O Come
Creator Spirit!
THE
HOLY SPIRIT
A Pentecost Meditation
To be in touch with Christ,
we must first have been touched
by the Holy Spirit.
(Catechism #683)
O come, Creator Spirit, come
to visit minds You made Your own
and fill with Your supernal grace
the hearts of Your created ones.
You are proclaimed the Paraclete,
the blessed Gift of God Most High,
the living Fountain, Charity,
the soul's anointing, sacred Fire.
You are the Gift full sevenfold,
the Finger of the hand divine,
the Father's Promise, well bestowed,
enriching throats with special sublime.
Enkindle in our senses light,
into our hearts pour forth Your love,
our bodies' weakness making firm
with strength unfailing from above.
The enemy drive far away
and swiftly grant Your lasting peace.
O be our Leader on the way
that from all evil we may flee!
Through You may we the Father know,
the Son, through You, we also know.
May we through time our faith repose
in You, O Spirit of them both!
Amen.
English Translation of
the Latin Hymn,
Veni, Creator Spiritus
by Rabanus Maurus (+856)
For St. Francis and St. Clare, it was a definite "must" on their spiritual shopping list. So certain were they that no follower of theirs could do without it that they included a "no options" clause about it in their Rules. That each of their spiritual children should desire above all to have the Spirit of the Lord and His holy way of working. Why? Because
the
Holy Spirit is the first to awaken faith in us
and to communicate to us the new life. (#684)
So eager was St. Francis to impress upon his brothers the importance of the Paraclete un the life of their fraternity that he proclaimed the Holy Spirit the "Minister General" of the Order. He knew that the heights of Gospel perfection can be reached only with the help of the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity.
By
the power of the Holy Spirit,
God's children can bear much fruit.
"We live by the Spirit;" the more we renounce ourselves,
the more we "walk by the Spirit." (#736)
But if the Holy Spirit moves the heart and converts it to God (#153), He is also the One from whom God's children learn to pray. (#2650) An enclosed lifetime of prayer confirmed St. Clare in her devotion to Him who is the Master of prayer. (#741) For Clare, the fruit of prayer was living the Christ-life, a spiritual harvest of virtue which could only be reaped through
the Holy Spirit, the
interior Master of life
according to Christ, who inspires,
guides, corrects and strengthens this life. (#1697)
Let us, then, follow the Seraphic Saints on the Way that is Christ, running in the company of His Holy Spirit who builds, animates and sanctifies the Church (#747), first of all by filling the hearts of all believers with the fire of His love.
