Catechesis XVII
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On the Holy Spirit (2) "To one through the Spirit is given the utterance of wisdom."l (1) In the preceding lecture, dearly beloved, we set forth for your attention as best we could some small portion of the testimonies regarding the Holy Spirit; in the present, God willing, we shall touch upon, as far as possible, those which remain from the New Testament. We observed due measure in our last discourse, and checked our eagerness (for there is no satiety in speaking of the Holy Spirit); now too we shall use but a small fraction of the available material; we frankly confess that our weakness is overwhelmed by the mass of what is written; and we shall not employ human reasoning today, for this is unprofitable, but we shall simply present the evidence from the sacred Scriptures. That is the safest course according to the blessed Apostle Paul, who says: "Those things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in the learning of the Spirit, combining spiritual with spiritual."2 We shall act like travelers and voyagers who have a single goal in a long journey, and hasten on eagerly, yet because of human weakness are wont to stop at various harbors and cities.
(2) Though the discourses on the Holy Spirit are divided, He Himself is undivided, being one and the same. In discoursing on the Father at one time we gave the doctrine on 1 1 Cor. 12.8.
2 1 Cor. 2.13.
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His royal sovereignty, and at another how He is Father, or Almighty, and then how He is Creator of all things; yet the division of lectures implied no division of faith, since the object of devotion was and is One; in discoursing on the Only-begotten Son of God also, at one time we taught the doctrine of His Godhead, and at another His Manhood, and though we divided our teaching on our Lord Jesus Christ into many discourses, we preached undivided faith in Him; so too now, though the lectures on the Holy Spirit are divided, we preach undivided faith in Him. For it is One and the Same
Spirit, who, "dividing" his gifts "to everyone according as he will,"3 yet remains Himself undivided. For the Advocate is not different from the Holy Spirit, but one and the same, though called by different names; living, subsisting, speaking and working; and the Sanctifier of all rational beings made by God through Christ, angels as well as men.
(3) To prevent some in ignorance from thinking, because of the different titles of the Holy Spirit, that these are different spirits and not one and the same (and One only)" the Catholic
Church has provided for your safety in the traditional confession of the faith, which commands us to "believe in one
Holy Spirit, the Advocate, who spoke by the prophets"; thus you know that though His titles are many, the Holy
Spirit is One. We shall now mention a few of these many titles.
(4) He is called Spirit according to the text just read: "To one through the Spirit is given the utterance of wisdom";4
He is called the Spirit of truth, in our Savior's words: "But when he, the Spirit of truth, has come";5 He is also called
Advocate by the Lord: "For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you";6 that He is one and the same, though with different titles, is clear from what follows. That the Holy
3 I Cor. 12.11.
4 Ibid. 8.
5 John 16.13.
6 Ibid. 7.
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Spirit and the Advocate are the same is manifest from the words: "But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit";7 the identity of the Advocate and the Spirit of truth, from the words: "and 1 will give you another Advocate to dwell with you forever, the Spirit of truth";8 and again: "But when the Advocate has come, whom 1 will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth."9 He is called the Spirit of God, in the words: "1 saw the Spirit of God descending";l0 and again: "For whoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God."ll
He is also called the Spirit of the Father, as the Savior says:
"For it is not you who are speaking, but the Spirit of the Father who speaks through you";12 and Paul: "For this reason
1 bend my knees to the Father," and subsequently: "that he may grant you to be strengthened through his Spirit."13 He is called the Spirit of the Lord, as Peter said: "Why have you agreed to tempt the Spirit of the Lord?"14 He is called the Spirit of God and Christ, as Paul writes: "You, however, are not carnal but spiritual, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ."15 He is called also the Spirit of the Son of God, as it is said: "And because you are sons,
God has sent the Spirit of his Son."16 He is called also the Spirit of Christ, as it is written: "What time or circumstances the Spirit of Christ in them was signifying";17 and again:
"Thanks to your prayer and the assistance of the Spirit of Jesus Christ."18
7 John 14.26.
8 Ibid. 16, 17.
9 John 15.26.
10 John 1.32.
11 Rom. 8.14.
12 Matt. 10.20.
13 Eph.3.14-16.
14 Acts 5.9.
15 Rom. 8.9.
16 Gal. 4.6.
17 1 Peter 1.11.
18 Phil. 1.19.
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(5) You will find besides many other titles of the Holy Spirit. For He is called the Spirit of holiness, as it is written:
"According to the Spirit of holiness."19 He is called too the Spirit of adoption, as Paul says: "Now you have not received a spirit of bondage unto fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons, by virtue of which we cry: Abba!
