"The Father and the Son sent us the Holy Ghost, but it is through Mary that He comes down to men. On the day of Pentecost, according to an ancient Tradition, the heavenly fire which descended on the Cenacle first rested on Mary, and then on the apostles. This is a figure of what happens every day in the Church where the Holy Ghost is sent invisibly into our souls. "All the gifts of the Holy Ghost are distributed by Mary to those whom she chooses, whenever she wishes and as much as she wishes" says St. Bernardine of Siena.
The graces which the Holy Ghost pours down on us are due to the merits of Christ on Calvary; but in order that God may bestow them on the world, it is necessary that Mary should intervene. "By the communion of sorrows and of will between Christ and Mary," says Pius X, "she has deserved to become the dispenser of all the blessings which Jesus acquired for us by His blood" (Encyclical, February 2, 1904). "We may affirm," declares Leo XIII, "that by the will of God, nothing is given to us without Mary's mediation, in such a way that just as no one can approach the almighty Father but through His Son, so no one, so to speak, can approach Christ but through His Mother" (Encycl., Sept. 22, 1891)."
Holy Spirit! Lord of light! From Thy clear celestial height,
Thy pure, beaming radiance give:
Come, Thou, Father of the poor! Come, with treasures which endure!
Come, Thou light of all that live!
Thou of all consolers best, Visiting the troubled breast,
Dost refreshing peace bestow:
Thou in toil art comfort sweet; Pleasant coolness in the heat;
Solace in the midst of woe.
Light immortal! Light divine! Visit Thou these hearts of Thine,
And our inmost being fill.
If Thou take Thy grace away, Nothing pure in man will stay;
All his good is turn'd to ill.
Heal our wounds -- our strength renew; On our dryness pour Thy dew;
Wash the stains of guilt away:
Bend the stubborn heart and will; Melt the frozen, warm the chill;
Guide the steps that go astray.
Thou, on those who evermore Thee confess and Thee adore,
In Thy sevenfold gifts descend.
Give them comfort when they die; Give them life with Thee on high;
Give them joys which never end.
Amen.
CALL TO ACTION: Praise God for sending the Holy Ghost by singing Veni Creator Spiritus.
Source of first two paragraphs: St. Andrew's Daily Missal, copyright 1949, pages 963(18) & 963(19) (Nihil Obstat: J. Gerard Kealy, D.D., Cens. Theol. Deput.; Imprimatur: Samuel Cardinal Stritch, Archrepiscopus Chicagiensis)
Source of Sequence: The Sunday Missal, Father Lasance, copyright 1936, pages 262-263 (Nihil Obstat: Remigius LaFort, S.T.D., Censor Librorum, and Imprimatur: John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York, July 13, 1916; also Nihil Obstat: Arthur J. Scanlan, S.T.D., Censor Librorum, and Imprimatur: Patrick Cardinal Hayes, D.D., Archbishop of New York, August 24, 1928)
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