Friday, February 27 : Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe

If you know what the offering of sacrifice consists of, you will understand why the coming of the Holy Spirit is implored. According to the testimony of the Apostle Paul, the sacrifice is offered so that the death of the Lord may be announced and the memory of the one who gave his life for us may be revived. The Lord himself said: “There is no greater love than to lay down your life for those you love” (Jn 15:13). Therefore, since Christ died for us out of love, we ask, when we remember his death at the moment of sacrifice, that love be given to us by the coming of the Holy Spirit. We ask in supplication that, through the same love that moved Christ to allow himself to be crucified for us, we too, having received the grace of the Holy Spirit, may be crucified to the world and imitate the death of our Lord to walk in a new life. Thus all the faithful who love God and their neighbor, even if they do not drink the chalice of a bodily passion, nevertheless drink the chalice of the Lord’s charity. For we drink the chalice of the Lord as long as we keep our holy charity, without which it is of no use to deliver our body to the flames. The gift of charity allows us to be in truth what we mystically celebrate in sacrifice. (…) This is why we ask that the Holy Spirit come and give us charity.

Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team