Second Sermon for the Feast of Pentecost: On What the Blessed Trinity Has Done for Man, ‘and on the Threefold Grace of the Hooly Ghost

“ Sow for yourselves unto justice, reap the hope of life, light for yourselves the lamp of knowledge.’’—Osee x. 12.*

To-day, most dearly beloved, “ the earth was moved and the heavens dropped down dew from the face of the God of Sinai, from the face of the God of Israel,” and a “free rain was set aside for the inheritance ” of Christ (Ps. lxvii. 9, 10). For the Holy Spirit, proceeding from the Father, descended to-day upon the apostles with a more generous communication of His majesty and replenished their souls with the gifts of His graces. After the magnificence of the Lord’s resurrection, after the glory of His ascension, after His exaltation to the seat at the Father’s right hand, what more remained except that the joy which is “ the expectation of the just” (Prov. x. 28) should be fulfilled and that heavenly-minded men should becrowned with, the gifts of heaven ? And consider if the Prophet Isaias did not predict all this long before, in due order and in language well suited to the dignity of the events he was announcing. “In that day,” he says, “the Bud of the Lord shall be in magnificence and

—(Translator.) 295 glory, and the fruit of the earth shall be high, and a great joy to them that shall have been saved of Israel” (Is, iv. 2). Now, “the Bud of the Lord” is Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who alone of men has not been conceived from unclean seed (Job xiv. 4) : because, although He came “in the likeness of sinful flesh” (Rom. viii. 3), He yet did not come in the reality of sinful flesh ; and although He is a son of Adam’s flesh, He is no son of Adam’s transgression: for He was not “by nature a child of wrath, even as all the rest” (Ephes. ii. 3) who have all been “conceived in iniquities ” (Ps. 1. 7). Accordingly, that Bud Which sprouted forth from Jesse’s rod (Is. xi. 1) of virginal greenness, was “in magnificence” after the resurrection from the dead. For then, “O Lord my God, Thou wert exceedingly magnified, Thou didst put on praise and beauty, and wert clothed with light as with a garment” (Ps. cii. 1, 2). But how great was Thy glory in Thy ascension, when, in the midst of multitudes of angels and sanctified human souls, Thou didst mount up in triumphal procession even to the Father’s throne, and, entering heaven with the palm of victory, didst set the assumed Humanity on the very seat of God! Who can conceive, not to speak of expressing— how much “the fruit of the earth ” was then exalted when Thy Human Nature was enthroned at the Father’s right hand with a glory which, doubtless, dazzles the ` eyes of the celestial intelligences, which the holy angels contemplate with awe, but dare not aspire to! Therefore, O Lord Jesus, let that “ great joy ” come to them “that have been saved of Israel,” to Thy apostles, namely, whom Thou hast ‘‘ chosen before the foundation of the world” (Ephes. i. 4). Let Thy “good

WHAT BLESSED TRINITY HAS DONE 297

Spirit ” (Luke xi. 13) come upon them to wash away their sins and to infuse virtues : let Him descend in the spirit of judgment, in the spirit of fervour.

Come, then, my brethren, come and let us review in our minds all the operations of the Holy Trinity concerning us and for our advantage, from the beginning of the world even unto the end thereof; and let us see how much solicitude has been shown by that Divine Majesty to Whom belong the administration and government of the whole world, lest He should lose us, His poor creatures, for ever. In the beginning He created all things with power, and He governed all things with wisdom ; and men had clear evidences of both these perfections, namely, of the divine power and wisdom, in the constitution and conservation of this universal frame. There was goodness in God, and goodness exceeding great. But it lay hidden as yet in the heart of the Father, although destined to be poured out sometime, at the proper season, upon the children of Adam’s race. Nevertheless, even then the Lord was saying, “I am thinking thoughts of peace ” (Jer. xxix. 11), that is, He was thinking of sending to us Him Who is “our peace, Who hath made both one ” * (Ephes. ii. 4), so that He might now give us peace upon peace, “peace to them that are afar off and peace to them that are near ” (Is. Ivii. 19). Therefore, His own loving-kindness induced the Word of God, enthroned on high, to descend to us; His mercy drew Him down; His veracity, wherewith He had promised to visit us, constrained Him; the spotlessly pure womb of the Virgin received Him, without the least prejudice to her virginity ; He was brought forth by His own power ; obedience He made His guide in all the different circumstances of life; patience was His armour; and His charity revealed itself in all His words and in all His wonders.