Fatherl"2{1 He is called the Spirit of revelation, according to the words, that He "may grant you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in deep knowledge of him."21 He is called the Spirit of promise, as the same Paul says: "In him you too, when you believed, were sealed with the Holy Spirit of the promise."22 He is called the Spirit of grace, as when he says:
"And has insulted the Spirit of grace."23 He has many other such titles. You heard clearly in the preceding lecture that in the Psalms at one time He is called the good Spirit and at another the perfect Spirit;24 and that in Isaia He was called the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, and of counsel, and of fortitude, and of knowledge, and of godliness and of fear of God. From all these testimonies, mentioned before and now, it is evident that though the titles are different, the Holy Spirit is one and the same; He is living, subsisting, ever present with Father and Son; not spoken or breathed forth from the lips of Father or Son, nor diffused through the air, but really existing, Himself speaking, working, dispensing, sanctifying; as we said before, the dispensation of salvation to us, from Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is undivided, harmonious and one. I wish you to recall our recent discourse, and to realize that there is not one Spirit in the Law and Prophets and another in the Gospels and the Apostles; it is
19 Cf. Rom. 104.
20 Cf. Rom. 8.15.
21 Eph. 1.17.
22 Ibid. 13.
23 Reb. 10.29.
24 The reference is not found in the preceding catechesis, but the lapse is understandable when one considers the mass of Old Testament testimonies quoted.
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one and the same Holy Spirit, the author of the divine Scriptures in the Old and the New Testaments.
(6), This Holy Spirit came upon the holy virgin Mary.
Christ, the Only-begotten, was to be born; the power of the most High overshadowed her, and the Holy Spirit, coming upon her, sanctified her to receive Him "through whom all things were made."25 I need not speak at length to teach you that this generation was immaculate and undefiled, for you know this. Gabriel says to her: "I am the herald of what is to come to pass, but I have no share in it. Though I am an Archangel, I know my place. Though I announce joyful tidings to you, yet how you shall give birth rests on no grace of mine; The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee and the power of the most High shall overshadow thee; and therefore the Holy One to be born shall be called the Son of God.' "26
(7) This Holy Spirit wrought in Elizabeth. For He acknowledges not only virgins, but lawfully married women as well. "And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit,"27 and prophesied; the noble handmaid says of her Lord: "And how have I deserved that the mother of my Lord should come to me?"28 For Elizabeth deemed herself blessed. Zachary, the father of John, was filled with the same Holy Spirit and prophesied, telling how many blessings the Only-begotten would usher in, and that John would be His forerunner through Baptism. The just man Simeon received an answer from the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Christ of the Lord: in the temple he received
Him into his arms and bore manifest testimony concerning Him.
(8) John, filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb, was sanctified for the purpose of baptizing the Lord;
25 John 1.3.
26 Luke 1.35.
27 Ibid. 41.
28 Ibid. 43.
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he himself did not impart the Spirit, but preached the glad tidings of Him who does. He says: "I indeed baptize you with water, for repentance. But he who is coming after me,
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire."29
Why "fire"? Because the descent of the Holy Spirit was in fiery tongues. Concerning this the Lord says with joy: "I have come to cast fire upon the earth, and what will I but that it be kindled?"30
(9) The Holy Spirit descended when Christ was baptized to make sure that the dignity of Him who was baptized was not hidden, according to the words of John: "But he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, He upon whom thou wilt see the Spirit descending, and abiding upon him, he it is who baptizes with the Holy Spirit."31 Observe what the Gospel says: "the heavens were opened"-they were opened because of the dignity of Him who descended. "Behold," it says, "the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and coming upon him";32 this descent, clearly, was from voluntary motion of His own.aa
It was fitting, as some have explained it, that the firstfruits and the first gifts of the Holy Spirit, who is imparted to the baptized, should be conferred on the manhood of the Savior, who bestows such grace. Perhaps, as some say, it was to reveal an image that He came down in the likeness of a pure, innocent, simple dove, working with prayers for the sons He begot and for forgiveness of sins;34 just as in a veiled manner it was foretold that the beauty of Christ's eyes would be mani29 Matt. 3.11.
30 Luke 12.49.
31 John 1.33.
32 Matt. 3.16.
33 Cyril seems to be emphasizing here the living, subsisting, independent personality of the Holy Spirit (d. Cat. 16.14).
34 The sense is not entirely clear. The suggestion has been made that the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove. a pure and innocent bird. to show that He was a sort of mystical dove in His simplicity. and in His love of children. for whose generation and remission of sins at the time of Baptism He cooperates with the prayers of Christ.
