114 Vol. LVI, No 5 Magnificat maintains our physical life. Its impetuosity demonstrates the power of grace to change and enliven human hearts. If it filled the whole house, it is because the Holy Spirit offers His gifts to people of every country, transforms us into new beings and penetrates all our faculties. This first miracle was followed by another. There came down from heaven tongues of fire, which parted and rested on the head of each member of the happy assembly. It was the Holy Spirit Himself, who is pleased to take exterior forms emblematic of the amazing effects that He produces interiorly in souls. I behold Him at the baptism of the Saviour, appearing in the form of a dove, in order to denote the innocence and zeal that are the fruits of the Sacrament of Regeneration. Today His presence is manifested in the form of tongues of fire, an eloquent figure of the unity of belief and love which would make of all humanity one family of brothers. Fire gives light, tends upward, transforms into itself whatever it seizes; similar effects are produced by the Holy Spirit in our soul. That fire appears under the form of tongues rather than in the form of hearts, to make it clear that the Gifts of the Holy Ghost are poured out upon the Apostles not only so that they may love God, but also that they may make others love Him, communicating the fire of their charity to them by their word. This form also announces the gift of tongues, which will enable the Apostles to communicate with the various nations, in order to preach the doctrine of the Divine Master to them.4 Here we behold the Saviour repairing the last effects of sin. The descendants of Noah, having resolved on building the Tower of Babel, were scattered by means of a confusion in their speech. This confusion of tongues, a punishment for pride, brought about a confusion of ideas and a forgetfulness of holy traditions. It also led to hatreds and endless divisions among peoples. The gift of tongues at the proclamation of the Gospel is a happy presage of the future reunion of all nations in unity of belief and love, to form henceforward one great family proclaiming the glory of the Lord from the rising to the setting of the sun.5 Effects of the Holy Spirit The descent of the Holy Spirit immediately wrought a twofold miracle in the Apostles: an interior miracle and an exterior miracle. An interior miracle: All their faculties were enriched with the gifts of God. Enlightened by a divine light, their understanding penetrated without difficulty into the meaning of the ancient prophecies and the sacred books, as well as into the mysteries of faith and all the other revealed truths. The magnificent system of Christianity, with its purpose, its end and its means, the astounding gentleness of their Master and His excessive love for humanity, the depth of the counsels of God and His boundless power in the various dispensations of His grace: 4. It is believed that it was on Pentecost Day, immediately after the miracle of the descent of the Holy Spirit which, by giving birth to the Church, abolished the Synagogue, that Saint Peter celebrated the first Mass in order to solemnly inaugurate Christianity. 5. Psalm 112:3. Suddenly the heavens were opened up and the Holy Spirit descended visibly, in the form of a dove, and came to rest upon Jesus.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTM4MjU1NQ==