside of these buildings—how magnificent they must have been inside! “If only my boys could live in one of these mansions,” I said to myself, “how happy they would be! How gladly they would stay!” Then I heard music so sweet and rich in harmony that words cannot even describe it. A hundred thousand instruments were playing, and then a choir of voices joined them. There is nothing on earth to compare with it! I was enraptured.

A Group of Boys

As I listened in ecstatic wonder, I saw a group of boys, many of whom had been at the Oratory or at our other schools, but most of them I had never seen. They came towards me, and at their head was Dominic Savio.

“Am I asleep or awake?” I kept wondering. I even hit myself a few times to make sure everything was real!

A boundless joy sparkled in the eyes of those boys, reflecting in their face the inner peace that flooded their souls. Happy smiles played merrily on their lips. Dominic Savio stepped forward alone, coming so close to me that, had I stretched out my hand, I would have touched him.

How magnificent he looked! A snow white tunic, studded with diamonds and interwoven with gold, fell to his feet. About his waist was a wide crimson sash, embroidered with precious stones. About his neck hung a garland of wild flowers. Their petals looked like diamonds hung from golden stems, and they sparkled with a supernatural glory that outshone even the sun, with all its splendor of a spring morning. I almost lost my senses as I looked at him.

The rays from the flowers intermingled and played upon Dominic’s innocent, handsome face in a manner that defies description. Everything about him gave him such an attractive and enchanting appearance that he looked like...an angel.

Where Was I?

I kept staring at everything about me. “What does this mean?” I wondered, “And, how did I get here?” I still had no idea where I was. Stammering, I barely managed to ask, “Are you really Dominic Savio?” “Yes, I am! Don’t you recognize me?” Why are you here?” I asked, terribly confused. Dominic’s reply was reassuring.

I have come to talk with you. We often talked together on earth, and now God is allowing me to return your love for me.” I asked, “Am I in Heaven?”

He answered, “No. This is a natural place of happiness with temporal joys in a lofty degree; it is nature embellished and made so by God’s power. I said, “I thought that it was Heaven.” “No, of course not!” broke in Savio. “No mortal eye can see the eternal beauty of Heaven. Even the tiniest ray of Heaven’s light would strike a man dead, because the human senses cannot stand it.

“I gazed attentively at the heavenly “Is there any natural light lovelier than this?” Oh, yes! If you could only see a ray of sunlight just slightly more powerful than this, you would lose your senses!”

“Could I not look at just one tiny ray of such light?” “All right...but, look carefully at the horizon on the crystal sea.” I did so, and at that moment, far away, a fleeting streak of light, thinner than a thread, flashed across the sky—so brilliant, so penetrating that it burned my eyes. I shut them and screamed. That one streak was a hundred million times brighter than the sun, and its brilliance could have lit up the entire universe!

After awhile, I reopened my eyes and asked Dominic, “What was that—a ray of divine light?”

Savio answered, “It was not supernatural light, although it does surpass all the light of the world. It is nothing else than natural light, intensified by God’s power. Even an immense band of light equal in brilliance to the tiny ribbon which you have just seen, and encircling the entire universe, could not give you even a remote idea of the glory of Heaven!”

Then I asked Dominic, “Why are you wearing such brilliant garments?” Dominic was silent, and seemed to refuse an answer, but then I realized that the blood-red sash was a symbol of the many great sacrifices he had made, his violent efforts, the near martyrdom he had suffered to preserve the virtue of purity...and that to remain chaste in God’s eyes, he had been ready to give his life, should it have been necessary. At the same time, it represented penance, which cleanses the soul from guilt. His shining white tunic represented baptismal innocence retained.

God’s Messenger

“I gazed attentively at the heavenly youngsters who followed him, and asked, “Tell me, Dominic, you are the youngest of all the boys who have died in our houses, so why do you precede these boys?” “I am the oldest of the Oratory boys, because I was the first to die and pass on into eternity. Besides, legatione Dei fungor—”I am God’s ambassador.” He was a messenger for God.

I asked, “Tell me about the past?” He replied, “Do you see that vast number of boys over there? What is written over the entrance to that garden?” “Salesian Garden,” I answered.

“Well,” Savio continued, “all of these people were either Salesians or were influenced by you. They were those saved by you and your priests and seminarians, or by those whom you guided into the paths of their vocation. Count them, if you can! But, they would be a hundred million times more numerous if you had only had greater trust and faith in the Lord!”

I sighed, not knowing what to say to this reproof, and inwardly resolved, “I’ll make sure that I have this faith and confidence in the future!” “How about the present?” I asked.

Dominic showed me a beautiful bouquet of flowers he had in his hands. There were roses, violets, sunflowers, gentians, lilies, and evergreens...with some ears of wheat. He gave them to me, and said, “These flowers represent the virtues that are most pleasing to Our Lord.”

“What are they,” I asked. “The rose is the symbol of Charity; the violet of Humility; the sunflower, Obedience; the gentian, Penance and Mortification; the ears of wheat, frequent Communion; the lily symbolized that beautiful virtue of which it is said, “They shall be as the Angels of God in Heav-en—Chastity. The evergreen tells you that these virtues must be lasting: Perseverance.”

The Most Important Message

“Well now, Dominic,” I said, “you practiced all of these virtues during life. Tell me, what gave you the greatest comfort at the hour of death?” “What do you think it was?” “Maybe preserving the virtue of purity?” “No, not that alone.” “Peace of conscience...obedience?” “That is a good thing, but it is not the best.” “Perhaps the hope of gaining Heaven?” “No, not that.” “Well, was it the treasury of good deeds you had stored up? “No, no!” “Then what did bring you your greatest comfort in that last hour?” I pleaded, embarrassed that I had not discovered the reason.

“What comforted me most at the hour of my death,” Dominic replied, “was the

assistance of the powerful and lovable Mother of God! Tell this to your boys, and to everyone. As long as they live, they are not to forget to pray to Her!”

“And, what of the future?” “As for your Congregation, if your priests guide it well and make themselves worthy of their lofty mission, the future will be resplendent, and an untold number of souls will be saved. But on one condition—that your sons remain devoted to the Blessed Virgin, and that they all keep the virtue of chastity, which is so pleasing to God.”

Out Of Body

“How about myself”? I asked. “Oh, if you only know what trials still await you! But, now, I have little time left to speak to you.” Quickly I stretched out my hands to grasp him, but he seemed immaterial, and I touched only thin air! Dominic smiled, and asked, “What are you trying to do?” “I am afraid that you will go away. Aren’t you here in your body?” “No, not in my body. Some day I shall take it back.” “Then what is this image that I see? Am I not gazing upon Dominic Savio?”

“When a soul is separated from its body by death and, with God’s permission, appears to a human being, it shows the exterior of the body to which it was united in life, with all its phys-ical characteristics greatly beautified. It does so until body and soul are reunited in the Universal Judgment. Then it will take its body to Heaven. That is why I seem to have head and hands and feet. This is why you can see me.” “I understand,” I answered. “But listen, one more question. Are all my boys on the path to salvation? Tell me how I can properly guide them?” Knowledge Of The State Of Souls

“The boys entrusted to you by Divine Providence can be divided into three groups. Do you see these three slips of paper?” and he handed me the first one.

I looked at it. It was entitled Invulnerati — unwounded—and contained the names of those lads whom the devil had been unable to harm, those boys who had retained their innocence unstained. They were many, and I could see them all. Some I knew, others were strangers, undoubtedly boys who were to enter our school in future years.

They were walking straight along a narrow path, in spite of arrows and daggers that were thrown at them from all sides. Indeed, these weapons formed a fence on both sides of the path, striking and tormenting them, but never inflicting a wound. Then Dominic handed me the second slip, entitled Vulnerati—that is, those who had fallen from God’s grace but, rising to their feet, had healed their wounds by repentance and Confession.

There were more boys on this second list than on the first. They had been wounded on their way of life by the enemy lying in wait for them. I read their names and saw them all. Many walked along with their heads bowed in discouragement.

Dominic still had a third piece of paper in his hand. I could see its title Lassti in via inquitantis—those who have collapsed in the way of sin. It contained the names of all those in God’s disgrace. I was anxious to know who they were and stretched out my hand, but Dominic interrupted quickly, “No, wait a moment listen to me! If you open this paper, such a stench will arise that neither you nor I will be able to stand it! The angels withdraw in horror and disgust, and the Holy Spirit, Himself, abhors the hideous odor of sin!”

“How can this be?” I asked. “Neither God nor His angels can feel pain. How can they smell a material stench?” “The better and purer a creature is, the more it resembles a heavenly spirit; but the filthier and more sinful one is, the father one moves from God and His angels, who in turn withdraw from him, who is an object of disgust and loathing.”

Then he handed me the paper. “Take it,“ he said, “open it and use it for the good of your boys. But do not forget the bouquet I have given to you. Make sure that everyone has it, and does not lose it!” Giving me the paper, he hastily withdrew to join his companions. I opened the paper. I saw no names, but in a flash, I saw all the boys who were listed on it. I saw them all! They were a sorry sight! Most of them I knew; they belong to the Oratory or to other schools. I saw some who seem to be good—even the best among all their companions, but they are not!

As I unfolded the paper, an unbearable stench was released—so much so that I got a violent headache, and such cramps that I thought I would die Darkness settled about me the vision with Dominic faded away and, to my sadness, nothing was left of that wonderful sight. Suddenly a bolt of lightning flashed with a crash of thunder so loud and frightening that I awoke in a cold sweat! It was a dream but I remembered everything!

That stench had penetrated the walls of my room, and even my clothing, so that I could smell it for days. So foul is even the name of the sinner before God! Even now, as I recall that odor, I get very nauseated and choke, and my stomach rebels.

I have already made inquiries of boys at Lanzo, and have found out that the dream was not misleading. It was totally true! It is God’s grace that has allowed me to know the state of souls...to help them. 

Solemnity of the Saint - The Patronage of Saint Joseph

(by Fr. Prosper Gueranger 1870)

The Easter mysteries are superseded today by a special subject, which is offered for our consideration. The holy Church invites us to spend this Sunday in honouring the Spouse of Mary, the Foster-Father of the Son of God. And yet, as we offered him the yearly tribute of our devotion on the 19th of March, it is not, properly speaking, his Feast that we are to celebrate today. It is a solemn expression of gratitude offered to Joseph, the Protector of the Faithful, the refuge and support of all that invoke him with confidence. The innumerable favours he has bestowed upon the world entitle him to this additional homage. With a view to her children's interests, the Church would, on this day, excite their confidence in this powerful and ever ready helper.

Devotion to St. Joseph was reserved for these latter times. Though based on the Gospel, it was not to be developed in the early ages of the Church. It is not that the Faithful were, in any way, checked from showing honour to him who had been called to take so important a part in the mystery of the Incarnation; but Divine Providence had its hidden reasons for retarding the Liturgical homage to be paid, each year, to the Spouse of Mary. As on other occasions, so here also; the East preceded the West in the special cultus of St. Joseph: but, in the 15th Century, the whole Latin Church adopted it, and, since that time, it has gradually gained the affections of the Faithful. We have treated upon the glories of St. Joseph, on the 19th of March; the present Feast has its own special object, which we will at once proceed to explain.

The goodness of God and our Redeemer's fidelity to His promises have ever kept pace with the necessities of the world; so that, in every age, appropriate and special aid has been given to the world for its maintaining the supernatural life. An uninterrupted succession of seasonable grace has been the result of this merciful dispensation, and each generation has had given to it a special motive for confidence in its Redeemer. Dating from the 13th century, when, as the Church herself assures us, the world began to grow cold (Frigescente mundo. Collect for the feast of the Stigmata of St. Francis), each epoch has had thrown open to it a new source of graces. First of all came the Feast of the Most Blessed Sacrament, with its successive developments of Processions, Expositions, Benedictions and the Forty Hours. After this, followed the devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus, (of which St. Bernardine of Sienna was the chief propagator,) and that of Via Crucis or Stations of the Cross, with its wonderful fruit of compunction. The practice of frequent Communion was revived in the 16th century, owing principally to the influence of St. Ignatius and the Society founded by him. In the 17th, was promulgated the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which was firmly established in the following century. In the 19th, devotion to the Holy Mother of God has made such progress, as to form one of the leading supernatural characteristics of the period. The Rosary and Scapular, which had been handed down to us in previous ages, have regained their place in the affections of the people; Pilgrimages to the Sanctuaries of the Mother of God, which had been interrupted by the influence of Jansenism and rationalism, have been removed; the Archconfraternity of the Sacred Heart of Mary has spread throughout the whole world; numerous miracles have been wrought in reward for the fervent faith of individuals; in a word, our present century has witnessed the triumph of the Immaculate Conception, a triumph which had been looked forward to for many previous ages.

Now, devotion to Mary could never go on increasing as it has done, without bringing with it a fervent devotion to St. Joseph. We cannot separate Mary and Joseph, were it only for their having such a close connection with the mystery of the Incarnation: Mary, as being the Mother of the Son of God; and Joseph, as being guardian of the Virgin's spotless honour, and Foster-Father of the Divine Babe. A special veneration for St. Joseph was the result of increased devotion to Mary. Nor is this reverence for Mary's Spouse to be considered only as a just homage paid to his admirable prerogatives: it is, moreover, a fresh and exhaustless source of help to the world, for Joseph has been made our Protector by the Son of God Himself. Hearken to the inspired words of the Church's Liturgy: "Thou, O Joseph! art the delight of the Blessed, the sure hope of our life, and the pillar of the world (Caelitum, Joseph, decus atque nostrae; Certa spes vitae, columenque mundi. Hymn for Lauds of the Patronage of St. Joseph.)! Extraordinary as is this power, need we be surprised at its being given to a man like Joseph, whose connections with the Son of God on earth were so far above those of all other men? Jesus deigned to be subject to Joseph here below; now that He is in heaven, He would glorify the creature, to whom he consigned the guardianship of His own childhood and His Mother's honour. He has given him a power, which is above our calculations. Hence it is, that the Church invites us, on this day, to have recourse, with unreserved confidence, to this all-powerful Protector. The world we live in is filled with miseries which would make stronger hearts than ours quake with fear: but, let us invoke St. Joseph with faith, and we shall be protected. In all our necessities, whether of soul or body, in all the trials and anxieties we may have to go through, let us have recourse to St. Joseph, and we shall not be disappointed. The king of Egypt said to his people, when they were suffering from famine: go to Joseph (Gen. xli. 55.)! the King of Heaven says the same to us: the faithful guardian of Mary has greater influence with God, than Jacob's son had with Pharaoh.

As usual, God revealed this new spiritual aid to a privileged soul, that she might be the instrument of its propagation. It was thus that were instituted several Feasts, such as those of Corpus Christi, and of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In the 16th century, St. Teresa, (whose Writings were to have a world-wide circulation,) was instructed by heaven as to the efficacy of devotion to St. Joseph: she has spoken of it in the Life, (written by herself,) of Teresa of Jesus. When we remember, that it was by the Carmelite Order, (brought into the Western Church, in the 13th century,) that this devotion was established among us, we cannot be surprised that God should have chosen St. Teresa, who was the Reformer of that Order, to propagate the same devotion in this part of the world. The holy solitaries of Mount Carmel, devoted as they had been, for so many centuries, to the love of Mary, were not slow in feeling the connection that exists between the honour paid to the Mother of God and that which is due to her virginal Spouse. The more we understand St. Joseph's office, the clearer will be our knowledge of the divine mystery of the Incarnation. As when the Son of God assumed our human nature, He would have a Mother; so also, would He give to this Mother a protector. Jesus, Mary and Joseph, these are the three whom the ineffable mystery is continually bringing before our minds.

The words of St. Teresa are as follows: "I took for my patron and lord the glorious St. Joseph, and recommended myself earnestly to him. I saw clearly that he rendered me greater services than I knew how to ask for. I cannot call to mind that I have ever asked him at any time for any thing which he has not granted; and I am filled with amazement when I consider the great favours which God hath given me through this blessed Saint; the dangers from which he hath delivered me, both of body and soul. To other Saints, our Lord seems to have given grace to succour men in some special necessity; but to this glorious Saint, I know by experience, to help us in all: and our Lord would have us understand that, as He was Himself subject to Him upon earth, for St. Joseph having the title of father, and being His guardian, could command Him, so now in heaven He performs all his petitions. I have asked others to recommend themselves to St. Joseph, and they too know this by experience; and there are many who are now of late devout to him, having had experience of this truth. (The Life o St. Teresa:--Translated by David Lewis. 1870: page 34)"

We might quote several other equally clear and fervent words from the writings of this seraphic Virgin. The Faithful could not remain indifferent with such teaching as this. The seed thus soon produced its fruit; slowly, it is true, but surely. Even in the first half of the 17th century, there prevailed amidst the devout clients of St. Joseph a presentiment, that the day would come, when the Church, through her Liturgy, would urge the Faithful to have recourse to him as their powerful Protector. In a book published in the year 1645, we find these almost prophetic words: "O thou bright sun, thou father of our days! speed thy onward course, and give us that happy day, whereon are to be fulfilled the prophecies of the Saints. They have said, that in the latter ages of the world, the glories of St. Joseph will be brought to light; that God will draw aside the veil, which has hitherto prevented us from seeing the wondrous sanctuary of Joseph's soul; that the Holy Ghost will inspire the Faithful to proclaim the praises of this admirable Saint, and to build Monasteries, Churches and Altars in his " honour; that, throughout the entire kingdom of the Church Militant, he shall be considered as the special Protector, for he was the Protector of the very founder of that kingdom, namely, our Lord Jesus Christ; that the Sovereign Pontiffs will, by a secret impulse from heaven, ordain that the Feast of this great Patriarch be solemnly celebrated through the length and breadth of the spiritual domain of St. Peter; that the most learned men of the world will use their talents in studying the divine gifts hidden in St. Joseph, and that they will find in him treasures of grace incomparably more precious and plentiful, than were possessed by every the choicest of the elect of the Old Testament, during the whole four thousand years of its duration. (La gloire de saint Joseph; par le P. Jean Jacquinot, de la Compagnie de Jesus. Dijon: 1645)"

These ardent wishes have been fulfilled. It is now more than a century ago, that the Carmelites sought and obtained the approbation of the Holy See for an Office in honour of the Patronage of St. Joseph. A great number of Dioceses obtained permission to use it. A Sunday was selected for the celebration of this new Feast, in order that the Faithful might be, in a way, compelled to keep it; for the Feast of St. Joseph in March is not a day of obligation for the universal Church, and, as it always falls during Lent, it cannot be kept on a Sunday, since the Sundays of Lent exclude a Feast of that rite. That the new Feast might not be attended with the same risk of being unnoticed, it was put upon a Sunday, the third Sunday after Easter, that thus the consolations of such a solemnity might be blended with the Paschal joys. The new Feast went on gradually spreading from one diocese to another; till at last, there was unexpectedly issued an Apostolic Decree, dated September the 10th, 1847, which ordered it to be kept throughout Christendom. The Church was on the eve of severe trials; and her glorious Pontiff, Pius the Ninth, by a sacred instinct, was prompted to draw down on the Flock intrusted to him the powerful protection of St. Joseph, who, assuredly, has never had greater miseries and dangers to avert from the world, than those which threaten the present age.

Let us then, henceforth, have confidence in the Patronage of St. Joseph. He is the Father of the Faithful, and it is God's will, that he, more than any other Saint, should have power to apply to us the blessings of the mystery of the Incarnation, the great mystery whereof he, after Mary, was the chief earthly minister.