"Thou guidest man to truth, thou formest his love. Thou confirmest him in good, and, having made him deserving of thy love, thou crownest him at heaven's gate. Amen."

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The Liturgical Year- Pascal Time Book III
By: Dom Gueranger      +Imprimatur 1927

THE GIFT OF GODLINESS
The gift of the fear of God is intended as a cure for our pride; the gift of godliness is infused into our souls by the Holy Ghost, in order that we may resist self-love, which is one of the passions of our fallen nature, and the second hindrance to our union with God. The heart of a Christian is not made to be either cold or indifferent; it must be affectionate and devoted; otherwise, it can never attain th perfection for which God, who is love, has graciously created it.

The Holy Ghost, therefore, puts the gift of godliness into the soul, by inspiring her with a filial affection for her Creator. 'You have received', says the apostle, 'the Spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry to our God, Abba! Father!' (Rom. vii, 15.) This disposition makes the soul alive to whatsoever regards God's honour. It enables man to nourish within him a sorrow for his sins, in consideration of the divine mercy which has borne with and forgiven him, and makes him thirst for God's glory to be every spreading; he would, if he could, bring all his fellow creatures to adore this God; he feels most keenly every insult that is offered to so dear a King. His great devotedness in the service to his heavenly Father whose every will he is most ready to do, cheerfully resigned to whatsoever He may appoint.

His faith is unhesitating and fervent. Affectionately docile to the Church, he is always in the disposition of mind to abandon his most cherished ideas the moment he discovers them to be, in any way, out of harmony with her teaching or practice; for he has an instinctive horror of novelties and insubordination.

This devotedness to God, which results from the gift of godliness, and unites the soul to her Creator by filial love, makes her love all God's creatures inasmuch as they are the work of His hands, and belong to Him.

The blessed in heaven hold the first place in the fraternal affection of such a Christian. He has a most tender love for the holy Mother of God, and is zealous for her honor; he venerates the saints; he is a warm admirer of the courage of the martyrs, and of the heroic actions of the servants of God; he delights in reading of their miracles, and has a devotion to their sacred relics.

But his love is not limited to the citizens of heaven; it is extended also to his fellow-creatures here on earth, for the gift of godliness makes him find JEsus in them. He is kind to every one, without exception. He forgives injuries, bears with the imperfections of others, and, where an excuse is possible for his neighbour, he makes it. He has compassion on the poor, and is attentive to the sick. His whole conduct is the index of a sterling warm-heartedness, that weeps with them that weep, and rejoices with them that rejoice.

All this is found in those, who use Thy gift of godliness, O holy Spirit! By infusing it into our souls, Thou enablest us to withstand the workings of our self-love, which would corrupt the heart; Thou preservest us from that odious indifference to every one around us, which dries up all feeling; Thou drivest from us the sentiments of jealousy and hatred. Yes, godliness inspired us with a filial love for our Creator, that softened the heart; and every creature of God became dear to us. O blessed Paraclete, grant that this gift may produce its rich fruits in us! Never permit us to stifle it by the love of self. Our Jesus has told us that His heavenly Father maketh His sun to rise upon the good and bad: (St. Matth. v. 45,) He would have us take this divine generosity as our model: do Thou, therefore, foster within us that germ of devotedness, kindness, and sympathy, which we received from Thee on the day of our Baptism, when Thou first tookest possession of our souls!

Give-a-Way #3

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Make sure to enter Sunday and Monday's Give-a-ways as well! Today we are giving away a copy of Pictorial Lives of the Saints with Reflections for Everyday of the Year! This wonderful book has a saint story for every day in the year and at the end is a little reflection for the read to make. Nearly every saint in this book has a black/white image of the saint. It makes for great daily reading and also pairs great with our free Butler's Lives of the Saint's Notebooking pages. It would make a great supplementary religious reading for the older grades or parents can summarize the stories for their younger children who can use those summaries as copy work and put them on the notebooking pages. There are many ways to use this wonderful title! The Saints are surely an inspiration to all and great guides on our path to Heaven.

 
 
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The Liturgical Year, Paschal Book III
By: Dom Gueranger  +Impriamtur 1927


THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY GHOST
It is our intention to explain, during this week, the workings of the Holy Ghost, both in the Church, and in the faithful soul. These seven days are given to us, that we may know and appreciate the great Gift sent us by the Father and the Son. Moreover the Spirit who proceeds from the Father and the Son, has seven different ways whereby He manifests His presence in our souls. It behoves us, therefore, to devote this happy week to the study and love of the sevenfold gift, whereby are to be wrought our salvation and sanctification.