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fested in this way. For in the Canticles she cries out and says of the bridegroom: "Your eyes are like doves beside running waters."·35 (10) Some have regarded the dove of Noe as prefiguring this dove.36 In Noe's time salvation and the beginning of a new generation came to men through wood and water; the dove returned at evening carrying a bough of an olive tree; so the Holy Spirit, they say, descended upon the true Noe, the author of the second birth, who unites the aspirations of all nations, of whom the animals in the ark were a figure. After His coming the spiritual wolves feed with lambs, and His
Church pastures calf, ox and lion together; just as we see to this day worldly rulers led and taught by churchmen. He descended then, according to some interpreters, as the spiritual dove at Christ's baptism, to show that He is the same who by the wood of the Cross saves them that believe, and who would in the evening, by His death, grant them salvation.
(II) Concerning these matters perhaps another explanation should be given; we should listen to the words of the Savior
Himself regarding the Holy Spirit. For He says: "Unless a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."37 Because this grace comes from the Father He says: "How much more will your heavenly Father give the good Spirit to those who ask him."38 Because we must worship God in spirit He says: "But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. For the Father also seeks such to worship him. God is spirit, and they who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth";39 and again: "But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God," and subsequently: "There35 Cf. Cant. 5.12.
36 It was a common view among the Fathers that the dove of Noe prefigured the descent of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove at Christ's baptism.
37 John 3.5.
38 Luke 11.13.
39 John 4.23, 24.
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fore I say to you, that every kind of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven to men; but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this world or in the world to come";40 again He says: "And I will ask the Father and he will give you another Advocate to dwell with you forever, the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him.
But you shall know him, because he will dwell with you, and be in yoU."41 Further: "These things I have spoken to you, while yet dwelling with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your mind whatever I have said to yoU."42
Also: "But when the Advocate has come, whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness concerning me."43 Again the Savior says: "For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go I will send him to you. And when he has come, he will convict the world of sin, and of justice, and of judgment":44 and subsequently: "Many things yet I have to say to you, but you cannot hear them now. But when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will teach you all the truth. For he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he will hear he will speak, and the things that are to come he wiIl declare to you. He will glorify me, because he will receive of what is mine, and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are mine. That is 'why I have said that he will receive of what is mine, and will declare it to yoU."45 I have read the very words of the Only-begotten, and so you need not pay attention to the words of men.
40 Matt. 12.28,31,32.
41 John 14.16,17.
42 Ibid. 25, 26.
43 John 15.26.
44 John 16.7,8.
45 Ibid. 12·15.
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(12)' He imparted the fellowship of this Holy Spirit to the Apostles; for it is written: "When he had said that, he breathed upon them, and said to them, Receive the Holy
Spirit; whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained."46 This was the second breathing (the first had been impaired by willful sins),47 to fulfill the Scripture: "He went up breathing upon your face, and delivering you from affiiction."48 He went up from where? From Limbo. For it was after His resurrection, according to the Gospel, that He breathed on them.
He gives the grace at this time, and He will lavish it more abundantly; He says to them: I am ready to give it to you even now, but the vessel cannot yet hold it. Accept for the time the grace of which you are capable, but look forward to yet more.
"But wait here in the city," of Jerusalem, "until you are clothed with power from on high."49 Receive it in part now; then you will be clad in its fullness. For he who receives often has the gift only in part; but he who is clothed is entirely covered by his garment. Fear not, He says, the weapons and darts of the devil, for you will possess the power of the Holy Spirit. But be mindful of our recent admonition, that the Holy Spirit is not divided, but only the grace He bestows.
(13) Jesus ascended into heaven and fulfilled the promise he had made to His disciples: "I will ask the Father and he will give you another Advocate."5o They were sitting, expecting the coming of the Holy Spirit. "And when the days of Pentecost were drawing to a close,"51 here in this city of Jerusalem (for this honor also is ours; we speak not of the blessings of others, but of those granted to us), when, there46 John 20.22, 23.
47 Cf. Gen. 2.7. The first breathing for Cyril was the creation of the soul of Adam by God's breathing upon the man formed from the slime of the earth.
48 Nah. 2.l (Sept.).
49 Luke 24.49.
50 John 14.16.
51 Acts 2.1.
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fore, it was Pentecost, they were sitting and the Advocate descended from heaven, the Guardian and Sanctifier of the Church, the Director of souls, the Pilot of the storm-tossed, the Enlightener of the wandering, to preside over the combat and crown the victors.
(14) He came down to clothe with power and to baptize the Apostles. For the Lord says: "You shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days hence."52 The grace was not partial, but His power in all its fullness. For just as one immersed in the waters in Baptism is completely encompassed by the water, so they too were completely baptized by the Spirit. The water encompasses the body externally, but the Holy Spirit baptizes the soul perfectly within. Why do you wonder? Take an example from matter, a poor and lowly one perhaps, but useful for the simpler folk. If fire, penetrating the mass of iron, sets the whole aflame, and what was cold becomes hot, and what was black becomes bright-if the body of fire penetrates the body of iron, why do you wonder, if the Holy Spirit enters into the inmost parts of the soul?
