01 Quand arriva le
jour de la Pentecôte, au terme des cinquante jours, ils se trouvaient réunis
tous ensemble.
02 Soudain un bruit
survint du ciel comme un violent coup de vent : la maison où ils étaient
assis en fut remplie tout entière.
03 Alors leur apparurent
des langues qu’on aurait dites de feu, qui se partageaient, et il s’en posa une
sur chacun d’eux.
04 Tous furent
remplis d’Esprit Saint : ils se mirent à parler en d’autres langues, et
chacun s’exprimait selon le don de l’Esprit.
05 Or, il y avait,
résidant à Jérusalem, des Juifs religieux, venant de toutes les nations sous le
ciel.
06 Lorsque ceux-ci
entendirent la voix qui retentissait, ils se rassemblèrent en foule. Ils
étaient en pleine confusion parce que chacun d’eux entendait dans son propre
dialecte ceux qui parlaient.
07 Dans la
stupéfaction et l’émerveillement, ils disaient : « Ces gens qui
parlent ne sont-ils pas tous Galiléens ?
08 Comment se
fait-il que chacun de nous les entende dans son propre dialecte, sa langue
maternelle ?
09 Parthes, Mèdes et
Élamites, habitants de la Mésopotamie, de la Judée et de la Cappadoce, de la
province du Pont et de celle d’Asie,
10 de la Phrygie et
de la Pamphylie, de l’Égypte et des contrées de Libye proches de Cyrène,
Romains de passage,
11 Juifs de
naissance et convertis, Crétois et Arabes, tous nous les entendons parler dans
nos langues des merveilles de Dieu. »
12 Ils étaient tous
dans la stupéfaction et la perplexité, se disant l’un à l’autre :
« Qu’est-ce que cela signifie ? »
13 D’autres se
moquaient et disaient : « Ils sont pleins de vin doux ! »
14 Alors Pierre,
debout avec les onze autres Apôtres, éleva la voix et leur fit cette
déclaration : « Vous, Juifs, et vous tous qui résidez à Jérusalem,
sachez bien ceci, prêtez l’oreille à mes paroles.
15 Non, ces gens-là
ne sont pas ivres comme vous le supposez, car c’est seulement la troisième
heure du jour.
16 Mais ce qui
arrive a été annoncé par le prophète Joël :
17 Il arrivera dans
les derniers jours, dit Dieu, que je répandrai mon Esprit sur toute
créature : vos fils et vos filles prophétiseront, vos jeunes gens auront
des visions, et vos anciens auront des songes.
18 Même sur mes
serviteurs et sur mes servantes, je répandrai mon Esprit en ces jours-là, et
ils prophétiseront.
19 Je ferai des
prodiges en haut dans le ciel, et des signes en bas sur la terre : du
sang, du feu, un nuage de fumée.
20 Le soleil sera
changé en ténèbres, et la lune sera changée en sang, avant que vienne le jour
du Seigneur, jour grand et manifeste.
21 Alors, quiconque
invoquera le nom du Seigneur sera sauvé.
22 Hommes d’Israël,
écoutez les paroles que voici. Il s’agit de Jésus le Nazaréen, homme que Dieu a
accrédité auprès de vous en accomplissant par lui des miracles, des prodiges et
des signes au milieu de vous, comme vous le savez vous-mêmes.
23 Cet homme, livré
selon le dessein bien arrêté et la prescience de Dieu, vous l’avez supprimé en
le clouant sur le bois par la main des impies.
24 Mais Dieu l’a
ressuscité en le délivrant des douleurs de la mort, car il n’était pas possible
qu’elle le retienne en son pouvoir.
25 En effet, c’est
de lui que parle David dans le psaume : Je voyais le Seigneur devant moi
sans relâche : il est à ma droite, je suis inébranlable.
26 C’est pourquoi
mon cœur est en fête, et ma langue exulte de joie ; ma chair elle-même
reposera dans l’espérance :
27 tu ne peux
m’abandonner au séjour des morts ni laisser ton fidèle voir la corruption.
28 Tu m’as appris
des chemins de vie, tu me rempliras d’allégresse par ta présence.
29 Frères, il est
permis de vous dire avec assurance, au sujet du patriarche David, qu’il est
mort, qu’il a été enseveli, et que son tombeau est encore aujourd’hui chez
nous.
30 Comme il était
prophète, il savait que Dieu lui avait juré de faire asseoir sur son trône un
homme issu de lui.
31 Il a vu d’avance
la résurrection du Christ, dont il a parlé ainsi : Il n’a pas été
abandonné à la mort, et sa chair n’a pas vu la corruption.
32 Ce Jésus, Dieu
l’a ressuscité ; nous tous, nous en sommes témoins.
33 Élevé par la droite
de Dieu, il a reçu du Père l’Esprit Saint qui était promis, et il l’a répandu
sur nous, ainsi que vous le voyez et l’entendez.
34 David, en effet,
n’est pas monté au ciel, bien qu’il dise lui-même : Le Seigneur a dit à
mon Seigneur : “Siège à ma droite,
35 jusqu’à ce que
j’aie placé tes ennemis comme un escabeau sous tes pieds.”
36 Que toute la
maison d’Israël le sache donc avec certitude : Dieu l’a fait Seigneur et
Christ, ce Jésus que vous aviez crucifié. »
37 Les auditeurs
furent touchés au cœur ; ils dirent à Pierre et aux autres Apôtres :
« Frères, que devons-nous faire ? »
38 Pierre leur
répondit : « Convertissez-vous, et que chacun de vous soit baptisé au
nom de Jésus Christ pour le pardon de ses péchés ; vous recevrez alors le
don du Saint-Esprit.
39 Car la promesse
est pour vous, pour vos enfants et pour tous ceux qui sont loin, aussi nombreux
que le Seigneur notre Dieu les appellera. »
40 Par bien d’autres
paroles encore, Pierre les adjurait et les exhortait en disant :
« Détournez-vous de cette génération tortueuse, et vous serez
sauvés. »
41 Alors, ceux qui
avaient accueilli la parole de Pierre furent baptisés. Ce jour-là, environ
trois mille personnes se joignirent à eux.
42 Ils étaient
assidus à l’enseignement des Apôtres et à la communion fraternelle, à la
fraction du pain et aux prières.
43 La crainte de
Dieu était dans tous les cœurs à la vue des nombreux prodiges et signes
accomplis par les Apôtres.
44 Tous les croyants
vivaient ensemble, et ils avaient tout en commun ;
45 ils vendaient
leurs biens et leurs possessions, et ils en partageaient le produit entre tous
en fonction des besoins de chacun.
46 Chaque jour, d’un
même cœur, ils fréquentaient assidûment le Temple, ils rompaient le pain dans
les maisons, ils prenaient leurs repas avec allégresse et simplicité de
cœur ;
47 ils louaient Dieu
et avaient la faveur du peuple tout entier. Chaque jour, le Seigneur leur
adjoignait ceux qui allaient être sauvés.
Saint LUC, ACTES DES
APÔTRES, chapitre II
Psaume 103 (104)
Bénis le Seigneur, ô mon
âme ;
Seigneur mon Dieu, tu es
si grand !
Quelle profusion dans tes
œuvres, Seigneur !
La terre s’emplit de tes
biens. R
Tu reprends leur souffle,
ils expirent
et retournent à leur
poussière.
Tu envoies ton souffle :
ils sont créés ;
tu renouvelles la face de
la terre. R
Gloire au Seigneur à tout
jamais !
Que Dieu se réjouisse en
ses œuvres !
Que mon poème lui soit
agréable ;
moi, je me réjouis dans
le Seigneur. R
©AELF
SOURCE : http://www.prionseneglise.fr/Les-textes-du-jour/Psaume/Psaume-103-1042
SOURCE : http://www.aelf.org/bible-liturgie/Rm/Lettre+de+saint+Paul+Ap%C3%B4tre+aux+Romains/chapitre/8
SÉQUENCE
Viens,
Esprit Saint en nos coeurs
et
envoie du haut du ciel
un
rayon de ta lumière.
Viens
en nous, Père des pauvres,
viens,
dispensateur des dons,
viens,
lumière de nos coeurs.
Consolateur
souverain,
hôte
très doux de nos âmes,
adoucissante
fraîcheur.
Dans
le labeur, le repos ;
dans
la fièvre, la fraîcheur ;
dans
les pleurs, le réconfort.
Ô
lumière bienheureuse,
viens
remplir jusqu’à l’intime
le
coeur de tous tes fidèles.
Sans
ta puissance divine,
il
n’est rien en aucun homme,
rien
qui ne soit perverti.
Lave
ce qui est souillé,
baigne
ce qui est aride,
guéris
ce qui est blessé.
Assouplis
ce qui est raide,
réchauffe
ce qui est froid,
rends
droit ce qui est faussé.
À
tous ceux qui ont la foi,
et
qui en toi se confient,
donne
tes sept dons sacrés.
Donne
mérite et vertu,
donne
le salut final,
donne
la joie éternelle.
Amen
!
SOURCE : http://www.mavocation.org/vocation/suivre-jesus-christ/prieres/1860-sequence-pentecote.html
Évangile de
Jésus-Christ selon saint Jean - Chapitre 14
15 Si
vous m’aimez, vous garderez mes commandements.
16 Moi,
je prierai le Père, et il vous donnera un autre Défenseur qui sera pour
toujours avec vous :
17
l’Esprit de vérité, lui que le monde ne peut recevoir, car il ne le voit pas et
ne le connaît pas ; vous, vous le connaissez, car il demeure auprès de
vous, et il sera en vous.
18 Je ne
vous laisserai pas orphelins, je reviens vers vous.
19 D’ici
peu de temps, le monde ne me verra plus, mais vous, vous me verrez vivant, et
vous vivrez aussi.
20 En ce
jour-là, vous reconnaîtrez que je suis en mon Père, que vous êtes en moi, et
moi en vous.
21 Celui
qui reçoit mes commandements et les garde, c’est celui-là qui m’aime ; et
celui qui m’aime sera aimé de mon Père ; moi aussi, je l’aimerai, et je me
manifesterai à lui. »
22 Jude –
non pas Judas l’Iscariote – lui demanda : « Seigneur, que se
passe-t-il ? Est-ce à nous que tu vas te manifester, et non pas au
monde ? »
23 Jésus
lui répondit : « Si quelqu’un m’aime, il gardera ma parole ; mon
Père l’aimera, nous viendrons vers lui et, chez lui, nous nous ferons une
demeure.
24 Celui
qui ne m’aime pas ne garde pas mes paroles. Or, la parole que vous entendez
n’est pas de moi : elle est du Père, qui m’a envoyé.
25 Je
vous parle ainsi, tant que je demeure avec vous ;
26 mais
le Défenseur, l’Esprit Saint que le Père enverra en mon nom, lui, vous
enseignera tout, et il vous fera souvenir de tout ce que je vous ai dit.
27 Je
vous laisse la paix, je vous donne ma paix ; ce n’est pas à la manière du
monde que je vous la donne. Que votre cœur ne soit pas bouleversé ni effrayé.
28 Vous
avez entendu ce que je vous ai dit : Je m’en vais, et je reviens vers
vous. Si vous m’aimiez, vous seriez dans la joie puisque je pars vers le Père,
car le Père est plus grand que moi.
29 Je
vous ai dit ces choses maintenant, avant qu’elles n’arrivent ; ainsi,
lorsqu’elles arriveront, vous croirez.
30
Désormais, je ne parlerai plus beaucoup avec vous, car il vient, le prince du
monde. Certes, sur moi il n’a aucune prise,
31 mais
il faut que le monde sache que j’aime le Père, et que je fais comme le Père me
l’a commandé. Levez-vous, partons d’ici.
SOURCE : http://www.aelf.org/bible-liturgie/Jn/Evangile+de+J%C3%A9sus-Christ+selon+saint+Jean/chapitre/14
Qu’est-ce que l’Esprit
Saint ?
Homélie de Benoît XVI
lors de la Veillée de la Pentecôte 2006, avec les mouvements ecclésiaux
(24/5/2015)
Lorsque nous récitons le
Credo, nous disons:
Je crois en l'Esprit Saint qui est Seigneur et qui donne la vie
Il procède du Père et du Fils.
Avec le Père et le Fils, il reçoit même adoration et même gloire.
Il a parlé par les prophètes.
Mais qu'est-ce que cela signifie? Et cet Esprit, dont se réclament abondamment
en ce moment ceux qui veulent changer la Doctrine de l'Eglise, qu'est-Il, au
juste?
C'est une question à
laquelle il est difficile trouver une réponse qui satisfasse à la fois la
raison et la foi.
Et c'est la réponse de
Benoît XVI que nous trouvons ici. Cette homélie, inhabituellement longue, a été
prononcée le samedi 3 juin 2006, lors de la veillée de la Pentecôte, alors que
le saint Père rencontrait les mouvements ecclésiaux et les communautés
nouvelles. Elle est particulièrement sublime, et elle doit être relue plusieurs
fois pour être longuement méditée.
[On trouvera toutes les homélies de Pentecôte de Benoît XVI, sur le site du
Vatican, ICI]
L'HOMÉLIE DE BENOÎT XVI
www.vatican.va/liturgical_year/pentecost/2006/pentecoste_fr.html#4
juin 2006
[après les salutations d'usage]
A présent, en cette Veillée de Pentecôte, nous nous demandons: qui est ou
qu'est-ce que l'Esprit Saint? Comment pouvons-nous le reconnaître? De quelle
façon allons-nous à Lui et Lui vient-il à nous? Qu'est-ce qu'il fait?
Une première réponse nous est donnée par le grand hymne de Pentecôte de
l'Eglise, par lequel nous avons commencé les Vêpres: "Veni, Creator
Spiritus... - Viens, Esprit Créateur..." (cf Annexe).
L'hymne fait ici
référence aux premiers versets de la Bible qui évoquent, en ayant recours à des
images, la création de l'univers.
Il y est tout d'abord dit qu'au-dessus du chaos, sur les eaux des abîmes,
l'Esprit de Dieu planait. Le monde dans lequel nous vivons est l'oeuvre de
l'Esprit Créateur. La Pentecôte n'est pas seulement l'origine de l'Eglise et
donc, de manière particulière, sa fête; la Pentecôte est aussi une fête de la
création. Le monde n'existe pas tout seul; il provient de l'Esprit créateur de
Dieu, de la Parole créatrice de Dieu. C'est pourquoi il reflète également la
sagesse de Dieu. Celle-ci, dans son ampleur et dans la logique qui embrasse ses
lois sous tous leurs aspects, laisse entrevoir quelque chose de l'Esprit
Créateur de Dieu. Celle-ci nous appelle à la crainte révérentielle. Précisément
celui qui, en tant que chrétien, croit dans l'Esprit Créateur, prend conscience
du fait que nous ne pouvons pas user et abuser du monde et de la matière comme
d'un simple matériau au service de notre action et de notre volonté; que nous
devons considérer la création comme un don qui nous est confié non pour qu'il
soit détruit, mais pour qu'il devienne le jardin de Dieu et, ainsi, un jardin
de l'homme. Face aux multiples formes d'abus de la terre que nous voyons
aujourd'hui, nous entendons presque le gémissement de la création dont parle
saint Paul (Rm 8, 22); nous commençons à comprendre les paroles de l'Apôtre,
c'est-à-dire que la création attend avec impatience la révélation des fils de
Dieu, pour être libérée et atteindre sa splendeur.
Chers amis, nous voulons être ces fils de Dieu que la création attend, et nous
pouvons l'être, car dans le baptême, le Seigneur nous a rendus tels. Oui, la
création et l'histoire - celles-ci nous attendent, elles attendent des hommes
et des femmes qui soient réellement des fils de Dieu et qui se comportent en
conséquence.
Si nous regardons
l'histoire, nous voyons de quelle manière, autour des monastères, la création a
pu prospérer, tout comme avec le réveil de l'Esprit de Dieu dans le coeur des
hommes, le rayonnement de l'Esprit Créateur est revenu également sur la terre -
un rayonnement qui avait été obscurci par la barbarie de la soif de pouvoir de
l'homme et parfois presque éteinte. Et à nouveau, autour de François d'Assise,
la même chose se produit - cela se produit partout où l'Esprit de Dieu pénètre
dans les âmes, cet Esprit que notre hymne qualifie de lumière, d'amour et de
vigueur.
Nous avons ainsi trouvé
une première réponse à la question sur ce qu'est l'Esprit Saint, ce qu'il
accomplit et comment nous pouvons le reconnaître. Il vient à notre rencontre à
travers la création et sa beauté. Toutefois, la bonne création de Dieu, au
cours de l'histoire des hommes, a été recouverte par une épaisse couche de
saleté qui rend, sinon impossible, du moins difficile de reconnaître en elle le
reflet du Créateur - même si face à un coucher de soleil sur la mer, au cours
d'une excursion en montagne ou devant une fleur à peine éclose se réveille
toujours à nouveau en nous, presque spontanément, la conscience de l'existence
du Créateur.
Mais l'Esprit Créateur
vient à notre aide. Il est entré dans l'histoire et ainsi, il nous parle d'une
manière nouvelle. En Jésus Christ, Dieu lui-même s'est fait homme et nous a
accordé la possibilité, pour ainsi dire, de jeter un regard dans l'intimité de
Dieu lui-même. Et nous voyons là une chose tout à fait inattendue: en Dieu
existent un Moi et un Tu. Le Dieu mystérieux n'est pas une infinie solitude, Il
est un événement d'amour.
Si, à partir du regard
sur la création, nous pensons pouvoir entrevoir l'Esprit Créateur, Dieu
lui-même, presque comme des mathématiques créatives, comme un pouvoir qui
modèle les lois du monde et leur ordre, mais également, comme la beauté - à
présent nous le savons: l'Esprit Créateur a un coeur. Il est Amour. Il existe
le Fils, qui parle avec le Père. Et tous les deux sont une seule chose dans
l'Esprit qui est, pour ainsi dire, l'atmosphère du don et de l'amour qui fait
d'eux un Dieu unique. Cette unité d'amour, qui est Dieu, est une unité beaucoup
plus sublime que ne pourrait l'être l'unité d'une dernière particule
indivisible. Le Dieu trine est précisément le seul et unique Dieu.
Au moyen de Jésus, nous jetons, pour ainsi dire, un regard dans l'intimité de
Dieu.
Jean, dans son Evangile,
l'a exprimé ainsi: "Dieu, personne ne l'a jamais vu; le Fils unique, qui
est dans le sein du Père, c'est lui qui a conduit à le connaître" (Jn 1,
18).
Mais Jésus ne nous a pas
seulement laissé regarder dans l'intimité de Dieu; avec Lui Dieu est également
comme sorti de son intimité et il est venu à notre rencontre. Cela a tout
d'abord lieu dans sa vie, sa passion, sa mort et sa résurrection; dans sa
parole. Mais Jésus ne se contente pas de venir à notre rencontre. Il veut davantage.
Il veut l'unification. Telle est la signification des images du banquet et des
noces. Nous ne devons pas seulement savoir quelque chose sur Lui, mais à
travers Lui, nous devons être attirés en Dieu. C'est pourquoi Il doit mourir et
ressusciter. Car à présent, il ne se trouve plus dans un lieu déterminé, mais
désormais son Esprit, l'Esprit Saint, émane de Lui et entre dans nos coeurs,
nous mettant ainsi en liaison avec Jésus lui-même et avec le Père - avec le
Dieu Un et Trine.