The seven gifts of the Holy Ghost are seven energies, which He graciously infuses into the soul, when He enters there by sanctifying grace. Actual graces put these divinely infused powers into motion, supernatural and meritorious of life everlasting are produced by the free consent of our will.

The prophet Isaias, guided by divine inspiration, has told us of these seven gifts. He is foretelling the workings of the Holy Ghost upon the Soul of the Song of God made Man, whom he calls the Flower of a virginal root of JEsse. HE says: 'And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him: the Spirit of wisdom, and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of fortitude, the Spirit of knowledge, and of godliness, and HE shall be filled with the Spirit of of the fear of the Lord.' (Is. xi. 2,3) These mysterious words not only express the qualities of the Holy Ghost; they also describe the effects He produces in the soul of man; and it is in this sense that they have been interpreted by the holy fathers and theologians.

The sacred Humanity of the Incarnate Son of God is the supernatural type of our own; and what the Holy Ghost operated in the former for its sanctification, that same, in proportion, He wills to do in the latter. He infused into the Son of Mary the seven energies mentioned by the prophet; and same seven gifts are prepared for regenerated man. But let us notice the order in which they come. Isaias begins with the Spirit of wisdom, and ends with the Spirit of the fear of the Lord. Wisdom, as we shall see further on, is the noblest prerogative of which man is capable; whereas the fear of the Lord is but the beginning of wisdom, as the royal psalmist assures us. (Ps. cx. 10.) The soul of Jesus was created for a personal union with the divine Word, and was therefore treated with exceptional honor; the first and foremost gift infused into it was that of wisdom, and the gift of the fear of the Lord followed, necessarily indeed (because a creature is not perfect unless it have this quality), but still as a sequel and completion. With us, on the contrary, frail and inconstant as we are, the fear of God is the foundation of our whole spiritual building, and by it we raise ourselves gradually to that wisdom which brings union with God. It is by means of the gifts of the Holy Ghost that man attains to perfection; but they are bestowed upon him in the order inverse of that wherein Isaias names them when speaking of the Son of God. We receive them at the time of our Baptism; and, when we have the misfortune to lose them (as we do when we lose sanctifying grace, that is, when we commit a mortal sin), they are restored to us by the sacrament of Penance.

Let us respectfully consider how the whole work of our salvation and sanctification is marked with the mysterious number seven. There are seven principal virtues which render us dear to our Maker; it is by seven gifts that the Holy Ghost leads us to our last end; the seven sacraments apply to us the merits of the Incarnation and redemption; it is after seven weeks from the Pasch, that the holy Spirit is sent upon the earth, there to establish and maintain the kingdom of God. Can we wonder, after this, that satan should have sacrilegiously mimicked the work of God, striving to destroy, by the seven deadly sins, the creatures whom God would save?

THE GIFT OF FEAR

Pride is the obstacle to man's virtue and well-being. It is pride that leads us to rsist God, to make self our last end, in a word, to work our own ruin. Humility alone can save us from this terrible danger. Who will give us humility? The Holy Ghost; and this by infusing into us the gift of the fear of God.

This holy sentiment is based on the following truths, which are taught us by faith: the sovereign majesty of God, in comparison with whom we are mere nothingness; the infinite sanctity of that God, in whose presence we are but unworthiness and sin; after death; the danger of falling into sin, which may be our misfortune at any time, if we do not correspond to grace, for although grace be never wanting, yet we have it in our power to resist it.

Man, as the apostle tells us, must work out his salvation with fear and trembling; (Philipp. ii. 12.) but this fear, which is a gift of the Holy Ghost, is not the base sentiment which goes no further than the dread of eternal punishments. It keeps alive within us an abiding compunction of heart, even though we hope that our sins have long ago been forgiven, It prevents our forgetting that we are sinners, that we are wholly dependent upon God's mercy, and that we are not as yet safe, except in hope. (Rom. viii. 24.)