(15) To prevent the magnitude of the surpassing gift from being unknown, a sort of heavenly trumpet sounded. For "suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a violent wind coming";53 signifying the advent of Him who grants the grace to men to bear away with violence the kingdom of heaven, to see with their eyes the fiery tongues, to hear with their ears the sound. "And it filled the whole house where they were sitting."54 The house became the receptacle of the spiritual water. The disciples were within and the whole house was filled. Therefore they were completely baptized, according to the promise. They were clothed in body and soul with a divine and saving vesture. "And there appeared to them parted tongues as of fire, which settled upon each of them.
52 Acts 1.5.
53 Acts 2.2.
54 Ibid.
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And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit."55 They partook not of burning but of saving fire, which consumes the thorns of sins but renders the soul radiant. This fire will come to you too, to strip away and destroy your thorn-like sins, and to make the precious possession of your souls shine yet more brightly; and He will give you grace, for He gave it then to the Apostles. He sat upon them in the form of fiery tongues, to crown them with new and spiritual diadems (by the fiery tongues on their heads). A flaming sword of old barred the gates of Paradise; a fiery tongue, bringing salvation, restored the grace.
(16) "And they began to speak in foreign tongues, even as the Holy Spirit prompted them to speak."56 The Galilean
Peter and Andrew spoke Persian or Median. John and the other Apostles spoke all the tongues of various nations, for the thronging of multitudes of strangers from all parts is not something new in Jerusalem, but this was true in Apostolic times.57 What teacher can be found so proficient as to teach men in a moment what they have not learned? So many years are required through grammar and other arts merely to speak
Greek well; and all do not speak it equally well. The rhetorician may succeed in speaking it well, the grammarian sometimes less well; and he who is skilled in grammar is ignorant of philosophical studies. But the Holy Spirit taught them at once many languages, which they do not know in a whole lifetime. This is truly lofty wisdom, this is divine power. What a contrast between their long ignorance in the past and this sudden, comprehensive, varied and unaccustomed use of languages.
(17) The multitude of those listening was confounded; it was a second confusion, in contrast to the first evil confusion at Babylon. In that former confusion of tongues there was a 55 Ibid. 3, 4.
56 Ibid. 4.
57 Before the coming of Christ the Jews flocked to Jerusalem from all Palestine and from other parts of the world; after the coming of Christ Jerusalem became a place of pilgrimage for all Christians.
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division of purpose, for the intention was impious; here there was a restoration and union of minds, since the object of their zeal was pious. Through what occasioned the fall came the recovery. They wondered, saying: "How do we hear them speaking [our own tongue] ?"58 There is nothing to wonder at, if you are ignorant. For even Nicodemus was ignorant of the coming of the Spirit, and it was said to him: "The Spirit breatheth where he will; and thou hearest his voice, but thou knowest not whence he cometh, and whither he goeth."59 If when I hear His voice I know not whence He comes, how can I explain what He is in essence?
(18), "But others said in mockery, They are full of new wine."6Q They spoke the truth indeed but in mockery. For in truth the wine was new, the grace of the New Testament.
But this new wine was from a spiritual vine, which already had often borne fruit in the Prophets, and sprouted forth in the New Testament. For just as in the order of nature the vine, remaining ever the same, brings forth new fruit according to the seasons, so too the same Spirit, remaining what He is, having wrought in the Prophets, now manifested something new and marvelous. His grace had indeed been granted to the fathers afore time, but now it came in superabundance; in their case they received a share of the Holy Spirit, now they were baptized in all fullness.
(19) But Peter, who possessed the Holy Spirit, and knew it, says: "Men of Israel, who preach Joel, but do not know the Scriptures, these men are not drunk, as you suppose.61 For they are drunk, not as you suppose, but as it is written: 'They have their fill of the prime gifts of your house; from your delightful stream you give them to drink.'62 They are drunk with a sober drunkenness, deadly to sin, and vivifying to the 58 Cf. Acts 2.8.
59 John 3.8 (Douay).
60 Acts 2.13.
61 Ibid. 15.
62 Ps.35.9.
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heart, a drunkenness quite contrary to that of the body. The latter induces forgetfulness of the known, but this imparts knowledge even of the unknown. They are drunk from drinking the wine of the spiritual vine, which says: 'I am the vine, you are the branches.' "63 If you do not believe me, then understand what has been said from the time of day, for "it is the third hour of the day."64 For He who, according to Mark, was crucified at the third hour, has now at the third hour sent His grace. For His grace is not one and the Spirit's another, but He who was then crucified and had promised, fulfilled what He had promised. But if you wish also to receive testimony, listen, he says: "But this is what was spoken through the Prophet Joel: 'And it shall come to pass in the last days, says the Lord, that I will pour forth of my Spirit.' "65 By "pour forth," He signified a copious largess: "For not by measure does God give the Spirit. The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his hand."66 He has given Him the power of bestowing the grace of the All-holy Spirit on whom He will.
"I will pour forth of my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy"; and subsequently: "And moreover upon my servants and upon my handmaids in those days I will pour forth of my Spirit, and they shall prophesy."67
The Holy Spirit is no respecter of persons; He seeks not dignities, but devotion of soul. Let neither the rich be puffed up nor the poor be downcast; only let each man prepare himself to receive the heavenly gift.
(20) We have discoursed at length today and perhaps your ears are weary, but more still remains and in truth a third lecture and more would be necessary for the doctrines concerning the Holy Spirit. But we crave your indulgence on both counts. For as the holy feast of Easter is close at hand, we have extended our discourse to you today, and we have
63 John 15.5.
64 Acts 2.15.
65 Ibid. 16, 17.
66 John 3.34, 35.
67 Acts 2.18.
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not been able to present all the testimonies we should from the New Testament. For there remain many from the Acts of the Apostles, in which the grace of the Holy Spirit wrought in Peter and in all the Apostles together. There remain many also from the Catholic Epistles and from the fourteen
Epistles of Paul. From these we shall attempt to cull a few, like flowers from a broad meadow, merely to call them to your minds.
(21)' In the power of the Holy Spirit, by the will of Father and Son, "Peter standing up with the eleven and lifting up his voice"68 (according to the text: "Cry out at the top of your voice, Jerusalem, herald of good news"),69 captured in the spiritual net of his words about three thousand souls. So strong was the grace working in all the Apostles that of the Jews who had crucified Christ this huge number believed and was baptized in the name of Christ, and remained steadfast in the teachings of the Apostles and in prayer. Again, in the same power of the Holy Spirit Peter and John, as they went into the temple at the ninth hour of prayer, healed at the Gate Beautiful in the name of Jesus a man lame from his mother's womb forty years; thus were fulfilled the words of Scripture: "Then will the lame leap like a stag."70 They took in the spiritual net of their doctrine five thousand believers at once. They confounded the misguided rulers of the people and the chief priests, not by their own wisdom, for they were unlearned and ignorant men, but by the efficacy of the Spirit; for it is written: "Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them ... "71 So lavish was the grace of the Holy Spirit which the twelve Apostles wrought in all believers; thus they came to have but one heart and one soul; and the enjoyment of their goods was common to all, as the possessors piously offered the prices of their possessions, and there was
68 Cf. ibid. 14.
69 Isa. 40.9.
70 Isa. 35.6. For the Gate Beautiful healing, Acts 3.1-8.
71 Acts 4.8.
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no one needy among them; but Ananias and Sapphira, who attempted to lie to the Holy Spirit, suffered their fitting punishment.
(22) "Now by the hands of the Apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people";72 the spiritual grace that enveloped the Apostles was extraordinary; though they were meek, they were an object of dread ("for of the rest no man dared join himself to them; but the people magnified them" 73),. And "the multitude of men and women who believed in the Lord increased still more";74 and the streets were filled with the sick, "on beds and pallets so that, when
Peter passed, his shadow at least might fall on some of them."75
"And there came also" to this holy Jerusalem "multitudes from the towns near Jerusalem bringing the sick, and those troubled with unclean spirits, and they were all cured."76
(23) Strengthened by the Holy Spirit, the twelve Apostles, cast into prison by the chief priests for preaching Christ, and unexpectedly delivered by an angel at night, when brought from the temple to the tribunal, boldly reproached the priests in speaking of Christ. They said among other things that "God has given the Holy Spirit to all who obey him."77 And after they had been scourged, they went forth rejoicing and they ceased not to teach and preach Christ.78
(24) The grace of the Holy Spirit wrought not only in the twelve Apostles, but also in the first-born of this once barren
Church, I mean the seven deacons.79 They were chosen "full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom,"80 as Scripture says; of 72 Acts 5.12.
73 Ibid. 13.
74 Ibid. 14.
75 Ibid. 15.
76 Ibid. 16.
77 Cf. ibid. 32.
78 Cf. ibid. 42.
79 Cyril's words seem to refer to the fact that the seven deacons were not chosen by Christ, but by the Apostles after the Ascension. Their names seem to indicate that they were converts from Hellenism.
80 Cf. Acts 6.3.
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III these he who was well named Stephen, the first fruit of the martyrs, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, "was working great wonders and signs among the people,"81 and overcame those who disputed with him. For "they were not able to withstand the wisdom and the Spirit who spoke";82 when falsely accused and brought to the tribunal he shone with angelic radiance; for "all that sat in the Sanhedrin, gazing upon him, saw his face as though it were the face of an angel."83 When by his wise defense he had confounded the Jews, "stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ear, who always oppose the Holy Spirit,"84 he saw "the heavens opened," and beheld "the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God";85 he saw Him, not by his own power, but as sacred
Scripture says: "But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God."86
(25) By this power of the Holy Spirit Philip also, in the city of Samaria, cast out in Christ's name the "unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice";8i he healed the palsied and the lame, and brought to Christ huge multitudes of believers; when
Peter and John came down to Samaria, by prayer and the imposition of hands, they imparted the fellowship of the Holy
Spirit, from which Simon Magus alone was justly declared an alien. On another occasion Philip was called by an angel of the Lord along the way, for the sake of that devout Ethiopian eunuch, and heard clearly from the Holy Spirit the words:
"Go near, and keep close to this carriage."88 He instructed the Ethiopian and baptized him and sent him into Ethiopia as a herald of Christ, to fulfill the Scripture: "Let Ethiopia
81 Ibid. 8.
82 Ibid. 10.
83 Ibid. 15.
84 Acts 7.51.
85 Ibid. 55.
86 Ibid.
87 Acts 8.7.
88 Ibid. 29.
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extend its hands to the Lord";89 then, carried away by an angel, Philip preached the gospel to the cities one by one.
(26) After being called by our Lord Jesus Christ, Paul also was filled with the Holy Spirit. We have a witness of this in the person of the pious Ananias, who said to Paul in Damascus: "The Lord has sent me-Jesus, who appeared to thee on thy journey-that thou mayest receive thy sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."90 The Holy Spirit wrought immediately, and not only changed Paul's blindness to sight, but also imparted the seal to his soul, making him a vessel of election, to carry the name of the Lord who had appeared to him before kings and the children of Israel; and He fashioned His former persecutor into a herald and a good servant, who "from Jerusalem round about as far as Illyricum completed the gospel of Christ";91 he instructed imperial
Rome and extended the zeal of his preaching even to Spain, sustaining countless conflicts and performing signs and wonders. Of Paul enough for the present.
(27) By the power of the same Holy Spirit Peter also, the chief of the Apostles, and the keeper of the keys of the kingdom of heaven, healed in the name of Christ the paralytic
Eneas in Lydda, which is now Diospolis; and in Joppe he raised from the dead the charitable Tabitha. Being in the upper part of the house, in an ecstasy of mind he saw the heavens opened and a vessel let down, like a linen sheet, full of beasts of many forms and kinds, and learned the clear lesson to call no man common or unclean, even though he be
Greek. When sent for by Cornelius, he heard from the Holy Spirit the clear words: "Behold three men are looking for thee.
Arise, therefore, go down and depart with them without any hesitation, for I have sent them."92 To make it manifest that even Gentile believers become partakers of the Holy Spirit89 Cf. Ps. 67.32.
90 Acts 9.17.
91 Rom. 15.19.
92 Acts 10.19, 20.
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when Peter had come to Caesarea and was teaching the doctrines of Christ-the Scripture says of Cornelius and those with him: "While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came upon all who were listening to his message," and so even "the faithful of the circumcision who had come with Peter were amazed," and when they understood, they said: "On the Gentiles also the grace of the Holy Spirit had been poured forth."D3 (28), Even as far as Antioch, that famous city of Syria, when the teaching of Christ was taking effect, Barnabas was sent to help in the good work, "a good man and full of the Holy
Spirit and of faith."D4 Contemplating a rich harvest for the Christian faith he brought Paul from Tarsus to Antioch as his coadjutor. They instructed and brought together multi· tudes in the Church, "and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians."D5 The Holy Spirit, I believe, put upon the believers the new name announced beforehand by the Lord. When the grace of the Spirit was poured out by God rather abundantly at Antioch, there arose prophets and teachers, among them Agabus. "And as they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, 'Set apart for me Saul and Barnabas unto the work to which I have called them: "96 After the laying on of hands they were sent forth by the Holy Spirit. It is clear, as we have said, that the Spirit which speaks and sends is living, subsisting and working.
(29) This Holy Spirit, who in union with Father and Son established the New Testament in the Catholic Church, freed us from the grievous burdens of the Law; I mean those con· cerning things common and unclean, and meats, Sabbaths, new moons, circumcision, sprinklings and sacrifices. These regulations had been given for a time and had "a shadow of the good things to come";97 but with the coming of truth they
93 Ibid. 44, 45.
94 Acts 11.24.
95 Ibid. 26.
96 Acts 13.2.
97 Heb. 10.1.
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were justly withdrawn. Paul and Barnabas were sent here because of the question raised at Antioch by those who maintained that the faithful must be circumcised and observe the customs of Moses; the Apostles who were here in Jerusalem by a public letter freed the whole world from all legal and typical practices. They did not attribute the authority in such an important matter to themselves, but they sent out a decree to this effect: "For the Holy Spirit and we have decided to lay no further burden upon you but this indispensable one, that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from immorality."98
They indicated clearly by what they wrote that though the decree had been written by men who were Apostles, it was from the Holy Spirit, and universal; Barnabas and Paul took this decree and confirmed it to the whole world.
(30) At this point I must crave indulgence from your love, or rather from the Spirit who dwelt in Paul, if I cannot complete my account, owing to my own weakness as well as the weariness of you, my hearers. For when shall I set forth worthily his marvelous deeds wrought in the name of Christ by the operation of the Holy Spirit? those wrought in Cyprus in the case of Elymas the magician, and at Lystra in the cure of the cripple? and in Cilicia and Phrygia, Galatia, Mysia and Macedonia, or his deeds at Philippi? I mean his preaching and the casting out of the pythonical spirit in the name of Christ; and the salvation of his jailer by baptism with all his house after the earthquake; or the events at Thessalonica, and his speech on the Areopagus in the midst of the Athenians; or his teachings at Corinth and in the whole of Achaea?
How shall I describe adequately the deeds wrought by the Holy Spirit through Paul at Ephesus? where men who knew
Him not came to know Him by the teaching of Paul? After Paul laid hands on them, "the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they began to speak in tongues and prophesy."99 So strong
98 Acts 15.28, 29.
99 Acts 19.6.
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was the grace of the Spirit in Paul that not only was health restored by his touch, but even handkerchiefs and aprons brought from his person cured diseases and drove out the evil spirits; and those "who had practiced magical arts collected their books and burnt them publidy."loo
(31), I pass over the miracle wrought at Troas in the case of Eutychus, who "went fast asleep and fell down from the third story to the ground and was picked up dead";101 he was revived by Paul. I pass over the prophecy to the presbyters of Ephesus summoned to Miletus, in which he declared:
"Except that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me, saying that ... "102 and what follows. By the words "in every city,"
Paul signified that the marvels performed in each city proceeded from the operation of the Holy Spirit, by the will of God and in the name of Christ, who spoke in him. By the power of the Holy Spirit Paul hastened to this holy city
Jerusalem, though Agabus, inspired by the Spirit, prophesied what was to befall him; and he preached the doctrine of Christ with confidence among the people. When he had been brought to Caesarea, amid the judges' benches, at one time before Felix, at another before the governor Festus and before King Agrippa, the grace of the Holy Spirit in Paul was so powerful and of such surpassing wisdom as to cause Agrippa himself, the king of the Jews, to say: "In a short while thou wouldst persuade me to become a Christian."lQ3 On the island of Malta by the gift of the Holy Spirit, Paul when bitten by a viper suffered no harm, and he effected many cures of the diseased. The Holy Spirit guided him, the former persecutor, even to imperial Rome to be a herald of Christ. Paul persuaded many of the Jews dwelling there to believe in Christ, while to those who spoke against him he declared: "Well did
100 Ibid. 19.
101 Acts 20.9.
102 Ibid. 23.
103 Acts 26.28.
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the Holy Spirit speak through Isaia the prophet to our fathers, saying ... "104 and what follows.
(32) To realize that Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit, and like him all the Apostles, and all who after them believe in Father, Son and Holy Spirit, hearken to the clear words of Paul himself: "And my speech and my preaching were not in the persuasive words of wisdom, but in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power";105 and again: "God who also stamped us with his seal and gave us the Spirit as a pledge";106 and: "He who raised Jesus Christ from the dead will also bring to life your mortal bodies because of the Spirit who dwells in you";Hl7 and again, writing to Timothy: "Guard the good trust through the Holy Spirit,"108 who has been given to us.
(33) That the Holy Spirit subsists, lives, speaks and foretells I have told you repeatedly on former occasions; Paul writes clearly to Timothy: "Now the Spirit expressly says that in after times some will depart from the faith."109 This we see in the divisions of former times and in our own day; so diverse and multiform are the errors of the heretics. Paul likewise says: "Which in other ages was not known to the sons of men, as now it has been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit";l1Q and again: "Therefore, as the Holy
Spirit says";1l1 and: "Thus also the Holy Spirit testifies unto US":112 and again he cries to the soldiers of Justice: "And take unto you the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, that is, the word of God, with all prayer and supplication";113 and: "And do not be drunk with wine, for in that is de104 Acts 28.25. 26.
