I wanted to know how the Holy Spirit works in people and what fruits it brings

Dear Father Angelo, 
I wanted to know how the Holy Spirit acts in people’s souls and what fruits it bears……and to invoke him can you say prayers specifically dedicated to the Holy Spirit, I know some of them, or how to do it?

I thank you cordially from the bottom of my heart and send you my warmest regards,
Thank you.

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Priest’s answer

Dear Stefano, 
1. The Holy Spirit is the love of God.
St. Thomas says: “our joining to God is brought about according to a mode proper to that Person: that is, through love, when the Holy Spirit is given.” (In I Sent., d. 14, q. 2, a. 2, ad 3).

2. Therefore the Holy Spirit unites us with God and unites us with our neighbor through the bond of love.
This is implemented through the infusion of grace that acts in us through charity.

3. The Holy Spirit is given in an ordinary way in the celebration of all the sacraments.
But it is also given outside of the sacraments.

In any case, its effect is always the same: it makes the soul burst into love and creates communion.

Love is dedication.

4. If so, it must be invoked often, because we need to burst out in love. Indeed, we need to burst forth in God’s own way of loving and in the proper way of loving those who have received this gift from God.

5. The fruits of the Holy Spirit are mentioned by way of example by Saint Paul in the letter to the Galatians: “In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness,gentleness, self-control” (Gal 5,22).

6.Sweetness is the characteristic of the fruits.
When a person is full of the Holy Spirit they are also full of sweetness. Of Saint Thomas Aquinas we read that “he always seemed full of the Holy Spirit because he was always full of joy”.
This fullness of the Holy Spirit also communicated a sense of joy to those who entered into communion with him.

7. The Holy Spirit is invoked in the hymns of the Church, such as the Veni Creato Spiritus and the Veni, Sancte Spiritus.
You can invoke the Holy Spirit also with the beautiful short prayer of St. Bernard: Veni, Sancte Spiritus, veni per Mariam (Come Holy Spirit, come through Mary).

Wishing you an abundant outpouring of the Holy Spirit, I bless you and remember you in prayer, 
Father Angelo

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