PRAYER: Novena To The Holy Spirit—Day Three, Peace, by Philip Bochanski
Praying With Saint Philip Neri For An Outpouring Of The Holy Spirit
From: Novena to the Holy Spirit
Hymn: Hymn To Saint Philip
This is the saint of gentleness and kindness,
Cheerful in penance, and in precept winning;
Patiently healing of their pride and blindness
Souls that are sinning.
This is the saint who, when the world allures us,
Cries her false wares, and ope’s her magic coffers,
Points to a better city, and secures us
With richer offers.
Love is his bond; he knows no other fetter,
Asks not our all, but takes whate’er we spare him,
Willing to draw us on from good to better,
As we can bear him.
When he comes near to teach us and to bless us,
Prayer is so sweet that hours are but a minute;
Mirth is so pure, though freely it possess us,
Sin is not in it.
Thus he conducts by holy paths and pleasant
Innocent souls, and sinful souls forgiven,
Towards the bright palace where our God is present,
Throned in high Heaven.
Antiphon
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit, and they will be created.
And you will renew the face of the Earth.
Prayer
Father of mercy, your Holy Spirit is the sign and instrument of your peace in the world. Fill our hearts with this peace, so that, like Saint Phillip, we may conform our lives to your holy will. We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Reading
The Lord is near. Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Keep on doing what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me. Then the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:5-7, 9)
Responsory
The love of God has been poured into our hearts. Alleluia.
By his Spirit living in us, alleluia.
Meditation
“He who wishes for anything but Christ does not know what he wishes; he who asks for anything but Christ does not know what he is asking; he who works, and not for Christ, does not know what he is doing.” Such single-mindedness lies at the heart of Saint Philip’s approach to life and ministry, and gives us insight into the source of the peace which pervaded his personality. Saint Thomas says that the peace that is a fruit of the Holy Spirit involves two things: “freedom from outward disturbance,” since our hearts are so fixed on God that they do not attend to external things; and perfect calm, since “our desires rest altogether in one object,” namely, doing God’s will. Saint Philip was aware that God required not only all of his love, but also his full attention and complete confidence; because he was able to give them, he enjoyed real peace. “To be entirely conformed and resigned to the divine will is truly a road in which we cannot go wrong, and is the only road which leads us to taste and enjoy that peace which sensual and Earthly men know nothing of.”
But how does one know that he is truly resigned to the divine will? For Saint Philip the answer lay in distrusting the self, and putting complete confidence in one’s spiritual director. He insisted that the primary relationship in the life of anyone striving for virtue is one of obedience to the spiritual father. “He always asked advice, even on affairs of minor importance. His constant counsel to his penitents was that they should not trust in themselves, but always take the advice of others, and get as many prayers as they could.” “They who really wish to advance in the way of God,” he said, “must give themselves up into the hands of their superiors always and in everything. There is nothing which gives greater security to our actions, or more effectively cuts the snares the devil lays for us, than to follow another person’s will, rather than our own, in doing good.”
One anecdote shows how seriously Saint Philip took his own counsel in regard to obedience. He was on friendly terms with Ignatius of Loyola, who came to visit him often with letters from a fellow Jesuit, Francis Xavier, who was working as a missionary in India and the Far East. As he listened to Saint Ignatius read these letters, Saint Philip found himself burning with desire to follow in Saint Francis’s footsteps, and there came a time when he had gathered twenty or so men and was ready to set sail with them for pagan territories. But he would not go until he had consulted a priest whom he had come to trust. This priest told Saint Philip, “Your Indies are in Rome,” and he accepted the advice with peaceful resignation. This conversation took place in 1556; for the next forty years, Saint Philip worked diligently in Rome and never left the city.
As a spiritual director himself, Saint Philip often shared this gift of peace with those who turned to him for guidance. Some “recovered their lost peace of mind by simply looking Philip in the face. To dream of him was enough to comfort many. In a word, Philip was a perpetual refreshment to all those who were in perplexity and sadness.” Because of this he was in great demand as a counselor and confessor, and his penitents gave him little rest, even when he was sick. But he held nothing back from those who needed to know God’s peace; indeed, Newman tells us, “When he was ill, he did not so much receive as impart consolation.”
Litany of the Holy Spirit
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Father all-powerful, have mercy on us.
Jesus, Eternal Son of the Father, have mercy on us.
Redeemer of the world, save us.
Spirit of the Father and the Son, boundless life of both, sanctify us.
Holy Trinity, hear us.
Holy Spirit, proceeding from the Father and the Son, enter our hearts.
Holy Spirit, co-equal to the Father and the Son, enter our hearts.
Promise of God the Father, have mercy on us.
Ray of Heavenly light, have mercy on us.
Author of all good, have mercy on us.
Source of Heavenly water, have mercy on us.
Consuming fire, have mercy on us.
Ardent charity, have mercy on us.
Spiritual unction, have mercy on us.
Spirit of love and truth, have mercy on us.
Spirit of wisdom and understanding, have mercy on us.
Spirit of counsel and fortitude, have mercy on us.
Spirit of knowledge and piety, have mercy on us.
Spirit of the fear of the Lord, have mercy on us.
Spirit of grace and prayer, have mercy on us.
Spirit of peace and meekness, have mercy on us.
Spirit of modesty and innocence, have mercy on us.
Holy Spirit, the Comforter, have mercy on us.
Holy Spirit, the Sanctifier, have mercy on us.
Holy Spirit, who governs the Church, have mercy on us.
Gift of God, the Most High, have mercy on us.
Spirit Who fills the universe, have mercy on us.
Spirit of the adoption of the children of God, have mercy on us.
Holy Spirit, inspire us with horror of sin.
Holy Spirit, come and renew the face of the Earth.
Holy Spirit, shed your light in our souls.
Holy Spirit, engrave your law in our hearts.
Holy Spirit, inflame us with the flame of your love.
Holy Spirit, open to us the treasures of your graces.
Holy Spirit, teach us to pray well.
Holy Spirit, enlighten us with your Heavenly inspirations.
Holy Spirit, lead us in the way of salvation.
Holy Spirit, grant us the only necessary knowledge.
Holy Spirit, inspire in us the practice of good.
Holy Spirit, grant us the merits of all virtues.
Holy Spirit, make us persevere in justice.
Holy Spirit, be our everlasting reward.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, send us your Holy Spirit.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, pour down into our souls the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, grant us the Spirit of wisdom and piety.
Come, Holy Spirit! Fill the hearts of your faithful,
And enkindle in them the fire of your love.
Grant, O Merciful Father, that your Divine Spirit may enlighten, inflame, and purify us, that he may penetrate us with his Heavenly dew and make us fruitful in good works, through Our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who with you, in the unity of the same Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, forever and ever.
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done
on Earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us,
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
Doxology
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
Concluding Prayer
Heavenly Father, hear the prayers that we make in the name of your son, and give us the Paraclete whom he promised you would send. May your love for us give us strength to respond to you, and to bear fruit in our love for you and for our neighbor. We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
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