“Forget not the Holy Spirit at the moment of your enlightenment; He is ready to mark your soul with His seal…. He will give you the heavenly and divine seal which makes the devil tremble; He will arm you for the fight; He will give you strength.”
“Glory be to Him, Who received from us, that He might give to us; that through that which is ours, we might more abundantly receive of that which is His!”
“Virtues are formed by PRAYER. PRAYER preserves temperance. PRAYER suppresses anger. PRAYER prevents emotions of pride and envy. PRAYER draws into the soul the Holy Spirit and raises man to Heaven.”
“When you begin to read or listen to the Holy Scriptures, pray to God thus: “Lord Jesus Christ, open the ears and eyes of my heart so that I may hear Your words and understand them and may fulfill Your will.” Always pray to God like this, that He might illumine your mind and open to you the power of His words. Many, having trusted in their own reason, have turned away into deception.”
Be on Guard and pray that you may not undergo the test…………….Matthew 26:41
REFLECTION – “Jesus, who feared nothing, experienced fear and asked to be freed from death – although He knew it was impossible.
How much more must we persevere in prayer before temptation assails us – so that we may be freed when the test has come!”…St Ephrem
PRAYER – Heavenly Father, help me to work out my salvation in fear and trembling. Let me pray daily that I may withstand temptation and carry out Your will in all things. St Ephrem, please pray for us, that we may withstand the evils which surround us! Amen
O Lord and Master of my life
By St Ephrem of Syria (306-373) Doctor of the Church
O Lord and Master of my life,
grant not unto me a spirit of idleness,
of discouragement,
of lust for power
and of vain speaking.
But bestow upon me, Your servant,
the spirit of chastity,
of meekness,
of patience
and of love.
Yea, O Lord and King,
grant that I may perceive
my own transgressions
and judge not my brother,
for blessed are You unto ages of ages. Amen
Gerard Manley Hopkins SJ, one of the leading poets of the nineteenth century, died on this day in Dublin in 1889, His poetry is strikingly innovative, notable for its vivid imagery and new verse forms at a time when verse mainly followed traditional lines. He struggled with depression and ill health throughout his short life but his last words at age 44 were “I am so happy, I am so happy. I loved my life.”
Much of Gerard’s poetry was concerned with the divine presence in the material world, like this, probably one of the most renowned – “God’s Grandeur”
The world is charged with the grandeur of God. It will flame out, like shining from shook foil; It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod? Generations have trod, have trod, have trod; And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil; And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.
And for all this nature, is never spent; There lives the dearest freshness deep down things; And though the last lights off the black West went Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs— Because the Holy Ghost over the bent World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.
St ANTHONY of PADUA NOVENA for all our needs – DAY FIVE – 8 JUNE
DAY FIVE
I salute you, St. Anthony,
lily of purity, ornament and glory of Christianity.
I salute you, great Saint, cherub of wisdom and seraph of divine love.
I rejoice at the favours our Lord has so liberally bestowed upon you.
In humility and confidence I entreat you to help me,
for I know that God has given you charity and pity,
as well as power.
I ask you by the love you did feel toward the Infant Jesus
as you held Him in your arms to tell Him now of the favour I seek
through your intercession in this novena
(State your intention).
One Our Father, one Hail Mary, and Glory Be to the Father, in honour of Saint Anthony.
May the Holy Spirit help us put into practice the choices of Jacques Berthieu: his passion for a challenging mission that led him to another country, another language and another culture, his personal attachment to the Lord expressed in prayer, his pastoral zeal, which was simultaneously a fraternal love of the faithful entrusted to his care and a commitment to lead them higher on the Christian way and finally, a life lived as gift, a choice lived out every day until the death which definitively configured him to Christ.
It is the choice we must all make – let us see our lives too as a missionary, in amongst the daily norms and battles, for viewed through our Christian eyes, our encounters are not that much different to that strange island where St Jacques Berthieu carried out his vocation.
“When we go before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament
we represent the one in the world
who is in most need of God’s Mercy.”
We “Stand in behalf of the one in the world
who does not know Christ and who is farthest away from God
and we bring down upon their soul the Precious Blood of The Lamb.”
