Some words on Pentecost and the Holy Ghost

Pentecost, one of the great feasts of the Church, is tomorrow. To recognize the occasion, we are publishing a transcription from an "old book" on the Holy Spirit's role in Pentecost - and beyond. This writer has been treated to several sermons of late on how the Church is the Church of the Holy Ghost, and found the following similar to what he has heard. For context, the transcription comes from a tome called "The Fountain of Catholic Knowledge," and was published in 1897. There is a handsome portrait of Bl. Leo XIII for the front-piece. May the following transcription be a source of edification for our readers.

The Holy Spirit is, I repeat, the soul of the Church. It is He who animates, sustains, and protects it, who gives it life, and makes it fruitful in all good works; it is He who brings destruction upon its enemies; it is He who maintains in the true faith and constantly assists the Pope, its infallible head.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and dwells in all fulness in the Sacred Heart of the Saviour, as in a house of life and life. The Holy Ghost proceeds from the Son as in the Father, and reaches the faithful only through the divine channel of the Heart of Jesus.

Our Lord, the invisible Head and Ruler of His Church, works only through the Holy Spirit, whom He sheds as a heavenly dew upon the souls of the faithful.

Thus, it is the Holy Spirit who gives to the Sacraments all their virtue, to the Pope his infallibility, and to bishops and priests their sacred prerogatives.

It is the Holy Spirit who governs and directs the Church, sanctifies the saints, and strengthens the martyrs. It is the Holy Spirit who makes fruitful all Catholic institutions, and inspires all noble deeds.

Nothing exists, and nothing can exist, without the working of the Holy Spirit, since He is, with the Father and the Son, the only true and living God, Creator, and Lord of all things.

Fallen angels and sinful men drive him from their hearts, where, with the Father and the Son, He ever desires to dwell. But the faithful children of God and of the Church guard themselves carefully as the temples of the Holy Ghost, knowing well that the indwelling spirit of their God is the most priceless possession, the source of all grace, and the germ of eternal happiness and glory.

Every year, fifty days after Easter, the Church, in remembrance of the Holy Ghost, solemnly celebrates the beautiful feast of Pentecost, which is, next to Easter and Christmas, the greatest of the year.