For Bernadette from another thread! This prayer by St Augustine was my first genuine prayer to the Holy Spirit: Breathe in me oh Holy Spirit that my thoughts may all be holy, Act in me oh Holy Spirit that my work too may be holy, Draw my heart oh Holy Spirit that I may love but what is holy, Strengthen me oh Holy Spirit to defend all that is holy, Guard me then oh Holy Spirit that i may be in all ways holy. I love the simplicity of this prayer from Dom Helder Camara: Holy breathing of God I feel you stirring, warmed by this breath good things grow. This prayer from Our Lady of All Nations is particularly real for me in recent months: LORD JESUS CHRIST, SON OF THE FATHER, SEND NOW YOUR SPIRIT OVER THE EARTH. LET THE HOLY SPIRIT LIVE IN THE HEARTS OF ALL NATIONS, THAT THEY MAY BE PRESERVED FROM DEGENERATION, DISASTER AND WAR. MAY THE LADY OF ALL NATIONS, THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, BE OUR ADVOCATE. AMEN. And the classic: Come Holy Spirit fill the hearts of your faithful, and enkindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit Lord and they shall be created and you shall renew the face of the earth. Hope this helps - the Holy Spirit is so underutilised it's unreal!
The Hug Prayer Oh My Jesus, Hold me close to Your Heart. Let your breath, O Lord, come upon me and fill me with Your Holy Spirit. The Story Behind the Hug Prayer by Mary Jane Keppler It all began on October 21, 1996 when I was kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament in a church in Petoskey, Michigan. The presence of the Lord was all around me as I prayed. It seemed like he had his arms around me and was holding me close. At one time or another we have experienced his presence in our lives like this, haven't we? I don't recall feeling quite so close, however. In this heavenly embrace I sensed something I'd never experienced before. It seemed like the Lord was holding me, almost physically, and at the same time his breath was coming down upon me. I felt refreshed and spiritually renewed. It reminded me of the scripture verse in John 20:22 where Jesus breathed on the apostles and said "Receive the Holy Spirit...". After leaving the church the experience was etched in my mind. The Holy Spirit seemed to be with me in a more powerful way. I felt like one of the apostles just coming out of the Upper Room on that first Pentecost, perhaps. As a Catholic christian I have received the Holy Spirit at Baptism and Confirmation in a special way, as the Church teaches us. On numerous occasions we receive a fresh annointing of the spirit through prayer. This was one of those times, I believe. Within a short while the feelings of that experience went away, but in my mind a prayer began to form. It came to me gradually, but eventually I had in word form a prayer that asks for this heavenly hug. It went like this: "Oh my Jesus, hold me close to your heart. Let your breath, O Lord, come upon me and fill me with your Holy Spirit". I was so excited about the prayer that I called my 25 year old daughter and told her. She wrote it down as I dictated it to her over the phone. She memorized it right away and began to pray it as she went about her day. It only took a matter of seconds to pray it and it seemed to flow as gently as breath itself. She whispered it to the Lord incessantly. After praying like this for three days the Holy Spirit was poured out anew on my daughter. Her faith, which was always a part of her life, began to come alive. He heart had been hugged by the Lord and her spirit awakened. All those graces from her Baptism and Confirmation seemed to be there at work as she prayed over and over again to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Jesus had come into her life with his Spirit and filled her with all the good gifts he brings; a renewed prayer life and a hunger for the Word of God. How exciting it was to have my own daughter bear the first fruit as a result of the prayer I began to call "The Hug Prayer". http://www.frankrega.com/will.htm
Thanks for starting this thread! I never seen St Augustines Holy Spirit prayer before today.After Mass I came home and touching my sacred and immaculate heart pictures I asked Jesus to breath is Holy Spirit into me and asked our Lady to stir her spouse in my heart.minutes later I had a nudge to come online and bammmmm..... your thread! This prayer by St Augustine was my first genuine prayer to the Holy Spirit: Breathe in me oh Holy Spirit that my thoughts may all be holy, Act in me oh Holy Spirit that my work too may be holy, Draw my heart oh Holy Spirit that I may love but what is holy, Strengthen me oh Holy Spirit to defend all that is holy, Guard me then oh Holy Spirit that i may be in all ways holy. I took this as a signal grace from our Lord, for sure....Thanks Brother
I have always thought of the Holy Spirit as when the apostles were in the upper room hidden and scared and the Holy Spirit came upon them and they were spiritually on fire. I guess I'm so cut and dry I figure it should be obvious. That's just my hang up though. Thanks for all the guidance and prayers! God Bless!
