Roman Extraordinary (Tridentine)

St. Peter’s ministerial office continues… in the persons of those who come after him, we are bound to understand our Lord’s blessing, pronounced in the first instance upon him, as descending in due measure on the least of us His ministers who “keep the faith,” (1Tm 6,20) Peter being but the representative and type of them all… “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah: it is not flesh and blood that have revealed this to you but my Father who is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” August and glorious promise! Can it be, that it is all expended on St. Peter, how great soever that noble Apostle? Is it inserted in the “everlasting Gospel,” (Rv 14,6) to witness merely of one long since departed? Is it the practice of the inspired word to exalt individuals? Does not the very exuberance of the blessing resist any such niggardly use of it? Does it not flow over in spite of us, till our unbelief is vanquished by the graciousness of Him who spoke it? Is it, in short, anything but the prejudices of education, which prevent so many of us from receiving it in that fullness of grace in which it was poured out? … If the promises to Christ’s Apostles are not fulfilled in the Church for ever after, why should the blessing attaching to the Sacraments extend after the first age?

Roman Extraordinary (Tridentine) Daily Readings – rosary,team

When the Lord gave to the disciples power to confer rebirth into the life of God, he said: «Go, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit» (Mt 28,19). He promised through his prophets that he would pour out this Spirit in the last times on his servants and handmaidens so that they would prophesy (Jl 3,1)… In the same way our Lord promised «living water» to the Samaritan woman so that she might «never thirst again» or have to drink water drawn up laboriously but might have water «welling up to eternal life» within herself (Jn 4,10-14). It is a matter of being able to drink what our Lord himself received from his Father and gives, in his turn, to those who live in him, by sending out the Holy Spirit over all the earth… Gideon had prophesied that the dew, which is the Spirit of God, would be spread over all the earth (Jg 6,36-40). It was this same Spirit of God that came down on the Lord: “The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and devotion, the Spirit of fear of the Lord” (Is 11,2-3). He gave the same Spirit again to the Church, sending the Counsellor to every nation from heaven,from which the Lord said “the devil was cast down like lightening” (Lk 10,18). Accordingly we need God’s dew, so as not to be burnt up and made unfruitful but rather to have a Counsellor when we have an Accuser (Rv 12,10). For the Lord entrusts to the Holy Spirit his man who had fallen among thieves (Lk 10,30). Taking pity on him, he has bound up his wounds and given two imperial coins, stamped with the image of Spirit and the inscription of the Father and the Son. We are to accept them, and make the coin entrusted to us bear fruit and multiply for the Lord (cf Mt 25,14f.).

Roman Extraordinary (Tridentine) Daily Readings – rosary,team

When seven weeks had passed since the resurrection, on the fiftieth day, “when the disciples were gathered in one place with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a violent wind blowing,” (Acts 1:14, 2:1-2). Then the Spirit descended upon the group of a hundred and twenty persons and appeared in the form of tongues of fire to give speech to the mouth, light to the intellect and ardor to the affection. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak different languages as the prompting of the Holy Spirit dictated, who taught them all truth and inflamed them with all love and strengthened them in every virtue. For aided by his grace, illumined by his teaching and strengthened by his power, although they were few and simple, “they planted the Church with their own blood” (Roman Breviary) throughout the world, partly by their fiery words, partly by their perfect example, partly by their astonishing miracles. Purified, illumined and perfected by the power of the same Holy Spirit, the Church became loveable to her Spouse and his attendants for being exceedingly beautiful and adorned with a wonderful variety; but to Satan and his angels she became “awe-inspiring like an army in battle array” (Sg 6:10).

Roman Extraordinary (Tridentine) Daily Readings – rosary,team

In the beginning, according to God’s plan, God’s Spirit filled the world, “reaching mightily from one end of the earth to the other, and governing all things sweetly.” (Wis 8:1) But where the Spirit’s work of sanctification is concerned, it was on the day of Pentecost that “the Spirit of the Lord filled the world.” (Wis 1:7) For it is today that this Spirit of sweetness is sent by the Father and the Son to sanctify every creature according to a new plan, in a new way, a new manifestation of the Spirit’s power and strength. Before this, “the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.” (Jn 7:39) (…) Today, the Spirit, coming from his heavenly abode, is given with all his richness, all his fruitfulness to the souls of mortals. Thus this divine dew, with its diversity and its spiritual gifts, is spread out over all the earth. And it is true that the fullness of the Spirit’s richness flowed down for us from the highest heaven, since a few days previously, through our earth’s generosity, heaven had received a marvelously sweet fruit (…) Christ’s humanity is all of earth’s grace; Christ’s Spirit is all of heaven’s sweetness. Thus, a very salvific exchange was brought about: Christ’s humanity went up from earth to heaven; and today, the Spirit of Christ descended from heaven to us (…) The Holy Spirit is active everywhere; the Spirit speaks everywhere. Of course, before the Ascension the Lord’s Spirit was given to the disciples when the Lord said to them: “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” (Jn 20:23) But before Pentecost, the voice of the Holy Spirit was not heard, his shining power was not seen. And knowledge of him had not been given to Christ’s disciples, who had not been confirmed in courage since fear still made them hide in a locked room. But starting on that day, “the voice of the Lord is over the waters; (…)it lashes forth flames of fire (…) and all say, ‘Glory!’” (Ps 29:3-9)

Roman Extraordinary (Tridentine) Daily Readings – rosary,team

Everything has been accomplished which remained to be done on earth; but it still remained necessary that we should “share and participate in the divine nature” of the Word (2Pt 1,4) – that is, that we should put away our life and be utterly transformed and launched on a new way of holy living… For I think it is true to say that, while Christ was still present in bodily form among those who believed in him, he was revealed to them as one who conferred every good gift; but since the time and the need were now calling him to be carried up to his Father in heaven, it was necessary for him to be present through the Spirit with those who worshipped him, and to “dwell in our hearts through faith” (Eph 3,17). It is easy to prove from the Old and New Testaments that the Spirit changes the character of those among whom he comes to dwell, and transforms their life. The holy man Samuel, when speaking to Saul, said: “The Spirit of the Lord will come mightily on you, and you will be turned into another man” (1Sam 10,6). Saint Paul said: “We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into the same likeness from one degree of glory to another; and this comes from the Lord, the Spirit; for the Lord is the Spirit” (2Cor 3,18). You can see, then, that the Spirit re-creates, so tos peak, in a new pattern those among whom he is seen to dwell. He readily replaces their desire to think earthly thoughts with the desire to fix their gaze only on the things of heaven; he changes their unmanly cowardice into the spirit of courage. We can certainly see that the disciples experienced this: the Spirit became their armor, so that they did not yield to the attacks of their persecutors but held fast to the love of Christ. And so the truth of our Savior’s words can be seen: “It is to your advantage that I go away to heaven” (Jn 16,7). For that was the time for the descent of the Spirit.

Roman Extraordinary (Tridentine) Daily Readings – rosary,team