XXII — THE HOLY SPIRIT’S INITIATIVES

Presence of God. — O Holy Spirit, come and direct my soul on the path of holiness.

Meditation

1 — Although our soul is supernaturalized by sanctifying grace, our powers are invested with infused virtues, and our actions are accompanied by actual grace, our manner of acting nevertheless remains human and therefore incapable of joining us perfectly to God and bringing us to holiness. In fact, our intelligence, though invested with the virtue of faith, is always inadequate to the Infinite Being; it is always unable to represent Him as He is. Even while following the data of revelation, from which we know that God is one and triune, the ideas we form of the Most Holy Trinity, of the three divine Persons, of God’s perfections, always remain below reality. Yes, as long as we are on this earth we know God “through a glass in a dark manner,” whereas only in heaven “shall we see Him face to face” (1 Cor. 13:12). And not only do we lack adequate knowledge of God, but we also lack full knowledge of holiness: to a certain point we know the things of God, and likewise to a certain point we know the way of perfection; in fact, we do not always know how to discern what is more perfect, and many times, without wanting to, we err, believing good and holy what in reality is not. On the other hand, full union with God, that is, holiness, requires perfect orientation toward Him, according to Jesus’ first and greatest commandment: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Mt. 22:37); but this perfect orientation exceeds our strength, precisely because we have too imperfect a knowledge of God and of the way that leads to Him. Must we then give up holiness? Not at all! God, who wants us holy, also gives us the way to become so: the Holy Spirit was given to us precisely for this purpose. “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you” (Acts 1:8), Jesus said.

2 — The Holy Spirit, who “searches the depths of God” (1 Cor. 2:10) and therefore knows perfectly the divine nature and mysteries, who penetrates all things and therefore knows to perfection the subtleties and secrets of the highest virtue, as well as the needs and deficiencies of our souls, comes to take us by the hand to guide us to holiness. As long as we proceed with our own initiatives, our orientation toward God always remains imperfect, incomplete; often we act in a human way. But when the Holy Spirit intervenes, He acts as God, in a divine way, and therefore draws and orients us completely toward Him. When it is we who act, we must always begin with the work of thought and only afterward pass to the determination of the will; but since our thought is so limited, in practice we always remain immeasurably below what we should do for God. When, however, the Holy Spirit intervenes, He acts directly on the will, drawing it to Himself; He inflames the heart and, consequently, enlightens the mind. Thus there is born in us that “sense of God” which we do not know how to express, but which makes us know and taste God and orients us to Him more than any reasoning or effort of our own. Then we feel that God is “the only One,” that all creatures are infinitely distant from Him; we feel that He deserves all our love and that, indeed, this love is nothing in comparison with infinite divine lovableness; we feel that any sacrifice is always too little for so great a God. Precisely in this way the Holy Spirit sets us on the path of holiness. And He does so also by helping us overcome practical difficulties: many times, for example, we struggle with a defect we cannot conquer, with a virtue we cannot acquire, with a perplexity we cannot resolve; but at a certain point, without knowing how, things change: we see clearly what before left us doubtful and we succeed easily in doing what before seemed impossible. This too is fruit of the Holy Spirit’s action in our soul. That is why his initiatives are so precious for us, and we must desire and invoke them with such trust.

Colloquy

“O love of the eternal God, holy communication of the almighty Father and of his most blessed Son, almighty Paraclete Spirit, most clement consoler of the sorrowful, with your powerful virtue penetrate into the depths of my heart: with the radiance of your shining light gladden every dark corner of the neglected dwelling of my soul, and by visiting it, make fruitful with the abundance of your dew what long dryness has made languid and desolate. Wound the inmost man with the dart of your love; penetrate into the marrow of the sluggish heart and set it aflame with saving flames; by illumining with the fire of holy fervor the inner part of mind and body, strengthen the whole man.

“I believe that every time You descend into a soul, there You prepare a dwelling for the Father and the Son. Blessed is he who merits to host You! Through You the Father and the Son establish their dwelling in him. Come then, come, most kindly Consoler of the sorrowing soul, protector in every need and support in tribulation. Come, purifier of sins, physician of wounds. Come, strength of the frail, restorer of those who fall. Come, teacher of the humble, You who cast down the proud. Come, pious father of orphans, merciful judge of widows. Come, hope of the poor, refreshment of the weak. Come, star of sailors, harbor of the shipwrecked.

“Come, You, singular adornment of every living one, sole salvation of the dying.

“Come, most holy Spirit; come, and have pity on me; clothe me with Yourself, and graciously hear me, so that, according to the multitude of your mercies, my littleness may please your greatness, my weakness your strength, through Jesus Christ my Savior, who with the Father lives and reigns in your unity forever and ever. Amen” (St. Augustine).