This fear of God, therefore, is not a servile fear; on the contrary, it is the source of the noblest sentiments. Inasmuch as it is a filial dread of offending God by sin, it may go hand-in-hand with love. Arising as it does from a reverence for God's infinite majesty and holiness, it puts the creature in his right place, and, as St. Paul says, it contributes to the perfecting of sanctification. (II. Cor. vii.) Hence this great apostle, who had been rapt up to the third heaven, assures us that he was severe in his treatment of himself, lest he should become a cast-away. (I. Cor.ix. 27.)

The spirit of independence and of false liberty, which is nowadays so rife amongst us, is a great enemy to the fear of God' and one of the miseries of our age is, that there is little fear of God. Familiarity with God but too frequently usurps the place of that essential basis of the Christian life. The result is, that there is no progress in virtue, such people are prey to illusion; and the sacraments, which previously worked so powerfully in their souls, are now well-nigh unproductive. The reason is, that the gift of fear has been superseded by a conceited self-complacency. Humility has no further sway; a secret and habitual pride has paralyzed the soul; and seeing that these people scout the very idea of their ever trembling before the great God of heaven, we may well ask them if they know who God is.

Therefore we beseech thee, O holy Spirit! keep up within us the fear of God, which Thou didst infuse into our hearts at our Baptism. This saving fear will ensure our perseverance in virtue, for it will oppose the growth of pride. Let it pierce our soul through and through, and ever abide with us as our safeguard. Let it bring down our haughtiness, and rouse us from tepidity, by ceaselessly reminding us of the greatness and holiness of Him who is our Creator and our Judge.

This holy fear does not stifle the sentiment of love; on the contrary, it removes what would be a hindrance to its growth. The heavenly Powers see and ardently love their God, their infinite and eternal good; and yet, they tremble before His dread Majesty: Tremunt Postestates. And shall we, covered countless imperfections, exposed on every side to snares, obliged to fight with so many enemies - shall we flatter ourselves that we can do without this strong and filial fear? and that we need nothing to stimulate us, when we are in those frequent trials - a want of fervour in our will, or of light in our mind? O holy Spirit! watch over us! Preserve within us Thy precious gift! Teach us how to combine peace and joy or heart with the fear of our Lord and God, according to those words of the psalmist: Serve ye the Lord with fear, and rejoice unto Him with trembling! (Ps. ii. 11.)

Today's GiveAWay!

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Monday marks the 2nd day of our GIVEAWAY FOR PENTECOST, make sure that you also enter to win yesterday's GIVEAWAY for a copy of the book Catholic Life and also the children may enter the Pentecost Coloring Contest. GIVEAWAY's end on Trinity Sunday when the winners will be announced.

Today we are giving away a single copy of theLiturgical Year- Time After Pentecost Book I. This book comes from the same set of which the book we shared today is from. This title should arrive in time for reading right along with the Liturgical year, which includes readings for the Sundays and Saints feast days.

 
 

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Ghost. Amen.

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First Fruits; A Series of Short Meditations
By: Sister Mary Philip
Imprimatur 1919

God my Father
" I will arise and go to my father" (St. Luke xv. 18).

I.
No earthly father ever loved his child with a love which will even bear comparison with that of God's love for me, His child. I am His own. He has " called me by my name," nay He has " made me and fashioned me," and therefore He understands me through and through. He knows all the circumstances of my life—all the various phases through which I have passed and which have made me what I now am-and knowing all, He understands all. He can make allowances where others see no excuse, and as He loves me with an infinite love, He uses His knowledge to the utmost in my favour.

O God my Father, in whom can I trust as I can trust in Thee, Who knowest all,
seest all, understandest all? Give me the heartfelt love of a child towards Thee, Who, being my God and Creator, art at the same time my most tender Father and Friend.

II.
Am I now, to-day, giving God the love of a child? Do I turn to Him in joy, in sorrow, in disappointment? Do I take all things from His hands, the loving hands of my Father, Who cares with an infinite tenderness for the good of His child? If so, why am I troubled over the circumstances of my daily life? Why do I hesitate when He shows me His Will and asks me to do it? My God, my Father, what can I say to Thee ! Too late, far too late, have I known Thee and loved Thee ; yet, late as it is, to-day at least I can say, " I will arise and go to my Father." I will trust Him with all that concerns me : my body and my soul, my life and my death, my trials, my temptations, my perplexities and uncertainties. He will care for all I love, for all who have any claim on me, for He is m}' Father and I am His child.

