Come Holy Spirit
From the writings On Revelation and On Trials by Saint Mary Magdalene de Pazzi, virgin (1566-1607)
Come Holy Spirit
Narrated by Frank Dugan, Huntington Beach, California
You, the Word, are most wonderful, working through the Holy Spirit to fill the soul with yourself, so that it is joined to God, grasps God, tastes God and absorbs nothing but God.
The Holy Spirit comes into the soul signed with the precious seal of the blood of the Word and of the slain Lamb; or rather that very blood urges it to come, although the Spirit moves itself and desires to come.
This Spirit which moves in itself is the substance of the Father and of the Word, and it proceeds from the essence of the Father and the good will of the Word, it comes into the soul like a fountain, and the soul is immersed in it. Just as two rushing rivers intermingle in such a way that the smaller loses its name and is absorbed into the larger, so the divine Spirit acts upon the soul and absorbs it. It is proper that the soul, which is lesser, should lose its name and surrender to the Spirit, as it will if it turns entirely toward the Spirit and is united.
This Spirit, dispenser of the treasures which lay in the lap of the Father, and guardian of the deliberations which pass between the Father and the Son, flows into the soul so sweetly and imperceptibly that few esteem its greatness.
It moves itself by its own weight and lightness into all places that are fitting and disposed to receive it. Its word is heard by all in the most attentive silence; through the impetus of love the unmoved yet most perfect mover infuses itself into all.
You do not, O Holy Spirit, stand still in the unmoved Father or in the Word, and yet you are always in the Father and in the Word and in yourself and in all blessed spirits and creatures. You are the friend of the created because of the blood shed by the only-begotten Word, who in the greatness of his love made himself the friend of the created. You find rest in creatures who are prepared to receive you, so that in the transmission of your gifts they take on, through purity, their own particular likeness to you. You find rest in those creatures who absorb the effects of the blood of the Word and make themselves a worthy dwelling place for you.
Come, Holy Spirit. Let the precious pearl of the Father and the Word’s delight come. Spirit of truth, you are the reward of the saints, the comforter of souls, light in the darkness, riches to the poor, treasure to lovers, food for the hungry, comfort to those who are wandering; to sum up, you are the one in whom all treasures are contained.
Come! As you descended upon Mary, that the Word might become flesh, work in us through grace as you worked in her through nature and grace.
Come! Food of every chaste thought, fountain of all mercy, sum of all purity.
Come! Consume in us whatever prevents us from being consumed in you.
Source: The Liturgy of the Hours – Office of Readings
Saint Mary Magdalene de Pazzi (1556-1607) was born of noble parents in Florence in 1556. Her baptism name was Caterina, and after a religious upbringing she entered the Carmelite sisters at their convent at Santa Maria degl’ Angeli in December 1582. She professed her vows in 1583 taking the name Maria Magdalena.
Following her profession she fell into an ecstasy lasting a full forty days. She led a solitary life of prayer and self-denial, and, in spite of continuous health problems, she developed a deep reverence and devotion to the Real Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. For five years from 1885 to 1590 she experienced the “Dark night of the soul” described by Saint John of the Cross, where God allowed her to endure a terrible inward abandonment, temptations and even diabolical attacks. Her saintly life was evidenced throughout her life by numerous raptures and ecstasies and was blessed with many gifts from God. She prayed fervently for church reform and as novice director, led her fellow sisters on the road to perfection and had the miraculous gift of reading the hearts of others. Finally, after suffering a terribly painful illness lasting three years, she died in 1607 at the age of 51, and was canonized a saint by Pope Clement IX in 1669.