– St Pope John Paul
It was said of today’s Saint – Jacques Berthieu, by one of his catechists,
“I have seen no other Father remain so long before the Blessed Sacrament.
Whenever we looked for him, we were sure to find him there.”
Let us not grow tired of doing good,
for in due time we shall reap our harvest,
if we do not give up……….Galatians 6:9
REFLECTION – ………“how much I still love the soil of my country and the beloved land of the Auvergne. And yet God has given me the grace to love even more these uncultivated fields of Madagascar, where I can only catch a few souls for our Lord… The mission progresses, even though the fruit is still a matter of hope in some places and hardly visible in others. But what does it matter, so long as we are good sowers? God will give growth when the time comes.” …………………St Jacques Berthieu SJ
PRAYER – Heavenly Father, may the intercession of St Jacques Berthieu help us to recognise the strength that is given to us in our weakness, so that we might live our vocation with fidelity and joy and give ourselves totally to the mission received from Your Divine Son, the Lord! St Jacques Berthieu, pray for us, amen.
O make my heart beat with Your Heart!
By Bl Cardinal John Henry Newman
Most Sacred,
most loving Heart of Jesus,
You are concealed in the Holy Eucharist,
And You beat for us still.
Now, as then, You say:
“With desire I have desired.”
I worship You
with all my best love and awe,
With fervent affection,
With my most subdued,
most resolved will.
For a while, You take up Your abode within me.
O make my heart beat with Your Heart!
Purify it of all that is earthly,
All that is proud and sensual,
All that is hard and cruel,
Of all perversity,
Of all disorder,
Of all deadness.
So fill it with You,
That neither the events of the day,
Nor the circumstances of the time,
May have the power to ruffle it;
But that in Your love and Your fear,
It may have peace. Amen
I salute and honour you,
O powerful helper, St. Anthony.
The Christian world confidently turns to you
and experiences your tender compassion
and powerful assistance in so many necessities and sufferings
that I am encouraged in my need to seek your help
in obtaining a favourable answer to my request,
for this my special intention in this novena
(State your intention).
O holy St. Anthony, I beseech you,
obtain for me the grace that I desire.
One Our Father, one Hail Mary, and Glory Be to the Father, in honour of Saint Anthony.
“How can anyone be lonely, with Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament?”
“Three things I cannot escape: the eye of God, the voice of conscience, the stroke of death. In company, guard your tongue. In your family, guard your temper. When alone guard your thoughts.”
I call heaven and earth today to witness against you: I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live by loving the LORD, your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him…..Deuteronomy 30:19-20
REFLECTION – “The false gods competing for people’s allegiance today, are associated with the worship of material things, possessive and manipulative forms of love and power. The cult of material possessions, the cult of possessive love and the cult of power often lead people to attempt to ‘play God,’ to try to seize total control with no regard for the wisdom of the commandments that God has made known to us. This is the path that leads toward death.” …..Pope Benedict XVI whilst visiting a Rehabilitation Centre in 2008
PRAYER – Lord, in Your servant, Venerable Matt Talbot you have given us a wonderful example of triumph over addiction, of devotion to duty and charity and commitment to daily prayer. May his life of prayer and penance give us courage to take up our crosses and follow in the footsteps of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Venerable Matt Talbot please pray for all those who are slaves to addiction and for the whole world, amen.
Prayer to the Sacred Heart by Saint Francis De Sales (1567-1622) Doctor of Charity
May Your heart dwell always in our hearts!
May Your blood ever flow in the veins of our souls!
O sun of our hearts, You give life to all things by the rays of Your goodness!
I will not go, until Your heart has strengthened me, O Lord Jesus!
May the heart of Jesus be the king of my heart!
Blessed be God. Amen
St Anthony of Padua Novena for all our needs – Day Three 6 June
DAY THREE
O purest St. Anthony,
who through your angelic virtue
was made worthy to be caressed by the Divine Child Jesus,
to hold him in your arms and press him to your heart.
I entreat you to cast a benevolent glance upon me.
O glorious St. Anthony,
born under the protection of Mary Immaculate,
on the Feast of her Assumption into Heaven
and consecrated to her and now so powerful an intercessor in Heaven,
I beseech you to obtain for me the favour I ask in this novena
(State your intention).
O great wonder-worker, intercede for me that God may grant my request.
One Our Father, one Hail Mary, and Glory Be to the Father, in honour of Saint Anthony.
“O Priest! You are not of yourself because you are of God. You are not of yourself because you are the servant and minister of Christ. You are not your own because you are the spouse of the Church. You are not yourself because you are the mediator between God and man. You are not from yourself because you are nothing. What then are you? Nothing and everything. O Priest! Take care, lest what was said to Christ on the cross be said to you: ‘He saved others, himself he cannot save!”
The name of St Norbert’s order is unfamiliar to most but the Premonstratensians are an ancient order, founded in 1121. His Canons Regular of Premontre made a huge contribution to the religious culture of Europe and athe world and are as active today as they were when they were founded. One of it’s members, founded and directs the “Church in Need”, which works quietly to assist Catholics in those countries where the faith is suppressed.
St Norbert showed himself to be a forceful reformer and was almost assassinated several times. He was a friend of, and highly regarded by St Bernard of Clairvaux, who assisted him wherever he could. Even with the aid of a goodly number of men who joined his Order, he realised that nothing could be effectively done without God’s power. Finding this help especially in devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, he and his Norbertines praised God for success in converting heretics, reconciling numerous enemies and rebuilding faith in indifferent believers.
St Norbert was 33 years old before he took God seriously and during the next 20 years he made up for lost time. He did not stop to bewail lost years but gave everything he had to God. It is never too late to begin and God is always waiting for our service. We do not need a bolt of lightening to get started.
Unswerving loyalty to the Church and fervent devotion to the Eucharist, as practiced by Norbert, will continue immeasurably toward maintaining the people of God in accord with the heart of Christ.
When you have done all you have been commanded to do, say “We are useless servants. We have done no more than our duty.”…………Luke 17:9-10
REFLECTION – “Lord, what do you want me to do?” ……St Norbert
PRAYER – Holy Father, you made the Bishop St Norbert, an outstanding minister of Your Church,
renowned for his preaching and pastoral zeal. for his love of the Blessed Sacrament and for his love of the priesthood. Grant to Your Church faithful shepherds to lead your people to eternal salvation.
St Norbert, help us hear the answer to our prayer “Lord what do you want me to do?” and please pray for us and for the whole Church of our Lord Jesus Christ,amen.
On my knees before the multitude of heavenly witnesses,
I offer myself, soul and body, to You, eternal Spirit of God.
I adore the brightness of Your purity,
the unerring keeness of Your justice,
and the power of Your love.
You are the strength and light of my soul,
In You I live and move and have my being.
I desire never to grieve You by infidelity to Your grace,
and I pray wholeheartedly to be preserved
from the slightest sin against You.
Make me faithful in my every thought,
and grant that I may always listen to Your voice,
watch for Your light
and follow Your gracious inspirations.
I cling to You
and beg You, in Your compassion,
to watch over me in my weakness.
Holding the pierced feet of Jesus,
gazing as His five wounds,
trusting to His Precious Blood
and adoring His open side and stricken Heart,
I implore You, adorable Spirit,
so to keep me in Your grace
that I may never sin against You.
Grant me the grace,
O Holy Spirit of the Father and the Son,
to say to You always and everywhere:
“Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.”
Amen.
St Anthony of Padua Novena for all our needs – Day Two – 5 June
DAY TWO
O miracle-working St. Anthony,
remember that it never has been heard,
that you left without help or relief anyone
who in his need had recourse to you.
Animated now with the most lively confidence,
even with full conviction of not being refused,
I fly for refuge to thee, O most favoured friend of the Infant Jesus.
O eloquent preacher of the divine mercy,
despise not my supplications
but, bringing them before the throne of God,
strengthen them by your intercession
and obtain for me the favour I seek in this novena
(State your intention).
One Our Father, one Hail Mary, and Glory Be to the Father, in honor of Saint Anthony.
An excerpt from a letter by St. Boniface, bishop and martyr:
“Let us stand fast in what is right and prepare our souls for trial. Let us wait upon God’s strengthening aid and say to Him: “O Lord, you have been our refuge in all generations.” Let us trust in Him who has placed this burden upon us. What we ourselves cannot bear, let us bear with the help of Christ. For He is all-powerful and He tells us: “My yoke is easy and my burden light.” Let us continue the fight on the day of the Lord. The days of anguish and of tribulation have overtaken us; if God so wills, “let us die for the holy laws of our fathers”, so that we may deserve to obtain an eternal inheritance with them. Let us be neither dogs that do not bark nor silent onlookers nor paid servants who run away before the wolf. Instead let us be careful shepherds watching over Christ’s flock. Let us preach the whole of God’s plan to the powerful and to the humble, to rich and to poor, to men of every rank and age, as far as God gives us the strength, in season and out of season.”
“Boniface, known as the apostle of the Germans, was an English Benedictine monk who gave up being elected abbot to devote his life to the conversion of the Germanic tribes. Two characteristics stand out: his Christian orthodoxy and his fidelity to the pope of Rome.
How absolutely necessary this orthodoxy and fidelity were, is borne out by the conditions Boniface found on his first missionary journey in 719 at the request of Pope Gregory II. Paganism was a way of life. What Christianity he did find had either lapsed into paganism or was mixed with error. The clergy were mainly responsible for these latter conditions since they were in many instances uneducated, lax and questionably obedient to their bishops. In particular instances their very ordinations were questionable.
These are the conditions that Boniface was to report in 722 on his first return visit to Rome. The Holy Father instructed him to reform the German Church. The pope sent letters of recommendation to religious and civil leaders. Boniface later admitted that his work would have been unsuccessful, from a human viewpoint, without a letter of safe-conduct from Charles Martel, the powerful Frankish ruler, grandfather of Charlemagne. Boniface was finally made a regional bishop and authorized to organize the whole German Church. He was eminently successful.
Boniface bears out the Christian rule: To follow Christ is to follow the way of the cross.
For Boniface, it was not only physical suffering or death but the painful, thankless, bewildering task of Church reform.
Missionary glory is often thought of in terms of bringing new persons to Christ”, which he did in the thousands too.
“It seems—but is not—less glorious to heal the household of the faith.” (Fr Don Miller OFM)
So those little deeds we do in our lives and in our ‘online lives’ – they too can be seen – where we remain true to the Church and to the Holy Father and Magisterium – as following St Boniface in orthodoxy and faithfulness and contributing to the teaching of the faith.
“Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”………….Luke 10:16
REFLECTION – “In her voyage across the ocean of this world, the Church is like a great ship being pounded by the waves of life’s different stresses. Our duty is not to abandon ship but to keep her on her course.”……….St Boniface
PRAYER – Lord Jesus, help me to remain ever faithful to Your Church. Let me aid, build up and defend her. Let me never be a cause of division and schism – for in denying the direction we receive, that is exactly what we do. Help me always Lord to remain true to the Your representative in our world. St Boniface, pray for us all and for the whole world, amen.
Eternal God,
the refuge and help of all Your children,
we praise You for all You have given us,
for all You have done for us,
for all that You are to us.
In our weakness, You are strength,
in our darkness, You are light,
in our sorrow, You are comfort and peace.
We cannot number Your blessings,
we cannot declare Your love:
For all Your blessings we bless You.
May we live as in Your presence,
and love the things that You love,
and serve You in our daily lives;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
“The Church of Christ is always,
so to speak, in a situation of Pentecost:
she is always gathered in the Upper Room in prayer
and at the same time,
driven by the powerful wind of the Spirit,
she is always on the streets preaching”……….St John Paul June 8, 2003
“The Pentecost of the Upper Room
in Jerusalem is THE BEGINNING
a beginning which endures.”……………Pope Francis – Pentecost 2013
“Pentecost is the moment
when a heart of stone is
shattered and a heart of
flesh takes its place.”…………………Fr Raneiro Cantalamessa (Preacher to the Papal Household)
“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 into our minds, it is the Holy Spirit who is visiting us.
The Holy Spirit is a power.
The Holy Spirit …. 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 to me 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 Pans. 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.“…St John Vianney
“O Divine Spirit, draw us to the highest heaven where Jesus lives forever, interceding for us. Come, fill our hearts with Your fire, show us the way to the Lord that we may find Him shining with beauty and love. Amen”
“The Spirit of truth…remain with you and will be within you…….John 14:17
REFLECTION – The Holy Spirit does not remain inactive in us: He wipes away sins, purifies hearts, revivifies the tepid and enlightens the ignorant.
His inspirations suggest to us what we ought and what we ought not to do. There exists an infinite variety of His commandments…….St Anthony of Padua
PRAYER – Come, Holy Spirit, fill the heart of Your servant and kindle in me the fire of Your gifts! Be with me, in me and lead me to the light, amen.
We beg the all-merciful Father through You,
His only-begotten Son made man for our sake,
crucified and glorified for us,
to send upon us from His treasure-house,
the Spirit of sevenfold grace,
who rested upon You in all His fullness:
the spirit of wisdom:
enabling us to relish the fruit of the tree of life,
which is indeed Yourself;
the gift of understanding: to enlighten our perceptions;
the gift of prudence, enabling us to follow in Your footsteps;
the gift of strength: to withstand our adversary’s onslaught;
the gift of knowledge: to distinguish good from evil
by the light of thy holy teaching;
the gift of piety: to clothe ourselves with charity and mercy;
the gift of fear: to withdraw from all ill-doing
and live quietly in awe of Your eternal majesty.
These are the things for which petition.
Grant them for the honour of Your Holy Name,
to which, with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
be all honour and glory,
thanksgiving, renown and lordship for ever and ever. Amen
“VENI SANCTE SPIRITUS” (Come, Holy Spirit) – (chant – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pU34vUoO9g)
One of the most widely used hymns in the Church, Veni, Creator Spiritus, is attributed to Blessed Rabanus Maurus (776-856), Archbishop of Mainz. It is commonly sung in the feast of Pentecost liturgy and other occasions when the Holy Spirit is solemnly invoked. The Veni Creator is also the official opening prayer for Church councils and synods. A partial indulgence is granted to the faithful who devoutly recite the hymn and a plenary indulgence if recited publicly in church on the 1st of January and on the feast of Pentecost. There are many translations of this beautiful Hymn which all differ slightly just as the Holy Scriptures do in it’s various translations.
Come, Holy Spirit, Creator blest,
and in our souls take up Thy rest;
come with Thy grace and heavenly aid
to fill the hearts which Thou hast made.
O comforter, to Thee we cry,
O heavenly gift of God Most High,
O fount of life and fire of love,
and sweet anointing from above.
Thou in Thy sevenfold gifts are known;
Thou, finger of God’s hand we own;
Thou, promise of the Father, Thou
Who dost the tongue with power imbue.
Kindle our sense from above,
and make our hearts o’erflow with love;
with patience firm and virtue high
the weakness of our flesh supply.
Far from us drive the foe we dread,
and grant us Thy peace instead;
so shall we not, with Thee for guide,
turn from the path of life aside.
Oh, may Thy grace on us bestow
the Father and the Son to know;
and Thee, through endless times confessed,
of both the eternal Spirit blest.
Now to the Father and the Son,
Who rose from death, be glory given,
with Thou, O Holy Comforter,
henceforth by all in earth and heaven.
Amen
Solemnity of Pentecost – 4 June 2017 – Wishing you all a Holy, Blessed and inspired Pentecost!
The Solemnity of Pentecost is the birthday of the Church:
The Church was made manifest to the world on the day of Pentecost by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The gift of the Spirit ushers in a new era in the “dispensation of the mystery” the age of the Church, during which Christ manifests, makes present, and communicates his work of salvation through the liturgy of His Church, “until he comes.” (CCC, #1076)
Pentecost is not just an isolated feast of the Holy Spirit but an integral feast of the Easter season. Pentecost is also an elementary feast — not as in getting to back to the basics or beginnings of the Catholic Church but can be described elementary as in the four elements of Aristotle: earth, wind, fire and water.
