“Give me understanding, and I will search Thy law; and I will keep it with my whole heart. Lead me into the path of Thy commandments; for this same I have desired” (Ps. 118, 34–35).
First Prelude: Represent to yourself the hearts of the faithful as temples of the Holy Ghost.
Second Prelude: Teach me, O Holy Spirit, to regulate my life wholly in accordance with the maxims of faith, and to use the means that are conducive to the attaining of perfection.
First Point
The Gift of Counsel
The gift of counsel is a spiritual light by which the Holy Ghost shows us what means to choose to reach our aim. Whatever the gift of knowledge imparts to us, generally, the gift of counsel applies to individual cases; it points out to us the steps that we are to take on the way of sanctification. Through this gift the Holy Ghost teaches us to act with certainty. Enlightened by this interior light, we recognize the voice of God, and know how to discriminate between the inspirations of the Holy Ghost and the insinuations of nature and the Evil One.
The Spirit of Counsel leads us to genuine virtue, because where He reigns, He tolerates nothing mediocre, nothing inferior. He impels us to heroic efforts in the acquisition of perfection and makes the heaviest burdens seem light and sweet. Precipitancy is the fault pre-eminently opposed to the operation of this gift, because by acting hastily, without having duly considered beforehand, by following our natural impulses, not even granting ourselves sufficient time to consult the Holy Ghost, we not seldom wrong ourselves and others.
The saints who possessed this gift in a high degree, as St. Francis de Sales, a St. Vincent de Paul, were very solicitous to avoid all undue haste and impetuosity. Hence, their actions, which they performed solely for the honor of God and the good of their fellow-men, were singularly blessed by God. We must, likewise, allow the Holy Spirit, our Divine Counselor, to guide and direct us. In the future, we will obey Him when He counsels us to charity, to diligent employment of time, when He asks the sacrifice of an unnecessary word, an altogether too free glance, the practice of humility, poverty and patience. Thus each one of our actions will bring us nearer to our eternal goal.
How have I, in the past, followed the counsels of the Holy Ghost? Have I not frequently neglected His loving exhortations, or ignored them altogether?
Second Point
The Gift of Understanding
Through the gift of understanding the Holy Ghost imparts a deep insight into the sublime truths of our holy faith. By revealing to our soul, as in a bright light, the simple truths of faith which without this gift we recognize only imperfectly, the gift of understanding renders our faith livelier, more solid and more perfect. By virtue of this gift we are constantly detecting new beauties. The wonderful attributes of God—His omnipotence, wisdom, goodness, and justice, are brought before us in all circumstances, and we become convinced of a loving, paternal Providence guiding everything.
We realize, indeed, that to those who love God all things tend unto good. The gift of understanding revealed the truths of faith to the saints so clearly that they were most forcibly impressed by them. St. Jerome, at the mere thought of the Last Judgment, was overpowered by fear and trembling. St. Agidius was wrapped in ecstasy at the mention of the word heaven, while others melted into tears when pronouncing the sweet name of Jesus. This gift transforms all nature into a ladder on which the Christian ascends in spirit from creatures to the Creator.
With the psalmist he exclaims: “The heavens show forth the glory of God, and the firmament declareth the work of His hands” (Ps. 18, 2). Implore the Holy Ghost, Who withholds this gift from the worldly wise and imparts it to the humble and simple, to enlighten your understanding with a ray of His heavenly light, that you may penetrate more deeply into the mysteries of love—the Incarnation of the Son of God and His Bloody Sacrifice on the Cross; the Mystery of the Altar and the Tabernacle, the mystery of grace and sin, the mystery of everlasting glory and everlasting perdition.
Is it our aim to make ourselves more receptive for this divine light by humility and purity of heart?
Affections:
O Divine Spirit, I pray Thee, be Thou my Teacher; speak to my mind and to my heart, counsel and direct me. In future I will hear Thee alone in the silence of all creatures. Then I shall recognize the goodness of God, Who alone deserves all my love, and the utility of the chalice of bitterness for my soul, I shall see that in the cross alone is salvation and that from the cross emanates heavenly sweetness. Come, then, Thou Father of the poor, Dispenser of heavenly graces, come, Thou Light of hearts.
Resolution: I will utilize the counsels and admonitions of the Holy Ghost for my salvation.
Spiritual Bouquet: “I will hear the Lord God speak to my soul.”
Prayer: Our Father…
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