Father John A. Hardon, S.J. Archives

Prayer

For Jesuits
Chapter 2 - Spirit of the Lord

by Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.
Editor

+  The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me; to bring good news to the poor he has sent me, to proclaim to the captives release, and sight to the blind; to set at liberty the oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of recompense.

Luke.4:18-19

The Holy Spirit

If We examine closely this divine principle of life and power given by Christ, insofar as it constitutes the very source of every gift and created grace, We easily perceive that it is nothing other than the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, and who is called in a special way the Spirit of Christ or the Spirit of the Son. For it was by this breath of grace and truth that the Son of God anointed His soul in the immaculate womb of the Blessed Virgin. This Spirit delights to dwell in the blessed soul of our Redeemer as in His most cherished shrine. This Spirit, which Christ merited for us on the cross by shedding His blood, He bestowed on the Church for the remission of sins, when He breathed on the apostles.

While Christ alone received this Spirit without measure, to the members of the mystical body He is imparted only according to the measure of the giving of Christ from Christ's own fullness. But after Christ's glorification on the cross, His Spirit is communicated to the Church in an abundant outpouring; so that she, and her individual members, may become daily more and more like to our Savior. It is the Spirit of Christ that has made Us adopted sons of God in order that one day "We all beholding the glory of the Lord with open face may be transformed into the same image from glory to glory."

Pius XII

Through the Immortal Spirit

Lord God almighty, Father of Your beloved and blessed Son Jesus Christ, through whom we have received the knowledge of You, God of angels and hosts and all creation and of the whole race of saints who live under Your eyes, I bless You because You have seen fit to bestow upon me this day and this hour, that I may share, among the number of the martyrs, the cup of Your Anointed One and rise to eternal life both in soul and in body, in virtue of the immortality of the Holy Spirit. May I be accepted among them in Your sight today as a rich and pleasing sacrifice, such as You, the true God that cannot utter a falsehood, have predetermined, revealed in advance, and now consummated. Therefore I praise You for everything; I bless You; I glorify You through the eternal and heavenly high priest Jesus Christ, Your beloved Son, through whom be glory to You together with Him and the Holy Spirit, both now and for the ages yet to come. Amen.

Martyrdom of St. Polycarp

Veni Sancte Spiritus

Come, Holy Spirit, and from heaven direct on man the rays of Your light. Come, Father of the poor; come, Giver of God's gifts; come, Light of men's hearts. Kindly Paraclete, in Your gracious visits to man's soul You bring relief and consolation. If it is weary with toil, You bring it ease; in the heat of temptation, Your grace cools it; if sorrowful, Your words console it. Light most blessed, shine on the hearts of Your faithful—even into their darkest corners; for without Your help there is nothing good in man, and nothing is innocent. Wash clean the injured soul. Soften the hard of heart, warm the cold of heart, and direct the wayward. Grant the seven holy gifts to Your faithful, for their trust is in You. Grant reward for their virtue; grant them death that ensures salvation; grant them everlasting bliss. Amen.

    § God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.

Come, Holy Spirit

Come, O Holy Spirit, replenish the hearts of Your faithful and kindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit, and they shall be created; and You shall renew the face of the earth.

LET US PRAY  O God, You have taught the hearts of Your faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit. Grant that in the same Spirit we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in His consolation. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Veni Creator Spiritus

Veni, Creator Spiritus,
Mentes tuorum visita,
Imple superna gratia
Quae tu creasti pectora.

Qui diceris Paraclitus,
Altissimi donum Dei,
Fons vivus, ignis, caritas,
Et spiritalis unctio.

Tu septiformis munere,
Digitus paternae dexterae,
Tu rite promissum Patris,
Sermone ditans guttura.

Accende lumen sensibus,
Infunde amorem cordibus,
Infirma nostri corporis
Virtute firmans perpeti.

Hostem repellas longius,
Pacemque dones protinus:
Ductore sic te praevio
Vitemus omne noxium.

Per te sciamus da Patrem,
Noscamus atque Filium,
Teque utriusque Spiritum
Credamus omni tempore.

Deo Patri sit gloria,
Et Filio, qui a mortuis
Surrexit, ac Paraclito,
In saeculorum saecula. Amen.