Red Easter: Pentecost closes the Easter season and not in an anticlimactic fashion but in a grand finale. We so often tend to look at this feast as a separate entity for the Holy Spirit but the Church integrates this feast into the Easter season as a whole. there is significance in the number of days and weeks during the Easter season and in the eyes of the Church, the 50 days are viewed as “one feast day.” The Italian name for Pentecost, Pasqua rossa (Red Easter) is a great reminder of this connection.
22. The fifty days from the Sunday of the Resurrection to Pentecost Sunday are celebrated in joy and exultation as one feast day, indeed as one “great Sunday.” These are the days above all others in which the Alleluia is sung.
23. The Sundays of this time of year are considered to be Sundays of Easter and are called, after Easter Sunday itself, the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Sundays of Easter. This sacred period of fifty days concludes with Pentecost Sunday. (From the General Norms of the Liturgical Year and Calendar).
The Descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost is closely linked to the feast of the Resurrection, our Passover Feast:
On the day of Pentecost when the seven weeks of Easter had come to an end, Christ’s Passover is fulfilled in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, manifested, given and communicated as a divine person: of his fullness, Christ, the Lord, pours out the Spirit in abundance. On that day, the Holy Trinity is fully revealed. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #731-732)
In reading the account of Pentecost in the Acts of the Apostles, there is very pronounced imagery. It is easy to recognise the wind and fire but all four classic elements of Greek philosopher, Aristotle, are present at Pentecost, earth, wind, fire and water.
Wind
First in the account of Pentecost from Acts 2:1-11 came the wind: “And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were.”
Most Biblical renderings of the God or the Holy Spirit is through a gentle breath, such as Jesus breathing on the Apostles in the Resurrection appearance in the Upper Room. At Pentecost it is the same room, but here the Holy Spirit comes as wind of strength and power.
There is nothing subtler than the wind, which manages to penetrate everywhere, even to reach inanimate bodies and give them a life of their own. The rushing wind of the day of Pentecost expresses the new force with which divine love invades the Church and souls (p. 592, In Conversation with God, Volume 2, by Francis Fernandez).
Fire
Next came the fire: “Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them.” It is this combination of wind and fire that is the gift of tongues. One of the optional readings for Pentecost is the story of the Tower of Babel. Pius Parsch, as quoted on the Catholic Culture’s Pentecost page, explains that is was the sin of pride that separated and divided those at Babel. The Holy Spirit brings unity and love, which allows those languages to be spoken and understood by all.
The liturgical color for Pentecost is red, the color of fire and blood and the symbol of love. The last time we have seen red vestments outside of the feasts of martyrs or apostles is Palm Sunday and Good Friday. The red for those days recalled the blood of Christ. Today the red recalls the tongues of fire and we ask the Holy Spirit to ignite our hearts, just as we pray:
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of thy Faithful; and enkindle in them the fire of Thy love….
“In medieval times, many churches had a “Holy Ghost Hole”, a small circular opening in the ceiling of the church. The holes would be decorated on Pentecost, with various items symbolising the Holy Spirit lowered through the hole. This practice calls to mind the elements of wind and fire. Father Francis Weiser describes the tradition (emphasis mine):
In medieval times the figure of a dove was widely used to enact in a dramatic way the descent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sunday. When the priest had arrived at the sequence, he sang the first words in a loud and solemn voice: Veni Sancte Spiritus (Come, Holy Ghost). Immediately there arose in the church a sound “as of a violent wind blowing” (Acts 2, 2). This noise was produced in some countries, like France, by the blowing of trumpets; in others by the choir boys, who hissed, hummed, pressed windbags, and rattled the benches. All eyes turned toward the ceiling of the church where from an opening called the “Holy Ghost Hole” there appeared a disc the size of a cart wheel, which slowly descended in horizontal position, swinging in ever-widening circles. Upon a blue background, broken by bundles of golden rays, it bore on its underside the figure of a white dove.
