NOVENA
TO THE HOLY GHOST
SIXTH DAY
THE GIFT OF UNDERSTANDING
Understanding, as a gift of the Holy
Ghost, helps us to grasp the meaning of the truths of our holy religion. By
faith we know them, but by Understanding we learn to appreciate and relish
them. It enables us to penetrate the inner meaning of revealed truths and
through them to be quickened to newness of life. Our faith ceases to be sterile
and inactive, but inspires a mode of life that bears eloquent testimony to the
faith that is in us; we begin to “walk worthy of God in all things pleasing,
and increasing in the knowledge of God.”
Nothing pure in man will stay;
All his good is turned to ill.
The Gift of Understanding
PRAYER
Come, O Spirit of Understanding, and
enlighten our minds, that we may know and believe all the mysteries of
salvation; and may merit at last to see the eternal light in Thy Light; and in
the light of glory to have a clear vision of Thee and the Father and the Son.
Amen.
OUR
FATHER
Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed
be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive
those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us
from evil.
HAIL MARY
Hail Mary, full of Grace, the Lord is
with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the Fruit of thy
womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and in the hour
of our death. Amen.
GLORY BE (7x)
Glory be to the Father, and to the
Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall
be, world without end. Amen.
ACT OF CONSECRATION
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.”
PRAYER FOR THE SEVEN GIFTS
O Lord Jesus Christ Who, before
ascending into heaven did promise to send the Holy Spirit to finish Your work
in the souls of Your Apostles and Disciples, deign to grant the same Holy
Spirit to me that He may perfect in my soul, the work of Your grace and Your
love. Grant me the Spirit of Wisdom that I may despise the perishable things of
this world and aspire only after the things that are eternal, the Spirit of
Understanding to enlighten my mind with the light of Your divine truth, the
Spirit of Counsel that I may ever choose the surest way of pleasing God and
gaining heaven, the Spirit of Fortitude that I may bear my cross with You and
that I may overcome with courage all the obstacles that oppose my salvation,
the Spirit of Knowledge that I may know God and know myself and grow perfect in
the science of the Saints, the Spirit of Piety that I may find the service of
God sweet and amiable, and the Spirit of Fear that I may be filled with a
loving reverence towards God and may dread in any way to displease Him. Mark
me, dear Lord, with the sign of Your true disciples and animate me in all
things with Your Spirit. Amen.
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