Novena to the Holy Spirit – Day 7 – Faithfulness

Catholic Prayer Library, On 25th May 2023 by Fr Philip G Bochanski, CO

Antiphon

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit, and they will be created.
– And you will renew the face of the earth.

Prayer

Holy Father, your love for us is everlasting and always true. By the gift of your Holy Spirit keep us faithful to you, that in imitation of St Philip we may serve you with integrity. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Reading | Revelation 2:10b, 25-26

Remain faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life… You must hold fast to what you have until I come. To the victor, who keeps my ways until the end, I will give authority over the nations.

Responsory | cf. Rm 5:5; 8:11

The love of God has been poured into our hearts (alleluia).
– By his Spirit living in us (alleluia).

Meditation

St Thomas tells us that the spiritual fruit of fidelity, or faithfulness, has two aspects. On the one hand, fidelity toward our neighbour keeps us from offending him through fraud or deceit. Faithfulness toward God is closely connected with the supernatural virtue of faith, and leads us to subject our intellect, and all that we have, to God. St Philip bore the spiritual fruit of faithfulness equally toward God and his neighbour, providing an example and instruction for his disciples to do the same.

We have seen how gentle and kind St Philip always was toward those around him. He also demanded absolute honesty and integrity in his relationships. “He could not bear two-faced persons,” Cardinal Newman tells us, and “as for liars, he could not endure them, and was continually reminding his spiritual children to avoid them as they would a pestilence.” Lying to avoid embarrassment was even worse; he insisted that his followers accept the crosses that came to them daily, since “he who runs away from the Cross the Lord sends him” through daily humiliations “will meet a bigger one on the road.” The faithfulness that St Philip practised and demanded of others was not relaxed in the face of adversity or hardship. On the contrary, he insisted, “poverty and tribulations are given us by God as trials of our fidelity.”

St Philip recognised how difficult it is to maintain this fidelity, especially toward God, in the face of trials. “Everyone is willing to stand on Mount Tabor and see Christ transfigured, but few are willing to go up to Jerusalem and accompany Christ to Mount Calvary.” Therefore he counseled his followers that the best way to be faithful was to start slowly and focus on perseverance, rather than try to take on too much at the beginning, and burn out quickly. “We must not be too ready to trust young men who have great devotion,” he said, speaking from experience. “We must wait till their wings are grown and then see what sort of a flight they make.” When someone came to him full of fire and enthusiasm, he did not crush their good intentions, but he urged them to proceed with moderation. “It is well to choose some one good devotion and stick to it,” he advised. “We must not wish to do everything at once, or become a saint in four days, but gradually, little by little.”

Litany (optional)

Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us.

God the Father of Heaven, Have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
God the Holy Spirit,
Holy Trinity, One God,
Holy Spirit, proceeding from the Father and the Son,
Holy Spirit, co-equal with the Father and the Son,
Promise of the Father, most bounteous,
Ray of Heavenly Light,
Author of all good,
Source of living Water,
Consuming Fire,
Burning Love,
Spiritual Unction,
Spirit of truth and power,
Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
Spirit of counsel and fortitude,
Spirit of knowledge and piety,
Spirit of fear of the Lord,
Spirit of compunction,
Spirit of grace and prayer,
Spirit of love, peace and joy,
Spirit of patience,
Spirit of longanimity and goodness,
Spirit of benignity and mildness,
Spirit of fidelity,
Spirit of modesty and continence,
Spirit of chastity,
Spirit of adoption of sons of God,
Holy Spirit, our Comforter,
Holy Spirit, our Sanctifier,
You Who in the beginning moved upon the waters,
You through Whom spoke holy men of God,
You Who overshadowed the Virgin Mary,
You by Whom Mary conceived Christ,
You Who descend upon men at Baptism,
You Who, on the Day of Pentecost appeared through fiery tongues,
You by Whom we are reborn,
You Who dwell in us as in a Temple,
You Who govern and animate the Church,
You Who fill the whole world,

That You will renew the face of the earth, We beseech You, hear us.
That You may shed Your Light upon us,
That You may pour Your Love into our hearts,
That You may inspire us to love our neighbour,
That You may teach us to ask for the graces we need,
That You may enlighten us with your heavenly inspirations,
That You may guide us in the way of holiness,
That You may make us obedient to Your commandments,
That You may teach us how to pray,
That You may always pray with us,
That You may inspire us with horror for sin,
That You may direct us in the practice of virtue,
That You may make us persevere in a holy life,
That You may make us faithful to our vocation,
That You may grant us good priests and bishops,
That You may give us good Christian families,
That You may grant us a spiritual renewal of the Church,
That You may guide and console the Holy Father,

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world: Spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world: Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world: Have mercy on us.
Holy Spirit, hear us. Holy Spirit, Graciously hear us.

Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

Create a clean heart in us, O Lord. Renew a right spirit in us, O Lord.

Let us pray:
O God, who enlightens the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant to us the same Spirit, that we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in his consolation. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Our Father – Hail Mary – Glory Be

Concluding Prayer

Heavenly Father, hear the prayers that we make in the name of your Son, and give us the Paraclete whom he promised you would send. Keep us faithful to you, that filled with your grace we may serve and worship you in Spirit and in truth. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Read more about St Philip Neri and the Holy Spirit