Meanwhile the choir sang the sequence. At its conclusion the dove came to rest, hanging suspended in the middle of the church. There followed a “rain” of flowers indicating the gifts of the Holy Spirit and of water symbolizing baptism. In some towns of central Europe people even went so far as to drop pieces of burning wick or straw from the Holy Ghost Hole, to represent the flaming tongues of Pentecost. This practice, however, was eventually stopped because it tended to put the people on fire externally, instead of internally as the Holy Spirit had done at Jerusalem. In the thirteenth century in many cathedrals of France real white pigeons were released during the singing of the sequence and new around in the church while roses were dropped from the Holy Ghost Hole (Weiser, Holyday Book).
Except for the burning bits, some of these practices have been revived in these older churches. In parts of Italy and Sicily, red rose petals are dropped through the hole. This is an especially spectacular sight in the church in Rome dedicated to St. Mary and the Martyrs that was formerly the Pantheon. There is an opening in the dome and the rose petals are dropped, filling the church and covering the floor.
Rose Petals raining down on Pentecost Sunday in St Mary and the Martyrs (Pantheon), Rome
Red and fire are the dominant images used in Pentecost celebrations. In many places of the Northern Hemisphere, this is height of strawberry season and the red fruits shapes like tongues of fire seem perfect for the feast day that falls in the warmer months.”
Earth
The earth element doesn’t seem to be as obvious with the connection more as it relates to God’s creation. Pentecost, which means “Fiftieth Day” in Greek, was a Jewish festival marking the 7 weeks or 50 days after the Passover. It was a harvest festival, offering the first fruits in thanksgiving to God. Later the feast also commemorated the giving of the Law or Ten Commandments to Moses at Sinai. Our civilization has become less agrarian but this “earth element” should be a universal reminder to us as respect and thanksgiving for creation. Pope Benedict explains and elaborates:
“From its earliest prehistory [Pentecost] has been a feast of harvest. In Palestine the crops were ripe in May; Pentecost was the thanksgiving for the grain harvest. Man sees the fruitfulness which results from the interplay of heaven and earth as the miracle by which he lives and he acknowledges that gratitude is the appropriate response to this miracle….Has this become meaningless today? If we think of “Holy Spirit” only in terms of Christian inwardness and of “harvest” only in terms of technology and commerce, our view of the world has become schizophrenic. At Pentecost the church prays a verse from the psalms which runs: Send forth your Spirit, O Lord, and renew the face of the earth. Initially this refers to the creative Spirit which has called the world into being and maintains it in being. It is important to have a new reality of this at Pentecost: the Holy Spirit who came down upon the apostles is the same Spirit who fashioned the world….”
Against this background we must also understand that, in Israel, Pentecost was the remembrance of the arrival at Sinai and the celebration of the Covenant which had set out a path for Israel to travel in the form of the law. Christians have always seen their Pentecost as a continuation of this idea: the New Law is love, breaking down barriers and uniting people in the New Covenant. Love, too, is not formless or arbitrary; it is a formation from within, a wakefulness of the heart which takes up the rhythm of creation and perfects it. (Seek That Which is Above, 79-81)”
Water
The final element, water, is not an image of the Holy Spirit but a direct result of the coming of the Paraclete upon the Disciples. After they were filled with the Holy Spirit, they left the Upper Room and began to proclaim the Gospel. And on hearing their words, 3000 were baptised that day. The matter of baptism is water.
From the very day of Pentecost the Church has celebrated and administered holy Baptism. Indeed St. Peter declares to the crowd astounded by his preaching: “Repent, and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
26. The apostles and their collaborators offer Baptism to anyone who believed in Jesus: Jews, the God-fearing, pagans. 27 Always, Baptism is seen as connected with faith: “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household,” St. Paul declared to his jailer in Philippi. And the narrative continues, the jailer “was baptised at once, with all his family” (CCC, #1226)
With every baptism comes the reminders of the first Pentecost. Today is also a good feast to celebrate our reception of the sacraments of baptism and confirmation. ( Jennifer Gregory Miller)
“Jesus was born in cave in Bethlehem because, Sacred Scripture tells us, “there was no room for them in the inn.” I am not departing from theological truth when I say that Jesus is still looking for shelter in your heart.”
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