What is the Holy Spirit?

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Hi,

I just wanted to start a thread discussing what the Holy Spirit is. I’ve read quite a lot of writings about the Trinity, and the simplest explanation I get in many ways is that the Father is the Lover, the Son is the Beloved, and the Holy Spirit is the mutual Love between them. I like Frank Sheed’s explanation in Theology and Sanity, but I am not yet satisfied that I really have any inkling about who or what the Holy Spirit is. I have decided to pray the Novena to the Holy Spirit for the Seven Gifts. I just made a file to put on my Kindle so that it is all convenient and right there. If anyone else would like to unite their prayers to mine in this novena asking the Holy Spirit to reveal who and what He is and His nature to us,as we dicuss it on this thread, I humbly welcome you to “digitally” join me in praying this novena Lol. I know that many of you are very knowledgeable in theology and I can’t wait to see what resources you provide.

God bless you all at CAF,
Joshua
 
The Holy Spirit, of course, is the third Person of the Blessed Trinity. God.

But how do we personify the Holy Spirit? The Hebrews had a word for the Holy Spirit (can’t spell it) that meant “Breath of God.” The Holy Spirit gives life to us through grace. No breath, no life. No Breath of God, no spiritual life of grace. Actual grace, remember, does two things for us: 1) enlightens our minds to see God’s truths more clearly and 2) strengthens our wills to follow God’s will more closely. The Holy Spirit helps us in this.
 
Pope John Paul II gave a series of 82 General Audiences on the Holy Spirit as part of his larger Catechesis on the Creed. The audiences were given between 1989-1991. I pulled together links to all the audiences on my website:

catechesisofthepopes.wordpress.com/major-themes/the-spirit/audiences/

If you want to delve deeper into who the Holy Spirit is, this would be a great place to start. Each audience is not too long, so it’s easy enough to read one a day.

The Catechism is also a great place to go to. CCC 683-747 talks about the Holy Spirit.

St. Basil, one of the great Doctors of the Church, wrote a great book On the Holy Spirit way back in the 4th century.
 
I’ve actually read all of those addresses by JP2 on the Holy Spirit. They are sold in book form by Pauline Books and Media, and I found copies of his addresses on The Father (Book 1), the Son (Book 2), the Holy Spirit (Book 3), and the Trinity (Book 6). I think Books 4 and 5 are on the Church, and the Mother of God, Theotokos, respectively. I don’t have those ones though. I have yet to read the book on the Trinity. I spend so much time praying, I don’t seem to have the energy to read anymore!!! But I will try to read that treatise by St. Basil sometime. Thanks for the link
Joe_5859 said:
Pope John Paul II gave a series of 82 General Audiences on the Holy Spirit as part of his larger Catechesis on the Creed. The audiences were given between 1989-1991. I pulled together links to all the audiences on my website:

catechesisofthepopes.wordpress.com/major-themes/the-spirit/audiences/

If you want to delve deeper into who the Holy Spirit is, this would be a great place to start. Each audience is not too long, so it’s easy enough to read one a day.

The Catechism is also a great place to go to. CCC 683-747 talks about the Holy Spirit.

St. Basil, one of the great Doctors of the Church, wrote a great book On the Holy Spirit way back in the 4th century.
Click to expand...
 
joshrp said:
I’ve actually read all of those addresses by JP2 on the Holy Spirit. They are sold in book form by Pauline Books and Media, and I found copies of his addresses on The Father (Book 1), the Son (Book 2), the Holy Spirit (Book 3), and the Trinity (Book 6). I think Books 4 and 5 are on the Church, and the Mother of God, Theotokos, respectively. I don’t have those ones though. I have yet to read the book on the Trinity. I spend so much time praying, I don’t seem to have the energy to read anymore!!! But I will try to read that treatise by St. Basil sometime. Thanks for the link
Click to expand...
Cool. Yes, that series is sadly out of print and most of the copies online are listed at scalper-level prices. All the audiences are online, though. That series is what prompted me to create my catechesisofthepopes website. I got tired of sifting through the Vatican website, so I organized the links in a way that I like better. 🙂
 
Scoobyshme said:
The Holy Spirit, of course, is the third Person of the Blessed Trinity. God.

But how do we personify the Holy Spirit? The Hebrews had a word for the Holy Spirit (can’t spell it) that meant “Breath of God.” The Holy Spirit gives life to us through grace. No breath, no life. No Breath of God, no spiritual life of grace. Actual grace, remember, does two things for us: 1) enlightens our minds to see God’s truths more clearly and 2) strengthens our wills to follow God’s will more closely. The Holy Spirit helps us in this.
Click to expand...
Beautiful explanation :gopray: :signofcross:
 
If the Father is the sun, the rays of light that come from the sun and descend down to earth is the Son. The Holy Spirit is the warmth of the suns light felt on the face.

In order to love another fully one must know the other fully. God knowing God is the Son…The Holy Spirit is God loving God and is Love that gives life.
 
joshrp said:
Hi,

I just wanted to start a thread discussing what the Holy Spirit is. I’ve read quite a lot of writings about the Trinity, and the simplest explanation I get in many ways is that the Father is the Lover, the Son is the Beloved, and the Holy Spirit is the mutual Love between them. I like Frank Sheed’s explanation in Theology and Sanity, but I am not yet satisfied that I really have any inkling about who or what the Holy Spirit is. I have decided to pray the Novena to the Holy Spirit for the Seven Gifts. I just made a file to put on my Kindle so that it is all convenient and right there. If anyone else would like to unite their prayers to mine in this novena asking the Holy Spirit to reveal who and what He is and His nature to us,as we dicuss it on this thread, I humbly welcome you to “digitally” join me in praying this novena Lol. I know that many of you are very knowledgeable in theology and I can’t wait to see what resources you provide.

God bless you all at CAF,
Joshua
Click to expand...
God!
 
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