In or about 1953 I acquired a new copy of the ‘Saint Andrew Daily Missal with Vespers for Sundays and Feasts’, by Dom Gaspar Lefebvre O.S.B. of the Abbey of St Andre, near Bruges, Belgium, and published in 1952. I still have this Missal, re-covered a few years ago, and in good, readable condition. I must admit that there are parts of the Missal which I have rarely if ever read, although as the years go by I use the Missal more than in earlier years, and I discover information and gems of spiritual wisdom of which I was previously unaware. Such was the case during the octave of Pentecost this year, when I learnt of the dedication of each day to a specific Gift of the Holy Ghost, of which there are seven in number. In my Saint Andrew Missal, there is an introduction to the specific Gift allocated to each day, which by the end of the week has the effect of cementing and unifying the essence and spirituality of the great Feast of Pentecost. I reproduce these short introductory articles, which I hope you find as interesting as I do.
Pentecost - French 15th century. Condee Museum. Chantilly.
Vigil of
Pentecost
Station
at St John Lateran
The First Mass for Pentecost, formerly celebrated
during the night, has, like that of Easter, since been anticipated. This great
and solemn festival, therefore, begins with the vigil. In early days the
catechumens whom it had not been possible to baptise at Easter received this
Sacrament at Pentecost, which exclaims the similarities between the Mass for the
Vigil and that for Holy Saturday. It is preceded by the readings of six
Prophecies and the blessing of the water in the Baptismal Font, and it is also
celebrated at St John Lateran.
THE
PROPHECIES
The celebrant and assistant
ministers are robed in violet vestments, and the candles on the altar are not
lighted until the beginning of Mass, as on Holy Saturday. At the end of the Prophecies the Collect is
read, but ‘flectamus genua’ is omitted.
PENTECOST
‘The "Gift
of Wisdom" is an illumination of the Holy Ghost, thanks to which our intellect
is able to look at revealed truths in their more sublime light, to the greater
joy of our souls.’
Our Lord laid the foundations of His
Church during His public life, and after His resurrection He gave it the powers
necessary for its mission. It was by the Holy Ghost that the apostles were to
be trained and endued with strength from on High. “At Pentecost we
celebrate the first manifestation of the Holy Ghost among Our Lord’s disciples
and the foundation of the Church itself.” Hence the choice of the Basilica
dedicated to St. Peter for today’s Station.
We read in the Gospel that our Lord
foretold the coming of the Paraclete to His disciples, and the Epistle shows us
the realization of that promise.
It was at the third hour of the day
(Terce, nine o’clock a.m.) that the Spirit of God descended upon the Cenacle
and a mighty wind which blew suddenly upon the house, together with the
appearance of tongues of fire within, were the wonderful tokens of His coming.
Taught by the “light of Thy Holy Spirit” (Collect) and filled by the gifts of
the same Spirit poured out upon them (Sequence), the apostles became new men to
go forth and renew the whole world (Introit). It is at High Mass, at the third
hour, that we also receive the Holy Spirit, whom our Lord “going up above all
the heavens, on this day sent down …. on the children of adoption” (Preface);
for each of the mysteries of the cycle brings forth its fruits of grace in our
souls on the day which the Church keeps as its anniversary.
During Advent we raised to the Incarnate
Word the cry: “Come Lord and purge the sins of Thy people”; at this season let
us, with the Church, say to the Holy Ghost, “Come, O Holy Spirit, and fill the
hearts of Thy faithful, and kindle in them the fire of Thy love” (Alleluia).
Of all ejaculatory prayers this is
the most beautiful and necessary, for from the Holy Ghost, that “sweet Guest of
our soul”, flows all our supernatural life.
Every parish priest celebrates Mass
for the people of his parish.
Monday
after Pentecost.
‘The “Gift
of Understanding” enlightens us by shedding a clear, searching and
extraordinary light on the meaning of revealed truth, and by giving us a
certitude that what God has revealed bears such and such a sense and no other.’
The Church extends the Feast of the
Descent of the Holy Ghost on the Apostles over eight days. In the Epistle we
see the Head of the Church (in whose church the Station is held), giving
testimony to Jesus Christ before the Jews and the Gentiles. “Whosoever
believeth in Me shall not perish,” said Our Lord, “for God sent
His Son that the world may be saved by Him” (Gospel). And as St Peter says, “Whosoever believeth
in Him shall receive remission of sins through His name.”