Assuredly I have now in my own evils and in the benefits of my Lord abundant motives to “think on my ways and to turn my feet into His testimonies ” (Ps. cxviii. 59). For truly His benefits are ineffable : to sum up all in one word, the Wisdom of God in all the infinitude of His resources was able to find nothing more excellent wherewith to redeem us than the price He has actually paid. Besides, “‘ evils without number have surrounded me ; my iniquities have overtaken me and I was not able to see. They are multiplied above the hairs of my head” (Ps. xxxix. 13). These, my brethren, are the words of a just man. And in another place he says, “ For Thy name’s sake, O Lord, Thou wilt pardon my sin, for it is great” (Ps. xxiv. II). A wily serpent was sent by the devil to instil the poison of his malice into the woman’s soul through the avenue of her ear, and thus to infect all her posterity in their very origin. In due time, “‘the Angel Gabriel was sent from God” (Luke i. 26) in order to open a way through the Virgin’s ear to her heart and her womb for the Word of the Father : so that the antidote might enter by the same way as the poison. Truly “we have seen His glory, the glory as it were of the Only-Begotten of the Father” (John i. 14). For whatever Christ has brought us from the Father’s heart is all paternal ; and so our human timidity has no cause to expect to find anything in the Son of God but what is sweet and indulgent. “From the sole of the foot unto

WHAT BLESSED TRINITY HAS DONE 299 the top of the head there was no soundness” (Is. i. 6) in us. We had “gone astray from the womb” (Ps. lvii. 4): we had incurred the sentence of damnation before we had seen the light of day, having been conceived in sin and from sin.

Christ, accordingly, there first applied the remedy where the wound was first inflicted. The Word descended substantially into the Virgin’s womb and was conceived by the Holy Ghost, in order to purify our conception, which the evil spirit, if he had not caused it, had at least contaminated. Thus not even His life in His Mother’s womb was without profit to us, where for nine months He occupied Himself with the work of cleansing the ancient sore, probing the foul ulcer to the quick, as the saying is, in order to restore us to everlasting health. And so He even then “ wrought salvation in the midst of the earth”’ (Ps. lxxiii. 12), that is to say, in the womb of the Virgin Mary, whom with admirable propriety the Prophet calls “ the midst of the earth.” For to Mary, as to the focal point of the universe, as to the ark of God, as to the cause or reason of all things,* as to the centre and cynosure or things to come,” with still greater truth could it be said of her. We read in the life of St. Teresa that Christ once said of the ages,* are attracted the eyes of all who dwell in heaven or in limbo; of the past, of the present, and of all future generations. Those who are in heaven look to her, because it is through her that they hope to have their numbers filled up; those in limbo look to her for their deliverance ; those who have gone before look to her, ‘‘ that the prophets may be found faithful ” (Ecclus. xxxvi. 18) ; and those who shall come after shall look to her for their glorification. Thus, O Mother of God, O Sovereign Lady of the world, O Queen of heaven, thus do “all generations call thee blessed” (Luke i. 48). Yes, all generations, the heavenly no less than the earthly. For there are generations in heaven just as there are generations on earth. This is evident from the words of St. Paul, where he speaks of God as “ the Father of spirits ” (Heb. xii. 9) “ of Whom,” as he says in another place, “all paternity in heaven and earth is named ” (Ephes. iii. 15). Therefore, ‘‘ from henceforth all generations shall call thee blessed,” because to all generations thou hast given life and glory. For in thee the angels shall for ever find gladness, the just grace, and sinners pardon. With good reason, then, are the eyes of all the world directed towards thee, since it is in thee and through thee and from thee that the kindly hand of Omnipotence has renewed whatever He had originally created.

Wilt Thou vouchsafe, Lord Jesus, to give me Thy to her, “ Had I not already created the world, I would do so now for thy sake’’: and behold a greater than St. Teresa is here (Matt. xii. 42),—(Translator.)

by angels, exhibited by the patriarchs under types and figures, announced from afar by the prophets.”

WHAT BLESSED TRINITY HAS DONE 301 life also, as Thou hast given me Thy conception? For not only is my own conception unclean, but my death is evil, my life full of peril, and after the death of the body there remains for me a more terrible death, “ the second death ” (Apoc. xx. 6). “I will give thee,” He makes answer, “ not alone My conception, but My life as well ; and I will give thee that life in all its various stages of infancy, childhood, youth, and manhood, adding thereto My death, My resurrection, My ascension, and the mission of the Holy Ghost ; to the end that My conception may purify thine, that My life may be a pattern for thine, that My death may destroy thine, that My resurrection may be followed by thine, that My ascension may open the way for thine, and that, finally, thou mayest have My Holy Spirit to help thy infirmity (Rom. viii. 26). For so thou shalt clearly see the way wherein thou shouldst walk, with what circumspection thou oughtest to advance, and to what goal thy steps must be directed. In My life thou wilt see thy way ; and as I walked unswervingly in the paths of poverty and obedience, of humility and patience, of charity and mercy, so must thou do also, following My footsteps, and declining neither to right nor to left. And in My death I will communicate to thee My justice, putting an end to the yoke of thy captivity, and beating off the enemies that are in thy way or beside thy way, so that they may not have power to hurt thee (Ps. Ixxxviii. 23). Thereafter, I will return to My home on high whence I have descended, and restore the joy of My presence to the ninety-nine sheep that have remained upon the mountains, whilst I came down to search for thee and—not to lead thee back—but to bear thee back upon My shoulders (Luke xv. 4).