La Pentecôte est cela: Jésus, et à travers Lui Dieu lui-même, vient à nous et
nous attire en Lui. "Il envoie l'Esprit Saint" - ainsi s'exprime
l'Ecriture.
Quel effet cela a-t-il?
Je voudrais tout d'abord noter deux aspects: l'Esprit Saint, à travers
lequel Dieu vient à nous, nous apporte la vie et la liberté.
Regardons ces deux choses
d'un peu plus près.
"Moi je suis venu pour que les hommes aient la vie, pour qu'ils l'aient en
abondance", dit Jésus dans l'Evangile de Jean (10, 10).
Vie et liberté - ce
sont les choses auxquelles nous aspirons tous. Mais qu'est-ce que cela veut
dire? - où et comment trouvons-nous la "vie"?
Je pense que,
spontanément, la très grande majorité des hommes a la même conception de la vie
que le fils prodigue de l'Evangile. Il s'était fait donner sa part d'héritage,
et à présent, il se sentait libre, il voulait finalement vivre en n'ayant plus
le poids des devoirs de la maison, il voulait seulement vivre. Avoir de la vie
tout ce qu'elle peut offrir. En profiter pleinement - vivre, seulement vivre, s'abreuver
à l'abondance de la vie et ne rien perdre de ce qu'elle peut offrir de
précieux. A la fin, il se retrouva gardien de porcs, enviant même ces animaux -
sa vie était devenue vide à ce point, vaine à ce point. Et sa liberté aussi se
révélait vaine.
N'est-ce pas ce qui se
passe aujourd'hui aussi? Lorsqu'on veut uniquement devenir le maître de sa vie,
celle-ci devient toujours plus vide, plus pauvre; on finit facilement par se
réfugier dans la drogue, dans la grande illusion. Et le doute apparaît de savoir
si vivre, en fin de compte, est vraiment un bien.
Non, de cette façon nous
ne trouvons pas la vie.
La parole de Jésus sur la vie en abondance se trouve dans le discours du bon
Pasteur. C'est une parole qui se place dans un double contexte. A propos du
Pasteur, Jésus nous dit qu'il donne sa vie. "Personne ne me l'enlève, mais
je la donne de moi-même" (cf. Jn 10, 18). On ne trouve la vie qu'en la
donnant; on ne la trouve pas en voulant en prendre possession. C'est ce que
nous devons apprendre du Christ; et c'est ce que nous enseigne l'Esprit Saint,
qui est pur don, qui est Dieu qui se donne. Plus quelqu'un donne sa vie pour
les autres, pour le bien même, plus le fleuve de la vie coule en abondance.
En deuxième lieu, le
Seigneur nous dit que la vie naît en allant avec le Pasteur qui connaît le
pâturage - les lieux où jaillissent les sources de la vie. Nous trouvons la vie
dans la communion avec Celui qui est la vie en personne - dans la communion
avec le Dieu vivant, une communion dans laquelle l'Esprit Saint nous introduit,
appelé par l'hymne des Vêpres "fons vivus", source vivante. Le
pâturage, où coulent les sources de la vie, est la Parole de Dieu telle que
nous la trouvons dans l'Ecriture, dans la foi de l'Eglise. Le pâturage est Dieu
lui-même, que, dans la communion de la foi, nous apprenons à connaître à
travers la puissance de l'Esprit Saint.
Chers amis, les
Mouvements sont nés précisément de la soif de la vraie vie; ce sont des
Mouvements pour la vie sous tous les aspects.
Là où ne s'écoule plus la
source véritable de la vie, là où on s'approprie seulement de la vie au lieu de
la donner, la vie des autres se trouve également en danger; on est disposé à
exclure la vie sans défense qui n'est pas encore née, car elle semble ôter de
l'espace à sa propre vie. Si nous voulons protéger la vie, nous devons alors
surtout retrouver la source de la vie; la vie elle-même doit alors réapparaître
dans toute sa beauté et son caractère sublime; nous devons alors nous laisser
vivifier par l'Esprit Saint, source créatrice de la vie.
Le thème de la liberté a
déjà été évoqué il y a peu.
Dans le départ du fils
prodigue se rejoignent justement les thèmes de la vie et de la liberté. Il veut
la vie, et c'est pourquoi il veut être totalement libre.
Etre libre signifie, de
ce point de vue, pouvoir faire tout ce que l'on veut; ne devoir accepter aucun
critère en dehors ou au-dessus de moi-même. Suivre seulement mon désir et ma
volonté. Qui vit ainsi s'opposera très vite à l'autre qui veut vivre de la même
manière. La conséquence nécessaire de cette conception égoïste de la liberté
est la violence, la destruction réciproque de la liberté et de la vie.
L'Ecriture Sainte relie
en revanche le concept de liberté à celui de filiation, dit saint Paul:
"Aussi bien n'avez-vous pas reçu un esprit d'esclave pour retomber dans la
crainte; vous avez reçu un esprit de fils adoptifs qui nous fait nous écrier
"Abba! Père"" (Rm 8, 15).
Qu'est-ce que cela signifie?
Saint Paul se réfère ici au système social du monde antique, dans lequel
existaient les esclaves, qui ne possédaient rien et qui ne pouvaient donc pas
être intéressés à un juste déroulement des choses. De manière correspondante,
il y avait les fils qui étaient également les héritiers et qui par conséquent
se préoccupaient de la préservation et de la bonne administration de leur
propriété ou de la conservation de l'Etat. Puisqu'ils étaient libres, ils
avaient également une responsabilité. En faisant abstraction de l'arrière-fond
sociologique de cette époque, le principe est toujours valable: liberté et
responsabilité vont de pair. La véritable liberté se démontre dans la
responsabilité, dans une manière d'agir qui prend sur soi la coresponsabilité
pour le monde, pour soi-même et pour les autres. Libre est le fils auquel
appartient quelque chose et qui ne permet donc pas qu'elle soit détruite.
Toutes les responsabilités de ce monde, dont nous avons parlé, ne sont que des
responsabilités partielles, dans un domaine déterminé, un Etat déterminé, etc.
L'Esprit Saint en revanche fait de nous des fils et des filles de Dieu. Il nous
fait participer à la responsabilité de Dieu lui-même pour son monde, pour
l'humanité tout entière. Il nous enseigne à regarder le monde, l'autre et
nous-mêmes avec les yeux de Dieu. Nous faisons le bien non comme des esclaves
qui ne sont pas libres de faire autrement, mais nous le faisons parce que nous
portons personnellement la responsabilité pour le monde; parce que nous aimons
la vérité et le bien, parce que nous aimons Dieu lui-même et donc ses créatures
également. Telle est la liberté véritable, à laquelle l'Esprit Saint veut nous
conduire.
Les Mouvements ecclésiaux
veulent et doivent être des écoles de liberté, de cette liberté véritable. Là
nous voulons apprendre cette liberté véritable, non celle d'esclaves qui visent
à couper pour eux-mêmes une part du gâteau qui appartient à tous, même si cette
part doit ensuite manquer à l'autre. Nous souhaitons la véritable et grande
liberté, celle des héritiers, la liberté des fils de Dieu. Dans ce monde,
débordant de fausses libertés qui détruisent l'environnement et l'homme, nous
voulons, avec la force de l'Esprit Saint, apprendre ensemble la liberté
véritable; construire des écoles de liberté; démontrer aux autres par notre vie
que nous sommes libres et comme il est beau de vivre véritablement libres dans
la liberté véritable des enfants de Dieu.
L'Esprit Saint, en donnant la vie et la liberté, donne également l'unité. Il
s'agit ici de trois dons inséparables les uns des autres. J'ai déjà parlé
trop longuement; permettez-moi toutefois de dire encore un mot sur l'unité.
Pour la comprendre, une phrase peut se révéler utile même si, au premier abord,
elle semble plutôt nous éloigner de celle-ci.
A Nicodème qui, dans sa recherche de la vérité, vient une nuit poser des
questions à Jésus, celui-ci répond: "L'Esprit souffle où il veut"
(cf. Jn 3, 8).
Mais la volonté de
l'Esprit n'est pas arbitraire. C'est la volonté de la vérité et du bien. C'est
pourquoi il ne souffle pas n'importe où, se tournant une fois de ce côté-ci, et
une autre de ce côté-là; son souffle ne nous disperse pas mais nous réunit,
parce que la vérité unit et l'amour unit. L'Esprit Saint est l'Esprit de Jésus
Christ, l'Esprit qui unit le Père avec le Fils dans l'Amour qui, dans l'unique
Dieu, donne et accueille. Il nous unit à ce point que saint Paul a pu dire:
"Vous ne faites qu'un dans le Christ Jésus" (Ga 3, 28). L'Esprit
Saint, par son souffle, nous pousse vers le Christ. L'Esprit Saint oeuvre de
façon corporelle; il n'oeuvre pas seulement subjectivement,
"spirituellement". Aux disciples qui voyaient en lui simplement un
"esprit", le Christ ressuscité dit: "C'est bien moi! touchez-moi
et rendez-vous compte qu'un esprit - un fantôme - n'a ni chair ni os, comme vous
voyez que j'en ai" (cf. Lc 24, 39). Cela vaut pour le Christ ressuscité à
toutes les époques de l'histoire. Le Christ ressuscité n'est pas un fantôme, il
n'est pas simplement un esprit, une pensée, une idée seulement. Il est demeuré
l'Incarné - celui qui a assumé notre chair - et il continue toujours à édifier
son Corps, il fait de nous son Corps. L'Esprit souffle où il veut, et sa
sainteté est l'unité faite corps, l'unité qui rencontre le monde et le
transforme.
Dans la Lettre aux Ephésiens, saint Paul nous dit que ce Corps du Christ qui
est l'Eglise, possède des jointures (cf. 4, 16), il les nomme également: ce
sont les apôtres, les prophètes, les évangélistes, les pasteurs et les docteurs
(cf. 4, 11).
L'Esprit dans ses dons
prend de multiples formes - nous le voyons ici. Si nous regardons l'histoire,
si nous regardons cette assemblée ici sur la Place Saint-Pierre - alors nous
nous rendons compte qu'il suscite toujours de nouveaux dons, nous voyons
combien il crée d'organes différents, et comment, de manière toujours nouvelle,
il oeuvre corporellement. Mais en Lui la multiplicité et l'unité vont de pair.
Il souffle où il veut. Il le fait de manière inattendue, dans des lieux
inattendus et sous des formes qu'on ne peut jamais imaginer à l'avance. Et avec
quelle multiplicité de forme et quelle corporéité il le fait! Et c'est
précisément ici que la multiplicité des formes et l'unité sont inséparables
entre elles. Il veut que vous preniez de multiples formes et il vous veut pour
l'unique corps, dans l'union avec les ordres durables - les jointures - de
l'Eglise, avec les successeurs des apôtres et avec le Successeur de saint
Pierre. Il ne nous enlève pas la difficulté d'apprendre comment nous rapporter
les uns aux autres; il nous démontre également qu'il oeuvre en vue de l'unique
corps et dans l'unité de l'unique corps. C'est vraiment uniquement de cette
manière que l'unité trouve sa force et sa beauté. Prendre part à l'édification
de l'unique corps! Les pasteurs seront attentifs à ne pas éteindre l'Esprit
(cf. 1 Th 5, 19) et vous, vous ne cesserez d'apporter vos dons à la communauté
tout entière. Une fois de plus: l'Esprit Saint souffle où il veut. Mais sa
volonté est l'unité. Il nous conduit vers le Christ, dans son Corps. "[du
Christ] le Corps tout entier - nous dit saint Paul - reçoit concorde et
cohésion par toutes sortes de jointures qui le nourrissent et l'actionnent
selon le rôle de chaque partie, opérant ainsi sa croissance et se construisant
lui-même, dans la charité" (Ep 4, 16).
L'Esprit veut l'unité, il veut la totalité. C'est pourquoi sa présence se
démontre aussi surtout dans l'élan missionnaire. Qui a rencontré quelque chose
de vrai, de beau et de bon dans sa propre vie - le seul vrai trésor, la perle
précieuse! -, court le partager partout, dans sa famille et au travail, dans
tous les domaines de son existence. Il le fait sans aucune crainte, parce qu'il
sait qu'il a été adopté comme un fils; sans aucune présomption, parce que tout
est don; sans découragement, parce que l'Esprit de Dieu précède son action dans
le "coeur" des hommes et il est comme une semence dans les cultures
et les religions les plus diverses. Il le fait sans frontières, parce qu'il est
porteur d'une bonne nouvelle qui est pour tous les hommes, pour tous les
peuples. Chers amis, je vous demande d'être, plus encore, beaucoup plus, des
collaborateurs dans le ministère apostolique universel du Pape, en ouvrant les
portes au Christ. C'est le meilleur service que l'Eglise rend aux hommes et en
particulier aux pauvres, afin que la vie de la personne, un ordre plus juste
dans la société et la coexistence pacifique entre les nations trouvent dans le
Christ la "pierre angulaire" sur laquelle construire l'authentique
civilisation, la civilisation de l'amour. L'Esprit Saint donne aux croyants une
vision supérieure du monde, de la vie, de l'histoire et il fait d'eux des
gardiens de l'espérance qui ne déçoit pas.
Prions donc Dieu le Père, à travers notre Seigneur Jésus Christ, dans la grâce
de l'Esprit Saint, afin que la célébration de la solennité de la Pentecôte soit
comme un feu ardent et un vent impétueux pour la vie chrétienne et pour la
mission de toute l'Eglise. Je dépose les intentions de vos Mouvements et
Communautés dans le coeur de la Très Sainte Vierge Marie, présente au Cénacle
avec les Apôtres; puisse-t-elle obtenir par la prière leur réalisation
concrète. J'invoque sur vous tous l'effusion des dons de l'Esprit, afin qu'à
notre époque également, l'on puisse faire l'expérience d'une Pentecôte
renouvelée.
Amen!
© Copyright 2006 - Libreria Editrice VaticanaSOURCE : https://benoit-et-moi.fr/2015-I/benoit-xvi/quest-ce-que-lesprit-saint.php
Jacques Blanchard (1600–1638), La
Descente du Saint-Esprit, 1634, 340 x 245, Notre-Dame de Paris
Qu’est-ce que l’Esprit
Saint ?
Homélie de Benoît XVI
lors de la Veillée de la Pentecôte 2006, avec les mouvements ecclésiaux
(24/5/2015)
Lorsque nous récitons le
Credo, nous disons:
Je crois en l'Esprit Saint qui est Seigneur et qui donne la vie
Il procède du Père et du Fils.
Avec le Père et le Fils, il reçoit même adoration et même gloire.
Il a parlé par les prophètes.
Mais qu'est-ce que cela signifie? Et cet Esprit, dont se réclament abondamment
en ce moment ceux qui veulent changer la Doctrine de l'Eglise, qu'est-Il, au
juste?
C'est une question à
laquelle il est difficile trouver une réponse qui satisfasse à la fois la
raison et la foi.
Et c'est la réponse de
Benoît XVI que nous trouvons ici. Cette homélie, inhabituellement longue, a été
prononcée le samedi 3 juin 2006, lors de la veillée de la Pentecôte, alors que
le saint Père rencontrait les mouvements ecclésiaux et les communautés
nouvelles. Elle est particulièrement sublime, et elle doit être relue plusieurs
fois pour être longuement méditée.
[On trouvera toutes les homélies de Pentecôte de Benoît XVI, sur le site du
Vatican, ICI]
L'HOMÉLIE DE BENOÎT XVI
www.vatican.va/liturgical_year/pentecost/2006/pentecoste_fr.html#4
juin 2006
[après les salutations d'usage]
A présent, en cette Veillée de Pentecôte, nous nous demandons: qui est ou
qu'est-ce que l'Esprit Saint? Comment pouvons-nous le reconnaître? De quelle
façon allons-nous à Lui et Lui vient-il à nous? Qu'est-ce qu'il fait?
Une première réponse nous est donnée par le grand hymne de Pentecôte de
l'Eglise, par lequel nous avons commencé les Vêpres: "Veni, Creator
Spiritus... - Viens, Esprit Créateur..." (cf Annexe).
L'hymne fait ici
référence aux premiers versets de la Bible qui évoquent, en ayant recours à des
images, la création de l'univers.
Il y est tout d'abord dit qu'au-dessus du chaos, sur les eaux des abîmes,
l'Esprit de Dieu planait. Le monde dans lequel nous vivons est l'oeuvre de
l'Esprit Créateur. La Pentecôte n'est pas seulement l'origine de l'Eglise et
donc, de manière particulière, sa fête; la Pentecôte est aussi une fête de la
création. Le monde n'existe pas tout seul; il provient de l'Esprit créateur de
Dieu, de la Parole créatrice de Dieu. C'est pourquoi il reflète également la
sagesse de Dieu. Celle-ci, dans son ampleur et dans la logique qui embrasse ses
lois sous tous leurs aspects, laisse entrevoir quelque chose de l'Esprit
Créateur de Dieu. Celle-ci nous appelle à la crainte révérentielle. Précisément
celui qui, en tant que chrétien, croit dans l'Esprit Créateur, prend conscience
du fait que nous ne pouvons pas user et abuser du monde et de la matière comme
d'un simple matériau au service de notre action et de notre volonté; que nous
devons considérer la création comme un don qui nous est confié non pour qu'il
soit détruit, mais pour qu'il devienne le jardin de Dieu et, ainsi, un jardin
de l'homme. Face aux multiples formes d'abus de la terre que nous voyons
aujourd'hui, nous entendons presque le gémissement de la création dont parle
saint Paul (Rm 8, 22); nous commençons à comprendre les paroles de l'Apôtre,
c'est-à-dire que la création attend avec impatience la révélation des fils de
Dieu, pour être libérée et atteindre sa splendeur.
Chers amis, nous voulons être ces fils de Dieu que la création attend, et nous
pouvons l'être, car dans le baptême, le Seigneur nous a rendus tels. Oui, la
création et l'histoire - celles-ci nous attendent, elles attendent des hommes
et des femmes qui soient réellement des fils de Dieu et qui se comportent en
conséquence.
Si nous regardons
l'histoire, nous voyons de quelle manière, autour des monastères, la création a
pu prospérer, tout comme avec le réveil de l'Esprit de Dieu dans le coeur des
hommes, le rayonnement de l'Esprit Créateur est revenu également sur la terre -
un rayonnement qui avait été obscurci par la barbarie de la soif de pouvoir de
l'homme et parfois presque éteinte. Et à nouveau, autour de François d'Assise,
la même chose se produit - cela se produit partout où l'Esprit de Dieu pénètre
dans les âmes, cet Esprit que notre hymne qualifie de lumière, d'amour et de
vigueur.
Nous avons ainsi trouvé
une première réponse à la question sur ce qu'est l'Esprit Saint, ce qu'il
accomplit et comment nous pouvons le reconnaître. Il vient à notre rencontre à
travers la création et sa beauté. Toutefois, la bonne création de Dieu, au
cours de l'histoire des hommes, a été recouverte par une épaisse couche de
saleté qui rend, sinon impossible, du moins difficile de reconnaître en elle le
reflet du Créateur - même si face à un coucher de soleil sur la mer, au cours
d'une excursion en montagne ou devant une fleur à peine éclose se réveille
toujours à nouveau en nous, presque spontanément, la conscience de l'existence
du Créateur.
Mais l'Esprit Créateur
vient à notre aide. Il est entré dans l'histoire et ainsi, il nous parle d'une
manière nouvelle. En Jésus Christ, Dieu lui-même s'est fait homme et nous a
accordé la possibilité, pour ainsi dire, de jeter un regard dans l'intimité de
Dieu lui-même. Et nous voyons là une chose tout à fait inattendue: en Dieu
existent un Moi et un Tu. Le Dieu mystérieux n'est pas une infinie solitude, Il
est un événement d'amour.
Si, à partir du regard
sur la création, nous pensons pouvoir entrevoir l'Esprit Créateur, Dieu
lui-même, presque comme des mathématiques créatives, comme un pouvoir qui
modèle les lois du monde et leur ordre, mais également, comme la beauté - à
présent nous le savons: l'Esprit Créateur a un coeur. Il est Amour. Il existe
le Fils, qui parle avec le Père. Et tous les deux sont une seule chose dans
l'Esprit qui est, pour ainsi dire, l'atmosphère du don et de l'amour qui fait
d'eux un Dieu unique. Cette unité d'amour, qui est Dieu, est une unité beaucoup
plus sublime que ne pourrait l'être l'unité d'une dernière particule
indivisible. Le Dieu trine est précisément le seul et unique Dieu.
Au moyen de Jésus, nous jetons, pour ainsi dire, un regard dans l'intimité de
Dieu.
Jean, dans son Evangile,
l'a exprimé ainsi: "Dieu, personne ne l'a jamais vu; le Fils unique, qui
est dans le sein du Père, c'est lui qui a conduit à le connaître" (Jn 1,
18).
Mais Jésus ne nous a pas
seulement laissé regarder dans l'intimité de Dieu; avec Lui Dieu est également
comme sorti de son intimité et il est venu à notre rencontre. Cela a tout
d'abord lieu dans sa vie, sa passion, sa mort et sa résurrection; dans sa
parole. Mais Jésus ne se contente pas de venir à notre rencontre. Il veut davantage.
Il veut l'unification. Telle est la signification des images du banquet et des
noces. Nous ne devons pas seulement savoir quelque chose sur Lui, mais à
travers Lui, nous devons être attirés en Dieu. C'est pourquoi Il doit mourir et
ressusciter. Car à présent, il ne se trouve plus dans un lieu déterminé, mais
désormais son Esprit, l'Esprit Saint, émane de Lui et entre dans nos coeurs,
nous mettant ainsi en liaison avec Jésus lui-même et avec le Père - avec le
Dieu Un et Trine.
La Pentecôte est cela: Jésus, et à travers Lui Dieu lui-même, vient à nous et
nous attire en Lui. "Il envoie l'Esprit Saint" - ainsi s'exprime
l'Ecriture.
Quel effet cela a-t-il?
Je voudrais tout d'abord noter deux aspects: l'Esprit Saint, à travers
lequel Dieu vient à nous, nous apporte la vie et la liberté.
Regardons ces deux choses
d'un peu plus près.
"Moi je suis venu pour que les hommes aient la vie, pour qu'ils l'aient en
abondance", dit Jésus dans l'Evangile de Jean (10, 10).
Vie et liberté - ce
sont les choses auxquelles nous aspirons tous. Mais qu'est-ce que cela veut
dire? - où et comment trouvons-nous la "vie"?
Je pense que,
spontanément, la très grande majorité des hommes a la même conception de la vie
que le fils prodigue de l'Evangile. Il s'était fait donner sa part d'héritage,
et à présent, il se sentait libre, il voulait finalement vivre en n'ayant plus
le poids des devoirs de la maison, il voulait seulement vivre. Avoir de la vie
tout ce qu'elle peut offrir. En profiter pleinement - vivre, seulement vivre, s'abreuver
à l'abondance de la vie et ne rien perdre de ce qu'elle peut offrir de
précieux. A la fin, il se retrouva gardien de porcs, enviant même ces animaux -
sa vie était devenue vide à ce point, vaine à ce point. Et sa liberté aussi se
révélait vaine.
N'est-ce pas ce qui se
passe aujourd'hui aussi? Lorsqu'on veut uniquement devenir le maître de sa vie,
celle-ci devient toujours plus vide, plus pauvre; on finit facilement par se
réfugier dans la drogue, dans la grande illusion. Et le doute apparaît de savoir
si vivre, en fin de compte, est vraiment un bien.
Non, de cette façon nous
ne trouvons pas la vie.
La parole de Jésus sur la vie en abondance se trouve dans le discours du bon
Pasteur. C'est une parole qui se place dans un double contexte. A propos du
Pasteur, Jésus nous dit qu'il donne sa vie. "Personne ne me l'enlève, mais
je la donne de moi-même" (cf. Jn 10, 18). On ne trouve la vie qu'en la
donnant; on ne la trouve pas en voulant en prendre possession. C'est ce que
nous devons apprendre du Christ; et c'est ce que nous enseigne l'Esprit Saint,
qui est pur don, qui est Dieu qui se donne. Plus quelqu'un donne sa vie pour
les autres, pour le bien même, plus le fleuve de la vie coule en abondance.
En deuxième lieu, le
Seigneur nous dit que la vie naît en allant avec le Pasteur qui connaît le
pâturage - les lieux où jaillissent les sources de la vie. Nous trouvons la vie
dans la communion avec Celui qui est la vie en personne - dans la communion
avec le Dieu vivant, une communion dans laquelle l'Esprit Saint nous introduit,
appelé par l'hymne des Vêpres "fons vivus", source vivante. Le
pâturage, où coulent les sources de la vie, est la Parole de Dieu telle que
nous la trouvons dans l'Ecriture, dans la foi de l'Eglise. Le pâturage est Dieu
lui-même, que, dans la communion de la foi, nous apprenons à connaître à
travers la puissance de l'Esprit Saint.
Chers amis, les
Mouvements sont nés précisément de la soif de la vraie vie; ce sont des
Mouvements pour la vie sous tous les aspects.
Là où ne s'écoule plus la
source véritable de la vie, là où on s'approprie seulement de la vie au lieu de
la donner, la vie des autres se trouve également en danger; on est disposé à
exclure la vie sans défense qui n'est pas encore née, car elle semble ôter de
l'espace à sa propre vie. Si nous voulons protéger la vie, nous devons alors
surtout retrouver la source de la vie; la vie elle-même doit alors réapparaître
dans toute sa beauté et son caractère sublime; nous devons alors nous laisser
vivifier par l'Esprit Saint, source créatrice de la vie.
Le thème de la liberté a
déjà été évoqué il y a peu.
Dans le départ du fils
prodigue se rejoignent justement les thèmes de la vie et de la liberté. Il veut
la vie, et c'est pourquoi il veut être totalement libre.
Etre libre signifie, de
ce point de vue, pouvoir faire tout ce que l'on veut; ne devoir accepter aucun
critère en dehors ou au-dessus de moi-même. Suivre seulement mon désir et ma
volonté. Qui vit ainsi s'opposera très vite à l'autre qui veut vivre de la même
manière. La conséquence nécessaire de cette conception égoïste de la liberté
est la violence, la destruction réciproque de la liberté et de la vie.
L'Ecriture Sainte relie
en revanche le concept de liberté à celui de filiation, dit saint Paul:
"Aussi bien n'avez-vous pas reçu un esprit d'esclave pour retomber dans la
crainte; vous avez reçu un esprit de fils adoptifs qui nous fait nous écrier
"Abba! Père"" (Rm 8, 15).
Qu'est-ce que cela signifie?
Saint Paul se réfère ici au système social du monde antique, dans lequel
existaient les esclaves, qui ne possédaient rien et qui ne pouvaient donc pas
être intéressés à un juste déroulement des choses. De manière correspondante,
il y avait les fils qui étaient également les héritiers et qui par conséquent
se préoccupaient de la préservation et de la bonne administration de leur
propriété ou de la conservation de l'Etat. Puisqu'ils étaient libres, ils
avaient également une responsabilité. En faisant abstraction de l'arrière-fond
sociologique de cette époque, le principe est toujours valable: liberté et
responsabilité vont de pair. La véritable liberté se démontre dans la
responsabilité, dans une manière d'agir qui prend sur soi la coresponsabilité
pour le monde, pour soi-même et pour les autres. Libre est le fils auquel
appartient quelque chose et qui ne permet donc pas qu'elle soit détruite.
Toutes les responsabilités de ce monde, dont nous avons parlé, ne sont que des
responsabilités partielles, dans un domaine déterminé, un Etat déterminé, etc.
L'Esprit Saint en revanche fait de nous des fils et des filles de Dieu. Il nous
fait participer à la responsabilité de Dieu lui-même pour son monde, pour
l'humanité tout entière. Il nous enseigne à regarder le monde, l'autre et
nous-mêmes avec les yeux de Dieu. Nous faisons le bien non comme des esclaves
qui ne sont pas libres de faire autrement, mais nous le faisons parce que nous
portons personnellement la responsabilité pour le monde; parce que nous aimons
la vérité et le bien, parce que nous aimons Dieu lui-même et donc ses créatures
également. Telle est la liberté véritable, à laquelle l'Esprit Saint veut nous
conduire.
Les Mouvements ecclésiaux
veulent et doivent être des écoles de liberté, de cette liberté véritable. Là
nous voulons apprendre cette liberté véritable, non celle d'esclaves qui visent
à couper pour eux-mêmes une part du gâteau qui appartient à tous, même si cette
part doit ensuite manquer à l'autre. Nous souhaitons la véritable et grande
liberté, celle des héritiers, la liberté des fils de Dieu. Dans ce monde,
débordant de fausses libertés qui détruisent l'environnement et l'homme, nous
voulons, avec la force de l'Esprit Saint, apprendre ensemble la liberté
véritable; construire des écoles de liberté; démontrer aux autres par notre vie
que nous sommes libres et comme il est beau de vivre véritablement libres dans
la liberté véritable des enfants de Dieu.
L'Esprit Saint, en donnant la vie et la liberté, donne également l'unité. Il
s'agit ici de trois dons inséparables les uns des autres. J'ai déjà parlé
trop longuement; permettez-moi toutefois de dire encore un mot sur l'unité.
Pour la comprendre, une phrase peut se révéler utile même si, au premier abord,
elle semble plutôt nous éloigner de celle-ci.
A Nicodème qui, dans sa recherche de la vérité, vient une nuit poser des
questions à Jésus, celui-ci répond: "L'Esprit souffle où il veut"
(cf. Jn 3, 8).
Mais la volonté de
l'Esprit n'est pas arbitraire. C'est la volonté de la vérité et du bien. C'est
pourquoi il ne souffle pas n'importe où, se tournant une fois de ce côté-ci, et
une autre de ce côté-là; son souffle ne nous disperse pas mais nous réunit,
parce que la vérité unit et l'amour unit. L'Esprit Saint est l'Esprit de Jésus
Christ, l'Esprit qui unit le Père avec le Fils dans l'Amour qui, dans l'unique
Dieu, donne et accueille. Il nous unit à ce point que saint Paul a pu dire:
"Vous ne faites qu'un dans le Christ Jésus" (Ga 3, 28). L'Esprit
Saint, par son souffle, nous pousse vers le Christ. L'Esprit Saint oeuvre de
façon corporelle; il n'oeuvre pas seulement subjectivement,
"spirituellement". Aux disciples qui voyaient en lui simplement un
"esprit", le Christ ressuscité dit: "C'est bien moi! touchez-moi
et rendez-vous compte qu'un esprit - un fantôme - n'a ni chair ni os, comme vous
voyez que j'en ai" (cf. Lc 24, 39). Cela vaut pour le Christ ressuscité à
toutes les époques de l'histoire. Le Christ ressuscité n'est pas un fantôme, il
n'est pas simplement un esprit, une pensée, une idée seulement. Il est demeuré
l'Incarné - celui qui a assumé notre chair - et il continue toujours à édifier
son Corps, il fait de nous son Corps. L'Esprit souffle où il veut, et sa
sainteté est l'unité faite corps, l'unité qui rencontre le monde et le
transforme.
Dans la Lettre aux Ephésiens, saint Paul nous dit que ce Corps du Christ qui
est l'Eglise, possède des jointures (cf. 4, 16), il les nomme également: ce
sont les apôtres, les prophètes, les évangélistes, les pasteurs et les docteurs
(cf. 4, 11).
L'Esprit dans ses dons
prend de multiples formes - nous le voyons ici. Si nous regardons l'histoire,
si nous regardons cette assemblée ici sur la Place Saint-Pierre - alors nous
nous rendons compte qu'il suscite toujours de nouveaux dons, nous voyons
combien il crée d'organes différents, et comment, de manière toujours nouvelle,
il oeuvre corporellement. Mais en Lui la multiplicité et l'unité vont de pair.
Il souffle où il veut. Il le fait de manière inattendue, dans des lieux
inattendus et sous des formes qu'on ne peut jamais imaginer à l'avance. Et avec
quelle multiplicité de forme et quelle corporéité il le fait! Et c'est
précisément ici que la multiplicité des formes et l'unité sont inséparables
entre elles. Il veut que vous preniez de multiples formes et il vous veut pour
l'unique corps, dans l'union avec les ordres durables - les jointures - de
l'Eglise, avec les successeurs des apôtres et avec le Successeur de saint
Pierre. Il ne nous enlève pas la difficulté d'apprendre comment nous rapporter
les uns aux autres; il nous démontre également qu'il oeuvre en vue de l'unique
corps et dans l'unité de l'unique corps. C'est vraiment uniquement de cette
manière que l'unité trouve sa force et sa beauté. Prendre part à l'édification
de l'unique corps! Les pasteurs seront attentifs à ne pas éteindre l'Esprit
(cf. 1 Th 5, 19) et vous, vous ne cesserez d'apporter vos dons à la communauté
tout entière. Une fois de plus: l'Esprit Saint souffle où il veut. Mais sa
volonté est l'unité. Il nous conduit vers le Christ, dans son Corps. "[du
Christ] le Corps tout entier - nous dit saint Paul - reçoit concorde et
cohésion par toutes sortes de jointures qui le nourrissent et l'actionnent
selon le rôle de chaque partie, opérant ainsi sa croissance et se construisant
lui-même, dans la charité" (Ep 4, 16).
L'Esprit veut l'unité, il veut la totalité. C'est pourquoi sa présence se
démontre aussi surtout dans l'élan missionnaire. Qui a rencontré quelque chose
de vrai, de beau et de bon dans sa propre vie - le seul vrai trésor, la perle
précieuse! -, court le partager partout, dans sa famille et au travail, dans
tous les domaines de son existence. Il le fait sans aucune crainte, parce qu'il
sait qu'il a été adopté comme un fils; sans aucune présomption, parce que tout
est don; sans découragement, parce que l'Esprit de Dieu précède son action dans
le "coeur" des hommes et il est comme une semence dans les cultures
et les religions les plus diverses. Il le fait sans frontières, parce qu'il est
porteur d'une bonne nouvelle qui est pour tous les hommes, pour tous les
peuples. Chers amis, je vous demande d'être, plus encore, beaucoup plus, des
collaborateurs dans le ministère apostolique universel du Pape, en ouvrant les
portes au Christ. C'est le meilleur service que l'Eglise rend aux hommes et en
particulier aux pauvres, afin que la vie de la personne, un ordre plus juste
dans la société et la coexistence pacifique entre les nations trouvent dans le
Christ la "pierre angulaire" sur laquelle construire l'authentique
civilisation, la civilisation de l'amour. L'Esprit Saint donne aux croyants une
vision supérieure du monde, de la vie, de l'histoire et il fait d'eux des
gardiens de l'espérance qui ne déçoit pas.
Prions donc Dieu le Père, à travers notre Seigneur Jésus Christ, dans la grâce
de l'Esprit Saint, afin que la célébration de la solennité de la Pentecôte soit
comme un feu ardent et un vent impétueux pour la vie chrétienne et pour la
mission de toute l'Eglise. Je dépose les intentions de vos Mouvements et
Communautés dans le coeur de la Très Sainte Vierge Marie, présente au Cénacle
avec les Apôtres; puisse-t-elle obtenir par la prière leur réalisation
concrète. J'invoque sur vous tous l'effusion des dons de l'Esprit, afin qu'à
notre époque également, l'on puisse faire l'expérience d'une Pentecôte
renouvelée.
Amen!
SOURCE : https://benoit-et-moi.fr/2015-I/benoit-xvi/quest-ce-que-lesprit-saint.php
Jacques Blanchard (1600–1638), La Descente du Saint-Esprit, 1634, 340 x 245, Notre-Dame de Paris
LE SAINT-ESPRIT
Hans Multscher. La Pentecôte, 1437, 148 x 140, Gemäldegalerie, Berlin
(RV – Radio
Vatican) « Viens Esprit Saint en nos cœurs, et envoie du haut du Ciel
un rayon de ta lumière », chante la traditionnelle séquence de ce dimanche
de Pentecôte. Cinquante jours après Pâques, l’Eglise célèbre donc la venue du
Saint-Esprit sur la Vierge Marie et les Apôtres réunis au Cénacle, à Jérusalem.
Lors de la messe solennelle qu’il a présidée à cette occasion en la Basilique
Saint-Pierre, le Pape François a rappelé que le don du Paraclet avait un but
essentiel : « rétablir notre relation avec le Père, nous
arracher à la condition d’orphelins et nous rendre celle de fils ».
La « solitude intérieure », « une prétendue autonomie par
rapport à Dieu », « l’analphabétisme spirituel » qui nous
empêche de prier, la difficulté à concevoir l’Eternité et la plénitude de la
communion avec Dieu : voilà, pour le Pape, autant de signes révélateurs de
notre condition d’orphelins, qui s’oppose à celle de Fils. Cette vocation
originelle de l’homme avait été abimée, mais a été restaurée par le sacrifice
du Fils unique de Dieu. L’Histoire du Salut est ainsi une œuvre de
régénération, a expliqué François, et celui qui plonge « avec foi dans
(ce) mystère, renaît à la plénitude de la vie filiale ».
Cette appartenance au Christ, signifiée par l’Esprit, nous fait entrer
« dans une nouvelle dynamique », a encore affirmé le Pape. Nous ne
sommes plus orphelins, « mais fils du même Père », et « cela
change tout ! », car désormais « nous pouvons nous regarder comme des
frères, et nos différences ne font que multiplier la joie et l’émerveillement
d’appartenir à cette unique paternité et fraternité ».
Et le Pape de conclure en évoquant la présence maternelle de la Vierge Marie,
Mère de l’Eglise, au Cénacle : « à son intercession nous confions de manière
particulière tous les chrétiens et les communautés qui en ce moment ont le plus
besoin de la force de l’Esprit Paraclet, Défenseur et Consolateur, Esprit de
vérité, de liberté et de paix ».
(MA)
Ci-dessous, en intégralité, l'homélie prononcée par le Pape François :
« Je ne vous
laisserai pas orphelins » (Jn 14, 18).
La mission de Jésus, culminant dans le don de l’Esprit Saint, avait ce but
essentiel : rétablir notre relation avec le Père, abîmée par le
péché ; nous arracher à la condition d’orphelins et nous rendre celle de
fils.
L’apôtre Paul, écrivant aux chrétiens de Rome, dit : « Tous ceux qui
se laissent conduire par l’Esprit de Dieu, ceux-là sont fils de Dieu. Vous
n’avez pas reçu un esprit qui fait de vous des esclaves et vous ramène à la
peur ; mais vous avez reçu un Esprit qui fait de vous des fils ; et
c’est en lui que nous crions “Abba ! ”, c’est-à-dire :
Père ! » (Rm 8, 14-15). Voilà la relation renouée : la paternité
de Dieu se rétablit en nous grâce à l’œuvre rédemptrice du Christ et au don de
l’Esprit Saint.
L’Esprit est donné par le Père et nous conduit au Père. Toute l’œuvre du salut
est une œuvre de ré-génération, dans laquelle la paternité de Dieu, au moyen du
don du Fils et de l’Esprit, nous libère de l’état d’orphelins dans lequel nous
sommes tombés. À notre époque aussi nous rencontrons différents signes de notre
condition d’orphelins : cette solitude intérieure que nous éprouvons
même au milieu de la foule et qui parfois peut devenir tristesse
existentielle ; cette prétendue autonomie par rapport à Dieu qui
s’accompagne d’une certaine nostalgie de sa proximité ; cet analphabétisme
spirituel diffus à cause duquel nous nous retrouvons dans l’incapacité de
prier ; cette difficulté à percevoir comme vraie et réelle la vie
éternelle, comme plénitude de communion qui germe ici-bas et s’épanouit au-delà
de la mort ; cette difficulté pour reconnaître l’autre comme frère, en
tant que fils du même Père ; et d’autres signes semblables.
À tout cela s’oppose la condition de fils, qui est notre vocation originaire,
elle est ce pour quoi nous sommes faits, notre plus profond ADN, mais qui a été
abimé et qui, pour être restauré, a demandé le sacrifice du Fils Unique. Du don
immense d’amour qu’est la mort de Jésus sur la croix, a jailli pour toute
l’humanité, comme une immense cascade de grâce, l’effusion de l’Esprit saint.
Celui qui s’immerge avec foi dans ce mystère de régénération renaît à la
plénitude de la vie filiale.
« Je ne vous laisserai pas orphelins ». Aujourd’hui, fête de
Pentecôte, ces paroles de Jésus nous font penser aussi à la présence maternelle
de Marie au Cénacle. La Mère de Jésus est au milieu de la communauté des
disciples rassemblés en prière : elle est mémoire vivante du Fils et
invocation vivante de l’Esprit Saint. Elle est la Mère de l’Église. À son
intercession nous confions de manière particulière tous les chrétiens et les
communautés qui en ce moment ont le plus besoin de la force de l’Esprit
Paraclet, Défenseur et Consolateur, Esprit de vérité, de liberté et de paix.
L’Esprit, comme affirme encore saint Paul, fait que nous appartenons au Christ.
« Celui qui n’a pas l’Esprit du Christ ne lui appartient pas » (Rm 8,
9). Et en consolidant notre relation d’appartenance au Seigneur Jésus, l’Esprit
nous fait entrer dans une nouvelle dynamique de fraternité. Par le Frère
universel qui est Jésus, nous pouvons nous mettre en relation avec les autres
d’une manière nouvelle, non plus comme des orphelins, mais comme des fils du
même Père, bon et miséricordieux. Et cela change tout ! Nous pouvons nous
regarder comme des frères, et nos différences ne font que multiplier la joie et
l’émerveillement d’appartenir à cette unique paternité et
fraternité.
15 mai 2016
SOURCE : http://fr.radiovaticana.va/news/2016/05/15/pentecôte__le_chrétien_nest_pas_orphelin/1229976<
Le Consolateur
Le mot
grec Paraclet se traduit « Consolateur ». Ce nom est
nouveau : la nuit même où le Christ fut livré, il promit cet Esprit et
l’appela pour la première fois de ce nom, disant : « Si je ne
m’en vais pas, le Consolateur ne viendra pas à vous ; mais si je pars, je
vous l’enverrai. »
Les Apôtres reçurent ce
Paraclet, c’est-à-dire le don de l’Esprit en rémission des péchés, le jour même
de la résurrection du Seigneur, lorsque celui-ci souffla sur eux et leur
dit : « Recevez l’Esprit Saint. À qui vous remettrez ses péchés,
ils seront remis » (Jn 20, 22-23), mais ils n’obtinrent la seconde
grâce de ce même Esprit que cinquante jours plus tard, qui les rendit forts et
pleins de ferveur et de zèle, savants et sages, éloquents et puissants en
miracles. Nul doute qu’ils n’auraient eu lieu de se réjouir si la Passion du
Christ ne leur avait fait recevoir en outre la première et la principale
consolation, le don premier et principal du Paraclet : la rémission des
péchés.
Rupert de Deutz
Moine et théologien né à
Liège, Rupert († 1129) deviendra abbé de l’abbaye Notre-Dame de Deutz, en
Allemagne. Il est connu pour ses écrits sur la Trinité et sur le Saint-Esprit.
/ Les Œuvres du Saint-Esprit, III, 10, trad. E. de Solms, Paris, Cerf,
1970, Sources Chrétiennes 165, p. 53-55.
SOURCE : https://fr.aleteia.org/daily-prayer/mardi-7-mai-2/meditation-de-ce-jour-1/
Pentecost
Pentecost Sunday is
one of the most ancient feasts of the Church, celebrated early enough to be
mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles (20:16) and St. Paul’s First Letter to
the Corinthians (16:8). It is the 50th day after Easter (if we count both
Easter and Pentecost), and it supplants the Jewish feast of Pentecost, which
took place 50 days after the Passover and which celebrated the sealing of the
Old Covenant on Mount Sinai.
The Acts of the Apostles
recounts the story of the original Pentecost as well (Acts 2). Jews from all
over were gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Jewish feast. On that Sunday,
ten days after our Lord’s Ascension, the Apostles and the Blessed Virgin Mary
were gathered in the Upper Room, where they had seen Christ after His Resurrection:
And suddenly there came a
sound from heaven, as of a mighty wind coming, and it filled the whole house
where they were sitting. And there appeared to them parted tongues as it were
of fire, and it sat upon every one of them: And they were all filled with the
Holy Ghost, and they began to speak with divers tongues, according as the Holy
Ghost gave them to speak. [Acts 2:2-4]
Christ had promised His
Apostles that He would sent His Holy Spirit, and, on Pentecost, they were
granted the gifts of the Spirit. The Apostles began to preach the Gospel in all
of the languages that the Jews who were gathered there spoke, and about 3,000
people were converted and baptized that day.
That is why Pentecost is
often called “the birthday of the Church.” On this day, with the descent of the
Holy Spirit, Christ’s mission is completed, and the New Covenant is
inaugurated. It’s interesting to note that St. Peter, the first pope, was
already the leader and spokesman for the Apostles on Pentecost Sunday (see Acts
2:14ff).
In years past, Pentecost
was celebrated with greater solemnity than it is today. In fact, the entire
period between Easter and Pentecost Sunday was known as Pentecost (and it still
is called Pentecost in the Eastern churches, both Catholic and Orthodox).
During those 50 days, both fasting and kneeling were strictly forbidden,
because this period was supposed to give us a foretaste of the life of Heaven.
In more recent times, parishes celebrated the approach of Pentecost with the
public recitation of the Novena to the Holy Ghost.
SOURCE : http://www.ucatholic.com/saints/pentecost-sunday/
Pentecost (Whitsunday)
A feast of
the universal Church which
commemorates the Descent of the Holy
Ghost upon the Apostles,
fifty days after the Resurrection
of Christ, on the ancient Jewish festival
called the "feast of weeks" or Pentecost (Exodus
34:22; Deuteronomy
16:10). Whitsunday is so called from the white garments which
were worn by those who were baptised during
the vigil; Pentecost ("Pfingsten"
in German),
is the Greek for "the fiftieth" (day after Easter).
Whitsunday, as a Christian
feast, dates back to the first century, although there is no evidence that
it was observed, as there is in the case of Easter;
the passage in 1
Corinthians 16:8 probably refers to the Jewish
feast. This is not surprising, for the feast,
originally of only one day's duration, fell on a Sunday;
besides it was so closely bound up with Easter that
it appears to be not much more than the termination of Paschal
tide.
That Whitsunday belongs
to the Apostolic times
is stated in the seventh of the (interpolated) fragments attributed to St.
Irenæus. In Tertullian (On
Baptism 19) the festival appears
as already well established. The Gallic pilgrim
gives a detailed account of the solemn manner
in which it was observed at Jerusalem ("Peregrin.
Silviæ", ed. Geyer, iv). The Apostolic
Constitutions (Book
V, Part 20) say that Pentecost lasts one week, but in the West it
was not kept with an octave until
at quite a late date. It appears from Berno
of Reichenau (d. 1048) that it was a debatable point in his time
whether Whitsunday ought to have an octave.
At present it is of equal rank with Easter
Sunday. During the vigil formerly
the catechumens who
remained from Easter were baptized,
consequently the ceremonies on
Saturday are similar to those on Holy
Saturday.
The office of
Pentecost has only one Nocturn during
the entire week. At Terce the "Veni
Creator" is sung instead of the usual hymn,
because at the third hour the Holy
Ghost descended. The Mass has
a Sequence, "Veni
Sancte Spiritus" the authorship of which by some is ascribed to
King Robert of France.
The colour of
the vestments is
red, symbolic of the love of
the Holy
Ghost or of the tongues of fire. Formerly the law courts
did not sit during the entire week, and servile work was forbidden. A Council
of Constance (1094) limited this prohibition to the first three days
of the week. The Sabbath rest
of Tuesday was abolished in 1771, and in many missionary territories also that
of Monday; the latter was abrogated for the entire Church by Pius
X in 1911. Still, as at Easter,
the liturgical rank
of Monday and Tuesday of Pentecost week is a Double of the First Class.
In Italy it
was customary to scatter rose leaves from the ceiling of the churches to recall
the miracle of
the fiery tongues; hence in Sicily and
elsewhere in Italy Whitsunday
is called Pascha rosatum. The Italian name Pascha rossa comes
from the red colours of the vestments used
on Whitsunday. In France it
was customary to blow trumpets during Divine
service, to recall the sound of the mighty wind which accompanied the
Descent of the Holy
Ghost. In England the
gentry amused themselves with horse races. The Whitsun Ales or merrymakings are
almost wholly obsolete in England.
At these ales the Whitsun plays were performed. At Vespers of
Pentecost in the Oriental
Churches the extraordinary service of genuflexion,
accompanied by long poetical prayers and psalms,
takes place. (Cf. Maltzew, "Fasten-und Blumen Triodion", p. 898 where
the entire Greco-Russian service
is given; cf. also Baumstark, "Jacobit. Fest brevier", p. 255.) On
Pentecost the Russians carry
flowers and green branches in their hands.
Sources
KELNEER, Heortology (St.
Louis, 1908); HAMPSON, Medii viæ kalendarium, I (London, 1841) 280 sqq.;
BRAND-ELLIS, Popular Antiquities, I (London, 1813), 26 sqq.;
NILLES, Kalendarium Manuale, II (Innsbruck, 1897), 370 sqq.
Holweck, Frederick.
"Pentecost (Whitsunday)." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 15. New
York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 15 May 2016 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15614b.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by Wm Stuart French, Jr. Dedicated to
Brenda Eileen Metcalfe French.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. October 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, S.T.D.,
Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2023 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15614b.htm
Holy Ghost
Synopsis of the dogma
The doctrine of
the Catholic Church concerning
the Holy Ghost forms an integral part of her teaching on the mystery of
the Holy Trinity,
of which St.
Augustine (On
the Holy Trinity I.3.5), speaking with diffidence, says: "In no
other subject is the danger of erring so great, or
the progress so difficult, or the fruit of a careful study so
appreciable". The essential points of
the dogma may
be resumed in the following propositions:
The Holy Ghost is the
Third Person of the Blessed Trinity.
Though really distinct,
as a Person,
from the Father and the Son, He is consubstantial with
Them; being God like
Them, He possesses with Them one and the same Divine Essence or Nature.
He proceeds, not by way
of generation, but by way of spiration, from the Father and the Son together,
as from a single principle.
Such is the belief the Catholic faith demands.
Chief errors
All the theories and all
the Christian sects that have
contradicted or impugned, in any way, the dogma of the
Trinity, have, as a logical consequence,
threatened likewise the faith in the Holy
Ghost. Among these, history mentions the following:
In the second and third
centuries, the dynamic or modalistic Monarchians (certain Ebionites, it is said,
Theodotus of Byzantium, Paul of Samosata, Praxeas, Noëtus,
Sabellius, and the Patripassians generally) held that the same Divine Person, according to His
different operations or manifestations, is in turn called the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Ghost; so they recognized a purely nominal Trinity.
In the fourth century and
later, the Arians and
their numerous heretical offspring:
Anomans or Eunomians, Semi-Arians, Acacians, etc., while
admitting the triple personality,
denied the consubstantiality. Arianism had been
preceded by the Subordination theory of some ante-Nicene writers, who affirmed
a difference and a gradation between the Divine Persons other than those that
arise from their relations in point of origin.
In the sixteenth century,
the Socinians explicitly
rejected, in the name of reason, along with all
the mysteries of Christianity, the doctrine of Three Persons in One God.
Mention may also be made
of the teachings of Johannes Philoponus (sixth century), Roscellinus, Gilbert de la Porrée, Joachim of Flora (eleventh
and twelfth centuries), and, in modern times, Günther, who, by denying
or obscuring the doctrine of
the numerical unity of the Divine Nature, in reality set
up a triple deity.
In addition to these
systems and these writers, who came in conflict with the true doctrine about the
Holy Ghost only indirectly and as a logical result of
previous errors,
there were others who attacked the truth directly:
Towards the middle of the
fourth century, Macedonius, Bishop of
Constantinople, and, after him a number of Semi-Arians, while
apparently admitting the Divinity of the Word, denied that of the
Holy Ghost. They placed Him among the spirits, inferior ministers of God, but higher than
the angels. They
were, under the name of Pneumatomachians,
condemned by the Council
of Constantinople, in 381 (Mansi, III, col. 560).
Since the days of Photius, the schismatic Greeks maintain
that the Holy Ghost, true
God like the Father and the Son, proceeds from the former alone.
The Third Person of the
Blessed Trinity
This heading implies
two truths:
The Holy Ghost is a Person really
distinct as such from the Father and the Son;
He is God and consubstantial with
the Father and the Son.
The first statement is
directly opposed to Monarchianism and
to Socinianism;
the second to Subordinationism, to the different forms of Arianism, and to
Macedonianism in particular. The same arguments drawn from Scripture and Tradition may be
used generally to prove either
assertion. We will, therefore, bring forward the proofs of the
two truths together,
but first call particular attention to some passages that demonstrate more
explicitly the distinction of personality.
Scripture
In the New Testament the
word spirit and, perhaps, even the expression spirit of God signify at
times the soul or man himself,
inasmuch as he is under the influence of God and aspires to
things above; more frequently, especially in St. Paul, they
signify God acting
in man; but they
are used, besides, to designate not only a working of God in general, but
a Divine Person,
Who is neither the Father nor the Son, Who is named together with the Father,
or the Son, or with Both, without the context allowing them to be identified. A
few instances are given here. We read in John 14:16-17:
"And I will ask the Father, and he shall give you another Paraclete, that he may
abide with, you for ever. The spirit of truth, whom the world
cannot receive"; and in John 15:26:
"But when the Paraclete cometh,
whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceedeth
from the Father, he shall give testimony of me." St. Peter addresses
his first
epistle, 1:1-2, "to the strangers dispersed . . . elect, according to the
foreknowledge of God the
Father, unto the sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of
the blood of Jesus
Christ". The Spirit of consolation and of truth is also
clearly distinguished in John 16:7, 13-15,
from the Son, from Whom He receives all He is to teach the Apostles, and from the
Father, who has nothing that the Son also does not possess. Both send Him, but
He is not separated from Them, for the Father and the Son come with Him when He
descends into our souls (John 14:23).
Many other texts declare
quite as clearly that the Holy Ghost is a Person, a Person distinct
from the Father and the Son, and yet One God with Them.
In several places St.
Paul speaks of Him as if speaking of God. In Acts 28:25, he says
to the Jews:
"Well did the Holy Ghost speak to our fathers by Isaias the prophet"; now
the prophecy contained
in the next two verses is taken from Isaiah 6:9-10, where
it is put in the mouth of the "King the Lord of hosts". In other
places he uses the words God and Holy Ghost as plainly
synonymous. Thus he writes (1 Corinthians 3:16):
"Know you not, that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit
of God dwelleth in you?" and in 6:19:
"Or know you
not, that your members are the temple of the Holy Ghost, who is in you . . .
?" St. Peter asserts the same identity when he thus remonstrates with
Ananias (Acts 5:3-4):
"Why hath Satan tempted thy heart,
that thou shouldst lie to
the Holy Ghost . . . ? Thou hast not lied to men, but to God." The sacred
writers attribute to the Holy Ghost all the works characteristic of Divine
power. It is in His name, as in the name of the Father and of the Son, that baptism is to be
given (Matthew 28:19).
It is by His operation that the greatest of Divine mysteries,
the Incarnation of
the Word, is
accomplished (Matthew
1:18, 20; Luke
1:35). It is also in His name and by His power that sins are forgiven
and souls sanctified:
"Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall
forgive, they are forgiven them" (John 20:22-23);
"But you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified in the
name of our Lord
Jesus Christ, and the Spirit of our God" (1 Corinthians 6:11);
"The charity of God is
poured forth in our hearts, by the Holy Ghost, who is given to us" (Romans 5:5). He is
essentially the Spirit of truth (John 14:16-17; 15:26), Whose
office it is to strengthen faith (Acts 6:5), to bestow
wisdom (Acts 6:3),
to give testimony of Christ,
that is to say, to confirm His teaching inwardly (John 15:26), and to
teach the Apostles the
full meaning of it (John
14:26; 16:13).
With these Apostles He
will abide for ever (John
14:16). Having descended on them at Pentecost, He will guide them in their
work (Acts 8:29),
for He will inspire the new prophets (Acts 11:28; 13:9), as He inspired the Prophets of
the Old Law (Acts 7:51). He is
the source of graces and gifts (1 Corinthians 12:3-11);
He, in particular, grants the gift of tongues (Acts 2:4; 10:44-47). And as
he dwells in our bodies sanctifies them (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19), so will and
them he raise them again, one day, from the dead (Romans 8:11). But
he operates especially in the soul, giving it a new
life (Romans 8:9 sq.),
being the pledge that God has
given us that we are his children (Romans 8:14-16; 2 Corinthians 1:22; 5:5; Galatians 4:6). He
is the Spirit of God, and at the same time the Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9); because
He is in God, He
knows the deepest mysteries of God (1 Corinthians 2:10-11),
and He possesses all knowledge. St. Paul ends
his Second
Epistle to the Corinthians (13:13) with this formula of benediction, which might
be called a blessing of
the Trinity: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and the charity of God,
and the communication of the Holy Ghost be with you all." — Cf. Tixeront,
"Hist. des dogmes", Paris, 1905, I, 80, 89, 90, 100, 101.
Tradition
While corroborating and
explaining the testimony of Scripture, Tradition brings
more clearly before us the various stages of the evolution of this doctrine.
As early as the first
century, St. Clement
of Rome gives us important teaching about the Holy Ghost. His "Epistle to the
Corinthians" not only tells us that the Spirit inspired and guided
the holy writers
(8.1; 45.2); that He is the
voice of Jesus
Christ speaking to us in the Old Testament (22.1 sq.); but it
contains further, two very explicit statements about the Trinity. In 46.6 (Funk,
"Patres apostolici", 2nd ed., I,158), we read that "we have only
one God, one
Christ, one only Spirit of grace within us, one same vocation in Christ".
In 58.2 (Funk,
ibid., 172), the author makes this solemn affirmation; zo
gar ho theos, kai zo ho kyrios Iesous Christos kai to pneuma to hagion, he te
pistis kai he elpis ton eklekton, oti . . . which we may compare with the
formula so frequently met with in the Old Testament: zo
kyrios. From this it follows that, in Clement's view, kyrios was
equally applicable to ho theos (the Father), ho kyrios Iesous
Christos, and to pneuma to hagion; and that we have three witnesses of equal
authority, whose Trinity, moreover, is the foundation of Christian faith and hope.
The same doctrine is
declared, in the second and third centuries, by the lips of the martyrs, and is found in
the writings of the Fathers. St. Polycarp (d.
155), in his torments, thus professed his faith in the Three Adorable Persons ("Martyrium sancti
Polycarpi" in Funk, op. cit., I, 330):
"Lord God Almighty,
Father of Thy blessed and well beloved Son, Jesus Christ . . .
in everything I praise Thee, I bless Thee, I
glorify Thee by the eternal and
celestial pontiff Jesus Christ, Thy well
beloved Son, by whom, to Thee, with Him and with the Holy Ghost, glory now and for
ever!"
St. Epipodius spoke more
distinctly still (Ruinart, "Acta mart.", Verona edition, p.
65): "I confess that Christ is God with the Father
and the Holy Ghost, and it is fitting that I should give back my soul to Him Who is
my Creator and
my Redeemer."
Among the apologists, Athenagoras mentions
the Holy Ghost along with, and on the same plane as, the Father and the Son.
"Who would not be astonished", says he (A Plea for the Christians 10),
"to hear us called atheists, us who
confess God the
Father, God the
Son and the Holy Ghost, and hold them one in power and distinct in
order [. . . ten en te henosei dynamin, kai ten en te taxei diairesin]?"
Theophilus of Antioch,
who sometimes gives to the Holy Ghost, as to the Son, the name of Wisdom (sophia),
mentions besides (To
Autolycus I.7 and II.18) the three
terms theos, logos, sophia and, being the first to apply the
characteristic word that was afterwards adopted, says expressly (II.15) that they form
a trinity (trias).
Irenæus looks upon
the Holy Ghost as eternal (Against Heresies V.12.2),
existing in God ante
omnem constitutionem, and produced by him at the beginning of His ways (IV.20.3). Considered
with regard to the Father, the Holy Ghost is his wisdom (IV.20.3); the Son and
He are the "two hands" by which God created man (IV.Preface.4, IV.20.20 and V.6.1). Considered
with regard to the Church,
the same Spirit is truth,
grace, a pledge of immortality,
a principle of union with God; intimately united
to the Church,
He gives the sacraments their
efficacy and virtue (III.17.2, III.24.1, IV.33.7 and V.8.1).
St. Hippolytus, though
he does not speak at all clearly of the Holy Ghost regarded as a distinct person, supposes him,
however, to be God,
as well as the Father and the Son (Against Noetus 8, 12).
Tertullian is one
of the writers of this age whose tendency to Subordinationism is most apparent,
and that in spite of his being the author of the definitive formula:
"Three persons,
one substance".
And yet his teaching on the Holy Ghost is in every way remarkable. He seems to
have been the first among the Fathers to affirm His Divinity in a clear and
absolutely precise manner. In his work "Adversus Praxean" he
dwells at length on the greatness of the Paraclete. The Holy
Ghost, he says, is God (13); of the substance of the
Father (3 and 4); one and the
same God with
the Father and the Son (2);
proceeding from the Father through the Son (4, 8); teaching all truth (2).
St. Gregory Thaumaturgus,
or at least the Ekthesis tes pisteos, which is commonly attributed to him,
and which dates from the period 260-270, gives us this remarkable passage
(P.G., X, 933 sqq.): "One is God, Father of the
living Word, of the subsisting Wisdom. . . . One the Lord, one of one, God of God, invisible of invisible.
. .One the Holy Ghost, having His subsistence from God. . . . Perfect
Trinity, which in eternity, glory, and power, is
neither divided, nor separated. . . . Unchanging and immutable Trinity."
In 304, the martyr St. Vincent said
(Ruinart, op. cit., 325): "I confess the Lord Jesus Christ, Son
of the Father most High, one of one; I recognize Him as one God with the Father
and the Holy Ghost."
But we must come down
towards the year 360 to find the doctrine on the
Holy Ghost explained both fully and clearly. It is St. Athanasius who
does so in his "Letters to Serapion" (P.G., XXVI, col. 525 sq.). He
had been informed that certain Christians held that
the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity was a creature. To refute them he
questions the Scriptures,
and they furnish him with arguments as solid as they are numerous. They tell
him, in particular, that the Holy Ghost is united to the Son by relations just
like those existing between the Son and the Father; that He is sent by the Son;
that He is His mouth-piece and glorifies Him; that, unlike creatures, He has
not been made out of nothing, but comes forth from God; that He performs a
sanctifying work among men, of which no
creature is capable; that in possessing Him we possess God; that the
Father created everything
by Him; that, in fine, He is immutable, has the attributes of immensity,
oneness, and has a right to
all the appellations that are used to express the dignity of the Son. Most of
these conclusions he supports by means of Scriptural texts, a
few from amongst which are given above. But the writer lays special stress on
what is read in Matthew
28:19. "The Lord", he writes (Ad Serap., III, n. 6, in P.G.,
XXVI, 633 sq.), "founded the Faith of the Church on the
Trinity, when He said to His Apostles: 'Going
therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost.' If the Holy Ghost were a creature, Christ would not have associated Him
with the Father; He would have avoided making a heterogeneous Trinity, composed
of unlike elements. What did God stand in need
of? Did He need to join to Himself a being of different nature? . . . No, the
Trinity is not composed of the Creator and the creature."
A little later, St. Basil, Didymus of Alexandria, St. Epiphanius, St. Gregory of Nazianzus, St. Ambrose, and St. Gregory of Nyssa took
up the same thesis ex professo, supporting it for the most part with the
same proofs. All
these writings had prepared the way for the Council of Constantinople which,
in 381, condemned the Pneumatomachians and solemnly proclaimed
the true doctrine. This teaching
forms part of the Creed
of Constantinople, as it is called, where the symbol refers to the Holy
Ghost, "Who is also our Lord and Who gives life; Who proceeds from the
Father, Who is adored and
glorified together with the Father and the Son; Who spoke by the prophets". Was
this creed, with
these particular words, approved by the council of 381? Formerly
that was the common opinion, and even in recent times it has been held by
authorities like Hefele, Hergenröther, and Funk; other historians, amongst whom
are Harnack and Duchesne, are of the contrary opinion; but all agree in
admitting that the creed of
which we are speaking was received and approved by the Council of Chalcedon, in
451, and that, at least from that time, it became the official formula of Catholic orthodoxy.
Procession of the Holy
Ghost
We need not dwell at
length on the precise meaning of the Procession in God. (See TRINITY.) It will
suffice here to remark that by this word we mean the relation of origin that
exists between one Divine Person and another,
or between one and the two others as its principle of origin. The Son proceeds
from the Father; the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son. The
latter truth will
be specially treated here.
A
That the Holy Ghost
proceeds from the Father has always been admitted by all Christians; the truth is expressly
stated in John
15:26. But the Greeks, after Photius, deny that He
proceeds from the Son. And yet such is manifestly the teaching of Holy Scripture and the Fathers.
In the New Testament
(a) The Holy Ghost is
called the Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9), the
Spirit of the Son (Galatians
4:6), the Spirit of Jesus (Acts 16:7). These
terms imply a relation of the Spirit to the Son, which can only be a relation
of origin. This conclusion is so much the more indisputable as all admit the
similar argument to explain why the Holy Ghost is called the Spirit of the
Father. Thus St.
Augustine argues (Tractate 99 on the Gospel
of John, nos. 6-7): "You hear the Lord himself declare: 'It is not you
that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you'. Likewise you
hear the Apostle declare:
'God hath sent
the Spirit of His Son into your hearts. Could there then be two spirits, one the spirit
of the Father, the other the spirit of the Son? Certainly not. Just as there is
only one Father, just as there is only one Lord or one Son, so there is only
one Spirit, Who is, consequently, the Spirit of both. . . Why then should you
refuse to believe that
He proceeds also from the Son, since He is also the Spirit of the Son? If He
did not proceed from Him, Jesus, when He appeared
to His disciples after
His Resurrection,
would not have breathed on them, saying: 'Receive ye the Holy Ghost'. What,
indeed, does this breathing signify, but that the Spirit proceeds also from
Him?" St.
Athanasius had argued in exactly the same way (De Trinit. et Spir. S.,
n. 19, in P.G., XXVI, 1212), and concluded: "We say that the Son of God is also
the source of the Spirit."
(b) The Holy Ghost receives from
the Son, according to John 16:13-15:
"When he, the Spirit of truth, is come he will
teach you all truth.
For he shall not speak of himself; but what things soever he shall hear, he
shall speak; and the things that are to come, he shall shew you. He shall
glorify me; because he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it to
you. All things whatsoever the Father hath, are mine. Therefore I said, that he
shall receive of mine, and shew it to you." Now, one
Divine Person can
receive from another only by Procession, being related to that other as to a
principle. What the Paraclete will
receive from the Son is immanent knowledge, which He will
afterwards manifest exteriorly. But this immanent knowledge is the
very essence of
the Holy Ghost. The latter, therefore, has His origin in the Son, the Holy
Ghost proceeds from the Son. "He shall not speak of Himself",
says St. Augustine (Tractate 99 on the Gospel
of John, no. 4), "because He is not from Himself, but He shall tell
you all He shall have heard. He shall hear from him from whom He proceeds. In
His case, to hear is to know, and to know is to be. He
derives His knowledge from
Him from Whom He derives His essence." St. Cyril of Alexandria remarks
that the words: "He shall receive of mine" signify "the nature" which the
Holy Ghost has from the Son, as the Son has His from the Father (De Trinit.,
dialog. vi, in P.G., LXXV, 1011). Besides, Jesus gives this
reason of His assertion: "He shall receive of mine": "All things
whatsoever the Father hath, are mine Now, since the Father has with regard to
the Holy Ghost the relation we term Active Spiration, the Son has it also; and
in the Holy Ghost there exists, consequently, with regard to both, Passive Spiration
or Procession.
The same truth has been
constantly held by the Fathers
This fact is undisputed
as far as the Western Fathers
are concerned; but the Greeks deny it in the case of the Easterns. We will
cite, therefore, a few witnesses from among the latter. The testimony of St. Athanasius has
been quoted above, to the effect that "the Son is the source of the
Spirit", and the statement of Cyril of Alexandria that
the Holy Ghost has His "nature" from the Son. The latter saint
further asserts (Thesaur., assert. xxxiv in P.G., LXXV, 585); "When the
Holy Ghost comes into our hearts, He makes us like to God, because He proceeds
from the Father and the Son"; and again (Epist., xvii, Ad Nestorium, De
excommunicatione in P.G., LXXVII, 117): "The Holy Ghost is not unconnected
with the Son, for He is called the Spirit of Truth, and Christ is
the Truth; so He
proceeds from Him as well as from God the Father." St. Basil (On the Holy Spirit 18)
wishes us not to depart from the traditional order in mentioning the Three
Divine Persons, because "as the Son is to the Father, so is the Spirit to
the Son, in accordance with the ancient order of the names in the formula
of baptism". St. Epiphanius writes
(Ancor., viii, in P.G., XLIII, 29, 30) that the Paraclete "is
not to be considered as unconnected with the Father and the Son, for He is with
Them one in substance and
divinity", and states that "He is from the Father and the Son";
a little further, he adds (op. cit., xi, in P.G., XLIII, 35): "No one
knows the Spirit, besides the Father, except the Son, from Whom He proceeds and
of Whom He receives." Lastly, a council held at Seleucia in 410
proclaims its faith "in
the Holy Living Spirit, the Holy Living Paraclete,
Who proceeds from the Father and the Son" (Lamy, "Concilium
Seleuciæ", Louvain, 1868).
However, when we compare
the Latin writers, as a body, with the Eastern writers, we
notice a difference in language: while the former almost unanimously affirm
that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and from the Son, the
latter generally say that He proceeds from the Father through the
Son. In reality the thought expressed by both Greeks and Latins is one and the
same, only the manner of expressing it is slightly different: the Greek
formula ek tou patros dia tou ouiou expresses directly the order
according to which the Father and the Son are the principle of the Holy Ghost,
and implies their equality as principle; the Latin formula expresses directly
this equality, and implies the order. As the Son Himself proceeds from the
Father, it is from the Father that He receives, with everything else, the
virtue that makes Him the principle of the Holy Ghost. Thus, the Father alone is principium
absque principio, aitia anarchos prokatarktike, and, comparatively, the
Son is an intermediate principle. The distinct use of the two
prepositions, ek (from) and dia (through), implies nothing
else. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the Greek theologians Blemmidus, Beccus, Calecas,
and Bessarion called
attention to this, explaining that the two particles have the same
signification, but that from is better suited to the First Person, Who is the
source of the others, and through to the Second Person, Who comes from
the Father. Long before their time St. Basil had
written (On the Holy
Spirit 8.21): "The expression di ou expresses
acknowledgment of the primordial principle [ tes prokatarktikes aitias]";
and St. Chrysostom (Homily 5 on the Gospel of
John, no. 2): "If it be said through Him, it is said solely
in order that no one may imagine that the Son is not generated": It may be
added that the terminology used by the Eastern and Western writers,
respectively, to express the idea is far from
being invariable. Just as Cyril, Epiphanius, and
other Greeks affirm the Procession ex utroque, so several Latin
writers did not consider they were departing from the teaching of their Church in
expressing themselves like the Greeks. Thus Tertullian (Against Praxeas 4):
"Spiritum non aliunde puto quam a Patre per Filium"; and St. Hilary (On the Holy Trinity XII.57),
addressing himself to the Father, protests that he wishes to adore, with Him and the
Son "Thy Holy Spirit, Who comes from Thee through thy only Son". And
yet the same writer had said, a little higher (op. cit., lib. II, 29, in P.L.,
X, 69), "that we must confess the Holy Ghost coming from the Father and
the Son", a clear proof that the two
formulæ were regarded as substantially equivalent.
B
Proceeding both from the
Father and the Son, the Holy Ghost, nevertheless, proceeds from Them as from a
single principle. This truth is, at the
very least insinuated in the passage of John 16:15 (cited
above), where Christ establishes a necessary connection
between His own sharing in all the Father has and the Procession of the Holy
Ghost. Hence it follows, indeed, that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the two
other Persons, not in so far as They are distinct, but inasmuch as Their Divine
perfection is numerically one. Besides, such is the explicit teaching of ecclesiastical tradition,
which is concisely put by St. Augustine (On the Holy Trinity V.14):
"As the Father and the Son are only one God and, relatively
to the creature, only one Creator and one Lord, so, relatively to the Holy
Ghost, They are only one principle." This doctrine was defined in the
following words by the Second Ecumenical Council of
Lyons [Denzinger,
"Enchiridion" (1908), n. 460]: "We confess that the Holy Ghost
proceeds eternally from
the Father and the Son, not as from two principles, but as from one principle,
not by two spirations, but by one single spiration." The teaching was
again laid down by the Council of Florence (ibid.,
n. 691), and by Eugene
IV in his Bull "Cantate
Domino" (ibid., n. 703 sq.).
C
It is likewise an article of faith that
the Holy Ghost does not proceed, like the Second Person of the
Trinity, by way of generation. Not only is the Second Person alone
called Son in the Scriptures, not only is
He alone said to be begotten, but He is also called the only Son of God; the ancient
symbol that bears the name of Saint Athanasius states
expressly that "the Holy Ghost comes from the Father and from the Son not
made, not created,
not generated, but proceeding". As we are utterly incapable of otherwise
fixing the meaning of the mysterious mode
affecting this relation of origin, we apply to it the name spiration, the
signification of which is principally negative and by way of contrast, in the
sense that it affirms a Procession peculiar to the Holy Ghost and exclusive of
filiation. But though we distinguish absolutely and essentially between
generation and spiration, it is a very delicate and difficult task to say what
the difference is. St.
Thomas (I.27),
following St.
Augustine (On
the Holy Trinity XV.27), finds the explanation and, as it the were,
the epitome, of the doctrine in
principle that, in God,
the Son proceeds through the Intellect and the
Holy Ghost through the Will. The Son is, in the language of Scripture, the image of
the Invisible God,
His Word, His
uncreated wisdom. God contemplates
Himself and knows Himself from all eternity, and, knowing
Himself, He forms within Himself a substantial idea of Himself,
and this substantial thought
is His Word. Now
every act of knowledge is
accomplished by the production in the intellect of a
representation of the object known; from this head,
then the process offers a certain analogy with
generation, which is the production by a living being of a being partaking of
the same nature;
and the analogy is
only so much the more striking when there is question of this act of
Divine knowledge,
the eternal term
of which is a substantial being,
consubstantial within the knowing subject. As to the Holy Ghost, according to
the common doctrine of theologians, He proceeds
through the will. The Holy Spirit, as His name indicates, is Holy in virtue of
His origin, His spiration; He comes therefore from a holy principle;
now holiness resides
in the will, as wisdom is in the intellect. That is also
the reason why He is so often called par excellence, in the writings
of the Fathers, Love and Charity. The Father and the
Son love one
another from all eternity,
with a perfect ineffable love; the term of
this infinite fruitful
mutual love is
Their Spirit Who is co-eternal and con-substantial with Them. Only, the Holy
Ghost is not indebted to the manner of His Procession precisely for this
perfect resemblance to His principle, in other words for His consubstantiality; for
to will or love an
object does not formally imply the production of its immanent image in
the soul that
loves, but rather a tendency, a movement of the will towards the thing loved, to be united to
it and enjoy it. So, making every allowance for the feebleness of our intellects in
knowing, and the unsuitability of our words for expressing the mysteries of the
Divine life, if we can grasp how the word generation, freed from all
the imperfections of the material order may be applied by analogy to the
Procession of the Word,
so we may see that the term can in no way befittingly applied to the Procession
of the Holy Ghost.
Filioque
Having treated of the
part taken by the Son in the Procession of the Holy Ghost, we come next to
consider the introduction of the expression Filioque into
the Creed of
Constantinople. The author of the addition is unknown, but the first trace of
it is found in Spain.
The Filioque was
successively introduced into the Symbol of the
Council of Toledo in 447, then, in pursuance of an order of another synod held in the
same place (589), it was inserted in the Niceno-Constantinopolitan
Creed. Admitted likewise into the Symbol Quicumque,
it began to appear in France in
the eighth century. It was chanted in 767,
in Charlemagne's chapel at Gentilly,
where it was heard by ambassadors from Constantine Copronymnus. The Greeks were
astonished and protested, explanations were given by the Latins, and many
discussions followed. The Archbishop of Aquileia, Paulinus, defended the
addition at the Council of Friuli, in 796. It was afterwards accepted by a
council held at Aachen,
in 809. However, as it proved a stumbling-block to the Greeks Pope Leo III disapproved
of it; and, though he entirely agreed with the Franks on the
question of the doctrine,
he advised them to omit the new word. He himself caused two large silver
tablets, on which the creed with
the disputed expression omitted was engraved to be erected in St. Peter's. His advice
was unheeded by the Franks;
and, as the conduct and schism of Photius seemed to
justify the Westerns in
paying no more regard to the feelings of the Greeks, the addition of the words
was accepted by the Roman
Church under Benedict
VIII (cf. Funk,
"Kirchengeschichte", Paderborn, 1902, p. 243).
The Greeks have always
blamed the Latins for making the addition. They considered that, quite apart
from the question of doctrine involved
by the expression, the insertion was made in violation of a decree of the Council of Ephesus,
forbidding anyone "to produce, write, or compose a confession of faith
other than the one defined by
the Fathers of Nicæa". Such a reason will not bear examination. Supposing
the truth of
the dogma (established
above), it is inadmissible that the Church could or
would have deprived herself of the right to mention it
in the symbol. If the opinion be adhered to, and it has strong arguments to
support it, which considers that the developments of the Creed in what
concerns the Holy Ghost were approved by the Council of Constantinople
(381), at once it might be laid down that the bishops at Ephesus (431)
certainly did not think of condemning or blaming those of Constantinople. But,
from the fact that the disputed expression was authorized by the Council of Chalcedon, in
451, we conclude that the prohibition of the Council of Ephesus was
never understood, and ought not to be understood, in an absolute sense. It may
be considered either as a doctrinal, or as a
merely disciplinary pronouncement. In the first case it would exclude any
addition or modification opposed to, or at variance with, the deposit of
Revelation; and such seems to be its historic import, for it was proposed and
accepted by the Fathers to oppose a formula tainted with Nestorianism. In the
second case considered as a disciplinary measure, it can bind only those who
are not the depositaries of the supreme power in the Church. The latter, as
it is their duty to
teach the revealed truth and to
preserve it from error,
possess, by Divine authority, the power and right to draw up
and propose to the faithful such
confessions of faith as circumstances may demand. This right is as
unconfinable as it is inalienable.
Gifts of the Holy Ghost
This title and the theory
connected with it, like the theory of the fruits of the Holy Ghost and that of
the sins against
the Holy Ghost, imply what theologians call appropriation. By this
term is meant attributing especially to one Divine Person perfections
and exterior works which seem to us more clearly or more immediately to be
connected with Him, when we consider His personal characteristics, but which in
reality are common to the Three Persons. It is in this sense that we attribute
to the Father the perfection of omnipotence, with its
most striking manifestations, e.g. the Creation, because He is
the principle of the two other Persons; to the Son we attribute wisdom and the
works of wisdom, because He proceeds from the Father by the Intellect; to the Holy
Ghost we attribute the operations of grace and the sanctification of souls, and in particular
spiritual gifts and fruits,
because He proceeds from the Father and the Son as Their mutual love and is called
in Holy Writ the goodness and the
charity of God.
The gifts of the Holy
Ghost are of two kinds: the first are specially intended for the sanctification
of the person who
receives them; the second, more properly called charismata, are
extraordinary favours granted for the help of another, favours, too, which do
not sanctify by themselves, and may even be separated from sanctifying grace. Those
of the first class are accounted seven in number, as enumerated by Isaias (11:2-3),
where the prophet sees
and describes them in the Messias. They are
the gifts of
wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety (godliness),
and fear of the Lord.
The gift of wisdom, by
detaching us from the world, makes us relish and love only the
things of heaven.
The gift of
understanding helps us to grasp the truths of religion
as far as is necessary.
The gift of counsel
springs from supernatural prudence, and enables us
to see and choose correctly what will help most to the glory of God and our
own salvation.
By the gift of fortitude we
receive courage to
overcome the obstacles and difficulties that arise in the practice of our
religious duties.
The gift of knowledge points
out to us the path to follow and the dangers to avoid in order to reach heaven.
The gift of piety, by inspiring us
with a tender and filial confidence in God, makes us joyfully
embrace all that pertains to His service.
Lastly, the gift of fear fills
us with a sovereign respect for God, and makes us dread,
above all things, to offend Him.
As to the inner nature of
these gifts, theologians consider
them to be supernatural and
permanent qualities,
which make us attentive to the voice of God, which render us
susceptible to the workings of actual grace, which make
us love the
things of God,
and, consequently, render us more obedient and docile
to the inspirations of the Holy Ghost.
But how do they differ
from the virtues?
Some writers think they are not really distinct from them, that they are
the virtues inasmuch
as the latter are free
gifts of God, and that they are identified essentially with grace, charity,
and the virtues.
That opinion has the particular merit of avoiding a multiplication of the
entities infused into the soul. Other writers look
upon the gifts as
perfections of a higher order than the virtues; the latter,
they say, dispose us to follow the impulse and guidance of reason; the former are
functionally intended to render the will obedient and docile to the
inspirations of the Holy Ghost. For the former opinion, see Bellevüe,
"L'uvre du Saint-Esprit" (Paris, 1902), 99 sq.; and for the latter,
see St. Thomas, I-II.68.1, and
Froget, "De l'habitation du Saint-Esprit dans les âmes justes"
(Paris, 1900), 378 sq.
The gifts of the second
class, or charismata,
are known to
us partly from St.
Paul, and partly from the history of the primitive Church, in the bosom of
which God plentifully
bestowed them. Of these "manifestations of the Spirit", "all
these things [that] one and the same Spirit worketh, dividing to every one
according as he will", the Apostle speaks to
us, particularly in 1 Corinthians 12:6-11 and 12:28-31; and Romans 12:6-8.
In the first of these
three passages we find nine charismata mentioned:
the gift of
speaking with wisdom, the gift of speaking
with knowledge, faith, the grace of
healing, the gift of
miracles, the gift
of prophecy, the gift
of discerning spirits, the gift of tongues,
the gift of
interpreting speeches. To this list we must at least add, as being found in the
other two passages indicated, the gift of government,
the gift of
helps, and perhaps what Paul calls distributio and misericordia.
However, exegetes are
not all agreed as to the number of the charismata, or the nature of each one
of them; long ago, St.
Chrysostom and St. Augustine had
pointed out the obscurity of the question. Adhering to the most probable views
on the subject, we may at once classify the charismata and
explain the meaning of most of them as follows. They form four natural groups:
Two charismata which
regard the teaching of Divine things: sermo sapientiæ, sermo scientiæ, the
former relating to the exposition of the higher mysteries, the
latter to the body of Christian truths.
Three charismata that
lend support to this teaching: fides, gratia sanitatum, operatio virtutum. The faith here spoken
of is faith in
the sense used by Matthew 17:19: that
which works wonders; so it is, as it were, a condition and a
part of the two gifts mentioned
with it.
Four charismata that
served to edify, exhort, and encourage the faithful, and to
confound the unbelievers: prophetia, discretio spirituum, genera
linguarum, interpretatio sermonum. These four seem to fall logically into two
groups; for prophecy,
which is essentially inspired pronouncement on different religious subjects,
the declaration of the future being only of secondary import, finds its
complement and, as it were, its check in the gift of discerning spirits; and
what, as a rule, would be the use of glossololia —
the gift of speaking with tongues —
if the gift of
interpreting them were wanting?
Lastly there remain
the charismata that
seem to have as object the administration of temporal affairs, amid works of charity: gubernationes,
opitulationes, distributiones. Judging by the context, these gifts, though conferred
and useful for the direction and comfort of one's neighbour, were in no way
necessarily found in all ecclesiastical superiors.
The charismata, being
extraordinary favours and not requisite for the sanctification of the individual, were not
bestowed indiscriminately on all Christians. However, in
the Apostolic Age,
they were comparatively common, especially in the communities of Jerusalem, Rome, and Corinth. The reason of
this is apparent: in the infant Churches the charismata were
extremely useful, and even morally necessary, to strengthen
the faith of
believers, to confound the infidels, to make them
reflect, and to counterbalance the false miracles with which
they sometimes prevailed. St. Paul was
careful (1 Corinthians
12-14) to restrict authoritatively the use of these charismata within
the ends for which they were bestowed, and thus insist upon their subordination
to the power of the hierarchy.
Cf. Batiffol, "L'Église naissante et le catholicisme" (Paris, 1909),
36. (See CHARISMATA.)
Fruits of the Holy Ghost
Some writers extend this
term to all the supernatural virtues, or rather to
the acts of all these virtues,
inasmuch as they are the results of the mysterious workings
of the Holy Ghost in our souls by means of
His grace. But, with St.
Thomas, I-II.70.2,
the word is ordinarily restricted to mean only those supernatural works
that are done joyfully and with peace of soul. This is the sense
in which most authorities apply the term to the list mentioned by St. Paul (Galatians 5:22-23):
"But the fruit of the Spirit is, charity, joy, peace, patience,
benignity, goodness,
longanimity, mildness, faith, modesty,
continency, chastity."
Moreover, there is no doubt that
this list of twelve — three of the twelve are omitted in several Greek and
Latin manuscripts —
is not to be taken in a strictly limited sense, but, according to the rules
of Scriptural language,
as capable of being extended to include all acts of a similar character. That is why
the Angelic Doctor says:
"Every virtuous act which man performs with
pleasure is a fruit." The fruits of the Holy Ghost are not habits,
permanent qualities,
but acts. They
cannot, therefore, be confounded with the virtues and
the gifts, from
which they are distinguished as the effect is from its cause, or the stream
from its source. The charity, patience, mildness, etc., of which the Apostle speaks in
this passage, are not then the virtues themselves,
but rather their acts or operations; for, however perfect the virtues may be,
they cannot be considered as the ultimate effects of grace, being themselves
intended, inasmuch as they are active principles, to produce something else,
i.e. their acts. Further, in order that these acts may fully justify their
metaphorical name of fruits, they must belong to that class which are
performed with ease and pleasure; in other words, the difficulty involved in
performing them must disappear in presence of the delight and satisfaction
resulting from the good accomplished.
Sins against the Holy
Ghost
The sin or blasphemy against
the Holy Ghost is mentioned in Matthew 12:22-32; Mark 3:22-30; Luke 12:10 (cf. 11:14-23); and
Christ everywhere declares that it shall not be pardoned. In what does it
consist? If we examine all the passages alluded to, there can be little doubt as to the
reply.
Let us take, for
instance, the account given by St. Matthew which
is more complete than that of the other Synoptics. There had
been brought to Christ "one possessed with
a devil, blind
and dumb: and he healed him, so that he spoke and saw". While the crowd is
wondering, and asking: "Is not this the Son of David?",
the Pharisees,
yielding to their wonted jealousy, and shutting
their eyes to the light of evidence, say: "This man casteth not out devils but
by Beelzebub the
prince of the devils." Jesus then proves to them this
absurdity, and, consequently, the malice of their
explanation; He shows them that it is by "the Spirit of God" that He casts out devils, and
then He concludes: "therefore I say to you: Every sin and blasphemy shall be
forgiven men,
but the blasphemy of
the Spirit shall not be forgiven. And whosoever shall speak a word against
the Son of man,
it shall be forgiven him: but he that shall speak against the Holy Ghost, it
shall not he forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in the world to
come."
So, to sin against the
Holy Ghost is to confound Him with the spirit of evil, it is to deny,
from pure malice,
the Divine character of
works manifestly Divine. This is the sense in which St. Mark also
defines the sin question;
for, after reciting the words of the Master: "But he
that shall blaspheme against
the Holy Ghost shall never have forgiveness", he adds at once:
"Because they said: He hath an unclean spirit." With this sin of pure
downright malice, Jesus contrasts
the sin "against
the Son of man",
that is the sin committed
against Himself as man,
the wrong done to His humanity in
judging Him by His humble and
lowly appearance. This fault, unlike the former, might he excused as the result
of man's ignorance and
misunderstanding.
But the Fathers of the Church,
commenting on the Gospel texts we are treating of, did not confine themselves
to the meaning given above. Whether it be that they wished to group together
all objectively analogous cases, or whether they hesitated and wavered when confronted
with this point of doctrine,
which St. Augustine declares
(Serm. ii de verbis Domini, c. v) one of the most difficult in Scripture, they have
proposed different interpretations or explanations.
St. Thomas, whom we may
safely follow, gives a very good summary of opinions in II-II.14. He says
that blasphemy against
the Holy Ghost was and may be explained in three ways.
Sometimes, and in its
most literal signification, it has been taken to mean the uttering of an insult
against the Divine Spirit, applying the appellation either to the Holy Ghost or
to all three Divine persons.
This was the sin of
the Pharisees,
who spoke at first against "the Son of Man",
criticizing the works and human ways of Jesus, accusing Him
of loving good
cheer and wine, of associating with the publicans, and who,
later on, with undoubted bad faith, traduced His Divine works, the miracles which He
wrought by virtue of His own Divinity.
On the other hand, St. Augustine frequently
explains blasphemy against
the Holy Ghost to be final impenitence, perseverance till death in
mortal sin. This
impenitence is against the Holy Ghost, in the sense that it frustrates and is
absolutely opposed to the remission of sins, and this remission
is appropriated to
the Holy Ghost, the mutual love of the Father
and the Son. In this view, Jesus, in Matthew 12 and Mark 3 did not
really accuse the Pharisees of
blaspheming the Holy Ghost, He only warned them against the danger they were in
of doing so.
Finally, several Fathers, and after them,
many scholastic
theologians, apply the expression to all sins directly
opposed to that quality which
is, by appropriation,
the characteristic quality of
the Third Divine Person.
Charity and goodness are
especially attributed to the Holy Ghost, as power is to the Father and wisdom
to the Son. Just, then, as they termed sins against the
Father those that resulted from frailty, and sins against the
Son those that sprang from ignorance, so the sins against the
Holy Ghost are those that are committed from downright malice, either by
despising or rejecting the inspirations and impulses which, having been stirred
in man's soul by the Holy
Ghost, would turn him away or deliver him from evil.
It is easy to see how
this wide explanation suits all the circumstances of the case where Christ
addresses the words to the Pharisees. These sins are commonly
reckoned six: despair, presumption, impenitence
or a fixed determination not to repent, obstinacy, resisting the known truth, and envy of another's
spiritual welfare.
The sins against the
Holy Ghost are said to be unpardonable, but the meaning of this assertion will
vary very much according to which of the three explanations given above is
accepted. As to final impenitence it is absolute; and this is easily
understood, for even God cannot
pardon where there is no repentance, and the
moment of death is the fatal instant after which no mortal sin is remitted. It
was because St.
Augustine considered Christ's words to
imply absolute unpardonableness that he held the sin against the
Holy Ghost to be solely final impenitence. In the other two explanations,
according to St. Thomas,
the sin against
the Holy Ghost is remissable — not absolutely and always, but inasmuch as
(considered in itself) it has not the claims and extenuating circumstance,
inclining towards a pardon, that might be alleged in the case of sins of weakness
and ignorance.
He who, from pure and deliberate malice, refuses to
recognize the manifest work of God, or rejects
the necessary means
of salvation,
acts exactly like a sick man who not only refuses all medicine and all food,
but who does all in his power to increase his illness, and whose malady becomes
incurable, due to his own action. It is true, that in either
case, God could,
by a miracle,
overcome the evil;
He could, by His omnipotent intervention,
either nullify the natural causes of bodily death, or radically change the will
of the stubborn sinner; but such intervention is not in accordance with His
ordinary providence;
and if he allows the secondary causes to act, if He offers the
free human will of ordinary but sufficient grace, who shall seek cause of
complaint? In a word, the irremissableness of the sins against the
Holy Ghost is exclusively on the part of the sinner, on account of the
sinner's act.
Sources
On the dogma see: ST.
THOMAS, Summa Theol., I, Q. xxxvi-xliii; FRANZELIN, De Deo Trino (Rome,
1881); C. PESCH, Pælectiones dogmaticæ, II (Freiburg im Br., 1895)
POHLE, Lehrbuch der Dogmatik, I (Paderborn, 1902); TANQUEREY, Synop.
Theol. dogm. spec., I, II (Rome, 1907-8). Concerning the Scriptural arguments
for the dogma: WINSTANLEY, Spirit in the New Testament (Cambridge,
1908); LEMONNYER, Epitres de S. Paul, I (Paris, 1905). Concerning
tradition: PETAVIUS, De Deo Trino in his Dogmata theologica;
SCHWANE, Dogmengeschichte, I (Freiburg im Br., 1892); DE REGNON, Etudes
théologiques sur la Sainte Trinité (Paris, 1892); TIXERONT, Hist. Des
dogmes, I (Paris, 1905); TURMEL, Hist. de la théol. positive (Paris,
1904).
Forget,
Jacques. "Holy Ghost." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol.
7. New York: Robert Appleton
Company, 1910. <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07409a.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by W.S. French, Jr.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. June 1, 1910. Remy Lafort, S.T.D.,
Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2023 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07409a.htm
Question 36. The person
of the Holy Ghost
Is this name,
"Holy Ghost," the proper name of one divine Person?
Does that divine
person Who is called the Holy Ghost, proceed from the Father and the Son?
Does He proceed from
the Father through the Son?
Are the Father and the
Son one principle of the Holy Ghost?
Article 1. Whether this
name "Holy Ghost" is the proper name of one divine person?
Objection 1. It
would seem that this name, "Holy Ghost," is not
the proper name of one divine person. For no name
which is common to the three persons is the
proper name of any one person. But this name of
'Holy Ghost' [It
should be borne in mind that the word "ghost" is the old English
equivalent for the Latin "spiritus,"
whether in the sense of "breath" or "blast," or in the
sense of "spirit," as an immaterial substance. Thus, we read
in the former sense (Hampole, Psalter x, 7), "The Gost of Storms"
(spiritus procellarum), and in the latter "Trubled gost is sacrifice
of God"
(Prose Psalter, A.D. 1325), and "Oure wrestlynge is . . .
against the spiritual wicked gostes of
the ayre" (More,
"Comfort against Tribulation"); and in our modern expression of
"giving up the ghost." As applied to God, and not specially
to the third Holy Person, we have an example from Maunder, "Jhesu Criste
was the worde and the goste of Good." (See Oxford Dictionary).] is common
to the three persons;
for Hilary (De
Trin. viii) shows that the "Spirit of God"
sometimes means the Father, as in the words of Isaiah 61:1:
"The Spirit of
the Lord is upon me;" and sometimes the Son, as when the Son
says: "In the Spirit
of God I cast out devils" (Matthew 12:28),
showing that He cast out devils by His
own natural power;
and that sometimes it means the Holy Ghost, as in the
words of Joel
2:28: "I will pour out of My Spirit over all flesh." Therefore
this name 'Holy Ghost'
is not the proper name of a divine person.
Objection 2. Further,
the names of the divine persons are
relative terms, as Boethius says
(De Trin.). But this name "Holy Ghost" is not
a relative term. Therefore this name is not the proper name of a divine Person.
Objection 3. Further,
because the Son is
the name of a divine Person He cannot be called the Son of this or of that. But
the spirit is spoken of as of this or that man, as appears in the
words, "The Lord said to Moses, I will take of
thy spirit and will give to them" (Numbers 11:17)
and also "The Spirit of Elias rested upon Eliseus" (2 Kings 2:15).
Therefore "Holy
Ghost" does not seem to be the proper name of a divine Person.
On the contrary, It
is said (1 John 5:7):
"There are three who bear witness in heaven, the Father, the
Word, and the Holy
Ghost." As Augustine says
(De Trin. vii, 4): "When we ask, Three what? we say, Three persons." Therefore
the Holy Ghost is
the name of a divine person.
I answer that, While
there are two processions in God, one of these, the
procession of love, has no proper name of its own, as stated above (I:27:4 ad 3).
Hence the relations also which follow from this procession are without a name (I:28:4: for which
reason the Person proceeding in that manner has not a proper name. But as some
names are accommodated by the usual mode of speaking to signify the aforesaid
relations, as when we use the names of procession and spiration, which in the
strict sense more fittingly signify the notional acts than the relations; so to
signify the divine Person, Who proceeds by way of love, this name "Holy Ghost" is by
the use of scriptural speech accommodated to Him. The appropriateness of this
name may be shown in two ways.
Firstly, from the fact
that the person who
is called "Holy
Ghost" has something in common with the other Persons. For, as Augustine says (De
Trin. xv, 17; v, 11), "Because the Holy Ghost is
common to both, He Himself is called that properly which both are called in
common. For the Father also is a spirit, and the Son is a spirit;
and the Father is holy,
and the Son is holy."
Secondly, from the proper
signification of the name. For the name spirit in things corporeal seems to
signify impulse and motion; for we call the breath and the wind by the term
spirit. Now it is a property of love to move and impel the will of the lover
towards the object loved. Further, holiness is
attributed to whatever is ordered to God. Therefore because
the divine person proceeds
by way of the love whereby God is loved,
that person is
most properly named "The Holy Ghost."
Reply to Objection 1. The
expression Holy
Spirit, if taken as two words, is applicable to the whole Trinity: because by
'spirit' the immateriality of the divine substance is
signified; for corporeal spirit is invisible, and has but little matter; hence we apply
this term to all immaterial and invisible substances. And by
adding the word "holy"
we signify the purity of divine goodness. But if Holy Spirit be
taken as one word, it is thus that the expression, in the usage of the Church, is accommodated
to signify one of the three persons, the one who
proceeds by way of love, for the reason above explained.
Reply to Objection 2. Although
this name "Holy
Ghost" does not indicate a relation, still it takes the place of a
relative term, inasmuch as it is accommodated to signify a Person distinct from
the others by relation only. Yet this name may be understood as including a
relation, if we understand the Holy Spirit as
being breathed [spiratus].
Reply to Objection 3. In
the name Son we understand that relation only which is of something from a
principle, in regard to that principle: but in the name "Father" we
understand the relation of principle; and likewise in the name of Spirit
inasmuch as it implies a moving power. But to no creature does it belong to be
a principle as regards a divine person; but rather the
reverse. Therefore we can say "our Father," and "our
Spirit"; but we cannot say "our Son."
Article 2. Whether the
Holy Ghost proceeds from the Son?
Objection 1. It
would seem that the Holy
Ghost does not proceed from the Son. For as Dionysius says
(Div. Nom. i): "We must not dare to say anything concerning the substantial Divinity
except what has been divinely expressed to us by the sacred oracles." But
in the Sacred
Scripture we are not told that the Holy Ghost proceeds
from the Son; but only that He proceeds from the Father, as appears from John 15:26:
"The Spirit of truth,
Who proceeds from the Father." Therefore the Holy Ghost does not
proceed from the Son.
Objection 2. Further,
in the creed of the council of Constantinople (Can. vii) we read:
"We believe in
the Holy Ghost,
the Lord and Life-giver, who proceeds from the Father; with the Father and the
Son to be adored and
glorified." Therefore it should not be added in our Creed that the Holy Ghost proceeds
from the Son; and those who added such a thing appear to be worthy of anathema.
Objection 3. Further, Damascene says (De
Fide Orth. i): "We say that the Holy Ghost is from
the Father, and we name Him the spirit of the Father; but we do not say that
the Holy Ghost is
from the Son, yet we name Him the Spirit of the Son." Therefore
the Holy Ghost does
not proceed from the Son.
Objection 4. Further,
nothing proceeds from that wherein it rests. But the Holy Ghost rests in
the Son; for it is said in the legend of St. Andrew: "Peace be to you and
to all who believe in
the one God the
Father, and in His only Son our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the
one Holy Ghost proceeding
from the Father, and abiding in the Son." Therefore
the Holy Ghost does
not proceed from the Son.
Objection 5. Further,
the Son proceeds as the Word. But our breath [spiritus] does not seem to
proceed in ourselves from our word. Therefore the Holy Ghost does not
proceed from the Son.
Objection 6. Further,
the Holy Ghost proceeds
perfectly from the Father. Therefore it is superfluous to say that He proceeds
from the Son.
Objection 7. Further
"the actual and the possible do not differ in things perpetual"
(Phys. iii, text 32), and much less so in God. But it is possible
for the Holy Ghost to
be distinguished from the Son, even if He did not proceed from Him. For Anselm says (De
Process. Spir. Sancti, ii): "The Son and the Holy Ghost have
their Being from the Father; but each in a different way; one by Birth, the
other by Procession, so that they are thus distinct from one another." And
further on he says: "For even if for no other reason were the Son and
the Holy Ghost distinct,
this alone would suffice." Therefore the Holy Spirit is
distinct from the Son, without proceeding from Him.
On the contrary, Athanasius says:
"The Holy Ghost is
from the Father and the Son; not made, nor created, nor begotten,
but proceeding."
I answer that, It
must be said that the Holy
Ghost is from the Son. For if He were not
from Him, He could in no wise be personally distinguished from Him; as appears
from what has been said above (I:28:3; I:30:2). For it
cannot be said that the divine Persons are distinguished from each other in any
absolute sense; for it would follow that there would not be one essence of the
three persons:
since everything that is spoken of God in an absolute
sense, belongs to the unity of essence. Therefore it
must be said that the divine persons are
distinguished from each other only by the relations. Now the relations cannot
distinguish the persons except
forasmuch as they are opposite relations; which appears from the fact that the
Father has two relations, by one of which He is related to the Son, and by the
other to the Holy
Ghost; but these are not opposite relations, and therefore they do not make
two persons, but
belong only to the one person of the
Father. If therefore in the Son and the Holy Ghost there
were two relations only, whereby each of them were related to the Father, these
relations would not be opposite to each other, as neither would be the two
relations whereby the Father is related to them. Hence, as the person of the
Father is one, it would follow that the person of the Son
and of the Holy
Ghost would be one, having two relations opposed to the two relations
of the Father. But this is heretical since it
destroys the Faith in
the Trinity.
Therefore the Son and the Holy Ghost must be
related to each other by opposite relations. Now there cannot be in God any relations
opposed to each other, except relations of origin, as proved above (I:28:44). And
opposite relations of origin are to be understood as of a
"principle," and of what is "from the principle." Therefore
we must conclude that it is necessary to say
that either the Son is
from the Holy Ghost;
which no one says; or that the Holy Ghost is from
the Son, as we confess.
Furthermore, the order of
the procession of each one agrees with this conclusion. For it was said above (I:27:4; I:28:4), that the
Son proceeds by the way of the intellect as Word,
and the Holy Ghost by
way of the will as
Love. Now love must proceed from a word. For we do not love anything unless we
apprehend it by a mental conception.
Hence also in this way it is manifest that the Holy Ghost proceeds
from the Son.
We derive a knowledge of the
same truth from
the very order of nature itself.
For we nowhere find that several things proceed from one without order except
in those which differ only by their matter; as for instance
one smith produces many knives distinct from each other materially, with no
order to each other; whereas in things in which there is not only a material
distinction we always find that some order exists in the
multitude produced. Hence also in the order of creatures produced, the beauty
of the divine wisdom is displayed. So if from the one Person of the Father,
two persons proceed,
the Son and the Holy
Ghost, there must be some order between them. Nor can any other be assigned
except the order of their nature, whereby one is
from the other. Therefore it cannot be said that the Son and the Holy Ghost proceed
from the Father in such a way as that neither of them proceeds from the other,
unless we admit in them a material distinction; which is impossible.
Hence also the Greeks
themselves recognize that the procession of the Holy Ghost has some
order to the Son.
For they grant that the Holy Ghost is
the Spirit "of
the Son"; and that He is from the Father "through the Son." Some of them
are said also to concede that "He is from the Son"; or that "He
flows from the Son," but not that He proceeds; which seems to come
from ignorance or
obstinacy. For a just consideration of the truth will convince
anyone that the word procession is the one most commonly applied to all that
denotes origin of any kind. For we use the term to describe any kind of origin;
as when we say that a line proceeds from a point, a ray from the sun, a stream
from a source, and likewise in everything else. Hence, granted that the Holy Ghost originates
in any way from the Son, we can conclude that the Holy Ghost proceeds
from the Son.
Reply to Objection 1. We
ought not to say about God anything which
is not found in Holy
Scripture either explicitly or implicitly. But although we do not find
it verbally expressed in Holy Scripture that
the Holy Ghost proceeds
from the Son, still we do find it in the sense of Scripture, especially
where the Son says, speaking of the Holy Ghost, "He
will glorify Me, because He shall receive of Mine" (John 16:14). It
is also a rule of Holy
Scripture that whatever is said of the Father, applies to the Son,
although there be added an exclusive term; except only as regards what belongs
to the opposite relations, whereby the Father and the Son are distinguished
from each other. For when the Lord says, "No one knoweth the Son,
but the Father," the idea of the
Son knowing Himself
is not excluded. So therefore when we say that the Holy Ghost proceeds
from the Father, even though it be added that He proceeds from the Father
alone, the Son would not thereby be at all excluded; because as regards being
the principle of the Holy
Ghost, the Father and the Son are not opposed to each other, but only as regards
the fact that one is the Father, and the other is the Son.
Reply to Objection 2. In
every council of the Church a
symbol of faith has
been drawn up to meet some prevalent error condemned in
the council at that time. Hence subsequent councils are not to be described as
making a new symbol of faith; but what was
implicitly contained in the first symbol was explained by some addition
directed against rising heresies. Hence in the
decision of the council
of Chalcedon it is declared that those who were congregated together
in the council of Constantinople, handed down the doctrine about the Holy Ghost, not implying
that there was anything wanting in the doctrine of their predecessors who had
gathered together at Nicaea, but explaining what those fathers had understood
of the matter.
Therefore, because at the time of the ancient
councils the error of
those who said that the Holy Ghost did not
proceed from the Son had not arisen, it was not necessary to make
any explicit declaration on that point; whereas, later on, when certain errors rose up,
another council [Council of Rome, under Pope Damasus] assembled
in the west, the matter was
explicitly defined by the authority of the Roman Pontiff, by whose
authority also the ancient councils were summoned and confirmed. Nevertheless
the truth was
contained implicitly in the belief that
the Holy Ghost proceeds
from the Father.
Reply to Objection 3. The
Nestorians were the first to introduce the error that
the Holy Ghost did
not proceed from the Son, as appears in a Nestorian creed
condemned in the council of Ephesus. This error was embraced
by Theodoric the Nestorian,
and several others after him, among whom was also Damascene. Hence, in
that point his opinion is not to be held. Although, too, it has been asserted
by some that while Damascene did
not confess that the Holy
Ghost was from the Son, neither do those words of his express a denial
thereof.
Reply to Objection 4. When
the Holy Ghost is
said to rest or abide in the Son, it does not mean that He does not proceed
from Him; for the Son also is said to abide in the Father, although He proceeds
from the Father. Also the Holy Ghost is said
to rest in the Son as the love of the lover abides in the beloved; or in
reference to the human nature of Christ, by reason of
what is written: "On whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending
and remaining upon Him, He it is who baptizes" (John 1:33).
Reply to Objection 5. The
Word in God is
not taken after the similitude of the vocal word, whence the breath [spiritus]
does not proceed; for it would then be only metaphorical; but after the
similitude of the mental word,
whence proceeds love.
Reply to Objection 6. For
the reason that the Holy
Ghost proceeds from the Father perfectly, not only is it not
superfluous to say He proceeds from the Son, but rather it is absolutely necessary. Forasmuch as
one power belongs to the Father and the Son; and because whatever is from the
Father, must be from the Son unless it be opposed to the property of filiation;
for the Son is
not from Himself, although He is from the Father.
Reply to Objection 7. The Holy Ghost is
distinguished from the Son, inasmuch as the origin of one is distinguished from
the origin of the other; but the difference itself of origin comes from the
fact that the Son is
only from the Father, whereas the Holy Ghost is from
the Father and the Son; for otherwise the processions would not be distinguished
from each other, as explained above, and in I:27.
Article 3. Whether the
Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father through the Son?
Objection 1. It
would seem that the Holy
Ghost does not proceed from the Father through the Son. For whatever
proceeds from one through another, does not proceed immediately. Therefore, if
the Holy Ghost proceeds
from the Father through the Son, He does not proceed immediately; which seems
to be unfitting.
Objection 2. Further,
if the Holy Ghost proceeds
from the Father through the Son, He does not proceed from the Son, except on
account of the Father. But "whatever causes a thing to
be such is yet more so." Therefore He proceeds more from the Father than
from the Son.
Objection 3. Further,
the Son has His being by generation. Therefore if the Holy Ghost is from
the Father through the Son, it follows that the Son is first
generated and afterwards the Holy Ghost proceeds;
and thus the procession of the Holy Ghost is
not eternal,
which is heretical.
Objection 4. Further,
when anyone acts through another, the same may be said conversely. For as we
say that the king acts through the bailiff, so it can be said conversely that
the bailiff acts through the king. But we can never say that the Son spirates
the Holy Ghost through
the Father. Therefore it can never be said that the Father spirates the Holy Ghost through
the Son.
On the contrary, Hilary says (De
Trin. xii): "Keep me, I pray, in this expression
of my faith,
that I may ever possess the Father—namely Thyself: that I may adore Thy Son
together with Thee: and that I may deserve Thy Holy Spirit, who is
through Thy Only Begotten."
I answer that, Whenever
one is said to act through another, this preposition "through" points
out, in what is covered by it, some cause or principle
of that act. But since action is a mean between the agent and the thing done,
sometimes that which is covered by the preposition "through" is
the cause of
the action, as proceeding from the agent; and in that case it is the cause of why the
agent acts, whether it be a final cause or a formal cause, whether it be
effective or motive. It is a final cause when we say,
for instance, that the artisan works through love of gain. It is a formal cause when we say
that he works through his art. It is a motive cause when we say
that he works through the command of another. Sometimes, however, that which is
covered by this preposition "through" is the cause of the action
regarded as terminated in the thing done; as, for instance, when we say, the
artisan acts through the mallet, for this does not mean that the mallet is
the cause why
the artisan acts, but that it is the cause why the thing
made proceeds from the artisan, and that it has even this effect from the
artisan. This is why it is sometimes said that this preposition
"through" sometimes denotes direct authority, as when we say, the
king works through the bailiff; and sometimes indirect authority, as when we
say, the bailiff works through the king.
Therefore, because the
Son receives from the Father that the Holy Ghost proceeds
from Him, it can be said that the Father spirates the Holy Ghost through
the Son, or that the Holy
Ghost proceeds from the Father through the Son, which has the same
meaning.
Reply to Objection 1. In
every action two things are to be considered, the "suppositum"
acting, and the power whereby it acts; as, for instance, fire heats through
heat. So if we consider in the Father and the Son the power whereby they
spirate the Holy
Ghost, there is no mean, for this is one and the same power. But if we
consider the persons themselves
spirating, then, as the Holy Ghost proceeds
both from the Father and from the Son, the Holy Ghost proceeds
from the Father immediately, as from Him, and mediately, as from the Son; and
thus He is said to proceed from the Father through the Son. So also did Abel proceed
immediately from Adam,
inasmuch as Adam was
his father; and mediately, as Eve was his mother, who proceeded from Adam; although, indeed,
this example of a material procession is inept to signify the immaterial
procession of the divine persons.
Reply to Objection 2. If
the Son received from the Father a numerically distinct power for the spiration
of the Holy Ghost,
it would follow that He would be a secondary and instrumental cause; and thus
the Holy Ghost would
proceed more from the Father than from the Son; whereas, on the contrary, the
same spirative power belongs to the Father and to the Son; and therefore
the Holy Ghost proceeds
equally from both, although sometimes He is said to proceed principally or
properly from the Father, because the Son has this power from the Father.
Reply to Objection 3. As
the begetting of the Son is
co-eternal with the begetter (and hence the Father does not exist before
begetting the Son), so the procession of the Holy Ghost is
co-eternal with His principle. Hence, the Son was not begotten before the Holy Ghost proceeded;
but each of the operations is eternal.
Reply to Objection 4. When
anyone is said to work through anything, the converse proposition is not
always true. For
we do not say that the mallet works through the carpenter; whereas we can say
that the bailiff acts through the king, because it is the bailiff's place to
act, since he is master of his own act, but it is not the mallet's place to
act, but only to be made to act, and hence it is used only as an instrument.
The bailiff is, however, said to act through the king, although this
preposition "through" denotes a medium, for the more a
"suppositum" is prior in action, so much the more is its power
immediate as regards the effect, inasmuch as the power of the first cause joins the
second cause to
its effect. Hence also first principles are said to be immediate in the
demonstrative sciences.
Therefore, so far as the bailiff is a medium according to the order of the
subject's acting, the king is said to work through the bailiff; but according
to the order of powers, the bailiff is said to act through the king, forasmuch
as the power of the king gives the bailiff's action its effect. Now there is no
order of power between Father and Son, but only order of 'supposita'; and hence
we say that the Father spirates through the Son; and not conversely.
Article 4. Whether the Father
and the Son are one principle of the Holy Ghost?
Objection 1. It
would seem that the Father and the Son are not one principle of the Holy Ghost. For
the Holy Ghost does
not proceed from the Father and the Son as they are one; not as they are one
in nature, for
the Holy Ghost would
in that way proceed from Himself, as He is one in nature with Them;
nor again inasmuch as they are united in any one property, for it is clear that
one property cannot belong to two subjects. Therefore the Holy Ghost proceeds
from the Father and the Son as distinct from one another. Therefore the Father
and the Son are not one principle of the Holy Ghost.
Objection 2. Further,
in this proposition "the Father and the Son are one principle of the Holy Ghost," we do
not designate personal unity, because in that case the Father and the Son would
be one person;
nor again do we designate the unity of property, because if one property were
the reason of the Father and the Son being one principle of the Holy Ghost, similarly,
on account of His two properties, the Father would be two principles of the Son
and of the Holy
Ghost, which cannot be admitted. Therefore the Father and the Son are not
one principle of the Holy
Ghost.
Objection 3. Further,
the Son is
not one with the Father more than is the Holy Ghost. But
the Holy Ghost and
the Father are not one principle as regards any other divine person. Therefore
neither are the Father and the Son.
Objection 4. Further,
if the Father and the Son are one principle of the Holy Ghost, this one is
either the Father or it is not the Father. But we cannot assert either of these
positions because if the one is the Father, it follows that the Son is the Father;
and if the one is not the Father, it follows that the Father is not the Father.
Therefore we cannot say that the Father and the Son are one principle of
the Holy Ghost.
Objection 5. Further,
if the Father and the Son are one principle of the Holy Ghost, it
seems necessary to
say, conversely, that the one principle of the Holy Ghost is the
Father and the Son.
But this seems to be false;
for this word "principle" stands either for the person of the
Father, or for the person of
the Son; and in either sense it is false. Therefore this
proposition also is false,
that the Father and the Son are one principle of the Holy Ghost.
Objection 6. Further,
unity in substance makes
identity. So if the Father and the Son are the one principle of the Holy Ghost, it follows
that they are the same principle; which is denied by many. Therefore we cannot
grant that the Father and the Son are one principle of the Holy Ghost.
Objection 7. Further,
the Father, Son and Holy
Ghost are called one Creator, because they are the one principle of
the creature. But the Father and the Son are not one, but two Spirators, as
many assert; and this agrees also with what Hilary says (De
Trin. ii) that "the Holy Ghost is to be
confessed as proceeding from Father and Son as authors." Therefore the
Father and the Son are not one principle of the Holy Ghost.
On the contrary, Augustine says (De
Trin. v, 14) that the Father and the Son are not two principles, but one
principle of the Holy
Ghost.
I answer that, The
Father and the Son are in everything one, wherever there is no distinction
between them of opposite relation. Hence since there is no relative opposition
between them as the principle of the Holy Ghost it
follows that the Father and the Son are one principle of the Holy Ghost.
Some, however, assert
that this proposition is incorrect: "The Father and the Son are one
principle of the Holy
Ghost," because, they declare, since the word "principle" in
the singular number does not signify "person," but
"property," it must be taken as an adjective; and forasmuch as an
adjective cannot be modified by another adjective, it cannot properly be said
that the Father and the Son are one principle of the Holy Ghost unless
one be taken as an adverb, so that the meaning should be: They are one
principle—that is, in one and the same way. But then it might be equally right
to say that the Father is two principles of the Son and of the Holy Ghost—namely, in
two ways. Therefore, we must say that, although this word "principle"
signifies a property, it does so after the manner of a substantive, as do the
words "father" and "son" even in things created. Hence it takes
its number from the form it signifies, like other substantives. Therefore, as
the Father and the Son are one God, by reason of the
unity of the form that is signified by this word "God"; so they are
one principle of the Holy
Ghost by reason of the unity of the property that is signified in this
word "principle."
Reply to Objection 1. If
we consider the spirative power, the Holy Ghost proceeds
from the Father and the Son as they are one in the spirative power, which in a
certain way signifies the nature with the
property, as we shall see later (Reply to Objection 7). Nor is there any reason
against one property being in two "supposita" that possess one
common nature.
But if we consider the "supposita" of the spiration, then we may say
that the Holy Ghost proceeds
from the Father and the Son, as distinct; for He proceeds from them as the
unitive love of both.
Reply to Objection 2. In
the proposition "the Father and the Son are one principle of the Holy Ghost," one
property is designated which is the form signified by the term. It does not
thence follow that by reason of the several properties the Father can be called
several principles, for this would imply in Him a plurality of subjects.
Reply to Objection 3. It
is not by reason of relative properties that we speak of similitude or
dissimilitude in God,
but by reason of the essence.
Hence, as the Father is not more like to Himself than He is to the Son; so
likewise neither is the Son more like to the Father than is the Holy Ghost.
Reply to Objection 4. These
two propositions, "The Father and the Son are one principle which is the
Father," or, "one principle which is not the Father," are not
mutually contradictory; and hence it is not necessary to assert
one or other of them. For when we say the Father and the Son are one principle,
this word "principle" has not determinate supposition but rather it
stands indeterminately for two persons together. Hence
there is a fallacy of "figure of speech" as the argument concludes
from the indeterminate to the determinate.
Reply to Objection 5. This
proposition is also true:—The
one principle of the Holy
Ghost is the Father and the Son; because the word
"principle" does not stand for one person only, but
indistinctly for the two persons as above
explained.
Reply to Objection 6. There
is no reason against saying that the Father and the Son are the same principle,
because the word "principle" stands confusedly and indistinctly for
the two Persons together.
Reply to Objection 7. Some
say that although the Father and the Son are one principle of the Holy Ghost, there are
two spirators, by reason of the distinction of "supposita," as also
there are two spirating, because acts refer to subjects. Yet this does not
hold good as
to the name "Creator"; because the Holy Ghost proceeds
from the Father and the Son as from two distinct persons, as above
explained; whereas the creature proceeds from the three persons not as
distinct persons,
but as united in essence.
It seems, however, better to say that because spirating is an adjective, and
spirator a substantive, we can say that the Father and the Son are two
spirating, by reason of the plurality of the "supposita" but not two
spirators by reason of the one spiration. For adjectival words derive their
number from the "supposita" but substantives from themselves,
according to the form signified. As to what Hilary says, that
"the Holy ghost is from the Father and the Son as His authors," this
is to be explained in the sense that the substantive here stands for the
adjective.
The Summa Theologiæ of St. Thomas Aquinas
Second and Revised Edition, 1920
Literally translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province
Online Edition Copyright © 2017 by Kevin Knight
Nihil Obstat. F. Innocentius Apap, O.P., S.T.M., Censor. Theol.
Imprimatur. Edus. Canonicus Surmont, Vicarius Generalis. Westmonasterii.
APPROBATIO ORDINIS
Nihil Obstat. F. Raphael Moss, O.P., S.T.L. and F. Leo Moore, O.P., S.T.L.
Imprimatur. F. Beda Jarrett, O.P., S.T.L., A.M., Prior Provincialis Angliæ
MARIÆ IMMACULATÆ - SEDI SAPIENTIÆ
Copyright © 2023 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : https://www.newadvent.org/summa/1036.htm
Pentecoste
4
giugno (celebrazione mobile)
Per gli Ebrei è la festa
che ricorda il giorno in cui sul Monte Sinai, Dio diede a Mosè le tavole della
Legge. Per la Chiesa Cattolica è la festa che ricorda la discesa dello
Spirito Santo sugli Apostoli.
Martirologio Romano:
Giorno di Pentecoste, in cui si conclude il tempo sacro dei cinquanta giorni di
Pasqua e, con l’effusione dello Spirito Santo sui discepoli a Gerusalemme, si
fa memoria dei primordi della Chiesa e dell’inizio della missione degli
Apostoli fra tutte le tribù, lingue, popoli e nazioni.
Origini della festa
Presso gli Ebrei la festa era inizialmente denominata “festa della mietitura” e “festa dei primi frutti”; si celebrava il 50° giorno dopo la Pasqua ebraica e segnava l’inizio della mietitura del grano; nei testi biblici è sempre una gioiosa festa agricola.
È chiamata anche “festa delle Settimane”, per la sua ricorrenza di sette settimane dopo la Pasqua; nel greco ‘Pentecoste’ significa 50ª giornata. Il termine Pentecoste, riferendosi alla “festa delle Settimane”, è citato in Tobia 2,1 e 2 Maccabei, 12, 31-32..
Quindi lo scopo primitivo di questa festa, era il ringraziamento a Dio per i frutti della terra, cui si aggiunse più tardi, il ricordo del più grande dono fatto da Dio al popolo ebraico, cioè la promulgazione della Legge mosaica sul Monte Sinai.
Secondo il rituale ebraico, la festa comportava il pellegrinaggio di tutti gli
uomini a Gerusalemme, l’astensione totale da qualsiasi lavoro, un’adunanza
sacra e particolari sacrifici; ed era una delle tre feste di pellegrinaggio
(Pasqua, Capanne, Pentecoste), che ogni devoto ebreo era invitato a celebrare a
Gerusalemme.
La discesa dello Spirito Santo
L’episodio della discesa dello Spirito Santo è narrato negli Atti degli Apostoli, cap. 2; gli apostoli insieme a Maria, la madre di Gesù, erano riuniti a Gerusalemme nel Cenacolo, probabilmente della casa della vedova Maria, madre del giovane Marco, il futuro evangelista, dove presero poi a radunarsi abitualmente quando erano in città; e come da tradizione, erano affluiti a Gerusalemme gli ebrei in gran numero, per festeggiare la Pentecoste con il prescritto pellegrinaggio.
“Mentre stava per compiersi il giorno di Pentecoste, si trovavano tutti insieme nello stesso luogo. Venne all’improvviso dal cielo un rombo, come di vento che si abbatte gagliardo e riempì tutta la casa dove si trovavano.
Apparvero loro lingue di fuoco, che si dividevano e si posarono su ciascuno di loro; ed essi furono tutti pieni di Spirito Santo e cominciarono a parlare in altre lingue, come lo Spirito dava loro di esprimersi.
Si trovavano allora in Gerusalemme giudei osservanti, di ogni Nazione che è sotto il cielo. Venuto quel fragore, la folla si radunò e rimase sbigottita, perché ciascuno li sentiva parlare nella propria lingua.
Erano stupefatti e, fuori di sé per lo stupore, dicevano: ‘Costoro che parlano non sono forse tutti Galilei? E com’è che li sentiamo ciascuno parlare la nostra lingua nativa?…”.
Il passo degli Atti degli Apostoli, scritti dall’evangelista Luca in un greco
accurato, prosegue con la prima predicazione dell’apostolo Pietro, che
unitamente a Paolo, narrato nei capitoli successivi, aprono il cristianesimo
all’orizzonte universale, sottolineando l’unità e la cattolicità della fede
cristiana, dono dello Spirito Santo.
Lo Spirito Santo
È il nome della terza persona della SS. Trinità, principio di santificazione dei fedeli, di unificazione della Chiesa, di ispirazione negli autori della Sacra Scrittura. È colui che assiste il magistero della Chiesa e tutti i fedeli nella conoscenza della verità (è detto anche ‘Paraclito’, cioè ‘Consolatore’).
L’Antico Testamento, non contiene una vera e propria indicazione sullo Spirito Santo come persona divina. Lo “spirito di Dio”, vi appare come forza divina che produce la vita naturale cosmica, i doni profetici e gli altri carismi, la capacità morale di obbedire ai comandamenti.
Nel Nuovo Testamento, lo Spirito appare talora ancora come forza impersonale carismatica. Insieme però, avviene la rivelazione della ‘personalità’ e della ‘divinità’ dello Spirito Santo, specialmente nel Vangelo di san Giovanni, dove Gesù afferma di pregare il Padre perché mandi il Paraclito, che rimanga sempre con i suoi discepoli e li ammaestri nella verità (Giov. 14-16) e in san Paolo, dove la dottrina dello Spirito Santo è congiunta con quella della divina redenzione.
Il magistero della Chiesa insegna che la terza Persona procede dalla prima e dalla seconda, come da un solo principio e come loro reciproco amore; che lo Spirito Santo è inviato per via di ‘missione’ nel mondo, e che esso ‘inabita’ nell’anima di chi possiede la Grazia santificante.
Concesso a tutti i battezzati (1 Corinzi, 12, 13), lo Spirito fonda l’uguale dignità di tutti i credenti. Ma nello stesso tempo, in quanto conferisce carismi e ministeri diversi, l’unico Spirito, costruisce la Chiesa con l’apporto di una molteplicità di doni.
L’insegnamento tradizionale, seguendo un testo di Isaia (11, 1 sgg.) enumera
sette doni particolari, sapienza, intelletto, consiglio, fortezza, scienza,
pietà e timore di Dio. Essi sono donati inizialmente con la grazia del
Battesimo e confermati dal Sacramento della Cresima.
Simbologia
Lo Spirito Santo, rarissimamente è stato rappresentato sotto forma umana; mentre nell’Annunciazione e nel Battesimo di Gesù è sotto forma di colomba, e nella Trasfigurazione è come una nube luminosa.
Ma nel Nuovo Testamento, lo Spirito divino è esplicitamente indicato, come lingue di fuoco nella Pentecoste e come soffio nel Vangelo di Giovanni (20, 22); “Gesù disse loro di nuovo: Pace a voi! Come il Padre ha mandato me, anch’io mando voi. Dopo aver detto questo, soffiò su di loro e disse: Ricevete lo Spirito Santo; a chi rimetterete i peccati, saranno rimessi e a chi non li rimetterete, resteranno non rimessi”.
Lo Spirito Santo, più volte preannunciato nei Vangeli da Gesù, è stato soprattutto assimilato al fuoco che come l’acqua è simbolo paradossale di vita e di morte.
In tutte le religiosità, il fuoco ha un posto fondamentale nel culto ed è spesso simbolo della divinità e come tale adorato. Il dio sumerico del fuoco, Gibil, era considerato portatore di luce e di purificazione; a Roma c’era una fiamma sempre accesa custodita dalle Vestali, simbolo di vita e di forza.
Nell’Antico Testamento, Dio si rivela a Mosè sotto forma di fuoco nel roveto ardente che non si consuma; nella colonna di fuoco Dio Illumina e guida il popolo ebraico nelle notti dell’Esodo; durante la consegna delle Tavole della Legge a Mosè, per la presenza di Dio il Monte Sinai era tutto avvolto da fuoco.
Nelle visioni profetiche dell’Antico Testamento, il fuoco è sempre presente e
Dio apparirà alla fine dei tempi con il fuoco e farà giustizia su tutta la
terra; anche nel Nuovo Testamento, Giovanni Battista annuncia Gesù come colui
che battezza in Spirito Santo e fuoco (Matteo, 3, 11).
La Pentecoste nel cristianesimo
I cristiani inizialmente chiamarono Pentecoste, il periodo di cinquanta giorni dopo la Pasqua. A quanto sembra, fu Tertulliano, apologista cristiano (155-220), il primo a parlarne come di una festa particolare in onore dello Spirito Santo. Alla fine del IV secolo, la Pentecoste era una festa solenne, durante la quale era conferito il Battesimo a chi non aveva potuto riceverlo durante la veglia pasquale.
Le costituzioni apostoliche testimoniano l’Ottava di Pentecoste per l’Oriente, mentre in Occidente compare in età carolingia. L’Ottava liturgica si conservò fino al 1969; mentre i giorni festivi di Pentecoste furono invece ridotti nel 1094, ai primi tre giorni della settimana; ridotti a due dalle riforme del Settecento.
All’inizio del XX secolo, fu eliminato anche il lunedì di Pentecoste, che tuttavia è conservato come festa in Francia e nei Paesi protestanti.
La Chiesa, nella festa di Pentecoste, vede il suo vero atto di nascita d’inizio
missionario, considerandola insieme alla Pasqua, la festa più solenne di tutto
il calendario cristiano.
La Pentecoste nell’arte
Il tema della Pentecoste, ha una vasta iconografia, particolarmente nell’arte medioevale, che fissò l’uso di raffigurare lo Spirito Santo che discende sulla Vergine e sugli apostoli nel Cenacolo, sotto la forma simbolica di lingue di fuoco e non di colomba.
Lo schema compositivo richiama spesso quello dell’Ultima Cena, trovandosi nello stesso luogo, cioè il Cenacolo, e lo stesso gruppo di persone: Gesù è sostituito da Maria e il posto lasciato vuoto da Giuda viene occupato da Mattia.
Viene così a comunicarsi il valore dell’unità dell’aggregazione e successione
apostolica, oltre che la sua disposizione a raggiungere i confini del mondo.
Nella Liturgia
Lo Spirito Santo viene invocato nel conferimento dei Sacramenti e da vero protagonista nel Battesimo e nella Cresima e con liturgia solenne nell’Ordine Sacro; e in ogni cerimonia liturgica, ove s’implora l’aiuto divino, con il magnifico e suggestivo inno del “Veni Creator”, il cui testo in latino è incomparabile.
Nella solennità di Pentecoste si recita la Sequenza, il cui testo della più
alta innologia liturgica, si riporta a conclusione di questa scheda come
preghiera, meditazione, invocazione allo Spirito Santo.
Veni creator
Veni, creator Spiritus,
mentes tuorum visita,
imple superna gratia
quae tu creasti pectora.
Qui diceris Paraclitus,
donum Dei altissimi,
fons vivus, ignis,
caritas
et spiritalis unctio.
Tu semptiformis munere,
dextrae Dei tu digitus,
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,
te utriusque Spiritum
credamus omni tempore.
Amen.
Vieni Santo Spirito
(Sequenza)
Vieni, Santo Spirito,
manda a noi dal cielo
un raggio della tua luce.
Vieni padre dei poveri,
vieni datore dei doni,
vieni, luce dei cuori.
Consolatore perfetto,
ospite dolce dell’anima,
dolcissimo sollievo.
Nella fatica, riposo,
nella calura, riparo,
nel pianto conforto.
O luce beatissima,
invadi nell’intimo
il cuore dei tuoi fedeli.
Senza la tua forza,
nulla è nell’uomo,
nulla senza colpa.
Lava ciò che è sordido,
bagna ciò che è arido,
sana ciò che sanguina.
Piega ciò che è rigido,
scalda ciò che è gelido,
sana ciò ch’è sviato.
Dona ai tuoi fedeli
che solo in te confidano
i tuoi santi doni.
Dona virtù e premio,
dona morte santa,
dona gioia eterna.
Amen.
Autore: Antonio
Borrelli
SOURCE : https://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/20266
... SUR
L'ESPRIT SAINT
Catéchisme
de l'Eglise Catholique
CATÉCHISME DE L'ÉGLISE
CATHOLIQUE:
L'Eglise,
Temple de l'Esprit Saint
L'Esprit
et l'Eglise à la fin des temps
JEAN PAUL II
Dominum
et Vivificantem (18 mai 1986)
[Anglais, Espagnol, Français, Italien, Polonais, Portugais]
Redemptoris
Missio (7 décembre 1990)
[Allemand, Anglais, Espagnol, Français, Italien, Polonais, Portugais]
Lettre
aux Artistes, (4 avril 1999)
[Allemand, Anglais, Arabe, Espagnol, Français, Italien, Polonais, Portugais]
Christifideles
Laici (30 décembre 1988)
[Allemand, Anglais, Espagnol, Français, Italien, Polonais, Portugais]
Catéchèse sur les dons de
l'Esprit Saint
"Regina Coeli" et "Angelus" prononcé par le Saint Père en
1989:
Réflexion sur les sept
dons de l'Esprit Saint (2 avril 1989)
[Anglais, Italien]
Don de la Sagesse (9
avril 1989)
[Anglais, Italien]
Don de l'Intelligence (16
avril 1989)
[Anglais, Italien]
Don de la Science (23
avril 1989)
[Anglais, Italien]
Don du Conseil (7 mai
1989)
[Anglais, Italien]
Don de la Force (14 mai
1989)
[Anglais, Italien]
Don de la Piété (28 mai
1989)
[Anglais, Italien]
Don de la Crainte de Dieu
(11 juin 1989)
[Anglais, Italien]
PAUL VI
Ecclesiam
Suam (6 août 1964)
[Anglais, Espagnol, Français, Italien, Portugais]
Mysterium
Fidei (3 septembre 1965)
[Anglais, Français, Italien, Portugais]
Catéchèses du Pape Paul VI
sur l'Esprit Saint
(Italien)
Perenne
la presenza e l'azione dello Spirito Santo (12/10/1966)
Perenni
e vitali doni della Pentecoste (17/05/1967)
Lo
Spirito Santo "Fons vivus ignis caritas..." (26/05/1971)
Lo
Spirito Santo animatore e santificatore della Chiesa (29/11/1972)
Un'esperienza
spirituale che è un invito alla fede (10/05/1975)
Andare
all'incontro con il Dio vivo (18/05/1975)
Dall'Ascensione
alla Pentecoste (22/05/1977)
Ai
ragazzi dell'Azione Cattolica (20/05/1978)
PIE XII
Message
radio de Pentecôte (1er juin 1941)
BENOÎT XV
Spiritus Paraclitus (15
septembre 1920)
[Anglais, Espagnol]
LÉON XIII
Divinum Illud Munus (9
mai 1897)
[Anglais, Espagnol]
CONCILE VATICAN II
Décret
"Ad Gentes" (7 décembre 1965)
[Allemand, Anglais, Espagnol, Français, Italien, Portugais, Swahili, Tchèque]
SOURCE : https://www.vatican.va/liturgical_year/pentecost/2006/pentecoste_fr.html#LEONE%20XIII