Cardinal Mercier was a Theology Professor who taught Venerable Fulton J Sheen.He spoke of the Cardinals wisdom and holiness several times on TV/Radio programs.... BELOW ARE THE WORDS OF CARDINAL MERCIER Cardinal Mercier's Prayer To The Holy Spirit I am going to reveal to you a secret of sanctity and happiness. For five minutes every day quieten your imagination, close your eyes to everything visible and your ears to all external sounds and withdraw into the sanctuary of your baptised soul which is the temple of the Holy Spirit. There, speak to the Holy Spirit and say: O Holy Spirit soul of my soul I adore you. Enlighten guide, strengthen and console me. Tell me what I ought to do and command me to do it. I promise to submit to everything that you ask of me and to accept all that you allow to happen to me. Just show me what is your will. If you do this, your life will be happy and serene. Even in the midst of troubles you will experience great consolation, for grace will be given to strengthen and help you to cope with every difficulty. AMEN
I never tought of recieving the Holy Spirit this way. reading this encyclical by Pope John Paul II Ecclesia de Eucarista.....what a GEM ! “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life within you” (Jn 6:53). This is no metaphorical food: “My flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed” (Jn 6:55). 17. Through our communion in his body and blood, Christ also grants us his Spirit. Saint Ephrem writes: “He called the bread his living body and he filled it with himself and his Spirit... He who eats it with faith, eats Fire and Spirit... Take and eat this, all of you, and eat with it the Holy Spirit. For it is truly my body and whoever eats it will have eternal life”.27The Church implores this divine Gift, the source of every other gift, in the Eucharistic epiclesis. http://www.therealpresence.org/eucharst/realpres/euchency.htm
DAY 3.... HOLY SPIRIT NOVENA Dearest Holy Spirit, confiding in Your deep, personal love for me, I am making this novena for the following request, if it be Your Holy Will to grant it: (mention your request). Teach me, Divine Spirit, to know and seek my last end; grant me the holy fear of God; grant me true contrition and patience. Do not let me fall into sin. Give me an increase of faith, hope and charity, and bring forth in my soul all the virtues proper to my state in life. Make me a faithful disciple of Jesus and an obedient child of the Church. Give me efficacious grace sufficient to keep the Commandments and to receive the Sacraments worthily. Give me the four Cardinal Virtues, Your Seven Gifts, Your Twelve Fruits. Raise me to perfection in the state of life to which You have called me and lead me through a happy death to everlasting life. I ask this through Christ our Lord, Amen. http://www.ewtn.com/Devotionals/prayers/novena.asp
On this Vigil of Pentecost we should all Consecrate ourselves to the Holy Spirit, its getting darker out! ACT OF CONSECRATION TO THE HOLY SPIRIT On my knees before the great multitude of heavenly witnesses, I offer myself, soul and body to You, Eternal Spirit of God. I adore the brightness of Your purity, the unerring keenness of Your justice, and the might of Your love. You are the Strength and Light of my soul. In You I live and move and am. I desire never to grieve You by unfaithfulness to grace and I pray with all my heart to be kept from the smallest sin against You. Mercifully guard my every thought and grant that I may always watch for Your light, and listen to Your voice, and follow Your gracious inspirations. I cling to You and give myself to You and ask You, by Your 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 You, Adorable Spirit, Helper of my infirmity, to keep me in Your grace that I may never sin against You. Give me grace, O Holy Spirit, Spirit of the Father and the Son to say to You always and everywhere, "Speak Lord for Your servant heareth." Amen. http://www.ewtn.com/Devotionals/pentecost/seven.htm
How the Holy Spirit Changes Us http://www.ncregister.com/site/article/how-the-holy-spirit-changes-us/ Tom and April Hoopes 05/24/2015 User's Guide to Sunday, May 24 Mass Readings Acts 2:1-11; Psalm 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34; 1 Corinthians 12:3-7, 12-13; John 20:19-23 Our Take In the first reading today, the apostles receive the Holy Spirit in a dramatic fashion, and, immediately, they are able to speak to the crowds. They go from being Christians huddled in the Upper Room to being Christians ready to die in the public square. What exactly happened to them? On this Pentecost Sunday, it is a good time to review how the Holy Spirit changes us. 1. The Holy Spirit makes us God’s children. All people are God’s children, in the sense that we are made in the image and likeness of God. But the Holy Spirit makes us God’s children in a new sense: We are adopted into his divine family and given a new relationship with him. We are called to be partners in the “family business” of spreading the faith on earth. 2. The Holy Spirit makes us one with Christ. We can see how this works in the second reading. There are many tasks within the Church; the Holy Spirit organizes us such that, “though many,” we “are one body.” With the Spirit, the Church is more than just an aristocracy. It is the bride of the royal bridegroom, such that, when the Church acts, it is as if the prince himself were acting. 3. The Holy Spirit gives us the grace to “speak in the name of God.” It was through the Holy Spirit that St. Peter was able to speak to the crowds — and it was through the Holy Spirit that the prophets were able to deliver God’s messages to earth. It is through the same Holy Spirit that we are given the grace to speak. As one option for the Gospel today puts it, Christ tells the apostles that the Holy Spirit is “the spirit of truth; he will guide you to all truth.” 4. He gives our work good fruits. In the second reading, from Galatians, that many parishes will hear today, St. Paul names the fruits of the Holy Spirit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” We receive these through the Spirit, in much the way Mary received the fruit of her womb. The Holy Spirit “made her virginity fruitful,” says the Compendium of the Catechism. She did not bring Christ into being in her womb; she accepted the Holy Spirit, and he accomplished that in her. The Spirit brings the sacraments to us through the Church, and through participation in the sacraments, he brings the fruits of the Spirit into our lives Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/site/article/how-the-holy-spirit-changes-us/#ixzz3b7C7iEWf
