Sunday April 27th. 2008
St. Margaret’s, St. Joseph’s & St. Finnan’s
Novena to the Holy Spirit begins of Friday
The feast of Pentecost is a fortnight this weekend, and it is a feast for which the whole Church prepares in a special way by its Novena,
The coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sunday was the birth of the Church, and on that day it was filled with the fire of the Holy Spirit to continue the great work of Christ which he commissioned the apostles on the day of his Ascension: “Go out and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. I will be with you all days until the end of time.” On Pentecost morning, three thousand were converted to the Christian faith, and this same power of the Holy Spirit has been witnessed in so many ways throughout the world down the ages. We possess that same Spirit in our soul through the sacraments of baptism and confirmation. May we pray to the Holy Spirit to energise us with the fire of his love that we may too be witnesses by the example of the Christian way we lead our lives.
NOVENA PRAYER
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful,
and kindle in them the fire of your divine love.
Send forth your Spirit, and they shall be created,
and thou shalt renew the face of the earth.
O God, who has taught the hearts of the faithful
by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant that by the gift
of that same Spirit, we may be always truly wise
and ever rejoice in his consolation.
Through Christ Our Lord. Amen