III.
God wants my love. No one else can give Him this love if I refuse it to Him. My Father asks something of me, His child. Am I going to hold back ? He says to me,
" My child, give Me thy heart." It is my one treasure, the one thing I can give Him
that will please Him. Is He to turn away sad because of my refusal—He, my Father !
O most tender Father, take, take all from, me. I give Thee my heart, my love, my
affections. Give me Thy love and Thy grace.

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Christ, my friend
" I have called you friends" (St. John, xv 15).

I.
Our Lord chooses His own friends. He has chosen me. " You have not chosen Me," He says, " but I have chosen you." What reason this gives me for full love and
confidence. He chose me knowing perfectly all about me; and He is not fickle as so many earthly friends are, He is" Jesus Christ, yesterday, to-day, and the same for ever" (Heb, xiii.). How, knowing all, He can have chosen me, it is impossible for me to understand, but the very mystery of it is sunshine
to my heart.

"How Thou canst think so well of us,
Yet be the God Thou art,
Is darkness to my intellect,
But sunshine to my heart."
-Faber

II.
How does Our Lord show His friendship? He is " faithful and true." He never misunderstands, never misinterprets my words or my actions, never shows me anything but infinite patience and love. He is continually sending me gifts and messages. He visits me daily Himself. He waits hour by hour for me to visit Him. Sometimes He asks me to help Him to carry His Cross, but He never leaves me to do so alone. He considers me in all the circumstances of my life. He never suffers me to be tried above that which I am able to bear. In all things He shows me nothing but love, disguised sometimes it is true, but if I have faith in Him the veil is almost a transparent one. "Such is my Beloved, and He is my Friend."

III.
On my side, how do I treat my Friend? Do I willfully refuse to do that which I know
He is asking of me? What gifts do I make Him ? Do I love Him in " deed and in
truth," or is my service mere lip-service? How often do I visit my Friend, how much
time do I give Him in the day?

O Christ my Lord, my true and faithful Friend,
Let me be a real friend of Thine.
Grant that I may give Thee love for love.
Grant that, loving Thee above all things and
in all things, I may at last be united to
Thee for ever in heaven.
" I need Thee, gracious Jesus,
I need a friend like Thee,
A friend to soothe and sympathize,
A friend to care for me."

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The Holy Ghost the Comforter
"I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another Paraclete that He may abide with you for ever'' (St. John xiv. 16).

I.
The Holy Ghost is the Love of the Father and the Son. He is the Spirit of Love. There is nothing the human heart craves for as it does for love. Our desire, then, should be to be filled with the Holy Spirit. If we are in the state of grace, the Holy Ghost abides with us : " Know ye not that ye are the temples of the Holy Spirit?" (i Cor. iii.). Without this Guest of our souls we are restless and unhappy, for, as St. Augustine tells us, " Our hearts are made for Thee, O God, and they can never be at rest until they rest in Thee." This is why the Holy Ghost is called by Holy Church

"True Rest in toil and sweat.
Refreshment in excess of heat,
And Solace in our grief."

II.
The Holy Ghost is called the Paraclete, that is the Comforter. His special mission is
to enlighten, teach, and comfort the soul. If I ask Him, He will enlighten me to know
His Will, and will teach me how to accomplish it in spite of all difficulties. Then, too, He is ever near to console and strengthen me in all my trials and anxieties. The Hoi}'
Ghost comes to us first at our Baptism, then in a very special way in the Sacrament of Confirmation, and He comes "to abide with us for ever." At all times, in all difficulties, in all my doubts and fears, I can count on the guidance of the Holy Spirit Who dwells within me.

III.
Am I faithful to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit? St Paul says: "Grieve not the Holy Spirit within you." Is my conduct ever a source of displeasure to my Heavenly Guest? Do I beg His light and guidance before every important action that I do, and
before every choice that I make? Do I ask Him to guide me into the path along which He wishes me to tread? O Holy Spirit of God, take possession of me wholly. Guide me, enlighten me, instruct me. Give me the grace never to be deaf to
Thy warnings, never to leave Thy inspirations unnoticed and unattended to, but make me so faithful to Thee that even in small things I may never swerve from Thy
guidance.

"Dear Paraclete! how hast Thou waited,
While our hearts were slowly turned I
How often has Thy love been slighted,
While for us it grieved and burned I
Now if our hearts do not deceive us,
We would take Thee for our Lord !
O dearest Spirit ! make us faithful
To Thy least and lightest word."
Faber.

