Pentecost

Pentecost

The Descent of the Holy Spirit occured one evening while the Apostles were praying with Mary in the Cenacle. As  Jesus had promised  before his Ascension ten days earlier, He would send the Spirit of the Father upon the disciples: "And I will send on you what my Father promised. As for you, abide in the city until you are clothed with a strength coming from above "(Luke 24:48). The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, remains a mysterious being. It is difficult to conceive His existence in our intelligences. One way of understanding it; He is the personification of the Love between God the Father and God the Son. In a way, He forms the bond between the people of the Trinity. Likewise, He acts as a link between the apostles and the God. Christ must go to the Father after his Resurrection, yet he does not abandon his disciples. The Holy Spirit received at Pentecost allows the disciples to remain in the presence of God even though Jesus is no longer physically  with them. The  Holy Spirit allows us to keep a presence of God at all times in addition to being filled with grace. It is through Him that the disciples will be zealous witnesses of  the Good News until they give their lives for the Kingdom of God. The innumerable actions demanding vigor and courage also come from the Holy Spirit who regenerates their strength. It is He who enables us to continue on the path to holiness.

 

Blessed Catherine de St. Augustin was able to see the action of the Holy Spirit on the eve and on the day of Pentecost.  June 12th 12th, 1664, she saw the Holy Spirit "in the form of a great cloud, which only desired to discharge itself in all directions". In this vision, the reception of the Spirit is different in every person present. Some allow it to penetrate their soul easily,without resistance, others remain indifferent to its action and finally some reject it  strongly. Catherine also saw the jesuit,Father Jean de Brebeuf, filled with the Holy Spirit. He covered her with his shadow, thus transmitting his own grace, and Catherine received a great peace for a week in spite of the sufferings she was experiencing. Jean de Brebeuf brought many benefits in the life of our Blessed Catherine. He interceded for Catherine so that she may receive all the strenght necessary for her service in Canada. Catherine's docility enabled the Holy Spirit to come within her. As testified by her contemporaries, Catherine was a fertile land in which  God performed great works for the salvation of Canada.

 

source of the image: http://www.wga.hu/

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