The Rosary of the Holy Spirit
In her book, As By a New Pentecost, Patti Gallagher Mansfield recounts the beginning of the charismatic renewal in the Catholic Church. Sister Elena Guerra (1835-1914) who was later beatified by Pope John XXIII as the “Apostle of the Holy Spirit,” wrote several letters to Pope Leo XIII urging him to promote increased devotion to the Holy Spirit. It was at her urging that he opened the 20th century on January 1, 1901 with the singing of the Veni Creator. On this same day, after many days of incessant prayer, to receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, the first person in what would later be called the Pentecostal movement, received this gift. Later it would be through the intercession of the Pentecostals that Catholics would receive this gift.
Blessed Elena Guerra founded the Oblate Sisters of the Holy Spirit with five other nuns in Lucca, Italy on the feast of St. Charles Borromeo, November 4, 1882. She wished that the “Come Holy Spirit” would become as common in the Church as the “Hail Mary.”
As we prepare for Pentecost 2014 let’s begin to pray Rosaries to the Holy Spirit like this:
Start the Rosary of the Holy Spirit as usual with the Sign of the Cross and the Apostles’ Creed, followed by one Our Father, three Hail Marys, and the Glory Be. Then begin each decade with the Our Father but instead of following with ten Hail Marys, pray instead: “Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Your well Beloved Spouse.”
There are so many Mysteries of the Holy Spirit that we can choose to meditate on for the decades. It seems that to begin with some of these mysteries could be:
1. The Holy Spirit proceeds eternally from the Father and the Son as the Love between Them.
2. The Holy Spirit stirs above the waters at creation (Genesis 1:2);
3. The Holy Spirit breathes into man the breath of life (Genesis 2:7);
4. The Holy Spirit creates woman and the first communion of human persons from the side of the man;
5. The Holy Spirit renews the earth at the time of the great flood (Genesis 7-9);
6. The Holy Spirit calls Abraham, our father in faith (Genesis 12:1-3);
7. The Holy Spirit receives the gift of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice even his beloved son and returns an eternal blessing to the human race (Genesis 22);