V. Emitte Spiritum tuum et creabuntur;
R. Et renovabis faciem terrae.

OREMUS  Deus, qui corda fidelium Sancti Spiritus illustratione docuisti; da nobis in eodem Spiritu recta sapere, et de ejus semper consolatione gaudere. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

Creator Spirit, come and visit the souls that are Yours: fill with heavenly grace the hearts that You created. You are called by the names of Paraclete, gift of God most high, spring of life, fire, love, and the soul's anointing. Seven gifts are Yours to give. You are the finger of the Father's right hand. You, the clear promise of the Father, give men's tongues the grace of speech. Kindle a light in our minds, pour love into our hearts, and uphold with Your unfailing strength the frailty of our human nature. Drive our enemy far from us and give us always the gift of peace; so may it be that, with Your grace ever guiding us in this way, we may avoid all that is sinful. Grant that through You we may know the Father and the Son, and may we ever believe You to be the Spirit of both the Father and the Son. To God the Father be glory, and to the Son who arose from the dead, and to the Paraclete unto endless ages. Amen.

Invocations

Holy Spirit, increase in our souls Your divine gifts, which as blessed instincts of grace mercifully impel us to approve the better things.

We beseech You, O God, that the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from You, may enlighten our minds and lead us to all truth, as Your Son promised.

Holy Spirit of truth, through Your most precious gifts teach our erring souls both to know and to love the divine will in all things, and thereby lead us safely through the dangers of life to our eternal Father, through Christ our Lord.

Holy Spirit, the Comforter, from whom comes the spirit of charity, infuse into our darkened hearts that love of God and our neighbor which is the fulfillment of the law and the prophets.

Give us, we beseech You, O Holy Spirit, that heavenly wisdom which sees all things truly as coming from God and piously refers them back to God as their all-wise author.

Holy Spirit, Creator, mercifully assist Your Catholic Church. By Your heavenly power strengthen and confirm her against the assaults of her enemies. By Your love and grace renew the spirit of Your servants whom You have anointed, that in You they may glorify the Father and His only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Come, Holy Spirit, almighty Sanctifier, God of love, who filled the Virgin Mary with grace, who wonderfully changed the hearts of the apostles, who endowed all Your martyrs with miraculous courage, come and sanctify us. Enlighten our minds, strengthen our wills, purify our conscience, rectify our judgment, set our hearts on fire, and preserve us from the misfortune of resisting Your inspirations. Amen.

Beloved of My Soul

Holy Spirit, beloved of my soul, I adore You. Enlighten me, guide me, strengthen me, console me. Tell me what I should do. Give me Your orders. I promise to submit myself to all that You desire of me and to accept all that You permit to happen to me. Let me only know Your will. Amen.

Cardinal Mercier

§  Grant, we beseech You, almighty God, that we may so please Your Holy Spirit by our earnest prayers, that by His grace we may be freed from all temptations and merit to receive the remission of our sins. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

For Wisdom and Knowledge

Lord, give me wisdom, the companion of Your throne, that it may ever be with me and labor with me, so that I may know what is acceptable to You, Lord, God. Who is there that can know Your meaning unless You give wisdom and send Your Holy Spirit from on high?

Mary, Mother of fair love and fear and knowledge and holy hope, through your faithful intercession many, though otherwise of modest talent, have made marvelous progress in learning and holiness. I choose you as the guardian and patron of my studies. By your heart full of maternal love, and above all by that Eternal Wisdom which condescended to take our flesh from you and beyond all the saints made you shine with heavenly light, I humbly ask you to obtain for me, through your intercession, the grace of the Holy Spirit. May it enable me to grasp with my mind, retain in my memory, and express by my words and my life, all that shall give honor to you and your Son, and be blessedly conducive to my eternal salvation. Amen.

Merciful God, grant me, I beg of You, ardently to desire, prudently to study, truly to understand, and perfectly to fulfill those things that are pleasing to You, for the praise and glory of Your name. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

St. Thomas Aquinas

My God, the Paraclete

My God, the Paraclete, I acknowledge Thee as the giver of that great gift by which alone we are saved, supernatural love. Man is by nature blind and hardhearted in all spiritual matters; how is he to reach heaven? It is by the flame of Thy grace, which consumes him in order to new-make him, and so to fit him to enjoy what without Thee he would have no taste for.

It is Thou, O almighty Paraclete, who hast been and art the strength, the vigor and endurance, of the martyr in the midst of his torments. Thou art the stay of the confessor in his long, tedious, and humiliating toils. Thou art the fire by which the preacher wins souls, without thought of himself, in his missionary labors.

By Thee we wake up from the death of sin, to exchange the idolatry of the creature for the pure love of the Creator. By Thee we make acts of faith, hope, charity, and contrition. By Thee we live in the atmosphere of earth, proof against its infection. By Thee we are able to consecrate ourselves to the sacred ministry, and fulfill our awful engagements to it. By the fire which Thou didst kindle within us, we pray, and we meditate, and do penance. As well could our bodies live, if the sun were extinguished, as our souls, if Thou art away.