 
 
A side note: Starting May 19th we will be taking a little blog vacation until the first of June (when the FREE PDF Holy Simplicity Planner is released!). In the next week and a half I'll be posting the last of the 50 Days of Easter blog series along with topics on Mary as May is dedicated to her and also the Ascention, Pentecost and Rogation days. Prayerfully I'll get it up before our little blog vacation starts! Thank you for your patience as I know there hasn't been as much on our blog latley due to the release of the Holy Simplicity Planner. God bless!

Ascension

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Around the Year with the Von Trapp Family
By: Maria Von Trapp
In the weeks between Easter and the Ascension there are four days set aside where the Church has her children go out into the fields and pastures chanting the litany of All Saints and asking God's blessing for a good harvest and as protection against hailstorms, floods, and droughts. One day is the feast of St. Mark, April 25th, and the other three days are called "Rogation Days" and are the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday preceding the Ascension, which always falls on a Thursday. We always make these outdoor processions up on our mountain. The very first hue of green is appearing in the meadows, the birds are singing in the woods again, and the whole atmosphere is one of spring and hope.


Pentecost

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Around the Year with the Von Trapp Family
By: Maria Von Trapp
On Ascension Day begin the nine days of waiting and preparing, together with the Apostles and Mary, the coming of the Holy Ghost. These are the days when families should discuss the "Gifts of the Holy Ghost" and the "Fruits of the Holy Ghost" evening after evening. As I look back over the years I marvel at how different these discussions were every year, always full of surprises, partly because there were different people participating--guests of the family or new friends of the children--who do not ordinarily hear the workings of the "Gifts of the Holy Ghost" discussed around the family table. We devote one whole evening to each one of the gifts.

First is the Gift of Knowledge, offered to help us in our dealings with inanimate and animate created nature, with things and people. It teaches us to make use of them wisely, and to refrain from what is dangerous for us. As we consider a typical day, we discover that this gift is needed from the very moment of awakening, when we have to part from the created thing "bed." The younger ones discover that the Gift of Knowledge helps them to remember that they have to make use of such created things as the toothbrush and the shower. In fact, there is hardly a moment of the day in which we do not have to make decisions about using something or dealing with somebody, and when we do not need the immediate help from the Holy Spirit to carry us safely through the day.

The second evening is devoted to the Gift of Understanding, which is extended to us for the understanding, with mind and heart, of revealed truth as we find it in Holy Scripture and the liturgy, and in the breviary. This gift we need for our hours of prayer and meditation. It fulfills the Lord's promise: "The Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things" (John 14:26).

The third evening is devoted to the Gift of Counsel, which helps us to distinguish, in every moment of our life, what is the will of God. This gift we also need when someone turns to us for advice. It is most necessary to parents and teachers, priests, and all persons in authority. But above all it should help us to make the right choices in everyday life--even in such minor matters as "Should I do my homework now or later? Should I see this movie or not?"

The Gift of Fortitude helps us to overcome our own will. This may start with such seemingly small matters as jumping out of bed the moment we had intended to do so; with giving up smoking or candies and cookies for certain times; with keeping silence when we might have a sharp answer ready; with doing little things for others at the cost of our own comfort; and it may lead to the ultimate test--aiding us in joining the thousands of contemporary martyrs who are called to lay down their life for God. Again, a gift that is needed throughout the day! The Gift of Piety does not sound particularly attractive, until we realize that it infuses our hearts with a special kind of love, directed toward everything belonging and related to God all persons consecrated to His service--the Holy Father in Rome, bishops and priests, missionaries, nuns, and lay brothers--and all things set aside for God only, such as church and altar, chalice and monstrance, vestments, and the sacramentals in our home--rosaries, holy water, medals. This precious gift also makes us eager to devote time to the service of God. It helps overcome morning laziness when it is time for Mass. It makes us want to visit our hidden God once in a while in church. In other words, it instills the interest for the supernatural in our souls. How could we do without it!

