The Indwelling of the
Holy Spirit
The Virgin Mary and the Church
Who is the Holy Spirit?
Who is the Holy Spirit?
“Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is
liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory
of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to
glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord”
- 2 Corinthians 3:17-18
The Holy Spirit as Revealer
“However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you
into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever
He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will
glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All
things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take
of Mine and declare it to you” (John 16:13-15).
“And we think that that expression also, which is in the song of Habakkuk, ‘In
the midst of the two Living Creatures (or of the two Lives) you will be known,’
ought to be understood of Christ and of the Holy Spirit. For all knowledge of
the Father is acquired through the revelation of the Son in the Holy Spirit, so
that both of these, who are called Living Beings or lives, exist as the cause of
the knowledge of God the Father”
- The Scholar Origen (First Principles Vol.1, pg.71-73).
“For by the hands of the Father, that is, by the Son and the Holy Spirit, man,
and not [merely] a part of man, was made in the likeness of God.”
- St. Irenaeus (Against Heresies Book V, Chapter 6)
The Holy Spirit Departs
“Then the Lord God said, ‘My Spirit will not remain with these people forever,
for they are flesh.’” (Genesis 6:3).
“But when You turn Your face away, they shall be troubled; when You take
away their breath, they shall die and return again to their dust. You shall send
forth Your Spirit, and they shall be created, and You shall renew the face of the
earth” (Psalm 103:29-30).
“But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil Spirit from the Lord
tormented him” (1 Samuel 16:14)
The Seventy Elders and the Quail
“Thus Moses was the greatest of the Prophets, yet he, when others were
to receive the Spirit, himself suffered diminution. But here it is not so; but
just as fire kindles as many flames as it will, so here the largeness of the
Spirit was shown, in that each one received a fountain of the Spirit; as
indeed He Himself had foretold, that those who believe in Him, should
have ‘a well of water springing up into everlasting life.’ And good reason
that it should be so. For they did not go forth to argue with Pharaoh, but
to wrestle with the devil.”
- St. John Chrysostom, Homily 4 on the Acts of the Apostles
Is Saul Among the Prophets?
Loss of the Holy Spirit in the Fall
“But when he was being punished for his transgressions, then
with justice hearing "Dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou
return," he was bared of the grace; the "breath of life," that is
the Spirit of Him Who says "I am the Life," departed from the
earthy body and the creature falls into death, through the flesh
alone, the soul being kept in immortality, since to the flesh too
alone was it said, ‘Dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou
return.’”
- St. Cyril of Alexandria: Commentary on The Gospel of John
(Book 1, Chapter 4)
“The descent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost day therefore
does not indicate the granting of an abstract spiritual power
or the haphazard bestowal of gifts and talents. It is rather a
matter of paramount importance, for here is a mystical
suggestion of an invisible union between divine and human
natures. What else could the union between a divine and a
human nature be but the mystical body of Christ itself,
formerly referred to by Christ with regard to taking it, eating
it, uniting with it and abiding in it?”
- Fr. Matthew the Poor, Pentecost, pg. 18
The Prototype of the Church: The Virgin Mary
Let us praise with songs of joy
Mary the ever-virgin, who
herself is clearly the holy
Church, together with the Son
and most chaste Spouse! To
God be praise for ever!
- St. Cyril of Alexandria
(Sermon 4, addressed at the
Council of Ephesus.)