“ And lest thou shouldst complain or be cast down because of My absence, I will send the Holy Spirit the Paraclete, Who will bestow upon thee the pledge of salvation, the strength of life, and the light of knowledge. He will give thee the pledge of salvation in that the ‘Spirit Himself will render testimony to thy spirit that thou art the son of God’ (Rom. viii. 16), impressing upon thy heart and revealing to thy conscience the most evident signs of thy predestination, filling thy mind with ` gladness, and enriching thy soul, if not continually, at least very often, with the dew of heaven by His consolations. He will give thee the strength of life, whereby that which is impossible to thee by nature shall become through His grace, not only possible, but even easy: so that thou shalt begin to take delight in labours and watchings, in hunger and thirst, and in all other such penitential observances ‘as in all riches’ (Ps. cxviii. 14); whereas ‘there is death in the pot’ (4 Kings iv. 40) whenever these austerities are not seasoned with the mystical meal of divine grace. And He will impart to thee the light of knowledge, by which, when thou hast done all things well, thou shalt repute thyself an unprofitable servant (Luke xvii. I), and whatever of good thou mayest discover in thyself, thou shalt attribute it all to Him Who is the Source of all good, and without Whom thou couldst not begin, much less accomplish anything at all, no matter how insignificant. In these three things, therefore, the Spirit will teach thee all things, all things, I mean, which are conducive to thy salvation: because in them, viz., in the pledge of salvation, the strength of life, and the light of knowledge thou shalt find full and absolute perfection.”

WHAT BLESSED TRINITY HAS DONE 303

This, my brethren, is only what the Spirit Himself has told us, speaking by the mouth of His Prophet “ Sow for yourselves unto justice ’’—which refers to the pledge of salvation; “ reap the fruit. of life ’—which signifies the same as the strength of life; “light for yourselves the lamp of knowledge” (Osee x. 12, juxta LXX)—which needs no comment. Hence the same Holy Spirit appeared descending upon the apostles in the form of fire, to indicate that He is the Source of both light and heat. For those whom He fills with His presence, He causes to burn with spiritual ardour and to know in truth that it is the divine mercy alone which prevents them and leads them on. David, that great servant of the Lord, must surely have studied this mercy in all its various aspects when he sang, “ My God, His mercy shall prevent me ” (Ps. lviii. £1) ; and “Thy mercy is before my eyes” (Ps. xxv. 3); also, “Thy mercy will follow me all the days of my life” (Ps. xxii. 6); again, “ Who crowneth thee with mercy and compassion ”’ ; lastly, “ My God, my mercy ” (Ps. lviii. 18). Oh, how sweetly, Lord Jesus, didst Thou “converse with men” (Bar. iii. 38)! How multitudinous and precious were the gifts Thou didst bestow upon men! With how much fortitude Thou didst endure so many outrages and sufferings for the sake of men !—so that they “might suck honey out of the rock and oil out of the hardest stone ” (Deut. xxxii. 13). For in truth He appeared to be as insensible as a stone to insults, more insensible still to stripes, and still more insensible to the horrors of the cross, since in all His passion He was “led as a sheep to the slaughter,” “and He opened not His mouth”? (Is. lii. 7). You see, my brethren, how true are the words of him who said, “The Lord is careful for me” (Ps. xxxix. 18). For in order to redeem a slave, the Father “‘ spared not even His own Son” (Rom. viii. 32), the Son most willingly delivered Himself up, both Father and Son sent down the Holy Spirit, and “the Spirit Himself asketh for us with unspeakable groanings ” (ibid. 26). O ye hard, ye insensible, ye stony-hearted sons of Adam, whom so much kindness cannot soften! whom such a flame, such an intensity of love cannot melt! who are not touched by the generosity of Him Who, in the excess of His charity, has paid so high a price for goods so worthless! For it is “ not with corruptible things, such as gold or silver,” that He hath redeemed us, but with His own most precious Blood (x Peter i. 18, 19) Which He poured out abundantly in generous streams through the five wounds of His Body. Well might He ask “ What is there that I ought to do more for you that I have not done?” (Is. v. 4). He has given sight to the blind, He has brought the wanderers back, He has reconciled the guilty, He has justified the ungodly, for three and thirty years “ He was seen on earth and conversed with men,” yea, died for men, the Same Who “spoke and they—the Seraphim and the Cherubim and all the celestial powers—were made, He commanded and they were created” (Ps. xxxii. 9), Who is able to do all things according as He pleases. What, then, does He require of thee, Who has sought thee with so much solicitude, except that thou for the future shouldst “walk solicitous with thy God” (Mich. vi. 8)? Now this solicitude cannot come to thee otherwise than from the bounty of the Holy Ghost, Who searcheth “ the deep things ” (1 Cor. ii. 10) of our breast, Who is the “‘ Discerner of the thoughts

WHAT BLESSED TRINITY HAS DONE -305 and intents of the heart’ (Heb. iv. 12), and Who will not suffer the least dross to remain in the soul He has chosen for His dwelling, but will at once burn it all out with the fire of the most minute circumspection. It is this Holy Spirit, I say, all sweetness and delight, Who bends our wills, or rather Who straightens them out, and conforms them to His own, enabling us to understand it rightly, to love it ardently, and to accomplish it effectually.