We must prepare for the Holy Ghost by purity of heart.

 
“Create a clean heart in me, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” (Ps. 50, 12).

First Prelude: Picture the disciples in the Cenacle at Jerusalem, preparing themselves for the reception of the Holy Ghost.

Second Prelude: O Holy Spirit, Thou Lover of purity and sanctity, let me realize how great an obstacle to the operation of Thy grace is the least voluntary fault.

First Point

Voluntary venial sins hinder the effects of the Holy Ghost

Deliberate venial sins, be they ever so slight, impede the bountiful operations of the Holy Ghost in our hearts. Are we not too indifferent concerning venial sins? Do we not regard a word, a vain thought, a gratification of curiosity or sensuality, a violation of charity, as matters of little importance? What a deception! Faith teaches us that God chastises venial sins with punishments which are often of longer duration and more intense, than the most excruciating pains that can be suffered in this world. A multitude of venial sins works havoc in the soul. They obstruct the channels of divine graces and inspirations, and weaken the fervor and the courage necessary to repulse the onslaughts of the Evil One. There follow blindness, weakness and frequent relapses into the same faults; gradually our heart becomes insensible and we hardly perceive a serious fall. If we take no pains to guard against venial sins, we run the greatest risk of being eternally lost, even though we should distinguish ourselves by external works of charity. We will, therefore, exercise the utmost caution to banish from our heart whatever might contaminate the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. Let us often repeat the words of the Psalmist: “Create a clean heart in me, O God, and renew a right spirit within me” (Ps. 50, 12).

Have I a great horror of sin? Do I frequently ponder the words of St. Teresa to her spiritual daughters: “I am greatly concerned when I see that you do not grieve over your imperfections.”

Second Point

We must purify our hearts of all inordinate affections

If we would carefully guard against voluntary venial sins, we must strive to curb our evil propensities and inordinate inclinations, which nourish and foster sin. Only by carefully watching over our heart will we discover these tendencies to be the secret source of all our spiritual ills. Close self-scrutiny will reveal to us a veritable abyss of malice. What a disclosure of erroneous judgments, of inordinate desires, of seeking pleasures and gratifications of the senses, of tendencies so detestable that we should be ashamed to behold ourselves as we really are! If once, in the light of the Holy Ghost, we recognized our utter depravity, we would surely resolve to cleanse our heart of all inordinate affections. Well versed in the art of spiritual warfare, the enemy of our soul abhors nothing so much as the sight of interior souls striving zealously for the perfection of their holy state. He will suffer us to practice virtue outwardly, to serve the sick, the poor and the children entrusted to our care, even to labor for the salvation of others,—all of which not infrequently flatters self-love. But he detests our vigilance, the earnest investigation of our interior disorders, and the zealous endeavors to eradicate our faults. Unfortunately, we are altogether too much in harmony with him; we fear nothing more than to look our misery squarely in the face, because the realization of it is so humiliating and painful.

Do I strive to attain to ever greater purity of heart and a more complete mastery of my evil propensities, by vigilance and mortification?

Affections:

Come, O Holy Spirit, and create a clean heart within me, a pure, innocent heart, which loves Thee alone. Fill me with a lively hatred and detestation of the least sin; give me a firm will with the aid of Thy divine grace to eradicate my evil inclinations. How could I tolerate the least stain on my soul and thus deprive myself of the blessed effects of Thy grace! Thou Lover of purity and sanctity! Holy Spirit, Who art called a consuming fire, annihilate in me all sinful and inordinate desires, all levity and every defect,—renew in my interior that sincere, upright spirit, which turns away from vanity and folly and strives solely to please Thee, my true and eternal goal, that Thou mayest inflame my heart, with the fire of Thy divine love and take up therein Thy permanent abode.

Resolution:

I will carefully guard my heart, and preserve it from every voluntary fault.

Spiritual Bouquet:

“A clean heart create in me, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”

Prayer:

Jesus, my Lord, my King…