If I differ from Thy saints, it is because I do not ask earnestly enough for Thy grace, and for enough of it, and because I do not diligently improve what Thou hast given me. Increase in me this grace of love, in spite of all my unworthiness. It is more precious than anything else in the world. I accept it in place of all the world can give me. It is my life. Amen.

Cardinal Newman

Novena for Pentecost

O Holy Spirit, divine Spirit of light and love, I consecrate to You my understanding, my heart, and my will, my whole being for time and for eternity. May my understanding be always submissive to Your heavenly inspirations and to the teachings of the holy Catholic Church, of which You are the infallible guide. May my heart be ever inflamed with love of God and of my neighbor. May my will be ever conformed to the divine will, and may my whole life be a faithful imitation of the life and virtues of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to whom with the Father and You be honor and glory forever. Amen.

Gratitude for the Faith

I adore Thee, O my Lord, the Third Person of the all-blessed Trinity, that Thou hast set up in this world of sin a great light upon a hill. Thou hast founded the Church, Thou hast established and maintained it. Thou fillest it continually with Thy gifts, that men may see, and draw near, and take, and live. Thou hast in this way brought down heaven upon earth. For Thou hast set up a great company which angels visit by that ladder which the patriarch saw in vision. Thou hast by Thy presence restored the communion between God above and man below. Thou hast given him that light of grace which is one with and the commencement of the light of glory. I adore and praise Thee for Thy infinite mercy toward us, O my Lord and God.

I adore Thee, O almighty Lord, the Paraclete, because Thou in Thy infinite compassion hast brought me into the Church, the work of Thy supernatural power. I had no claim on Thee for so wonderful a favor over anyone else in the world. Yet Thou, in Thy inscrutable love for me, hast chosen me and brought me into Thy fold. Thou hast a reason for everything Thou dost. I know there must have been an all-wise reason, as we speak in human language, for Thy choosing me and not another—but I know that that reason was something external to myself. And thus I owe all to Thy grace.

Now, then, give me this further grace, Lord, to use all this grace well, and to turn it to my salvation. Teach me to value as I ought, to prize as the inestimable pearl, that pardon which again and again Thou givest me, and the great and heavenly gift of the presence of Him whose Spirit Thou art, upon the altar. Without Thee I can do nothing, and Thou art where Thy Church is and Thy sacraments. Give me grace to rest in them forever, till they are lost in the glory of Thy manifestation in the world to come. Amen.

Cardinal Newman

Prayer for the Gifts

O Lord Jesus Christ, who before ascending into heaven, promised to send the Holy Spirit to finish Your work in the souls of Your apostles and disciples, deign to grant the same Holy Spirit to me that He may perfect in my soul the work of Your grace and love. Grant me the spirit of wisdom that I may despise the perishable things of this world and aspire only after those which are eternal, the spirit of understanding to enlighten my mind with the light of Your divine truth, the spirit of counsel that I may ever choose the surest way of pleasing God and gaining heaven, the spirit of fortitude that I may bear my cross with You and overcome with courage all the obstacles that oppose my salvation, the spirit of knowledge that I may know God and myself and grow perfect in the science of the saints, the spirit of piety that I may find the service of God sweet and amiable, the spirit of fear that I may be filled with a loving reverence toward God and dread in any way to displease Him. Mark me, dear Lord, with the sign of Your true disciples and animate me in all things with Your spirit. Amen.

§  Holy Spirit, loving guest of my soul, abide in me and grant that I may ever abide in You.

Strength and Fidelity

Holy Spirit of God, love of God, silent, secret, all preserving, breathing where You list, expressing our longings. You are wisdom, You are love, You are strength and fidelity. I am none of these. I need them all, sincerely I want them, I do believe sincerely I want them. You are the Father of the poor. You do not fail. Will You fail me? That I may never fail You, I cannot trust myself; that I may never do wrong; that I may be wise according to my place in life; that I may love truly, not falsely; that I may be faithful to God, to men; that I may have strength sufficient for the task You give me and may use it. Amen.

Archbishop Goodier

§  Come, Holy Spirit, almighty Sanctifier, God of love, who filled the Virgin Mary with grace, who wonderfully changed the hearts of the apostles, who endowed all Your martyrs with miraculous courage, come and sanctify us. Enlighten our minds, strengthen our wills, purify our conscience, rectify our judgment, set our hearts on fire, and preserve us from the misfortunes of resisting Your inspirations. Amen.

§  Holy Spirit, Creator, mercifully assist Your Catholic Church, and by Your heavenly power strengthen and confirm her against the assaults of her enemies. By Your love and grace renew the spirit of Your servants whom You have anointed, that in You they may glorify the Father and His only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Copyright © 1998 by Inter Mirifica