PRAYER: Novena To The Holy Spirit—Day Six, Goodness, by Philip Bochanski
Praying With Saint Philip Neri For An Outpouring Of The Holy Spirit
From: Novena to the Holy Spirit
Hymn: Come, Holy Ghost, Creator Blest
Come, Holy Ghost, Creator blest,
And in our souls take up your rest;
Come with your grace and Heavenly aid
To fill the hearts which you have made.
O Comforter, to you we cry,
O Heavenly gift of God Most High,
O fount of life and fire of love,
And sweet anointing from above.
You in your sevenfold gifts are known;
You, finger of God’s hand we own;
You, promise of the Father, you
Who do the tongue with power imbue.
Kindle our senses from above,
And make our hearts overflow with love;
With patience firm and virtue high
The weakness of our flesh supply.
Far from us drive the foe we dread,
And grant us your peace instead;
So shall we not, with you for guide,
Turn from the path of life aside.
Oh, may your grace on us bestow
The Father and the Son to know;
And you, through endless times confessed,
Of both the eternal Spirit blest.
Now to the Father and the Son,
Who rose from death, be glory given,
With you, O holy Comforter,
Henceforth by all in Earth and Heaven.
Amen.
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
Loving Father, your generous love overflows in the outpouring of your Holy Spirit. Fill us, as you filled Saint Philip, with the Spirit of generosity, and teach us to make a gift of ourselves to others. We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Reading
Tell the rich in the present age not to be proud and not to rely on so uncertain a thing as wealth, but rather on God, who richly provides us with all things for our enjoyment. Tell them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous, ready to share, thus accumulating as treasure a good foundation for the future, so as to win the life that is true life. (1 Timothy 6:18-19)
Responsory
The love of God has been poured into our hearts. Alleluia.
By his Spirit living in us, alleluia.
Meditation
Like kindness and cheerfulness, the spiritual fruit of goodness also disposes us well towards our neighbor; here, the Spirit is at work to produce not only good thoughts towards others, but a willingness to do good things for those around us. “Do not let a day pass without doing some good during it,” Saint Philip advised his disciples. “We must not delay in doing good, for death will not delay its time.” He felt an urgency about making the love of God and neighbor visible in the form of good works, and this was a watchword with him from the very beginning of his time in Rome. When he met young men on his walks during those early days in Rome, his greeting was always the same: “Well!” he would say, with a grin on his face, “When shall we have a mind to begin to do good?”
This goodness requires a generous spirit, one that is sincerely detached from the world and its material delights. “Give me ten men who are really detached from the world, and wish for nothing but Christ,” Saint Philip once exclaimed, “and I have the heart to believe I could convert the world with them.” But the freedom and power that come with detachment are completely squelched by the bonds of avarice. “He who wishes for material possessions will never have devotion. He who wishes for perfection must have no attachments to anything of this world.” Anecdotes abound of the counsels he gave and the penances he assigned, to gently but firmly lead those who were greedy to renounce their connections to material things.
Generosity for Saint Philip applied not merely to money and objects – he had few enough of them as it was, and often showed his gratitude for gifts by giving one to the donor that was double the value of the one he had received. More important for him was a commitment to be generous with his time and energy. “If we wish to help our neighbor,” he taught, “we must reserve for ourselves neither place, nor hour, nor time.” When one of the fathers of the Congregation refused to answer the door to those who came for confession or alms, because he was saying his prayers, Saint Philip would have none of it. He admonished him and the other fathers and brothers that when they were called for, they were to come immediately, no matter if they were praying or anything else, for in doing so they would be “leaving Christ for Christ.”
Litany of Saint Philip
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Ghost, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, pray for us.
Holy Mother of God, pray for us.
Holy Virgin of Virgins, pray for us.
Saint Philip, pray for us.
Vessel of the Holy Ghost, pray for us.
Child of Mary, pray for us.
Apostle of Rome, pray for us.
Counsellor of Popes, pray for us.
Voice of prophecy, pray for us.
Man of primitive times, pray for us.
Winning saint, pray for us.
Hidden hero, pray for us.
Sweetest of Fathers, pray for us.
Flower of purity, pray for us.
Martyr of charity, pray for us.
Heart of fire, pray for us.
Discerner of spirits, pray for us.
Choicest of priests, pray for us.
Mirror of the divine life, pray for us.
Pattern of humility, pray for us.
Example of simplicity, pray for us.
Light of holy joy, pray for us.
Image of childhood, pray for us.
Picture of old age, pray for us.
Director of souls, pray for us.
Gentle guide of youth, pray for us.
Patron of thy own, pray for us.
Who didst observe chastity in thy youth, pray for us.
Who didst seek Rome by divine guidance, pray for us.
Who didst hide so long in the Catacombs, pray for us.
Who didst receive the Holy Ghost into thy heart, pray for us.
Who didst experience such wonderful ecstasies, pray for us.
Who didst so lovingly serve the little ones, pray for us.
Who didst wash the feet of pilgrims, pray for us.
Who didst ardently thirst after martyrdom, pray for us.
Who didst distribute the daily word of God, pray for us.
Who didst turn so many hearts to God, pray for us.
Who didst converse so sweetly with Mary, pray for us.
Who didst raise the dead, pray for us.
Who didst set up thy houses in all lands, pray for us.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
Remember thy Congregation.
Which thou hast possessed from the beginning.
O God, who hast exalted blessed Philip, your Confessor, in the glory of your saints, grant that, as we rejoice in his commemoration, so we may profit by the example of his virtues, through Christ our Lord.
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.
The Value of Sparrows 
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