All men without exception, are called to believe in Jesus Christ, to be
baptised in His Name, to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation in which the
Holy Ghost is given, and the Eucharist where our Divine Redeemer feeds souls
with the finest of heavenly wheat. May Jesus and the Holy Ghost, of whom we
have received testimony from the lips of Peter, head of the Church, defend us
against our enemies and give us peace.
Tuesday
after Pentecost.
‘The “Gift
of Counsel” is a light given by the Holy Ghost, by means of which our practical
intellect sees and judges rightly both what should be done in individual cases
and the best means to do it.’
The Church continues to address herself
to the new-born children she has acquired through Baptism. In former times she brought them together on
this day in the Church of St Anastasia, where also was celebrated the Mass at
dawn on Christmas Day.
The Introit reminded them of the
great blessing of their Christian calling.
Through the Sacrament of
Baptism, the power of the Holy Ghost had come down upon them and had
purified their hearts (Collect), for “the Holy Ghost is Himself the
remission of sins”.
In the Sacrament of
Confirmation, they had, like the Disciples of Samaria of old, been
filled with the power of the Spirit (Epistle).
In the Sacrament of the Most
Holy Eucharist, they had eaten the Bread of Angels (Offertory).
So, like faithful sheep of the divine
Shepherd (Gospel), they entered the fold, that is the Church, by Him who is
“the door” of the fold and hearkened always to the teaching of the Holy Ghost
(Alleluia) imparted to them by the ministers of the Church. Let us pray to God that our souls may be
renewed in the Holy Ghost (Post communion).
Ember
Wednesday after Pentecost
Station
at S. Mary Major
‘The “Gift
of Fortitude” is a permanent power which the Holy Ghost communicates to our
will to assist us in overcoming the difficulties which might deter us in the
practice of what is right.’
The Ember Days always fall during
the octave of Pentecost. The Church then
offers up to God the first fruits of the new season, and prays for the priests
who, on the coming Saturday, are about to receive the Holy Ghost in the
Sacrament of Holy Orders.
The Station on Ember Wednesday was
always held at St Mary Major. It was at the feet of the Blessed Virgin, whom
the Holy Ghost filled with His grace in the Cenacle, that the newly baptized gathered. The Liturgy reminded them of the miracle of
Pentecost (Lesson) and the marvels wrought by the Apostles, by which the number
of those who believed in the Lord was greatly increased (Epistle).
Moved by the Holy Ghost, the
Catechumens also believed in Jesus: they turned to Him, and Jesus gave them to eat
of the bread that would make them live for ever (Gospel).
Let us implore the divine Consoler
to enlighten us always more and more, and to place us in full possession of the
truth (Collect).
Thursday
after Pentecost
Station
at St Laurence-without- the -Walls.
‘The “Gift
of Knowledge” is a supernatural light of the Holy Ghost which shows us the
credibility and acceptability of revealed truths, even for reasons which are
based only on the order of creation.’
The Station on this day takes place
in the church dedicated to St Laurence the deacon, whose soul was so consumed
with the fire of the Spirit of love that he scarcely felt the flames torturing
his body.
“When you shall receive the
power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you,” Jesus said to His apostles, “you
shall be witnesses unto Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even
to the uttermost part of the earth.”
The Mass of today tells us how Philip
the deacon, filled with the Holy Ghost, preached the Gospel in Samaria, where
he worked many miracles (Epistle). And
the Gospel reminds us of Christ, Who in conferring on His apostles the power of
healing the sick, commanded them to preach everywhere the Kingdom of God.
“Filled with the Holy Ghost,
the Apostles spoke the wonderful works of God” (Communion)
and filled the whole earth with the marvellous operations of the Divine Spirit
(Introit, Alleluia).
And what the Church did in her
earliest days she continues to do through the centuries during the festivities
of Pentecost, when the light of the Holy Ghost illumines in a very special
manner the souls of the faithful (Collect).
Let us beseech God to grant us the
gift of the Holy Ghost, that we may relish what is right and ever rejoice in
His holy consolations (Collect).
Ember
Friday after Pentecost
Station
at the Church of the Twelve Apostles
‘The “Gift
of Piety” awakens in our souls an inclination and readiness to glorify God as
our Father and to have a filial confidence in Him.’
The Station takes place in the
Church of the Twelve Apostles, who were the embodiment of the early Church, of
which the Holy Ghost was the soul.
The bountiful harvest of the fruits
of the earth which the Church now asks of God at the beginning of summer is
emblematic of the wealth of spiritual blessings which the Holy Ghost lavishes
on our souls in these days (Epistle). And it was for this reason that the
Liturgy filled the mouths of the children newly born into the Church by Baptism
with hymns in praise of God (Introit, Offertory) and of the Spirit of the Lord
“so good and sweet within us” (Alleluia).
The Gospel recounts the wonders that
Jesus worked by the power of the Holy Ghost in healing the sick, and more
particularly the man with the palsy, whose sins He remitted, at the same time
that He restored him to health.
The Church, built up by the Holy
Ghost (Collect), follows in a very special way the example of the divine Master
at this season, for at Pentecost she receives in abundance Him, who is the
remission of all sins (Post communion for Tuesday), and she exercises the power
given her by our Lord when He said to her in the person of the apostles: “Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive they are
forgiven them.”
Let us beseech the Holy Ghost to
help us in our weakness (Post communion) by protecting us against the attacks
of our enemies (Collect).
Ember
Saturday after Pentecost
Station
at St Peter’s
‘The “Gift
of Holy Fear” or the “Fear of God”, is actually the foundation of all other
gifts. It drives sin from the heart, because it fills us with reverence either
for the Justice of God or for the divine Majesty.’
After swelling the ranks of her
children during the night of Pentecost, the Holy Ghost today is about to supply
the Church with the priests who are to be her ministers of grace all over the
world, for He will pour out His Spirit upon her servants, as Joel prophesied He
would upon the apostles (First Lesson). Very appropriately therefore, the
church appointed for the Station this day is the basilica of St Peter, the
pastor of the fold, and the Gospel tells of a cure worked by Jesus in the house
of Simon.
The priest, as the minister of
Christ, devotes himself to the healing of souls consumed by the fever of sinful
passions.
As it has already been pointed out,
the Mass on the Saturday in Ember Weeks has five Lessons with Collect and Tract
between the Introit and the Epistle. The
fifth Lesson never varies: it is the
record of the miraculous preservation of the three young Hebrew men in the
furnace, followed by an extract from their canticle of praise and
thanksgiving. The Collect of the Mass is
based upon this Lesson and beseeches the divine goodness that we may not be
consumed by the flame of vice.
In the Sacrament of Holy Orders,
the priest receives a large outpouring of the divine Spirit (Epistle) that will
enable him to preach the kingdom of God (Gospel).
The Second, Third and Fourth Lessons
refer to the harvest, and to the offerings of the first fruits of the earth,
for Ember Weeks were instituted with the object of obtaining the divine
blessing on each of the several seasons as they came in.
Having entered the promised land,
the Israelites offered its first fruits to God.
Let us, having entered the Church by
baptism, offer to almighty God the first fruits of all that we do, through the
supernatural influx of the Holy Ghost into our souls. Let us pray to God that He may increase our
faith in Christ (Epistle and Gospel) and fill our hearts with His holy love (Epistle).
************
As a matter of interest, my Missal has the following introduction by Arthur Cardinal Hinsley, signed ‘Arthur +, Archbishop of Westminster’ and dated January 25th 1937. Feast of the Conversion of St Paul:-
“A
re-issue of the Daily Missal is a welcome sign of the renewal of liturgical
piety among Catholics.
The
Church is calling all her children to a deeper understanding of her sacred
liturgy. It is her wish that all the
Catholic people should take an active part in the sublime sacrifice of the Mass,
joining together with heart, mind, and voice in the corporate prayer of the
Church.
May the unity of Catholics in offering the Mass, the
central act of our religion, inspire us to a holier life, and to a restoration in
human affairs of the rule of Christian charity and social justice.
The Daily Missal, which besides the Ordinary and the
Proper of the Mass throughout the year, includes the liturgical offices of
Prime, Vespers and Compline, should be of assistance to those who wish to pray
with the Church.
It is my earnest desire that those who use this Missal may find in the liturgy the road to sanctification and the love of Christ."
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Cardinal Arthur Hinsley (1865-1943) (portrait from biography cover)