105 1 Cor. 2.4.
106 2 Cor. 2.4.
107 Rom. 8.11.
108 2 Tim. 1.14.
109 1 Tim. 4.1.
110 Eph. 3.5.
111 Heb.3.7.
112 Heb. 10.15.
113 Eph. 6.17. 18.
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bauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs";114 and finally:
"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the charity of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you a11."115
(34) From all these testimonies and from many more unmentioned, the personal, sanctifying and efficacious power of the Holy Spirit is commended to those who understand. Time would fail me if I wished to adduce the testimonies that remain concerning the Holy Spirit from the fourteen Epistles of Paul, wherein he has taught with such variety, fullness and piety. But let it rest with the power of the Holy Spirit to pardon us for our omissions (because the days are few) and to infuse in you more perfectly the knowledge of what still remains; the diligent among you may gain this knowledge from a more frequent reading of the Holy Scriptures; in fact from our present lectures and our former discourses you may have conceived a firmer faith "in One God, the Father
Almighty, and in our Lord Jesus Christ, His Only-begotten Son, and in the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete." The word itself and the title of "Spirit" are applied to Them in common in the Holy Scriptures, for it is said of the Father: "God is spirit,"116 as it is written in the Gospel according to John; and of the Son: "A spirit before our face, Christ the Lord,"117 as Jeremia the Prophet says; and of the Holy Spirit: "But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit,"118 as it has been said; yet the order of the Creed, if devoutly understood, excludes the error of Sabellius.n9 Let us return in our discourse to what is of great moment, and profitable to you. ll4 Eph. 5.1S, 19.
115 2 Cor. 13.13.
116 John 4.24. ll7 Cf. Lam. 4.20. llS John 14.26. ll9 In the Creed we have the Father, Son and Holy Spirit with the distinct characteristics of each Person clearly indicated to exclude any confusion of Persons.
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(35) See that you never, like Simon, approach the ministers of baptism in pretence, while your heart does not seek the truth. It is our task to warn, yours to be on your guard. If you have remained firm in faith, you are blessed; if you have fallen in unbelief, castaway your unbelief from this day on, and be fully confident. For at the time of baptism, when you advance to the bishops, or priests, or deacons-for the grace is everywhere, in towns and in cities, and for the lowly and the noble, for slaves and for free; for this grace is not of men, but the gift of' God through men-advance then to the minister of baptism, but as you approach do not consider the face of the man you see, but be mindful of the Holy Spirit of whom we now speak. For He is present, ready to seal your soul; and He shall give you that heavenly and divine seal at which demons tremble, as it is written: "And in him you too, when you believed, were sealed with the Holy Spirit of the promise."120
(36) He tests the soul; He does not cast pearls before swine.
If you pretend, men will indeed baptize you, but the Spirit will not baptize you; but if you approach with faith, men will minister to you visibly, but the Holy Spirit will bestow on you what is not visible. For you are coming to an important trial, to an important levy in the space of a single hour; if you lose this hour, the ill is irremediable.121 But if you are counted worthy of the grace, your soul will be enlightened, and you will receive a power you did not possess before. You will receive arms that cause terror to evil spirits; and if you do not cast your arms away, but keep the seal upon your soul, the evil spirit will not approach; he will cower away in fear; for by the Spirit of God devils are cast out.l22
(37) If you believe, you will not only receive the remission 120 Eph. 1.13.
121 Baptism is not repeated, and though the sins may later be remitted by penance, stains remain on the soul. Baptism devoutly received leaves the soul without spot or stain.
122 Cf. Matt. 12.28.
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of your sins but you will accomplish deeds beyond the power of man. God grant that you may be worthy of the gift of prophecy! For you will receive a measure of grace according to your capacity, not according to what I say. For I may speak of humble blessings while you receive far richer; since faith is a broad enterprise. Your guardian will abide with you always.
He will be concerned for you as His own soldier, for your comings and your goings, and for those plotting against you.
He will grant you gifts of grace of every kind, if you do not grieve Him by sin. For it is written: "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption."123 How then, dearly beloved, preserve the grace? Be prepared to receive the grace, and once you have received it, do not cast it away.
(38) May the Very God of all things, who spoke by the Holy Spirit, through the prophets, and sent Him forth upon the Apostles here in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, send
Him forth now upon you also, and through Him guard us, imparting His bounty in common to all of us, so as to exhibit always the fruits of the Holy Spirit, charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, faith, mildness, chastity, in Christ Jesus our Lord, through whom, and with whom, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory to the Father, now and always and forever and ever. Amen.
123 Eph. 4.30.