When we come to the Gift of the Fear of the Lord, there is always someone to raise the argument "This I don't understand. That is the spirit of the Old Testament, of the chosen people who were trembling before Jehovah so that they said to Moses, `You go up the mountain and talk with Him--we are afraid.' But the New Testament teaches us to say `Our Father,' and Our Lord says, `I don't call you servants any more, I call you friends!' One isn't afraid of one's father or one's friend! What do I need the Gift of Fear for?" It is then that something very tender and beautiful comes to light. If a person loves another one very much, you may often hear him say: "I'm afraid to wake him up, he needs his sleep"; or, "I'm afraid to disturb him." In other words, love is afraid to hurt the beloved one.

The Gift of Fear should lead us to a state of mind which makes us afraid to sin because it would hurt Him. The Gift of Wisdom, finally, seems to sum up all the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, just as charity sums up all His fruits. If we ask throughout all our days for the other Gifts of the Holy Ghost and cooperate with them, if we examine our conscience every night about the use we made of them--wisdom will grow in our hearts. This wisdom has nothing to do with ordinary human intelligence, with knowledge learned in schools and from books. One doesn't even have to be able to read and write in order to become wise. Once in a while one meets an old lay brother or lay sister, an old farmer in the country, or some bedridden person, who may not be learned in the eyes of the world, but may impress us deeply by a true wisdom expressed in all simplicity.

At the end of the seventh day we have all renewed our conviction that we cannot lead a truly Christian life without the special aid of the Holy Ghost, that we have to ask for it as we start each day, and be faithful to it as we go through the day. Children, with the generosity of young hearts, are remarkably responsive to this suggestion. The eighth day of the novena is dedicated to the "Fruits of the Holy Ghost" as they are enumerated in St. Paul--especially the first three love, peace, and joy. On this day we always call to mind the admonition of one of our dearest friends, Reverend Father Abbot, to take the word of Our Lord literally, that "by their fruits thou shalt know them." In every individual soul, in every family or community we should watch whether the fruits are the fruits of the Holy Ghost, whether love, peace, and joy prevail. On the last day of the novena we meditate together on the two great hymns, "Veni, Sancte Spiritus" and "Veni, Creator Spiritus." Through our previous discussions, these texts are seen in a new light, and the repeated "Veni, veni" ("Come, Holy Ghost, come") really rises from longing hearts. And when, during High Mass on Pentecost Sunday, priest and community kneel down at the solemn text of the Gradual, "Veni, Sancte Spiritus," we feel the miracle of the first Pentecost repeated in our hearts, filled by the Holy Ghost in response to the intensity of our "Veni."

In the old country, ancient Pentecost customs are still alive. On the Saturday before Pentecost Sunday the young men go out with long whips, cracking them with special skill to produce a noise called "Pfingstschnalzen." This is followed by "Pfingstschiessen," done with the same ancient guns that are used for shooting on Easter and other festivities. In some valleys people walk barefoot up into the mountains through the dew, calling for the Holy Ghost. In the Alps, cattle decorated with wreaths and garlands are sent up to the high pastures, accompanied for a little way by most of the villagers. Many of the old churches throughout the Alps have a hole in the ceiling above the altar through which, on Pentecost Sunday, during High Mass the "Holy Ghost dove" is let down into the church. On Ascension Day, the statue of the Risen Lord is lifted on wires after the Gospel to disappear in the same opening, which brings the mystery of the day very close to all children, big and small. In some parishes the Risen Lord, at the end of the Mass, sends gifts down from heaven--apples and cookies and candies for the children, and flowers and green branches for the grownups, and everybody tries to take at least a leaf or a petal home. This brings us to the end of the holy Paschal season.

The octave day of Pentecost, known as Trinity Sunday, is dedicated to the Blessed Trinity. While in the first centuries the Easter Communion had to be received on Easter Sunday, the Church later extended "Easter Time," which now begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Trinity Sunday. Once a family has celebrated the year of the Church faithfully from the First Sunday in Advent, feasting and fasting together, until the fullness of the Holy Ghost crowns their efforts throughout the days of Pentecost, it will be a very happy family indeed. TO THEE, THE HOLY GHOST, WE NOW PRAY The text of this invocation of the Holy Spirit is by Berthold of Regensburg (d. 1272). The melody, inspired by the Gregorian "Veni Creator," goes back to the 13th century. Published in the oldest Catholic Hymn Book, of Michael Vehe, in 1537. Sing this hymn three times, each time a tone higher. To Thee, the Holy Ghost, we now pray, Firm of faith that we Thy will obey; When our hour comes, be Thou close beside us; Safely to our home with Thee above guide us. Kyrieleis.