The Third Glorious Mystery: The Descent of the Holy Spirit

This post is by Juan Pablo Saju, Verbum’s Representative to the the Spanish-speaking world. He is based in Argentina.

Saint John Paul II describes the descent of the Holy Spirit this way:

“The Holy Spirit descends as love and gift, in a certain sense, into the very heart of the sacrifice which is offered on the cross. Referring to the Biblical tradition we can say: He consumes this sacrifice by the fire of the love which unites the Son to the Father in the Trinitarian communion. And since the sacrifice of the Cross is an act proper to Christ, in this sacrifice too He “receives” the Holy Spirit. He receives the Spirit in such a way that He – and He alone with the Father – can give the Spirit to the Apostles, to the Church, to humanity” (“Dominum et Vivificantem).

It is Jesus who sends the Fire of Love to us. This Fire of Love is the Holy Spirit, and because He is sent by Jesus is also a Gift, the most excellent Gift. In the Holy Spirit there is equality between being Love and being Gift. St Thomas explains it well: “Love is the reason for a free gift which is given to a person out of love. The first gift, therefore, is love (amor habet rationem primi don:) . . . Thus, if the Holy Spirit proceeds as Love, He proceeds also as First Gift” (Summa Theologiae, I, q.38, a.2). All the other gifts are distributed among Christ’s Body through the Gift which is the Holy Spirit, concludes the Angelic Doctor in harmony with St Augustine (De Trinitate, XV, 1,9: PL 42, 1084).

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The Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles by Mikhail Vrubel, 1885.

In communicating this vital energy to the soul, the Holy Spirit makes it capable, in virtue of supernatural charity, of observing the twofold commandment of love, given by Jesus Christ: love for God and for one’s neighbor. The Holy Spirit enables the soul to share in Jesus’ filial love for the Father, so that, as St. Paul says: “Those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God” (Rom 8:14). He enables the Father to be loved as the Son has loved him, i.e, with a filial love which is shown in the cry of “Abba” (Gal 4:6; Rom 8:15).

The capacity to observe the other commandment, love of neighbor, comes from the Holy Spirit, too. “Love one another as I have loved you,” Jesus commands his apostles and all his followers. With these words: “As I have loved you,” the new value of supernatural love is present, which is a sharing in Christ’s love for human beings, and therefore, is a sharing in the eternal Charity . It is the Holy Spirit who thus makes us able to love not only God, but also our neighbor, as Jesus Christ loved him. Yes, even our neighbor because, given that the love of God has been poured into our hearts, with that love we can love other persons and even in some way,  as God loves them.

In another address, Saint John Paul II sums up the significance of the descent the Holy spirit came down, at the first moment of the Church:

“On the spiritual and ethical level, yet having profound repercussions on the psychological and social planes, the force which unites is most of all love which is shared and practiced according to Christ’s commandment: “Love one another, as I have loved you” (Jn 13:34; 15:12). According to St. Paul, this love is the supreme gift of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 13:13)” (General audience December 5, 1990).

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Kathryn Hogan
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Written by Kathryn Hogan