U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
The feast of Pentecost will be celebrated May 23. Pentecost marks the occasion of God sending the Holy Spirit upon Jesus’ disciples after his Resurrection. The book of Acts describes how the disciples were gathered together in one place on the day of Pentecost. The Jewish feast of Pentecost (Shavuot or the Feast of Weeks) was a day that commemorated the giving of the law to Moses, a day soon to be marked as well by the giving of the Holy Spirit.
On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit gave the disciples the strength to fulfill their commission to spread the Good News of Jesus. The Solemnity of Pentecost, which crowns and fulfills the Easter season, is a good time to pray for a deeper indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Prayer to the Holy Spirit
The following prayer was recited by Pope Benedict XVI in a homily on November 7, 2006. This is a prayer to the Holy Spirit.
Let us invoke him
so that he will irrigate, warm and straighten,
so that he will pervade us
with the power of his sacred flame
and renew the earth.
Let us pray for his with all our hearts
at this time, in these days.
Amen.
Copyright © 2021, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, DC. All rights reserved.
Quote from Pope Benedict XVI, copyright © 2006, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Vatican City State. All rights reserved. Used with permission
CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz