Letter, number unidentified. To a lady, on the feasts of Pentecost and Corpus Christi

Dear Madam, It would interest me to know what is passing in your soul during this week, which is consecrated to the Holy Ghost. He gives light to the understanding, love to the Will, and even strength to the body, which E ’ft is symbolised by the parable of the three aves the man offered his friend, on returning hungry and weary from his journey. The Holy Spirit takes away the hunger our heart feels Vnen wandering amongst creatures, and fills it ■yyith the bread of fulness and satisfaction.

Woe to us if we feel not the nothingness of all that is visible and turn not to God, if only because we are wearied at discovering the defects and nothingness of all in which we hoped to find our rest. When, O God, will our souls be chaste and loyal to Christ our Spouse \ when will our love, untainted by affection for any creature, be wholly given to Him? When §b41 wo learn that He alone is the Master of our souls, that He created us for Himself, and that He alone can satisfy us? Can we not remember that we have often experienced how ill the world treats those who trust it, and that our souls have never known rest nor peace except, when, realising their miseries and poverty, they have taken refuge in God and been received in His embrace? A short space of this joy is worth more than a life-time spent in the empty noise and vanities of this foolish world. There can be no better time than this to say to earthly things “ I know you not,” and to cleanse and empty our souls, so as to provide a dwelling-place for the God Who created us from nothingness.

The Paraclete Who will visit us is so holy that He would not come even to the disciples, until our Lord’s Body was taken from their sight, to show how utterly empty must be the temple in which He dwells. I am glad that, having prepared your heart by His grace, you have received Him into it, both to His joy and your own. Rejoice with the Holy Ghost, for He is joy itself; remember how St. Paul tells us not to grieve “ the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption,” (Ephes. IV. 30.) that is, the last Judgment. To be dull and sad, to serve Him slpthfully and tepidly, and to perform actions displeasing to this most holy Guest, is u to grieve the Holy Spirit.”

He * flame,” and wishes Hi? servant to be ardent and to glow with fervour, and to throw on to the fire kindled in his heart the fuel of good works, and light it up with holy thoughts. This will prevent this heavenly flame from dying out. Our spiritual vitality depends on its burning: if we keep it alive, it will maintain our life in God, although we are only returning to Him what He has first given us.

This week will have been a real feast to you, as you have kept not only its outward observances, with those who care for nothing but its ritual and festivities, but in your heart also, as God commands, Who wishes us cc to adore Him in spirit.”

Let us now consider how you are to prepare for the feast of Corpus Christi which is so near at hand. It would indeed be a disgrace for the Christian soul not to long and hunger after this holy Bread. Christ was waited for even by the three Kings in their far-off country, and desired by the prophets and patriarchs long before the Incarnation. What greater joy than to see our Lord, Whom heaven and earth cannot contain, veiled beneath the accidents of bread: sometimes borne by our hands, passing amongst us through our streets, and making Himself our companion, and again, sometimes deigning to enter into our poor sinful breasts.

Do not let my words pass from your mind, but rouse yourself to consider this great favour and work of God. Empty your heart of all else ? that it may hunger keenly for this celestial Bread on which the Angels feed. Be watchful during these days lest your attention wander. This is the week consecrated to the Holy Ghost, therefore beg Him for grace to observe devoutly the feast of the Body of Christ. That Body was conceived by Him, and when we receive Holy Communion on that day, the Paraclete will come to us also, because it was through our Lord’s merits that He was sent to us. Christ’s merits are imparted to us in the Holy Eucharist in proportion to the worthiness of our dispositions.

Thus one festival prepares us for the next and should make us long for it. Unlike the banquets of the world, where those who have feasted at noon are not hungry at night, each festival of the Church increases our appetite for the next, fulfilling God’s promise in Leviticus (XXVI. 5.) “the threshing of your harvest shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and you shall eat your bread to the full.” Blessed be God, for so bountifully providing for us that He even bestows on us His very Self. The Son is given to us, and through Him the Holy Spirit, and with Them comes the Father. Thus the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit reside within us, and we already h£ve a beginning here of that intercourse with Gfcd which will be perfect in the next life. Let us thank Him for all His mercies and prepare ourselves to receive the favours that still remain to be bestowed on 1 68 us; With hearts raised oh high, let us celebrate the feasts of heaven, so that from temporal joys We may pass to those which are eternal* in which I pray that you, Madam, may have your share; Amen.