My husband and I gave our priests worldly and otherworldly gifts for Christmas. The more important was our spiritual gift of the novena to the Holy Spirit which we plan to begin on New Year's Day. What a good way to begin a new year, we decided, by entreating the Holy Spirit to enlighten our minds and those of our spiritual guides. We expect that not only the priests will benefit from this gift, but we will too. Can you ever pray without being immersed in a pool of grace? This morning, during my prayer time, I read an excerpt from St. Claude de la Colombiere's 1674 notes from a retreat in Lyons. It confirmed for me the wisdom of choosing the Holy Spirit novena as a starting place for 2025. What better helper can we invoke as St. Claude writes; and what easier way to endure all things in peace and tranquility?:
