May 23, 2023 Reflection – Novena to the Holy Spirit Day 5
Novena to the Holy Spirit, Day 5 May 23, 2023 Dear Family of Mary! Novena to the Holy Spirit, Day 5 Our Lady speaks about the Spirit and prayer: May 25, 2003 “Dear children! Also today I call you to prayer. Renew your personal prayer, and in a special way pray to the Holy Spirit to help you pray with the heart. I intercede for all of you, little children, and call all of you to conversion. If you convert, all those around you will also be renewed and prayer will be a joy for them. Thank you for having responded to my call.” Our Lady calls us to prayer. Prayer is one of her first priorities for us. Why? Because without prayer we can never give our lives over to God. We can never learn and live God’s will for us. We will never find peace and hope in God. Prayer should be like breathing for us. Prayer is our life source. And notice what she tells us to do: Renew your personal prayer, and in a special way pray to the Holy Spirit to help you pray with the heart. We must renew our personal prayer, which means to make a new and definite commitment to pray every day. And then, ask the Holy Spirit to teach us how to pray with the heart!! Prayer with the heart is a conversation with God. The Holy Spirit is God! He can teach us how to converse with Himself, with Jesus and with the Father. The Holy Spirit can even pray in us, with His own words as it says in Romans: “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought. But the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words.” (Romans 8:26) We want the Spirit to pray in us and through us, because He will pray for what is most necessary: “And He who searches the hearts of men knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” (Romans 8:27) Truly we need the Holy Spirit to come and pray in us!! Mother, please pray for us to receive the Holy Spirit of Prayer, that we can pray as we ought! The Paraclete, the Fount of Love (A prayer by St. John Henry Newman) My God, I adore You, as the Third Person of the Ever-Blessed Trinity, under the name and designation of Love. You are that Living Love, wherewith the Father and the Son love each other. And You are the Author of supernatural love in our hearts. “Fons vivus, ignis, charitas.” As a fire You came down from heaven on the day of Pentecost and as a fire You burn away the dross of sin and vanity in the heart and light up the pure flame of devotion and affection. It is You who unite heaven and earth by showing to us the glory and beauty of the Divine Nature, and making us love what is in Itself so winning and transporting. I adore You, O uncreated and everlasting Fire, by which our souls live, by which alone they are made fit for heaven. Amen The Prayer for the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit: O Lord Jesus Christ, Who, before ascending into heaven, didst promise to send the Holy Ghost to finish Thy work in the souls of Thy Apostles and Disciples, deign to grant the same Holy Spirit to me, that He may perfect in my soul the work of Thy grace and Thy love. Grant me: the Spirit of Wisdom that I may despise the perishable things of this world and aspire only after the things that are eternal, the Spirit of Understanding to enlighten my mind with the light of Thy divine truth, the Spirit of Counsel that I may ever choose the surest way of pleasing God and gaining Heaven, the Spirit of Fortitude that I may bear my cross with Thee, and that I may overcome with courage all the obstacles that oppose my salvation, the Spirit of Knowledge that I may know God and know myself and grow perfect in the science of the Saints, the Spirit of Piety that I may find the service of God sweet and amiable, the Spirit of Fear that I may be filled with a loving reverence towards God, and may dread in any way to displease Him. Mark me, dear Lord, with the sign of Thy true disciples and animate me in all things with Thy Spirit. Amen. In Jesus, Mary and Joseph! Cathy Nolan (c)Mary TV 2023