The Divine Lamp

The Fact of God’s Special Presence in the Just. The Sending and the Bestowal of God the Holy Spirit; His Indwelling in the Soul.

“Over and above the ordinary and common manner in which God is present in all things (namely, y His essence, His power, and His presence, as the cause is present in the effects which are a participation in His goodness), there is another and a special presence which is appropriate to rational nature, a presence which is appropriate to rational nature, a presence by which God is said to be present as that which is known is present to the being who knows, and as that which is loved is present to the being who loves. And because a rational and a loving creature by its operation in knowing and loving creature by its operation in knowing and loving is place in contact with God Himself, for that reason it is said that God by this special manner of presence is not only in a rational creature, but also that He dwells in it as in His temple. No other effect than sanctifying grace can be the reason why this new manner of presence of the Divine Person. It is therefore solely by sanctifying grace that the Divine Person is thus sent forth and proceeds temporarily….And always, together with grace, one receives also the Holy Spirit Himself, Who is thus given and sent” (ST I., q. XIiii., a. 3).

Despite their brevity, these words of St Thomas contain a wonderful summary of the question we are studying. Here we find clear mention of, first, the fact of this special presence of God in the soul which is the state of grace; second the nature of this presence; it is a substantial, that is to say, a most real presence; God is present not merely y His favors, but in Person; third, the mode of this presence: He is there no longer in the capacity of an active or efficient cause, but as a Guest and a Friend, as an object of knowledge and love; fourth, the subjects who alone can benefit by such a gift, must be rational beings; fifth, the condition ofr this presence is the state of grace.

To be well understood, these considerations should each be deeply pondered; they shall receive a treatment proportioned to the difficulties each may present, and to the degree of their importance. We shall devote our attention first to the fact of this special presence of God in the souls of the just.

There is perhaps no truth more frequently alluded to in the Gospel and in the Epistles of St Paul than that of the mission, that is to say, the giving, the indwelling of the Divine Persons in the sols of the just. When about to leave this earth to return to his heavenly Father, Our Lord promised to send the Paraclete to His Apostles, wishing thereby to comfort them, and to lesson somewhat the sorrow caused by His departure: “I tell you the truth; it is expedient to you that I god; for if I go not the Paraclete will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.” “When the Paraclete comes, Whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth Who proceeds from the Father, He will give testimony of Me, because you have been with Me from the beginning.”

Again He said to them: “If you love Me, keep My Commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Paraclete, that He may abide with you forever; the Spirit of Truth, Whom the world cannot receive, because it sees Him not, nor knows Him; but you shall know Him, because He shall aide with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you orphans, I will come to you.” This new Comforter Whom Jesus promises to His Apostles, is no other than the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, as He calls Him, i.e., the Spirit of the Son, Who Himself is the substantial and essential Truth: “I am the truth.” As long as He dwelt among them, Jesus Himself comforted His disciples; now that His departure will unavoidably expose them to tribulations of all kinds, He promises them another comforter, the Holy Spirit, Whom He will send from the father.

The mission of the Holy Spirit, this giving of the Paraclete, Whom Jesus promised to His chosen ones, was not, however, to be the exclusive privilege of the Apostles; it was intended also as the privilege of all those who, through grace, are made the children of God. This is why St Paul, writing to the Galatians, says to them: “Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying Abba (Father).” “You have not received the spirit of bondage again in fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry, Abba (Father).” “Because the charity of God is pured forth in our hearts, by the Holy Spirit, Who is given to us.”

Yet it is not only the Holy Spirit we receive through grace and with grace, but all Three Persons of the Holy Trinity.  Our Lord Says explicitly in the Gospel of St John: “If anyone love Me, he will keep My words, and My Father will love him, and We sill come to him, and will make Our abode with him.”  This is why the Apostle, in his exhortations to the early Christians, on the necessity of shunning all sin, of preserving pure and without spot the sanctuary of their soul, could find no more powerful appeal, no more urgent reason, nor more persuasive argument, than the fact that they were the temple of God: “Know you not that you are  the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you?  But if any man violate the temple of God, him shall God destroy.  For the temple of God is holy, which you are.”

We must pause here, lest we multiply excessively the Scripture texts that prove the fact of a mission, a giving of the Divine Persons, an indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the just soul.  Our present task will be to gather together the teachings contained in these passages and set them forth in concise language.

What first strikes the reader in all these texts, taken in their natural and obvious meaning, and that shines forth with the clearest evidence, if the fact of a special presence of God  in souls in a state of grace.  In truth, if the Holy Spirit is sent to these souls, is it not in order hat He be present to them otherwise than He is present everywhere, for if He be present to them in the common ordinary way, what does this second mission mean, and what new thing does it give to the soul?

On the other hand, if the Holy Spirit is given to souls with and through grace, the obvious reason seems to be that these souls may possess Him and enjoy His presence freely.  Now rational beings alone are capable of possessing God y knowledge and love; they alone can enjoy His presence; for them, therefore, is reserved a special presence of the Divinity which is beyond the reach of beings of a lower order.  Further on we shall see that not every rational being can possess God in this way, nor participate in the fruition-begun or consummated-of the Sovereign Good.  Certain preliminary dispositions are requisite for such a possession or fruition,viz., either sanctifying grace or the lumen gloriae, the light of glory in heaven.  However, let us not anticipate.  For the moment we may confine ourselves to a theological analysis of the concepts of mission, giving, and indwelling, and examine whether these terms necessarily imply a special mode of presence of the Divine persons in those souls to whom the are sent or given, and in whom they come to dwell.-Excerpted from THE INDWELLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE SOULS OF THE JUST ACCORDING TO THE TEACHING OF ST THOMAS AQUINAS, by Barthelemy Froget

Share This