Novena to the Holy Spirit - Day 6

 

Novena to the Holy Spirit

We ought to pray and invoke the Holy Spirit, for each of us greatly needs His protection and His help. The more a man is deficient in wisdom, weak in strength, borne down with trouble, prone to sin, so ought he the more fly to Him Who is the never ceasing Fount of Light, Strength, Consolation and Holiness.” – Pope Leo XIII

Note: The following novena was written by the Holy Ghost Fathers over 100 years ago and was reprinted several times.  It is prayed for the nine days prior to Pentecost.  

Forward

The novena in honor of the Holy Ghost is the oldest of all novenas since it was first made at the directions of Our Lord Himself when He sent His Apostles back to Jerusalem to await the coming of the Holy Ghost on the first Pentecost. It is still the only novena prescribed by the Church. Addressed to the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity, it is a powerful plea for the light and strength and love so sorely needed by every Christian.

The Church grants the following indulgence: “Partial indulgence to those who participate in a public novena before the feast of Christmas or Pentecost, or the Immaculate Conception.” (The Enchiridion of Indulgences, Issued by the Sacred Apostolic Penitentiary, 1968, #34)

Though this novena can be prayed any time of year, it is traditionally prayed from the Friday after Ascension Thursday (when the Ascension is not transferred to the following Sunday) until the Saturday before Pentecost.

Day Six

If Thou take Thy grace away,

Nothing pure in man will stay,

All his good is turned to ill.

The Gift of Understanding

Understanding, as a gift of the Holy Ghost, helps us to grasp the meaning of the truths of our holy religion. By faith we know them, but by Understanding we learn to appreciate and relish them. It enables us to penetrate the inner meaning of revealed truths, and through them to be quickened to newness of life. Our faith ceases to be sterile and inactive but inspires a mode of life that bears eloquent testimony to the faith that is in us; we begin to “walk worthy of God, in all things pleasing, and increasing in the knowledge of God.”

Prayer

Come, O Spirit of Understanding, and enlighten our minds, that we may know and believe all the mysteries of salvation; and may merit at last to see the eternal light in Thy Light; and in the light of glory, to have a clear vision of Thee and the Father and the Son. Amen.

Our Father (prayed once)

Hail Mary (prayed once)

Glory be… (prayed 7 times)

Act of Consecration and Prayer for the Seven Gifts (prayed once)

Act of Consecration to the Holy Ghost

On my knees / before the great multitude of heavenly witnesses / I offer myself, soul and body / to Thee O Eternal Spirit of God. / I adore the brightness of Thy purity / the unerring keenness of Thy justice / and the might of Thy love. Thou art the Strength / and Light of my soul. / In Thee I live and move and am. / I desire never to grieve Thee by unfaithfulness to grace, and I pray with all my heart to be kept from the smallest sin against Thee. / Mercifully guard my every thought / and grant that I may always watch for Thy light / and listen to Thy voice / and follow Thy gracious inspirations. / I cling to Thee / and give myself to Thee / and ask Thee / by Thy compassion / to watch over me in my weakness. / Holding the pierced feet of Jesus / and looking at His five Wounds / and trusting in His Precious Blood / and adoring His opened side and stricken Heart / I implore Thee / Adorable Spirit / Helper of my infirmity, / so to keep me in Thy grace / that I may never sin against Thee. / Give me grace / O Holy Ghost, / Spirit of the Father and of the Son / to say to Thee always and everywhere / “Speak, Lord / for Thy servant heareth.”

Prayer for the Seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost

O Lord Jesus Christ / Who, before ascending into heaven / did promise to send the Holy Ghost / to finish Thy work / in the souls of Thine Apostles and Disciples / deign to grant the same Holy Spirit to me / that He may perfect in my soul / the work of Thy grace and Thy love. / Grant me the Spirit of Wisdom / that I may despise the perishable things of this world / and aspire only after the things / that are eternal, / the Spirit of Understanding, to enlighten my mind with the light of Your divine truth, / the Spirit of Counsel / that I may choose / the surest way of pleasing God / and gaining heaven, / the Spirit of Fortitude / that I may bear my cross with Thee / and that I may overcome with courage all the obstacles that oppose my salvation, / the Spirit of Knowledge that I may know God and know myself / and grow perfect in the science of the Saints, / the Spirit of Piety / that I may find the service of God sweet and amiable, / the Spirit of Fear of the Lord / that I may be filled with a loving reverence towards God, and may dread in any way to displease Him. / Mark me, dear Lord, / with the sign of Thy true disciples / and animate me in all things with Thy Spirit. / Amen.